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Judge orders Montana health clinic to pay nearly $6 million over false asbestos claims

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:37 GMT

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A health clinic in a Montana town plagued by deadly asbestos contamination must pay the government almost $6 million in penalties and damages after it submitted hundreds of false asbestos claims, a judge ruled.The 337 false claims made patients eligible for Medicare and other benefits they shouldn’t have received. The federally funded clinic has been at the forefront of the medical response to deadly pollution from mining near Libby, MontanaThe judgement against the Center for Asbestos Related Disease clinic comes in a federal case filed by BNSF Railway in 2019 under the False Claims Act, which allows private parties to sue on the government’s behalf. BNSF — which is itself a defendant in hundreds of asbestos-related lawsuits — alleged the center submitted claims on behalf of patients without sufficient confirmation they had asbestos-related disease.After a seven-person jury agreed last month, U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen said in a July 18 order ...

Person held captive by human smugglers rescued, APD says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:37 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Police Department's trafficking unit was able to rescue a person held captive by human smugglers this week, APD Asst. Chief Jeff Greenwalt said on Twitter.According to APD, it worked for 20 hours straight after receiving a report of an adult was being held captive.More than 60 people from nine different units were able to rescue the person and arrested two suspects, according to APD.This is the 16th recovered human smuggling victim this year, police said.

State of Texas: Buoys, razor wire sparks fight on Texas border issues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:37 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The Department of Justice is preparing to sue Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for the state’s latest border security initiative under Texas’ Operation Lone Star, according to a DOJ letter obtained by Nexstar. Department of Justice warns of lawsuit over Texas border buoys along Rio Grande First reported by the Houston Chronicle, the DOJ sent Abbott a letter on Thursday warning that the buoy barrier the state deployed along the Rio Grande is unlawful. Texas announced the initiative in early June as a way to deter migrants from crossing the Mexican side of the river into Texas, near Eagle Pass.Abbott responded on Twitter Friday writing “Texas has the sovereign authority to defend our border, under the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution.”We have sent the Biden Administration numerous letters detailing our authority, including the one I hand-delivered to President Biden earlier this year.The tragic humanitarian crisis on the border was created because...

Twins first baseman Alex Kirilloff exhibits power surge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:37 GMT

The good, productive at-bats have been there since Alex Kirilloff joined the Twins in early May. Now, the Twins are seeing the power, too.Kirilloff entered Saturday night’s game against the White Sox with four home runs in his last six games, playing a major role in the Twins’ offensive resurgence post All-Star break.“I think for a lot of guys — and I think this is happening with AK — you hit first and you find the barrel first and you find the good at-bats and zero in on certain parts of the zone, swing at the right pitches, and then as you get more confident on certain pitches you know that you can get the barrel out there a little bit more on those pitches,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “You can turn on some of those balls a little bit more, but not at the expense of all those other good qualities, those positive things that they’re doing in the box right now.”Kirilloff himself said he can’t quite put a finger directly on why, exactly, the power barrage is happening, but he has a...

WNBA power Las Vegas outclasses Lynx again

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:37 GMT

The Minnesota Lynx do not face A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces again this season.Four losses to the league’s best team could cause a cynic to say that is a good thing; coach Cheryl Reeve wouldn’t go quite that far.“I like learning,” she said after the Lynx fell 98-81 Saturday afternoon at Target Center, the closest of the four matchups. Las Vegas won the games by an average of 23.3 points.“Playing against really good teams brings out the things that you’re trying to share with players. So, when they do it in a game, when they go, ‘Ah, that’s what the coach was talking about. ’”The latest lessons came against an Aces team that could be historically good. The defending league champion join the 1998 Houston Comets and 2010 Seattle Storm as the only teams in WNBA history to start the season 21-2.“They just have really good players, like one through seven can go off and score 20 any night,” said Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier. “They have the talent, they have the chemistry, they played ...

Cubs top Cardinals, 8-6, after lengthy rain delay

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:37 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Cody Bellinger drove in four runs and Nico Hoerner had three of Chicago's 15 hits, helping the Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-6 on Saturday in a wet and wild matchup of NL Central rivals.Chicago trailed 1-0, 3-1, 5-3 and 6-5 before moving in front for the first time with three runs in the sixth inning. Bellinger yanked a two-run single into right field and Seiya Suzuki followed with an RBI single, giving the Cubs an 8-6 lead.After the start was delayed for 25 minutes, it rained intermittently before another downpour stopped play. Two members of the grounds crew were nearly swallowed by the tarp as they pulled it over the diamond in the middle of the seventh, and the Wrigley Field crowd of 40,425 sang along to Creedence Clearwater Revival's “Have You Ever Seen The Rain?” during the 87-minute delay.Bellinger, a possible trade target ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline, continued his torrid hitting. The 2019 NL MVP is batting .382 (42 for 110) with 21 RBIs in his last 30 g...

Missing 13-year-old girl found safe in East Los Angeles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:37 GMT

A missing girl who disappeared in East Los Angeles was found safe Saturday afternoon.The critically missing teen was identified as Victoria Berenice Pacheco, 13, by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department."Thank you to the public, the media, Aero Bureau, and deputy personnel for their tireless efforts in the search for Ms. Pacheco," said LASD.At the time, Pacheco was last seen on Friday night in the 1300 block of South Downey Road around 11 p.m.She had no history of running away in the past and her family was very concerned for her well-being, officials said.A “critically missing person” is defined as:-A person in critical need of medical attention-The victim of a crime or foul play-A person who has no pattern of running away or disappearing-The victim of a kidnapping or parental abduction-A person who is mentally impaired to the extent that such person is unable to care for him or herself or is an immediate danger to his or her own safety or the safety of othersNo fur...

Photos: Supporters show up for Oakland ice cream vendor seen being robbed on video

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:37 GMT

OAKLAND — More than 200 people came out late Saturday morning to buy ice cream and popsicles and make donations to support an ice cream vendor who was seen on video being robbed at gunpoint earlier this week.Juan Alberto Diaz Carazas, 80, of Oakland, was pushing his ice cream cart in the 3900 block of E. 18th Street about 12:08 p.m Monday when a car stopped and two men got out, at least one armed with a gun. As seen on a video posted to social media, the men jostled him and took an unconfirmed amount of cash from him before fleeing in the vehicle.He was not injured.Ice cream vendor Juan Alberto Diaz Carazas, 80, sells his sweet and refreshing products during an ice cream buy out event at the Fruitvale Station Shopping Center parking lot in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, July 22, 2023. Diaz, a native of Peru, was robbed at gunpoint while selling/walking with his ice cream cart early this week. More than a couple hundred people came to buy ice cream and popsicles in addition to the gen...

Four people stabbed in ‘random’ attack in Maryland

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:37 GMT

(CNN) — A man stabbed four people Saturday morning in Montgomery County, Maryland, before a police officer fatally shot him.The four victims are expected to survive, according to local police. Authorities said they believed the stabbing incident was a “random” act.“We have total of four stabbing victims,” Darren Francke, assistant chief for the Montgomery County Police said in a Saturday news conference. “Three women, one male. Two of the women were stabbed in the neck.”Police first received a call about one of the stabbings at a thrift store in Aspen Hill at 10:36 a.m.“Officers responded and simultaneously received another call for a stabbing … in the 4100 block of Colie Drive – two women were stabbed there,” Francke said.Officers responding to the call about the two women also discovered an adult male with “superficial injuries,” according to a news release from the police department.Police set up a perimeter to search for the suspect. They were told the suspect “was heading into ...

3 dead in listeria outbreak in Washington state

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:37 GMT

Health officials in Washington state said Friday that three people had died and two had been hospitalized in the Puget Sound area after contracting foodborne listeria infections in what appeared to be an outbreak.Testing indicated that all five patients, three men and two women, became ill between Feb. 27 and June 30 and probably had the same source of infection, officials said, though an investigation had not identified a common food source.Each infected person was in their 60s or 70s and had a compromised immune system, officials said.Four of the cases were in Pierce County, and one was in Thurston County.The Washington State Department of Health said it was working with “local health jurisdictions to gather information from interviews with patients and their families to help identify any common exposures.”It was unclear where the cases originated. Officials said the bacteria are commonly found in unheated cheeses and deli meats, unpasteurized dairy products, and premade deli sala...