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Calls to collect jury duty fines are scams, Maryland court says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

The federal court for the District of Maryland is warning citizens not to fall for false jury service claims from scam callers.Officials said these callers are impersonating court administrators, U.S. Marshals and state and federal law enforcement officers who claim victims will be hauled off to jail if they don’t pay a fine for missing jury duty.“The callers insisted that their victims arrange to meet them with cash or prepaid credit cards,” the court said in a news release.Maryland’s district court added that “callers sometimes [disguise] their phone numbers so that they appear to be court or law enforcement numbers on the recipients’ caller ID. They also may transfer victims during the calls to create the illusion that they are speaking with government offices.”If you get a call claiming to be looking for a fine because of missing jury duty, officials said that call is fraudulent.“Neither this Court nor any other law enforcement age...

‘You could not find a bigger champion for Warrenton’: Community mourns death of Great Harvest owner Pablo Teodoro

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

The Warrenton community is mourning the loss of Pablo Teodoro, owner of Main Street's Great Harvest Bread Company and a well-known community advocate. (Courtersy James Jarvis, InsideNoVa)((Courtesy James Jarvis) The Warrenton community is mourning the loss of Pablo Teodoro, owner of Main Street's Great Harvest Bread Company and a well-known community advocate. (Courtersy James Jarvis, InsideNoVa)((Courtesy James Jarvis) This article was written by WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.The Warrenton community is mourning the loss of Pablo Teodoro, owner of Main Street’s Great Harvest Bread Company and a well-known communi...

More than 300,000 children’s cups recalled due to high lead levels

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

(CNN) — The US Consumer Product Safety Commission on Thursday recalled roughly 346,000 Cupkin Double-Walled Stainless Steel Children’s Cups because they “contain levels of lead that exceed the federal lead content ban.”The recalled 8- and 12-ounce cups, which were manufactured in China, were sold online at Amazon.com and Cupkin.com from January 2018 through March 2023 for about $20, according to CPSC.“Consumers should immediately take the cups away from children and stop using them,” the agency said.“With a few limited exceptions … all children’s products manufactured in or imported into the United States must not contain more than 100 parts per million (ppm) of total lead content in accessible parts,” the CPSC said.There is no known safe level of lead exposure in children.CPSC advised contacting Soojimus, the company that makes the cups, for a full refund, and said it and Amazon were “contacting all known purchasers directly.”No incidents or injuries have b...

Howie Carr: Boston’s local color includes regular sightings of ‘hundreds of open, uncapped needles’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

All you need to know about life in the City of Boston right now is summed up in a BPD report from July 15 describing the cops’ response to a stabbing in the Mass & Cass district:“It should be noted that Officers had to be cognizant of the hundreds of open, uncapped hypodermic needles when responding as well as numerous individuals that were also in the area. FA 81 (Lt. Staines) had to broadcast the health risks and dangers that Officers were facing when they were administering life saving first aid and scene security.”To repeat: “hundreds of open, uncapped hypodermic needles.”Who pays for all these needles? Got a mirror? This is now official government policy just about everywhere. Make it “safer” for the junkies to keep shooting up. Just keep giving them free needles.What could possibly go wrong?The whole affray described in this laconic BPD report is nothing out of the ordinary. And that’s the problem. But as you read it, ask yourself this. What if someone in any other part of...

Bill Madden: It’s time for Hal Steinbrenner to wake up and do his job

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

One would hope Hal Steinbrenner is no longer “confused” about why Yankee fans are so upset, as he proclaimed back on June 21 when the team was floundering in third place, 9 ½ games behind in the American League East. There is nothing to be confused about the present state of the Yankees: It’s a lousy, poorly constructed, grossly over-priced ballclub that just came home in last place after a dismal 1-5 road trip against the Angels and wretched Rockies, with no hope of reaching the World Series (where it hasn’t been in 14 years) any time soon.Now, it is time for Hal Steinbrenner to stop being confused and start taking stock of his franchise under the watch of analytics-obsessed Brian Cashman, the eternal GM. Back in March, Hal said it shouldn’t take $300 million to win a championship. But you shouldn’t have to pay $280 million (as he is now) to finish last either. The Yankee payroll is only hideous because of the players it’s being spent ...

Alex Morgan gets 50th international assist in 2023 FIFA World Cup match against Vietnam

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- San Diego Wave FC forward Alex Morgan tapped her 50th international assist in Friday's 2023 FIFA World Cup match against Vietnam. Sophia Smith scored the first goal of the tournament for Team USA after a pass from captain Lindsey Horan in the 14th minute, which was knocked back from Morgan to set up the scoring moment. 5 San Diego Wave FC players kick off 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup The national women's team celebrated with hugs and a group huddle. The assist and completed play can be seen here.Smith, who's playing in her very first World Cup, also netted Team USA's second goal of the match. With #11 on her jersey, Smith's scored again in first-half stoppage time. The play was initially flagged as offsides, but a review confirmed the goal.This put Team USA up 2-0 at the half against Vietnam.In the second half, momentum shared by Horan and Smith led to another goal for the USA. This time it was Horan who scored after a pass from Smith, who who was rushed...

Migrants face misery in Tunisia. Rights activists fear that the EU deal will make things even worse

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Migrants in Tunisia’s port city of Sfax who are aiming to make Europe their new home are now sharing the burden and the blame for escalating tensions deeply tinged with racism, amid the fears of European leaders who are trying to stanch the numbers of people arriving at their shores.The antagonism that exploded in recent weeks in Sfax between Tunisians and mainly Black sub-Saharan migrants is widely seen as a turning point in how this North African nation deals with migration.European leaders are offering millions to Tunisia amid the abuses, and activists fear a migration summit in Rome on Sunday will pursue an anti-migrant vision that puts the onus on Africa to keep Africans out of Europe.Hundreds of migrants have drowned at sea trying to reach Italy in fragile boats, but now migrants awaiting their chance to cross the Mediterranean cower in fear, some beaten or bused by authorities to new destinations, others dumped in the desert.Musa Khalid from Congo was am...

Muscogee Nation renews lawsuit over Alabama casino they say desecrated a sacred site

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — The Muscogee (Creek) Nation has asked a federal appellate court to reinstate its lawsuit against the Poarch Creek Band of Indians and Auburn University for improperly removing graves from a sacred site in Alabama to build a casino. The Oklahoma-based tribal nation alleges that Wind Creek Casino and Resort in Wetumpka, Alabama, was built at Hickory Ground, a sacred site and capital when federal troops forced the Muscogee out of Alabama nearly 200 years ago. Workers removed 57 sets of human remains and the artifacts buried with them, storing some of them in containers without proper ventilation or temperature control, according to the lawsuit, which was originally filed in 2012. A federal judge threw out the suit in 2021, but on Friday the tribal nation asked the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta to reinstate it, al.com reported.A letter sent last month to the Alabama-based Poarch Creek tribe by David Hill, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s principal chief...

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka may allow Indian rupee to be used in local transactions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka is considering the possibility of allowing the use of the Indian rupee for local transactions, as the island nation struggles to build its depleted foreign reserves and to emerge from last year’s unprecedented economic crisis.Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said Saturday the move to allow the use of its giant neighbor’s currency would enable “tourists and other people from India to directly use Indian rupees here” without going through the hassle of multiple currency conversions.Sri Lanka imports plenty of items from India — its largest trading partner — including food, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, automobiles, fertilizers and chemicals. Trade between the two nations stood at $5.45 billion in 2021, according to official figures.Sabry said accepting the Indian rupee would work as an advantage for Sri Lanka as the trade imbalance between the two countries is in favor of India.“We need more Indian currency, so more Indian peop...

Michigan man charged with murder and other crimes in case involving ex-girlfriend and her toddler

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:25 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A man accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend and kidnapping and killing her 2-year-old daughter has been charged with murder by Michigan’s attorney general.Attorney General Dana Nessel charged Rashad Trice, 26, on Friday with 20 counts, including one count each of first-degree premeditated murder and felony murder in Wynter Cole Smith’s strangulation death. Both charges carry a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.The Lansing man faces 18 other state charges, including kidnapping, in connection with the crimes committed on July 2 and July 3, when he allegedly stabbed and sexually assaulted his ex-girlfriend in Lansing, stole her car and drove away with Smith. The child was later found strangled to death with a cellphone cord.Trice is charged with numerous state counts accusing him of fleeing police who spotted his car in a Detroit suburb on July 3, crashing it into a police vehicle and trying to disarm an officer before he was taken in...