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Spring snowmelt has cities along the Mississippi bracing for flooding in homes and businesses

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:55:03 GMT

(CNN) — More than two dozen river gauges are in major flood stage across the Midwest, with more potentially damaging flooding expected into the coming weeks as the snow from this year’s blockbuster season continues to melt.This year’s river rise could lead to some of the worst flooding in 20 years in some places, with most river gauges in major flood stage along the Mississippi River from St. Paul, Minnesota, to south of Davenport, Iowa. It follows this winter’s relentless parade of storms soon after the Mississippi River near Memphis had dropped to record low levels from drought.Now, the Mississippi River at La Crosse, Wisconsin, is forecast to crest Thursday near 16.1 feet — which would be its third-highest crest there and not far off the record of 17.89 feet set in April 1965. At 16 feet, “water is within one foot of Rose Street near Interstate 90, and the eastbound I-90 exit may be closed,” the National Weather Service said.Some homes an...

Disney sues DeSantis over theme park takeover

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:55:03 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Disney sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday over the Republican’s takeover of its theme park district, alleging the governor waged a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” after the company opposed a law critics call “Don’t Say Gay.”The suit, filed in Tallahassee, was filed minutes after a Disney World oversight board appointed by DeSantis voted to void a deal that placed theme park design and construction decisions in the company’s hands.It’s the latest conflict in an ongoing feud between DeSantis, a Republican expected to run for president, and Disney, a powerful political player and major tourism driver in Florida.The dispute with Disney has drawn significant criticism from the governor’s White House rivals and business leaders who view it as an extraordinary rejection of the small-government tenets of conservatism.The fight began last year after Disney, in the face of significant pressure, publicly oppose...

Ron DeCeasefire: US presidential hopeful DeSantis calls for truce in Ukraine

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:55:03 GMT

Florida’s Republican governor and wannabe presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said Tuesday he supported the idea of a ceasefire in Ukraine — a move long opposed by Kyiv, which has set reclaiming its lost territory as a precondition for any talks with Russia.“It’s in everybody’s interest to try to get to a place where we can have a ceasefire,” DeSantis said in an interview with the Japanese, English-language weekly Nikkei Asia.“You don’t want to end up in like a [Battle of] Verdun situation, where you just have mass casualties, mass expense and end up with a stalemate,” he added, referring to the longest battle of World War I, in which around 700,000 were killed.The idea is likely to get the cold shoulder from Kyiv, where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said a ceasefire would only allow Russia to regroup its forces, and make the war last longer.In his 10-point peace plan presented last November at a G20 summit, Zelenskyy set the resto...

Man accused of assaulting MIT student in Back Bay ordered held without bail, no stranger to the law according to police

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:55:03 GMT

A man accused of assaulting an MIT student in Back Bay over the weekend was ordered held without bail Wednesday, pending a dangerousness hearing next week. Nahom Getaneh, 33, pleaded not guilty in court, appearing after he was arrested Tuesday afternoon. The Boston resident is accused of assaulting a woman Saturday night in the area of Beacon Street and Public Alley 908. MIT officials confirmed to 7NEWS that the victim was a student.Police said the victim was allegedly first approached by the suspect around 11:45 p.m. on a bicycle. The victim said Getaneh asked for food before he groped her, then followed her into her sorority house after she was able to get in through a back door. She said he followed her into the a laundry room where the assault continued before Getaneh took off on his bike and she was able to call 911.Police noted that Getaneh is no stranger to the law and had been wanted on two outstanding warrants on charges that included failure to register as a sex offender a...

Braintree Police investigating armed home invasion

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:55:03 GMT

Braintree Police are investigating a armed home invasion of a residence on Bickford Road Monday night. Officers responding to the scene around 7:40 p.m. found two residents outside the home. One had minor facial injuries and reported he was assaulted by three men who had entered his home. The man told police he answered a knock on the door and was immediately assaulted. Both the victim and the other occupant described one of the men as being armed with a pistol in his waistband.The suspects were described as three tall men in their late teens or early twenties. The suspects did refer to the victim by name and spent a short time in the residence before leaving in a small black sedan.Police say a motive for the crime is being investigated, but that it may be related to online gaming and other online activity. The incident itself is believed to be a targeted crime and isolated, according to authorities.Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact police at 781-794-86...

Disney sues DeSantis and oversight board after vote to nullify agreement with special taxing district

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:55:03 GMT

(CNN) — Walt Disney Parks and Resorts on Wednesday sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his hand-picked oversight board, accusing the Republican 2024 presidential prospect of weaponizing his political power to punish the company for exercising its free speech rights.The lawsuit was filed in federal court minutes after the board appointed by DeSantis to oversee Disney’s special taxing district sought to claw back its power from the entertainment giant, voting to invalidate an agreement struck between Disney and the previous board in February, just before that board’s dissolution.“What they created is an absolute legal mess, OK? It will not work,” said Martin Garcia, chairman of the DeSantis-picked Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board of supervisors.Wednesday’s moves are the latest escalation in the fight between DeSantis and Disney as DeSantis moves toward a 2024 presidential bid.Disney responded by suing DeSantis...

One out-of-state MBTA manager fired, four others warned: Maura Healey says to expect more changes

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:55:03 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey said more leadership changes will happen at the MBTA after a manager found to be working out of state was fired and four others who live hundreds of miles away were told to be in Boston more often.“We actually removed one individual,” Healey said. “And there will be other changes.”That employee, according to a Healey spokesperson, is James “Jay” Neider, chief of capital programs for the MBTA, who was fired last month.Neider owns homes in Millsboro, Del. and Gilbert, Ariz., property records show. According to a Boston Globe report, Neider also spent a lot of time in Hawaii and Wisconsin, where phone records indicate some of his family members live.Hired in 2019, his job consisted of overseeing large capital projects. Neider was paid more than $300,000 last year, with bonuses tacked onto his roughly $275,000 salary. Despite working less than four months this year, he raked in nearly $125,000, when factoring in his base pay, “other pay” and a roughly $20,000 buyout, a...

Man accused of sexually assaulting MIT student ordered held without bail

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:55:03 GMT

The Level 3 sex offender charged with assaulting an MIT student in the laundry room of her sorority house has been ordered held without bail.Nahom Getaneh, 33, was formally charged in municipal court in Roxbury this morning with assault to rape and indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf in the 2 minute hearing and the judge ordered him held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Monday.While Getaneh waived a formal reading of the charges against him, police reports filed in the case offer some detail about what allegedly occurred Saturday night in the 500-block of Beacon Street.Two Boston Police patrol officers responded to a sorority house there at around 11:47 p.m., but the residents who answered the door had no idea about an assault in progress. After first searching the basement, officers eventually found the victim hiding in a closet on the second floor.The victim told police that she was bringing her...

Tyrique Stevenson, Will Mallory among a dozen ‘Canes prospects hoping to be picked in NFL draft

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:55:03 GMT

Will Mallory arrived on Miami’s campus five years ago as a promising tight-end recruit. He leaves Coral Gables positioned for an NFL career.“It seems like it was forever ago, but also felt like it was yesterday,” Mallory said at Miami’s Pro Day in March. “It went by fast, but I cherish the memories and all the relationships I made here. Miami is very special to me and always will be.”Mallory and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson appear to be the most likely Hurricanes to be selected in this year’s NFL draft, which begins Thursday night and runs through Saturday.Stevenson is expected to be picked in the second or third round, while Mallory is often listed in the fifth or sixth round in media projections. The rest of Miami’s prospective draftees will likely sign as undrafted free agents after the draft ends on Saturday.“You obviously dream of this moment,” Mallory said. “Now you’ve got to keep putting the work in, get ...

UK court: Jehovah’s Witnesses not liable for rape by elder

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:55:03 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization isn’t liable for an elder who raped a member of his congregation more than three decades ago.The decision overturned rulings by lower courts that awarded 62,000 pounds ($77,500) for the emotional harm suffered by a Welsh woman who was raped in 1990.Elder Mark Sewell was sentenced to 14 years in prison for raping the woman in his home after the two had been out proselytizing.The Supreme Court ruled that the concept of vicarious liability — often used to hold an employer responsible for the reckless actions of an employee — didn’t extend to the Witnesses in the case, because it didn’t pass a two-stage test.While the court said the elder could be considered an employee of the religious organization, the rape at his home wasn’t within the scope of his duties for the congregation.“The primary reason that the rape took place was not because Mark Sewell was abusing his position ...