Latest news with #Donohue
CBS News
5 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Federal court strikes down California ammo background checks, sparking gun safety debate
Gun control efforts in California took a big hit on Thursday as the 9th Circuit Court struck down a state law requiring background checks to buy ammunition. While some say this is a step back for gun safety, others believe this is part of common-sense gun laws. The 2015 mass shooting at a San Bernardino County office killed 16 people, including both shooters who carried out the attack. The next year, California voters supported Proposition 63, which required background checks for those buying ammunition. "To me, it's peculiar," said John Donohue, a Stanford Law Professor. "It really is a peculiar feature that these two federal judges are striking down the will of the people as well as the will of the California legislature." Professor Donohue feels the law made sense since roughly 400,000 guns were stolen last year. "Guns are stolen all the time because gun owners leave them in unlocked cars very often," he said. "So, if you can at least pose a restraint when the bad guy goes to get the ammunition, you're screening out people who the law says should not be having access to firearms." Gun owner Bradley Stolfi from Cloverdale disagrees. He says he supports common-sense gun laws. He shared his thoughts with us when background checks on ammunition were first signed into law. "I think every firearm should require a background check, and it should be thorough," Stolfi said. Stolfi equates a background check for a firearm to getting a driver's license. He says once people pass that process, drivers are no longer required to get background checks every time they fuel up. He does, though, advocate for stricter training to become a gun owner since guns and ammunition have evolved since the 2nd Amendment was drafted more than 230 years ago. "I don't see any need for any magazine to be able to hold more than 10," he said. "That's going to get me in a lot of trouble with guys I know, but that's what I think." While the 9th Circuit Court's decision will most likely be appealed, Professor Donohue wonders about the broader impact the decision will have on gun ownership. He says this might give gun lobbyists ammunition to attack background checks for firearm purchases. "Certainly, there has been an effort that has gotten support from the US Supreme Court to be very, very aggressive in implementing the Second Amendment in these types of challenges," said Professor Donohue. "Many things that I thought would not have been struck down have in fact been struck down."
Perth Now
6 days ago
- Business
- Perth Now
Aboriginal women's service tackling financial abuse
A longstanding inner-city support hub for Aboriginal women will get a big cash injection to protect them from financial abuse. The Mudgin-gal centre in Sydney's Redfern has operated for more than three decades, providing a safe space with programs and facilities for women, mothers and families experiencing domestic violence or homelessness. Sometimes the centre simply serves as a place to drop in for a yarn, and its chief executive Ashlee Donohue says provides a sanctuary for women no matter who they are or what they have experienced. Mudgin-gal's important work is expanding with a grant of up to $200,000 and mentoring from the Commonwealth Bank to tackle financial abuse in the community. The support will allow for culturally safe programs like their trauma-informed sacred circle initiative, which focuses on healing while building financial literacy so women can gain an understanding and independence around money. "This is a big deal for us," Ms Donohue told AAP. "The fact that there's mentoring with it, we're not just guessing, we're getting proper information from the bank, and that's remarkable." The grant is part of the bank's Next Chapter Innovation program, which invests in First Nations-led initiatives to provide culturally informed, practical responses to financial abuse. Other program grant recipients include the Queensland-based Mookai Rosie-Bi-Bayan, which provides healthcare and accommodation to women and children in Cape York, the Northern Peninsula Area and Torres Strait. The Next Chapter Innovation program was established to help "break the cycle" of financial abuse, Commonwealth Bank's Indigenous business products executive manager Mitchell Heritage said. "We are proud to back community-led organisations that are delivering real change on the ground," he said. Financial abuse can look different in Indigenous communities with family pressure and exploitation of cultural obligations sometimes used to control finances, Ms Donohue said. Many women who are in a financially abusive situation may not be able to recognise it as such she said, which is why it is important to build financial literacy. "There's a need for our women to understand finances better," Ms Donohue said. "In reality we've always been behind the eight ball with money in this country - our ancestors worked for no wages - so this skilling up and sharing knowledge in this space hasn't really been done before and that in itself is innovation." 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Men's Referral Service 1300 766 491
Irish Independent
22-06-2025
- General
- Irish Independent
Elderly residents in Wexford waiting over a year for ‘collapsed' doors to be replaced
At the June meeting of the New Ross Municipal District (NRMD) Councillor Pat Barden said he had spoken to a number of applicants who might not 'even be around' by the time their works were done. 'What is the wait time now from the point of application until the works are carried out?' he asked housing officer Martina Donohue. 'I don't have a definite time scale but priority tends to be given to those with mobility issues, to try and keep them living in their own home,' replied Ms Donohue. 'So with windows and doors other applications are given priority ahead of them.' 'It used to be 2-3 months but now it's gone to 12-14 months,' continued Cllr Barden. 'It's a long time to wait, people might not even be around after that time.' 'I wouldn't think it takes that long,' said Ms Donohue, 'but I'll have a word with our grants team and see if I can get an estimate of how long windows and doors are taking.' Cllr John Dwyer had also been in touch with residents awaiting repairs to their windows and doors and said some 'flexibility' was required when dealing with these cases. 'I'm aware of one instance in an estate where a front door has collapsed, I'm not being dramatic, these are actual cases,' he said. 'I'm getting an answer back from our housing staff that we have scheduled a replacement but we have no funding for it and don't know how long it will take. There are emergency cases we have to deal with, I would like to see action taken on these, some flexibility applied.' Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
Vancouver Sun
18-06-2025
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Airbnb hosts in B.C. say booking platform jumping the gun with cancellations
Victoria resident Dianne Donohue was checking her messages last week when she got a note from one of her Airbnb guests telling her that the online platform had reached out to guests recommending they cancel their stay. The reason was that Donohue was not in compliance with the province's new registration system and the platform would be forced to cancel her listing if she did not have a valid registration number issued by June 23. In a panic, the host said she called both Airbnb and Vrbo. She later realized that she had filled out the provincial registration form improperly. She had said her property was not her principal residence and that it was available for 30-day rentals instead of for daily bookings. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. While she rents out her laneway house for a 30-day minimum, two rooms in her house are rented out as daily short-term rentals. After Donohue sent what she estimates were 15 emails to the government, an official got back to her and walked her through how to redo the application. 'By the next morning, she had taken care of it, passed it on to who needed to approve it. It was done literally within hours,' Donohue told Postmedia on Monday. Not everyone has been so lucky. Airbnb estimates it has started cancelling thousands of bookings in the lead-up to the official deadline of June 23 for hosts to register their listings with the provincial government. The registry is meant to ensure all listings and hosts are in compliance with provincial laws that restrict short-term rentals in most communities to people's primary residences and an additional units on the same property. However, the rollout of the new registry has been anything but smooth, according to Airbnb. Alex Howell, Airbnb's Canadian policy lead, said the problem is that listings in full compliance with provincial laws are being rejected by the registration system for simple discrepancies such as formatting errors in addresses. Howell said there is no flexibility within the province's laws governing short-term rentals and the government only allowed a month for Airbnb and other platforms to test the registry system before the June 23 deadline. 'The reality is a system like this is incredibly complicated. It requires two separate databases to talk to each other. Something like that typically requires three to six months of pretty intense testing in a live environment,' said Howell. 'We have been telling them for months to slow down, and they have just failed to listen. And so we are now in the situation where we're playing whack-a-mole, trying to address these issues as they crop up.' Airbnb said that while they have helped thousands of hosts experiencing technical issues, between 600 to 800 are still experiencing difficulties. One host, Jonathan Rossouw, told Postmedia his application with the City of Victoria was denied because he had a car that was still registered at his old home with his ex-wife. He said they separated several years ago and no longer live together but that was enough to get his registration rejected. He said he simply wants to be able to rent out his condo, which is his primary residence, when he is out of town for work. 'It took about two months for them to get back to me, or even more, three months almost,' said Rossouw. 'They said it might take one to two months, possibly three months for the appeal. I was like, OK, well, then it's the end of the year, and then you got to re-register.' City of Victoria spokesperson Colleen Mycroft said the city couldn't comment on Rossouw's specific case but that it had approved roughly 80 per cent of registrations. While Airbnb is pointing the finger at the province for the difficulties, Donohue blames Airbnb, stating that it should have contacted her, instead of her would-be guest, about potential cancellations. She also said that while the provincial government was helpful in addressing her concerns, Airbnb has just been going around pulling properties off the site. 'It's Airbnb that is going to come into compliance with what the government wants,' said Donohue. 'I think the government program has its inefficiencies, but Airbnb is being really aggressive, removing people's listings ahead of time, because the province has given people until June 23 to actually have everything registered, whereas Airbnb is starting to rip people's listings now.' Salmon Arm resident Jen Chang also blamed Airbnb, saying she had registered as soon as she could in February and received a tentative number from the province pending an official review. Despite this, she said she has been getting emails every week from Airbnb telling her that her house number didn't match the address on her registration and that the listing would be taken down without fixing it. She said she made the required changed but her property was removed anyways. As of Tuesday afternoon, it was back with no explanation. She said the platform tried to tell her she had taken it down herself. 'Airbnb, it's like a game for them, they're not working with us. They're just saying you need to complain. It's like they want to cause a kerfuffle,' said Chang. 'It's like every week I get an email from Airbnb telling me I need to complain to my MLAs. I need to rectify this issue, I'm just kind of done with it.' Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon told Postmedia that the province has created a system that allows for registrations to be fixed on the back end if there are any discrepancies such as mis-formatted addresses. He said Airbnb is instead using its hosts as 'a tool' in its efforts to get the province to back down on its short-term restrictions. 'Clearly Airbnb is looking using opportunities to put their hosts under stress because they have a greater motive, which is to get rid of the reforms that we've brought around short-term rentals,' the housing minister said in an interview. 'I'm not surprised, they are hiring very highly paid lobbyists to go out and try to make the case for why these rules can't be in place.'
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Yahoo
Charlestown murder victim found wrapped in carpet on houseboat had 67 stab wounds, prosecutor says
Police found the body of murder victim Joseph Donohue wrapped in a carpet at the stern on his houseboat in the Charlestown Marina on Feb. 2, when they went to check on him at the request of his family. His body was secured with duct tape, and dumbbells were affixed to his body with a jump rope, Assistant District Attorney Rita Muse said Friday in detailing the officers' gruesome discovery. The 65-year-old Donohue had suffered 67 stab wounds of varying depth and severity, an autopsy later found. A small triangular piece of a knife had been found lodged in his forehead, Muse said. Officers also found Donohue's dog, Champ, dead in the water at the bow of the boat. A necropsy later determined that Champ had died by asphyxiation, most likely strangulation, Muse said. Accused killer Nora Nelson wore handcuffs during her arraignment as Muse shared the gory details. Next to Nelson stood her court-appointed defense attorney, Ian Davis. Nelson, 24, of Boston, was held without bail without prejudice following her arraignment in Suffolk Superior Court. She pleaded not guilty to the charges of murder, malicious killing or injury of a domestic animal, and cruelty to animals in the May 28 indictments. The indictment alleges that Nelson assaulted and beat Donohue with intent to murder him on or about Feb. 1. A motive was unclear Friday related to the killings of Donohue and his dog. Prosecutors on Friday did not provide any details about the extent to which Donohue knew Nelson, if at all, in the days leading up to his murder. In a statement released Thursday, Donohue's family thanked law enforcement officials for their work on the homicide case. 'Our family is thankful to all of the law enforcement officials who have led the investigation into Joe's death,' the family said. 'We remain heartbroken by the devastating loss of our beloved Joe, and continue to appreciate the love and support we have received since his passing.' Donohue was last seen alive on surveillance video at the Charlestown Marina on Jan. 31, Muse said. After that day, Nelson is the only person seen entering Donohue's boat, or coming and going from the boat. When Donohue's family had not heard from him in several days, they asked police to go to his houseboat for a wellbeing check. On Feb. 2, Boston Police officers responded to the Charlestown Marina at 1 Shipyard Place, Muse said. Officers went to Donohue's houseboat, where they found Nelson, who answered the door, Muse said. Donohue's Golden Retriever also approached, and police asked her to secure the animal and come back and speak with the officers. Officers noticed blood soaked through a bedsheet being used as a curtain at the entrance of Donohue's houseboat. When Nelson closed the door, officers saw through a slit in a curtain that Nelson was not securing the dog, but running around cleaning up or picking up different items, Muse said. When she returned, officers asked Nelson about where Donohue was and his whereabouts. 'She provided inconsistent, contradictory and frankly, nonsensical answers,' Muse said in court. 'She also provided a fake name of Casey.' Officers then entered the houseboat for a protective sweep and found Donohue's body, wrapped in carpet, at the stern of the boat and beyond the sliding glass doors to his bedroom. Officers noticed a 'significant amount of reddish brown stains' throughout the houseboat. Numerous cleaning supplies were scattered throughout the living room, Muse said. Nelson was taken to Boston Police headquarters, where police interviewed her. 'During her interview she again provided nonsensical and contradictory answers, about Donohue's whereabouts and what they had been doing earlier in the day, and when she had last seen him,' Muse said. 'She also provided a second fake name, Mary.' Later, in the water outside the kitchen window of the houseboat, a dive team found the remaining portion of the knife that had been found lodged in Donohue's forehead, Muse said. During the autopsy, two fake pink fingernails were found on Donohue's body. Nelson later identified the fingernails as her own, Muse said. She is due back for a court hearing via Zoom on July 15. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
