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Traffic stop leads to Littleton police seizing 20 kilos of cocaine from vehicle

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:08:36 GMT

Police in Littleton say a routine traffic stop led to officers making two arrests and seizing approximately 20 kilograms of cocaine from a vehicle.The police department said that on Wednesday, March 29, while out on Great Road around Beaverbrook Bridge, Littleton Police Patrolman Jared Richard noticed a vehicle swerving across the roadway’s double yellow line.Stopping the vehicle, Richard discovered the driver, Erasmo Lira-Mendez, 38, was not licensed to operate a motor vehicle, according to the police department.The patrolman also discovered the driver’s passenger, identified as Cornelio-Rene Hernandez, 51, was wanted on an arrest warrant from out of Texas, leading to both individuals being taken into custody.According to a news release from the department and Littleton Police Chief Matthew Pinard, while conducting an inventory search of the vehicle, officers found 20 large bags, containing approximately one kilogram of cocaine each. Police also found $1,143 on Lira-Men...

A student created a media platform by and about people of color to fill a void in campus journalism

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:08:36 GMT

It was sickle cell anemia that brought Chicago-born, Detroit-raised Tiffani Jackson to Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal in 2017. Having endured some attacks, called pain crises, while attending Grambling State University, she made the decision to move closer to home.With that, Louisiana lost a music technology major but Illinois gained a journalism major, a change in focus prompted by her professors’ suggestions. Jackson parlayed the new focus into creating Onyx Connect, a media source for the diverse population on and around campus.During a semesterlong stint writing for ISU’s student-run news organization, the Vidette, Jackson began scrutinizing campus-area media outlets from the lens of having transferred from a historically Black college to a predominantly white institution.“It was a very intentional walk,” she said. “I joined to create more articles and stories about our communities. … I was the only Black reporter there; there was a Black photographer (Nodel Dug...

San Diego jury awards $46M to paralyzed jiu-jitsu student

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:08:36 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A San Diego jury has awarded more than $46 million to a man who suffered a catastrophic spinal injury during a beginner jiu-jitsu class five years ago, attorneys said Wednesday.Jack Greener was enrolled at Del Mar Jiu-Jitsu Club in 2018 when he was pinned to the mat by an instructor who placed his entire bodyweight on Greener's neck, according to the lawsuit.“The extreme force of the maneuver crushed Mr. Greener’s cervical vertebrae causing the student to fall limp, paralyzed in all extremities,” according to a statement from his law firm, Panish Shea Boyle Ravipudi. Local leaders support Supervisor Nathan Fletcher’s resignation Greener, who was 23 at the time, underwent multiple surgeries and was hospitalized for months, his lawyers said.Now a quadriplegic, he sought compensation for medical expenses, loss of earnings and emotional distress.Jurors ruled in Greener's favor on Tuesday after a four week trial.Attorneys for the martial arts club and the instructor di...

'Dungeons and Dragons' themed brewery pours pints of fantasy in San Diego

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:08:36 GMT

VISTA, Calif. -- Beer and fantasy enthusiasts can enjoy the craft of role-playing at a unique brewery in San Diego. "We hail from the faraway land of Vista," a "warrior" named Ryan Sather exclaimed on the set of FOX 5 Friday. Sather and co-owner Chris Barry are the masterminds behind the North County treasure that is BattleMage Brewing Company. These San Diego breweries won medals at the 2023 Brewers Cup of California The North County business offers pints of fantasy based hops and a place to gather for groups looking to immerse themselves in the tabletop game known as "Dungeons and Dragons."Players can sip craft beer while embarking on an adventure to a fantasy world filled with quests and self-imagined experiences. "We have a couple big game nights on Mondays and Tuesdays," said Barry. "We have about 100 people that come through on those days to play."People gather at BattleMage Brewing Company. (Photo: BattleMage Brewing Company)The role-playing game, which originated in the mi...

New Mexico Supreme Court blocks local abortion ordinances

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:08:36 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Supreme Court blocked local anti-abortion ordinances Friday pending the outcome of a case centered on constitutional rights to equal protection and due process.The ruling granted a request by Democratic state Attorney General Raúl Torrez and follows the state’s recent adoption of a new abortion rights bill signed by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham just weeks ago that overrides any local ordinances aimed at limiting access to abortion procedures and medications. The state already had one of the country’s most liberal abortion access laws, but two counties and three cities in eastern New Mexico recently adopted restrictions that reflect deep-seated opposition to offering the procedure. Torrez’s petition and the legislation that was passed during the recent 60-day aim to override those ordinances and prevent other counties from adopting abortion restrictions.The goal is for New Mexico to remain a safe haven for women seeking ab...

Stocks rally to cap a winning month, quarter for Wall Street

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:08:36 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rallied Friday to close out a winning March and first quarter of the year, feats that looked questionable just a couple weeks ago when Wall Street was tumbling in turmoil. The S&P 500 rose 1.4% to cap a 3.5% gain for the month. It also locked in a second winning quarter in a row after falling sharply most of last year on worries about high interest rates meant to get inflation under control. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 415 points, or 1.3%, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.7%. For the Nasdaq, big leaps for technology stocks drove a gain of 16.8% for the quarter, its best since the surge out of the coronavirus-caused crash in the spring of 2020. Friday’s gains came after a report showed inflation across the United States slowed in February, though it was still high relative to history. A continued slowdown could give the Federal Reserve more leeway to take it easier on interest rates after jacking them higher at a furious pace over the last yea...

New this week: Brooke Shields, ‘Grease’ prequel and NF album

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:08:36 GMT

Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music and video game platforms this week.MOVIES— “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields,” a two-part documentary debuting Monday on Hulu, reconsiders how Shields was sexualized throughout pop culture as a child model and as the 12-year-old star of Louis Malle’s controversial 1978 film “Pretty Baby.” Shields, now 57, intimately discusses how the early labeling of her a sex symbol affected her personally and shaped her career. Director Lana Wilson’s film, which debuted in January at the Sundance Film Festival, revisits plenty of infamous episodes from Shields’ life — her friendship with Michael Jackson, her relationship with Andre Agassi, her odd run-in with Tom Cruise — as well as new revelations, including that she was sexually assaulted by someone she knew professionally. — A new series on the Criterion Channel revisits sex and film from a much different...

Romania: Andrew Tate’s detention replaced with house arrest

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:08:36 GMT

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Andrew Tate, the divisive internet personality who has spent months in a Romanian jail on suspicion of organized crime and human trafficking, has won an appeal to replace his detention with house arrest, an official said Friday.The Bucharest Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Tate’s appeal, which challenged a judge’s decision last week to extend his arrest a fourth time for 30 days, said Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT.Tate, 36, a British-U.S. citizen who has 5.4 million Twitter followers, was initially detained in late December in Romania’s capital Bucharest, along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women.All four won an appeal Friday, and will remain under house arrest until Apr. 29, Bolla said. None of the four has yet been formally indicted. The court ruled in favor of their immediate release. Prosecutors cannot challenge the appeal court’s decision, which was final, Bolla added.Tate, a professional k...

Trump indictment not expected to affect Wisconsin court race

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:08:36 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The indictment of former President Donald Trump will likely have little impact on the high stakes Wisconsin Supreme Court race to be decided next week, as Democrats try to flip majority control of the court with the fate of abortion access in the state on the line, those closely watching the contest said Friday.Trump has not been directly involved in the race, did not endorse anyone, and the Republican-backed candidate has tried to distance his connections with the former president and the GOP. Additionally, Trump’s support among Republicans appears to be waning in the battleground state that he barely won in 2016 and then lost by a similar margin in 2020.“While this (indictment) may get the juice flowing with some of his supporters, some may have a head shake and shoulder shrug,” said longtime Republican strategist and former state GOP party leader Brandon Scholz. “This indictment thing isn’t really tied into this race. It is a Trump issue.”Ch...

Historic Trump indictment could open door to future political prosecutions: expert

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:08:36 GMT

WASHINGTON — The United States found itself in uncharted territory Friday, confronting the as-yet-unknown political, judicial and social repercussions of having an ex-president face criminal charges for the first time in its history.The indictment of Donald Trump was generating far more questions than answers, thanks to the fact that it will remain sealed until the former commander-in-chief is arraigned next week in New York City.But whatever happens, the complex executive-branch relationship between America’s elected leaders and its prosecutors may never be the same. “It is potentially terrifying,” said Neama Rahmani, a former assistant U.S. attorney who now operates a personal injury practice in California. Rahmani served in the second Bush administration under attorney general Alberto Gonzales, whose decision to abruptly fire seven U.S. attorneys in 2006 prompted charges of political interference, which Gonzales denied. Allegations began to fly that the firings ...