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FAA: 250 cases of unruly passengers sent to FBI

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:19 GMT

Federal officials said Thursday they have referred more than 250 unruly airline passengers to the FBI for possible criminal prosecution since late 2021, including one as recently as last month, when a man tried to stab a flight attendant with a broken-off spoon.The pace of the criminal referrals is slowing, however. The Federal Aviation Administration identified 17 cases it has sent to the FBI in the first three months of this year — mostly for incidents that happened last year but took time to investigate.Airlines have reported fewer cases of unruly passengers since last April, when a federal judge struck down a requirement that people wear masks on planes and public transportation. Before that ruling, about two-thirds of all incidents on planes involved disputes over masks.The FAA can levy civil fines but lacks authority to file criminal charges, so it asks the FBI to step in for the most serious cases.“If you act out on a plane, you should just stay at home because we will ...

Guardsman arrested in leak of classified military documents

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:19 GMT

By ERIC TUCKER, TARA COPP and MICHAEL BALSAMO (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — A Massachusetts Air National Guard member was arrested Thursday in connection with the disclosure of highly classified military documents about the Ukraine war and other top national security issues, a breach that has raised questions about America’s ability to safeguard its most sensitive secrets. The guardsman, an IT specialist identified as 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, was taken into custody without incident after FBI officers converged at his Massachusetts home. He is to be charged under the Espionage Act, which makes it a crime to remove or transmit classified national defense information, Attorney General Merrick Garland said.In his brief statement from the Justice Department podium, Garland did not reveal a possible motive, but accounts of those in the online private chat room where the documents were disclosed have depicted Teixeira as motivated more by bravado than ideology.Even as t...

Adley Rutschman blasts first career walk-off homer to give Orioles series-clinching 8-7 win over Athletics

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:19 GMT

The win wasn’t pretty, but the last swing sure was.Adley Rutschman came up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning with the chance to give the Orioles their ugliest win of the season — much better than the alternative.On the second pitch from Oakland Athletics reliever Trevor May, Rutschman launched a center-cut fastball 405 feet to right-center field to deliver the Orioles their first walk-off win of the season, 8-7.Rutschman had been 0-for-4 before the solo home run, which he said in a television interview with MASN was his first career walk-off homer at any level. The Orioles almost didn’t need Rutschman’s heroics after having runners on second and third with no outs in the eighth, but the offense squandered that opportunity.The victory delivers Baltimore (7-6) the four-game series victory over the visiting Athletics.Irvin struggles againLast week, the Orioles entered a game against the Texas Rangers needing a starting pitcher often dubbed an “...

Minneapolis to pay $8.9M over Chauvin’s actions before Floyd

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:19 GMT

By JIM SALTER (Associated Press)The city of Minneapolis agreed Thursday to pay nearly $9 million to settle lawsuits filed by two people who said former police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into their necks years before he used the same move to kill George Floyd.John Pope Jr. will receive $7.5 million and Zoya Code will receive $1.375 million. The settlements were announced during a meeting of the Minneapolis City Council.Both lawsuits stemmed from arrests in 2017 — three years before Chauvin killed Floyd during an arrest captured on video that sparked protests worldwide, prompted a national reckoning on racial injustice and compelled a Minneapolis Police Department overhaul.At a news conference Thursday, Mayor Jacob Frey apologized to all victims of Chauvin and said that if police supervisors “had done the right thing, George Floyd would not have been murdered.”“He should have been fired in 2017. He should have been held accountable in 2017,” F...

Heat’s Spoelstra hints of lineup, rotation changes vs. Bulls in play-in

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:19 GMT

Caleb Martin was the final player off the Miami Heat’s practice court Thursday. The question now is whether he could be one of the first on the court when the Heat host the Chicago Bulls in a winner-take-all play-in game at 7 p.m. Friday night.Considering Erik Spoelstra declines to reveal lineups when he speaks 90 minutes before games, there was no tell Thursday from the Heat coach.Then again, perhaps there was.“Yeah, you know, everything’s on board,” Spoelstra said when asked about possible lineup or rotation adjustments. “Every one of these things, that’s how I’m viewing it.”The Heat twice have undergone significant lineup adjustments since the All-Star break, first replacing Martin with Kevin Love and then, more recently, moving Max Strus into the starting lineup in place of Love.Tuesday night, the small-ball approach with Strus as the de facto power forward was exposed with the Heat outrebounded 63-39 in their 116-105 loss to the A...

Brockton to name former Patriot Jermaine Wiggins as new head football coach

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:19 GMT

If Brockton was looking to make a splash with its football hire, they certainly succeeded in doing so.The school announced it will hire former New England Patriot tight end Jermaine Wiggins as the school’s new football coach. Wiggins will be introduced by Brockton Mayor Robert F. Sullivan and Brockton Public Schools Superintendent Michael P. Thomas at a press conference Friday afternoon (12:30) at Marciano Stadium.While preferring to wait until the press conference to deliver his statements, Wiggins did speak about the legacy of the Brockton football program and the impact it had on him as a youngster starring at East Boston High School.“I am happy to have the opportunity to follow an unbelievable legacy that the Colombos have created at BHS,” Wiggins said in a text message. “As a kid growing up in Eastie and playing football Brockton was the gold standard. And now to have the chance to coach kids that are growing up in a neighborhood just like Eastie who have goals and dreams...

BC wide receiver Ryan O’Keefe burning it up in spring ball

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:19 GMT

Boston College wide receiver Ryan O’Keefe came of age in a football culture.O’Keefe is a graduate transfer from Central Florida who torched the turf during the Eagles’ 14 spring practice sessions while learning a new system. The 5-10, 170-pound pass catcher from Austin, Texas will put his stretch-the-field speed on display in Saturday’s (11 a.m.) Jay McGillis Memorial Spring Football Game at Alumni Stadium.“I am looking forward to the spring game and just seeing what the offense has gotten so far,” said O’Keefe, following the final spring practice on a warm and sunny Thursday morning at Alumni Stadium.“I want to be a force in our plans and just to be able to learn a new system and watch the team operating as a group together. This will be the first time we will be going full speed together so it should be exciting.”O’Keefe began his rise at Round Rock High School in Round Rock, Texas Round Rock is a nationally recognized scholastic program in a part of Texas where football is a reli...

Drake Bell determined to be 'safe' after police issued alert for former Nickelodeon star

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:19 GMT

(WFLA) — Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell, known for his role on the network's hit show "Drake & Josh," was said to be "safe" and in contact with Florida officials after he was reported missing on Thursday by the Daytona Beach Police Department."At this time we can confirm law enforcement officials are in contact and Mr. Bell is safe," a public information officer for the Daytona Beach PD told Nexstar.The department had first issued an alert for Bell, whose legal name is Jared Drake Bell, on Thursday morning. In a Facebook post, police said Bell was last seen on Wednesday just before 9 p.m., in the area of Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Florida."He is considered missing and endangered," the department wrote on Facebook. The police later clarified that that their post was "legitimate," presumably in response to commenters questioning the accuracy of the alert.Police did not share any additional details concerning Bell's whereabouts, nor the circumstances surrounding the...

Romance novel model gets prison for Jan. 6 attack on police

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:19 GMT

A Michigan pipelayer who modeled for covers of romance novels was sentenced on Thursday to three years in prison for assaulting police at the U.S. Capitol during a mob’s attack.Logan Barnhart joined one of the most brutal clashes between rioters and police on Jan. 6, 2021. He grabbed an officer by his neck and torso and dragged him into the crowd of rioters on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace. Minutes later, he returned to a police line and swung a flagpole at officers.Barnhart, 42, of Holt, Michigan, said he didn’t recognize himself on a video, shown in court, that captured him assaulting the officer.“The way I was acting seems so foreign to me,” he told U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras.Contreras also sentenced Barnhart to three years of supervised release after his prison term and ordered him to pay a $3,688 fine and $2,000 in restitution. Contreras said anybody who “directly and brazenly” attacks police is inherently dangerous to the public.“He ran to the fight,” the j...

Trudeau Foundation donor leads group under Chinese Communist Party ‘total leadership’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:19 GMT

A businessman whose reported donations to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation led to the resignation of its CEO is the president of a Chinese cultural organization that says it operates under the authority of the communist government.The website of the China Cultural Industry Association says it adheres to the “total leadership” of the Chinese Communist Party and was formed with the approval of China’s State Council, which is synonymous with the central government.The association says on its Chinese-language site that its president is Zhang Bin, a Chinese billionaire that the Globe and Mail reported had donated $200,000 to the foundation in 2016, along with another Chinese businessman.But the Globe reported that a receipt named a company called Millennium Golden Eagle International (Canada) as the donor.The China Cultural Industry Association says Millennium Golden Eagle International is one of its executive board members and was created with the approval of Chin...