Month: February 2024

On Wednesday, Boeing announced that the head of the company’s 737 Max program is leaving the company.  The move comes in the wake of a January mishap that has cost the aircraft manufacturer billions of dollars in value. On January 5, a Boeing-manufactured Alaska Airlines plane door panel blew out midair over Portland, forcing an emergency landing.

In an email to employees Wednesday Boeing Executive Vice President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes Stanley A. Deal announced several leadership changes which included Ed Clark, the head of the company’s Boeing’s 737 Max program, being removed from his position.  Deal said: “Ed departs with my, and our, deepest gratitude for his many significant contributions over nearly 18 years of dedicated service to Boeing.” Deal said the changes are part of the company’s “enhanced focus on ensuring that every airplane we deliver meets or exceeds all quality and safety requirements …Our customers demand, and deserve, nothing less.”

The Alaska Airlines incident prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to temporarily ground off all Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes operating in the U.S. and subsequently increase oversight over Boeing aircraft production. Prior to that incident, two Max 8 passenger jets crashed as a result of problems with a flight stabilization feature on the aircraft, killing a total of 346 people. Boeing 737 Max airplanes were subsequently grounded worldwide from March 2019 to November 2020. Airlines worldwide have been operating Max 9s, the version of the 737 Max that succeeded the Max 8, without a major incident since it entered service in 2018. However, the FAA suspended all Boeing Max production expansion in the wake of the January incident.

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The Biden administration announced on Wednesday that it is canceling $1.2 billion in student debt for about 153,000 borrowers who took out relatively modest student loans and have been repaying it for the last decade or more, and who were eligible under the Saving on a Valuable Education Plan (SAVE).

The SAVE program provides relief for people who have been making payments for more than 10 years on loans of $12,000 or less. According to a fact sheet from the White House, a borrower can qualify for the forgiveness if they’re enrolled in the SAVE repayment plan and “have been making at least 10 years of payments, and have originally taken out $12,000 or less for college.” It also said that “for every $1,000 borrowed above $12,000, a borrower can receive forgiveness after an additional year of payments.”

Borrowers will receive an email from President Joe Biden informing them their debts have been forgiven, with a message saying, “I hope this relief gives you a little more breathing room. I’ve heard from countless people who have told me that relieving the burden of their student loan debt will allow them to support themselves and their families, buy their first home, start a small business, and move forward with life plans they’ve put on hold.”

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said: “With today’s announcement, we are once again sending a clear message to borrowers who had low balances: If you’ve been paying for a decade, you’ve done your part, you deserve relief … These are historic efforts that reflect the president’s commitment, again, to deliver as much relief as possible to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible. Bottom line is this: We’re providing real, immediate breathing room on an unacceptable reality where student loan payments compete with basic needs, like putting food on the table and accessing health care.”

The Education Department said that 7.5 million student loan borrowers have signed up for the SAVE plan and it will continue to process members as they meet the loan length and payment requirements. It added that borrowers eligible for forgiveness under the SAVE plan will automatically have their loans discharged without any action on their part moving forward.

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Two men have been charged with murder after one person was killed and multiple people were injured at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade. Two juveniles were previously detained near Union Station on gun-related and resisting arrest charges shortly after the incident took place, with authorities saying on Tuesday, February 20 that more charges are possible.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced on Tuesday that Lyndell Mays of Raytown, Mo., and Dominic Miller of Kansas City have been charged with second-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. Baker said that the shooting occurred after one of the suspects had an argument with another person, which led to the suspect pulling out a handgun and others — including the second man charged — escalating the situation. Miller is suspected to be the one who pulled the trigger on the gun that killed 43-year-old Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a married mother of two and Kansas City-area radio personality.

The shooting occurred shortly after the Kansas City Chiefs celebrated their Super Bowl victory with a parade and rally on Wednesday, February 14. As the parade came to an end, Kansas City Missouri Police Department confirmed that there was a shooting near the event. One woman, identified as Lopez-Galvan, was killed and more than 20 people ranging in age from age 8 to 47 years old were injured during the incident. Children’s Mercy Kansas City confirmed that nine children were treated for gunshot wounds, but have since all been released.

According to The New York Times, they have been hospitalized since the shooting and are each being held on a one million dollar bond.

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On Tuesday, former YouTube family vlogger Ruby Franke was sentenced to four, one-to-15 year terms in prison by an Utah district court in the child abuse case brought against her. Franke’s business partner Jodi Hildebrandt was also sentenced to four, one-to-15 year prison terms. Both women will serve their sentences consecutively.

Franke and Hildebrandt were arrested in August 2023 after police found one of Franke’s sons emaciated with open wounds and bound with duct tape, having escaped Hildebrandt’s home to a neighbor’s house, as well as one of Franke’s daughters was found in a similar malnourished condition in Hildebrandt’s home. After being charged with six counts of felony child abuse, Franke and Hildebrandt pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse in December. Franke previously agreed to testify against Hildebrandt in exchange for the county attorney’s neutrality in future hearings with the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole.

During the sentencing hearing, Franke teared up while apologizing to her kids, saying in part: “I … believed dark was light and right was wrong. I would do anything in this world for you. I took from you all that was soft, and safe and good.” The mother of six also addressed Judge John Walton and the courtroom: “For the past four years, I’ve chosen to follow counsel and guidance that has led me into a dark delusion. My distorted version of reality went largely unchecked as I would isolate from anyone who challenged me.” 

Hildebrandt also gave a brief statement to the court on Tuesday: “I desire for [the children] to heal physically and emotionally. One of the reasons I did not go to trial is because I did not want them to emotionally relive the experience which would have been detrimental to them. My hope and prayer is that they will heal and move forward to have beautiful lives.”

Franke, her husband, Kevin Franke, and their six children rose to prominence on YouTube, where they had amassed 2.3 million subscribers to their now-defunct channel 8 Passengers. Franke also frequently collaborated on controversial parenting and relationship advice videos with Hildebrandt.

According to Utah law, the maximum aggregate sentence for consecutive terms is 30 years. The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will determine how long Franke and Hildebrandt will spend incarcerated.

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A suspect was taken into custody Monday in connection with the deaths of two people in a dorm room at the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs. A post on X from the Colorado Springs Police Department read: “On Monday morning, February 19, 2024, members of the Colorado Springs Police Department took a suspect into custody in connection to our investigation into the homicides on Friday, February 16, 2024, on the campus of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS).”

Colorado Springs Police later announced the arrest of Nicholas Jordan in Colorado Springs on Monday morning. adding that the suspect and the victims knew each other. The Colorado Springs Police Department said in a statement that the killing was “an isolated incident between individuals who were known to one another and not a random attack against the school or other students.”  The two victims — a 24-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman — were identified Sunday as 26-year-old Celie Rain Montgomery of Pueblo, CO and 24-year-old Samuel Knopp of Parker, CO. Kopp was a registered student at UCCS, while Montgomery was not currently registered, police said.

Police said they obtained an arrest warrant on Jordan, 25, of Detroit on Friday on two counts of first-degree murder. He was spotted by police officers near the 4900 block of Cliff Point Circle East on Monday morning and was arrested in a traffic stop without incident, and taken to the El Paso County Jail. So far his arrest photo hasn’t been released.

University Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet said at a news conference: “We are in shock as we process this tragic loss of two lives. My heart is broken for the victims of today’s senseless violence.” The UCCS campus is located along Austin Bluffs Parkway in northeast Colorado Springs. It is one of four universities in the University of Colorado system.

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Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, is accusing the Kremlin of hiding his body to cover up killing him in an Arctic penal colony. Russia’s prison agency said that Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison Friday Feb. 16, 2024. Navalny, 47, was serving a combined 30 ½-year jail sentence when he died. He was recently transferred to the prison above the Arctic Circle, where conditions were harsh and his allies worried about his health and frequent isolation in the punishment cell.

Navalnaya’s comments came as Navalny’s team said his mother and lawyers were denied access to his body and told the probe into what killed him had been extended, with the body under “chemical examination” for another 14 days. Ahead of her meeting with European Union foreign ministers in Brussels, Navalnaya posted a nine-minute video posted to YouTube.  She vowed to continue her late husband’s fight against President Vladimir Putin, and called on Russians to rally around her. Navalnaya, 47, said in the video: “three days ago, Vladimir Putin killed my husband. We know exactly why Putin killed Alexei three days ago. We will tell you soon about it. We will also definitely find out who exactly and how exactly this crime was committed. We will name names and show faces.” Navalnaya added that authorities were waiting for traces of “yet another Putin’s Novichok” to leave his body, a reference to the military nerve agent used to poison him years ago. Navalnaya also vowed to continue her husband’s efforts: “The most important thing we can do for Alexei and for ourselves is to continue to fight. I will continue the life work of Alexei Navalny. I call on you to stand with me.”

The Kremlin has denied involvement in that poisoning and dismissed suggestions that Putin was behind his death. Russia’s prison authorities said Navalny died suddenly after collapsing following a walk in the remote “Polar Wolf” prison on Friday afternoon.  However, many international leaders blame Putin. and Navalny’s supporters have dismissed the official version of events.

Spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said on Monday that Navalny’s mother and his lawyers had been denied access to the nearby morgue, sharing on X: “They were not allowed to go in. One of the lawyers was literally pushed out. When the staff was asked if Alexey’s body was there, they did not answer. The cause of death is still ‘unknown’.  They lie, buy time for themselves and do not even hide it.”  Yarmysh added that “the investigators told the lawyers and Alexey’s mother that they would not give them the body. The body will be under some sort of “chemical examination” for another 14 days.”

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