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Saris to serve as senior judge at U.S. District Court

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:12 GMT

Veteran U.S. District Court Judge Patti Saris plans to retire from regular active service upon the appointment of her successor, and to serve as a senior judge.Saris, who was appointed to the court in 1993, has advised President Joe Biden of her plans, the court announced Wednesday.Saris served as chief judge from 2013 to 2019 and was the U.S. Sentencing Commission chair from 2011 to 2017.After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1976, Saris clerked for the Supreme Judicial Court, and then went into private practice. In 1979, she worked as staff counsel for Sen. Edward Kennedy while he chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee. She went on to serve as an assistant U.S. attorney, U.S. magistrate judge, and Superior Court justice.“She has been a thoughtful, intelligent, and highly respected trial judge; a national leader on a host of issues, particularly criminal sentencing; a dedicated teacher and mentor; a forceful and effective leader of the court; and a wise and beloved colle...

From fruit to flesh: A day in the ink shop with San Diego tattoo apprentices

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:12 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- As the saying goes, "art is forever." That is especially true for those who choose their own bodies as a canvas. The practice of tattooing body art has been around for millenniums. From the mummy of Ötzi the Iceman discovered in the Alps to evidence of ancient Egyptian tattoos, the inking of flesh is a creative activity that has evolved as humans have.Fast-forward to present day, it's commonplace to stumble across tattoo shops and parlors on everyday streets -- whether it be in rural or urban communities.Some may say it's the pain of passion that drives humans to seek out creators armed in artistry with inked needles. It takes a lot of trust to offer up your body as a canvas as you'll be carrying around those art pieces for the rest of your life. Optical phenomenon: Sundog spotted above San Diego County mountain range How does one begin machining across the largest organ of the human body? From fruit to flesh and all things in-between, four San Diego tattoo appr...

One of world’s largest icebergs drifting beyond Antarctic waters after being grounded for 3 decades

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:12 GMT

One of the world’s largest icebergs is drifting beyond Antarctic waters, after being grounded for more than three decades, according to the British Antarctic Survey.The iceberg, known as A23a, split from the Antarctic’s Filchner Ice Shelf in 1986. But it became stuck to the ocean floor and had remained for many years in the Weddell Sea.The iceberg is about three times the size of New York City and more than twice the size of Greater London, measuring around 4,000 square kilometers (1,500 square miles).Andrew Fleming, a remote sensing expert from the British Antarctic Survey, told the BBC on Friday that the iceberg has been drifting for the past year and now appears to be picking up speed and moving past the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, helped by wind and ocean currents.“I asked a couple of colleagues about this, wondering if there was any possible change in shelf water temperatures that might have provoked it, but the consensus is the time had just come,” Fleming t...

Girl, 11, confirmed as fourth victim of Alaska landslide, two people still missing

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:12 GMT

WRANGELL, Alaska (AP) — Authorities recovered the body of an 11-year-old girl Saturday evening from the debris of a landslide in southeast Alaska that tore down a wooded mountainside days earlier, smashing into homes in a remote fishing village. The girl, Kara Heller, was the fourth person confirmed killed by last Monday night’s landslide.The girl’s parents Timothy Heller, 44 and Beth Heller, 36, and her sister Mara Heller, 16, were discovered and confirmed dead in the initial days after the landslide. Search crews are looking for a third child still missing from the Heller family, Derek, 12, and neighbor Otto Florschutz, 65, according to Tim DeSpain, a spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Public Safety. Florschutz’s wife survived the disaster.The landslide came down in the direct path of three homes near Wrangell, a fishing community of about 2,000 residents located on an island about 155 miles (250 kilometers) south of Juneau.DeSpain said the latest victim was fou...

The body of an abducted anti-mining activist is found in western Mexico

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:12 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities in western Mexico said Sunday they have found the body of anti-mining activist Higinio Trinidad de la Cruz. Prosecutors said De la Cruz’s body was found on a rural road in the state of Jalisco near the border with the neighboring state of Colima. They said de la Cruz appeared to have been shot to death. The community group Tiskini said in a statement that de la Cruz had been abducted on Saturday. The group said he was an environmental and community activist in the Jalisco town of Ayotitlan. De la Cruz had opposed both illegal logging and iron ore mining that have altered the environment of the rural community.Jalisco state prosecutors said they were investigating the crime, but Tiskini called on federal prosecutors to take on the case.The group also demanded protection for the inhabitants of Ayotitlan, saying it is “a community under siege by drug cartels that are plundering its lands and natural resources through illegal mining and logging.”It is comm...

Jordan’s top diplomat wants to align Europeans behind a call for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:12 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Sunday he hopes a meeting of Mediterranean officials will help bridge a gap between Arab and European countries in calling for a humanitarian pause in Gaza to become a permanent cease-fire.The fragile pause in hostilities between Israel and the Hamas militant group continued Sunday with a third straight day of hostages and Palestinian prisoners released. It was originally scheduled for four days and neither side has made fully clear what comes after Monday.Safadi said the truce was holding up but that more effort was needed to reach at least 200 daily trucks bringing aid into the Gaza Strip, and for the pause in the fighting “to immediately develop into a permanent cease-fire.”The minister spoke to The Associated Press on the eve of Monday’s Union for the Mediterranean gathering that will bring to Barcelona in northern Spain 42 delegations from Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa, many of them represented by...

2 Venezuelan migrants accused of stealing over $750 worth of merchandise from Oak Brook Macy's

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:12 GMT

OAK BROOK, Ill. — Charges have been filed against two men from Venezuela accused of stealing more than $750 worth of merchandise from a Macy's in Oak Brook, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said.According to Berlin, 27-year-old Lenguieyer Guevara-Muro and 20-year-old Jinder Moises Angulo-Aparicio, both Venezuelan migrants, have both been charged with one count of burglary and one count of retail theft. Three Venezuelan migrants charged with theft from west suburban Kohl’s According to Oak Brook Chief of Police Brian Strockis, the two men were taken into custody on Saturday after they allegedly stole $770.50 worth of merchandise from the department storePolice say the two men allegedly entered the store at 1 Oakbrook Center just after 12:40 p.m. Authorities allege Guevara-Muro brought along a foil-lined bag and the two men filled it with several items.According to police, Guevara-Muro allegedly left the store without paying for any of the items and was followed by a los...

Texas State notches 1st winning regular season in nearly 10 years with 52-44 win over South Alabama

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:12 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — With bowl eligibility already secured, the Texas State Bobcats accomplished another first since 2014 with a 52-44 win over South Alabama on Saturday.The Bobcats notched the program's first winning regular season in nine seasons, finishing at 7-5, and now await their bowl invitation. Texas State was part of 79 teams in FBS that finished with six or more wins to qualify for a bowl automatically. The Sun Belt Conference has 12 bowl-eligible teams this year, a conference record and most of any conference in the country this season. Texas State thumps Georgia Southern 45-24, becomes bowl-eligible for 1st time in 9 seasons Texas State first-year head coach GJ Kinne said he doesn't have a preference on where the Bobcats end up playing their bowl and is confident the fan base will go wherever the team is sent."I think obviously it would be cool for our fans to be able to travel to that. So as long as it's somewhere decently close where they can come and give us support. I ...

Gophers football: P.J. Fleck labels 2023 season a ‘readjustment year’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:12 GMT

From the head coach that brought you “Year Zero,” P.J. Fleck has dropped a new “R” word to describe the 2023 season.Reloading? No way.Rebuilding? Nope.“I kind of named it the readjustment year,” Fleck said after Saturday’s 28-14 loss to Wisconsin. “There are a lot of things to adjust moving forward. A lot of things to evaluate, but there are a lot of things outside our control.”Following two nine-win campaigns in 2021-22, Fleck’s seventh season at Minnesota finished with four straight losses and a 5-7 record. When the Gophers previously went 5-7 in 2017, Fleck’s first year at the U, he often referred to it as “Year Zero.”While the Gophers failed to reach six wins and bowl eligibility this season, they still will go to a bowl game.The Gophers qualified based on a shortage of six-win teams, and the U posting the highest Academic Progress Rate (APR) of all remaining five-win programs. They will learn their bowl destination next Sunday.Fleck often breaks down ass...

Bears at Vikings: What to know ahead of Week 12 matchup

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:12 GMT

Here are some things to know when the Vikings play host to the Chicago Bears on Monday night:BEARS at VIKINGSWhen: 7:15 p.m. MondayWhere: U.S. Bank StadiumTV: ABC/ESPNRadio: KFANLine: Vikings – 3.0Over/Under: 43.5Keys for the Vikings— This should be the game that young running back Ty Chandler takes the reins in the backfield. He’s more explosive than fellow running back Alexander Mattison, and thus, provides a different look when he has the ball in his hands. If the Vikings are serious about establishing the run, Chandler should be the guy in charge of doing that.— Maybe the most important thing for the Vikings is making sure Bears quarterback Justin Fields doesn’t get into a rhythm. He has the ability to make plays with his legs if he escapes the pocket, so it’s on defensive coordinator Brian Flores to put his players in a position to limit that. If the Vikings can make Fields uncomfortable throughout the game, he has been known to turn the ball over at a h...