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Drug lab case prosecutors get their day in court over allegations of impropriety

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:05:04 GMT

The state’s highest court seemed equal parts willing to concede mistakes may have occurred and ready to lay blame at the feet of state prosecutors when they met this week to hear arguments arising from a decade old drug lab scandal.“You have before you today three consolidated bar discipline cases of monumental importance, and I do not say that lightly,” Joseph Makalusky, an associate counsel for the Bar Counsel told the court. “Without the public’s trust that lawyers and judges will act in good faith and strictly within the bounds of our laws and professional norms, the rule of law has little practical force.”The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, on Monday, heard from attorneys representing prosecutors from the attorney general’s office over their handling of the 2013 prosecution and arrest of drug lab chemist Sonja Farak, who was sentenced to 18 months of incarceration after it was revealed she was using some of the drugs she was meant to be testing.As a resu...

‘No wheelchair’: Advocate says laws governing mobility aids on flight not enough

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:05:04 GMT

After yet another flight experience that she describes as traumatic, accessibility advocate Maayan Ziv is once again calling for change and for the air travel rights of people with disabilities to be recognized and respected.Last September, Ziv’s custom motorized wheelchair was damaged beyond repair on an Air Canada flight to Tel Aviv.While the airline has since replaced the chair, Ziv says she has made some changes to the way she travels to avoid possibly jeopardizing her indispensable mobility device.“I’ve been travelling with a much more compact, foldable travel chair that’s specifically designed to allow people like myself to fold it up, to store it in the cabin, to remove the batteries — it fits the dimensions of the majority of closets on board,” she explains.“I just thought if I could travel like this, I could probably protect my mobility better.”She adds that the portable chair is far from comfortable, but she’d rather su...

Progressive Conservatives projected to win majority in Prince Edward Island

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:05:04 GMT

CHARLOTTETOWN — Voters in Prince Edward Island were projected to deliver a majority win to the incumbent Progressive Conservatives on Monday after an election campaign dominated by debate over heath care and housing.An hour after polls closed, Premier Dennis King’s Tories had captured 56 per cent of the votes counted and were leading in 22 of the province’s 27 ridings. King was easily re-elected in his riding of Brackley-Hunter River.The Liberals were ahead in three ridings and the Greens in two.King’s first four years in office were marked by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, two major post-tropical storms and mounting health-care woes. His party’s main challengers were the Green Party, led by Scottish-born dentist Peter Bevan-Baker, and the Liberals, led by former bureaucrat Sharon Cameron, who was acclaimed leader less than five months ago. At dissolution, the Conservatives held a slight majority with 15 seats. The Greens had eight seats, most of them in the C...

‘Psychotic crack’ led woman to kill stepson, defense says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:05:04 GMT

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado woman knew what she was doing when she stabbed her young stepson 18 times and then shot him in the head before driving across the country to dump a suitcase with his remains inside over the side of a bridge in the Florida Panhandle, a prosecutor told jurors Monday at the start of her trial.Authorities allege Letecia Stauch killed 11-year-old Gannon Stauch in his bedroom a few hours before reporting him missing on Jan. 27, 2020, while his father was on a National Guard deployment, suggesting she was unhappy in her marriage and resentful of being treated like an unpaid babysitter. Stauch pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, with the defense claiming she suffered a “major psychotic crack,” as a result of childhood trauma, when she killed Gannon. During opening statements in Colorado Springs, District Attorney Michael Allen pointed out the steps that Stauch took to cover up her actions as proof that she knew what she did was wrong and was therefore sane. Sh...

Union Pacific sued after firing rail worker on medical leave

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:05:04 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Union Pacific routinely hires private investigators to check out employees’ medical leave claims and then fires anyone who happens to leave their house while out on leave, according to a lawsuit filed against the railroad.The lawyer who last month filed one of the first lawsuits in a case like this in Texas said this practice is another example of how the railroads keep the pressure on train crews to remain on call 24-7 while making them afraid to take unpaid time off they’re supposed to get under the Family Medical Leave Act.Now that the Texas case is moving forward in the courts, the lawyer, Nick Thompson, said he plans to look into the claims of several other UP employees who have contacted him with similar concerns that could turn into additional lawsuits.“Ultimately, this has the effect Union Pacific wants: It scares people from using FMLA,” Thompson said.Omaha, Nebraska-based Union Pacific says it didn’t do anything wrong when it fired De’Ron Rut...

Belize, Guatemala reaffirm Taiwan ties during Tsai visit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:05:04 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Belize on Monday reaffirmed its diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the second country to do so in a week as Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen travels across Central America in an effort to shore up a dwindling number of allies. “Together we can promote our shared values like democracy, the right of the people to self determination and respect for international law,” Johnny Briceño, Belize’s prime minister, said in a speech before the country’s National Assembly.Belize follows in the footsteps of Guatemala, another ally of Taiwan, whose leader declared its relationship with the self-governed island “unchangeable” during a visit by Tsai.The two Central American nations represent two of Taiwan’s 13 formal allies across the world, a number that has dipped as China has put pressure on and funneled money into isolating the island.The trip came just a week after Honduras announced it would cut allegiances with Taiwan in favor of China, potentially prompted by ...

Navy sailor charged in Capitol riot was stationed on carrier

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:05:04 GMT

A Navy sailor charged with storming the U.S. Capitol was stationed on an aircraft carrier in Virginia when he joined a mob’s attack on the building, according to a court filing Monday.The FBI arrested David Elizalde on Sunday in Arlington, Virginia, on misdemeanor charges, including disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, according to a court filing.Elizalde told the FBI that he was stationed on the USS Harry S. Truman when he drove alone from Norfolk, Virginia, to Washington, D.C., to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021. Then-President Donald Trump addressed a crowd of supporters before the mob attacked the Capitol, disrupting the congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.Videos show a man matching Elizalde’s description holding a flag when he entered the Capitol through the Senate wing doors and leaving the building about three minutes later through the same doors. Elizalde said he heeded a police officer’s ...

Minnesota college head to retire after Islamic art dispute

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:05:04 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The president of a private university in Minnesota that was criticized for firing a professor who showed a depiction of the Prophet Muhammad in an art history class announced Monday that she is retiring next year.Hamline University President Fayneese Miller said at a news conference that although the school has been in the headlines, journalists were “reporting on a false narrative.” Issues arose in October when Erika López Prater showed a 14th-century painting depicting the Prophet Muhammad to her students as part of a lesson on Islamic art, after warning them beforehand and giving them an opportunity to opt out. In Islam, portraying the Prophet Muhammad has long been taboo for many, and a Muslim student in the class complained to the university.López Prater has since sued the liberal arts school in St. Paul over Miller’s decision not to renew her contract. Her attorneys didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Miller previously conceded that ...

Alberta premier says she will no longer comment on Crown prosecutor controversy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:05:04 GMT

CALGARY — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she will no longer speak about her involvement in how COVID-19 court cases are being prosecuted.Smith says her United Conservative Party government is considering a defamation lawsuit and, because of that, she has been advised by counsel not to comment. A notice of defamation letter dated Sunday says lawyers for the premier want the CBC to retract and apologize for its story in January that stated a member of her staff sent emails to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service challenging how it was handling cases from COVID-19 protests at the United States-Canada border crossing at Coutts, Alta.The CBC repeated Monday that it stands by its reporting.“I have been clear that neither I, nor anyone within my staff, have contacted any Crown prosecutors as has been alleged. Indeed, Alberta’s Crown Prosecution Service has confirmed this to be true. To continue saying or suggesting otherwise is malicious,” Smith said Monday at a news conf...

Biden pushes econ policy as Trump indictment gets attention

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:05:04 GMT

FRIDLEY, Minn. (AP) — President Joe Biden ventured to suburban Minneapolis on Monday to talk about factory jobs and contrast his agenda with “the last guy who had this job.” The “last guy,” as Biden calls Donald Trump, was simultaneously touching down in New York to become the first former president to be arrested. The Biden White House, which has shied away from involvement in the legal spectacle surrounding Trump, hoped to turn the split-screen moment into a chance to showcase the president’s accomplishments and relatively drama-free administration. It represented a rehash of the choice that voters made in 2020 — and might have to make again in 2024 — as both men intend to seek the White House. Biden offered himself as a veteran policymaker while Trump, ever the showman, aimed to use Tuesday’s arraignment on criminal charges to generate campaign donations and fire up Republican voters.Biden sought to highlight job growth and investments nationwide while pushing clean energy ...