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Pritzker signs law that benefits Chicago first responders disabled by COVID

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:11:55 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday signed a law providing full disability benefits to Chicago police officers and firefighters struck by COVID-19 before vaccines were available, presiding over an emotional statehouse ceremony which marked the end of a financial struggle for responders including the brother of Comptroller Susana Mendoza.The Act-of-Duty law, HB3162, ensures disability benefits of 75% of salary plus health insurance for anyone unable to work after contracting the coronavirus from March 9, 2020, when the flare-up intensified in Illinois, until June 30, 2021. The law grants them the presumption that they picked up the illness on the job.Pritzker said after COVID-19′s arrival in early 2020, police, fire and medical personnel were both a line of defense and a lifeline. Arwady on COVID public health emergency ending: ‘It doesn’t mean it’s gone’ “Our first responders were key to our national response, transporting infected patients to hospitals, ...

Migrants volunteer in community garden as they await placement at local shelters

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:11:55 GMT

CHICAGO — For the last 15 days, Manuel Moreno and his wife, Laurimar, have been living out of the Chicago Police Department's 22nd District police station in Morgan Park.While they wait for placement in a local shelter, Moreno and a group of men have been helping in the nearby Edna White Community Garden."Picking up trash, a spring clean-up getting rid of dead plants, putting down mulch," said Tim Noonan, who works as a mutual aide in the 19th Ward. "It gives them something to do because they’re sitting around all day staring at the walls." CPSA joins FOP, calls out City for sending migrants to police stations for days on end Moreno said their journey here wasn't easy.The two said they left Venezuela eight months ago, traveling on foot through the jungles of Panama and Guatemala. Along the way, Moreno said they went without food for days and dead bodies were found everywhere. At one point, he said they had to drink water from a river filled with corpses.Moreno said he saved $3,000...

Thousands of honeybees take over Louisiana home

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:11:55 GMT

JEANERETTE, La. (KLFY) - A Louisiana family can no longer live in their home due to unwanted visitors taking over.Annie Lively said she has not been able to stay at her home in Jeanerette because thousands of honeybees have made a nest for their colony inside the house.Lively said she woke up one morning and saw they were inside the house. For nearly a decade, Lively has lived in her home raising her family. She said the neighbor across the street noticed numerous bees in a tree near Lively's home long before Lively moved in. Starbucks rolls out $1 charge for certain orders, causing confusion "I never started seeing them until like two or three years ago," Lively said. "[My neighbor] said it has been going on with this tree in the back of the house."Lively said she has tried to get help from the city, but they have not been able to get the bees from the home. Nexstar's KLFY spoke with Jeanerette Mayor Carol Bourgeois who said he and his department have done everything they can do ...

Texas ranks as worst state for mental healthcare

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:11:55 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A recent study has ranked Texas as the worst state for mental healthcare in the U.S. and claimed the state has the highest percentage of uninsured adults with mental illness.The study, conducted by Forbes, evaluated states on the availability of mental health services and the barrier to accessing those services. Along with the aforementioned metric, Texas also ranked the highest for the "highest percentage of adults with a cognitive disability who could not see a doctor due to cost" and "highest percentage of youth who had a major depressive episode in the past year and did not receive treatment." Forbes Digital Public Relations Manager Zoi Galarraga said that the study weighed these three metrics over the other four."They were a better reflection of needing mental health services and lacking access to care, than just number of mental health treatment centers per 10,000 businesses, for example," Galarraga said. "We essentially provided a heavier weighting to any met...

Minnesota Democrats have deal on new gun control — red flag laws, expanded background checks

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:11:55 GMT

Minnesota Democrats believe they have agreement on two gun control laws that can win approval in the state Senate where they have a one-seat majority.Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party members, who won a trifecta of control of state government in November, have said addressing gun violence was a top priority. But until Wednesday there were a lot of doubts DFLers could win approval of substantial changes in the Senate, where several members won close races and are politically vulnerable on the issue.Now both expanded background checks and a red flag law appear to have the support to pass. They were inserted Wednesday into the judiciary and public safety budget bill being finalized by a bicameral committee of lawmakers.The gun control measures have already passed the House once along party lines, but they have not been debated in the full Senate.“I am so proud the Legislature is finally getting this done,” said Sen. Bonnie Westlin, DFL-Plymouth, who is in her first term and has...

Starbucks debuts two new limited-time summer beverages

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:11:55 GMT

Starbucks is getting a jump start on this year’s warmer months, introducing two new summer beverages that will be available in U.S. stores for a limited time starting on Tuesday.The new menu additions are the Chocolate Java Mint Frappuccino blended beverage and White Chocolate Macadamia Cream Cold Brew.The new Frappuccino is a blend of coffee, chocolate, mint, and Frappuccino chips, topped with mocha sauce, whipped cream, and a sprinkle of mint-chocolate cookie crumble, the coffee shop chain says.“With the Chocolate Java Mint Frappuccino, we wanted to take a new approach to the classic combination of mint and chocolate to create a blended coffee beverage that elicits nostalgia for one of our favorite summer treats,” Maureen Matthews of Starbucks beverage development team, said in a press release.“The new white chocolate mint sauce is subtle and creamy, and when paired with the crunch of Frappuccino chips and a swirl of rich mocha, is reminiscent of mint chocolate chip ice cream pool...

Defiant Santos says he won’t resign amid criminal indictment

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:11:55 GMT

Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) told reporters Wednesday that he will not resign despite facing a 13-count criminal indictment.Federal prosecutors charged Santos earlier Wednesday with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives, a significant escalation of the months-long controversy surrounding his biography and finances.Shortly after entering a not guilty plea at a Long Island courthouse — and being released on a $500,000 bond — the congressman delivered a full-throated defense.“I will not resign,” Santos told reporters outside the courthouse, later adding, “I believe I’m innocent.”“I’m gonna fight my battle, I’m gonna deliver, I’m gonna fight the witch hunt, I’m gonna take care of clearing my name and I look forward to doing that,” he said.Santos has been the subject of scrutiny for months — since before he was sworn into the House — amid question...

Missouri lawmakers send legislation restricting transgender health care, athletes to governor

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:11:55 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Legislation to restrict gender-affirming care for minors and require transgender athletes from playing on the team aligned with the sex on their birth certificate is headed to Governor Mike Parson's desk.Missouri is joining more than a dozen states in restricting or banning access to puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or gender-affirming surgery. Senate Bill 49 would also affect Medicaid patients due to the state prohibiting any funds from covering gender-affirming care in Missouri, and surgery will no longer be available to inmates and prisoners.Minutes after the House approved to restrict gender-affirming care, representatives took up another bill aimed at the transgender community, by requiring transgender athletes from playing on the team that matches the sex on their birth certificate from kindergarten through college, both at public and private schools. Any school district that does not follow this law could jeopardize its funding.Following Wednesday's...

Juvenile charged in violent O'Fallon home invasion

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:11:55 GMT

ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. - A St. Louis teen is facing charges for his suspected involvement in a violent home invasion in O'Fallon earlier this year.St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Joseph McCulloch on Tuesday charged Marcell Hamilton, 15, with first-degree accessory to robbery, first-degree accessory to burglary, and first-degree accessory to assault. Hamilton is in custody on a $100,000 bond.According to court documents, the break-in occurred in January in the Winghaven subdivision.The victims were awakened by a noise in the middle of the night and, when investigating the sound, were confronted by four young men armed with handguns. Circuit Attorney refuses charges to woman arrested in Cherokee St. shooting The suspects demanded money and forced the homeowner to hand over their car keys. After the victim turned over their keys, one of the suspects struck the person in the face with a gun. Another suspect fired a shot in that victim's direction.The suspects fled in the home...

Huge number of asylum seekers at US-Mexico border as COVID-19 restrictions end, new rules begin

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:11:55 GMT

By MARIA VERZA, COLLEEN LONG and MORGAN LEE (Associated Press)CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — The Biden administration on Thursday will begin denying asylum to migrants who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border without first applying online or seeking protection in a country they passed through. It marks a fundamental shift in immigration policy as the U.S. readies for the end of a key pandemic restriction.Asylum seekers have been showing up at the border in huge numbers in anticipation of this week’s end of the use of a restriction known as Title 42. That rule has allowed the government to quickly expel migrants to Mexico. U.S. officials warned of difficult days ahead as the program tied to the COVID-19 pandemic expires this week.The rule announced Wednesday is part of new measures meant to crack down on illegal border crossings while creating new legal pathways. Families who cross the border will face curfews and monitoring; the head of household will wear an ankle bracelet as...