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New York could see more legal pot shops after state settles cases that halted market

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:28 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York could soon start to get more recreational marijuana dispensaries after a judge on Friday approved legal settlements to end lawsuits that halted the state’s legal cannabis licensing program. The settlements lift a court order that has blocked the state from processing or issuing retail marijuana licenses since August. State officials said the agreement will allow more than 400 potential retailers to move forward with pending applications to open storefronts.“With this settlement behind us, hundreds of new licenses can now move forward, new stores will open, and consumers can legally buy safer, legal, tested cannabis products from New York-based entrepreneurs and small businesses,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement.The state’s legal market has been in shambles since sales began about a year ago. Bureaucratic problems and lawsuits have allowed only about two dozen legal dispensaries to open, as farmers sit on a glut of crops and black market...

Ex-correctional officer at federal prison in California gets 5 years for sexually abusing inmates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:28 GMT

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A former federal correctional officer was sentenced Friday to more than five years in prison for sexually abusing two inmates at a women’s prison in California where the warden and other employees were charged with similar conduct.A federal jury in June found John Russell Bellhouse guilty on two counts of sexual abuse and three counts of abusive sexual contact involving the two women between 2019 and 2020 at FCI Dublin, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) east of Oakland.He was sentenced to five years and three months behind bars on Friday.U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey for the Northern District of California, whose office prosecuted the case, said the sentence “makes clear that the sexual abuse of inmates by guards will not be tolerated.”“This conduct was a disturbing deviation from the expectations and requirements of all federal correctional officers,” Ramsey said in a statement Friday. “Bellhouse violated his oath and abused the power given to him, all to...

Los Angeles police searching for suspect in three fatal shootings of homeless people

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:28 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles police are searching for a suspect in the fatal shootings of three homeless people in separate incidents around the city, authorities announced Friday.All three shootings occurred in the early morning hours over several days in November, Police Chief Michel Moore said at a news conference along with Mayor Karen Bass and District Attorney George Gascón.Moore said in all three instances the victims were alone and out in the open. “Each one was shot and killed as they slept” or were preparing to turn in for the night, Moore said.The police department has set up a task force of investigators that is working around the clock to apprehend the killer, the Los Angeles Times reported.Jose Bolanos, 37, was found dead with a gunshot wound around 3 a.m. on Nov. 26 in an alley in South Los Angeles, police said. The following day, Mark Diggs, 62, was shot and killed while pushing a shopping cart around 5 a.m. near downtown, according to officials.The third shooting ...

US expels an ex-Chilean army officer accused of a folk singer’s torture and murder

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:28 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — The U.S. has expelled a former Chilean Army officer accused of torturing and killing folk singer Victor Jara during the country’s bloody 1973 coup.Pedro Barrientos had emigrated to Florida in 1990, the same year the bloody dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet came to an end. This year, he was stripped of his U.S. citizenship after it was found he concealed information about his Chilean military service during his immigration proceedings.Jara, a popular singer and university professor, was a fervent supporter of socialist President Salvador Allende. He was seized and taken to a Santiago stadium where thousands of prisoners were held only hours after Pinochet assaulted the presidential palace and overthrew Allende on Sept. 11, 1973. There, he was beaten and he was shot with at least 44 bullets — one of the first of more than 3,000 Chileans killed for opposing Pinochet’s iron-fisted rule. Barrientos has always denied any involvement in Jara’s murderBut in 2016...

Jury orders egg suppliers to pay $17.7 million in damages for price gouging in 2000s

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:28 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A federal jury in Illinois ordered $17.7 million in damages — an amount tripled to more than $53 million under federal law — to several food manufacturing companies who had sued major egg producers over a conspiracy to limit the egg supply in the U.S.The jury ruled last week that the egg producers used various means to limit the domestic supply of eggs to increase the price of products during the 2000s. The time frame of the conspiracy was an issue throughout the case; jurors ultimately determined damages occurred between 2004 and 2008.The damages verdict was reached Friday in the Northern District of Illinois. According to federal antitrust law, the damages are automatically tripled, bringing the total to over $53 million. Court documents on the verdict were not readily available Friday evening, but statements from the manufacturers’ attorney and one of the egg producers confirmed a total of about $17.7 million. “We are extremely grateful for the jury’s se...

Lawsuit filed over Westmont public works employee who died in water main vault

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:28 GMT

WESTMONT, Ill. — The family of a Westmont public works employee who died last February after being trapped in an underground water main vault for nearly an hour believes his death could have been prevented. Speaking exclusively with WGN News, a new lawsuit led by attorney Michael Egan on behalf of Matthew Heiden's loved ones alleges that the village is at fault. According to Egan, questions remain about why Heiden was chosen to go underground.Attorney Michael Egan (Photo: WGN)"The person who had the most experience and knowledge about doing this type of work was out of town and they sent Matthew down there instead to do this job," Egan told WGN News.Heiden, 20, and his crew were working on repairs in a neighborhood at 60th and Demming on Feb. 23 when a water line burst, flooded the street with several feet of water and trapped Heiden in the manhole.More Western Suburbs News and Headlines"The valve blew off and Matthew got trapped beneath the pipe and the valve," Egan said. "The pres...

Hinsdale high school basketball player reinstated after lawsuit claimed he was 'unfairly cut'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:28 GMT

HINSDALE, Ill. -- Hinsdale South's basketball team has been getting a lot of attention in the community for what's happened off the court in recent weeks. Specifically, surrounding one particulate player.Erin Savage and her family will be rooting for their son, Brendan, to play Friday night in a highly anticipated basketball match against Downers Grove South High School."All Brendan wants to do is play basketball. It’s what he lives (and) breathes, it’s what he does," Savage said. “This has been incredibly frustrating and shocking that it could get to this point.” December concert calendar: 10 of the best Chicago area shows Brendan was recently reinstated to Hinsdale South’s basketball team following a lawsuit his mother filed alleging her son was unfairly cut from the team. Erin accuses the school district and other employees of violating her son's first amendment rights.The school board decided to allow Brendan back on the team after the lawsuit was filed, but would not guarante...

Elk Grove passes ordinance to help migrants while keeping community safe

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:28 GMT

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. -- Elk Grove Village has created new ordinances for housing migrants in their community to help keep the asylum seekers and residents safe.Nearly 100 migrants lived at the former La Quinta Inn between last September and April, but during that time, Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson said there were issues which led village officials to enact an ordinance."Some of the migrants were asked to leave just thrown out of actions took took at the hotel. They were thrown out. Our police had to come by packaged for sale," Mayor Johnson said. Donations help 3 migrants buy bus tickets to move in with family in Georgia The mayor said the ordinance, that was passed last week, will focus on the health, safety and well-being of the community.The first being migrants who want to stay at a hotel or motel will need to have a document that says they were examined by an infectious disease doctor who verifies they are free of contagious diseases. This applies to people who’ve...

Crystal Lake man accused of possessing, distributing child pornography, police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:28 GMT

CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. — A Crystal Lake man is suspected of distribution and possession of child pornography, police said Friday.Dylan L. Morris is charged with multiple counts related to a child porn investigation that police said initially came to their attention through the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.According to police, a search warrant was executed at Morris's residence in the 200 block of Wallace Avenue on Tuesday, Nov. 28.As a result, Morris was booked on the following charges:Four counts of Child Pornography – Reproduce or Distribute – victim under 13Four counts of Child Pornography – Possess Visual Reproductions on Computer – victim under 13 Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines Anyone with additional information is asked to contact the Crystal Lake Police Department at (815) 356-3620.

'Killer preying on the unhoused': LA police seek suspect after 3 men found dead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:28 GMT

(KTLA) – Los Angeles authorities are asking for the public's help in finding the person who has allegedly killed at least three homeless people in different parts of the city.The Los Angeles Police Department, Mayor Karen Bass, District Attorney George Gascón and federal officials gathered Friday afternoon to discuss the crimes for the very first time. From Nov. 26 through Nov. 29, three men have been found dead, all under similar circumstances, according to LAPD Chief Michel Moore."A single individual approached each one and shot and killed each one as they slept," Moore said. Northern lights: Chance to see aurora returns Friday as solar storm continues Each of the three killings happened in the early morning, all before 5 a.m.The first happened on Nov. 26, around 3:10 a.m. near the intersection of 110th Street and Vermont Avenue in the Westmont neighborhood.The second happened the following day in downtown Los Angeles on the 600 block of Mateo Street. Police discovered that vict...