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Movie Review: Oh, sister, what happened? ‘The Nun II’ is a face-plant horror splat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:42 GMT

“The Conjuring” Universe celebrates 10 years in business this fall with the dull “The Nun II,” a movie that seems destined to pound a nail into this franchise’s undead coffin.A new directing and writing team fails to shock or scare with a color-by-numbers plot and a meandering, languid wannabe frightfest. A few audience members fired up their phones halfway through a recent preview, a bad sign for anyone hoping for a gripping experience.A sequel to “The Nun” — the top-earning film in the franchise, with more than $366 million worldwide — was never going to be denied and the sequel hews carefully to the previous success. You could even say it’s haunted by its better precedent.This time it is 1956 — four years after the events of “The Nun” — and a demon is once again stalking Europe. It’s the same horrific Valak we met last time and suspected didn’t die, despite being splashed by the blood of Christ. “The demon lives,” we are told.Returning are Taissa Farmiga —...

‘Flood the city,’ ‘Freedom Convoy’ organizers’ trial delves into social media videos

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:42 GMT

OTTAWA — “Freedom Convoy” organizer Chris Barber called for people to “flood the city” in one of a mountain of social media videos put to the court as part of his criminal trial Thursday.Barber, who operated a trucking business in Swift Current, Sask., is co-accused with his fellow protest organizer Tamara Lich from Medicine Hat, Alta.The trial is in its third day of testimony in Ottawa.Lich and Barber face charges related to their role in organizing the protest against COVID-19 health restrictions last year that blockaded Ottawa city streets for weeks with big-rig trucks and encampments.They were both among thousands of protesters who recorded and streamed videos from the protest as it unfolded.In a video showed to the court, Barber told supporters he believed riot police were on their way to Ottawa. He said that if protest organizers’ “phones go dark,” people should use whatever means possible to come to the city and protest peacefully. &#...

Ontario’s long-term care inspections collapsed when COVID hit: Ombudsman

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:42 GMT

Ontario’s ombudsman is calling for an overhaul of the province’s long-term care inspection system after his investigation found it was “completely overwhelmed” during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.The damning report from Paul Dube released Thursday morning suggests there was a complete lack of inspections of long-term care homes for seven weeks when COVID-19 arrived. He says no inspection reports were issued over a two-month period.“The Ministry of Long-Term Care was unprepared and unable to ensure the safety of long-term care residents and staff during the pandemic’s first wave,” says Dube.NEW – Ontario’s Ombudsman Paul Dubé calls for an overhaul of Ontario’s long-term care inspection system, after his just released investigation found it was “completely overwhelmed” during the first wave of COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/AJPTN7DELV— Richard Southern (@RichardCityNews) September 7, 2023The report notes the inspections stopped because t...

Legal sports betting opens to fanfare in Kentucky; governor makes the first wager

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:42 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear plunked down a $20 bet Thursday on two home-state college football teams — and against an arch-nemesis school — in a quick transaction signaling that legal sports wagering is off and running in the Bluegrass State.The Democratic governor placed the first sports bet at historic Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, fulfilling a pledge that his administration would launch sports wagering in time for the NFL regular season.“This is entertainment,” Beshear said. “It’s what Kentuckians were looking for. It’s going to boost tourism. It’s going to make sure we don’t lose that many people to Vegas in the first couple rounds in the NCAA tournament.”With an eye toward public approval from voters in a state election year, the governor bet that the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville football teams will win more games this season than oddsmakers predict. A third part of the $20 parlay, all of which must happen for Be...

French President Macron: ‘There can’t, obviously, be a Russian flag at the Paris Games’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:42 GMT

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron said the Russian flag has no place at next year’s Paris Olympics because of the war crimes committed by Vladimir Putin’s regime in Ukraine.Russia has not been allowed to fly its flag at the Olympics since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. Since then, Russians have been competing at the Summer and Winter Olympics under various names because of doping issues.In an interview with L’Equipe newspaper published Thursday, Macron said he didn’t want them to fly their flag in Paris because of the war in Ukraine.“Russia, as a country, has no place at a time when it has committed war crimes and deported children,” Macron said.The interview was published a day after a Russian missile tore through an outdoor market in eastern Ukraine, killing 17 people and wounding dozens.The IOC has encouraged governing bodies of individual sports to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete as “neutral athletes” without national symbols or flag...

A man is back in prison despite a deal reducing his sentence. He’s fighting to restore the agreement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:42 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A lawyer for a man sent back to prison in South Carolina after a deal reducing his sentence was canceled said he plans to ask for the agreement to be restored. Attorney Todd Rutherford said Wednesday that he and his client Jeroid Price did nothing wrong to warrant the state Supreme Court’s emergency order in April that sent Price back to prison.“Jeroid Price is being treated as someone who did something wrong, when in fact he did nothing wrong,” Rutherford said at a news conference Wednesday after the full order explaining the court’s 3-2 decision was issued.The court ruled that Solicitor Byron Gipson and now retired Judge Casey Manning didn’t follow the law when they secretly cut 16 years off Price’s 35-year sentence. Among their mistakes was not holding a public hearing or publicly filing documents, the justices said.The court ordered Price back to prison in April, but he did not turn himself in and was taken into custody in New York City 11 weeks...

Wetlands permit dispute pauses construction on $2 billion Scout Motors electric SUV plant

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:42 GMT

BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. (AP) — Construction work has been temporarily stopped on a $2 billion new electric vehicle plant in South Carolina being built by a Volkswagen Group-backed group trying to revive a brand that was a forerunner to today’s SUVs.State and local officials said they need more time to obtain wetland permits to continue clearing land at the Blythewood site for Scout Motors. But they said the pause shouldn’t delay the planned opening of the plant in 2026 or the hiring of 4,000 workers.The delay also will give officials more time to collect public comment about the plant just off Interstate 77 north of Columbia and its environmental impacts, South Carolina Commerce Secretary Harry Lightsey and Richland County Economic Development Director Jeff Ruble said in a joint statement.“We value the people who call Blythewood home and want to make sure they stay informed about the project’s progress — especially as construction efforts will ebb and flow until completion,” they sai...

Police officer killed, another injured in Hartford after their cruiser is struck by a speeding car

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:42 GMT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A police officer was killed and another was seriously injured Wednesday night when their cruiser was struck by a car speeding through a red light while fleeing a traffic stop in Connecticut’s capital city, authorities said. The driver of the car was arrested.Officer Robert “Bobby” Garten, 34, an eight-year veteran of Hartford police whose father retired as a detective on the force, died from his injuries, police said. Officer Brian Kearney was seriously injured and was listed as stable at a local hospital. Other details of his condition were not disclosed.“This is a devastating loss for our community, for our department, and our whole city is grieving this morning,” Mayor Luke Bronin said at a news conference Thursday. “Bobby loved this city. … He served this city with courage and compassion and tremendous skill and dedication.”Police Chief Jason Thody said Garten was in the passenger’s seat and Kearney was driving the cruiser with its emerge...

2 businesses robbed within minutes of each other on North Side

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:42 GMT

CHICAGO -- Two businesses were robbed within minutes of each other in the city's Lincoln Square neighborhood Wednesday night.Chicago police have not established a connection between two robberies that occurred around the corner from each other on the North Side. Police responded to a robbery at The Green Post pub near the 4700 block of North Rockwell Avenue around 11:45 p.m. A 33-year-old man told officers he was closing the bar when an unidentified man entered and demanded money from the register. The employee complied and the offender took off on foot. A weapon was not recovered and there were no reported injuries. There is currently no one in custody. What is CPD’s response time? Experts can’t say with certainty Just minutes earlier, another robbery took place at a sushi restaurant, Kimberli Sushi, near the 2500 block of West Lawrence Avenue around 11:22 p.m. A woman relayed to officers that an offender entered the restaurant and demanded money from the register. She complied ...

Fan-favorite Oreo flavor set to return after 3-year hiatus

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:42 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — For the first time since 2020, Oreo is bringing back its most requested, limited-edition flavor: Red Velvet. Oreo had been teasing the flavor's return for the past week, sharing a video of Red Velvet Oreo Cheesecake on Instagram, a game of I Spy in an all-red room on Facebook, and only following accounts on X that have red profile photos."Since they were last seen on shelves in 2020, Oreo fans have been begging for the fan-favorite flavor to make its triumphant return," the company said in a Thursday press release.As it has in the past, Oreo is only offering its Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies for a limited time, starting on Sept. 12. The cookie has everything fans could want: a red coloring, red velvet-flavored base cake, and cream cheese-flavored creme. Red Velvet Oreos will return on Sept. 12, 2023. (Nabisco/Oreo)Red Velvet Oreos were first available in 2015, following a trend of other red velvet-flavored snacks. It was the first time Nabisco, the parent company of Oreo, ...