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New reversal by Twitter after move sparked MTA withdrawl

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:34 GMT

In an about-face, Twitter says it has restored free access to a key tool for verified government and “publicly owned” services so they can tweet weather, transit and other alerts after New York City’s transit agency said earlier this week it would no longer use the platform for its service advisories. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is among countless official and unofficial accounts that abruptly lost access to Twitter’s API, or application programming interface, to send out automated alerts about service changes and emergencies last week. By Thursday afternoon, senior executives agreed to cease publishing service alerts to the platform altogether.The decision put the country’s largest transportation network among a growing number of accounts, from National Public Radio to Elton John, who have reduced their Twitter presence or left the platform since its takeover by Elon Musk.Twitter had signaled that the days of private accounts disseminating troves of information ...

Two Canadians killed during battle in Ukraine, Global Affairs says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:34 GMT

Paul Hughes says one of the most difficult moments of his life was placing a Canadian flag over the body bag of a soldier from Alberta killed during a bloody battle in eastern Ukraine. Hughes carefully drove an ambulance carrying the body of Kyle Porter for more than four hours away from an area near Bakhmut where the Canadian and another soldier, Cole Zelenco, were killed during fierce fighting last week. “I draped the Canadian flag over him. That hit me as hard as I’ve been in hit in the 14 months I’ve been in Ukraine,” Hughes said in a phone interview from Kharkiv after retrieving Porter’s body Tuesday.“My heart goes out to (their families). The deepest condolences.”Global Affairs said in an emailed statement that the department is aware of reports that two Canadians died in Ukraine. It said it’s following up with authorities but cannot release more information due to privacy considerations. Family and aid workers identified the two Canadians. Zelenco was from St. Catharines, Ont...

‘Corruption toll’: Federal jury convicts 4 at bribery trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:34 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Federal jurors on Tuesday convicted all four defendants of bribery conspiracy at their trial in Chicago that provided an inside look at pay-to-play politics in Illinois that prosecutors said involved the state’s largest electric utility and, at the time, one of its most powerful politicians.It’s a resounding win for U.S. prosecutors in one of the biggest corruption trials in Illinois since former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted in 2011 in the same federal courthouse, including on charges he sought to sell President Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat. During a month and a half of testimony, prosecutors sought to prove two former ComEd executives, a former utility consultant and a longtime government insider arranged contracts, jobs and money for associates of then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan — once one of the nation’s most powerful legislators — to ensure proposed bills boosting ComEd profits became law.Madigan, 81, has been indicted in t...

BNSF tracks back in service after Wisconsin dedrailment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:34 GMT

LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — Railroad tracks damaged after a BNSF Railway freight train derailed in southwestern Wisconsin have been repaired and returned to service, rail and government officials say.BNSF contractors made repairs and reopened the line Saturday, BNSF spokeswoman Lena Kent said.“They’ve got that all repaired and they’re at full speed already, running rail overnight,” Craig Thompson, secretary of Wisconsin Department of Transportation, told the La Crosse Tribune.Thursday’s derailment in Crawford County involved two of the train’s three locomotives and 10 cars carrying a variety of freight, including paint and lithium-ion batteries, Kent said. Four railway employees received minor injuries. The Federal Rail Administration is investigating the derailment.Crawford County Emergency Management Specialist Marc Myhre said about 20 BNSF Railway cars were involved.Two cars went into the Mississippi River, but neither contained hazardous materials, Kent said. Some of the containers t...

Money Mexican migrants sent home rose by 11.4% in Q1

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:34 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexicans living abroad sent home a total of almost $14 billion in the first three months of 2023, an 11.4% increase over the same period of 2022, the country’s central bank said Tuesday. While still considerable, the rate of growth in remittances appears to be slowing, after large pandemic-era increases in 2022 and 2021. In March, remittances for the month were actually down 1.2% compared to the same month last year. That may be related to the Feb. 28 decision by the government to stop accepting remittances through the government-owned Bienestar bank. The government said the decision was made to avoid duplicating the functions of another government transfer office. But some experts said it was a reaction to signs that drug cartels may have been using remittances through the Bienestar bank to launder money. The Bienestar bank has not yet responded to questions about reports that there had been a surge in remittances sent through the bank to the cartel-dominat...

Vancouver city council plans pilot project to test car-free Gastown for pedestrians

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:34 GMT

Vancouver is planning to eliminate weekend car traffic from the main thoroughfare of its historic Gastown neighbourhood as early as this summer, a city councillor announced Tuesday.Sarah Kirby-Yung said she will introduce a motion on May 9 for a “people-focused Gastown,” which will include plans for a pilot project to shut down Water Street to car traffic on weekends starting as early as summer 2023. The results will inform the city’s plans for Gastown, which may involve removing car traffic from the neighbourhood permanently in the future, Kirby-Yung said. “The centrepiece of the vision includes pedestrianizing Water Street, looking at the options to make it either car-free or car-light on a seasonal or on a year-round basis,” she said during a news conference in Gastown, surrounded by Mayor Ken Sim and other ABC council members.“As (we’ve) seen with so many cities around the world, we have the potential to make Gastown truly a destination ...

7 dead, more than 30 hospitalized in I-55 crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:34 GMT

DIVERNON, Ill. (AP/WGN) — Both lanes of I-55 reopened Tuesday morning hours after a windstorm in central Illinois causing numerous crashes that killed at least seven people Monday, police said.Seven people were killed in a 72-car pileup late Monday morning near mile marker 76, between Diveron and Farmersville, about 20 miles south of Springfield. Multiple tractor-trailers were among the vehicles involved, two of which caught fire, Illinois State Police Maj. Ryan Starrick said.I-55 was shut down in both directions in Montgomery County, 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of St. Louis.More than 30 people on both sides of I-55 were transported to hospitals with injuries.Those hurt in the crash range in age from 2 to 80 and have injuries from minor to life-threatening, police said. One of the seven people killed was Shirley Harper, 88, of Franklin, Wisconsin, police said.Authorities held a news conference Tuesday morning and said they are seeking the public's help to identify two of the vic...

Non-profit offering temporary housing for migrants stuck in limbo after CPD orders

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:34 GMT

CHICAGO — In a city feeling the weight of an influx of migrants coming into the United States, a Chicago non-profit was ready to step in and help.Until — in their words — they couldn't.United Legion One Nation (ULON), came to the Chicago Police Department's 3rd District Tuesday to offer their resource center as temporary housing for migrants, who are currently camping out in the breezeway entrance to the police station."It looks like a third-world country," said Pete Keller, founder of ULON. ‘We simply have no more shelters:’ Lightfoot implores Abbott to stop sending migrants Keller told WGN, at ULON's resource center just two blocks from CPD's 3rd District police station, "they have heat. They have two TVs. They have a spacious area, a jumpy house for kids. Coloring books, everything you would need to keep and sustain a family."And as Keller and other volunteers prepared to help move migrants from the police station, they were stopped."From what we were told, the higher-ups tol...

Police, IDPH respond to 'severe staffing concern' at nursing home in northern suburbs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:34 GMT

LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. — Three people are in the hospital after police in the northern suburbs and the Illinois Department of Public Health received reports of what police called "a severe staffing concern" at a nursing home Monday.The Lincolnshire Police Department said they received the report shortly after 9 a.m., with the Wealshire LLC rehabilitation facility found at 150 Jamestown Lane being cited as the nursing home having a severe staffing concern.After arriving at the nursing home, police found the establishment is typically staffed with over 60 employees, but only one-third of staff members were present at the time for work.According to IDPH, when their staff arrived, the facility medical director told them no nursing or other clinical staff were on duty at the facility.Lincolnshire PD worked in conjunction with Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Fire Protection District (LRFPD) to address the situation, and LRFPD took three individuals to Advocate Condell Medical Center for medical treat...

St. Andrew teacher wins prestigious Golden Apple Award

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:34 GMT

CHICAGO — From the outside, it seemed like a typical Tuesday at St. Andrew School in Lakeview. But inside, students and staff came together with eager anticipation to let 6th grade teacher Rachel Werderits in on a big secret.She’s the recipient of the prestigious Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching."Students talked about her riding her bike and running by their houses and writing notes to each of her students in chalk and also problems on the sidewalk," said Alan Mather, President of the Golden Apple Foundation. "And so, when they’d get on Zoom, it was like 'whose house did she visit today?'"Werderits has taught at St. Andrew for 14 years, and she’s known since the fifth grade that this was her calling."I started taking chalk from school and using the back of my bedroom door as a chalkboard and I taught imaginary lessons in my bedroom," Werderits said.And on Tuesday, all her hard work paid off."I am very humbled and honored to be recognized," Werderits said. "The challenge...