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Sinaloa drug cartel’s Massachusetts fentanyl distributor sentenced to 25 years in prison

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:53 GMT

In yet another strike against the Sinaloa drug cartel’s infrastructure propping up this country’s opioid crisis, the feds are sending the coordinator of the Massachusetts fentanyl supply to prison.Fermin Castillo, 43, may have lived in Mexico, but a multi-year investigation originated by the State Police and continued through a state-federal task force found that he was the man in charge of the Sinaloa cartel’s Massachusetts operation — and even came up here at times to oversee that things were working smoothly.Castillo’s job officially came to an end on Tuesday, when U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young handed down a 25-year sentence to the cartel middle manager in federal court in Boston.“The flow of deadly fentanyl from Mexico to Massachusetts is directly tied to the devastation this drug has had on our communities,” acting Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said in a statement. “(The Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico) pumped cheap, deadly fentanyl onto the streets of do...

Live updates | Live updates | Eight Israeli hostages are released during extended truce

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:53 GMT

Eight Israeli hostages were released from Hamas captivity in the Gaza strip on Thursday as part of a temporary cease-fire deal that has lasted for seven days, the Israeli military said.Israel has said it is freeing 30 Palestinian prisoners in the early hours of Friday under the truce deal, which has paused the deadliest fighting in decades between Israel and Palestinians.International pressure has mounted for the truce to be upheld as long as possible after weeks of Israeli bombardment and ground campaign following Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war.Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Israel, and more than three-quarters of the population of 2.3 million have been uprooted, leading to a humanitarian crisis.Israel has vowed to resume the fighting — with the goal of dismantling Hamas — once the cease-fire ends.Currently:— Wartime Israel shows little tolerance for Palestinian dissent.— U.S. secretary of state urges Israel to comply with intern...

Congressmen ask DOJ to investigate water utility hack, warning it could happen anywhere

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:53 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Three members of Congress have asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate how foreign hackers breached a water authority near Pittsburgh, prompting the nation’s top cyberdefense agency to warn other water and sewage-treatment utilities that they may be vulnerable.In a letter released Thursday, U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Bob Casey and U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio said Americans must know their drinking water and other basic infrastructure is safe from “nation-state adversaries and terrorist organizations.”“Any attack on our nation’s critical infrastructure is unacceptable,” Fetterman, Casey and Deluzio wrote in their letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland. “If a hack like this can happen here in western Pennsylvania, it can happen anywhere else in the United States.”The compromised industrial control system was made in Israel, and a photo from the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, suggests the “hackivists” deliberately targeted...

Former Wisconsin GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel is running for the state Supreme Court

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:53 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel announced Thursday that he is running for the Wisconsin Supreme Court against incumbent Justice Ann Walsh Bradley in a 2025, casting the race as a chance for conservatives to win back a majority and serve as a check on liberals.Bradley is part of a 4-3 liberal majority that took control of the court in August. She has said she will run for a fourth 10-year term. Schimel, a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge, is the first candidate to announce plans to challenge Bradley in the April 2025 election, but other conservatives are considering getting in the race.In his comments announcing his candidacy as prepared for delivery, Schimel said: “There is no check on this new liberal Supreme Court majority.”“The only check on them is to take back the majority by winning in 2025,” he said.Schimel has been outspoken on abortion and some other political issues that are almost certain to get more attention during the race. Abort...

Montana miner backs off expansion plans, lays off 100 due to lower palladium prices

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:53 GMT

The owner of two precious metals mines in south-central Montana is stopping work on an expansion project and laying off about 100 workers because the price of palladium fell sharply in the past year, mine representatives said Thursday.Sibanye-Stillwater announced the layoffs Wednesday at the only platinum and palladium mines in the United States, near Nye, Montana, and other Sibanye-owned facilities in Montana, including a recycling operation. Another 20 jobs have gone unfilled since October, officials said. Another 187 contract workers — about 67% of the mining contract workers at the mine — will also be affected. Some contract work has been phased out over the past couple of months, said Heather McDowell, a vice president at Sibanye-Stillwater. The restructuring is not expected to significantly impact current mine production or recycling production, but will reduce costs, the company said.Palladium prices have since fallen from a peak of about $3,000 an ounce in March 2022 to abou...

Federal judge blocks Montana’s first-in-the-nation ban on TikTok, says it’s unconstitutional

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:53 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s first-in-the-nation law banning the video-sharing app TikTok in the state has been blocked while a legal challenge to the law moves through the courts, a federal judge ruled Thursday.U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy said the ban “oversteps state power and infringes on the Constitutional right of users and businesses.”The ban had been scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.Montana’s Republican-controlled Legislature made the state the first in the U.S. to pass a complete ban on the app, based on the argument that the Chinese government could gain access to user information from TikTok, whose parent company, ByteDance, is based in Beijing.Western governments have expressed worries that the popular social media platform could put sensitive data in the hands of the Chinese government or be used as a tool to spread misinformation. Chinese law allows the government to order companies to help it gather intelligence.Attorneys for TikTok and the content creator...

Watchdog flags ‘risk of discrimination’ in border agency’s air traveller targeting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:53 GMT

OTTAWA — The national spy watchdog says Canada’s border agency needs to do a better job of documenting how and why it singles out certain air passengers for possible additional scrutiny.The Canada Border Services Agency’s targeting program uses pre-arrival risk assessments to identify inbound air travellers more likely to be ineligible to enter Canada.As a first step, the border agency looks at information about passengers routinely provided by commercial air carriers, including age, sex and national or ethnic origin.The National Security and Intelligence Review Agency found the border agency relies on information and intelligence from a variety of sources to determine which data elements to treat as indicators of risk.A report from the intelligence watchdog released late Thursday says the border agency has the legal authority to conduct such air passenger targeting.However, it details shortcomings in the border agency’s documentation of its program activities that...

Bulls star LaVine misses game against Bucks because of sore right foot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:53 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago star Zach LaVine missed the Bulls' game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday because of a sore right foot.LaVine, averaging 21 points, exited Chicago's blowout loss at Boston on Tuesday. Coach Billy Donovan wasn't sure how much time the two-time All-Star will miss. ‘I am embarrassed’: Corey Perry releases statement after getting cut by Blackhawks “I know he's going to be out tonight, but that's really kind of all I have at this point in time,” he said. “It's just something that I think flared up for him in the Boston game and is still dealing with the soreness.”DeMar DeRozan was a game-time decision because of a sprained left ankle, and Alex Caruso was available after being listed as questionable with a strained left toe.Chicago was 5-14 with five straight losses heading into the game.

A month later, Columbia College adjunct professors still on strike, impacting students

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:53 GMT

CHICAGO — Part-time faculty members remain on strike more than one month after they walked off the job to protest a cut in their courses.While both parties remain at the bargaining tables, students who spoke with WGN News say the strike continues to impact them and their education."I have to have five classes every semester to keep my status and three of them were impacted by the strike and all three have been substituted," said international student Mitchell Oliveira Bueno. You need up to $15,000 more just to live like you did in 2021, analysis finds As the Brazilian native prepares to wrap up the last semester at Columbia College, Oliveira Bueno, along with many other students, said the safe haven and supportive atmosphere that was standard at the school has since changed with the strike.On Oct. 30, adjunct professors left the job about two months after the fall semester began."Recently, they decided to bring in these replacement teachers to come in three weeks before the semes...

Kaitlin Armstrong gives notice of appeal on murder conviction, Travis County DA drops escape charge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:53 GMT

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas -- Kaitlin Armstrong gave notice of an appeal Thursday after she was sentenced to 90 years for the murder of pro cyclist Mariah “Mo” Wilson. Additionally, the Travis County District Attorney's Office announced it filed a motion to dismiss the escape charge she committed in early October. Kaitlin Armstrong receives 90-year sentence following several hours of deliberation from jury Armstrong was previously charged with escape causing bodily injury. She was arrested on Oct. 11 after her brief escape during a trip to a medical facility, Ascension Orthopedics in Austin, outline months of planning before evading two Travis County correctional officers on foot.Police issued an arrest warrant for Armstrong on May 17, 2022, six days after she shot and killed Wilson at an east Austin apartment. Wilson was staying with a friend in town ahead of a nearby gravel race. ‘Vigorous’ exercise, thermal pants part of Armstrong’s escape plan, court records reveal According to a ...