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An Arkansas man visited a state park with his girlfriend. He picked up the largest diamond discovered there in 3 years

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:52 GMT

(CNN) — An Arkansas man who picked up what he thought was a piece of glass at a state park says he later learned his jelly bean-sized find was something much more valuable: It was a 4.87-carat diamond.Jerry Evans visited Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, for the first time with his girlfriend last spring, he told park officials.Evans says about 10 minutes after they arrived, he spotted what looked like glass a few feet away on top of a plowed ridge, according to a news release.Though he pocketed the pyramid-shaped find, he wasn’t sure if it was a diamond, Evans said in the release.“It was so clear. I really didn’t know,” Evans said. “We were picking up everything thinking it was a diamond.”Crater of Diamonds, which became a state park in 1972, is known as a source of diamonds from their original volcanic source, according to park officials.After later returning home about 250 miles away in Lepanto, Arkansas, Evans says he pondered whether the small o...

FBI says it’s investigating after reports of violent threats to Colorado judges in Trump case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:52 GMT

(CNN) — The FBI is working with law enforcement officials in Colorado in the wake of threats made against state Supreme Court justices who ruled last week to remove Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 presidential ballot.“The FBI is aware of the situation and working with local law enforcement,” FBI Public Affairs Officer Vikki Migoya said in a statement provided to CNN on Monday. “We will vigorously pursue investigations of any threat or use of violence committed by someone who uses extremist views to justify their actions regardless of motivation.”A spokesperson for the Colorado Judicial Branch would not comment on reports of threats to the justices. Master Trooper Gary Cutler, a spokesman for the Colorado State Patrol, said any threats against judges would be handled by local authorities.The Denver Police Department said law enforcement responded to a justice’s residence Thursday evening “on what appears to be a hoax report.”“Everything checked clear ...

Police investigate Christmas Day swatting call made on Marjorie Taylor Greene’s home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:52 GMT

(CNN) — Authorities are investigating a Christmas Day swatting call at Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s residence in Rome, Georgia.Greene took to social media Monday morning, posting on X, “I was just swatted. This is like the 8th time. On Christmas with my family here.”On Monday, 911 dispatch informed officers that a call came through the suicide prevention hotline from a man possibly calling from Rome, New York, claiming he’d shot his girlfriend at Greene’s Georgia address, Rome, Georgia, police information specialist Kelly Madden told CNN on the phone. The caller also had threatened to kill himself.Rome Police informed Greene’s security team of the phone call while officers were en route to the home, according to Madden, and were told nothing was amiss at the home. Madden said officers were turned around before arriving at the house.“My local police are the GREATEST and shouldn’t have to deal with this,” Greene added in her post. “I appreciat...

Red Sox notebook: Pitching déjà vu and outfield intrigue

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:52 GMT

After losing out on the Yoshinobu Yamamoto sweepstakes last week, the Red Sox are pivoting hard in a familiar direction.As first reported by Rob Bradford of WEEI, the club has expressed a “strong interest” in reuniting with James Paxton.The 35-year-old left-hander became a free agent in November following a two-year stint with the Red Sox that saw him missing his entire first season due to injuries. Paxton was recovering from April ’21 Tommy John surgery when he signed a one-year, $10 million deal for ’22 with both club and player options for ’23. When the Red Sox declined to pick up his ’23 option, he exercised his.After a slow ramp-up, the southpaw debuted on May 12. He was excellent in the first half of the season, posting a 2.83 ERA and striking out 31.1% of batters faced across 10 starts (56 innings) before the All-Star break. He earned American League Pitcher of the Month honors for June, and drew considerable interest before the trade deadl...

Massachusetts vocational school admissions ‘moving in the wrong direction’: Legislators push leadership to nix selective criteria

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:52 GMT

Gateway cities’ legislators are railing against the selective criteria in vocational school admissions, urging Gov. Maura Healey and her administration to follow up on “inadequate” efforts to address inequity in the competitive process.“We write today to ask you to direct the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to prohibit selective criteria that discriminates against disadvantaged 8th graders and inhibits their social and economic mobility,” 26 members of the Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus wrote in a letter to Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll.“We believe children who grow up in poverty in Massachusetts — thousands of whom live in Gateway Cities — deserve the same opportunity to attend a vocational school,” the lawmakers added in the letter.Many advocates have long argued the 2003 decision to force vocational schools to implement selective criteria in their admissions discriminates against against students of co...

O’Bryant School move: BPS still open to compromises, Michelle Wu warns district must ‘move urgently’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:52 GMT

Ahead of the next BPS semester, Mayor Michelle Wu chimed in on the roiling debate over moving the O’Bryant School to West Roxbury in one of her first addresses on the exam school’s future since she rolled out the proposal last summer — arguing despite the ongoing contention, the district must “move urgently.”“If we want to see new schools built anytime in the next decade, we need to get going on it now,” Wu said on a WBUR segment last week, when asked if there is still room for compromise on the issue. “There’s a reason why our school buildings are falling apart. These are hard conversations that are complex and involve a lot of communities.”The proposed move would separate the exam school and Madison Park Technical Vocational High School from their single location in Roxbury, expand both and move the O’Bryant to the large vacant West Roxbury Education Complex after years of construction. The O’Bryant debate and...

A guesthouse blaze in Romania leaves 5 dead and others missing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:52 GMT

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A massive fire at a guesthouse Tuesday morning in Romania left five people dead, including a child, authorities said.Emergency intervention teams were deployed to the blaze in the village of Tohani in Prahova county, where 26 people were staying at the guesthouse, according to the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations. Before the emergency authorities confirmed the deaths of the fourth and fifth victims around noon, search and rescue teams were set up to find five missing persons. It wasn’t immediately clear if the additional two dead had been among those listed as missing.Authorities said 18 people managed to escape the fire and two of them were being treated for burns. At around at 12:45 p.m. authorities said the blaze was extinguished and that the search for the missing people was ongoing.The affected area was about 1,000 square meters (10,800 square feet). There was no indication as to what caused the blaze.Photos of the fire shared by emergency...

Restriction on carrying guns in Omaha and Lincoln violate Nebraska law, lawsuits say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:52 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s two largest cities are violating a new state gun law by prohibiting them from public places such as parks, according to two recent lawsuits.The Liberty Justice Center filed lawsuits Dec. 18 challenging executive orders issued by the mayors of Omaha and Lincoln. The lawsuits allege that the orders are in violation of a new state gun law. The suits were filed on behalf of the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association.State lawmakers in April passed a bill allowing people to carry concealed guns across the state without a permit and without the need to complete a gun safety course. It also said that it overrides stricter local laws, like those in Omaha and Lincoln.The lawsuits state that despite the new law, Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert and Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird issued executive orders banning all firearms from city property, including parks and sidewalks. The suits said the Omaha City Council also banned “ghost gun” parts and manufacturing, and...

Israeli forces bombard central Gaza in apparent move toward expanding ground offensive

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:52 GMT

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces bombarded Palestinian refugee camps in central Gaza on Tuesday, residents said, in apparent preparation to expand their ground offensive into a third section of the besieged territory.The opening of a potential new battle zone points to the long and destructive road still ahead as Israel vows to crush Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. For weeks, Israeli forces have been engaged in heavy urban fighting in northern Gaza and in the southern city of Khan Younis, driving Palestinians into further smaller corners of territory in search of refuge.Despite international pressure for a cease-fire and U.S. calls for a reduction in civilian casualties, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday warned that the fight “isn’t close to finished.”Israel’s offensive has been one of the most devastating military campaigns in recent history. More than 20,600 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children, have been killed, according ...

Stock market today: Asian shares advance in holiday-thinned trading. European markets closed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:52 GMT

Shares advanced in Asia on Tuesday in holiday-thinned trading, while European markets remained closed for holidays.The future for the S&P 500 was 0.2% higher and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1%. Oil prices edged higher. Shanghai’s benchmark led losses in Asia on heavy selling of technology and computer chip-related shares as worries revived over trade tensions with the U.S. and other western countries. A number of video gaming stocks announced share buybacks meant to stem losses after Chinese regulators issued draft guidelines on Friday that caused shares in game makers like Tencent and Netease to plunge. Hong Kong markets were closed Tuesday, so the impact of an effort by Beijing on Monday to cushion the impact of the new rules by voicing support for the industry and announcing the approval of more than 100 games was unclear. The Shanghai Composite index sank 0.7% to 2,898.88. In Shenzhen, where relatively more high-tech companies are listed, the A-share in...