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New York to allow ‘X’ gender option for public assistance applicants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:21 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — New Yorkers will soon be able to choose an “X” gender option when applying for food stamps, Medicaid and other public assistance, under a court settlement Wednesday.The agreement settles a 2021 lawsuit against multiple government agencies that claimed the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance’s computer system compels nonbinary people to either lie under oath by declaring themselves as male or female or be denied benefits.Under the settlement, the state’s public assistance and health agencies will make “X” gender markers available on applicable forms by Jan. 1. It will allow the New York City Human Resources Administration to offer “X” gender markers on forms before Jan. 1, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union, which bought the lawsuit on behalf of several plaintiffs.“This is a major victory for the thousands of nonbinary New Yorkers who will be able to seek public benefits without being forced to lie about their identity or risk ...

Youngkin administration says it’s fixing issue that improperly removed some voters from the rolls

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:21 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration said this week, with early voting underway, that it is working to fix an issue that misclassified probation violations as felonies and has led to an unknown number of eligible Virginians being removed from the voter rolls.State election officials are working with Virginia State Police to identify voters whose registration “may have been canceled in error” and begin the process of having those people reinstated, Andrea Gaines, a spokeswoman for the Department of Elections, said in a statement Wednesday. “We are taking great care to identify each person affected and working to reinstate their registration immediately,” said Susan Beals, commissioner of the Department of Elections.Gaines said that as part of the routine process of keeping an up-to-date voter list, the department receives a monthly file from Virginia State Police containing felony convictions. In Virginia, a felony conviction automatically results in the lo...

Kevin McCarthy was an early architect of the Republican majority that became his downfall

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The day before he was ousted, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was doing what he loved — stopping to greet tourists at the Capitol, gushing about the beauty of the place and its history at the center of American democracy.On Wednesday, McCarthy’s House was shuttered, his Republican majority in chaos and unable to legislate for the foreseeable future, with grave ramifications for the U.S. experiment in governing. With no speaker of the House, a constitutional officer second in line to the presidency, the Congress cannot fully function — to pass laws, fund the government and otherwise serve as the branch of government closest to the people — during a time of simmering uncertainty at home and abroad.“A democracy relies on its legislative branch — it’s the most important branch of any democratic government,” said Matthew Green, an expert on Congress at Catholic University. “Without a speaker, you have real risk.”For McCarthy, it’s the end of the arc of hi...

Frustrations mount at City Hall over Johnson's handling of homelessness

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:21 GMT

CHICAGO — Homelessness was the top item Wednesday on City Council’s agenda. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is proposing to raise the real estate transfer tax on properties sold for more than $1 million to create dedicated funding to combat homelessness. Long a priority of progressives, the tax would pour roughly $100 million more annually into homelessness programs. Mayor Johnson signs order to establish city’s first chief homelessness officer As the Council took up the matter, other items on Johnson’s agenda were delayed."You’re going to communicate with my community and me anytime you’re looking to put migrants that we don’t know who they are, what they are, how they are," said Ald. Anthony Beale (9th Ward), speaking about the Johnson administration moving asylum seekers into his ward without prior notification. Furious that some are being housed at a police station that is also a sex offender registry, Beale used a procedural maneuver to send Mayor Johnson's priorities to the Ru...

How fire marshals, labor officials inspect safety of Illinois haunted houses

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:21 GMT

LOCKPORT, Ill. — Haunted house attractions are more popular than ever, with increasingly sophisticated pyrotechnics and special effects being commonplace all across today's scare park landscape, but how do state inspectors make sure they are safe before the public ventures in?According to inspectors with the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) and Chicagoland fire marshals, the bedrock of haunted houses getting the green light for operation is making sure employee training and safety permits are up to snuff.“We do create this world of make-believe," said John LaFlamboy from Hell's Gate Haunted House in Lockport. "It looks like chaos, but the goal is to have an organized and safe facility.”According to LaFlamboy, state safety guidelines require haunted house operators to know everything from where to place a fire extinguisher and emergency exits, to how to deal with an unruly customer, and how to handle a medical situation — but the process of getting everything in place starts by ta...

Pavement buckles near McCormick Place on DuSable LSD, damaging several cars

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:21 GMT

CHICAGO — Pavement buckling on DuSable Lake Shore Drive amid rush hour has prompted emergency road repairs by Chicago Department of Transportation crews.SkyCam9 flew above the scene near McCormick Place, just past 18th Street, as CDOT workers focused their attention on two southbound lanes. A CDOT spokesperson told WGN News, "CDOT is on the scene responding to pavement buckling near 18th Street on DuSable Lake Shore Drive. Crews are working quickly to make patching repairs this evening and will return tomorrow during off-peak hours to complete repairs."Traffic delays are expected. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Vaccine for hospital superbugs — and more

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:21 GMT

Medical Watch Digest for Oct 4Combatting hospital bugs: There may soon be a shot for that.It's a vaccine makers say can protect against lethal superbugs rampant in hospital and healthcare settings.University of Southern California scientists developed the shot, intended to be given to patients before or immediately after arriving at the hospital.Their research in mice shows it offers protection against MRSA and other antibiotic resistant infections.Study authors say a single dose put immune cells into "incredible hulk" mode within 24 hours, offering rapid protection against eight different bacterial and fungal species for 28 days.Every year, healthcare acquired infections kill nearly 100-thousand people.The next step is human clinical trials.Being a vegetarian may be in the genesSome people attempt to forego meat and instead live on fruits and vegetables, only to go back to their carnivorous ways.Northwestern University pathologists say that's because vegetarianism may be hard wired...

New York student back in US after being detained in Dubai: activist

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:21 GMT

NEW YORK (WPIX) — Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos is reportedly back in New York after a nightmarish few weeks of being detained in Dubai.The Lehman College student was passing through the Dubai airport on her way home from a trip to Turkey when she was detained in mid-July. Dubai officials alleged she assaulted and insulted an airport security employee by touching her arm, according to Detained in Dubai, an organization aimed at helping victims of injustice in the Middle Eastern emirate. But activists who helped bring the 21-year-old home said there's more to the story. They say De Los Santos faced a painful and degrading search when she went through security. Afterward, she allegedly tapped a security woman for help with a medical device and was detained for “touching the female customs officer” during the search, the activists said."It's just out of a nightmare, out of a movie, and what she experienced is unimaginable. I don't think they can put themselves in their shoes and imag...

Son of Buc-ee's co-founder arrested on 28 felony charges in Texas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:21 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The son of a co-founder of the nationally renowned Buc-ee's convenience store has been arrested in Texas on 28 separate state jail felony charges of invasive visual recordings.Mitchell Wasek, 28, was released one hour after being arrested on a $10,000 bond on the condition he not contact the complainants, according to Travis County jail records.Nexstar's KXAN reached out to an attorney connected with Mitchell but didn't immediately receive a response. KXAN also attempted numerous times to contact both Mitchell and his father, Don Wasek, however, phone numbers associated with both individuals were either disconnected or had voicemails disabled. KXAN was able to reach a family member of the Waseks, but that person hung up the phone as soon as KXAN identified itself. Mitchell Wasek, 28Mugshot provided by APDAccording to court records, the Travis County Sheriff's Office received a telephone complaint in May alleging improper photography had occurred at a home on the bank...

Settlement reached in lawsuit over teen's death in Rosemont hotel freezer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:21 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — The mother of a 19-year-old Chicago woman who was found dead in 2017 in a freezer at a suburban hotel where she had attended a party has reached a settlement in her lawsuit against the hotel and others.A settlement was reached in August, Cook County court records show, but it has not been entered on the court docket because attorneys for Kenneka Jenkins’ mother have asked that the terms be sealed from the public, the Chicago Tribune reported.A judge denied that request Tuesday but asked the mother’s attorney to resubmit the request. A status hearing is scheduled for next week in the case, which had been set for a trial starting Oct. 16, court records show.Attorneys for Jenkins’ mother, Tereasa Martin, argued that the family’s safety and privacy trumped any reason to require that the records be publicly filed.“The widespread publicity of this case, including uncontrolled speculation and social media commentary has resulted in various threats made against vari...