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Beyond bourbon: Indulge in New Orleans’ cultural treasures, both old and new

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:25 GMT

Patti Nickell | Tribune News ServiceAh, New Orleans — a mecca for college spring-breakers, bachelor and bachelorette partiers, and middle-aged not-so-crazies hoping to recapture the wild abandon of their youth.I know the allure of America’s original Sin City more than most, having spent 27 years there.But having that long acquaintance, I also know the pleasures New Orleans offers that don’t result in a three-day hangover. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. In my book, New Orleans is America’s most culturally significant city.That culture rose organically from the sultry swamp surrounded by bayous, river, lake and Gulf.Fashioned by Spanish, French, Afro-Caribbean and Anglo influences, New Orleans created its own cuisine and music, and adopted a zest for life that resulted in its motto, Laissez les Bon Temps Roulez.The good times haven’t exactly rolled in New Orleans over the past two decades. The twin blows of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the COVID pandemic in 2020 sent t...

Mississippi judge declares mistrial for 2 white men charged in attack on Black FedEx driver

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:25 GMT

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS | Associated PressBROOKHAVEN, Miss. (AP) — Citing errors by police, a Mississippi judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the case of two white men accused of chasing and shooting at a Black FedEx driver who was making a delivery.Brandon Case and his father, Gregory Case, are charged with attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy and shooting into the vehicle driven by D’Monterrio Gibson in January 2022. Gibson, now 25, was not injured. But the chase and gunfire led to complaints on social media of racism in Brookhaven, about an hour’s drive south of the state capital, Jackson.Judge David Strong said he made the mistrial decision because of errors by a Brookhaven Police Department detective. On Wednesday, the judge ended the session early after Detective Vincent Fernando acknowledged under oath while the jury was out of the courtroom that he had not previously given prosecutors or defense attorneys a videotaped statement police had taken from Gibson.The judge s...

2 Florida men sentenced to federal prison for participating in US Capitol riot

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Florida men have been sentenced on felony charges related to storming the U.S. Capitol during the January 2021 insurrection.Michael Steven Perkins, 40, of Plant City, was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison in District of Columbia federal court, according to court records. Joshua Christopher Doolin, 25, of Lakeland, received one year and six months on Wednesday. Both were convicted earlier this year of felony civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds. Doolin was also convicted of theft of government property. Perkins was separately convicted of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon and engaging in acts of physical violence while on the restricted Capitol grounds. Doolin and Perkins were arrested on June 30, 2021, along with co-defendants Joseph Hutchinson and Olivia Pollock, officials said. A federal judge issued bench warra...

Man physically assaulted before being fatally struck by car in downtown Toronto

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:25 GMT

A man who was found dead on the roadway in Toronto’s Moss Park neighbourhood earlier this week was viciously attacked prior to being struck by a vehicle. Police say first responders were called to Sherbourne Street just north of Queen Street East around 10:50 p.m. Tuesday night following reports a pedestrian had been struck by a vehicle. When police arrived they found a man lying in the middle of Sherbourne Street, where he was pronounced dead. He has since been identified as 54-year-old Douglas James MacDonald. Investigators from the homicide unit determined MacDonald was physically attacked by another man on the west side of Sherbourne Street. As MacDonald attempted to flee his attacker, he stumbled and fell onto the roadway where the attack continued. Police say seconds later, a car travelling northbound on Sherbourne Street struck MacDonald as he lay on the roadway. The suspect fled north on Sherbourne on a bicycle. He’s described as a Black male with short to mid-le...

Just two of 15 wild geese found trapped in Los Angeles tar pits have survived

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:25 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Only two of a flock of 15 wild Canada geese that landed and became trapped in the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles in late July have survived after they were rescued and cleaned off. Los Angeles Animal Services extricated the birds from the pits on July 31. More than half had died, but the seven that were still alive were given to International Bird Rescue, a nonprofit that specializes in rescuing and rehabilitating birds from oil spills. Of those, only two survived between transportation and rehabilitation operations. After three washes for both and a chest graft for one, the two birds are on a steady track to healing. If all goes well, they will be released into the wild in about a month. “It’s heartbreaking to see accidents like this occur,” said JD Bergeron, CEO of International Bird Rescue, in a news release. “Birds in a changing world face dwindling natural habitat and lack of habitat is a big problem for the wild animals that call Los Angeles home. It is nat...

Former Northwestern athletes send letter defending school’s athletic culture

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:25 GMT

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Approximately 1,000 former Northwestern University athletes sent a letter condemning hazing while defending the school’s culture, saying allegations of abuse within the football program and other men’s and women’s teams do not reflect their experiences.“We strongly condemn hazing in any form and firmly believe it has no place in collegiate sports or, for that matter, in university life, period,” the letter obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday reads. “The allegations being made are troubling and we support the University’s efforts to fully investigate these claims. However, these allegations do not represent or define the overall athletics culture at Northwestern.”Northwestern is facing more than a dozen lawsuits across multiple sports with allegations including sexual abuse of players by teammates as well as racist comments by coaches and race-based assaults. Football coach Pat Fitzgerald was fired last month after 17 seasons. Baseball...

Stock market today: Wall Street slumps again as higher bond yields keep biting

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is falling for a third straight day Thursday as rising yields in the bond market keep cranking up the pressure.The S&P 500 was 0.8% lower in late trading, with August on track to be its worst month of the year by far. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 306 points, or 0.9%, at 34,458, as of 3:25 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.2% lower.The losses were widespread. Some of the heaviest hit big technology stocks seen as the most vulnerable to higher interest rates. Apple fell 1.6% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500. Meta Platforms sank 2.7%, and Tesla dropped 2.5%.Stocks broadly have been retreating in August following a torrid first seven months of the year. That’s in part because a swift rise in bond yields is forcing a reassessment of how much to pay for stocks.The 10-year Treasury, which is the centerpiece of the bond market, is now yielding 4.29% after earlier in the morning touching its highest level since Octobe...

A Brazilian hacker claims Bolsonaro asked him to hack into the voting system ahead of 2022 vote

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:25 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A Brazilian hacker claimed at a Congressional hearing on Thursday that former President Jair Bolsonaro wanted him to hack into the country’s electronic voting system to expose its alleged weaknesses ahead of the 2022 presidential election.Walter Delgatti Neto did not provide any evidence for his claim to the parliamentary commission of inquiry. But his detailed testimony raises new allegations against the former far-right leader, investigated for his role in the Jan. 8 riots in the capital city of Brasilia.Delgatti also told lawmakers that he met in person with Bolsonaro and told the former president it was not possible for him to hack the electronic voting system. The Associated Press has reached out to Bolsonaro’s lawyers who have not yet responded. Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoings. Bolsonaro’s political nemesis, leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, won the Oct. 30, 2022 election with just 50.9% of the votes.According to Delgatti, Bolsonaro had wanted...

China’s defense minister promises to boost cooperation with Russian ally Belarus

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:25 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu on Thursday visited Belarus and said his country would increase military cooperation with Russia’s neighbor and ally, where Moscow is deploying tactical nuclear weapons.Shangfu met with strongman President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk and said “the purpose of my visit to Belarus is precisely the implementation of important agreements at the level of heads of state and the further strengthening of bilateral military cooperation.”Neither side gave details of what the cooperation will entail, but the two countries have agreed to hold joint military exercises next year.Li visited Russia just before going to Belarus.Russian troops that were deployed in Belarus were part of Russia’s invading force in Ukraine and Russian troops and weapons remain there.Belarusian forces have not taken part in the Ukraine war and Lukashenko on Thursday said China’s military assistance would not be directed against third countries. Lukashenko has p...

Ecuadorians vote Sunday for president after a campaign dominated by demands for safety

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:25 GMT

GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuadorians will choose a new president Sunday, less than two weeks after the South American country was shaken by the assassination of one of the candidates — a crime that laid bare people’s fears over unprecedented violence in their once-calm nation.The winner faces a universal demand for safety, but how the incoming administration will fund crime-fighting promises remains to be seen. Much of the country’s increasingly polarized society yearns for the prosperity seen under the presidency of Rafael Correa, now a fugitive from Ecuadorian justice, but few readily acknowledge it left the country with a huge fiscal deficit and billions in debt.Sunday’s ballot has the names of eight candidates, including Fernando Villavicencio, the anti-corruption crusader who was killed Aug. 9 while leaving a campaign rally in Quito, the capital. His was the third and most prominent in a string of killings of political leaders this year.Voting in Ecuador is mandato...