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6 missing after Montreal building fire that included Airbnb

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

MONTREAL (AP) — Montreal’s mayor vowed Monday to tighten regulation of Airbnb as a search continued for six people missing after a fire swept through a building that included Airbnb units in a historic city section where they are banned. Firefighters initially thought there was one person missing in the blaze Thursday in the eastern Canadian city. However, reports emerged later of illegal Airbnb units in the more than 130-year-old building, and authorities updated the missing over the weekend to seven, including some from the United States. Montreal police reported pulling the body of a woman from the rubble Sunday evening.Montreal police Inspector David Shane said the six who are still missing are from Quebec, Ontario and the U.S., adding that investigators have contacted their families. The fire also injured nine people, including two who were hospitalized.The cause of the fire is being investigated.Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said the building included illegal Airbnb units as w...

Alabama suspends freshman defensive back after drug arrest

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Alabama freshman defensive back Tony Mitchell has been suspended from the team following his arrest on a drug charge.Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said Monday after the first practice of spring that Mitchell was suspended from the team “and all team activities until we gather more information about the situation and what his legal circumstance is.”The Holmes County Sheriff’s Office arrested Mitchell and another man, Christophere Lewis, last week on a charge of possession of marijuana with the intent to sell or deliver, according to a post on the department’s Facebook page. Lewis also was charged with carrying a concealed gun without a permit.“Everybody’s got an opportunity to make choices and decisions,” Saban said. “There’s no such thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You’ve gotta be responsible for who you’re with, who you’re around and what you do, who you associate yourself with and the situations that you put yourself in. It i...

Opinion: Sex workers are left out in the cold by Ottawa’s unjust conviction amendments

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

By: Steven Maynard, Queen’s University, Ontario; Gary Kinsman, Laurentian University; Patrizia Gentile, Carleton University, and Tom Hooper, York University, CanadaThe federal government recently announced its intention to amend the Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act to expand the list of offences Canadians can apply to have struck from their criminal records. The list now includes abortion-related offences and indecent acts in a bawdy house.We are a group of gay and lesbian historians who study the criminalization of queer communities in Canada. While we applaud changes that allow women and abortion providers to apply to have their records expunged, we question the partial and historically faulty way the government has added bawdy-house offences to the act.Sex workers charged with bawdy-house offences, for example, remain excluded from accessing the expungement process.In other words, if a bawdy-house conviction was only about indecency, people can now apply t...

Investigation into bus shelter assault results in nine individuals being arrested and charged

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

Kingston Police say that nine individuals have been arrested and charged following a serious west end bus shelter attack on March 10th. Eight of the nine individuals that were arrested were between the ages of 13 and 17 and thus have their identities protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.Some of the youth were charged with assault with a weapon, and wearing a disguise with intent to commit an indictable offence. Another youth was charged with failing to comply with a Youth Probation Order condition that prohibited him from being on the property at 945 Gardiners Road.Kingston Police say that this youth was remanded into custody and the seven other youths were released on undertakings with conditions and a future court date.The sole individual not protected by a publication ban was 18 year old Seth Snyder-Stokes, who was charged with assault with a weapon, wearing a disguise with intent to commit an indictable offence, assault, and failing to comply with a previous release or...

A Trump indictment would be unprecedented in US. What's known so far

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

(AP) – The decision whether to indict former President Donald Trump over hush-money payments made on his behalf during his 2016 presidential campaign lies in the hands of a Manhattan grand jury that has been hearing evidence in secret for weeks.An indictment of Trump, who is seeking the White House again in 2024, would be an unprecedented moment in American history, the first criminal case against a former U.S. president.Law enforcement officials are bracing for protests and the possibility of violence after Trump called on his supporters to protest ahead of a possible indictment.An indictment could also test a Republican Party already divided over whether to support Trump next year, in part due to his efforts to undermine his 2020 election loss.Trump denies any wrongdoing and has slammed the Manhattan district attorney's office probe as politically motivated.Here's a look at the hush-money probe, grand jury process and possible ramifications for his presidential...

Barkov sets Panthers’ points mark in 5-2 win over Red Wings

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — Aleksander Barkov set the Florida franchise record for most career points, Carter Verhaeghe scored two goals, and the streaking Panthers beat the Detroit Red Wings for the ninth consecutive time, 5-2 on Monday night.Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists, giving him 14 points over the last five games. Eric Staal and Gustav Forsling also scored for the Panthers, who are 6-0-1 over their last seven games, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 20 shots.Barkov recorded a second-period assist, giving him 614 points, breaking a tie with Jonathan Huberdeau for the team record.“It’s great, and I think I’ll realize that even more as time goes by,” Barkov said. “You don’t really think about it during the game, but I’m very happy.”His teammates were just as elated, though they tried to hide their excitement.“We gave him the silent treatment, and I think that’s what he prefers,” Verhaeghe said. “Then we let out a big roar and congratulated him. It’s a crazy accomplishment — he’s the b...

Parents of teen who survived Labor Day weekend boat crash take legal action

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

The parents of Katerina Puig, 17, are taking legal action against realtor George Pino who owns the boat that crashed killing one and injuring 11 others over Labor Day weekend. Students from Our Lady of Lourdes Academy and Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart were thrown overboard when the boat they were on struck a navigational marker in the upper Keys. The lawsuit alleged that Pino was drinking the day of the accident and provided alcohol to the minors.This contradicts the initial report from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission that stated alcohol was likely not a factor in this accident.

Condo won’t accommodate renovation of elevator for resident in wheelchair

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

He needs a wheelchair to get around. When his condo association decided to shut down the elevator, he had what he thought was a reasonable request, but then the association said no, so he turned to Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.When Alejandro was younger, he loved to ride his motorcycle..When a friend was killed riding his, Alejandro said it was time to get rid of his bike.Alejandro Lucin: “And on the way to sell my motorcycle, I got hit … collapsed lungs, broke almost every bone in my body.”After being in a coma for six months, Alejandro was left paralyzed, but the man does not let life pass him.Alejandro Lucin: “You know, I have my job, I have triplets, I have my girlfriend, I have my family, I have friends.”On the weeks Alejandro has custody of the triplets, he gets them up, ready for school and drives them there before heading to work.Don’t believe it? Just watch him snatch his wheelchair up and toss it in his van.Alejandro Lucin: “I have my disability, but I want to live a...

Owl smashes into window targeting Merrimack, NH family’s pet parrot

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

A battle between birds startled one family in Merrimack, New Hampshire over the weekend as Merrimack resident Cynthia Auger said a wild owl twice slammed into her family’s window as she said it appeared to target their parrot, Buddy. Auger said she and her family were enjoying a quiet St. Patrick’s Day weekend at home on Saturday when the owl arrived. “We heard a couple of bangs in the other room, so we looked out the window and we saw a huge owl in the tree looking in the window,” Auger said. Auger said Buddy was perched in his cage right near the window. The owl’s attacks, Auger said, ruffled Buddy’s feathers.“When he saw the bird sitting in the snow, he definitely knew something was up and was terrified,” Auger said. Auger said she thought the owl was finally gone after the second attack. The confrontation, though, was far from over. Auger said she heard Buddy “flipping out,” flapping his wings and screeching. She said she moved to calm Buffy d...

Giants’ dinner with Gamecocks CB Cam Smith a tip on NFL Draft focus

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:40 GMT

The Giants need corners, and their actions on the NFL Draft pro day circuit indicate they’re doing close homework on some of the top cover guys.A Giants contingent took projected first-round South Carolina corner Cam Smith out to dinner last week the night before the Gamecocks’ pro day, several sources told the Daily News.Meanwhile, some league sources say not to ignore Smith’s college teammate, 6-2, 198-pound corner Darius Rush, when Joe Schoen is on the clock in the middle rounds in late April.The 6-1, 180-pound Smith is a popular prospect with impressive length who “can play man coverage at outside corner and nickel” in the NFL, one coach said.Many scouts and coaches believe Smith could land in the late first round, which is where the Giants hold the No. 25 overall pick.But multiple sources pointed out that Rush has had the better spring, including a strong Senior Bowl and a 4.36 40-yard dash to Smith’s 4.43 at the NFL Combine.And as a converte...