Seattle

City to raise minimum wage to $15 over period of years

The Seattle City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Monday that gradually increases the minimum wage in the city to $15, which would make it the highest in the nation.

The measure, which will take effect on April 1, 2015, includes a phase-in of the wage increase over several years, with a slower process for small businesses. The plan gives businesses with more than 500 employees nationally at least three years to phase in the increase. Those providing health insurance will have four years to complete the move. Smaller organizations will be given seven years.

WAUKESHA, Wis.

Two girls, 12, stabbed friend to please creature, police say

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Prosecutors say two 12-year-old southeastern Wisconsin girls stabbed their 12-year-old friend nearly to death in the woods to please a mythological creature they learned about online.

Both girls were charged as adults with first-degree attempted homicide Monday in Waukesha County Circuit Court; they each face up to 60 years in prison if convicted. A court commissioner set bail at $500,000 cash per child. According to a criminal complaint, the girls had been planning to kill their friend for months and finally made the attempt in a park on Saturday morning, after a slumber party.

One of the girls told a detective they were trying to become “proxies” of Slender Man, a mythological demon-like character they learned about on creepypasta.wikia.com, a website about horror stories and legends. They planned to run away to the demon’s forest mansion after the slaying.

ATLANTA

Family demanding probe after flash grenade hurts tot

A Georgia family is demanding that federal authorities investigate the case of a toddler severely injured by a flash grenade during a drug raid.

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Bounkham Phonesavanh – a 19-month-old nicknamed “Bou Bou” – remained in a medically induced coma on Tuesday. Habersham County District Attorney Brian Rickman said his office is investigating to determine whether any officers will face criminal charges.

Police have said officers were searching for a potentially armed drug suspect at the home and did not know children were inside when they rammed the door and dropped a flash grenade inside the door.

moscow

Ukraine gets extra week to prepay Russia for gas

Russia gave Ukraine an extra week to pay in advance for this month’s gas supplies or risk a cutoff, at the start of a week of international talks on the crisis in the former Soviet republic.

The move to a prepayment regime, originally set for Tuesday, was moved back to June 9, Alexey Miller, the chief executive officer of Russian gas export monopoly OAO Gazprom, said in an email Monday.

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toronto

Couple collects $50 million after lost lottery ticket found

A Canadian couple endured a roller-coaster ride of emotions when a lottery ticket worth $50 million went missing only to be found and returned by someone at their church.

Hakeem Nosiru won the Jan. 17 Lotto Max draw and was one day away from claiming the money when the signed ticket, which he taped to the inside his wife’s purse for safekeeping, was missing after church.

That sparked a frantic search.

But a member of the congregation discovered the ticket and reunited it with them April 1.

Nosiru his wife, Abiola, collected their prize Monday.

—From news service reports


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