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Local students stage walkouts to protest gun violence; rally against Florida immigration bill held in Little Havana

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:10 GMT

Students at a South Florida high school and a university staged a large walkout as part of a nationwide protest to gun violence, while protesters in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood raised their voices against a state law that they unfaily targets undocumented immigrants. 7Skyforce hovered over dozens of students on the football field at South Broward High School, located at 1901 N. Federal Highway in Hollywood, Wednesday afternoon. Around 100 students left their classrooms in protest as part of a nationwide call to combat gun violence in the wake of several incidents around the U.S., such as last week’s shooting in Nashville. Students at Florida International University’s Modesto A. Maidique Campus in West Miami-Dade also rallied to bring awareness to gun violence.“No more thoughts, no more prayers. We want to see action, we want to see results,” said Taina Patterson with FIU Students Demand Action.The walkout and rally were part of a national call t...

Violeta Lucce lets customers wear custom hand-painted art

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:10 GMT

Some say the eyes are the window to the soul. For us ladies, our eyes can tell you some stories, am I right? We caught up with a local artist at Visionnaire Miami who handpaints wearable art to bring out your feminine energy.A woman is a creation like no other.Jurate Luckaite: “The name of the brand is Violeta Lucce. So it’s a fusion of fine art and couture into one. So imagine wearing an original painting that is one in the entire world, signed by the artist.”And for the two sisters, they want to transform you into the masterpiece you are.Jurate Luckaite: My sister, she’s an artist of over 30 years. I come from the design and styling part, so we fused this together. Our goal was to create a woman who was a walking art. This is what every woman is — she’s original, she’s unique, she’s one of a kind — and that’s what we wanted to create with this brand.”These powerful pieces are all hand-painted on silk, and there̵...

Jewish communities hold Seder services to mark start of Passover following string of antisemitic attacks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:10 GMT

Many families in South Florida and across the country are sitting with loved ones for Seder service, marking the start of Passover, a time for celebration, but after a string of antisemitic acts, communities will be on high alert.In recent months, communities have seen threatening graffiti, hateful pamphlets tossed into driveways and front lawns, and one Jewish man was even punched in the face while riding his bicycle in Hollywood.According to the FBI, more than half of the religious hate crimes committed in 2021 were targeted at Jews.President Joe Biden wrote an editorial on CNN, Wednesday.“To the Jewish community, I want you to know that I see your fear, your hurt and your concern that this venom is being normalized,” Biden wrote.Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, who leads the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, said the words come from his heart.“I’ve heard him say it; I know he really believes it,” Lipstadt said. “There a...

Six people injured in crash involving MBTA bus in Jamaica Plain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:10 GMT

Six people were injured Wednesday in a crash involving an MBTA bus in Jamaica Plain that saw the bus crash through a fence before coming to a stop in the Forest Hills Cemetery.SKY7-HD was over the scene shortly before 6 p.m., capturing video of the bus and its smashed windshield. Another vehicle involved in the crash was stopped in the nearby intersection of Forest Hills Avenue and Morton Street with visible damage. Debris was also seen elsewhere around the crash site as traffic backed up on nearby roads.People riding in both the bus and the other vehicle at the time of the crash were taken to the hospital, officials said.“Everyone should be, essentially, assessed at the hospital and hopefully discharged with no serious injuries from this,” said Boston EMS Deputy Superintendent Steven McHugh.In a statement, MBTA Transit Police Superintendent Richard Sullivan said a preliminary investigation found the crash happened shortly after 5:30 p.m. when a passenger vehicle “made an abrup...

Indiana, Idaho governors sign bans on gender-affirming care

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:10 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Republican governors in Indiana and Idaho have signed into law bills banning gender-affirming care for minors, making those states the latest to restrict transgender health care as Republican-led legislatures continue to curb LGBTQ+ rights this year.Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed legislation Wednesday that will prohibit transgender youth from accessing medication or surgeries that aid in transition and mandate those currently taking medication to stop by the end of the year.Idaho Gov. Brad Little had signed legislation Tuesday evening that criminalizes gender-affirming care for youth.More than a dozen other states are considering bills that would prohibit transgender youth from accessing hormone therapies, puberty blockers and transition surgeries, even after the approval of parents and the advice of doctors. Other proposals target transgender individuals’ everyday life — including sports, workplaces and schools.“Permanent gender-changing surgeries with lifelon...

Defense Department detains guest in hotel training mix-up

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:10 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Participants in a Department of Defense training exercise at a Boston hotel entered the wrong room Tuesday and mistakenly detained a guest instead of the person assigned the role of the person to be detained, according to the FBI.The mistake happened about 10 p.m. with the Boston Division of the FBI helping the U.S. Department of Defense in conducting the Defense Department exercise.The exercise was meant to simulate a situation that personnel might encounter during an actual incident.“Based on inaccurate information, they were mistakenly sent to the wrong room and detained an individual, not the intended role player,” an FBI said in a written statement. “Thankfully nobody was injured.”A Department of Defense official said the department apologies to the person affected by the training exercise.“The training was meant to enhance soldiers’ skills to operate in realistic and unfamiliar environments. The training team, unfortunately, entered the wrong room and detai...

Pop singer Danny Fernandes accused of taking thousands from aspiring musicians: CBC

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:10 GMT

TORONTO — A lawyer for Canadian pop star Danny Fernandes says the singer is confident he will be able to rebuild his career after the CBC published an investigation that alleged he took thousands of dollars from aspiring musicians.“He is confident through our joint efforts in rehabilitation and restitution he can rebuild his trust in the public and his career to once again give back to our community the talents he has been rewarded for,” lawyer Amedeo DiCarlo said in a message to The Canadian Press on Wednesday afternoon.The CBC investigation cites bank and legal documents, text messages and interviews that collectively accuse Fernandes of taking more than $200,000 from about a dozen people, largely in the form of loans and for career help they say never materialized.CBC says Fernandes apologized to those he “hurt or misled” and that the singer attributed his behaviour to drug use. CBC also quotes DiCarlo as saying efforts will be made to recover any losses.T...

Tents and suitcases go into garbage compactors as Vancouver encampment is dismantled

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:10 GMT

VANCOUVER — The garbage trucks moved slowly down Hastings Street, to the shouts and protests of residents of a homeless encampment on the sidewalks of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Into the compactors went tents, suitcases, mattresses and furniture, crushed with bags of garbage and other detritus.The implementation of a city decree to clear the encampment on Wednesday, backed by dozens of a police, was met with frustration from residents and their advocates who wonder where they’ll sleep next, even as the city says it’s too unsafe to stay. Police and city staff rolling rubber tubs labelled “personal belongings” arrived on Hastings Street on Wednesday to dismantle about 80 tents and other structures that lined the sidewalks.Residents scrambled to take down tents and pack as trash and belongings were scattered.Officials said the encampment had become a significant safety and fire hazard and, without intervention, it was a matter of time before people die...

Lawyers for man accused of killing 2 Indiana teens want move

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:10 GMT

DELPHI, Ind. (AP) — Attorneys for a man charged with killing two northern Indiana teenage girls filed an emergency court motion Wednesday seeking to move him from a prison where they claim his condition is deteriorating.The emergency request filed by Richard Matthew Allen’s lawyers in Carroll Circuit Court cited “dramatic change in Mr. Allen’s condition, including his change in demeanor, change in appearance and change in his overall mental status.”His defense team compared his treatment to that of a prisoner of war, saying he sleeps on a pad on a concrete floor, hasn’t received visits from his wife or family for the past five months, is allowed to shower only once or twice per week and is forced to wear the same clothes for “days and days on end, all of which are soiled, stained, tattered and torn.”The Delphi man has been held at the maximum-security Westville Correctional Facility since November. Allen was arrested Oct. 28 and charged with two counts of murder in the killing...

NPR protests as Twitter calls it ‘state-affiliated media’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:10 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter has labeled National Public Radio as “state-affiliated media” on the social media site, a move some worried Wednesday could undermine public confidence in the news organization.NPR said it was disturbed to see the description added to all of the tweets that it sends out, with John Lansing, its president and CEO, calling it “unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way.”It was unclear why Twitter made the move. Twitter’s owner, Elon Musk, quoted a definition of state-affiliated media in the company’s guidelines as “outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution.”“Seems accurate,” Musk tweeted in a reply to NPR.NPR does receive U.S. government funding through grants from federal agencies and departments, along with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The company said it accounts for less than 1% of NPR’s annual...