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AP Exclusive: America’s Black attorneys general discuss race, politics and the justice system

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:06:51 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The American legal system is facing a crisis of trust in communities around the country, with people of all races and across the political spectrum.For many, recent protests against police brutality called attention to longstanding discrepancies in the administration of justice. For others, criticism of perceived conflicts of interest in the judiciary, as well as aspersions cast by former President Donald Trump and others on the independence of judges and law enforcement, have further damaged faith in the rule of law among broad swaths of the public.Yet many Black attorneys understood the disparate impact the legal system can have on different communities long before the 2020 protests following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police. Many pursued legal careers and entered that same system to improve it, with some rising to one of its most influential roles, the top enforcement official: attorney general.There is a record number of Black attorneys general, se...

Santos’s fate hangs in limbo as expulsion vote nears

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:06:51 GMT

For Rep. George Santos, the clock is ticking dangerously close to midnight.The House is set to vote Friday on a resolution to expel the embattled New York Republican, marking the third and most serious attempt to boot Santos from Congress amid his mounting legal and ethical troubles. The first-term Long Islander easily survived the first two votes aimed at closing the book on his short congressional career. But momentum for his removal has been building on both sides of the aisle following the release of a damning Ethics Committee report last month, raising the real prospect that this week will mark the final chapter in a Capitol Hill saga that has captivated Washington since even before Santos was sworn in.It remains unclear if Santos will also survive the third expulsion measure, which would require the support of scores of Republicans to meet the high threshold — two-thirds of the House chamber — to be successful. But the controversy has created an early heada...

'Mass casualty event' halted after man makes threats toward Tesla event, report says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:06:51 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Just one day before Tesla’s Thursday Cybertruck delivery event a man was arrested and accused of making online threats aimed at the company’s big day.According to the arrest report, Paul Ryan Overeem, from Orlando, Florida, was arrested on a charge related to making threats on Instagram.Court documents said on Nov. 10, the Austin Regional Intelligence Center (ARIC) received an email notification for a suspicious activity report from Tesla.That report highlighted messages sent in a group chat from an Instagram user. Some of the messages in the report said phrases like, “I sure am crazy though,” “I plan on killing people,” “I wanna die,” “I need to be stopped” and “If I’m saying I’m gonna kill people then you should take this seriously.”According to the report, law enforcement used the Flock Safety camera search to confirm a sighting of the 2015 black Chevy Tahoe registered to Overeem, which confirmed a sighting on Nov. 28 on Highway 290 in Sunset Valley.Cellular data ...

Peppermint Parkway lights up COTA for 4th holiday season

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:06:51 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Circuit of the Americas is glowing for the holiday season. Austin's premier, multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue turned on its 6 million lights this week, transforming into Peppermint Parkway for the fourth year now. Peppermint Parkway began in 2020 to "bring more holiday magic to Central Texans and give back to the local community," according to a release from COTA. During the event, COTA is illuminated by millions of holiday lights and plays host to fun, holiday-themed experiences.This year, the event includes a drive-thru experience to see the holiday lights on Tunnel Road, an opportunity to drive on the track, and the iconic 25-story Observation Tower is lit up in candy cane colors.The Peppermint Plaza is also filled with holiday shopping, themed food and drink, rides, character meet and greets, and more.Ticket details and pricing can be found online. Peppermint Parkway is returning to Circuit of the Americas for the 2022 holiday season. (Courtesy: C...

TxDOT wants families to check out equipment at major project

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:06:51 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Texas Department of Transportation said Thursday it wants to give families an up-close view of the equipment that is building a major highway project in southwest Austin. The agency will host a touch-a-truck event Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Colorado River Constructors which is the lower parking lot of the former ACC Pinnacle Campus at 7748 US 290. TxDOT said the event will display the machines used the build roads, bridges, walls and shared-use paths along the Oak Hill Parkway project.Local first responder vehicles will also be on display, including a fire truck and ambulance, according to TxDOT. People with the Oak Hill Parkway project will be there to talk about the equipment and the project, TxDOT said. Nov. 2022: Traffic pattern change coming soon to Oak Hill construction project Construction at the "Y" at U.S. 290 and State Highway 71 broke ground in July 2021. At that time, TxDOT said the project would improve safety and mobility along six miles...

Firefighters fall from 2nd floor battling blaze in downtown Los Angeles area

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:06:51 GMT

Two firefighters are OK after falling through the second floor of a two-story office building that erupted in flames in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles Friday morning.Crews responded to a fire burning outside the structure in the 1000 block of West Sunset Boulevard around 1 a.m.Firefighters respond to an office building blaze in Echo Park on Dec. 1, 2023. (OnScene.TV)The flames eventually extended into the building, believed to house medical offices, and traveled to the second floor, the Los Angeles Fire Department stated in a news alert. "There was a partial floor collapse on the 2nd floor which impacted two firefighters," the Fire Department posted. The firefighters were not injured but were taken to a local hospital as a precaution, LAFD Assistant Chief Steve Hissong said.Nearly 70 firefighters continued to battle the blaze aggressively and extinguished the fire in just under an hour, the fire department stated. Arson investigators were sent to the scene. “The arson inv...

Toll lanes open on 405 Fwy in Orange County

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:06:51 GMT

It's finally here, Orange County. On Friday, toll lanes on the 405 Freeway opened, providing what officials say is a faster option for those willing to pay and less congestion for those who aren't."The Express Lanes benefit all who drive on the I-405, even those who don’t drive in the Express Lanes. Drive times on the regular lanes will be reduced because space will be freed up by those who choose to use the Express Lanes," the Orange County Transportation Authority said on the project's website.The lanes, which run from Long Beach to Costa Mesa, uses electronic tolling, requiring drivers to have a FasTrak transponder. The actual cost to drivers will fluctuate based on what time it is, the day of the week and the direction of travel, something officials call "congestion management pricing," according to OCTA."Congestion management pricing is designed to optimize express lanes traffic at free-flow speeds," OCTA said. "To accomplish this OCTA monitors hourly traffic volumes. Tolls are...

Who will be the 2024 Rose Parade grand marshal? We'll find out soon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:06:51 GMT

The name of the 2024 Tournament of Roses grand marshal will be announced a little later Friday morning, but officials have given us a clue about the person's identity. "The Grand Marshal is one award away from the coveted E.G.O.T. status, having won three of the four prestigious awards," the Tournament of Roses stated in a news release earlier this week. The grand marshal will take part in the 135th Rose Parade presented by Honda and participate in the 110th Rose Bowl pre-game by tossing the coin on Monday, Jan. 1. The 2024 Rose Parade is themed “Celebrating a World of Music.” The name of the grand marshal will be revealed at 9 a.m. on the front lawn of the Tournament House in Pasadena.

DeSantis, Newsom clash over COVID-19, crime, abortion in fiery debate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:06:51 GMT

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) went head to head in a Fox News debate on Thursday as the governors — one a current presidential contender and the other seen as a future White House prospect — clashed over their records and policy.During the fiery 90-minute debate moderated by Sean Hannity and branded as “The Great Red vs. Blue State Debate,” DeSantis and Newsom took jabs at each other over how they handled key issues like the COVID-19 pandemic, crime and abortion, at times reverting to personal attacks such as calling each other bullies.The debate came against the backdrop of DeSantis’s presidential campaign. The Florida governor was initially seen as a threat to Donald Trump but is now lagging in polls behind not only the former president but also former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.Meanwhile, Newsom has been widely floated as a presidential hopeful; while he has said he’s not interested in challenging President Biden next year, the Fox News ...

Linying Sees the Lights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:06:51 GMT

Linying Sees the Lights: LA-via-Singapore artist Linying told us about her Francis & the Lights experience.Linying: As an ex-perfectionist taking great measures to undo what feels like a hard-coded impulse to maximise, I’ve come to realise that what is best is only as true as what feels best… which then becomes an exercise in listening to yourself. The best gig I’d ever been was the one I hadn’t known was happening until it was in front of my eyes — it was SXSW in 2017, and my guitarist and I had just stumbled out of a church in Austin where an up and coming artist named Billie Eilish had played a solo set on her ukulele. On the way out we spotted Chloe Grace Moretz sitting on the steps and, while gawking, nearly collided with a tricycle Questlove was sitting in. As musicians from Singapore growing up in a city state in which life was by and large predictable and sterile, it blew our sheltered little minds that we were turning corners every five minutes and seeing people whose f...