HOUSTON (AP) — A judge has declined to dismiss hundreds of lawsuits filed against rap star Travis Scott over his role in the deadly 2021 Astroworld festival in which 10 people were killed in a crowd surge. State District Judge Kristen Hawkins issued a one-page order denying Scott’s request that he and his touring and production company, XX Global, should be dropped from the case. The order was signed on Tuesday but made public on Wednesday. Scott’s attorneys had argued during an April 15 hearing that he was not responsible for safety planning and watching for possible dangers at the concert on ..read more

Washington motorists will get an opportunity to benefit from new state rebates for electric vehicles (EVs) starting this summer. The rebates, which could be as much as $9,000 in some cases, are designed to offset the cost of leasing or purchasing EVs. Governor Jay Inslee and State Department of Commerce Director Mike Fong announced the program on Tuesday. The program will be available at auto dealerships beginning in August. The initiative is part of the state’s Democratic-led efforts to transition away from fossil fuels and slow climate change by encouraging the use of electric vehicles over ..read more

CAMERON, La. (AP) — Up to $20,000 is being offered for information leading to a criminal conviction or civil penalty involving a dolphin that was found shot to death in southwest Louisiana. Federal wildlife officials, in a news release Monday, said a juvenile bottlenose dolphin was found shot to death March 13 along the coast of Cameron Parish. It was found on West Mae’s Beach, and the stranding was reported to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which said a necropsy showed multiple bullets lodged in the dolphin’s brain, spinal cord and heart. Harming or killing wild dolphins ..read more

An 80-year-old man was struck and killed Monday night near the intersection of Southwest Roxbury Street and 15th Avenue Southwest in unincorporated White Center in King County. 911 calls started coming in just after 10 o’clock. Callers said a man was down in the street and a passerby was doing CPR. However, the man later died from his injuries at Harborview Medical Center. “It’s still an active investigation. We don’t know a whole lot, so we’re looking for any witnesses that may have seen what happened,” King County Sheriff’s Captain Cory Stanton said. After checking nearby surveillance camera ..read more

President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he was immediately rushing badly needed weaponry to Ukraine as he signed into law a $95 billion war aid measure that also included assistance for Israel, Taiwan and other global hot spots. The announcement marked an end to the long, painful battle with Republicans in Congress over urgently needed assistance for Ukraine, with Biden promising that U.S. weapons shipments would begin making the way into Ukraine “in the next few hours.” “We rose to the moment, we came together, and we got it done,” Biden said a White House event to announce the bill signing ..read more

GUYMON, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma prosecutors charged a fifth member of an anti-government group on Wednesday with killing and kidnapping two Kansas women. Paul Jeremiah Grice, 31, was charged in Texas County with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder. Grice told an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent that he participated in the killing and burial of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, of Hugoton, Kansas, according to an arrest affidavit filed in the case. Grice is being held without bond at the Texas County Detention Center in ..read more

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi’s capital city has settled a wrongful death lawsuit filed by survivors of a man who died after police officers pulled him from a car while searching for a murder suspect. The Jackson City Council on Tuesday approved payment of $17,786 to settle the lawsuit that relatives of George Robinson filed in state court in October 2019, WLBT-TV reported. City documents say the settlement is not an admission of liability by the city or the three officers named in the lawsuit. Robinson was Black, as are the three officers. The payment to the relatives — including Robinson ..read more

An 80-year-old man was struck and killed Monday night near the intersection of Southwest Roxbury Street and 15th Avenue Southwest in unincorporated White Center. 911 calls started coming in just after 10 o’clock. A man was down in the street and a passerby was doing CPR. However, the man later died from his injuries at Harborview Medical Center. “It’s still an active investigation. We don’t know a whole lot, so we’re looking for any witnesses that may have seen what happened,” King County Sheriff’s Captain Cory Stanton said. After checking nearby surveillance cameras, investigators spotted a c ..read more

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