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Campaign spending on childcare may be possible under proposed law

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:59 GMT

Legislation filed by state lawmakers, if approved, would allow politicians to use campaign funds to cover the cost of childcare while running for office and prevent foreign owned companies from spending on Massachusetts politics.The Joint Committee on Elections heard testimony from their colleagues and advocates Wednesday on the worth of about two dozen bills, several of which would change the law so that state politicians can use their campaign donations to cover the cost of daycare.“During my run for Congress I was and still am the primary caretaker for my two daughters,” Jamie Zahlaway Belsito, a former state representative and congressional candidate, told lawmakers. “There were moments on my campaign where there was no help to watch my children.”According to data provided by the U.S. Department of Labor, the cost of daycare in some Massachusetts municipalities is as high as it is anywhere in the country, with families paying upwards of $26,000 per year for childcare.Too often, ...

Students stage ‘die-in’ in Dorchester, advocating against community violence

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:59 GMT

Dozens of students left their classrooms to lay still in the Dorchester intersection of Columbia Road and Washington Street on Wednesday afternoon — a striking imitation of death meant to draw attention to the looming threat of violence in their communities.“This die-in was done so we can grab your attention,” 15-year-old Brooke High School student Aniyah said in a speech to a crowd gathered. “We don’t want to keep losing our community members to violence. It could be me. It could be you. It could be any of us.”The “Die-In” protest, organized by Teen Empowerment Boston and local teens, started around noon Wednesday with a walk-out from school and gathering at the intersection.Protestors laid in the street for about five minutes and marched through the road to nearby Fenelon St. Playground, hearing speeches and performances from teens and local nonprofit leaders.The idea for the die-in came out of conversations with over 300 teens from ...

Rachael Rollins’ texts to reporters and Ricardo Arroyo about Kevin Hayden: ‘Light him up’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:59 GMT

U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins apparently spent a lot of time as the top federal prosecutor in the Bay State texting reporters and a city councilor about the Suffolk County district attorney, as she tried to sabotage his DA campaign.Rollins also ignored the legal advice from her own office when she attended a Democratic National Committee fundraiser with First Lady Jill Biden.That’s according to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which wrote a letter to President Biden on Wednesday that included a treasure trove of the U.S. Attorney’s text messages and emails.Rollins supported City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo in his bid for Suffolk DA against Kevin Hayden. On multiple occasions during the campaign, Arroyo brought up the idea of Rollins’ office announcing an investigation of Hayden. Rollins responded, “Understood. Keep fighting and campaigning. I’m working on something.”Over the next several weeks, Rollins made three different attempts to disclose tha...

Texas man pleads guilty to smuggling gun linked to deadly Mexico kidnapping

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:59 GMT

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas man pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to purchasing a gun for a Mexican drug cartel that was linked to the deadly kidnapping of four Americans.Roberto Lugardo Moreno Jr., 42, of Harlingen, Texas, appeared before a federal judge in Brownsville and entered his guilty plea to charges of straw purchasing and smuggling a firearm.Lugardo Moreno bought a multi-caliber AR-style pistol at a pawn shop in 2019 and lied on a form stating he was the buyer when he purchased it for a Gulf Cartel member in Mexico, according to a federal complaint.“All too often, firearms are trafficked into Mexico where they end up in the hands of criminals who use them to murder, rob and extort innocent people,” U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani said in a statement. “This case is a textbook example of the dangers involved when criminals transport weapons into Mexico.”Sentencing was scheduled for August.A public defender appointed for Lugardo Moreno did not respond to a c...

Trial over Kari Lake’s last challenge to loss in Arizona governor’s race wraps up 1st day

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:59 GMT

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Maricopa County has a failed process for verifying thousands of ballot signatures that even some of its own workers question, attorneys for Kari Lake argued in court Wednesday.The Republican’s lawyers spent most of the first day of a three-day trial showing video and taking testimony from two previous signature screeners who alleged staff was overwhelmed. The allegations are the only remaining legal claim in Lake’s challenge of her defeat six months ago to Democrat Katie Hobbs in the Arizona governor’s race.“There’s simply no way to review signatures with respect to procedures,” Kurt Olsen, one of Lake’s attorneys said.The former TV anchor was among the most vocal of last year’s Republican candidates promoting former President Donald Trump’s election lies, which she made the centerpiece of her campaign. Lake listened to the proceedings from a seat in the back of the courtroom but did not speak. She left two hours into the hearing.While most other...

Ukrainian trauma surgeon operates on soldiers all day long amid Russia’s war

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:59 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — As the lead trauma surgeon at a military hospital in Ukraine’s capital, Petro Nikitin has his hands deep in a war churning hundreds of kilometers (miles) away. The 59-year-old doctor’s work to repair the bodies of some of the most badly injured soldiers is all-consuming. “I only operate,” Nikitin said, taking a short pause as his team continued surgery on a patient. “I do nothing else in my life now. I don’t see my children, who have been evacuated, I don’t see my wife, who has been evacuated, I live by myself, and all I do is treat the wounded.”While the Ukrainian military does not provide casualty figures, some Western sources estimate more than 100,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed or wounded since Russia invaded the country almost 15 months ago. Fighting has been particularly fierce in recent weeks around the eastern city of Bakhmut, scene of the war’s longest and bloodiest battle, where Ukrainian forces have recently clawed...

Seattle startup’s ex-CFO accused of diverting $35 million, losing it in crypto crash

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:59 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — The former chief financial officer of a Seattle-based startup took $35 million of his employer’s money without permission and lost it by investing in cryptocurrency before the crypto market crashed last year, according to a federal indictment returned by a grand jury Wednesday.Nevin Shetty, 39, was hired in March 2021 as CFO of Fabric, which makes software platforms for retail commerce.About a year later, after the company informed him it was letting him go over job performance concerns, he secretly took the money and transferred it to HighTower Treasury, a crypto platform he controlled as a side business, the indictment said.His idea was to pay the company 6% interest while retaining profits above that, but soon the $35 million investment was practically worthless, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle said in a news release.The indictment in U.S. District Court charged Shetty with four counts of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be arraigned May 25.Shetty&#...

Democratic Minneapolis City Council candidate says he doesn’t condone violence, days after melee

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:59 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Days after chaos erupted at a Democratic nominating convention for a Minneapolis City Council seat, one of the candidates said he does not condone violence.Nasri Warsame, a political newcomer and Somali immigrant who is running for the seat currently held by Aisha Chughtai, said Wednesday: “I do not condone violence. I do not condone intimidation or harassment of any sort.”Saturday’s convention was held to endorse a candidate for the Minneapolis City Council race. Video circulating on social media shows a disturbance happened after supporters of Chughtai took the stage to seek the delegates’ backing for the seat. That sparked an uproar among Warsame’s supporters. Some jumped on stage, shouting, banging on tables and waving signs. At least two people were injured, and the convention broke up with no endorsement.Warsame’s campaign manager, Abshir Omar, said Wednesday that Warsame’s supporters were victims — not perpetrators. Omar said Warsame’s sup...

‘Huge relief’ as Drayton Valley residents return home after wildfire evacuation

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:59 GMT

The mayor of a west-central Alberta town said it was emotional to return home nearly two weeks after an out-of-control wildfire forced residents to flee, but thousands elsewhere remain on edge as scores of fires continue to rage across much of the West. “Just happy to be home and happy to be supporting one another and just pulling together like we always do,” Drayton Valley Mayor Nancy Dodds told a news conference Wednesday.Fire officials pointed to areas around the community, 145 kilometres southwest of Edmonton, showing how close the flames crept. People hugged each other and employees at the local grocery store as shelves were being restocked. Virtually all of the store’s meat and dairy products left behind during the evacuation had to be thrown out. “It’s a huge relief, and we’re just so thankful that our home is still standing and that everyone is OK,” said Jade Verheul, who had to quickly leave with her children on May 4. Verheul said she was luck...

Fort St. John, B.C., breathes easier as wildfire evacuation alert is lifted

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:59:59 GMT

Residents of Fort St. John in northeastern British Columbia breathed a collective sigh of relief after the city lifted its wildfire evacuation alert Wednesday, although more than 1,300 properties in the surrounding area remain under an evacuation order.Toni Chittim, who lives with her husband and three children on a property 40 kilometres north of the city, said a blaze got so close to their home on Monday that flames were visible as they drove away.“The embers from the trees were going into our yard,” she said in an interview from a hotel in Fort St. John, as her home remains off-limits in the evacuation zone.“That was a scary point.”Chittim’s house was unscathed by the fire, as were five horses on the property, she said.There were four fire trucks in the yard and firefighting helicopters overhead, on their way to drop water on the encroaching flames, she said.“I did think the house was going to be gone that night,” Chittim said. “I l...