Prisoners’ bodies returned to families without heart, other organs, lawsuit alleges
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The bodies of two men who died while incarcerated in Alabama’s prison system were missing their hearts or other organs when returned to their families, a federal lawsuit alleges.
The family of Brandon Clay Dotson, who died in a state prison in November, filed a federal lawsuit last month against the Alabama Department of Corrections and others saying his body was decomposing and his heart was missing when his remains were returned to his family.
In a court filing in the case last week,
NYC issues vacate orders to stabilize historic Jewish sites following discovery of 60-foot tunnel
NEW YORK (AP) — New York building officials have issued emergency work orders to stabilize a historic synagogue and its neighboring structures after an illicit underground at the sanctuary earlier this week.
An investigation by the city’s Department of Buildings uncovered a tunnel that was 60-foot-long (18.3 meter), 8-foot-wide (2.4 meter) and 5-foot-high (1.5 meter) located underneath the global headquarters of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, an important
Man asked women to use translator app before sexually assaulting them: Toronto police
A man believed to be behind multiple sexual assaults in Etobicoke allegedly asked the female victims if they could use a translator app before committing the indecent acts, Toronto police said.
Authorities responded to the Queensway and West Mall area just before noon on Oct. 24, 2023, for reports of a sexual assault.
Police said the man approached a female victim and asked her to use a translator app to speak with him. The suspect stood close to the victim, extending his hand for a handshake, and
First endangered Florida panther death of 2024 reported
LABELLE, Fla. (AP) — Wildlife officials have reported the first endangered Florida panther death of 2024.
The 1-year-old male was found dead Tuesday from an apparent vehicle strike on a rural road north of LaBelle in Hendry County, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.
A total of 13 Florida panthers were reported killed in 2023, with all of them being from vehicle strikes.
Florida panthers once roamed the entire Southeast. But now their habitat is mostly confined
Gov. Laura Kelly calls for Medicaid expansion, offers tax cut plan that speeds up end of grocery tax
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly renewed her call Wednesday to expand Medicaid and countered an anticipated single-rate flat income tax for individuals with a plan that would instead cut taxes by doing things like accelerating the phasing out of the state’s sales tax on groceries.
Kelly said in her annual State of the State address that her slate of proposals, which also includes an ongoing focus on addressing falling water levels in a vast aquifer used to irrigate crops, are key to helping rural parts of the state.
So far Medicaid expansion
Gov. Laura Kelly calls for Medicaid expansion, offers tax cut plan that speeds up end of grocery tax
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly renewed her call Wednesday to expand Medicaid and countered an anticipated single-rate flat income tax for individuals with a plan that would instead cut taxes by doing things like accelerating the phasing out of the state’s sales tax on groceries.
Kelly said in her annual State of the State address that her slate of proposals, which also includes an ongoing focus on addressing falling water levels in a vast aquifer used to irrigate crops, are key to helping rural parts of the state.
So far Medicaid expansion
Health Canada recalls more caffeinated energy drinks
Health Canada announced the recall of two additional caffeinated energy drinks, adding to a growing list of similar beverages deemed unsafe.
The brands “Bucked Up” and “Noo Fuzion” were the latest caffeinated energy drinks to be included in the nationwide recall due to “various non-compliances related to caffeine content and labelling requirements.”
This follows a more extensive recall from Dec. 22, 2023 , that saw various energy drink brands, including “ABE,” “Bleach T4-F,”
California Gov. Newsom proposes some housing and climate cuts to balance $38 billion budget deficit
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom released details Wednesday of a new $291 billion for the 2024-25 budget year that accounts for an estimated $37.9 billion deficit.
Newsom, a Democrat, proposed covering the shortfall by tapping $13 billion from reserves, trimming $8.5 billion from programs, deferring some spending to the future and spreading it out over more years.
He’ll spend the next six months negotiating a final
Panel of judges says a First Amendment challenge to Maryland’s digital ad tax should be considered
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A federal appeals court directed a lower federal court on Wednesday to consider the merits of a challenge to Maryland’s first-in-the-nation digital advertising tax on First Amendment grounds, while agreeing that three other challenges should be dismissed.
It’s a law that attorneys for Big Tech have contended unfairly targets companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon. The legal case is being closely watched by other states that have also weighed a similar tax for online ads.
The three
Delaware judge limits scope of sweeping climate change lawsuit against fossil fuel companies
DOVER, Del. (AP) — A judge has rejected several claims lodged by Delaware’s attorney general in a lawsuit alleging that the fossil fuel industry has downplayed the risks of climate change. Tuesday’s ruling significantly narrows the scope of the suit seeking to hold the industry liable for the effects of air pollution in the state.
Democratic Attorney General Kathleen Jennings filed the lawsuit in 2020, joining forces with a California law firm that has sued the oil industry on behalf of other state and local governments