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AP Sources: Judge rules Pence must testify before grand jury

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:38 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that former Vice President Mike Pence will have to testify before a grand jury in the Justice Department’s investigation into efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election.That’s according to two people familiar with the ruling, who spoke on condition of anonymity because it remains under seal.The people said, however, that Pence would not have to answer questions about his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump’s supporters violently stormed the building as Pence was presiding over a joint session of Congress to certify the vote. Pence and his attorneys had cited constitutional grounds in challenging the subpoena. They argued that, because he was serving in his capacity as president of the Senate that day, he was protected from being forced to testify under the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause, which is intended to protect members of Congress from...

Head of Nashville school in shooting would ‘run to’ danger

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:38 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The head of the Christian elementary school in Nashville who was killed in a shooting there on Monday was described by friends as smart, loving and a rare female leader within a male-led religious culture. “If there was any trouble in that school, she would run to it, not from it,” Jackie Bailey said of her friend Katherine Koonce, head of The Covenant School. “She was trying to protect those kids … That’s just what I believe.”Koonce was one of six people killed in the shooting in Tennessee, including three 9-year-old children identified by police as Hallie Scruggs, Evelyn Dieckhaus and William Kinney. Also killed were Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher, and Mike Hill, 61, a custodian.Hallie Scruggs was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, the lead pastor at the Covenant Presbyterian Church, according to a statement released by a Presbyterian Church in Dallas where the elder Scruggs had served as an associate pastor.“We love the Scruggs family and mourn with the...

IOC details advice to let Russia, Belarus athletes return

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:38 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Some Russian athletes can soon return to international sports, although their status for next year’s Paris Olympics is still up in the air.The International Olympic Committee recommended Tuesday that individual athletes from Russia and Belarus should be allowed to return to competition under a neutral status as long as they have no military links. But the IOC, facing increased pressure to ban Russia and Belarus from the Paris Olympics because of the war in Ukraine, held off on deciding whether they can compete at next year’s Summer Games.That decision will be taken “at the appropriate time,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. When it comes to other events, including Olympic qualifiers, it will be up to each individual sport’s governing body to make the final decision on whether Russian and Belarusian athletes can take part. While the IOC said Russia and Belarus should remain barred from team sports such as soccer and basketball, it still defied repeated calls ...

Fed official: Bank rules under review in wake of SVB failure

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:38 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s bank supervisors warned Silicon Valley Bank’s management as early as the fall of 2021 of risks stemming from its unusual business model, a top Fed official said Tuesday, but its managers failed to take the steps necessary to fix the problems. The Fed official, Michael Barr, the nation’s top banking regulator, said during a Senate Banking Committee hearing that the Fed is considering whether stronger bank rules are needed to prevent a similar failure in the future. Silicon Valley Bank’s management was deficient, Barr said. In particular, he said, the interest rate model the bank used “was not at all aligned with reality.”The timeline that Barr laid out for when the Fed had alerted Silicon Valley’s management to the risks it faced is earlier than the central bank has previously said the bank was on its radar screen.Tuesday’s hearing was the first formal congressional inquiry into the March 10 collapse of Silicon Valley Ba...

Stocks edge lower as some calm remains on Wall Street

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:38 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks edged lower in relatively quiet trading on Tuesday, and Wall Street is regaining some cool at the tail end of what’s been a turmoil-filled month.The S&P 500 was 0.6% lower in afternoon trading, with slightly more losers than gainers within the benchmark index. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 126 points, or less than 0.4%, at 32,306 as of 2:14 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 1% lower. There was calm even in the bond market, which has been home to some of Wall Street’s wildest moves since fears flared about the banking system earlier this month. Yields were moving only modestly following their historic-sized moves in prior weeks. This month has been dominated by worries that banks around the world may be cracking under the pressure of much higher interest rates. In the U.S., investors have been on the hunt for smaller and midsized banks that could see a quick exodus of customers akin to the run that toppled Silicon Valley Bank. In...

NASCAR makes major announcement on Chicago Street Race Tuesday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:38 GMT

CHICAGO - As the inaugural event in downtown Chicago gets closer and closer, more and more about the Chicago Street Race is being announced.That included Tuesday, when another founding partner has come on board for the event in early July.Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois announced that they will be one of the founding partners for the event, doing so at a news conference in downtown Chicago. They will join McDonald's, who announced their founding partnership last week. What tickets are for sale for the NASCAR Chicago Street Race? Both companies will have official presenting, marketing and promotional rights for the Xfinity Series "The Loop 121" race on Saturday, July 1 and the Cup Series "Grant Park 220" on Saturday, July 2. “Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois is part of the fabric of Chicago and Illinois. The NASCAR Chicago Street Race Weekend is taking place on the doorstep of our headquarters building and we expect it to be an exciting addition to Chicago’s sports legacy...

Highest-rated things to do in Chicago, according to Tripadvisor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:38 GMT

Stacker compiled a list of the highest rated things to do in Chicago on Tripadvisor. Tripadvisor rankings factor in the average rating and number of reviews.#30. The Art Institute of Chicago- Rating: 5.0 / 5 (24,407)- Type of activity: Art Museums- Address: 111 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60603-6110- Read more on Tripadvisor#29. Millennium Park- Rating: 4.5 / 5 (25,010)- Type of activity: Points of Interest & Landmarks • Parks- Address: 201 East Randolph Street, Chicago, IL 60601-6530- Read more on Tripadvisor Chicago suburbs’ most expensive home for sale #28. Cloud Gate- Rating: 4.5 / 5 (18,210)- Type of activity: Points of Interest & Landmarks • Monuments & Statues- Address: not available- Read more on Tripadvisor#27. The Magnificent Mile- Rating: 4.5 / 5 (15,769)- Type of activity: Neighborhoods • Points of Interest & Landmarks- Address: North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611- Read more on Tripadvisor#26. Inside Chicago Walking Tours- Rating: 5.0 / 5 (1,713)- ...

US opens probe into Tesla seat belts coming loose

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:38 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. highway safety regulators have opened yet another investigation into problems with Teslas, this time tied to complaints that the seat belts may not hold people in a crash.The investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers an estimated 50,000 Model X SUVs from the 2022 and 2023 model years.The agency says it has two complaints from Tesla owners that the front belts weren’t sufficiently connected at the factory. Tesla faces two class-action lawsuits for allegedly monopolizing repairs Documents posted by the agency Tuesday say the belt linkage and pretensioners, which tighten the belts before a crash, are anchored to the seat frames.Both complaints allege that the linkage and pretensioner separated from the frames when the vehicles were driving and force was exerted. Neither incident involved a crash.The agency says it’s opening the probe to look into Tesla’s manufacturing processes, how often the problem happens and how widespread...

'You must grieve': Columbine survivor to Nashville community

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:38 GMT

(NewsNation) — Everything changed in the blink of an eye for Crystal Woodman Miller when she was 16 years old. A survivor of the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, Woodman Miller remembers the day she was forced to grow up very quickly. "Everything that I had known, the safety, the security, the innocence of childhood was gone," Woodman Miller said on "Morning in America," the day after a shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee. Seven people, including the shooter, died on Tuesday. Nashville police identified the victims as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all 9 years old, as well as Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60 and Mike Hill, 61."We all want the same thing," Woodman Miller said. "We all want our children to be safe..No parent should have to hug their kids at the school door and wonder if they'll see them again."What needs to happen, she said, is for people from across political lines to come together and talk t...

“Five Indigenous Schools Selected for Youth Environmental Leadership Summit”

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:38 GMT