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In the Amazon, millions breathe hazardous air as drought and wildfires spread through the rainforest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:25 GMT

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Thick smoke has enveloped extensive areas of the Brazilian Amazon on Thursday as the region grapples with a surge in wildfires and a historic drought. In Manaus, a city of 2 million, air quality ranked among the worst globally, leading to the suspension of college classes and the cancellation of various activities, including an international marathon.In the first 11 days of October, Amazonas state recorded over 2,700 fires. This is already the highest number for the month since official monitoring began in 1998. Virtually all fire is human-caused, primarily for deforestation or pasture clearance.Over the past six weeks, Manaus and other cities of Amazonas state have intermittently been blanketed by thick smoke, making it difficult to breathe. The city’s air quality index fluctuated between unhealthy and hazardous levels during the last two days, resembling the conditions in some major Asian metropolitan areas.On Wednesday, the city’s major universities cancel...

Attorney general investigates fatal police shooting of former elite fencer at his New York home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:25 GMT

A New York man killed after police said he came at them with swords in his hands was a former elite fencer who won a medal for the United States at the Pan American Games in 1995.The state attorney general’s office said Thursday that it had opened a probe into the killing of Alan Weber, 54, who died Tuesday night after being shot at his home on Long Island by a Suffolk County police officer.Suffolk County police said officers had gone to the home in response to a 911 call about a man acting violently inside, and heard Weber screaming and breaking things. Authorities said he refused to come outside.Commissioner Rodney Harrison said Weber was wearing a fencing mask and had the swords when officers entered, and didn’t comply with commands to drop the weapons. He said an officer used a stun gun to no effect.According to police, one of the officers fired when Weber charged, and Harrison said he felt there was “no other choice.” Under state law, the attorney general’s of...

Tom Skilling announces retirement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:25 GMT

Tom Skilling, a fixture of Chicago television and beloved by generations, announced Thursday he will retire next year after 45 years at WGN.His last day on air will be February 28, 2024."There's no formula for this. I am going to retire at the end of February after a marvelous 45 years at this incredible television station," Skilling said during his announcement on the WGN Evening News Thursday. "We all get to a point where we have to make a decision. 'Is it time to retire. It's the toughest decision."Skilling started his successful career at the unheard-of age of 14 in Aurora, while still in high school. He had a series of radio and TV jobs in Illinois and Wisconsin before coming to WGN-TV in August of 1978. Known for his in-depth and highly detailed weather segments, Tom has elevated the audience’s understanding of not just the weather, but the science behind it. The Master at Work: Tracking a storm with Tom Skilling In addition to his weather forecasts on WGN News, Skilling hos...

Calls for Oklahoma judge's removal after 500 texts sent during murder trial: investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:25 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — An Oklahoma Supreme Court justice wants a judge removed after an investigation found 500 text messages sent to her bailiff during her first murder trial, and possibly her last. The alleged text messages appear to be making fun of prosecutors, witnesses, and jurors. As first reported by The Oklahoman, Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice John Kane said he wants Lincoln County Judge Traci Soderstrom taken off the bench. You can find the full petition here, under the Oct. 10 entry.Chief Kane said Soderstrom, 50, texted her bailiff, Angela Miller, during a June trial in the case of a 2-year-old beaten to death in 2018. In this image from security camera video, Lincoln County District Judge Traci Soderstrom looks at her cellphone during a murder trial, June 12, 2023, at the Lincoln County District Court in Chandler, Okla. (Lincoln County District Court/The Oklahoman via AP, File)Kane said Judge Soderstrom seemed to have her mind made up, believing the boyfriend of ...

Skilling: Rainy, windy weekend for Chicagoland

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:25 GMT

We're not done with rain from the incoming autumn storm system---far from it.The storm, with a central pressure of 990 mb (29.22") is centered of Kansas and is creeping eastward. The system is a giant atmospheric wind machine—and will be here in Chicago too.  Gusts topping 50 mph are occurring beneath its southern flank from New Mexico into the Texas Panhandle. The system has sprung up on the nose of a powerful 150 mph jet stream wind max  which widely varied temps across the powerful system have developed. Those upper winds roaring across the Four Corners area of the Southwest at jet airplane cruising altitudes and encourage the large scale ascension of air which drops surface pressures and encourage the powerful winds I've mentioned—which, in turn, import copious amount of Gulf moisture into the system.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog Temps on its south side are approaching 90-deg in western Texas while a snowstorm is whitening the central Rockies to t...

San Marcos CISD employee no longer employed after firearm found in backpack

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:25 GMT

SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — A San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District employee no longer works for the district after a report that a firearm was found in their backpack, according to a letter set out to families Thursday by SMCISD.The letter indicates the incident happened at Bonham Prekindergarten School in San Marcos.In the letter, it said a student "got a hold" of an instructional assistant's backpack and found a firearm. The student then took it out of the backpack and put it on a table inside the classroom.A classroom teacher was able to quickly remove the student from near the table and evacuated all students as the campus school marshal confiscated and secured the firearm and backpack, the letter said.San Marcos police were also called to begin an investigation and properly handle the firearm, according to SMCISD.The instructional assistant is no longer employed with the district, the letter said.Read the letter from SMCISD in full below:Bonham Families,This messa...

Kaitlin Armstrong faces new felony charge after attempted escape, inmate records show

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:25 GMT

Editor's Note: The above video is KXAN's previous coverage after a murder suspect attempted to escape custody Wednesday morning.AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Jail records show murder suspect Kaitlin Armstrong faces a new felony charge, following an attempted escape from Travis County corrections officers Wednesday morning outside a South Austin medical building. Kaitlin Armstrong attempts escape ahead of Austin murder trial Travis County court records do not show the new charge as of 5 p.m. Thursday.Armstrong, accused of murder in the 2022 death of cyclist Moriah Wilson, led two officers on a 10-minute foot chase through a neighborhood, before the two officers apprehended her. The Travis County Sheriff's Office confirmed one of its corrections officers suffered injuries while trying to apprehend Armstrong. Travis County inmate records show Armstrong now faces a second-degree felony charge of escape causing bodily injury. WATCH: Video appears to show murder suspect Kaitlin Armstrong running...

Case dismissed against Amazon driver who punched St. Paul homeowner, claimed self-defense

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:25 GMT

Prosecutors have dismissed a felony case against an Amazon driver who claimed self-defense after punching a St. Paul homeowner in a dispute over whether a package had been delivered.Tre’Von Marquise King, 26, faced a third-degree assault charge in the March 25 encounter in the 900 block of Randolph Avenue that left a 51-year-old man hospitalized with a fractured skull and broken bones around his eye.King, of Minneapolis, told police he defended himself after the man “smacked” his phone from his hand. He said the man then stepped toward him and “flinched” at him, and that he punched the man’s face once with a closed fist, according to the criminal complaint.The charge was dropped Monday “in the interests of justice,” a court filing says.Dennis Gerhardstein, spokesman for the Ramsey County attorney’s office, said Thursday that after reviewing “evidence provided by law enforcement and after consulting with the victim in this case and considerin...

A doctors group calls its ‘excited delirium’ paper outdated and withdraws its approval

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:25 GMT

A leading doctors group on Thursday formally withdrew its approval of a 2009 paper on “excited delirium,” a document that critics say has been used to justify excessive force by police.The American College of Emergency Physicians in a statement called the paper outdated and said the term excited delirium should not be used by members who testify in civil or criminal cases. The group’s directors voted on the matter Thursday in Philadelphia.“This means if someone dies while being restrained in custody … people can’t point to excited delirium as the reason and can’t point to ACEP’s endorsement of the concept to bolster their case,” said Dr. Brooks Walsh, a Connecticut emergency doctor who pushed the organization to strengthen its stance.Earlier this week, California became the first state to bar the use of excited delirium and related terms as a cause of death in autopsies. The legislation, signed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, also prohibits police officers from using it in ...

Vos: Protasiewicz impeachment now depends on her ruling in redistricting lawsuit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:25 GMT

MADISON, Wis. — The Republican leader of Wisconsin’s Assembly refused to back down Thursday from possibly impeaching a newly elected liberal state Supreme Court justice over her refusal to step aside in a redistricting case, even after two former conservative justices advised him against the unprecedented move.Assembly Speaker Robin Vos originally threatened to impeach Justice Janet Protasiewicz if she did not recuse from the redistricting challenge, which is backed by Democrats seeking to throw out Republican-drawn electoral maps. But Protasiewicz said last week she’s staying on the case.Now, Vos is tying possible impeachment to how she rules on the case, emphasizing the importance of following past precedent.“If they decide to inject their own political bias inside the process and not follow the law, we have the ability to go to the U.S. Supreme Court,” Vos said, “and we also have the ability to hold her accountable to the voters of Wisconsin.”Oral arguments in the redistric...