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Four women whose lives ended in a drainage ditch outside Atlantic City

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:19 GMT

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The four women whose bodies were found in a drainage ditch just outside Atlantic City in November 2006, in the order that they were identified:KIM RAFFO, 35. Born in Brooklyn, New York, she met her future husband, Hugh Auslander, when they were both teenagers living there. They got married and moved to a four-bedroom home Florida in the 1990s, and had two kids. She led what relatives said appeared to be a tranquil domestic life with her husband, who worked as a carpenter. A sister described her as a “mom of the year”-type. She volunteered with the Girl Scouts and PTA. A relative said Raffo “was like Martha Stewart” before growing bored with life as a housewife. She enrolled in a cooking class at a technical school, and met a drug user who introduced her to cocaine and heroin. Her husband took the kids and left; Raffo and her boyfriend settled in Atlantic City, where she worked as a waitress before turning to prostitution. She was clad in a Hard Rock Cafe t...

Breakthrough in Long Island serial killings shines light on the many unsolved murders of sex workers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:19 GMT

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The discovery of four dead women in a drainage ditch just outside Atlantic City was shocking news in 2006.International media flocked to the seaside gambling resort. More than 100 detectives and prosecutors were assigned to investigate. Casino guests worried about safety, and the victims’ fellow sex workers began carrying hidden knives.But as the years passed, the public’s attention and fear faded, and the case of the “Eastbound Strangler” – so named for the direction the victims’ heads were facing – remained unsolved.The arrest earlier this month of a man charged with killing three women whose remains were found on a Long Island beach in 2010 has breathed fresh life into another long-dormant case with obvious parallels; the Gilgo Beach serial killings involve a total of 11 victims, most of whom were young, female sex workers. Yet the recent breakthrough, and the rekindling of public interest, only highlights a painful truth: Many similar cases – like the ...

The French embassy in Niger is attacked as protesters waving Russian flags march through the capital

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:19 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Thousands of supporters of the junta that took over Niger in a coup earlier this week marched through the streets of the capital, Niamey, on Sunday waving Russian flags, chanting the name of the Russian president and forcefully denouncing former colonial power France. The protesters marched through the city to the French Embassy, where a door was lit on fire, according to someone who was at the embassy when it happened and videos seen by The AP. Black smoke could be seen rising from across the city. The Nigerien army broke up the crowd of the protesters. Russian mercenary group Wagner is already operating in neighboring Mali, and Russian President Vladimir Putin would like to expand his country’s influence in the region. However, it is unclear yet whether the new junta leaders will move toward Moscow or stick with Niger’s Western partners. Days after the coup, uncertainty is mounting about Niger’s future, with some calling out the junta’s...

Manitoba woman suspected of abducting daughter may be in Stratford

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:19 GMT

A woman and her three-year-old daughter who are wanted by RCMP in Manitoba may have fled to Ontario. Police in Stratford, Ont. say they have received information that 35-year-old Holly Malleck and her daughter, Amelia Deonaraine, may be in the southwest Ontario city. St-Pierre-Jolys RCMP says Malleck is wanted for parental abduction of a person under the age of 14.Police say they were notified of a potential custody dispute back on July 7 after Malleck took custody of the child with the intent of depriving the child’s father of his parental rights. RCMP say they have no reason to believe the child is in any danger.Malleck is described as being five-foot-three, approximately 200 pounds with red hair and brown eyes. Police add her appearance may have changed. Deonaraine is described as being three-foot-two, approximately 35 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. Anyne with information is asked to contact St-Pierre-Jolys RCMP at 204-433-7433, their local police agency or Crime St...

5 killed, 6 wounded in overnight clashes in crowded Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:19 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Overnight clashes Sunday in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon left 5 dead and 6 others wounded, Palestinian officials said.The ongoing clashes are taking place as Palestinian factions in Ein el-Hilweh for years have cracked down on militant Islamist groups and fugitives seeking shelter in the camp’s overcrowded neighborhoods. In 2017, Palestinian factions engaged in almost a week of fierce clashes with a militant organization affiliated with the extremist Islamic State group. The Palestinian officials, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the clashes broke out after an unknown gunman tried to assassinate Islamist militant Mahmoud Khalil, killing a companion of his instead. Factions used assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers in the overcrowded camp, as ambulances zoomed through its narrow streets to take the wounded to the hospital. Several resi...

Who’s in, who’s out: A look at which candidates have qualified for the 1st GOP presidential debate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:19 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — With less than a month to go until the first Republican presidential debate of the 2024 campaign, seven candidates say they have met qualifications for a spot on stage in Milwaukee.But that also means that about half the broad GOP field is running short on time to make the cut.To qualify for the Aug. 23 debate, candidates needed to satisfy polling and donor requirements set by the Republican National Committee: at least 1% in three high-quality national polls or a mix of national and early-state polls, between July 1 and Aug. 21, and a minimum of 40,000 donors, with 200 in 20 or more states.A look at who’s in, who’s (maybe) out and who’s still working on making it:WHO’S QUALIFIED DONALD TRUMP The current front-runner long ago satisfied the polling and donor thresholds. But he is considering boycotting and holding a competing event.Campaign advisers have said the former president has not made a final decision a...

A boom in apartment construction is helping to curb rents but not all renters will benefit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:19 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — When viewed through a wide lens, renters across the U.S. finally appear to be getting some relief, thanks in part to the biggest apartment construction boom in decades.Median rent rose just 0.5% in June, year over year, after falling in May for the first time since the pandemic hit the U.S. Some economists project U.S. rents will be down modestly this year after soaring nearly 25% over the past four years.A closer look, however, shows the trend will likely be little comfort for many U.S. renters who’ve had to put an increasing share of their income toward their monthly payment. Renters in cities such as Cincinnati and Indianapolis are still getting hit with increases of 5% or more. Much of the new construction is located in just a few metro areas, and many of the new units are luxury apartments, which rent for well north of $2,000. Median U.S. rent has risen to $2,029 this June from $1,629 in June 2019, according to rental listings company Rent, which tracks rents...

Adding to the heat numbers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:19 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Camp Mabry is up to 37 days of triple-digit heat with Saturday's high of 104°. It is the 22nd consecutive day of a three-digit high placing 2023 in second place in this category. These numbers will be added to for at least the next seven days as highs exceeding 100° dominate the 7-Day Forecast.Today's normal high is 98°The average high temperature for the first 29 days of this month is "fell" to 90.68° with yesterday's high/low readings. This is the hottest July so far, topping the 90.63° in all of July 2022.With the increase in the heat this afternoon comes a decrease in the humidity. Saturday's lowest humidity at Camp Mabry was 20% on a 53° dew point. Drier air this afternoonMuch of Central Texas will be under a High to Very High Wildfire Danger today and tomorrow. The very high areas are eastern and far northwestern Travis County along with a four-county area that includes all of Lampasas, much of San Saba, far northeast Llano and far northern Burnet Counties.Wil...

ACC chancellor named interim president at Texas A&M-Central Texas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:19 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Richard Rhodes, the chancellor of Austin Community College, was named the interim president of Texas A&M University-Central Texas in Killeen, the university system announced Wednesday. Rhodes will start the job Oct. 1 if approved by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents. RELATED: Texas A&M regents could offer a settlement to the journalism professor at center of hiring controversy The Killeen campus, part of the Texas A&M University System, is the state's only public upper-level university focused on transferring students who have started but not finished an undergraduate degree, according to Texas A&M. “I can’t wait to get started. As someone who has devoted my career to building a community college system that serves everyone, I understand and appreciate A&M-Central Texas’ unique mission,” Rhodes said in a release. Rhodes replaces the inaugural president of the Central Texas school, Marc Nigliazzo. Rhodes spent 12 years as ACC ...

Literary pick for July 30

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:19 GMT

Scott Fitzgerald describes the Minnesota State Fair as “one of the most magnificent in America” in his 1928 short story  “A Night at the Fair,” the featured story in the program Fitzgerald in St. Paul: The St. Paul Stories, hosted by poet/chef Danny Klecko, presented by Friends of the St. Paul Public Library, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug, 3, at Subtext Bookstore, 6 W. Fifth St., St. Paul.F. Scott Fitzgerald was 15 when this picture was taken a few months after he completed “The Thoughtbook of F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Secret Boyhood Diary.” It is featured on the cover of the University of Minnesota’s edition of the short memoir Fitzgerald wrote in 1910-1911 when he was about the age of Basil Duke, protagonist of Fitzgerald’s 1928 short story “A Night at the Fair.” (Courtesy of the University of Minnesota Press)Published in the Saturday Evening Post magazine, “A Night at the Fair” is one of Fitzgerald’s popular ...