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Rapidly growing Denver to pick new mayor amid mounting big-city problems

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:00 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Denver will choose its next mayor Tuesday in a runoff election between two moderate candidates seeking to lead a rapidly growing city faced with out-of-control housing costs and increased homelessness.The city has become the tech and business hub of the Mountain West but now faces problems similar to those in San Francisco and Los Angeles.Kelly Brough, the former president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, faces Mike Johnston, a former state senator. Johnston and Brough were the top two vote-getters in a 16-way race in April, sending the race to Tuesday’s runoff. Johnson was ahead of Brough by about 8,000 votes according to unofficial early returns Tuesday evening after polls closed, according to the city Office of the Clerk and Recorder.The job of Denver mayor has launched careers, notably that of John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who went on to become Colorado’s governor and is now a U.S. senator. Another Democratic mayor, Frederico Peña, went on to ...

Attorney for man charged in 1972 Chicago-area slaying of teen wants statements suppressed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:00 GMT

JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — An attorney for a Minnesota man charged in the stabbing death of a 15-year-old suburban Chicago girl more than half a century ago wants statements he made at a police station suppressed.Attorney Terry Ekl argued in a recent defense motion that statements Barry Whelpley made to Naperville investigators at the Minnesota police station should be excluded because they occurred in a continuation of a seven-hour interrogation that began at his home, the Arlington Heights Daily Herald reported Tuesday.A hearing on the motion is scheduled for Aug. 10.Whelpley, 78, is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated criminal sexual assault in the 1972 death of Julie Ann Hanson, of Naperville. The Minnesota man was arrested two years ago after DNA evidence linked him to the case.Hanson disappeared on July 7, 1972, while riding her bicycle to her brother’s baseball game. Her body was discovered a day later in a field. She had been stabbed 36 times, coroners said.Will County ...

2 dead in shooting after high school graduation ceremony in Virginia capital

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:00 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Seven people were shot, two fatally, when gunfire rang out Tuesday outside a downtown theater where a high school graduation ceremony had recently concluded, causing attendees to flee in panic, weep and clutch their children, authorities and witnesses reported. A 19-year-old suspect tried to flee but was arrested and will be charged with two counts of second-degree murder, Interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said in a nighttime news conference at which he confirmed the two fatalities. Five others were wounded by the gunfire outside the Virginia capital’s Altria Theater and in an adjacent park. At least 12 others were injured or treated for anxiety due to the mayhem, according to police. “As they heard the gunfire, it was obviously chaos,” Edwards said. “We had hundreds of people in Monroe Park, so people scattered. It was very chaotic at the scene.”Edwards said the two who died were both male, ages 18 and 36. Their names were not release...

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:00 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived Tuesday in Saudi Arabia and later met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman amid strained relations between Riyadh and Washington. Blinken’s trip, his second to Saudi Arabia since becoming America’s top diplomat, comes after the kingdom under Prince Mohammed has been more willing to disregard the U.S. in striking its own decisions. Riyadh has clashed repeatedly with President Joe Biden on its supply of crude oil to global markets, its willingness to partner with Russia in OPEC+ and reaching a détente with Iran mediated by China. Biden also pledged to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” over the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. However, Saudi Arabia still relies — like other Gulf Arab nations — on the U.S. to be the security guarantor for the wider Middle East as tensions over Iran’s nuclear program in recent years have spilled over into a series of attacks. Riyadh and Wa...

Supreme Court tossed out the heart of Voting Rights Act a decade ago. Next ruling could go further

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:00 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Within hours of a U.S. Supreme Court decision dismantling a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Texas lawmakers announced plans to implement a strict voter ID law that had been blocked by a federal court. Lawmakers in Alabama said they would press forward with a similar law that had been on hold.The ruling a decade ago continues to reverberate across the country, as Republican-led states pass voting restrictions that, in several cases, would have been subject to federal review had the court left the provision intact. At the same time, the conservative-leaning court has continued to take other cases challenging elements of the landmark 1965 law.The Supreme Court weakened another section of the Voting Rights Act two years ago with a ruling in a case from Arizona. And justices are expected to rule in the coming weeks in still another case out of Alabama that could make it much more difficult for minority groups to sue over gerrymandered political maps that dilute the...

Racist message, dead raccoon left for Oregon mayor, Black city council member

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:00 GMT

REDMOND, Ore. (AP) — Someone left a dead raccoon and a sign with “intimidating language” that mentioned a Black city councilor outside the law office of an Oregon mayor, police said. Redmond Mayor Ed Fitch found the raccoon and the sign on Monday, the Redmond Police Department said in a news release. The sign mentioned Fitch and Redmond City Councilor Clifford Evelyn by name, police said.Fitch called the sign’s language “racially hateful.” He declined to elaborate but told The Bulletin, “I feel bad for Clifford. It seems there’s some people in town that can’t accept the fact that Clifford is Black and is on the City Council.”Police aren’t revealing the sign’s exact language in order to maintain the integrity of the investigation, city spokesperson Heather Cassaro said. Police said they are investigating the act as a potential hate crime. Evelyn, a retired law enforcement officer who was elected to the council in 2021, described the act as a hate crime but said he has con...

Missing Oak Brook man with autism found safe

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:00 GMT

OAK BROOK, Ill. — The Oak Brook Police Department said, in an update, that Anish Bajaj has been found safe.Anish Bajaj, 24, man with autism has been found safe.Police said 24-year-old Anish Bajaj had formerly went missing shortly after 5 p.m. after walking out of the area near the 500 block of Sauk Path in Oak Brook.Oak Brook PD offered their thanks to all who helped finding Bajaj after a combined search between drones, a bloodhound, a CPD helicopter and other surrounding agencies.

Canadian wildfires bring smoky haze to Capital Region

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:00 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — On Tuesday, many woke up to a smoky haze around the Capital Region, with wildfires in Canada leading to an air quality alert.Kathyrn Sanderson usually walks around her Delmar neighborhood after going to the library, but today’s conditions stop her morning routine.“The haze was unbelievable,” Sanders said. “So I did actually go as far as the library, which is close to where I live, but I couldn’t go any further because of the weather.” Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Canada is dealing with hundreds of intense wildfires that spread from the western provinces to Quebec. Winds are also carrying smoke from those fires to the U.S. while causing a decrease in air quality.Linda Viertel, a store manager in Stuyvesant Plaza, said she was shocked when she walked outside to go to work.“It was really unusual, and there was a smell of smoke in the air as well, and cloudy,” she said. “I live out in Mechanicville, s...

Louisiana military base to be renamed after Sgt. Henry Johnson

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:00 GMT

VERNON PARISH, La. (NEWS10) -- A military base in Louisiana that carries the name of a confederate general will soon be renamed after a Capital Region war hero, who served during World War I.Fort Polk will be renamed Fort Johnson after Henry Johnson. The Albany native saw prominent military service in 1918 by single handedly fighting off a German raiding party. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Johnson was the first American to be recognized by the French military, but Johnson received no U.S. military recognition until after his death in 1929.A ceremony marking the name change will take place on June 13.

Colorado lawmakers criticize Polis for vetoing first-of-its-kind housing bill

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:00 GMT

Gov. Jared Polis vetoed a bill Tuesday that would’ve given local governments first crack at buying for-sale apartment buildings, the latest setback for frustrated housing advocates who questioned how the governor planned to address the affordability crisis in Colorado.The sponsors of HB23-1190 were told in a Tuesday afternoon meeting with Polis that he intended to veto the bill, which, supporters say, would’ve helped Colorado rebuild public housing within the existing real estate market. The bill was among the most progressive housing proposals to pass the legislature this year, after several others were watered down or killed outright.In a letter explaining his decision, Polis said he was concerned about title insurance and what he described as ambiguous language in the bill.“I support local governments’ ability to buy these properties on the open market and preserve low-cost housing opportunities,” he wrote, “but am not supportive of a required ...