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Kansas City police: Probe of teen’s shooting moving quickly

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:59 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City police are working to quickly prepare evidence for the Clay County prosecutor in the shooting of a Black teenager while trying to pick up his younger brothers from a friend’s house Thursday.“I want everyone to know that I am listening,” Police Chief Stacey Graves said Sunday at a news conference at Kansas City police headquarters downtown, “and I understand the concern we are receiving from the community.” The Kansas City Star reported the 16-year-old boy, who family members have identified online as Ralph Yarl, was hospitalized Thursday night after he was shot while trying to pick up his younger twin brothers. Police said he went to the wrong house and was shot there. Officials would not confirm the number of times the homeowner shot the victim or where his injuries were.Police have not identified the shooter or his race. Information that officials have now does not point to the crime being racially motivated, but Graves said that aspect al...

Trump’s House GOP allies take fight to Manhattan DA’s turf

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:59 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Republicans upset with Donald Trump’s indictment are escalating their war on the prosecutor who charged him, trying to embarrass him on his home turf partly by falsely portraying New York City as a place overrun by crime.The House Judiciary Committee, led by U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, is holding a field hearing Monday near the offices of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.The committee’s Republican majority is billing it as an examination of the Democrat’s “pro-crime, anti-victim” policies. One committee member, U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican, tweeted that Bragg has “turned NYC into a wasteland,” and that “lawlessness is completely out of control.”Democrats say the hearing is a partisan stunt aimed at amplifying conservative anger at Bragg, Manhattan’s first Black district attorney.New York City officials have urged Jordan to cancel the hearing. C-SPAN has declined to air it on TV.“This is simply an in-kind donation or con...

What sparked the violent struggle to control Sudan’s future?

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:59 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Tensions have been brewing for weeks between Sudan’s two most powerful generals, who just 18 months earlier jointly orchestrated a military coup to derail the nation’s transition to democracy.Over the weekend, those tensions between the armed forces chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the head of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, erupted into an unprecedented battle for control of the resource-rich nation of more than 46 million people.Both men, each with tens of thousands of troops deployed just in the capital of Khartoum, vowed not to negotiate or cease fire, despite mounting global diplomatic pressure. It is a deadly setback for a country at the crossroads of the Arab world and Africa, which four years ago ended the rule of a long-time dictator in part through largely peaceful popular protests.Here’s a look at how Sudan, a country with a long history of coups, reached this point and what is at stake. ___ WHAT...

Nonprofits scramble for help amid dearth of volunteers

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:59 GMT

CASA of Lexington has tried just about everything to find volunteers to serve as advocates for abused and neglected children with the Kentucky nonprofit.Since 2020, it has hired someone to focus on recruiting volunteers, added in-person and virtual outreach events and options to complete the required 30-hour training, and printed information on fans to hand out in churches, Melynda Milburn Jamison, its executive director, said. She even visited a men’s-only barbecue to make a quick 10-minute pitch.The result? In 2022, CASA of Lexington had 62 new volunteers complete training, short of its target of 80. Only two came from the group’s recruitment events, with the rest mostly via word of mouth, Jamison said. “We’ve been able to retain keeping the number of children we serve fairly consistent,” she said, “but we should have been increasing because we’ve taken on new counties and we’ve added additional staff.”Jamison is not alone in her frustration. Her experience reflects th...

Timberwolves thrashed by Denver in Game 1

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:59 GMT

DENVER — Chris Finch’s pregame comments Sunday proved to be prophetic. The Timberwolves coach liked that his team — which had to win its way into the playoffs via the play-in tournament after a stress-filled end-of-season run — entered the playoffs as a battle-tested squad.But he then noted the other side of the coin — perhaps Minnesota would realize its season was no longer on the line, and could take a breath. Regardless of of Sunday’s result, the Wolves would live another day.That ill-advised mindset would be about the best-case scenario for Minnesota as an explainer for its Game 1 debacle.The Timberwolves were run off the floor in every sense, falling 109-80 to the top-seeded Nuggets.Minnesota was non-competitive for the final three quarters. Denver was more physical and played with more thrust. The Nuggets ran up and down the floor, too often catching Minnesota in a jog.The Nuggets’ defensive game plan was pristine. Denver allowed Nikol...

Jamal Murray, Nuggets throttle T-Wolves in resounding Game 1 win

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:59 GMT

Christian Braun’s smile was icier than a Minnesota lake in December.Denver’s rookie had a cold, calculated grin after he and Timberwolves veteran Kyle Anderson needed to be separated late in the third quarter. Anderson’s frustration came as a result of Braun’s tenacious defense, but also the relentless pounding Denver was hanging on Minnesota.The Nuggets looked and acted like the No. 1 seed late Sunday night, throttling the visiting Timberwolves, 109-80, in Game 1 of their best-of-7 first-round playoff series.“We’re not gonna celebrate,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said, intent on repeating the effort later in the series. Most pleased with the defense, Malone said he gave the Defensive Player of the Game chain to the entire team.Nuggets center Nikola Jokic toyed with Minnesota’s ballyhooed frontcourt, amassing 13 points and 14 rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter. After a slow start, Jamal Murray came alive in his first playoff game since the Bubble. ...

Nuggets 3-pointers: Why was NBA MVP Nikola Jokic playing so late in laughable Game 1?

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:59 GMT

Initial thoughts from the Nuggets’ 109-80 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of their Western Conference playoff series:Related ArticlesDenver Nuggets | Jamal Murray, Nuggets throttle T-Wolves in resounding Game 1 win Denver Nuggets | Keeler: Nuggets fans’ playoff expectations for Nikola Jokic, coach Michael Malone? “You’ve got to get to a conference final.” Denver Nuggets | Nuggets vs. Timberwolves: Denver dominates Game 1 with 109-80 win Denver Nuggets | Wolves president Tim Connelly admits matchup vs. Nuggets is weird: “These people are like family.” Denver Nuggets | Nuggets can only prepare for revamped Timberwolves so much ahead of Game 1: “They’re a new team.” 1. Why was Nikola Jokic playing in a blowout? The MVP fouled out with 6:37 left in the game, at a time when the Nuggets were routing the Minnesota Timberwolves, 97-70. But wh...

Palo Alto: Person dies in Caltrain collision

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:59 GMT

PALO ALTO — A person died after being struck by a Caltrain Sunday night, authorities said.The collision happened at 8:43 p.m. on tracks at the Churchill Avenue grade crossing near Alma Street, about a half-mile south of the Stanford station and three-quarters of a mile north of the California Avenue station.None of the 46 passengers on southbound Train No. 678 were injured, Caltrain said.It was the railway’s second train fatality of the year, following a fatal strike in January in a San Francisco tunnel.Emergency personnel responded to the scene, but the person was pronounced dead at the scene.A San Francisco man who identified himself as a southbound train rider said Sunday evening he believed the victim may have been a cyclist.“I was seated in the front car behind the engine,” Tyson Wrensch said Sunday night.  “When we passed Palo Alto station just after 8:39 p.m., something metallic hit and flew by my window and the train came to a fast stop.”Wrensch...

Murray leads Nuggets past Wolves 109-80 in NBA playoffs

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:59 GMT

Jamal Murray scored 24 points and dished out eight assists in his first playoff game since the 2020 NBA bubble and the top-seeded Denver Nuggets routed the Minnesota Timberwolves 109-80 Sunday night. Nikola Jokic added 13 points, 14 rebounds and a half dozen assists in 28 minutes and Michael Porter Jr. scored 18 points as Denver snapped a five-game skid in playoff openers.Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 18 points. Karl-Anthony Towns, who was rounding into form this month after missing 52 games with a bad calf, missed 10 of his first 12 shots and finished with 11 points.The Timberwolves hadn’t been held to so few points since Nov. 19, 2016.Jokic said during the Nuggets’ week off that he was eager to see how they’d do do with Murray and Porter back in the lineup with him after injuries and surgeries waylaid Denver’s Big Three each of the last two postseasons.The answer was emphatic: the trio combined for 55 points, 33 rebounds and 16 assists — with just two ...

Volunteering, ADVISORY

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:01:59 GMT

EDITORS:April 16th is the start of National Volunteer Week in the U.S.The AP is planning a number of text, video and photo stories to mark the occasion.For more details, go to our Coverage Plan.Here’s a look at what’s coming up.LOCALIZE IT:PHILANTHROPY-VOLUNTEERISM-LOCALIZE IT — Though volunteerism in America has been declining for decades, the rapid fall is further straining the nation’s social safety net, especially with demand for nonprofits’ services increasing. The changes in volunteerism rates vary from community to community as shown in this data about volunteer participation by state and some major cities from the U.S. Census and AmeriCorps. The data sets up an important line of local reporting. How has the volunteerism rate in your state changed in recent years? How are your local nonprofits coping with those shifts? Can they still meet your community’s needs? Here are some ways to localize reporting on volunteerism. With an audio guide. Moved April 10.MOVED APRIL 10 FOR US...