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DeSantis replaces campaign manager in another shake-up

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:43 GMT

Gov. Ron DeSantis shook up his presidential campaign staff again Tuesday, replacing his campaign manager with his chief of staff in the governor’s office.Outgoing manager Generra Peck, who shepherded DeSantis through his successful reelection campaign last year, will become chief strategist, The Messenger first reported.Chief of Staff James Uthmeier will take a leave of absence from the governor’s office to manage the DeSantis campaign, office spokesman Jeremy Redfern said. Secretary of Commerce Alex Kelly will become acting chief of staff alongside Senior Advisor David Dewhirst, Redfern said.Uthmeier is the latest state official to take an important position with the campaign, including spokespeople Bryan Griffin and Christina Pushaw.The shake-up comes just two weeks after the campaign let go of 38 staffers, including speechwriter Nate Hochman, who reportedly made and boosted a video that included DeSantis superimposed against a Nazi symbol, and director of research Kyl...

DUI suspect arrested in Coronado park after crashing car with kids inside: police

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:43 GMT

CORONADO, Calif. -- Coronado police arrested a woman on suspicion of driving under the influence after she crashed her car with two children inside, authorities said.Shortly before midnight Tuesday, an officer noticed a white sedan driving across the grass and through two chain-link fences at Tidelands Park, near the Coronado Bridge, police said in a Facebook post. The officer tried to stop the car but the driver kept going, eventually losing control and hitting a sign on the Orange Avenue median near Sixth Street, police said. Family demands answers after girl, 14, found in Camp Pendleton barracks The driver then crashed the car into a planter in Spreckels Park, police said. Two children, ages 3 and 15, got out of the front passenger seat.Officers arrested the woman on suspicion of DUI, felony child abuse, felony evading, reckless driving, delay/obstruct a peace officer and two warrants, police said.Coronado Fire Department personnel evaluated the two children before they were re...

A woman in Mexico City turns her apartment into a clinic for dozens of ailing hummingbirds

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:43 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Gently holding a baby hummingbird between her hands, Catia Lattouf says, “Hello, cute little guy. Are you very hungry?” It’s the newest patient at her apartment in a toney section of Mexico City where she has nursed hundreds of the tiny birds back to health over the past decade.Under Lattouf’s caress, the bird relaxes little by little, allowing her to evaluate it. A young man who rescued it after it fell from a nest onto his patio watched attentively.“It is a broad-billed hummingbird,” the 73-year-old Lattouf said, as she moved an eyedropper to its beak. “Oh, mama, you want to eat!”This is often how Lattouf’s days have gone since she turned her apartment in Mexico City’s Polanco neighborhood into a clinic for sick, injured or infant hummingbirds, about 60 of which currently flit around.Lattouf, who studied French literature, has become a reference source for bird lovers, amateur and professional alike, across Mexico and other parts of Latin America. Her improvised...

Local businesses in northern Nigeria feel the sting of regional sanctions against neighboring Niger

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:43 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A decision by a bloc of West African nations to shut down their borders with Niger as a way of sanctioning its coup plotters is harming local businesses in northern Nigeria, where a cross-border economy has boomed for years.The bloc known as ECOWAS restricted financial transactions and shut the borders between Niger and its member nations as part of measures to force the coup plotters to reinstate Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum who was overthrown last month by soldiers in his Presidential Guard.But the sting of the sanctions against the junta is being felt on the other side of the 1,600 kilometers (995 miles) -long border, in Nigeria.Niger accounts for 75% of the total value of exports from Nigeria’s cross-border informal trade, according to a study by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The bank’s latest report in 2016 valued goods traded across the border with Niger at 828 billion naira ($934 million) a year.In Nigeria’s northwestern Katsina state, the bord...

Last defendant sentenced to 37 years in mass shooting at St. Paul bar that left one dead, 14 injured

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:43 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A St. Paul man was sentenced Tuesday to nearly 37 years for his role in a mass shooting at a bar that left one person dead and 14 others injured.Jurors found Terry Lorenzo Brown Jr., 35, guilty in June of second-degree intentional murder, four counts of attempted murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Ramsey County Judge Carolina Lamas sentenced him to 36 years and nine months on the murder conviction, with lesser sentences on the other counts. The sentences will run concurrently.The Star Tribune reported that Lamas handed down the sentence in a courtroom packed with family and friends of Marquisha “Kiki” Wiley, the 27-year-old veterinary technician killed by a bullet fired from Brown’s gun during the melee inside a crowded bar called the Seventh Street Truck Park in 2021.Brown is the second person sentenced in the gunbattle. Devondre Trevon Phillips, 31, of Las Vegas, was sentenced to 29 years in June for firing the first shots. Phillips and...

Bill Clinton’s presidential center expanding, will add Hillary Clinton’s personal archives

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:43 GMT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Bill Clinton’s presidential center is planning a major expansion that will include a new Hillary Rodham Clinton Institute holding personal archives from the former Democratic presidential nominee and first lady, the Clinton Foundation announced Tuesday. The Clinton Foundation did not release information on the size or cost of the planned expansion of the center, saying it expected to unveil more details next year. The center, which opened in 2004, features the former president’s library and museum and is located in a 29-acre park in downtown Little Rock. The foundation said that the expansion would enhance the the center’s ability to host exhibitions, convene global leaders and provide educational opportunities.The Clinton Foundation said it planned to work with Studio Gang, a Chicago-based architecture and urban design practice, to design the project. Studio Gang will work with Little Rock-based architecture firm Polk Stanley Wilcox. “For ...

Stock market today: Wall Street dips as markets fall worldwide on worries about banks, economy

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:43 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street slipped Tuesday as worries about the banking system and the global economy forced more caution into financial markets worldwide.The S&P 500 fell 19.06, or 0.4%, to 4,499.38 and at one point was down nearly triple that. It was the fifth loss in the last six days for the index after it rocketed through the year’s first seven months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 158.64, or 0.4%, to 35,314.49 after paring an earlier loss of 465 points. The Nasdaq composite lost 110.07, or 0.8%, to 13,884.32.In the U.S., bank stocks fell after Moody’s cut the credit ratings for 10 smaller and midsized ones. It cited a list of concerns about their financial strength, from the effects of higher interest rates to the work-from-home trend that’s leaving office buildings vacant.Across the Pacific, stocks sank after a report showed exports for China’s troubled economy shrank by the most since the start of the pandemic in 2020. And in Europe, bank stocks drop...

S&P/TSX composite index dips alongside U.S. markets in Tuesday trading

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:43 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock market nudged southward in trading on Tuesday, in line with a bigger dip in U.S. markets.Stocks tumbled as worries about the banking system and the global economy injected more caution into financial markets worldwide. Bank stocks helped lead the market lower after Moody’s cut the credit ratings for 10 smaller and mid-sized financial institutions. “It seemed like a lot of the issues that were raised during the March banking crisis were ignited — higher yields, potential regulation, and then, of course, some risks around exposure to commercial real estate,” said Mona Mahajan, senior investment strategist with Edward Jones.“I think that group has been under pressure today, in both the U.S. and it looks like in Canada, financials are somewhat lower across the board.”The S&P/TSX composite index fell 30.06 points to 20,205.98, dragged down by metals and financials stocks.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 158.64 points to 35,314....

Jose Bautista reflects on path to level of excellence with Blue Jays

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:43 GMT

Jose Bautista feels the 2015 and 2016 Toronto Blue Jays seasons provided the most joy in his highlight-filled career. However, eight years later, the way the 2015 American League Championship Series ended against the Kansas City Royals still stings.In advance of Bautista being added to the Blue Jays’ level of excellence this weekend, the retired slugger reflected on his 10-year path in Toronto during a media conference call on Tuesday.“When I look back, 2015 is the one that kind of slipped away,” admitted Bautista, who is now 42 and resides in his Tampa Bay-area home, dedicating his time to being a devoted full-time father to his four daughters.“Because of all the additions we made at that deadline, we caught fire in the second half after hovering around .500. We won a ridiculous amount of games in the second half.“In 2016, we had a lot of guys banged up. In having conversations with guys in the past, we had a better chance [in 2015]. So that’s th...

Alberta minister says federal strings on electricity climate funding a ‘threat’

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:53:43 GMT

EDMONTON — Alberta Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schulz says Ottawa is threatening the province by suggesting it will withhold federal funding from electricity projects that don’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson made the comment in Vancouver.He says billions of dollars in tax credits and grants will be tied to progress toward Ottawa’s target for a net-zero electricity grid by 2035.  But Schulz calls that statement a threat and says it’s no way to start a conversation. She says meeting the goal is completely unrealistic for Alberta. She says Alberta’s United Conservative Party government is talking with Ottawa about flexibility for the province but couldn’t say what concessions the province is seeking. Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is expected to soon release regulations for moving Canada toward a net-zero grid. This report by The Canadian Press was firs...