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The specter of missing GoPro camera footage documenting the 2016 ski collision between Gwyneth Paltrow and a retired optometrist has been raised at trial in Park City. The daughter of a man suing Paltrow testifies Thursday that her father Terry Sanderson's health and cognitive function deteriorated after the collision, when he broke his ribs and suffered from a concussion. Paltrow has claimed that Sanderson was actually the culprit for the collision, and her attorneys also questioned the daughter about her father's mentions of Paltrow's wealth and celebrity. Paltrow is likely to be called to testify Friday or early next week.
Four families have filed a federal lawsuit against Florida health officials. They're challenging the state’s prohibition against puberty-blocking hormones and gender-affirming surgeries for minors. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Tallahassee federal court against Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and the state boards of medicine and osteopathic medicine. It claims the ban violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution by singling out transgender minors and blocking them from obtaining medically necessary care for gender dysphoria. The anonymous plaintiffs are four mothers with transgender children. The families are asking the federal court to halt the policy while their case against it proceeds.
Track and field has banned transgender athletes from international competition while adopting new regulations that could keep Caster Semenya and other athletes with differences in sex development from competing. The World Athletics Council adopted the same rules as swimming did last year in deciding to bar athletes who have transitioned from male to female and have gone through male puberty. No such athletes currently compete at the highest elite levels of track. World Athletics president Seb Coe said the updates for athletes with differences in sex development, such as Semenya, will have to undergo hormone-suppressing treatment for six months before competing to be eligible for events outside of the previously restricted range of 400 meters to a mile.
Unions for service workers at Walt Disney World have reached a tentative deal with the company that would raise the starting minimum wage from $15 to $18. Disney World service workers who are in the six unions that make up the Service Trades Council Union coalition planned to vote on the contract proposal next Wednesday. They rejected an earlier offer last month. The agreement reached Thursday covers around 45,000 service workers at the Disney theme park resort outside Orlando. Union leaders say workers could see their hourly wages rise between $5.50 and $8.60 an hour by the end of the five-year contract, if it’s approved.
The lawyer for a one-time Trump supporter caught up in a Jan. 6 conspiracy theory is demanding that Fox News and Tucker Carlson apologize for the many “falsehoods” he says they have spread about his client. The actions taken on behalf of Raymond Epps specifically reference the current $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox by a voting machine company that claims the network spread lies about it related to the 2020 presidential election. The demand indicates that people caught up in conspiracy theories are fighting back legally. The lawyer, Michael Teter, says he's putting Fox on notice for potential litigation. Fox had no immediate comment.
For the first time, autism is being diagnosed more frequently in Black and Hispanic children than in white kids in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released the new estimates of how common autism is. It estimates that 1 in 36 children who were age 8 in 2020 had autism. That's up from 1 in 44 two years earlier. But the rate rose faster for children of color than for white kids. Experts attribute the change to improved screening and autism services for all kids, and to increased awareness and advocacy for Black and Hispanic families.
The wife of a former Connecticut state lawmaker was sentenced Thursday to six months in federal prison in connection with her role in the theft of federal coronavirus relief funds from the city of West Haven. Lauren DiMassa was one of several people arrested in the investigation. She had pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. Federal prosecutors said West Haven paid DiMassa, formerly known as Lauren Knox, nearly $148,000 for services she never provided to the city. Former State Rep. Michael DiMassa is to be sentenced next month on charges related to the total theft of more than $1.2 million in virus relief funds.
A new report from the American Library Association says attempted book bannings and restrictions at school and public libraries continue to surge, setting a record in 2022. The report released Thursday says more than 1,200 challenges were recorded by the association in 2022, nearly double the then-record total from 2021. Deborah Caldwell-Stone is the director of the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom. She says she has “never seen anything like this,” and calls the past two years “exhausting, frightening, outrage inducing.” Librarians around the country have told of being harassed, and threatened with violence or legal action.
The Nebraska Legislature has advanced a contentious bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors, despite threats from several lawmakers that they would filibuster the rest of the session. Thursday’s vote came on the third day of debate, in which lawmakers angrily accused one another of hypocrisy and a lack of collegiality. With the bill’s advancement, some lawmakers have vowed to join Omaha Sens. Megan Hunt and Machaela Cavanaugh in a promise to filibuster every bill that comes before lawmakers for the rest of the 90-day session. The bill introduced by Sen. Kathleen Kauth would outlaw gender-affirming therapies such as hormone treatments and gender reassignment surgery for those 18 and younger.
Track and field leaders have signaled it will be nearly impossible for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in that sport at the Paris Olympics next year if the war in Ukraine continues. The World Athletics Council kept its ban on Russian athletes in international events in place “for the foreseeable future.” The move goes directly against the International Olympic Committee’s efforts to find a way for Russian athletes to compete as neutrals in Paris. World Athletics will form a working group to determine under what conditions Russians might return to international competition. The move came on the same day that World Athletics lifted a seven-year suspension of Russia’s track federation for a doping scandal that dates back a decade.
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An estimated 68 million Americans are expected to place bets on this years NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. And with a recent explosion in legalized online sports gambling across the United States, the opportunities to bet on this year’s bracket will reach far beyond your office pool. But should you give into the madness of using your credit card to place bets on popular gambling sites? From unpredictable fees and credit score implications to an increased risk of addictive behavior, here’s why your credit card is better off riding the bench.
The battle between the U.S. and China over TikTok will come into full view when the social media platform’s CEO testifies before Congressional lawmakers. Shou Zi Chew’s hearing is happening at what he’s called a “pivotal moment” for the hugely popular short video sharing app. TikTok is owned by parent company ByteDance, which has offices in Beijing. The platform has 150 million American users but it's been dogged by persistent claims that it threatens national security and user privacy, or could be used to promote pro-Beijing propaganda and misinformation. Chew will attempt to persuade lawmakers not to pursue a ban on the app or force its sale to new owners.
The NIL age has opened a vast new world of earning potential for student-athletes the NCAA long insisted were amateurs. Social media platforms, once solely windows into smaller worlds, became gateways to wider audiences and revenue streams. Social media has in turn turbocharged March Madness, that one-of-a-kind American sporting event with communal elements already built in long before the internet even existed. Taking advantage of this Madness-fueled social media explosion requires a bit of savvy, discernment and lots of engagement.
Authorities say a suspect has been arrested on charges that she set fire to a building that was slated to become Wyoming’s only full-service abortion clinic. Police say 22-year-old Lorna Roxanne Green was arrested on Tuesday. She is suspected of starting the May 2022 fire at a building in Casper that was being renovated to house the Wellspring Health Access clinic. No one was injured in the blaze, but the fire delayed the clinic’s opening, which was initially planned for last summer. It was most recently scheduled to open next month. The arrest was announced Wednesday, hours after a judge temporarily blocked a ban on abortion that went into effect a few days ago.
New research finds that drinking caffeinated coffee did not significantly affect one kind of heart rhythm that results in extra beats. But it did signal a slight increase in another type of heart hiccup in people who drank more than one cup of coffee per day. And it found that people tend to walk more and sleep less on the days they drank coffee. The volunteers in the study published Wednesday were younger and very healthy, so the results don’t necessarily apply to the general population, but are in line with previous research that finds coffee is safe.
The administration of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is moving to forbid classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades. The proposal is scheduled for a vote next month before the state Board of Education and has been put forth by state Education Department, both of which are led by appointees of the governor. The rule change would ban lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity from grades 4 to 12, expanding the current law critics call “Don't Say Gay.” DeSantis has leaned heavily into cultural divides on his path to an anticipated White House bid.
A former Haitian mayor has been charged with lying on his U.S. visa application. The arrest of 50-year-old Jean Morose Viliena in Massachusetts on Wednesday came just one day after he was found liable in a civil trial for his role in a killing and two attempted slayings in his home country. Federal prosecutors say Viliena was indicted on three counts of fraud for writing on his visa application that he had never been involved in acts of violence in his homeland. Authorities allege that while mayor of the town of Les Irois on Haiti’s western tip, Viliena was involved in acts of violence against political foes.
The Federal Reserve has raised its key rate by another quarter point, bringing it to the highest level in 15 years. It's part of an ongoing effort to ease inflation by making borrowing more expensive. If you have money to save, you’ll probably earn a bit more interest on it, but the increase will make it even costlier to borrow for homes, autos and other purchases. The interest rate increase comes at a time when credit card debt is at record levels.
A Massachusetts man convicted of helping to steal millions of dollars from hundreds of people in online romance scams, often regaling the victims with stories of oil rig explosions, now faces a 4 1/2-year prison sentence. Federal prosecutors say 30-year-old Kofi Osei and his alleged accomplices from 2016 to 2020 targeted mostly older people seeking companionship by creating fake online dating profiles. They gradually gained their victims’ trust before directing them to transfer money to one of dozens of bank accounts Osei opened. Once the money was in the bank account, it was quickly withdrawn.
Authorities say suspended Alabama freshman defensive back Tony Mitchell drove over 141 mph while trying to evade deputies before his arrest on drug charges in the Florida Panhandle last week. The Holmes County Sheriff's Office says Mitchell and his passenger were arrested last Wednesday and charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to sell or deliver. The other man with Mitchell also was charged with carrying a concealed gun without a permit. During the traffic stop, deputies reported smelling marijuana and noted that Mitchell appeared confused. During a search of the car, deputies say they recovered 8 ounces of marijuana, $7,040 in cash, a set of scales and a loaded 9mm handgun.
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