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Freetown police make arrest, continue to investigate after thousands of screws left on roadway

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:58 GMT

Freetown police are asking residents to report if they’ve gotten flat tires after driving in town as they investigate screws that were intentionally scattered on a busy roadway.For weeks, officials continuously found dozens of screws strewn about South Main Street multiple times, flattening the tires of passersby in the process.Police made an arrest in the case on Tuesday, taking 56-year-old Peter Vasconcellos into custody as their investigation continues, according to WPRI, “For someone to do this, it’s vindictive – they’re not thinking right,” said one local who ended up with a screw in their tire.The Freetown Highway Department said the road hazard was first brought to their attention when a local repair shop alerted them.“He said ‘maybe you want to go check out South Main Street because I’ve had like eight flats in the last hour,'” said highway surveyor Charles Macomber. “Came in, checked it out – found mayb...

Woman killed in hit-and-run collision

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:58 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A woman was killed in a hit-and-run collision in Lemon Grove on Wednesday, authorities said.According to the San Diego Sheriff's Department, deputies were called out to a traffic crash at Broadway and Harris Street around 12:30 p.m. Authorities say upon arrival they found a 40-year-old woman who had been hit by a truck in the street. Bike rider struck by motorcyclist in crosswalk: police The woman, whose identity has not been released, died from her injuries. A witness told deputies at the scene that they saw a driver in a white truck, possibly a Ford F-150, hit her before fleeing the scene, said the sheriff's department. There is no further driver or additional suspect vehicle information at this time. Lemon Grove traffic deputies are handling the investigation.  Anyone with information related to this fatal hit-and-run crash incident is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

Program allows incarcerated women to raise their children inside Canadian prisons

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:58 GMT

It may look like a typical university dorm room with a shared kitchen space and an entire hallway filled with private bedrooms but it’s actually the minimum-security unit at the Grand Valley Institute for Women, one of a handful of prisons for women in Canada.However, the prison, which is located in Kitchener, ON, is not only intended to house inmates, but the children of incarcerated women as well.The mother-child program was implemented in 2001 and allows eligible inmates to raise their infants and toddlers inside the prison as long as they can afford the costs of feeding and caring for their children.“These moms and children are living in the minimum unit,” explains Patrice Butts, the Mother-Child program coordinator at Grand Valley. “It looks like a really lovely dorm, and mom has an adjoining nursery with her baby. She walks outside. It’s not the image of what perhaps people are conjuring up.”Across Canada, over 150 women have participated since the program launched...

DEA’s failure to punish distributor blamed in opioid crisis raises revolving door questions

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:58 GMT

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has allowed one of the nation’s largest wholesale drug distributors to keep shipping highly addictive painkillers for nearly four years after a judge recommended it be stripped of its license for its “cavalier disregard” of thousands of suspicious orders fueling the opioid crisis.The DEA did not respond to repeated questions from The Associated Press about its handling of the case against Morris & Dickson Co. or the involvement of a high-profile consultant the company had hired to stave off punishment and who is now DEA Administrator Anne Milgram’s top deputy.But the delay has raised concerns about how the revolving door between government and industry may be impacting the DEA’s mission to police drug companies blamed for tens of thousands of American overdose deaths.“If the DEA had issued its order in a timely manner, one could then credibly believe that its second-in-command was not involved despite an obvious con...

95-year-old Australian woman dies after police shoot her with stun gun; officer faces charges

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:58 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A 95-year-old Australian woman died Wednesday, a week after a police officer shot her with a stun gun in a nursing home as she moved toward him using a walker and carrying a steak knife, in a tragedy that has outraged many Australians.Clare Nowland, who had dementia, had been hospitalized in Cooma in New South Wales state since her skull was fractured when she fell on May 17 after Constable Kristian White shocked her with a stun gun.Police announced Nowland’s death hours after reporting that White has been ordered to appear in court on July 5 on charges of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and common assault. The charges are likely to be upgraded following her death. White and another police officer had gone to Yallambee Lodge, a nursing home in Cooma that specializes in residents with higher care needs including dementia, after staff reported that Nowland had taken a serrated steak knife from the kitchen.The ...

Toronto man charged in historical sexual assault at Ontario deaf camp

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:58 GMT

A Toronto man is facing charges after an alleged historical sexual assault dating back to 2003 at an Ontario deaf camp near Parry Sound.Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) confirmed that investigators with West Parry Sound OPP began looking into the allegations in February 2023.Authorities noted that the sexual assault occurred in August 2003 at The Bob Rumball Camp of the Deaf in Seguin Township.Police identified 54-year-old Steve Burrows of Toronto as the accused, who would have been 34 years old at the time of the alleged sexual assault at the camp.It’s unclear if the Toronto man was working at the camp.Burrows is facing multiple charges, including sexual assault and sexual exploitation. The accused will appear in an Ontario court at a later date.To assist the ongoing investigation, OPP issued a media release in American Sign Language (ASL).

Prosecutors in Guyana mull charges for teen suspect in deadly blaze at girl’s dorm

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:58 GMT

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Police in Guyana conferred Wednesday with prosecutors on what charges to bring against the main teenage suspect in this week’s fire that destroyed a girl’s dormitory at a school, killing 18 students and a young boy.Investigators believe that a 14-year-old student who was injured in the blaze ignited the fire late Sunday in anger over having her mobile phone confiscated by an administrator at the government boarding school serving Indigenous villages in southwestern Guyana.There were 57 female students in the wooden, concrete and iron-grilled dorm when the fire tore through the building in Mahdia township. The victims were mostly aged 12 to 18. The fire killed 18 female students and the five-year-old son of the administrator — or dorm mother. Twenty-eight injured female students were treated in hospitals, police said.Investigations so far “reveal that a female student is suspected of having set the devastating fire because her cellular phone was taken ...

Stock market today: Wall Street drops as markets tumble worldwide

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:58 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A worldwide swoon for financial markets is carrying over to Wall Street, and stocks are falling further on Wednesday.The S&P 500 was 0.8% lower in early trading, a day after dropping 1.1% as the U.S. government creeps closer to a possibly disastrous default on its debt. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 222 points, or 0.7%, at 32,832, as of 10:10 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.8% lower.Other markets around the world were hit even harder as discouraging figures piled up on the economy. Stock indexes tumbled 2.2% in London, 2.1% in Frankfurt and 1.6% in Hong Kong.Inflation in the United Kingdom remains worse than expected, raising worries that the Bank of England may keep hiking interest rates and squeezing its economy. In Germany, business confidence fell in Europe’s largest economy. And in China, worries remain about a weaker-than-hoped reopening from COVID restrictions as tensions rise with the United States over technology and secur...

‘Embodiment of a sunbeam’: Canadian actor, musician Samantha Weinstein dies at 28

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:58 GMT

TORONTO — A Canadian actor and musician who won accolades from an early age is being remembered as an inspiring artist who lived “the best life” and continued to work even in her final days.  Samantha Weinstein, 28, died on May 14 at Toronto’s Princess Margaret Hospital after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer 2 1/2 years ago. Weinstein had been acting since the age of six, with multiple credits to her name, including for voicing various characters in animated television series. “Sam was actually a living embodiment of a sunbeam,” said her father, David Weinstein. “She was so full of positive energy, anyone who ever met her would say that she just lit up every room she walked into.”Weinstein played high school student Heather in the 2013 remake of “Carrie,” starring Chloe Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore, and was cast as Audrey in the 2011 comedy “Jesus Henry Christ,” starring Toni Collette.As a child, she had a starring role in “Big Girl,” which won the Best Canadian Short Film awa...

School board investigating letter alleging violence, disorder at Mississauga school

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:58 GMT

The Peel District School Board (PDSB) is investigating an anonymous letter that alleges out-of-control violence and “disorderly conduct” at a Mississauga middle school.The letter, making the rounds on social media, appears to be written by a Tomken Road Middle School staff member. It claims that students, teachers, and staff have faced countless unsafe interactions and that the school climate is one of “violence” and “fear.”“It has become impossible to maintain any sense of dignity at our school,” reads the letter. “Students will ignore any boundaries or structure remaining at our school.”“We write this letter as a desperate call for help to make changes to our learning environment to make it the safe place it once was.”This morning I received this letter from a teacher at a Mississauga school. I have verified the existence and identity of its author and its authenticity. @trusteemcdonald @peelschools @pdsbdirec...