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Biden on gun control: ‘Do something, do something big’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:25 GMT

MONTEREY PARK, Calif. (AP) — The grief is still suffocating, the anger still visceral, President Joe Biden said Tuesday, in this suburban Los Angeles community where a gunman stormed a dance hall and killed 11 in January. He announced fresh federal measures to curb gun violence but emotionally declared there must be more.“Do something. Do something big,” he implored.“I’m determined to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines,” Biden told the families of some of the victims who were in the audience for his remarks, along with the 26-year-old who wrestled the semiautomatic pistol away from the gunman.Biden’s rhetoric has grown ever stronger about guns — he routinely calls for banning assault weapons — in pushing a gun-control platform even tougher than during the Obama administration when he was vice president. He has been emboldened by the midterm elections when his regular talk of gun control didn’t result in massive Democratic losses, and he’s expected to continu...

Poilievre says he would sue Big Pharma, won’t comment on supervised consumption sites

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:25 GMT

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Tuesdaythat if he became prime minister, he would sue pharmaceutical companies as a way to fund drug treatment ⁠ — but he wouldn’t say what he would do about sites where users can consume drugs under supervision. Poilievre made the pledge during a stop in Metro Vancouver, a region of the country he has routinely criticized for its approach to the opioid crisis. He once called Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside neighbourhood “hell on earth.” The Tory leader has said that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the NDP-led provincialgovernment are both contributing to the problem in British Columbia by offering a safe supply of drugs to some users and decriminalizing small amounts of certain illicit substances. He has panned such measures as being part of a “failed experiment.”During a video on the topic of harm reduction filmed in front of a tent encampment in Vancouver last November, Poilievre posed a questi...

Alberta RCMP investigating after N.W.T. man injured during interaction with police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:25 GMT

FORT GOOD HOPE, N.W.T. — Alberta RCMP are investigating after a man was injured during an interaction with police in the Northwest Territories.RCMP in the territory say they responded Monday morning to a report of an alleged assault on a woman in Fort Good Hope.The woman was taken to the local health centre to be treated for injuries. Police say they found the male suspect on the Mackenzie Valley Winter Road armed with what appeared to be an edged weapon. RCMP say the man sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was transferred to Yellowknife for further medical attention.No officers were injured.RCMP say they take any possible injuries in custody very seriously and the investigation is ongoing. The man, whom police have not named, is facing criminal charges.This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 14, 2023.The Canadian Press

Explainer: Silicon Valley Bank collapse and fears something similar could happen in Canada

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:25 GMT

Investors and markets in the United States continue to respond to the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank days after it happened, but the incident has raised questions about Canadian financial institutions.CityNews spoke with multiple financial experts about the situation involving Silicon Valley Bank to learn more about the differences between the systems in the United States and Canada.What happened with Silicon Valley Bank?The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank shook the technology industry and worried small businesses and individuals with deposits at the financial institution. President Joe Biden’s administration moved to guarantee all Silicon Valley Bank’s deposits above the insured limit of $250,000 per account, bringing relief to some.Silicon Valley quickly established itself as the “go-to” spot for venture capitalists looking for financial partners more open to unconventional business proposals than its bigger, more established peers who still didn’t have a good grasp of ...

Ann Uccello, first female mayor in Connecticut, dies at 100

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:25 GMT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Antonina “Ann” Uccello, the first woman to be elected a mayor in Connecticut when she won an upset victory as a Republican in the capital city of Hartford in 1967, has died. She was 100.Uccello, who went on to serve in the Nixon, Ford and Carter administrations, died of natural causes Sunday night at a hospital in Hartford, said Jacqueline Gustafson, who is married to Uccello’s nephew, David Gustafson.“She just had remarkable intellect, resiliency and determination,” Jacqueline Gustafson, of West Hartford, said in a phone interview Tuesday. “She was someone I greatly admired. … Ann was always someone I could talk to.”Tributes from state political leaders poured in Tuesday afternoon as word of Uccello’s passing began circulating.“Ann Uccello was a trailblazer who was born and raised in Hartford and dedicated her career in public service to the city she loved,” Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont said in a statement. “She had a remarkable spirit a...

Gallego slams Sinema over 2018 bank deregulation vote

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:25 GMT

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego slammed independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona on Tuesday for backing a bank deregulation bill he says contributed to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, highlighting Sinema’s Wall Street ties as he campaigns for her seat. The contrast over the 2018 legislation feeds Gallego’s push to portray Sinema as a friend of powerful interests, a central theme of the Senate campaign he launched in January.“It’s not like we received different information. We got the same pitches as all the members of Congress,” Gallego told reporters outside Silicon Valley Bank’s offices in Tempe. “But when push came to shove, and the vote came to the floor, I voted to protect Arizona and she voted to protect Wall Street.”A spokesperson for Sinema, Hannah Hurley, said the senator is not focused on the election and declined to respond to Gallego’s comments.Sinema on Sunday applauded the Biden administration’s announcement that people who de...

Lawyers want Roger Goodell role cut in NFL race bias claims

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for NFL Coach Brian Flores and two other Black coaches asked a judge Tuesday to reconsider her decision letting some of a federal lawsuit’s racial discrimination claims against the league and its teams possibly go before Commissioner Roger Goodell in arbitration proceedings rather than before a jury.In a Manhattan court filing, the lawyers said Judge Valerie E. Caproni should take another look at her March 1 ruling allowing most claims in a lawsuit by Flores to go before a jury but forcing claims by two other coaches into arbitration.They said the decision threatens the fairness of arbitration proceedings nationwide by upsetting “an extensive and well-developed body of case law requiring that arbitration be a reasonable replacement for a judicial forum.”The lawyers wrote that letting Goodell preside over claims by the coaches gives other employers a green light to insert “completely biased arbitrators” into arbitration agreements.They said they now fear...

Mandatory paid time off: ‘a strain’ for Illinois business

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:25 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Doug Knight’s family has owned Springfield amusement park Knight’s Action Park since 1930, himself for 43 of those years.The pandemic was a bear — Knight fought to keep his doors open, and when they closed for COVID-19, he pushed to reopen as soon as possible. Inflation, too, has been an obstacle. From inflatable inner tubes to chlorine for the pools, prices have risen for “everything we buy,” and now a new Illinois law represents “another bump on the road” for business owners, he says.On Monday, Illinois became one of three U.S. states to mandate paid time off “for any reason,” up to 40 hours per year for full-time employees. Small business owners in Illinois say they know the importance of taking care of their workers, but some view the paid leave requirement as a government-imposed burden.“When you hit the big bump and go off the cliff, what does that do for ya?” Knight said.The legislation takes effect on Jan. 1, 2024. Employees will accrue one h...

Police: One year later, Oswego man still missing as search continues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:25 GMT

OSWEGO, Ill. — The whereabouts of a man from Oswego remain unknown one year after family members reported him missing, police said Tuesday. Edward Gardner was last seen in Chicago on the evening of Sunday, March 13, 2022. Family members reported seeing the 22-year-old at this residence in Bolingbrook one day prior, on March 12. Edward Gardner (Photo provided by police)Edward Gardner (Photo provided by police)Edward Gardner (Photo provided by police)Edward Gardner (Photo provided by police)According to Oswego police, Gardner was driving a 2021 white Dodge Charger with Florida license plate No. QMND02. On March 29, 2022, Garnder's vehicle was involved in a multi-vehicle crash in Hammond, Indiana."The Charger’s occupants ran from the scene of the crash and based on information obtainedduring the investigation, it is not believed that [Gardner] was one of the occupants," police said. Despite numerous attempts at tracking Gardner's movements, police say he has not been seen or hear...

Free-to-public training academy offers Chicagoans insight into COPA

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:25 GMT

CHICAGO — The Civilian Office of Police Accountability hopes to provide locals with a better understanding of what they do by opening their doors to the public as part of a new six-week training program. “This is the first time we’ve ever taken our training academy and broken it down for the public,” said Andrea Kersten, COPA’s chief administrator. “People know about COPA releasing a video or they may know about an investigation but a lot of times, our work goes on in silence.” COPA is tasked with investigating complaints against CPD officers, ranging anywhere from alleged excessive force to coercion.  COPA’s chief administrator Andrea Kersten (Photo: WGN)“This is our opportunity to explain that process, to communicate to the public the why behind when we can and can't share information, Kersten said.  To explain how they get the job done, COPA is launching the People’s Academy on Tuesday, March 21. The multiweek program will be taught by experts in the fiel...