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Stranger charged with break-in and murder in slaying of Detroit synagogue leader

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:22 GMT

By ED WHITE (Associated Press)DETROIT (AP) — A stranger accused of breaking into the home of a Detroit synagogue leader was charged with her murder Wednesday, nearly two months after her body was found outdoors with multiple stab wounds, authorities said.There was not a “shred of evidence” that Samantha Woll was killed as a result of antisemitism or any hate crime, prosecutor Kym Worthy said.Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 28, of Detroit, was charged with murder, home invasion and lying to police. A not-guilty plea was entered during his appearance in 36th District Court, and he was subsequently returned to jail without bond.Attorney Brian Brown said he will vigorously defend Jackson-Bolanos.“I don’t necessarily agree with the charges,” Brown told The Associated Press. “We’ll wait for the evidence.”Woll, 40, was found dead outside her home, east of downtown Detroit, on Oct. 21, hours after returning from a wedding. Investigators believe...

Off-duty police officer indicted in death of man he allegedly pushed at a shooting scene

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:22 GMT

MONACA, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania police officer has been indicted on involuntary manslaughter and other charges after prosecutors say he pushed and fatally injured a man at a shooting scene.The state Attorney General’s Office announced the indictment Wednesday against John J. Hawk, 37, who served with the Center Township police department. Hawk also faces counts of aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment and perjury stemming from the November 2022 confrontation in the borough of Monaca.The 48-year-old victim, Kenneth Vinyard, was a bystander who approached an officer about potential evidence he wanted to provide to police, prosecutors said. Hawk, who was off duty and wearing casual clothing, confronted Vinyard and pulled him away from the officer.Hawk did not announce himself as an officer or display law enforcement credentials, prosecutors said, and was not heard or seen announcing that Vinyard was under arrest. A short time later, Hawk struck Vinyard in th...

Ohtani can opt out of Dodgers deal if execs Walter, Friedman lose roles with team, AP source says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:22 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani can opt out of his $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers if either of two key executives is no longer in place, a person familiar with the agreement told The Associated Press on Wednesday.Ohtani, who will officially be introduced by the Dodgers at a news conference on Thursday, would be allowed to terminate his deal if Mark Walter no longer is controlling owner or president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman no longer is with the team, the person said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the terms were not announced.Ohtani’s deal, announced Monday, provides that 97% of the money be deferred without interest and not fully paid until 2043.The Athletic first reported Wednesday that Ohtani’s deal contained a provision allowing him to opt out if the Dodgers made specific personnel changes. The deal is still in the form of a letter of agreement between Ohtani’s representatives and the team, and a f...

Berkshire can’t use bribery allegations against Haslam in Pilot truck stop chain accounting dispute

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:22 GMT

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway will not be allowed to use allegations that billionaire Jimmy Haslam tried to bribe employees at the Pilot truck stop chain to inflate the company’s value as Berkshire defends itself in a dispute over the company’s accounting practices, a Delaware judge said Wednesday.The ruling came in a lawsuit in which Pilot Corp. claims that Berkshire Hathaway, which holds 80% of Pilot Travel Centers, has used accounting changes to try to artificially depress the price Berkshire would have to pay for the Haslam family’s remaining 20% stake in the truck-stop chain.Berkshire responded to the lawsuit by claiming that Jimmy Haslam, the owner of the Cleveland Browns, tried to bribe more than two dozen Pilot employees to get them to inflate the company’s profits this year. Berkshire alleges that Haslam wanted to artificially inflate profits so Berkshire would have to pay more for the remaining stake in Pilot held by the Haslam family, which also i...

‘Deeply problematic’: Video appears to show Toronto officer kneeing protester’s neck

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:22 GMT

Concerns are mounting over a video circulating online that appears to show a Toronto officer kneeling on the neck of a protester during an arrest over the weekend, which the police force unequivocally denies.The rally on Sunday, Dec. 10, was organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement Toronto chapter (PYM) in the city’s downtown core.The video shows a man pinned to the ground face down. He’s surrounded by Toronto police officers, including one who appears to push his knee into the side of the man’s head, squishing it against the pavement.The officer’s knee appears to stay on the protester’s head and neck area for several seconds, while the other boot is stomping in front of the man’s face, smashing his glasses.A spokesperson for PYM issued a statement, claiming the man was “brutalized and arrested” by the officer. Alok Mukherjee, a human rights advocate and the former chair of the Toronto Police Services Board, tells CityNews he was st...

Dick Nunis, who helped expand Disney’s theme park ambitions around the globe, dies at age 91

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:22 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Dick Nunis, who helped expand The Walt Disney Company’s in-person entertainment ambitions from a single theme park in California to locations around the world during a four-decade career with the entertainment giant, has died. He was 91.Disney said in a statement Wednesday that Nunis died in Orlando, Florida, surrounded by family. It gave no cause of death.Nunis began his career at Disney in 1955, training future employees of the soon-to-open Disneyland in Anaheim, California, alongside Walt Disney, who was the father-in-law of Nunis’ college friend, Ron Miller, an eventual company CEO. By the time Nunis retired in 1999 after 44 years at the company, he was chair of Walt Disney Attractions, overseeing a theme park empire that spanned around the world, from Florida to France to Japan.“What started as a summer job training future Disneyland employees would ultimately become a storied 44-year career at Disney,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in the stat...

Costa Rican president expresses full support for Guatemala’s President-elect Bernardo Arévalo

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:22 GMT

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves on Wednesday welcomed Guatemala’s President-elect Bernardo Arévalo and offered his country’s full support as the elected leader continues to face legal challenges from prosecutors who attempt to derail his inauguration.During a welcoming ceremony in the capital, San Jose, Arévalo personally invited Chaves to his swearing in, scheduled for Jan. 14.Guatemalan prosecutors continue to pursue criminal cases against Arévalo’s Seed Movement party and, last month, said they would ask a court to strip Arévalo of his immunity so that he can be investigated for allegedly sending messages of support on social media to protesters who took control of a public university last year and for election irregularities.International observers and Arévalo himself have said his election victory was clean and that prosecutors’ investigations are only an attempt to derail his inauguration.Arévalo on Tuesday publicly protested prosec...

Canadian man with criminal record killed at a gym in Mexican resort of Cancun

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:22 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Canadian man with a criminal record in his home country has been killed in a shooting at a mall in the Caribbean coast resort of Cancun, Mexican authorities said Wednesday.Prosecutors in the coastal state of Quintana Roo did not give the man’s name. They said the shooting occurred at a gym inside the mall. They said he had been convicted in Canada of gang-related offenses, including possession of illicit funds.Canada’s Global Affairs office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.It would not be the first time Canadians killed in the area were later found to have criminal backgrounds.In January 2022, two Canadians — one of them sought by Interpol — were killed at a nearby resort in Playa del Carmen, apparently because of debts between international drug and weapons trafficking gangs.The Associated Press

Cineplex sees $35 million in box office revenues for month of November

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:22 GMT

TORONTO — Cineplex Inc. says November brought box office revenues of $35 million as Canadians came out to watch the likes of The Marvels and the latest Hunger Games movie.The Toronto-based company says the results compared with box office revenues of $52 million during the same month in 2019, and were slightly lower than October’s numbers.Cineplex says lower business volumes are expected in the near term due to the impacts of the Hollywood strikes.The company also announced it has entered into a credit facility extension with its lenders. It says strong results in the second and third quarters have allowed it to pay down approximately $55 million under its credit facilities.  Cineplex says that net proceeds from the recently announced sale of Player One Amusement Group, expected to close in the first quarter of 2024, will help it pay down further debt. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:CGX)The Canadian Press

Manitoba First Nations appear a step closer to gaining a casino in Winnipeg

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:22 GMT

WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government indicated it is now open to allowing a First Nations casino in the province’s capital — something Indigenous leaders have long fought for.Premier Wab Kinew says there is no specific proposal on the table right now, but he is open to discussions if an offer comes forward.He says it could involve an urban Indigenous economic zone in Winnipeg or elsewhere.The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs welcomed the news, saying First Nations have been shut out of the city while two government-run casinos and a smaller downtown gaming centre went ahead.Previous governments had said there was no room for a new casino in Winnipeg, and the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs launched a lawsuit.Earlier this week, the NDP government issued a mandate letter to its Crown corporation on gambling, which announced an end to a pause on expansion of the gambling facilities.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2023The Canadian Press