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As courts weigh abortion pill rules, patients ask: What now?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:39 GMT

All the legal rulings lately on a key drug used in medication abortions may leave many women wondering: What does this mean for me?Various courts have recently ruled on mifepristone, which is used in the most common form of abortion in the U.S. On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily extended access to the pill until Friday while justices consider whether to allow some restrictions to take effect.Meanwhile, doctors, clinics and telehealth providers are taking steps to ensure they’ll still be able to offer abortion care in the future. For patients, there’s been confusion “about whether or not they can access their appointments,” said Dr. Becca Simon, a family medicine doctor in Pennsylvania who provides abortions. “We’re trying to just calm people.”IS THE USUAL TWO-DRUG TREATMENT STILL AVAILABLE?Yes. People can still get medication abortions using mifepristone from doctors and clinics in states where it was available before the rulings. Medication abortion, which accounts fo...

Woman shot after wrong turn had hopes, dreams, father says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:39 GMT

FORT EDWARD, N.Y. (AP) — The father whose 20-year-old daughter was fatally shot after she and her friends got lost and drove to the wrong house in rural town upstate New York raged Wednesday at the man who pulled the trigger.“For this man to sit on his porch and fire at a car with no threat is just … it angers me so badly,” said Andrew Gillis, whose daughter Kaylin Gillis was killed Saturday. “And I just hope to God that he dies in jail.” The anguished father spoke at the courthouse where the man accused of killing Kaylin Gillis, Kevin Monahan, was denied bail by a judge. Monahan, 65, appeared in court with a jacket, tie and shackles. Her answered questions from the judge, but mostly sat quietly.“My daughter was an honor student. She had hopes and dreams of … becoming a marine biologist or a veterinarian,” Andrew Gillis told reporters, his voice cracking with emotion. “She loved animals. And this man took that away from us.”Gillis, her boyfriend Blake Walsh and the...

Local non profits celebrate Ontario Trillium Foundation grants

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:39 GMT

Not for profit organizations around Ontario have been celebrating Resilient Communities Fund grants provided by the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) in recent days.Organizations in Kingston are among those in the province who took advantage of the grant opportunity that’s meant to help community organizations recover and build capacity, resilience and sustainability.For the Kingston School of Art, that looked like adding some new equipment, meeting the additional cleaning needs of the pandemic, and most importantly, an additional part time staff member.The school is an independently operated, registered charity providing affordable art education to Kingstonians of all ages and stages of artistic development.Executive Director of Kingston School of Art Maddi Andrews said this funding has helped rebound from challenges experiences throughout the pandemic, but is also really helping to further grow the school. Adding an extra staff member in new Programs and Administration Assis...

Supreme Court takes up Colorado stalking case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:39 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — A man convicted and sentenced for stalking a Colorado singer is now saying his messages were protected under the First Amendment in a case that's before the U.S. Supreme Court.In 2017, Billy Raymond Counterman was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for stalking Colorado singer Coles Whalen. Whalen's attorney says the messages started escalating in 2014. Colorado to end COVID-19 exposure notification system "I think best estimates is that she received more than a thousand unwanted communications from Counterman," said Paul Cassell, an attorney representing Whalen. "Coles received hundreds of communications, and many of those were threatening. They were references to her needing to die and references to the fact that Counterman was following her or following friends of hers, and so those communications caused her to need to leave her home and ultimately to give up her career as a stage performer." But now, Counterman is appealing a lower court's decision by...

Colorado to end COVID-19 exposure notification system

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:39 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — More than three years after the initial COVID-19 shutdowns in the U.S., the nation's pandemic response continues to wind down.Colorado announced Wednesday that it's ending its exposure notification system. The program sends cell phone alerts to users who were recently around another user who tested positive. The rollout of Colorado’s new psychedelics law hit another milestone The federal public health emergency on COVID-19 is set to end on May 11. Because of this, Apple and Google are decommissioning the service, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.CDPHE said its exposure notification system will also end on May 11. "A message will appear on users’ phones alerting them that the system is no longer operational and prompting them to delete their data," CDPHE said.Months into the pandemic in 2020, Colorado launched its exposure notification system. Users were able to opt into or out of the free system on their Apple or Google devices....

Director Guy Richie teams up with Jake Gyllenhaal for Afghanistan War film ‘Guy Richie’s The Covenant’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:39 GMT

Director Guy Richie gives a new take on the Afghanistan War in his upcoming film Guy Richie’s The Covenant.The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Dar Salim as a soldier and interpreter as they try to take out the bad guys.We got the details on what really makes this war film tick and how two unlikely people eventually become friends. War. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing, and Jake Gyllenhaal finds that out in Guy Richie’s The Covenant.Jake is U.S. Army Sergeant John Kinley, who takes on the Taliban with the help of interpreter Ahmed, played by Dar Salim, and let’s just say, they don’t get along.Jake Gyllenhaal: “When I first read the script, it was all about a very complicated relationship between two people and very little spoken. And I love that opportunity as a performer.”Dar Salim: “The interesting thing about the relationship between John and Ahmed is that it’s a relationship out of necessity really. It was very interesting to...

BSO search for missing 69-year-old woman in North Lauderdale

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:39 GMT

The Broward Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help in finding a missing 69-year-old woman.Gerone Beaubrun was last seen at 11 a.m. Wednesday, near the 5600 block of Southwest 12th Street. She was last seen wearing a gray dress and black slippers.Beaubrun stands 5 feet, 3 inches tall, weighs about 190 pounds, has black hair and brown eyes. She also has a scar on her upper lip. According to her family, she may be experiencing early stage dementia. Anyone with information on Beaubrun’s whereabouts is urged to contact BSO Detective Leonard Charla at 954-321-4274 or the BSO non-emergency number at 954-764-HELP (4357).

Feds order MBTA to strengthen track safety after five near-misses, one serious injury

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:39 GMT

The feds ordered the MBTA to take immediate action to address right-of-way violations that led to five near-misses where employees were nearly struck by trains, and one incident that left a worker “seriously injured” in the past month.In a letter sent to MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng, the Federal Transit Administration stated that it “remains deeply concerned regarding MBTA’s implementation of its right-of-way access procedures and practices,” and revealed that two additional safety incidents involving employees occurred last week.“Given recent events, the results of FTA’s on-site inspections, reports from DPU, and the MBTA’s backlog of maintenance work which necessitates continued track access for work crews, FTA finds that a combination of unsafe conditions and practices exist such that there is a substantial risk of death or personal injury,” FTA Associate Administrator Joe DeLorenzo wrote.DeLorenzo cited similar concerns raised by the T’s state safety oversight authority, the...

Florida expands ‘Don’t Say Gay’; House OKs anti-LGBTQ bills

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:39 GMT

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE and BRENDAN FARRINGTON (Associated Press)TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis added more wins to his agenda targeting the LGBTQ+ community as a state board approved an expansion of what critics call the “Don’t Say Gay” law Wednesday, and the House passed bills on gender-transition treatments, bathroom use and keeping children out of drag shows.The Board of Education approved a ban on classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades, expanding the law that bans those lesson up to grade 3 at the request of DeSantis as he gears up for an expected presidential run.The rule change would ban lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity from grades 4-12, unless required by existing state standards or as part of reproductive health instruction that students can choose not to take. That’s the time when students are becoming aware of their sexuality.The proposal will take effect af...

Chicago White Sox suffer another series loss, falling to the Philadelphia Phillies 5-2: ‘It will turn around’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:39 GMT

Jake Burger hit a liner to center field, but Brandon Marsh was there for the final out to keep the Chicago White Sox trending in the wrong direction.A 5-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday in front of 10,149 at Guaranteed Rate Field extended a number of not-so-pleasant numbers for the Sox.They’ve lost six of eight and nine of 13.After going 2-4 on the homestand, the Sox are 7-12 and in fourth place in the American League Central — four games in back of the first-place Minnesota Twins entering Wednesday evening. Only the Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals have more losses in the AL.Not only have the Sox yet to win a series (0-5-1), they haven’t won back-to-back games.“It’s the sentiment throughout this clubhouse with everyone, the passion we have in here, to win and compete, it’s through the roof,” Sox starter Mike Clevinger said. “It’s just putting it all together. I still believe in every person in this clubho...