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State education officials want to interview students of Florida teacher under investigation for showing Disney movie to class

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:46 GMT

(CNN) — Florida education officials want to speak with students who were shown a Disney movie in their fifth-grade class, sparking an investigation of their teacher over the state’s law against the teaching of sexual orientation or gender identity.A letter was sent to “sent to several students’ parents” indicating investigators from the Florida Department of Education would be at the Winding Waters K-8 school as soon as Wednesday and may interview students, Hernando County Schools spokesperson Karen Jordan said.Parents can object to the interview, according to the Miami Herald, which obtained a copy of the letter. School officials were made aware of the planned visit last week, it reported.The investigation centers on teacher Jenna Barbee, who said she showed her class the movie “Strange World” as their peers were finishing standardized testing. The 2022 Disney film tells the story of a family of explorers and features a gay character.A parent of one of Barbee’s students, ...

Turtle causes semi-truck to hit multiple vehicles stopped on Florida highway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:46 GMT

DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Fla. (WSVN) — A turtle on the road caused a semi-truck to slam into several cars in Walton County after a vehicle stopped in the middle of the road in an attempt to save the slow-moving reptile.According to a Facebook post from the Walton County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO), a driver stopped on the southbound lanes of US-331, located in Florida’s panhandle, to help the shelled creature to the other side of the road.“Residents and visitors alike should marvel at the many species that call Florida home. Just preferably not in the middle of the road,” said the Facebook post.Dashcam video from the 18-wheeler captured the encounter as it failed to brake in time while other cars were stopped on the street.The WCSO released the video to caution drivers against stopping in the middle of the road, especially on a fast-moving highway.“We all can do better to protect the wildlife and natural inhabitants of our great state. Residents and visitors...

Black Sea grain deal extended for 2 more months, Erdoğan says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:46 GMT

A U.N.-brokered deal making it possible for Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea has been extended for two months, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Wednesday, averting a looming threat of shipments stopping completely at a time of deepening world hunger.“With the efforts of our country, the support of our Russian friends and the contributions of our Ukrainian friends, it was decided to extend the Black Sea Grain Corridor Agreement for another 2 months,” Erdoğan said in a tweet. “Good luck to the whole world.”The fate of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, struck between the United Nations, Turkey, Russia and Ukraine last July, had hung in the balance after the Kremlin warned that from this Thursday, it would no longer be in a position to guarantee the safety of ships passing through the Bosphorus to collect cargoes from Ukraine’s southern ports and deliver them to world markets.With Erdoğan leading after the first round of voting in a pr...

Justice Department watchdog finds US attorney in Massachusetts tried to influence DA election

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:46 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts, who has announced her resignation, tried to influence the outcome of a race for Boston’s district attorney and violated multiple policies, the Justice Department’s internal watchdog said in a report released Wednesday.The inspector general’s 161-page report alleges a broad array of misconduct by U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins. It accuses her of disclosing to a journalist nonpublic information about a Justice Department investigation, soliciting and accepting 30 free tickets to a Boston Celtics game and accepting payment from a sports and entertainment agency for travel and means.The watchdog said Rollins used her position to try to influence last year’s race for the Democratic nominee for district attorney of Suffolk County, which includes Boston, by leaking a potentially damaging information about District Attorney Kevin Hayden while supporting his political rival.The investigation also determi...

Genetic predisposition toward higher blood pressure, cholesterol may be linked to Alzheimer’s risk, study finds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:46 GMT

(CNN) — A genetic tendency toward certain forms of higher blood pressure and cholesterol is linked to a potential increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study finds.The exact cause of Alzheimer’s is unclear, and although there are medications available to slow the progress of the disease, there is still no cure.Scientists have been racing to understand Alzheimer’s better so that they can figure out ways to prevent or treat it.The understanding can’t come soon enough. More than 6 million Americans have the condition now, but the Alzheimer’s Association predicts that number will more than double by 2050, costing the country $1 trillion. Women and people who are Black or Hispanic are disproportionately affected by the disease.The researchers on this study, published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Network Open, were trying to understand modifiable risk factors that might keep someone from developing Alzheimer’s. They also hoped to help guide drug devel...

Sherpa breaks record with 27th Mount Everest summit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:46 GMT

(CNN) — A Nepali Sherpa has reached the top of Everest for the 27th time, breaking the world record for total number of summits of the world’s tallest, and one of its deadliest, mountains.Kami Rita Sherpa, a 53, completed his latest ascent early on May 17, Nepal Department of Tourism official Bigyan Koirala told CNN.Kami — most Sherpas go by their first names — is a senior guide at Kathmandu expedition company Seven Summit Treks. He began his career in mountaineering in 1992.“We are very happy to know that this morning at 8:30 a.m., Kami Rita successfully summitted Mount Everest along with a foreign climber,” said Mingwa Sherpa, chairman of Seven Summit Treks.He added: “Currently Kami Rita is descending. He is healthy and in good shape.”Kami was already a record holder after achieving a world-beating 26th climb of Everest last year.Just this week, a fellow Nepali, 46-year-old Pasang Dawa Sherpa, tied Kami’s achievement with a 26th climb. Their tie lasted two days before Ka...

Man convicted of burglary after hiding in NH woman’s attic, secretly photographing her asleep

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:46 GMT

DOVER, N.H. (AP) — A man accused of hiding in a woman’s attic and secretly photographing her while she slept has been convicted of burglary and other charges.The man, now 19, was arrested in February 2022 on the roof of the woman’s home in Somersworth, New Hampshire. He was accused of driving hundreds of miles from Pennsylvania, spending several days hiding in her attic, photographing her while she slept and attempting to put a tracking device on her car. He was convicted Tuesday of burglary, criminal trespass and invasion of privacy.The man told jurors he and the woman were in a relationship and that she “wanted to be stalked,” WMUR-TV reported. The woman testified that she began communicating with him by text after he subscribed to her site on the adult website OnlyFans. She said they had sex once during an earlier unannounced trip to New Hampshire, but she did not consider them to be in a relationship.Prosecutors argued that the victim never invited him to her home and said...

Man convicted of second-degree murder in 2019 death of New Hampshire pastor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:46 GMT

BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) — A man has been convicted of fatally shooting a New Hampshire pastor in 2019 whose church he attended.Brandon Castiglione, 28, was convicted Monday of two counts of second-degree murder in the death of Luis Garcia.Garcia, 60, was found dead Oct. 1, 2019, inside Castiglione’s home in Londonderry. Garcia was a pastor at New England Pentecostal Ministries in Pelham and Castiglione attended the church and prayer services hosted by Garcia, prosecutors said.Castiglione and Garcia also got together outside of church, going to firing ranges, and Garcia was at the house that day for a painting job, according to trial testimony.Castiglione pleaded not guilty. He did not testify. He will be sentenced at a later time.Garcia’s stepson, Dale Holloway, is charged with opening fire during a wedding at the church later that month, wounding a bishop and the bride-to-be. The groom was Brandon Castiglione’s father. Holloway pleaded not guilty and awaits trial.

Prince Harry and Meghan pursued by ‘reckless’ photographers in cars in New York

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:46 GMT

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and DANICA KIRKA (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, were pursued by photographers in cars after a charity event in New York in an incident that the mayor and the couple’s office described as potentially dangerous and that instantly drew comparisons to the 1997 fatal car crash of Harry’s mother, Princess Diana.The NYPD did not provide immediate comment to describe or corroborate the royals’ statement about the incident. New York City Mayor Eric Adams told reporters he hadn’t received a full briefing about the incident yet, but he called it “reckless and irresponsible” for anyone to be chasing people in vehicles in the densely populated city, and said that “two of our officers could have been injured.”Harry and Meghan’s office said in a statement that the chase “resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officer...

Blue Jays’ Jay Jackson admits to tipping pitches against Aaron Judge after side-eye controversy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:10:46 GMT

TORONTO — After all the speculation, comments, coaching box theatrics and chants of “cheater” directed at Aaron Judge, demoted Blue Jays pitcher Jay Jackson admitted to tipping his slider against the Yankees slugger during a Monday night at-bat.“From what I was told, I was kind of tipping the pitch,” Jackson told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal in a story that dropped after a tense Tuesday game between the Yankees and Blue Jays. “It was [less] my grip when I was coming behind my ear. It was the time it was taking me from my set position, from my glove coming from my head to my hip. On fastballs, I was kind of doing it quicker than on sliders. They were kind of picking up on it.”Rosenthal, citing Blue Jays’ sources, reported that Yankees first base coach Travis Chapman was able to see Jackson’s grip. Common sense indicates Chapman relayed what he gleaned to Judge on Monday.Pitching tipping through such natural means is perfectl...