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Pennsylvania caseworkers ignored years of child abuse, now face felony charges, prosecutor says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

A child welfare agency in Pennsylvania failed to protect children from horrific abuse and neglect, allowing them to languish for years in homes overtaken by animal waste and garbage, a prosecutor said Tuesday as he announced criminal charges against five caseworkers.Three caseworkers and two supervisors at Lackawanna County’s Office of Youth and Family Services in Scranton were arrested on felony charges of child endangerment and failing to report abuse, days after state authorities downgraded the county agency’s license.The caseworkers knew that children were living in dangerous, deplorable conditions, but “instead of coming to the rescue, they chose to walk away,” said District Attorney Mark Powell. In some cases, he said, the workers “falsified reports to make it seem like everything was OK when they knew it wasn’t.”A Lackawanna County spokesperson declined to comment on the allegations — which involve eight children in three households — or whether any reforms were planned...

Bernardo Arévalo, Guatemala’s electoral surprise, makes corruption fight top priority

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Bernardo Arévalo, the surprise of the first round of voting in Guatemala, says the choice in the Aug. 20 presidential runoff is a clear one: Continue living under a corrupt system with his rival or rebuild the country’s democracy with him.In an interview with the Associated Press Tuesday, the social democratic lawmaker said he believes his anti-corruption message resonated with voters. Now he just needs a lot more Guatemalans to hear it.His rival, Sandra Torres, was the top vote-getter Sunday in a field of nearly two-dozen presidential hopefuls and Arévalo was second with neither getting nearly enough votes to win outright, setting up the runoff election between them. But their vote totals were so low they fell below the nearly 1 million null votes cast by disenchanted voters, meaning both candidates have work to do to expand their support.There is no shortage of Guatemalans desperate to see someone bring down the country’s corrupt power structures. For Arévalo...

Audit shows Oklahoma likely misspent millions in federal relief funds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Improper oversight by state officials led to more than $29 million in federal funds being misspent that may have to be repaid to the federal government, Oklahoma Auditor & Inspector Cindy Byrd said Tuesday.Byrd’s office released a scathing audit of about $14 billion in spending made by the state in fiscal year 2021, most of it in the form of COVID-19-relief funds.“Oklahoma has systemic issues that make me very concerned for taxpayers,” Byrd said in a statement following the release of the 250-page audit. “If the federal government decides the state must pay back these questioned costs, you and I will end up paying the bill.“If that happens, gross mismanagement and lack of compliance and oversight will be to blame.”Oklahoma is not alone in having questionable oversight of COVID-19 relief funding. An Associated Press analysis found that fraudsters potentially stole more than $280 billion in federal pandemic-relief funds, making it the greatest grif...

Hundreds of teens takeover Lakeview, destroying neighborhood

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

CHICAGO — Hundreds of teens swarmed the streets in Lakeview Monday night, causing disorder and destruction in the neighborhood. It's the latest takeover in the city that has left residents and local leaders searching for solutions. The teen poured off the Chicago "L" train at the Belmont Red Line stop, shutting the roadway for several hours in a scene that unfolded just after 10 p.m. Illinois set to create state run insurance marketplace, rate review "They were jumping on cars, breaking glass, throwing things. I know my personal automobile was used as a bar for people," said a concerned resident who did not wish to be identified. The resident shared video with WGN News that shows kids surrounding a police car, with some evening jumping on the vehicle.The woman said that's when she called 911. “I was told that there was nothing they could do," the woman said. "They were so overwhelmed at the moment that there were just way too many calls coming in."Chicago police officers worked t...

Illinois set to create state run insurance marketplace, rate review

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

CHICAGO -- Illinois is set to run it's own insurance marketplace to counter soaring costs of health plans sold on the federal Affordable Care Act marketplace.On Tuesday, Governor JB Pritzker signed into law health care priorities backed by democrats, including a new state-based marketplace and rate review.Illinois residents currently access the federal health care marketplace using a federal platform that the state pays a fee to use it. Under this new law Illinois will transition to a new state platform set to go live in 2026.The governor says the marketplace will cover Illinois residents should federal health care policy change."If Joe Biden were to lose reelection to a Republican then people nationally would lose their health care coverage or lose access to that federal exchange, but they won’t lose access to the Illinois exchange," Gov. Pritzker said.The rate review law, the governor says, is intended to shield consumers and small businesses from premium rate hikes by requiring i...

Over $200B in COVID-19 business loans paid to ‘potentially fraudulent actors’: watchdog estimates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

(The Hill) - The Small Business Administration’s (SBA) oversight office released new findings, estimating that tens of billions of dollars disbursed by the agency through pandemic loan programs intended to help small businesses was paid to “potentially fraudulent actors.” The SBA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) said in a report on Tuesday that the agency disbursed about $1.2 trillion in COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds during the pandemic.But the OIG found “at least 17 percent of all COVID-19 EIDL and PPP funds were disbursed to potentially fraudulent actors.” That includes over $136 billion in EIDLs and $64 billion in PPP funds, the report found.The government watchdog said it identified multiple schemes that criminals used to steal taxpayer funds and saw some using the dollars to purchase “luxury homes, gold coins, diamonds, jewelry, luxury watches, fine imported furnishings, designer handbags, clothing, a...

San Marcos to enter Stage 3 drought restrictions on July 2 as aquifer levels drop

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — The city of San Marcos will enter Stage 3 drought restrictions Sunday, due to dropping aquifer levels.The tighter restrictions will take effect at noon on Sunday, July 2.The city said Stage 3 restrictions are implemented when the 10-day average index well level on the Edwards Aquifer drops below 640' above mean sea level. As of Monday, the 10-day average was 638.5'. Lake Travis boat ramp to close due to low water levels; only one to remain open for now "We have been in drought for well over a year and are experiencing very high temperatures with little relief in sight," said Tyler Hjorth, director of SMTX Utilities. "It's vital that we do all we can to conserve our limited water resources and keep this situation from getting worse."As of June 22, 92% of Hays County is experiencing drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. About 54% of the country is in severe drought, while 5% is in extreme drought, the second-worst category. How often...

Brad Stuver nominated for ESPN Sports Humanitarian Award for second consecutive year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — For the second consecutive year, Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver is receiving national recognition for the good things he does off the pitch.Stuver is again nominated for the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award, given by ESPN at its annual ESPY Awards ceremony July 12 to highlight "an athlete whose continuous, demonstrated leadership has created a measured positive impact on their community through sports."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/newslettersStuver is the only Major League Soccer player to be nominated for the award since its inception in 2015. Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals won the award last year.His off-the-field advocacy work is multi-faceted and helps serve some of the most underserved communities in Central Texas. He's a board of trustees member for Equality Texas Foundation, the largest LGBTQIA+ advocacy nonprofit in Texas, and he's an ...

Texas inmate dies while working in Huntsville heat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

Editor's Note: The above video is KXAN's previous coverage of conditions in Texas prisons.AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- A 35-year-old inmate died of cardiac arrest Friday morning while mowing a field at the Goree Unit in Huntsville, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice confirmed Tuesday. Texas inmates ‘being cooked alive’ in heatwave with no air conditioning TDCJ identified the deceased inmate as Tommy McCullough from McKinney, Texas. McCullough's family is seeking more information as they raise concerns over the conditions during the summer heat."We received a call yesterday afternoon that he passed away due to a heat stroke because he was made to stay out mowing even with heat advisory and very minimal water," McCullough's sisters said. "If you have a loved one in the Texas prison system, please check on them."Senior Warden Cynthia Tilley described McCullough as a productive and well-behaved inmate, sister Melissa Neshyba said."[She said] he was a model inmate and was always willing t...

St. Paul man sentenced to 20 years for killing ex’s new boyfriend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:14 GMT

A St. Paul man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend outside an apartment building in the city’s North End in 2021.Larry Rucker, 42, received his sentence from Ramsey County District Judge Kellie Charles in connection with the shooting death of 48-year-old Demond A. Bingham of Little Canada. A jury in April convicted Rucker of second-degree murder and illegal possession of a gun.Larry Rucker (Courtesy of Ramsey County sheriff’s office)Officers found Bingham with a gunshot wound to his chest outside an apartment at Albemarle and Milford streets — a block west of Rice Street — around 10:30 p.m. Aug. 23. A handgun was found near his feet. It had not been fired.According to the criminal complaint, a woman told police that Rucker had become jealous of Bingham, who was her new boyfriend, and that they “got into it” outside the apartment building, which is near Lewis Park.Bingham’s cousin told officers that Bingham called h...