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LGBTQ+ advocates rally against Texas bills affecting trans people

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:56 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The LGBTQ+ community and allies rallied outside of the Texas Capitol Thursday morning to speak out against proposed legislation they say would be harmful to transgender Texans.Three bills the group mentioned in particular — SB 14, SB 250 and SB 1029 — were scheduled for a hearing Thursday in the Senate State Affair Committee. SB 1029 aims to restrict access to gender affirming care, allow malpractice lawsuits for care SB 14, authored by Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, would prohibit physicians from giving "procedures and treatments for gender transitioning, gender reassignment" for children under the age of 18. The bill claims that such treatment includes puberty inhibiting drugs, hormone therapy and surgical interventions. "SB 14 is all about child protection," said Campbell during the committee hearing. "Our children need counseling and love, not blades and drugs."One parent, who has a transgender daughter, worries her child will not be able to continue ...

US Marshals arrest Round Rock pawn shop robbery suspect

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:56 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The U.S. Marshal Lone Star Fugitive Task Force arrested a suspect wanted in connection to an aggravated robbery at a pawn shop in Round Rock, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.Jerry Rendon, 38, of Austin, was arrested Thursday morning. A release said Rendon's official charge was aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. On March 13, the Round Rock Police Department responded to the First Cash Pawn, located at 906 N. Interstate Highway 35. There were reports of a man, later identified as Rendon, wearing a mask, holding a handgun and stealing several gold necklaces before he fled the area in a silver Chevrolet pickup truck, according to an affidavit.RRPD was able to identify Rendon as the suspect, and it requested the assistance of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force to assist in capturing him, the release said.Officials found Rendon in the 400 block of East William Cannon Drive in Austin, and he was arrested, the release said.Rendon was taken to the Williamson Coun...

Downtown is getting a new Night Club: It’s an artist-run contemporary gallery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:56 GMT

A contemporary art gallery called Night Club is set to open downtown this weekend as part of a St. Paul Downtown Alliance program to connect new businesses with short-term, rent-free leases.The program, Grow Downtown, launched last year and has so far filled around 18,000 square feet of retail space.Night Club may be new to St. Paul, but the downtown gallery is actually the third iteration of the project founded by artists Emma Beatrez and Lee Noble.The first iteration was, in a sense, a literal night club — an evening extracurricular gathering of students at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, including Beatrez and Noble, all interested in workshopping their interdisciplinary, experimental art.The second came after Beatrez and Noble graduated from MCAD in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, and moved into a house in Minneapolis’ Bryant neighborhood. Covid-19 cases were spiking, and indoor galleries had been shut down. So Beatrez and Noble took advantage of their house’s l...

Zeynep Tufekci: Why the science is clear that masks help

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:56 GMT

The debate over masks’ effectiveness in fighting the spread of the coronavirus intensified recently when a respected scientific nonprofit said its review of studies assessing measures to impede the spread of viral illnesses found it was “uncertain whether wearing masks or N95/P2 respirators helps to slow the spread of respiratory viruses.”Now the organization, Cochrane, says the way it summarized the review was unclear and imprecise, and that the way some people interpreted it was wrong.“Many commentators have claimed that a recently updated Cochrane Review shows that ‘masks don’t work’, which is an inaccurate and misleading interpretation,” Karla Soares-Weiser, the editor-in-chief of The Cochrane Library, said in a statement.“The review examined whether interventions to promote mask wearing help to slow the spread of respiratory viruses,” Soares-Weiser said, adding, “given the limitations in the primary evidence, the review is not able to address the question of whether mask-wearin...

Wisconsin Republicans float bill to designate a state rifle

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:56 GMT

MADISON, Wis. — Republican lawmakers began circulating a bill Thursday that would designate a lever-action rifle produced in northwestern Wisconsin as the state’s official rifle.The bill from state Reps. Dave Armstrong, Treig Pronschinske and James Edming and Sen. Romaine Quinn would designate the Henry All-Weather .45-70 as Wisconsin’s official state rifle.The bill is symbolic only. The state rifle designation would not force anyone to purchase or use the weapon. But it would give the rifle and its manufacturer, Rice Lake-based Henry Repeating Arms, plenty of publicity and help the bill’s authors score points with gun supporters.Armstrong is from Rice Lake; Quinn is from Cameron, about seven miles south of Rice Lake. Edming’s district includes Ladysmith, home to a Henry Repeating Arms factory.The company’s Big Boy All-Weather Rifle won the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce’s “Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin” contest in 2019. Wisconsin Manufact...

Women’s basketball: Gophers Rose Micheaux will enter NCAA transfer portal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:56 GMT

Alanna Rose Micheaux, who made an incredible leap between her freshman and sophomore seasons under coach Lindsay Whalen and her staff, announced Thursday evening that she is entering the NCAA transfer portal.Whalen stepped down after five years coaching her alma mater on March 2. Micheaux made the announcement on her Instagram account. She is the first player to announce her intention to leave.“The University of Minnesota will always have a special place in my heart,” Micheaux wrote. She thanked her coaches and Minnesota fans before finishing, “With that being said, I will be entering my name into the transfer portal, to further my academic and athletic career.”A 6-foot-1 post from Detroit, Micheaux was honorable all-Big Ten as a sophomore this season after averaging 13.8 points and 7.9 rebounds and shooting a team-high 51.9 percent from the floor.A four-star high school recruit, Micheaux averaged 4.7 points and 4.1 rebounds in 30 games as a freshman.Related ArticlesCollege Sports |...

Walz signs bill aimed at curbing catalytic converter thefts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:56 GMT

It will soon be illegal in Minnesota to possess a used catalytic converter that is not attached to a vehicle unless it has the vehicle’s identification number written on it.That’s the thrust of a bill signed Thursday by Gov. Tim Walz that aims to curb the dramatic rise in catalytic converter thefts. Thieves can strip the pollution control devices from vehicles in minutes, leaving owners with an average bill of $2,600 to replace it.Catalytic converters are a sought after because they contain rare earth metals that are more valuable than gold. The legislation also creates new rules for scrap yards where the devices are often sold.“Catalytic converter theft has hit thousands Minnesotans, costing them thousands of dollars — and substantial time — to replace,” Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic, DFL-Minneapolis, said in a statement. “Enactment of this new law will help reverse the explosion in thefts.”Theft of the devices has skyrocketed over the last few ...

Damar Hamlin 'has every intention to play' this season, Bills GM says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:56 GMT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- Bills safety Damar Hamlin is "dialed in" and intends to play this coming season, Bills general manager Brandon Beane said Thursday, two and a half months since Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Hamlin said around the time of the Super Bowl that he would like to return to football "eventually." Beane's comments were the strongest to date indicating Hamlin could suit up for the Bills in 2023."Had a great visit with him a couple days ago and he's in great spirits," Beane said. "He's off the 'world tour' that he and I laughed about with all the sporting events [Hamlin was invited to] and everything else. He's dialed in. He definitely has every intention to play." 26 Shirts raises record-breaking amount for Hamlin design Hamlin was taken by ambulance to University of Cincinnati Medical Center after collapsing during the first quarter of a Jan. 2 game against the Bengals. The game was canceled. Hamlin was held in intensi...

Mishandled evidence leads to murder case dismissal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:56 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Defendant Levi Henning is no longer charged with the first-degree murder of former Parkway student Carieal Doss.FOX 2 asked the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office on March 14 why the case is not in court records. We found out the reason Thursday when we showed up to court.We originally reported on the murder behind a Baptist church in 2020. Doss was found shot in the head on a Franklin Avenue sidewalk in April of that year. The 18-year-old student was about to graduate from Parkway West High School. FOX 2 has now learned the murder charges against the accused were dropped after allegations the Circuit Attorney’s Office failed to turn over evidence. Third teenage boy arrested in killing of Lake St. Louis girl “There’s only two ways that can happen; one is gross negligence," said W. David Mueller, Henning's attorney. "It’s willful denial of my client’s constitutional rights.”Mueller was in court with the intention of arguing his motion to dismiss until the case was drop...

Iron County sheriff, deputies charged in criminal conspiracy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:56 GMT

POTOSI, Mo. - Iron County Sheriff Jeffery Burkett has been charged in a criminal conspiracy involving a kidnapping plot. Two of Burkett's deputies and an Iron County resident were also charged. The Washington County Prosecuting Attorney's Office is handling the case. IBurkett and deputies Chase Bresnahan and Matthew Cozard are accused of aiding Donald Gaston to allegedly kidnap his children from their mother.The Missouri State Highway Patrol's Division of Drug and Crime Control arrested the four men on Thursday. Third teenage boy arrested in killing of Lake St. Louis girl Burkett, 46, was charged with knowingly participating in criminal street gang activities, conspiracy to commit class A/B/C felonies or unclassified felony exceeding 10 years, first-degree attempted kidnapping - facilitating a felony - inflicting injury - terrorizing, first-degree accessory to stalking, second-degree stalking, obtaining criminal history record information under false pretense, misusing 911, and ma...