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‘I was able to give back’: Landmark firefighting law sparks new hope for former inmates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:26 GMT

When Benjamin Fowler was serving a second 10-year prison term, he didn’t see a clear path forward to a new life after his time was up. He was in his mid-30s, with a young son, a teenage daughter and a 2023 release date. He figured he would try to get back into landscaping or become a carpenter.Then in September of 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2147 into law, allowing incarcerated people who served as inmate firefighters to have their records expunged. Prior to its passage, many inmates were unemployable as firefighters after leaving prison because of their criminal records — even if they had spent years doing the exact same job, and even though California had a shortage of firefighters.“As soon as I heard about that law being passed, it was probably a two-year process,” Fowler said. “But when I got to the fire camp, I knew that’s where I was supposed to be.”Benjamin Fowler, left, wearing a bandana, with a conservation camp crew in 2020. Inmates in the Conservation Ca...

DC attorney general vows to fight for medication abortion access after SCOTUS ruling

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:26 GMT

The District’s top prosecutor said Friday that he’ll continue to advocate for a popular abortion medication following a Supreme Court ruling that puts the drug’s access in legal limbo.The high court halted two rulings that would have limited the availability of mifepristone, which is used in more than half of all abortions in the country.The drug’s fate will now be argued next month in a lower court, prompting D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb to note that “it leaves the door open to blocking access to this safe and effective prescription drug in the future.”“My office is committed to protecting reproductive freedom in the District and across the country, and we won’t allow politics to limit heath care options for DC residents or visitors,” Schwalb said Friday evening.Schwalb joined a multistate lawsuit to expand access to medication abortion earlier this month and led a coalition that filed a challenge to a Texas judge’s rulin...

Leeds still in danger after Meslier errors in loss at Fulham

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:26 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Leeds remained in relegation danger in the Premier League after losing 2-1 at Fulham on the back of two mistakes from goalkeeper Illan Meslier on Saturday.Both of Fulham’s goals came in the second half after Meslier failed to deal with the crosses from the left, with Harry Wilson and Andreas Pereira benefitting from the goalkeeper only parrying the ball out into the middle of the area.An own-goal by Joao Palhinha in the 79th gave some late hope for Leeds, which started the game two points above the relegation zone and fell to a fourth loss in its last five games.The win could have been bigger for Fulham, with free-kick shots from Pereira and Willian hitting the goal frame in a chaotic second half. Instead, the hosts settled for the goals of Wilson, who smashed a fierce shot in off the underside of the crossbar in the 58th following Willian’s cross, and Pereira, who couldn’t miss inside the six-yard box after Meslier’s flap directed the ball straight a...

Barcelona beats Chelsea 1-0 in Women’s CL semifinal 1st leg

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:26 GMT

LONDON (AP) — An early goal by Caroline Graham Hansen gave Barcelona a 1-0 win at Chelsea in the first leg of their Women’s Champions League semifinal on Saturday.Graham Hansen put Barcelona ahead just four minutes into the match at Stamford Bridge when the Norway forward cut in from the right and drilled a long-range shot into the top corner.The closest Chelsea went to equalizing was a shot by Guro Reiten that was blocked by Barcelona defender Lucy Bronze on the half-hour mark.Substitute Marta Torrejón almost grabbed a second goal for the visitors when she headed off the post in the 82nd.The second leg is on Thursday at Camp Nou.Barcelona routed Chelsea 4-0 in the 2021 final for the Spanish club’s only European title.The other semifinal starts on Sunday when Arsenal is at Wolfsburg.___More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsSource

Última hora y noticias de la guerra de Rusia en Ucrania

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:26 GMT

Artilleros de la brigada de asalto aerotransportada separada 80 de Ucrania disparan desde un lanzacohetes múltiple BM-21 Grad hacia posiciones rusas en la línea del frente cerca de Bakhmut en la región de Donetsk, el 18 de abril de 2023, en medio de la invasión rusa de Ucrania. (Foto deANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP a través de Getty Images)Lee aquí las actualizaciones más recientes.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.Source

Djokovic to miss Madrid Open along with Nadal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:26 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Top-ranked Novak Djokovic will miss the Madrid Open, apparently due to a fitness issue, the Spanish event said Saturday.The Madrid Open said on Twitter: “Wishing you a speedy recovery, we hope to see you back on court as soon as possible, Nole.”While no specific reason was given for Djokovic’s withdrawal, he did discuss issues with his elbow recently, mostly downplaying the extent of the problem.Rafael Nadal, who shares the record of 22 Grand Slam titles with Djokovic, said this week that he would miss the Madrid tournament due to a nagging hip injury that has sidelined him since the Australian Open in January.The next major is the French Open starting on May 28.The 35-year-old Djokovic has had back-to-back early exits from tournaments. He lost in the round of 16 at Monte Carlo to Lorenzo Musetti. Then, on Friday, Dusan Lajovic beat Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the Srpska Open, dealing him his first loss to a Serb countryman in 11 years.The Madrid Open starts on Mo...

Salisbury aims for community at village for homeless

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:26 GMT

SALISBURY, Md. (AP) — Anne Street Village will soon be teeming with life; a sense of relief, hope and security overflowing from the brand-new gated community.The city of Salisbury announced the completion of Anne Street Village, the city’s first transitional housing community for homeless residents, April 6. The village, located in the city’s historic Church Street neighborhood, will welcome its first group of residents in May 2023.The non-congregate shelter features 23 private units, a 4-unit central personal hygiene facility, courtyard area, and wellness center, which will provide wraparound services to all residents including mental and physical health care, addictions counseling and workforce development registration.Each unit will house one of Salisbury’s homeless residents, and includes a bed, refrigerator, HVAC units, fire suppression system and standard set of additional amenities to make each resident feel at home.The village’s vibrant color scheme, a medley of pink, purple...

Teaching artist takes preschoolers on a wild adventure

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:26 GMT

WINCHESTER, Va. (AP) — Tanesha Hutchinson’s pre-K classroom at Virginia Avenue Charlotte DeHart Elementary School was recently overrun by all manners of wild beasts — lethal lions, tenacious tortoises, rampaging rhinos and more.Blame it on Terlene Terry-Todd, a master teaching artist from the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts. The woman better known as Ms. T took up residence at the school and had the children transform into exotic animals to engage their imaginations while cleverly teaching them about reading, counting and the environment.Ms. T was one of three master teaching artists from Wolf Trap’s Vienna-based institute who made learning an adventure for preschoolers in all four of Winchester’s elementary schools.One recent Thursday, the 16 kids in Hutchinson’s classroom transformed into turtles as Ms. T read to them from a book called “The Water Hole” by Australian author Graeme Base.When an illustration in the children’s book showed tortoises that had re...

Russia expels at least 20 German diplomats

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:26 GMT

The Russian government is kicking several German diplomats out of the country in an alleged tit-for-tat move, its foreign ministry said on Saturday.“The German authorities have decided on yet another mass expulsion of employees of Russian diplomatic missions in Germany. We strongly condemn these actions of Berlin, which continues to defiantly destroy the entire array of Russian-German relations,” the ministry said in a statement, arguing that Germany’s actions were “hostile.”The foreign affairs ministry did not specify how many diplomats it would expel, although ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told state-run television Zvezda that Moscow had decided to expel “more than 20,” according to AFP.Russia said it took the decision in response to Germany ordering a “mass expulsion” of Russian diplomats, without specifying further details. The German foreign ministry confirmed to German outlet Deutschlandfunk only that it had been in ...

Volunteers to collect thousands of pounds of trash along Charles River during Earth Day cleanup

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:26 GMT

Volunteers are estimated to collect over 57,000 pounds of trash in one of the largest cleanups in the country. Around 3,000 will work at about 80 sites, including parks, forests, playgrounds and paths along the Charles River watershed throughout Massachusetts. The 24th annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup — hosted by the Charles River Conservancy, Charles River Watershed Association, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Emerald Necklace Conservancy, Esplanade Association, and Waltham Land Trust — is just one of multiple opportunities to volunteer across the Commonwealth.DCR officials are still looking for Park Serve Day volunteers at some sites, including Castle Island and Whitehall State Park. Collecting trash can be more than a single day’s effort. Emily Norton, the executive director of the CRWA, said this day is inspiring.“People really do make a difference, they make a demonstrable difference,” Norton said. “After spending two hours and seeing the pi...