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Abortion pill order latest contentious ruling by Texas judge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Texas judge who sparked a legal firestorm with an unprecedented ruling halting approval of the nation’s most common method of abortion is a former attorney for a religious liberty legal group with a long history pushing conservative causes. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, on Friday ordered a hold on federal approval of mifepristone in a decision that overruled decades of scientific approval. His ruling, which doesn’t take immediate effect, came practically at the same time that U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, essentially ordered the opposite in a different case in Washington. The split likely puts the issue on an accelerated path to the U.S. Supreme Court. Kacsmaryk, a former federal prosecutor and lawyer for the conservative First Liberty Institute, was confirmed in 2019 over fierce opposition by Democrats over his record opposing LGBTQ rights. He...

Dry for Easter egg hunts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:42 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Beneficial and much appreciated rain fell over Central Texas starting this past Wednesday. There were a few isolated areas of rain overnight that ended around 3 a.m. The highest rain total since Wednesday is 5.96" at the Sam Gideon Power Plant at Lake Bastrop followed by 5.67" at Buckners Creek near Muldoon. Amounts of 3 to 5 inches were common in our eastern counties. The Hill Country, where the ongoing drought is extreme to exceptional, did not have as much with many locations under one inch. Austin's Camp Mabry picked up 2.53" Thursday and Friday. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport's recorded 2.49' Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.Central Texas rainfall totalsA Flood Warning continues until early Sunday afternoon for Middle Yegua Creek near Dime Box (Lee Co.). It will crest near the flood stage of 10' late Saturday night.It is Easter weekend. Most lows Saturday morning were in the lower half of the 50s including 53° at Camp Mabry, four degrees shy of normal. T...

Other voices: The nursing workforce needs more men

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:42 GMT

In less than two years, the U.S. could face a shortage of up to 450,000 nurses. The health-care system won’t be able to fill this gap with half the potential workforce on the sidelines: More must be done to recruit men into nursing.Men currently comprise about 12% of nurses, up from less than 3% in 1970. Boosting their number would not only ease shortages, but offer a pathway to good jobs for a demographic that has been exiting the workforce in alarming numbers in recent years. Employment growth in some traditionally male sectors, such as manufacturing, has all but vanished.Yet men traditionally haven’t entered nursing because, much like teaching, it’s stigmatized as a female profession — the term “male nurse” is a case in point. Men in nursing tend to be career-switchers, and often include former members of the military, police officers and firefighters. In short: civic-minded workers drawn to the six-figure salaries, career progression and flexi...

Soucheray: Glassy-eyed, gripping a chopper, anticipating No Mow May. Or not

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:42 GMT

Sometimes, when you’re feeling a little down about the blighted condition of our dear old town and the potholes have nicked you for another $700 repair bill, it might at least introduce a note of cheer to remember that we are a pollinator-friendly city and have been since January of 2016. We are just a fine damn place for bees, or hope to be.To that end, the St. Paul City Council voted 6-0 the other day to give its blessing to No Mow May. City inspectors will be told to stand down when they get a report of weeds or overgrown shrubs or other clutter, hopefully excluding stoves and automobile bumpers. All of that uncared-for growth will promote pollination.No Mow May follows No More Plowing in January, February, March and April, tremendously successful campaigns that resulted in our potholes making national news in the Wall Street Journal last week. We’ve got some real beauties out there, axle-breakers and tie-rod-benders, and it’s high time we received some national recognition.Why, ...

Working Strategies: In defense of the subminimum wage

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:42 GMT

Amy LindgrenSecond Sunday Series — This is the eighth of 12 columns on work and disability that will appear in the next 12 months — one on each second Sunday of the month, from September through August. Previous columns discussed promotions for workers with disabilities, higher education decisions, self-advocating, career tips for family caretakers, testing limits as a worker with disabilities, the dilemma of revealing disabilities during job search, and overall concepts of disability in the workplace. If you don’t have a loved one with moderate to severe cognitive disabilities, you may not be aware of sheltered workshops and their role in the continuum of work opportunities for this population. In essence, these facilities are organized around a principle of gathering socially to conduct relatively simple work, such as shredding paper or stuffing envelopes.The individuals in these jobs tend to stay for long periods, drawn by the familiarity of the task, the camaraderie,...

Saugerties man arrested after domestic dispute

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:42 GMT

SAUGERTIES, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Saugerties police report the arrest of John Monaghan, 52 of Saugerties. Monaghan was allegedly involved in a domestic dispute where the victim was assaulted. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! On April 7, police began an investigation into a reported past domestic dispute that happened on April 4. Police explain the victim reported that she was assaulted by Monaghan. Police established during the dispute, Monaghan placed his hands around the victim's neck, strangling them. Monaghan further grabbed the victim's arm, throwing them out of the residence, and leaving several bruises on the victim's arm. Monaghan was arrested on April 7 around 5:15 p.m.ChargesSecond degree harassmentCriminal obstruction of breathing and blood circulationMonaghan was arraigned in the Town of Saugerties Justice Court where Monaghan, was released on his own recognizance upon the court issuing a full stay away order of prot...

Hoosick Falls police looking to ID burglary suspect

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:42 GMT

HOOSICK FALLS, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Hoosick Falls police are attempting to identify an individual involved in a burglary and larceny from Hoosick Falls Jewelry on John Street. Police report the theft occurred on Monday, April, 3 between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Police explain the individual used what seemed to be a hammer to break a plate glass window in the front of the store. The person then reached in and took a piece of jewelry. The investigation is ongoing. If you have any information, contact the Hoosick Falls Police at 5186867651.

Deputy fires at driver after being struck by vehicle in South Los Angeles: LASD

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:42 GMT

A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy opened fire on a suspected assailant in the South Los Angeles neighborhood of Gramercy Park early Saturday morning, but it remains unclear as to whether the suspect was hit.A few minutes before 3 a.m. near Western Avenue and 87th Street, a deputy fired at least one shot, the department confirmed in a press release. A deputy had pulled over a white Porsche for a traffic stop, but then that driver sped away, officials told KTLA.Footage from the scene appears to show a deputy on the ground after he was struck by a vehicle, which reportedly prompted the shooting.The deputy was hospitalized with a broken leg, but was not struck by gunfire.No further details were available.

Access to abortion pill in legal limbo after competing rulings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:42 GMT

Access to the most commonly used method of abortion in the U.S. plunged into uncertainty Friday following conflicting court rulings over the legality of the abortion medication mifepristone that has been widely available for more than 20 years.For now, the drug the Food and Drug Administration approved in 2000 appeared to remain at least immediately available in the wake of two separate rulings that were issued in quick succession by federal judges in Texas and Washington. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, ordered a hold on federal approval of mifepristone in a decision that overruled decades of scientific approval. But that decision came at nearly the same time that U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice, an Obama appointee, essentially ordered the opposite and directed U.S. authorities not to make any changes that would restrict access to the drug in at least 17 states where Democrats sued in an effort to protect availability. The extraordinary timing of the co...

State touts gun seizures from prohibited persons, but will it slow rate of violence?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:42 GMT

California officials announced in a news release that they had seized guns from people who had become legally prohibited from owning weapons they had once purchased legally.The seizures came from people convicted of crimes, those who may have been hospitalized due to mental illness or threatened suicide, or those who were the subject of restraining orders. Officials identified 23,869 people on its list, they said, and seized 1,437 firearms.In a state of nearly 40 million people, with approximately 3.35 million registered gun owners and 20 million legally owned guns, how significant is that number?You could be forgiven for scoffing at it, violence prevention advocate Julia Weber said; she has a unique view. Currently the director of the National Center on Gun Violence in Relationships, she served for nearly 18 years as the supervising attorney for the Judicial Council of California. That council helped created the Armed and Prohibited Persons System, the California program that track...