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A small police department in Minnesota’s north woods offers free canoes to help recruit new officers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:52 GMT

The police department in the remote north woods Minnesota town of Ely faces the same challenges of recruiting and keeping new officers as countless other law enforcement agencies across the country. So it’s offering a unique incentive: canoes.Ely, a former mining and logging community that’s best known as a gateway to the popular Boundary Waters Canoe Area, will provide free Kevlar canoes worth $3,800 to the next officers it hires — and to current employees. The lightweight craft, made from the same strong synthetic fibers as bulletproof vests, are perfect for paddling off into the nearby wilderness and exploring its more than 1,000 pristine lakes. The department — consisting of the chief, an assistant chief, and five slots for patrol officers — has one opening now with another coming soon.Police Chief Chad Houde said he’d already had two calls expressing interest as of Thursday morning and he’s expecting at least several more because of the unusual offer. Lo...

Lawsuit accuses NCAA of antitrust violation in college athlete transfer rule

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:52 GMT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A federal lawsuit filed by a group of states alleges the NCAA’s transfer rule for college athletes violates antitrust law.The lawsuit, filed in West Virginia’s northern district, challenges the NCAA’s authority to impose a one-year delay in the eligibility of certain athletes who transfer between schools. The suit said the rule “unjustifiably restrains the ability of these college athletes to engage in the market for their labor as NCAA Division I college athletes.”The lawsuit filed by West Virginia and six other states alleges violations of the Sherman Act.NCAA rules allow underclassmen to transfer once without having to sit out a year. But an additional transfer as an undergraduate requires the NCAA to grant a waiver allowing the athlete to compete immediately. Without that waiver, the athlete would generally have to sit out for a year at the new school.But the NCAA this year has implemented stricter guidelines for granting those waivers for second-time tr...

Retail group pulls back on claim organized retail crime accounts for nearly half of inventory loss

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:52 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, has revised a report released in April that pulls back the claim that organized retail crime accounts for nearly half of overall industry shrink, which measures overall loss in inventory, including theft.The revision of the group’s organized retail crime report on Dec. 1 follows an analysis from Retail Dive that found mistakes in the data. Retail Dive is an online news site that covers retail trends. The trade association released the original report in partnership with K2, a financial crimes risk management firm. The report erroneously stated that of the $94.51 billion in so-called industry shrink, nearly half was to organized retail crime. David Johnston, the national retail group’s vice president of asset protection and retail operations, told The Associated Press in an interview on Thursday that the discrepancy was based on K2 referencing U.S. Senate testimony delivered in 2021 b...

Telus urges support for broadcast distributors as CRTC hearing set to wrap up

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:52 GMT

GATINEAU, Que. — Telus Corp. says that in a “dramatically” changing broadcasting landscape, the CRTC should make changes to the regulatory framework to account for subscribers and revenues shifting from the traditional system to foreign streaming services.The company’s comments to the commission came Thursday, which marked the penultimate day of the CRTC’s three-week hearing held in response to the Online Streaming Act.The law, which received royal assent in April, is meant to update federal legislation to require digital platforms such as Netflix, YouTube and TikTok to contribute to and promote Canadian content.It has prompted the regulator to explore whether streaming services should be asked to make an initial contribution to the Canadian content system to help level the playing field for domestic companies already required to support Canadian content.Telus says that as a first step, foreign streamers should be required to contribute three per cent of annu...

Gunman who killed 3 at UNLV did not appear to be targeting students, AP sources say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:52 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A gunman who killed three people and critically wounded a fourth at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, before dying in a shootout with police, did not appear to be targeting students, according to two law enforcement officials with direct knowledge of the investigation.Terrified students and professors cowered in classrooms and dorms as the gunman roamed UNLV's Lee Business School on Wednesday and opened fire just before noon on the fourth floor, where faculty and staff offices for the accounting and marketing departments are located.One of the officials said the gunman was a longtime business professor who had unsuccessfully sought a job at UNLV. The other law enforcement official identified the suspect as Anthony Polito, 67. Both officials spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release the information publicly.Investigators searched an apartment in Henderson, Nevada, late Wednesday as part of the ...

Former Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould retires after 18-year career

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:52 GMT

Former Chicago Bear kicker Robbie Gould is retiring following an 18-year career that established him as one of the game’s best in the clutch.Gould announced his retirement on The Player’s Tribune on Thursday. Gould had been a free agent after the San Francisco 49ers opted not to bring him back for a seventh season. Gould spent 11 seasons with the Chicago Bears and one with the New York Giants.“At the end of the day, every organization I’ve played for has had a positive impact on my career, each one leaving its unique and significant mark on my journey,” he wrote. “And I could not be more thankful that’s how it played out for me.”Gould, who turned 41 on Wednesday, went from being a walk-on at Penn State and undrafted in the NFL to having an impressive pro career. He was a first-team All-Pro in 2006, reached the Super Bowl with both Chicago and San Francisco and retires with the eighth most career field goals (447) and 10th most points (1,961) in NFL history.But it was in th...

Remembering the attack on Pearl Harbor, 82 years later

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Thursday marks 82 years since 2,403 service members and civilians were killed in an attack at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii. Each year, Dec. 7 is recognized as Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day and commemoration ceremonies are held across the country.On Thursday, Pearl Harbor survivors, World War II veterans and active-duty service members gathered in Honolulu for the National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Commemoration Ceremony."As each year passes, we say goodbye to more and more of our friends who served on Dec. 7, 1941,” said Tom Leatherman, Superintendent of the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. Tuberville is ending blockade of most military nominees, clearing way for hundreds to be approved There is only one crew member who served on the USS Arizona during the attack who is still living. Lou Conter is 102 years old. Conter could not attend today’s ceremony in person, but he shared a special video message for those in attendance.In a statement released ...

'Life Goes On' actress Andrea Fay Friedman dies at 53

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:52 GMT

(WJW) – Andrea Fay Friedman, who was best known for her groundbreaking role on television's “Life Goes On” in the early 1990s, has died at 53, according to multiple reports.According to the New York Times and Variety, Friedman, who had Down syndrome, died on Sunday in her Santa Monica, California, home from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. People born with Down syndrome have a greater risk of developing the disease, especially as they get older, according to the Alzheimer's Association. The 5 highest-earning bachelor’s degrees in the US: new Census data Friedman's father, Hal Friedman, confirmed the news, telling The New York Times that the disease left his daughter unable to speak for the past year. Andrea Fay Friedman graduated from West Los Angeles Baptist High School and studied philosophy at Santa Monica College for two years, according to The Times.Having Down syndrome and playing a main role in “Life Goes On” was revolutionary in 1992 and led to a number of portra...

Chicago man pleads guilty in shooting of three undercover federal officers.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:52 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago man has pleaded guilty to charges in a 2021 drive-by shooting of three undercover law enforcement officers that he mistook for rival gang members, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.Eugene “Gen Gen” McLaurin, 31, entered the plea Tuesday to three counts of assaulting a federal officer and two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence, prosecutors said.Each firearm count is punishable by 10 years to life in prison and each assault count is punishable by up to 20 years, prosecutors said. U.S. District Judge Manish Shah scheduled sentencing for March 13, 2024. Man dies after being found shot on street in West Loop McLaurin has been detained in federal custody since his arrest in 2021.The shootings occurred on the morning of July 7, 2021, when two agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and an ATF Task Force officer were driving in an unmarked vehicle while conducting a covert federal investigation on...

St. Paul officer shot in leg, suspect ‘down,’ according to initial reports

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:15:52 GMT

An officer in St. Paul was shot and wounded in the leg Thursday and a suspect was reported to be “down” with CPR being performed, according to initial emergency radio dispatches.The incident happened before 2:30 p.m. in the area of Cretin and Marshall avenues. Police recovered a gun at the scene, according to a police radio dispatch.Additional information wasn’t immediately available.Related ArticlesCrime & Public Safety | 25 schools, 9 Jewish facilities ‘swatted’ with threats about bombings, shootings, says MN law enforcement Crime & Public Safety | In final budget vote, St. Paul council approves mayor’s plan to erase $100M in medical debt Crime & Public Safety | Man found dead in wreckage of South St. Paul house explosion was owner’s son, family says Crime & Public Safety | Copper thefts darken St. Paul streets … and now also hamper phone, Internet service ...