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Judge who presided over Parkland school shooting trial announces resignation

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:10:17 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida judge who gained a national profile while presiding over the Parkland school shooting trial announced Wednesday that she is resigning June 30 to pursue unspecified career opportunities.Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer rose in prominence when she oversaw the televised penalty trial of Nikolas Cruz. He received a life sentence last year after a divided jury was unable to agree on the death penalty for the 2018 mass killing of 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.“It has been a privilege to serve the people of the State of Florida for over 10 years,” Scherer wrote in her brief resignation letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis. The resignation was first reported by Court TV.Scherer, a 46-year-old former prosecutor, was appointed to the bench in 2012. Broward County’s computerized system randomly assigned her Cruz’s case shortly after the shooting. It was her first murder trial.Her handling of the ...

E. Jean Carroll says verdict in Trump abuse case is a victory for all victims of sexual assault

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:10:17 GMT

 (CNN) — E. Jean Carroll said Wednesday that a Manhattan federal jury’s finding that Donald Trump sexually abused her in the spring of 1996 — awarding her $5 million for battery and defamation — is a victory for all women who are victims of sexual assault.“The old view of the perfect victim was a woman who always screamed. A woman who immediately reported. A woman whose life was supposed to fold up and she’s never supposed to experience happiness again,” Carroll told CNN’s Poppy Harlow on “This Morning.” “That was just shut down with this verdict, the death of the perfect victim has happened. Now this verdict is for all women.”Asked by Harlow what she was thinking when the jury did not find that Carroll proved Trump raped her, Carroll said, “Well, I just immediately (said) in my own head, ‘Oh, yes, he did. Oh yes, he did.'” When she shook hands with Trump lawyer Joe Tac...

Payment problem impacts multiple area Market Basket locations

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:10:17 GMT

A payment problem impacted multiple Market Basket locations across the region Wednesday, with some stores telling customers they could pay only in cash. Market Basket said in a statement that “a service disruption by a third party vendor” meant some locations had problems processing credit and debit card payments. Officials said the issue was not due to a cyber attack on Market Basket. “Through the team working together, we are confident that all temporary disruptions will be resolved shortly, and we apologize for any inconvenience to our valued customers,” Market Basket said. It is unknown how many stores were impacted by this issue.

Person taken to hospital, driver summonsed after multi-car crash in Cohasset

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:10:17 GMT

One person was taken to a hospital and another person was issued a criminal summons after a crash in Cohasset Wednesday, police said. Police said emergency crews responded to the intersection of Route 3A and Beachwood Street around 1:20 p.m., where they found a Subaru car resting on its side with a 73-year-old man trapped inside. SKY7-HD over the scene after the crash captured video of at least one other vehicle with its front bumper pulled off. In a statement, Cohasset police said witnesses told them the man driving the Subaru drove through a solid red light on Route 3A before clipping a UPS truck and a Honda vehicle at the intersection with Beachwood Street. Police said crews were eventually able to free the man from the Subaru, at which point police said he refused medical treatment. Police said the man was given a summons for negligent operation of a motor vehicle. The driver of the Honda was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries while t...

Trump, CNN gear up for high-stakes town hall after sex assault verdict

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:10:17 GMT

By JILL COLVIN (Associated Press)Former President Donald Trump was set to appear at a high-stakes CNN town hall and field questions from a moderator and voters on Wednesday, just a day after a civil jury found him liable for sexually assaulting a woman nearly three decades ago.The prime-time forum in New Hampshire was already expected to be noteworthy when it was publicly announced last week, bringing together a network and a candidate who have long sparred with each other. But the stakes were raised considerably Tuesday after jurors in New York found Trump had sexually abused and defamed advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, though they rejected her claim that he raped her. The jury awarded her $5 million in damages. Trump said the ruling was “A DISGRACE” and he vowed to appeal.While the civil trial verdict carries no criminal penalties, it nonetheless revives attention on the myriad investigations facing Trump, who was indicted in New York in March for hush money payments ...

GOP claims smoking gun in docs on Biden finances

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:10:17 GMT

WASHINGTON — Facing growing pressure to show progress in their investigations, House Republicans on Wednesday detailed what they say are concerning new findings about President Joe Biden’s family and their finances.The smoking gun, according to the GOP, is recently obtained financial records connected to the president’s son Hunter Biden, brother James Biden and a growing number of associates who received millions of dollars in payments from foreign entities in China and Romania. They suggest, without evidence, that the payments were part of a wide-ranging scheme to enrich themselves off the family name.To help them get here, Congressional Republicans relied on more than 150 suspicious activity reports as a roadmap to follow what they call the Bidens’ complicated financial money trail.The confidential reports, called SARs for short, are often routine, with larger financial transactions automatically flagged to the government. The filing of a SARs report is not evide...

George Santos pleads not guilty to federal indictment and says he won’t resign

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:10:17 GMT

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ and MICHAEL R. SISAK (Associated Press)CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — U.S. Rep. George Santos, infamous for fabricating his life story, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges he duped donors, stole from his campaign and lied to Congress about being a millionaire, all while cheating to collect unemployment benefits he didn’t deserve.Afterward, he said he wouldn’t drop his reelection bid and defied calls to resign.Santos’ 13-count federal indictment was a reckoning for a web of fraud and deceit that prosecutors say overlapped with the New York Republican’s fantastical public image as a wealthy businessman — a fictional biography that began to unravel after he won election last fall.Santos, 34, was released on $500,000 bond following his arraignment, about five hours after turning himself in to face charges of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress. He surrendered his passport and c...

A Formula 1 Arcade will be opening in Boston: ‘Feel the thrill of an F1 car first hand’

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:10:17 GMT

Want to hop into an F1 racing cockpit?The first Formula 1 Arcade in the country will be opening in Boston next year, giving fans the chance to “feel the thrill of an F1 car first hand” with full-motion racing simulators.F1 Arcade on Wednesday announced that it will open a venue in the Seaport in early 2024. This follows the launch of the F1 Arcade in London, which has seen more than 8,000 fans each week.Boston Seaport will be the first to bring the concept — which combines food and cocktails with sim racing equipment — across the Atlantic.“Formula 1 is enjoying significant growth globally, and we are constantly innovating to ensure that we are bringing the highest quality of sport and entertainment to new and diverse audiences,” said Stefano Domenicali, president and CEO of Formula 1.“F1 Arcade does exactly this by putting our fans behind the wheel of bespoke racing simulators, so they can feel the thrill of an F1 car first hand, coupled wit...

Ticker: FDA panel backs over-the-counter pill; Brigham and Women’s receives $100M gift 

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:10:17 GMT

Federal health advisers said Wednesday that a decades-old birth control pill should be sold without a prescription, paving the way for a likely U.S. approval of the first over-the-counter contraceptive medication.The panel of FDA advisers voted unanimously in favor of drugmaker Perrigo’s request to sell its once-a-day medication on store shelves alongside eye drops and allergy pills.The recommendation came at the close of a two-day meeting focused on whether women could safely and effectively take the pill without a doctor’s supervision. A final FDA decision is expected this summer.Perrigo’s drug, Opill, would be the first contraceptive pill to be moved out from behind the pharmacy counter. The company said sales could begin late this year if OK’d.“In the balance between benefit and risk, we’d have a hard time justifying not taking this action,” said Maria Coyle, an Ohio State University pharmacist, who chaired the panel. “The drug is ...

Army sergeant who fatally shot BLM protester in Texas sentenced to 25 years as governor seeks pardon

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:10:17 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A U.S. Army sergeant who fatally shot an armed protester at a Black Lives Matter march in Texas was sentenced to 25 years in prison Wednesday, after prosecutors used his social media history and text messages to portray him as a racist who may commit violence again.Daniel Perry’s sentence now pushes the case toward a potentially thorny decision for Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has said he wants to issue a swift pardon.Abbott requested the state Board of Pardons and Paroles to send him a pardon recommendation for Perry shortly after he was convicted in April of killing Garrett Foster at the Austin march in July 2020.Abbott lauded Texas’ tough Stand Your Ground self-defense laws and said Perry was railroaded by a liberal prosecutor. Since then, Perry’s trail of texts and online posts, including shockingly racist images, have been made public and the governor has stayed silent on the matter. Abbott’s office did not respond to an Associat...