GlitzyArmrest

A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a ruling that blocked Florida from enforcing a law, backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, that restricts how private companies teach diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled Monday that the “Stop Woke Act” “exceeds the bounds” of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech and expression in its attempts to regulate workplace trainings on race, color, sex and national origin. The appeals court upheld a federal judge’s August 2022 ruling that said the same.

“By limiting its restrictions to a list of ideas designated as offensive, the Act targets speech based on its content. And by barring only speech that endorses any of those ideas, it penalizes certain viewpoints — the greatest First Amendment sin,” Judge Britt C. Grant wrote in Monday’s opinion.

The “Stop Woke Act” was approved by the Republican-controlled Florida legislature in March 2022. The act was one of DeSantis’s top priorities, and before he dropped out as a possible candidate for president in 2024, it was a routine talking point on the campaign trail.

Twitter's former CEO Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, Chief Legal Counsel Vijaya Gadde and General Counsel Sean Edgett claim in the lawsuit filed Monday that they were fired without a reason on the day in 2022 that Musk completed his acquisition of Twitter, which he later rebranded X.

Because he didn't want to pay their severance, the executives say Musk "made up fake cause and appointed employees of his various companies to uphold his decision."

The lawsuit says not paying severance and bills is part of a pattern for Musk, who's been sued by "droves" of former rank-and-file Twitter employees who didn't receive severance after Musk terminated them by the thousands.

The latest Digital 2024 Global Reports showed that only fewer than 1,000 people in North Korea have access to the Internet. This small group of people is likely composed of foreign expatriates and those coming from North Korea’s political elite.

The report also showed that there are currently 7.51 million mobile connections in North Korea or 28.7% of its total population. This reflects a 2.8% increase or around 260,000 new mobile connections from the start of 2023 until January 2024.

Although the majority of North Koreans are not online, the interest in North Korean-related topics remains high outside the secretive nation. The keyword “North Korea” has a monthly average of 500,000 searches, while “Kim Jong-Un” has more than 350,000 monthly searches.

The restaurant would be the first In-N-Out in the state, according to planning documents submitted to the city of Ridgefield. The company plans to build near the under-construction Ridgefield Costco at Union Ridge Town Center on Pioneer Street, just west of Interstate 5.

The company hasn’t given the city any indication of when the new restaurant would open, Stuart said.

With snow, rain, wind and possibly ice in this week’s forecast, Seattle’s National Weather Service says prepare for a “topsy turvy” week.

“We’re going to see a variety of weather,” said meteorologist Dustin Guy.

In the Greater Seattle area, that will most likely take the form of rain, wind and possibly ice, but the elevated areas, including Stevens Pass, Mount Baker and the Mount Rainier area, could see anywhere from 2 to 4 feet of snow this week, according to the National Weather Service.

“They’re going to get hammered,” Guy said. “If you’re into skiing, then you’re looking at a good week ahead.”

Seattle saw a largely clear day Sunday with some high winds. The strongest gusts were reported between 35 and 40 mph. The Eastside Fire and Rescue team were called to a fallen tree on an unoccupied vehicle in Woodinville on Sunday afternoon, according to a post on the social media platform X.

A small, nonthreatening balloon spotted flying high over the mountainous Western United States was intercepted by a fighter jet over Utah on Friday, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

NORAD fighter pilots sent in the morning to investigate the balloon determined it was “not maneuverable” and did not present a threat to national security, spokesperson John Cornelio said. The balloon was still in the air, under close observation.

The New York attorney general on Thursday urged the Food and Drug Administration to “take immediate action” and renew alerts to doctors and patients about the dangerous effects of Singulair for children, saying that the current warnings about the drug’s psychiatric side effects were not sufficient.

In a letter, the attorney general, Letitia James, also called on the federal agency to consider discouraging the prescription of Singulair, an asthma and allergy drug, to children.

Thousands of patients and parents have complained to the F.D.A. about symptoms of anxiety, rage, hallucinations and other psychiatric problems that they linked to the drug, which is also known in its generic form as montelukast. Those reports, combined with an emotional F.D.A. hearing in 2019 and cases cited in medical literature, led the F.D.A. in 2020 to order its most stringent warning on instructions for the drug’s usage.

But an examination by The New York Times found that people continued to report that they were not aware of the possible side effects, which include suicide or suicide attempts, when they took the medication or gave it to their children.

Denver police are asking for the public’s help in finding a former funeral home owner who they say kept a woman’s body in a hearse for two years and kept the cremated remains of at least 30 people.

In announcing an arrest warrant last Friday, police said Miles Harford was cooperating with investigators. However, on Thursday they offered a $2,000 Crimestoppers award for information leading to his arrest because he hasn’t turned himself in to authorities and they can’t find him.

A warrant lists potential charges of abuse of a corpse, forgery of the death certificate and theft of the money paid for the woman’s cremation. Other charges are possible as the investigation continues, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said last week.

The FBI informant charged with telling lies about President Biden and his son Hunter was rearrested Thursday in Las Vegas, apparently out of concern he might flee — just days after a federal magistrate decided he could be released on bond.

Alexander Smirnov, whose arrest last week surprised Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike, was taken into custody again Thursday morning in his lawyer’s office. Prosecutors had argued that Smirnov’s claims of having significant relationships with Russian intelligence operatives, as well as millions of dollars at his disposal, meant that he was a flight risk.

Former President Donald Trump’s legal team filed multiple motions Thursday night urging a Florida judge to dismiss the criminal case charging him with illegally retaining classified documents, claiming in part that presidential immunity protects him from prosecution — an argument they have already submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in his election interference case.

Lawyers Christopher Kise and Todd Blanche wrote that the charges “turn on his alleged decision to designate records as personal under the Presidential Records Act (PRA) and to cause the records to be moved from the White House to Mar-a-Lago.” Since Trump made this decision while he was still in office, they wrote, it “was an official act, and as such is subject to presidential immunity.”

New Zealand on Friday opened its first hospital exclusively treating kiwi birds, and vets have already nursed the first patient back to health—a chick nicknamed "Splash" that tumbled into a swimming pool.

North Kitsap School District Superintendent Laurynn Evans was charged with a misdemeanor crime on Wednesday, according to a statement from the Kitsap County Prosecutor's Office.

The charge, for removing or defacing political advertising, stems from an incident Jan. 26 when two residents reported that signs in opposition of North Kitsap School District's bond measure were taken, and identified Evans as a suspect. The bond failed in the Feb. 13 election, with approximately 63 percent of voters in the district opposing the $242 million measure.

Evans is scheduled to appear in court in a week, on Feb. 28, according to the prosecutor's office. The maximum penalty would be 90 days in jail or a $1,000 fine, plus restitution, assessment and court costs, according to the charging documents. The statement from the prosecutor's office notes that Evans has no prior criminal convictions or charges.

Evans, who denied taking the signs when interviewed by law enforcement on Jan. 26, is currently on paid administrative leave after a 4-1 North Kitsap school board vote in wake of the investigation over the sign incident.

"We understand that it is frustrating for our staff, families, and community that we cannot discuss details of personnel matters," a statement from North Kitsap School District read on Wednesday, after the charge was filed. "The board continues to be committed to a full and fair investigation, to making evidence-based decisions, and to keeping the best interests of our students as our guiding focus."

School board members contacted referred questions to North Kitsap school board chairman Mike Desmond, who was not immediately available. The North Kitsap School District board has a regular meeting scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday.

Evans' charge comes nearly four weeks after she was initially contacted by deputies from the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office following a report made by Scott Henden and Kim Gerlach, members of a group that opposed North Kitsap's failing bond measure. Evans was later named the suspect in the theft.

Henden told KCSO deputies he witnessed the theft of two campaign signs he'd placed along Little Boston Road in Kingston. Henden and Gerlach identified a Ford Ranger used in the theft and later spotted the pickup truck in the parking lot outside the Sons of Norway building in Poulsbo. KCSO deputies confirmed the truck is owned by Evans, who was seen by Gerlach walking into the Sons of Norway building for a Poulsbo Rotary meeting.

When KCSO officers searched the back of Evans' truck, they found grease inside the tailgate that was consistent with grease that had been used as a theft deterrent on the signs, which were found discarded along Stottlemeyer Road. Officers also searched a dumpster near where Evans' truck was parked and spotted a pro-school bond sign, a washcloth and a pair of garden gloves. Those items were dirtied with small amounts of the grease that appeared consistent with the grease on the stolen signs.

"I told Evans I could see the grease marks in her truck and they were a match for the same grease that was on the signs that were taken and later recovered by me at a location she was observed stopping at," a KCSO sergeant wrote in the investigation report. "Evans looked shocked and I don't recall if she said anything. It was clear she was not telling the truth and I told her she should probably talk to the deputies, hinting that she should probably start telling the truth."

In an email Wednesday, Kitsap County Prosecutor Chad Enright acknowledged a high level of public interest in the case. State law limits the amount of public comment his office can make on pending charges, the email said, adding that the case "... will be handled in the same manner as thousands of other misdemeanor cases that our office, and the Kitsap County District Court, handle every year."