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Virgin Galactic’s first space tourists finally soar, an Olympian and a mother-daughter duo

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:00 GMT

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. (AP) — Virgin Galactic rocketed to the edge of space with its first tourists Thursday, a former British Olympian who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean.The space plane glided back to a runway landing at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert, after a brief flight that gave passengers a few minutes of weightlessness. This first private customer flight had been delayed for years; its success means Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic can now start offering monthly rides, joining Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the space tourism business.“That was by far the most awesome thing I’ve ever done in my life,” said Jon Goodwin, who competed in canoeing in the 1972 Olympics.Goodwin, 80, was among the first to buy a Virgin Galactic ticket in 2005 and feared, after later being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, that he’d be out of luck. Since then he’s climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and cycled ...

Audit finds 800 items missing from Canadian history museum, no plan to deal with it

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:00 GMT

OTTAWA — An investigation by Canada’s auditor general found the Canadian Museum of History’s conservation system is putting its collections at risk.The federal Crown corporation manages collections for the Canadian Museum of History and the Canadian War Museum, and is charged with the care of more than four million objects and historical and cultural artifacts.The auditor’s team was particularly concerned that there was no robust way of managing the inventory.The audit found the corporation did such a poor job keeping tabs on those objects that more than 800 were declared missing during inventory inspections between 2012 and 2022.More than 300 items weren’t stored properly, and 15,000 lacked information about where the item came from. “There were no plans to resolve any problems uncovered in these verifications, including finding missing items,” the auditor’s report stated. One inventory inspection of several rooms at the Canadian Museum of ...

Civil suit can continue against corrupt former deputy linked to death of Mississippi man

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:00 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A civil suit can continue against a former Mississippi deputy who pleaded guilty on Aug. 3 to torturing two Black men and shooting one of them in the mouth, with the suit alleging the deputy is also responsible for the death of another Black man in 2021.In a Wednesday ruling, Rankin County Circuit Judge Brad Mills allowed claims of excessive force to move forward against Hunter Elward, a member of a group of corrupt law officers who called themselves the “Goon Squad,” a moniker they adopted because of their penchant for violent tactics. Monica Lee believes that Elward and a current deputy not linked to Elward’s crimes are responsible for the death of her son, Damien Cameron.“Every day is a hurtful day for me,” Lee said in an interview. “I lost Damien because of those officers.” Cameron, who had a history of mental illness, was accused of vandalizing a neighbor’s home in 2021 while living with his grandparents. Elward responded to the scene and chase...

Appeals court rules against longstanding drug user gun ban cited in Hunter Biden case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled against on longstanding ban on unlawful drug users possessing guns — the latest legal upheaval regarding the nation’s gun laws since a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year set new standards. The opinion overturns the conviction of a Mississippi man, Patrick Daniels of Gulfport, who had two guns found in his car during a traffic stop last year and acknowledged using marijuana regularly but wasn’t accused of driving under the influence. The appeals court cited the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision known as New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which said U.S. gun laws must have strong historical roots — a finding that led to challenges of many of the nation’s gun laws.“Our history and tradition may support some limits on an intoxicated person’s right to carry a weapon, but it does not justify disarming a sober citizen based exclusively on his past drug usage,” the three-judge panel for the...

Stock market today: Wall Street ticks higher after inflation report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are ticking higher as Thursday’s shaky day of trading comes toward a close following the latest update on inflation across the U.S. The S&P 500 was 0.3% higher with about an hour remaining in trading. It’s on pace for just its second winning day in the last eight, but it had been up as much as 1.3% earlier in the day before swinging between gains and losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 177 points, or 0.5%, at 35,301, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher.The morning’s highly anticipated report showed U.S. consumers paid prices that were 3.2% higher in July than a year earlier. That’s a touch milder than the 3.3% inflation rate economists expected to see and down sharply from last summer’s peak above 9%. Beneath the surface, underlying trends for inflation were also within expectations.The readings bolstered hopes among investors that the Federal Reserve’s campaign to grind down inflation is progressing and that it could may...

Lil Tay says she and her brother are 'safe and alive': report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:00 GMT

(KTLA) — The Internet was set ablaze after a statement was posted to Lil Tay's official Instagram account on Wednesday that claimed the young influencer had passed away. According to the note, it was penned by Tay's family and it stated that she and her brother had tragically died. It was apparently a hoax.Tay has told TMZ that both she and her brother are alive. "I want to make it clear that my brother and I are safe and alive, but I’m completely heartbroken, and struggling to even find the right words to say. It’s been a very traumatizing 24 hours. All day yesterday, I was bombarded with endless heartbreaking and tearful phone calls from loved ones all while trying to sort out this mess," she told the outlet in a statement. The teen also revealed that a "third party" was spreading "jarring misinformation" and that Claire Hope isn't even her real name. "My Instagram account was compromised by a third party and used to spread jarring misinformation and rumors regarding me, to the po...

Bears designate a new primary logo, so what does that mean?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:00 GMT

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — As the team continues to pursue a change when it comes to their home stadium, they also made one when it comes to their branding. This one concerns their logos. On the Bears' website, the team listed the "Bear Head" logo as their primary mark with their "C" logo, often described as a "wishbone C," being designated as their secondary mark. Both of those logos had been recognized as primary marks since the 1990s, but now the "Bear Head" will be the top one for the franchise. So why the change? Per a Bears spokesperson:  "The Bear head has been a co-primary mark for years.  It is unique to the Chicago Bears brand.  The minor change simply provides clarity for retail, media, and other team and league partners to start the creative process with the Bear head."While this new single primary mark is not featured on the team's uniform, it is featured prominently on stadium signs along with official apparel on the team. It's also the primary logo that's featured on the tea...

IRS can't find millions of sensitive tax records: watchdog

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:00 GMT

(The Hill) -- The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cannot locate thousands of microfilm cartridges containing millions of sensitive individual and business tax account records, according to a watchdog report.The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in a report released Tuesday that the IRS cannot account for microfilm cartridges — which contain backups of tax records as required under federal law — from fiscal 2010 that were originally stored at a processing center in Fresno, Calif. The cartridges were meant to be among other records that were shipped to another processing center in Kansas City, Mo., last February after the California location closed.The watchdog also found seven empty boxes, which could hold up to 168 cartridges total, at the Ogden Tax Processing Center in Utah. Ogden personnel did not know where the missing cartridges were. Prosecutors propose January trial date in Trump 2020 election case More than 4,000 cartridges containing bu...

Colin Simmons, 5-star edge rusher from Duncanville, commits to Texas Longhorns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A 5-star edge rusher from Duncanville will stay in the Lone Star State next season.Colin Simmons, the No. 1 overall recruit in Texas for the 2024 class according to the 247Sports composite rankings, verbally committed to Texas on Thursday, choosing the Longhorns over Louisiana State and Miami.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newslettersSimmons is the No. 8 recruit nationally according to 247Sports. He was instrumental in the Panthers' 28-21 win over Galena Park North Shore in the 2022 Class 6A-Division I state championship game, notching a pair of sacks and three tackles for loss for 20 yards. The performance earned Simmons the defensive MVP honor of the state title game.At 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, Simmons racked up more than 20 sacks for the Panthers last season and will give the Longhorns yet another elite-level recruit on defense. Longhorns 5th-year linebacker...

Taylor ISD introduces unstacked grade levels on first day of school

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:00 GMT

TAYLOR, Texas (KXAN) — Two Taylor ISD elementary campuses debuted more grade levels than they've had in year's past on the first day of the 2023-2024 school year.Naomi Pasemann Elementary and Main Street Elementary now both have grades 1-5 along with Pre-K and Kindergarten.Main Street Elementary Principal Kerri Pierce said before this year, her campus and Naomi Pasemann Elementary were both intermediate schools that only hosted grades 2-4.Naomi Pasemann Elementary Principal Cynthia Proctor said the campuses opened up to provide more stability for families."It really allows the community, the families to be able to not have to do so many transitions. They're in an elementary for five years, which really helps us build that community and culture here in in Taylor," Proctor said.Both principals said their campuses have undergone changes to accommodate more students.Pierce said Main Street Elementary received new floors and new paint to refresh its halls.Ongoing improvement projects inc...