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Safety net with holes? Programs to help crime victims can leave them fronting bills

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:27 GMT

Pamela White stared at the silver tree with twinkling lights while she cleaned out her son’s apartment, wondering how in a matter of days she went from celebrating Christmas to having to think about headstones and burial plots.Her son, Dararius Evans, was an Army reservist and veteran who had survived a deployment in Iraq. A few days after Christmas 2019, the 28-year-old was killed in a shooting outside of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The shooter was sentenced to life in prison last year.White and her family, who live outside of New Orleans, turned to Louisiana’s victim compensation board for help paying for the unexpected funeral. She was met with administrative hurdles, a denial that blamed her son for his own death, a lengthy appeal — all while paying up front through a personal loan that gathered interest as she waited.Thousands of crime victims each year are confronted with the difficult financial reality of state compensation programs that are billed as safety nets to offset costs ...

For Emmett Till’s family, national monument proclamation cements his inclusion in the American story

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:27 GMT

When President Joe Biden signs a proclamation on Tuesday establishing a national monument honoring Emmett Till and his mother Mamie Till-Mobley, it will mark the fulfillment of a promise Till’s relatives made after his death 68 years ago.The Black teenager from Chicago, whose abduction, torture and killing in Mississippi in 1955 helped propel the civil rights movement, will be seen as more than just a cause of that movement, said Till’s cousin, the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr.“We are resolute that it now becomes an American story and not just a civil rights story,” Parker told The Associated Press, ahead of a planned proclamation signing ceremony at the White House.With the stroke of Biden’s pen, the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, located across three sites in two states, will be federally protected places. But Till’s family members, along with a national organization seeking to preserve Black cultural heritage sites, say their work protecting the Till legacy contin...

Man fatally shot in Brampton, suspects fled in vehicle

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:27 GMT

Peel Regional Police are searching for suspects after a man was fatally shot in Brampton on Monday night.Authorities were called to the Parity Road and Argelia Crescent area around 10:30 p.m. for a weapons dangerous call.Police received reports that an adult male had been shot. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.Investigators said suspects were seen fleeing the area in a vehicle. A description of the car was not provided.There is a heavy police presence in the area.WEAPONS DANGEROUS:– Argelia Cr/Parity Rd #Brampton– Reports of an adult male shot-Male has been pronounced on scene– U/K suspect(s) fled the area in a vehicle– Large police presence -More information as it comes in– Investigation ongoing– C/R at 10:18 pm– PR23-0238906— Peel Regional Police (@PeelPolice) July 25, 2023

Nashville school shooter’s writings reignite debate over releasing material written by mass killers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:27 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — In Tennessee, a request for police to release a school shooter’s private writings has morphed into a complex multiparty fight that pits the parents of traumatized students against a coalition of local news outlets, nonprofits, and a Republican lawmaker — with both sides claiming their position is in the public interest.The person who killed three 9-year-old children and three adults at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville on March 27 left behind at least 20 journals, a suicide note and a memoir, according to court filings. But there is no national standard governing if, or how, such writings are made public.Shooters sometimes release their writings themselves over the internet, prompting a race to suppress their spread. In 2019, the white supremacist who killed 51 worshippers at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, posted his anti-immigrant screed online. Five months later, a man who killed 23 at a Texas Walmart published a racist diatrib...

Victims in deadly collapse of China middle school gym roof largely members of girl’s volleyball team

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:27 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Prosecutors in northeastern China are pursuing criminal charges against the managers of a construction firm blamed for the collapse of the roof of a middle school gymnasium, leading to 11 deaths. State media on Tuesday gave few details about the case and the victims, but said 19 people were inside the facility when the concrete roof came down, among them two coaches and 17 players. Fifteen were trapped in the rubble after the Sunday afternoon collapse at the No. 34 Middle School, with the last victim only being recovered on Monday morning. An initial investigation said a construction crew working on a new administrative building next to the gym had stored bags of perlite used in plastering and internal finishing work on the roof that had grown heavy by absorbing water from the recent heavy rains striking much of the country, particularly the northwest. Following the incident, social media and the Baidu news website carried footage of angry parents complaining about wh...

Michelle Goldberg: The weird silence about Brexit’s disastrousness

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:27 GMT

There’s a growing understanding in Britain that the country’s vote to quit the European Union, a decisive moment in the international rise of reactionary populism, was a grave error.Just as critics predicted, Brexit has led to inflation, labor shortages, business closures and travel snafus. It has created supply chain problems that put the future of British car manufacturing in danger. Brexit has, in many cases, turned travel between Europe and the U.K. into a punishing ordeal, as I learned recently, spending hours in a chaotic passport control line when taking the train from Paris to London. British musicians are finding it hard to tour in Europe because of the costs and red tape associated with moving both people and equipment across borders, which Elton John called “crucifying.”According to the U.K.’s Office for Budget and Responsibility, leaving the EU has shaved 4% off Britain’s gross domestic product. The damage to Britain’s economy, the OBR’s chair has said, is of the same “m...

Rotterdam Council passes resolution to stop more migrants from entering the county

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:27 GMT

ROTTERDAM, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Monday night, the Rotterdam Town Council voted to pass a resolution to call on Schenectady County to pause any further migration into the county by declaring a state of emergency.Hundreds of residents lined up around the building to share their concerns during the special session. The session was scheduled after several people staying at the Super 8 Motel on Carman Road in Rotterdam were told to leave. Hours later, a bus full of migrants appeared, and the Super 8 manager confirmed that they had signed a one-year contract with New York City to house the migrants without communicating with town officials. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! Town Board member Joe Mastroianni said he contacted the motel for more information but only had more questions than answers. But Mastroianni noted during the session that Super 8 management should have contacted the town as soon as a contract was presented.Town Superviso...

Suspect’s sex ads continued while out on bond, prosecutors say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:27 GMT

ST. LOUIS – A woman accused of selling teen girls for sex is wanted tonight, after startling discoveries by prosecutors. The 19-year-old defendant is accused of selling teen girls in St. Louis, who had gone missing in Texas.In February, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Chantel Robinson with sexual exploitation of a minor and sex trafficking of a child. The office then lost its fight to keep her locked up on the charges in March. But authorities have been watching her, leading to a recent motion to revoke bond, which accuses the defendant of continuing her illegal lifestyle.Court records say the sex trafficking victims, ages 16 and 17, were sold from a room in the Renaissance Hotel. The girls were rescued by U.S. Marshals and a special regional St. Louis County task force. Investigators discovered the girls had not only been reported missing, but also learned the teens were driven to St. Louis from Texas, where they had been wards of the Texas Department of ...

After 20 years, needle in Illinois woman’s spine removed  

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:27 GMT

FAYETTE COUNTY, Ill. - Amy Garrison is still recovering from surgery to remove an epidural needle that had been lodged in her spine since 2003. The southern Illinois resident made national headlines after discovering the needle in 2017.Garrison filed a lawsuit against a naval hospital in Florida. She alleged she was never notified that a needle was left in her spine following the birth of her child. Her lawsuit was dismissed.After consulting with co-workers and friends, Garrison decided to undergo surgery to have the needle removed. Even though surgery came with risks, Garrison was tired of living in pain. Crews investigating fatal 3-vehicle crash in north St. Louis On Monday, one week after having the surgery, Garrison told FOX 2 she was glad the needle had been removed but had numbness on the left side of her body from her knee to her ankle. She’s also in pain and relies on a walker while undergoing physical therapy at home.The needle removal did address some of the pain Garriso...

Two trucks stolen from a non-profit in Wood River, Illinois

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:27 GMT

WOOD RIVER, Ill. - It's described as a lifesaving operation on four wheels."There are a lot of people who depend on us," said Angela Valdes, founder of Churches on the Streets.Every Monday night for the last 10 years, Churches on the Streets has used its food truck to give back to those in need."We've changed a lot of lives out here," said Leslie Pearce, a 10-year volunteer. The organization delivers clothes, food, and personal hygiene products to more than 100 people a week."It just shows that we care, and sometimes that's all that it takes to change a person's life," Pearce said. Crews investigating fatal 3-vehicle crash in north St. Louis On Saturday, it almost all went away."It would be very sad to not be able to feed these people," Valdes said.The food truck, which they had for 10 years, and their supply box truck were stolen from Wood River early Saturday morning."It's not abnormal these things are happening, but why they would steal from us, I have no idea," ...