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Araiza was not present at time of alleged rape, witness says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:35:31 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza was not present when an alleged gang rape of a minor occurred at an October 2021 party in San Diego nor was he visible in videos recovered after the incident, which led to a police investigation and a lawsuit by the woman who said she was attacked, according to witness testimony.The testimony was included in evidence that prompted the San Diego District Attorney to not press criminal charges against Araiza last year.ESPN obtained and reviewed audio from a Dec. 7, 2022, meeting during which the details were discussed. The meeting was attended by San Diego deputy district attorney Trisha Amador and the woman, as well as the woman’s attorney, district attorney investigator Ted Mansour and a selected victim advocate.The purpose of the meeting was largely for Amador to explain why criminal charges could not be filed and answer questions after the San Diego Police Department concluded its investigation in August 2022. Amador told th...

New stage play helps Canadian veterans heal through the arts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:35:31 GMT

Tunnel at the end of the Light is a play that focuses on the emotions Canadian veterans felt after serving in Afghanistan. The cast involves four Canadian veterans, four actors and a service dog.Torontonians can watch the cast take the stage Tuesday at Alumnae Theatre in Toronto.The play was written and directed by Jonathan Guy Lewis specifically for Canadians.“It’s trying to make sense of what happened in Afghanistan particularly for Canadians. We left 12 years ago, but we’ve just seen what happened (with) the fall of Kabul and the mess, the carnage, the confusion, and a lot of veterans are distressed by that, their service, what was it all for?” says Lewis.Lewis who lives in England, is a veteran and the artistic director of an organization called the Soldiers Arts Academy in the UK.In Canada, there is a similar program called Soldiers in the Arts (SITA). It’s a program that offers support to these veterans through the arts and they’re the group behind this play.According to...

Trans minors protected from parents under Washington law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:35:31 GMT

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Minors seeking gender-affirming care in Washington will be protected from the intervention of estranged parents under a measure Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law Tuesday.The new law is part of a wave of legislation this year in Democratic-led states intended to give refuge amid a conservative movement in which lawmakers in other states have attacked transgender rights and limited or banned gender-affirming care for minors.Licensed shelters and host homes in Washington had generally been required to notify parents within 72 hours when a minor came into their care. Under the new law, facilities can instead contact the state Department of Children, Youth and Families, which could then attempt to reunify the family if feasible. Youths will also be allowed to stay at host homes — private, volunteer homes that temporarily house young people without parental permission.“With this bill, Washington leads the way by taking a more compassionate, developmentally appropriate,...

Biden: US-Mexico border will be ‘chaotic for a while’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:35:31 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden predicted Tuesday that the U.S.-Mexico border would be “chaotic for a while” when pandemic-related restrictions end, as 550 active-duty troops began arriving and migrants weighed whether or when to cross. The restrictions have been in place since 2020, and allowed U.S. officials to quickly return migrants over the border. They are ending later this week and the U.S. is putting into place a set of new policies that will clamp down on illegal crossings while offering migrants a legal path to the United States if they apply online through a government app, have a sponsor and pass background checks. Biden said his administration was working to make the change orderly. “But it remains to be seen,” he told reporters. “It’s going to be chaotic for a while.” Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador spoke for roughly an hour Tuesday to discuss the border. Mexico shares a 1,951-mile border with the United States, so ...

Officials prepare for another bout of wildfires in Alberta as temperatures to rise

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:35:31 GMT

Officials say they are preparing for hotter weather this coming weekend in central Alberta, posing a risk for more active wildfires after a brief reprieve.“The fire danger remains high in many northern areas of the province, which means that we can still see active wildfire behaviour there,” Christie Tucker, with Alberta Wildfire, told reporters Tuesday. “But in much of the southern and central parts of the province, firefighters have been helped by cooler temperatures and humidity.”Tucker said the mild conditions make it easier for crews to access fires and bring in heavy equipment to help create fire breaks around communities.As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 88 wildfires burning in the province, with 24 out of control. There were 24,000 people displaced. Indigenous Services Canada said in a release that nine First Nations were under threat. That includes Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, 360 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, where 1,600 people were forced to le...

Crump: Abuse victims set to sue Baltimore Archdiocese

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:35:31 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — After Maryland lawmakers recently eliminated the statute of limitations for child sex abuse lawsuits amid heightened scrutiny of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced plans Tuesday to bring a series of civil claims on behalf of victims.The threat of litigation comes as the the archdiocese faces continued fallout from a state report released last month that found more than 150 priests and other clergy in the archdiocese sexually abused over 600 children with impunity. The report, which the Maryland Attorney General’s Office produced after a yearslong investigation, paints a damning picture of the nation’s oldest Catholic diocese.Days after the report’s release, Gov. Wes Moore signed legislation to end Maryland’s statute of limitations for child sex abuse lawsuits effective Oct. 1. Previously, victims couldn’t sue after turning 38.Crump, best known for representing victims of police brutality, held a news conference Tuesday outside th...

Suspect in shooting outside Vegas school faces 25 felonies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:35:31 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — An 18-year-old accused of firing the shot that wounded an employee outside a middle school building in northeast Las Vegas is facing multiple felonies, police said Tuesday.The gunfire on Monday “took place a few blocks away from the school and a stray bullet struck the victim who was on school property,” Las Vegas police said in a statement identifying the suspect as Jessie Rios.Rios was being held Tuesday at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas on 25 charges including attempted murder, battery with a deadly weapon and firearm offenses including discharging a gun within a prohibited area, court and jail records showed. If convicted, he could face decades in prison.Details about Rios’ arrest were not immediately made public by police, and jail records did not reflect if Rios had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. He was scheduled for an initial court appearance Wednesday. Las Vegas police Officer Luis Vidal said the school employee, a man who ...

Rare GOP votes in Texas for gun bill after mass shootings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:35:31 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — As a Republican in the Texas Capitol, Sam Harless turned heads: He voted in favor of a stricter gun law. In doing so, the Houston state representative helped advance a bill in the Texas House that would raise the purchase age for AR-style rifles like the kind used by an 18-year-old gunman in Uvalde last year. The vote came just days after eight people at an outdoor mall in Dallas were killed by a 33-year-old gunman, who President Biden said used an AR-15-style weapon. The bill has little chance of becoming law, but that did not stop powerful gun rights groups Tuesday from springing into action to stamp out the rare glimpse of momentum for supporters of tougher restrictions as mass killings continue to spread anguish in Texas. It underlined how almost any attempt to tighten gun laws in Texas is off the table in the state’s GOP-controlled Legislature, which in recent years has made gun access easier following other mass shootings and shows no appetite for re...

Student’s body found in cave after New Zealand hit by floods

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:35:31 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand police said they have found the body of a high school student in a cave after a school group got into trouble when floodwaters hit. A group of 15 students and two adults had set out Tuesday morning on a trip to the Abbey Caves in Whangārei as part of an outdoor education class, authorities said. The others made it out safely.The death has raised questions about why school officials chose to go ahead with the trip even after forecasters had warned that heavy rain was approaching.The district council website cautions people to “check weather forecast as caves can be prone to flash flooding.” The site says the cave system features dramatic limestone outcrops, sink holes and three significant caves. “We acknowledge this event has been very distressing for the school and wider community, and that there are a number of questions the public will have,” Police Superintendent Tony Hill said in a statement. “At the moment, police’s focus is on ...

SIU probing fatal police shooting of man in school parking lot in Kirkland Lake

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:35:31 GMT

The province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is probing the fatal police shooting of a man at a school parking lot in Kirkland Lake on Tuesday morning. The SIU says Ontario Provincial Police were called to the Duncan Avenue South and 2nd Street East area at around 7:30 a.m. for reports of a man carrying an edged weapon. “The officers encountered the man in the school parking lot of École secondaire catholique l’Envolée du Nord,” the SIU explained in a release. “The man refused to drop the weapon, and an interaction ensued.”Police say one officer fired a conducted energy weapon, while a second officer shot the man with his firearm. The man, aged 66, was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. “Four investigators and three forensic investigators have been assigned to the case,” the SIU said. “The post-mortem is scheduled for tomorrow in Sudbury.