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A man convicted of murder in Massachusetts in 1993 is getting a new trial due to DNA evidence

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:52 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts judge granted a new trial to a man who found guilty of murder in 1993 after new DNA evidence called the conviction into question.Thomas Rosa was convicted of the 1985 killing of 18-year-old Gwendolyn Taylor. Rosa, who has always maintained his innocence, was tried three times for the killing.Suffolk Superior Court Justice Michael Ricciuti issued an order Wednesday that vacates Rosa’s conviction and opens the possibility of a new trial. Ricciuti wrote that new DNA evidence “casts doubt regarding the reliability of the eyewitness testimony” in the case.The New England Innocence Project and the Boston College Innocence Program said they will hold a news conference about the case on Monday in front of Suffolk Superior Court in Boston in which they will call for prosecutors to drop the charges. The groups said the district attorney should “end this almost forty-year nightmare, rather than try him again for a fourth time.”District Attorney Kevin H...

Massachusetts residents still losing home equity under state law foreclosure law despite Supreme Court ruling

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:52 GMT

Week after week, Massachusetts residents are still having their home equity taken under absolute title, according to advocates and lawyers working to have the practice stopped immediately and bolstered by a recent Supreme Court decision.In May, the nation’s highest court ruled in Tyler v. Hennepin County that a municipality in Minnesota had violated the Constitution’s takings clause when it sold a foreclosed property and kept proceeds beyond what the property owner owed in taxes.As a consequence, and according to Attorney General’s office testimony to the Legislature shortly after the Supreme Court’s ruling, a provision of Massachusetts law allowing cities and towns to foreclose on properties, sell them, and keep the entire proceeds of the sale is also unconstitutional.The practice of “home equity theft” by municipalities or third party companies acting on their behalf continues to occur in Massachusetts, according to attorney Chris Perry, while the legislature, courts, ...

Massachusetts State Police trooper shoots, kills armed man in Hancock after 911 call

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:52 GMT

A Massachusetts State Police trooper shot and killed a man Saturday morning during a “confrontation” after police were called to a residence in Hancock for a report of a domestic incident, authorities said.A state police trooper arrived at a residence on Richmond Road around 7 a.m. and encountered an adult male armed with a weapon, according to state police and the Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office.“Initial investigations indicate that when the officer arrived an individual armed with a weapon approached and would not back down following requests to stop resulting in the officer discharging his weapon,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement.CPR was performed on scene, a county ambulance responded, and the individual was pronounced dead, authorities said.State police previously identified the person killed by law enforcement as an adult male.The district attorney’s office did not say what weapon the man was armed with.The district attorney’s office ...

Affordable housing coming to Mission Valley along San Diego River trail

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:52 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- An affordable housing project along the San Diego River trail in Mission Valley just secured funding from the state.Dubbed "Riverwalk San Diego," this development will offer energy-efficient housing as part of a 200-acre "master-planned village" that will eventually contain 430 affordable multifamily units.That's according to local non-profit Wakeland Housing and Development Corporation, which announced Thursday that the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program has granted $41.1 million to the first phase of this project. Family of teens killed in 2018 DUI crash protesting after driver arrested again Once completed, Riverwalk San Diego will have 110 acres of parkland, 1 million square feet of office space, 150,000 square feet of retail on land that is currently used as a golf course, Wakeland explained.As for phase one, the area will see 188 affordable homes established, plus a centrally located MTS Green Line Trolley stop as well as new bicycle a...

Bathrooms needed for border crossers forced to wait in line, Tijuana chamber says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:52 GMT

SAN DIEGO (Border Report) -- With no end in sight for the long lines at ports of entry in Tijuana, tourism officials south of the border say public restrooms are sorely needed, especially along pedestrian crossings.Right now, most people who need to use a bathroom while waiting in line, must seek access to a restroom located inside an area business and pay a fee."It's time the city built these facilities," said Julián Palombo Saucedo, president of Tijuana's Chamber of Commerce. "We need public bathrooms at both the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry." Border commuters want popular pedestrian crossing open soon Palombo believes the long wait times aren't going away any time soon."It's also time for commuters from both sides of the border to get used to these long lines," he said. "As we get used to these waits, sanitary facilities need to be accessible to people waiting in line in case they need to use the bathroom."Palombo says another thing that needs to happen is for Ped We...

G20 agreement reflects sharp differences over Ukraine and the rising clout of the Global South

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:52 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — The Group of 20 top world economies added the African Union as a member at their annual summit Saturday, and host India was able to get the disparate group to sign off on a final statement, but only after softening language on the contentious issue of Russia’s war in Ukraine. In the months leading up to the leaders’ summit in New Delhi, India had been unable to find agreement on the wording about Ukraine, with Russia and China objecting even to language that they had agreed to last year at the G20 summit in Bali. The final statement, released a day before the formal close of the summit, highlighted the “human suffering and negative added impacts of the war in Ukraine,” but did not mention Russia’s invasion. It cited the U.N. charter, saying “all states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state. The use or threat of use o...

Filmmaker Jen Markowitz on building trust with queer teens in doc ‘Summer Qamp’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:52 GMT

TORONTO — With their documentary “Summer Qamp,” Jen Markowitz puts on screen something that’s far less radical than it seems: queer and transgender teens just being teens.The lovingly rendered portrait of chaotic queer joy and gender euphoria, which premiered Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival and screens again on Sunday, was made possible by the relationship Markowitz built with their subjects.“It really came a little bit at a time, but then once they trusted me, it was like a watershed of openness on camera,” Markowitz said ahead of the festival. The film immerses itself in the lives of a group of teens as they arrive at Camp fYrefly, a summer camp in Alberta for LGBTQ+ youth. For the first time, they are surrounded by people who share their identity and the connection affords them a level of gleeful freedom that can be hard to come by for young people pushed to the social margins.It took months of interviews before camp started for M...

N.S. park officers kill coyote that chased bike, search for another that bit rider

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:52 GMT

INGONISH, N.S. — Parks Canada says it has killed a coyote that was chasing a cyclist on Cape Breton’s Cabot Trail, while conservation officers keep searching for another coyote that bit a different bike rider’s arm.Erich Muntz, a resource conservation manager with the agency, said in an interview Saturday that the chasing behaviour in the latest incident was considered dangerous enough to warrant shooting the animal.He says the incident occurred on Friday on MacKenzie Mountain in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, when the coyote was seen chasing motorcyclists and then a biker on the steep road about 200 kilometres west of Sydney, N.S.Meanwhile, as of Saturday, conservation officers hadn’t yet located the adult coyote that attacked and bit a cyclist in the Green Cove, N.S., area, about 50 kilometres east of MacKenzie Mountain, on Wednesday.Muntz says conservation officers had been aware of the coyote killed Friday for several weeks, as it previously exhibited a f...

Emotions run high for Virginia as the Cavaliers honor slain teammates ahead of first home game

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:52 GMT

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Virginia played its first home football game in 10 months on Saturday and went in hoping to create a high point in what remains a long, emotional journey that started in a horrific way.Tributes and dedications for three players slain in a shooting last November began Friday with a tree planting and the placement of a plaque to honor the three, as well as another player and a female student who were wounded. The victims were also honored before the Saturday game with James Madison.The tragedy took the lives of Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry and caused the cancellation of Virginia’s final two games last year. Instead, there were three funerals to attend, as well as vigils and a moving memorial service. Authorities just this week upgraded the murder charges against the former teammate accused in the attack.More than two hours before kickoff Saturday, cheering fans lined the path the team walks to get to the locker room. Many later donned th...

Hundreds of Pride activists march in Serbia despite hate messages sent by far-right officials

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:45:52 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Hundreds of Pride activists gathered in the Serbian capital Saturday amid a heavy police presence and anti-gay messages sent by the country’s conservative leadership and far-right groups.Last year, the LGBTQ+ event was marred by skirmishes between the police and anti-Pride groups who believe the event goes against traditional Serbian Christian Orthodox values and should be banned.The participants of the march on Saturday held banners reading “We Are Not Even Close” — referring to the current status of the gay population is Serbia — as well as “Marriage” and “Queer Liberation not Rainbow Capitalism.”A heavy police presence of officers in riot gear blocked off central Belgrade. In a rally against the march, about 50 anti-gay protesters and Orthodox priests held religious icons in front of a downtown church as the Pride event participants passed by.A group of anti-gay activists held a banner on the main downtown street that said, “I don’t want a gay parade in Be...