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Moscow prison for US reporter was used in Stalin’s purges

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:39 GMT

Lefortovo prison, where American journalist Evan Gershkovich has been jailed on espionage charges, dates from the czarist era and has been a terrifying symbol of repression since Soviet times.The inconspicuous, pale yellow complex in eastern Moscow was built as a military penitentiary in 1881 and was used for low-ranking convicts sentenced to relatively short terms. But it gained its notoriety after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, when it became a top detention facility for the Soviet secret police.Under Soviet leader Josef Stalin’s Great Terror of mass arrests in the 1930s, Lefortovo was one of the main pre-trial detention facilities for “enemies of the people,” equipped with torture chambers to extract confessions. Stalin’s sadistic secret police chief, Lavrentiy Beria, personally took part in some prisoner interrogations and executions in its basement.Vasily Blyukher, one of the highest-ranking Red Army officers, was among those who died in 1938 after being tortured in Lefortovo.A...

Missouri Planned Parenthood sues over transgender inquiry

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:39 GMT

Associated Press (AP) — Missouri’s state attorney general is investigating gender-affirming care provided by Planned Parenthood, according to a lawsuit filed by the St. Louis health provider.Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri sued Attorney General Andrew Bailey Friday in St. Louis Circuit Court, according to court documents. Bailey’s office demanded records from Planned Parenthood on March 14 as part of an investigation into treatments provided to transgender youths at an unrelated St. Louis clinic run by Washington University, the lawsuit claims.Planned Parenthood argues in its lawsuit that its clinic has nothing to do with the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, which came under multiple investigations following allegations of mistreatment by a former employee. Planned Parenthood is trying to block access to its records and asked Judge Elizabeth Hogan to tell Bailey he has no authority to investigate the c...

Chicago officer charged with sexually abusing child

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:39 GMT

CHICAGO —A Chicago police officer has been charged with sexually abusing a child.Norridge Police issued a statement Friday that said officers arrested David Deleon after the child reported that he abused him in vehicle on March 25 in Norridge. Norridge police say Deleon was known to the child.Detectives interviewed Deleon in the days following the report and arrested and charged him with aggravated criminal sexual abuse and aggravated battery.Norridge Police contacted and worked with Chicago Police Internal Affairs, the Cook County States Attorney’s Office and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA).Read more: Latest Chicago news headlinesChicago Police Department said Deleon was relieved of his police powers Wednesday.COPA is investigating.Deleon is due in court Friday.

White Sox make history, end streaks in Opening Night win

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:39 GMT

HOUSTON — The effort featured a strong starting pitching performance, a young player with some late heroics, and a triumph for a new manager in Major League Baseball.There was a lot to like about the White Sox first of 162 games in the 2023 season as they made some history while also ending a few streaks as well against the Astros in Houston. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)Opening Day victory drought endsAndrew Vaughn's two-run double in the ninth inning broke a 1-1 tie and helped the White Sox to a 3-2 victory at Minute Maid Park.It snapped the team's four-game losing streak on Opening Day as the club won their first game for the first time since 2018 when they beat the Royals in Kansas City 14-8.For their opponents, it denied some history, as the Astros' ten-game winning streak on Opening Day was snapped. They had a chance to hold the major league record in that category, but now they remain tied with the Boston Beaneaters for the MLB record, which they set from 1887-1896.Grifol...

Woman critical after shooting outside of business on West Side

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:39 GMT

CHICAGO —A woman is in critical condition after a shooting that took place outside of a Garfield Park business Friday morning.According to police, the woman was in an altercation with another person inside a business near the 3900 block of West Madison Street around 9:43 a.m. when she was shot in the abdomen. Chicago officer charged with sexually abusing child The woman was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition. There is currently no one in custody and police are investigating the incident.

Oldest police officer in Arkansas retires at 93

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:39 GMT

CAMDEN, Ark. (KARK) – What do you see yourself doing at 93 years old? If you thought you'd still be working, you have a lot in common with L.C. "Buckshot" Smith.The Camden Police officer is known as Arkansas' oldest law enforcement officer, and he's made the news nationally and even internationally.But the time has come to move on to other things, so he is retiring Friday after an almost 65-year career.Every step of Smith's life has been a work of passion. Jobs in furniture sales, a funeral home, and a service station kept him busy until 30 years old, when he unlocked the door to something he thought he could do forever."Helping people. I saw a lot of things in my lifetime. I wanted to be a policeman," he said. Camden police officer turns 90, becomes the oldest active police officer in Arkansas Smith started out at the Camden Police Department, and at first, he said, he worked for free. Eventually, he transitioned to the Ouachita County Sheriff's Office, where he retired at age 81...

Texas DPS Chief EEO officer arrested, charged with DWI

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:39 GMT

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (Nexstar) — A leader within the Texas Department of Public Safety was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated, according to Williamson County jail records. The Austin Police Department arrested Nathanael Haddox, the Chief Equal Employment and Opportunity officer for DPS, Thursday.Nathanael Haddox (Williamson County Sheriff's Office Photo)KXAN reached out to DPS for comment, but did not immediately hear back.Haddox had a personal recognizance bond originally set for $1,000, but it was waived. As of Friday morning, the chief DPS officer was released on bond, according to Williamson County Jail records.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Kites to soar over Austin's sky this weekend

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:39 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Kites will take to the skies Saturday as Zilker Park once again plays home to the ABC Kite Fest. Kite flyers both young and young at heart have been filling the sky with their creations since 1929 when The Exchange Club started the event. Like the kites will do Saturday this event has soared in popularity over its 94 years.Kite flying in 2022 at the 94th ABC Kite FestSaturday will be a day of fun but it could also be a day to learn. Many will be building their own kite creations and, in the process, learn about the engineering in the construction of their kite. Our young kite "engineers" will learn how much wind is needed to successfully get a kite up and flying. The answer to that question is determined by the shape, the size and the weight. Engineering and physics. There are some kites created to be aerodynamic utilizing just a little breeze. Kites that don't weigh a great deal won't need much wind but the heavier a kite is the more wind will be needed to give it ...

If Twins are to reach their goals, better health is a must

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:39 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It’s been more than three decades since the Twins — or any Minnesota professional sports team, for that matter — have won a title. Through their fair share of sports heartbreak between then and now, local sports fans have been waiting, patiently.“It’d be the biggest parade in America,” center fielder Byron Buxton said, thinking of the potential celebration. “It’s going to have to be.”But if the Twins are to reach their lofty goals, they’ll need much better health than they had last year. And in an effort to find that, the Twins brought in an experienced new head athletic trainer, Nick Paparesta, to lead them on the medical side day to day.The Twins let go of Michael Salazar and hired Paparesta, the longtime Oakland Athletics trainer, in October after watching their playoff hopes disintegrate last season in large part because they couldn’t keep healthy players on the field. Paparesta spent 12 seasons as the head athletic trainer for the Athletics. Before that, he w...

St. Paul mayor’s spokesman, business liaison part of St. Patrick’s Day altercation at West Seventh restaurant

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:39 GMT

Over St. Patrick’s Day weekend, two members of St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s office, and five others were involved in a physical altercation — including the use of pepper spray — with the general manager of a typically-sedate ramen restaurant on St. Paul’s West Seventh Street.Individuals on both sides of the incident have sought to involve St. Paul police.The seven patrons walked into the small train car restaurant just past midnight on March 18, as the Friday night revelries of St. Patrick’s Day became early Saturday morning revelries. The group of seven crowded the couch and handful of chairs in the small bar lobby, singing along exuberantly.The restaurant dining area was 70% full, and there was nowhere to sit them all, recalled owner Jason Dorweiler. “They came in pretty loud,” said Dorweiler, who began serving upscale ramen and craft cocktails in the space just weeks before the pandemic hit.Diverging accountsWhat happened next is ...