Latest news with #SeanKennedy
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Goals bonanza as US-bound Ciaran Moore signs off with Duleek
DULEEK 7 Duleek recorded a thumping win away to local rivals Kentstown Rovers on Thursday night in what was Ciaran Moore's last game for the club. The 21-year-old former Dundalk U19s player is heading to the US and has been a key man for the Tollstone side since he joined from Glebe North this season. This victory extends Duleek's unbeaten run to seven games, six of which were wins. They have a six-point lead at the top of the table, but Parkvilla, the side emerging as the biggest threat, have three games in hand. The visitors hit the front on two minutes when Sean Kennedy broke down the left and played through Jayden Clarke who fired low into the far corner. Kentstown hit back three minutes later, direct from a free kick, and after that the sides exchanged chances, with Kentstown going closest before Jayden Clarke played a ball in from the right which was turned home by the deftest of flicks from Josh O'Reilly - 2-1 to Duleek on 28 minutes. Then two Karl Dyas goals in first-half stoppage time gave the visitors a commanding lead. A long ball into the Rovers box was half cleared to Dyas who rolled in the first goal on 46 minutes. Then, from the restart, Duleek won back possession and Matthew Noone released Dyas who sent the keeper the wrong way. Both sides made changes early in the second half and Kentstown struck first. Having hit the post a minute earlier, the hosts scored from the edge of the box although amid calls for an offside. The game then got interesting on 64 minutes when Kentstown made it a one-goal game, forcing the ball home at the back post after a free kick wasn't properly dealt with by the visitors' defence. That nervousness, though, lasted only three minutes as Bobby Brady calmed Duleek with a brilliant fifth goal, taking out three Rovers defenders before powering a shot into the bottom corner. Breno Araujo, only on the pitch 60 seconds, then scored his first Premier Division goal for Duleek. ADVERTISEMENT O'Reilly, completing a hat-trick of assists, whipped in a cross from the right and Araujo just beat the Rovers keeper to the ball and regained possession to score into an empty net. Duleek then completed the scoring with three minutes to go. Sean O'Halloran cut back from the byeline and nutmegged the Kentstown full-back before shooting between the legs of the hapless Rovers keeper. Duleek: Jonathan Clear, Sean Kennedy (Robbie Daly 49), James Traynor, Craig Moore (Callum Cooney 62), Ben Boyce, Tom Reilly, Sean O'Halloran, Matthew Noone (Bobby Brady 49), Josh O'Reilly, Karl Dyas (Jamie McCarthy 61), Jayden Clarke (Breno Araujo 72).
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate version of Trump's tax bill passes with ‘No Tax on Tips' and business income deduction
You can find original article here Nrn. Subscribe to our free daily Nrn newsletter. The U.S. Senate narrowly passed its version of President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill on Tuesday, which includes such provisions as the elimination of tax on tips for many workers, and an item to make the 20% business income deduction permanent. With the 51-50 passage of the bill, the legislation now heads back to the U.S. House of Representatives to reconcile both versions before it can be signed into law by Trump. 'This bill includes the most important pro-growth tax policies restaurant operators need to continue to power the national economy,' Sean Kennedy, executive vice president of public affairs for the National Restaurant Association, said in a statement. 'The inclusion of permanent policies for 199A qualified business income deduction, full expensing of capital investments, and the return of depreciation and amortization in the calculation of business interest expense will give restaurant operators working capital to invest in their businesses and employees. We are also pleased to see the inclusion of policies like No Tax on Tips and Overtime that will benefit our workforce.' Here are some of highlights of and differences between both bills, which will affect restaurant operators and the rest of the business community. No tax on tips This much-buzzed-about line item would allow tipped workers to deduct tips from taxable income through the end of Trump's term as president. The Senate bill caps the deduction at $25,000 ($50,000 for married couples) for those making $150,000 or less a year, while the House bill does not cap the tap income deduction and phases out the benefit for people making over $160,000 a year. 'The temporary 'No Tax on Tips' provision will force restaurants using popular service-charge models to make costly changes to their businesses this year and again in 2028,' Erika Polmar, executive director of the Independent Restaurant Coalition, said in a statement. 'We urge Congress to amend the tax code so all gratuity-based income — tips and service charges — earns the same relief, giving businesses a single, stable set of rules.' No tax on overtime The Senate version of this provision allows workers to deduct overtime pay from their taxable income through the end of Trump's term, capped at $12,500 in deductions. This benefit decreases for those making more than $150,000 a year. The House version offers this benefit for those making less than $160,000 a year. Business income deduction The Senate version of provision 199A would make the business income tax deduction permanent and keep it at 20%, while the House version would expand it to 23%. Paid family and medical leave credit Both versions of the bill would make a paid family and medical leave credit permanent, allowing the credit for up to 12 weeks of leave annually. Employer-provided childcare credit Both versions of this bill would permanently increase the employer-provided childcare credit from 25% to 40% and add a separate amount for small businesses. The ultimate goal would be to encourage businesses to provide childcare benefits for employees. Expand business interest deduction In both the Senate and House version of the bill, the government would restore the EBITDA-based calculation of business interest deduction limits, which results in lower effective tax rates for many businesses. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
CBS News
13-05-2025
- CBS News
Massachusetts police chief accused of domestic assault and battery
Lincoln, Massachusetts Police Chief Sean Kennedy is out on paid administrative leave after he was taken into custody on Saturday accused of domestic assault and battery. "The Westwood Police Department advised us that they had placed our Chief of Police under arrest for an off-duty incident that had taken place at his residence," Lincoln Town Administrator Timothy Higgins read from a statement. Woman taken to hospital Investigators in Westwood said a woman came into their station with facial injuries, after she said Kennedy threw her against a wall in their home during an argument. The woman was taken to the hospital to be treated. According to the police report, she said it was not the first time she'd been assaulted. Higgins said the town takes any such allegations seriously. On Monday evening, Lincoln's select board voted to approve Lt. Jon Wentworth as acting police chief. "I have full confidence in his ability to tend to the needs of the people of the department through what is a tough period, and to make sure that the department is effectively run for the next several months while we wait for the outcome of the legal process," Higgins said. "A very tough weekend" Higgins said the town will be conducting its own internal review of the matter. "A very tough weekend for the entire police department especially the chief and his family," Wentworth said. "We're still ready to serve; just a challenging time for everybody, we appreciate the select board's support." Kennedy waived his appearance at his Dedham arraignment on Monday. His attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. Kennedy will be back in court June 26 and is ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Yahoo
Mass. police chief arrested for off-duty incident at home, officials say
A Massachusetts police chief has been placed on leave following his arrest on Saturday. According to Town Administrator Timothy Higgins, Lincoln Police Chief Sean Kennedy was arrested by Westwood Police for an off-duty incident at his home. Boston 25 News has reached out to Westwood authorities for details of his arrest. Kennedy was arraigned in Dedham District Court on Monday afternoon. "The Town takes any such allegations very seriously and, consistent with Town Policy, has placed the Chief on administrative leave," Higgins wrote in a statement. The town says it will be conducting its own internal review of the matter. The Select Board will vote to appoint an Acting Police Chief on Monday night. 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
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Yahoo
How a Mojave Desert footrace became a showcase for L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. turmoil
He was somewhere near Baker, well out into the Southern California desert, when the scrum of cherry lights appeared ahead. It was the sure sign of police cars — a seemingly improbable number for this lonely stretch of windswept road. But behind the wheel of his rented sedan, Sean Kennedy smiled. He'd found what he was looking for: the relay race. For Los Angeles law enforcement, the Baker to Vegas foot race is the premiere sporting event of the year — a sort of Super Bowl for the "thin blue line" crowd. Police departments and sheriff's stations spend months raising the thousands of dollars it takes to send each 20-runner team to the dusty start just north of Baker and on to the glittering finish by the Las Vegas Strip 120 miles later. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department usually sends a couple dozen teams, some of which are regulars on the winner's podium. And even for those deputies who don't limp away victorious, the grueling gathering is a morale booster, a time to bond and a chance to party outside the L.A. County limits. For Kennedy, it's an excuse to hunt for deputy gangs. The department has been haunted for years by allegations about violent, tattooed cliques, whose bad behavior has cost the county millions of dollars in legal settlements. After investigating the groups for nearly a decade as part of the county's Civilian Oversight Commission, Kennedy wanted to seek them out in person. But instead of deputies in skimpy running gear flashing the offending tattoos, a different problem plaguing the largest sheriff's department in the nation became apparent. Read more: Deputies accused of being in secret societies cost L.A. County taxpayers $55 million, records show A few weeks before the race, a Lancaster deputy had been convicted in federal court of violating a Black woman's civil rights during a 2023 use-of-force incident in a WinCo Foods parking lot. Deputy Trevor Kirk's supporters urged the department's runners to boycott the race as a show of solidarity with a man they said had been wrongfully prosecuted. Among them was former Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who has been critical of the department he once ran since he was unseated in the 2022 election by current Sheriff Robert Luna. The discord spread online, as social media gadflies claimed Luna had thrown his own deputy under the bus by notifying federal law enforcement officials about the incident — an allegation Luna has repeatedly said is false. Still, by late March, more than 20 sheriff's stations had dropped out, and Kirk's supporters announced a fundraising 5K to be held in Castaic, one day after the big race to Vegas. Kennedy planned to go to both. But by the time he was speeding along Interstate 15 on April 5, it wasn't clear whether he would find what he was looking for at either one. *** The root of the controversy traces back to a Lancaster grocery store parking lot in June 2023, when two sheriff's deputies responded to a call about a robbery in progress. After arriving at the scene on West Avenue K4, the deputies spotted a man and a woman — later identified in court filings as Jacy Houseton and Damon Barnes — who matched the descriptions store security had given to 911. One of the deputies approached Barnes, who was holding a cake federal prosecutors later said he'd bought inside the store. As the deputy began handcuffing Barnes, Houseton started recording with her phone. Video — from both a bystander and the deputies' body cameras — shows Kirk rushed toward her and reached for her arm, seemingly in an attempt to take the phone. 'You can't touch me,' she screamed. The two struggled, and a few seconds later the deputy threw Houseton on the ground. 'Stop or you're gonna get punched in the face,' Kirk shouted. Houseton threatened to sue, telling him she'd caught him on camera. They continued to tussle, while Houseton shrieked. The deputy pepper-sprayed her in the face, and eventually handcuffed her. She was taken to the hospital, then released and cited for allegedly assaulting an officer and store loss prevention personnel. Within days, the bystander's cellphone video began circulating online, sparking an outcry on social media. As activists organized a protest demanding the deputy be fired, the Sheriff's Department released the body camera footage. Two days later, Luna held a news conference, calling the incident 'disturbing' and announcing that both deputies involved had been removed from field duty. A few days later, Kirk's attorney, Tom Yu, waded into the fray, releasing video from inside the store that he said showed Houseton shoving and spitting on a security guard, actions Yu said justified the deputy's use of force against a combative robbery suspect. The following month, Houseton and Barnes sued the county, alleging civil rights violations. They said they never stole anything that day, and that surveillance footage showed them paying for their purchases. The case faded from the news. *** When two Los Angeles police officers set up the first Baker to Vegas relay in the mid-1980s, it was a small contest of fewer than two dozen teams. Organized by the Los Angeles Police Revolver and Athletic Club, the race grew in size and reputation over the next four decades. These days, it attracts several hundred teams of cops, deputies and prosecutors from across the world, all vying for bragging rights in a 12-plus-hour contest in which victory can come down to a matter of seconds. 'There's a lot of lore regarding the whole race,' Kennedy said, 'and it's kind of legendary in the Sheriff's Department.' Some of the lore is impressive: One year, Sheriff Lee Baca — then 59 — pushed himself so hard on a 6.4-mile leg of the race that he had to be hospitalized for dehydration. Some of the lore is a little seedier: In the early 2010's, three of the department's top brass got demoted over a cheating scandal when the Transit Services Bureau team swapped out one team member for a ringer. Kennedy has long suspected the race may also be one of the largest annual gatherings of deputies linked to the department's notorious tattooed subgroups. The first time Kennedy heard of the department's so-called deputy gangs was in the 1990s, when he was working as a federal public defender. But it wasn't until after he accepted an appointment to the county's Civilian Oversight Commission in 2016 that he began digging into the subgroups in earnest. Though some sheriffs have denied their existence, Luna has acknowledged and vowed to eradicate them. But by the time the famed relay took off through the desert this spring, it was the Kirk case that was solidly in the spotlight. *** In September, the Santa Clarita father of two was indicted by a federal grand jury for depriving Houseton of her rights by using excessive force. 'I still believe the use of force [was] reasonable,' Yu, Kirk's lawyer, said at the time . 'I look forward to defending him in this criminal case.' The case started gaining steam on social media. A Kirk supporter launched a GoFundMe in mid-September; it has raised more than $49,000. The Resiliency Project — a nonprofit focused on supporting first responders' mental health — took up the cause, regularly decrying the prosecution in social media posts, often amplified by Villanueva. Read more: Sheriff's deputy facing federal charge over violent incident outside Lancaster WinCo On Jan. 27, Nick Wilson, the group's founder, wrote to President Trump, urging him to intervene before trial. Wilson said left-wing activists wanted to make an example of Kirk, and he accused Luna of betraying his own deputy by sending his underlings to the FBI with a request the agency investigate Kirk. 'This case is about more than just one deputy, it's about the survival of law and order in America,' Wilson wrote, according to screenshots of the letter Villanueva posted on Instagram. 'If the radical left can destroy the career of a peace officer for simply doing his job, no officer is safe.' The trial started on Feb. 4 and lasted just three days, but it attracted a coterie of spectators. Wilson and Villanueva both attended, later posting a joint social media video of themselves consoling the distraught deputy after he was found guilty. Even after the jury's verdict, Kirk's supporters continued to fault Luna, and the controversy took a political turn as a growing number of conservative accounts chimed in. 'Why would @LACoSheriff throw his own deputy under the bus when he followed department policy?' Villanueva wrote on X. 'Answer: a failure of leadership.' (Villanueva did not respond to an emailed request for comment.) Soon, calls for a Baker to Vegas boycott 'on behalf of Deputy Trevor Kirk' began circulating online. In mid-February, the race organizers acknowledged in a Facebook post that two teams had dropped out 'as a form of protest against their department's upper management' but stressed that the event was supposed to be about camaraderie. As discord spread through the department, Luna weighed in. 'No one in our Department referred this case to the U.S. Attorney's Office,' he wrote Feb. 17 in a department-wide email. 'Our understanding is there was a complaint filed from an outside entity which prompted the FBI to investigate.' The Resiliency Project responded on social media, alleging Luna 'lied' in his email and in fact one of his captains had been ordered to turn the case over to the FBI. On Feb. 18, Kirk's supporters planned a rally in front of the Hall of Justice, demanding Luna's resignation. Fewer than a dozen people attended. But afterward, the social media posts continued. In early March, sheriff's officials again sent out an agency-wide email, this time imploring deputies to stop bullying each other over the race and noting that the department is 'legally required' to investigate claims of misconduct. 'The Department has received several reports from personnel who have stated they have been targeted with actions of harassment, threats of retaliation, and bullying related to an upcoming running competition that is meant to foster comradery, health, and sportsmanship,' the message said, according to a copy obtained by The Times. 'These accusations are both outrageous and deeply saddening, as such behavior runs counter to the values we stand for as a premier law enforcement agency.' Read more: Alex Villanueva, the county's new top cop, has been quietly fighting for a political win for decades By early April, the Los Angeles Sheriffs' Professional Assn. — an organization co-founded by Villanueva in the late 1990s when it splintered off from the existing union — issued a news release with a lengthy list of teams that had joined the boycott. The organization instead touted the 5K for Kirk, an alternative race intended to raise funds for the deputy and his family. On April 4, the day before the Vegas race, Kirk's supporters gathered outside LASPA's Monterey Park office for a news conference. Villanueva and Wilson — an LASPA spokesman — milled around in the crowd of burly deputies. Just after 10 a.m., the association's president, Cesar Romero, stepped up to the mic. 'Tomorrow is the start of the Baker to Vegas challenge, a tradition that's united law enforcement for decades,' he said. 'But this year there's over 20 sheriff stations, including our own training bureau, that are boycotting this event. 'The Baker to Vegas boycott is significant," he said, "because it is our way of saying enough is enough.' *** The race was already underway by the time Kennedy pulled into the makeshift parking lot near Baker a little after noon on April 5. The starting gun for the first heat had gone off more than four hours earlier, and new heats were heading out every hour on the hour. Noticeably out of place with his full head of gray hair, rectangular glasses and professorial demeanor, Kennedy wandered among the crowd of cops and deputies, eyes peeled for suspicious ink. All but five of the Sheriff's Department teams had dropped out. But the women's elite team — which was running in honor of a member who had died by suicide two years ago — was still slated to start at 1 p.m. With the sun high in the sky, runners clustered near the start line, bouncing, stretching and jogging in place. At the appointed hour, Luna fired the starting gun. After watching the throng of runners disappear into the desert, he retreated to the shade of a nearby registration tent for interviews. Even before the altercation in the WinCo parking lot garnered national attention, Luna told The Times, he'd already been paying close attention to the Antelope Valley. In 2015, the county had entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice amid allegations that deputies at the Lancaster and Palmdale stations had routinely harassed minority residents. The court-ordered agreement included promises to address specific problems and to submit to oversight by an independent monitor. Read more: Supervisors approve settlement over Antelope Valley racial profiling But in the spring of 2023, Luna said, Justice Department attorneys told Sheriff's Department officials they weren't making enough progress. They threatened to take the department back to court and even 'used the word 'receivership,'' Luna said. After he saw video of the WinCo incident gaining steam online, his department notified the court-appointed monitors. Sheriff's officials also told the Office of Inspector General, the Board of Supervisors and the Civilian Oversight Commission, Luna said — but not the FBI or the U.S. Department of Justice. Eventually, he said, the FBI ordered the Sheriff's Department to stop investigating the case and turn it over to federal authorities. 'Go look at the court transcripts,' Luna told The Times. 'That'll tell you how they got the case.' The transcripts show that, on the first day of Kirk's trial in early February, Asst. U.S. Atty. Eli Alcaraz asked FBI Special Agent Victoria Brown how her team had learned of the video. 'It went viral in the media,' she said. Alcaraz followed up: 'Is that sometimes how your group gets cases?' 'Yes,' Brown said. The FBI and Justice Department both declined The Times' request for comment. *** Just before 2 p.m., Kennedy headed back to the car. He hadn't seen any deputy gang ink or incriminating logos — but the trip wasn't a total waste. Despite the tension around the Kirk case and the boycott, Kennedy found the event was still more unifying and celebratory than he'd expected. 'But,' he said, 'I don't know if that's because so many of the stations aren't here.' He hoped to find that out the next day, at the race in Castaic. But when he pulled into the Castaic Lake Recreation Area parking lot a little before 9:30 a.m. the next morning, not a single person had shown up for the race. Picnic tables beside a dusty trail were empty, and the race appeared to have been canceled. There were no updates posted online, and LASPA officials said they didn't know what happened, as the event had been organized by an outside entity. Organizers did not respond to a request for comment. *** More than a month later, the Kirk saga isn't over. The lawsuit Houseton and Barnes filed has reached a settlement, but the agreement is awaiting approval from the county's claims board and the Board of Supervisors. And despite the initial guilty verdict, the outcome of the criminal case is now up in the air. After Trump tapped Bill Essayli as U.S. attorney for the Los Angeles area in April, he agreed to review the case before sentencing. Read more: Trump ally and rising California GOP star Essayli is named top federal prosecutor in L.A. On May 1, the Justice Department and defense team filed an unorthodox post-conviction plea deal. If the court approves the proposed agreement, Kirk would plead guilty to a misdemeanor in place of the felony a jury voted to convict him of three months ago. And while he could have faced up to 10 years in prison, under the new agreement federal prosecutors are recommending one year of probation. His attorney, Yu, did not respond to a request for comment, but Wilson framed it as an encouraging development. 'While this case should never have been prosecuted in the first place, we are deeply grateful the Department of Justice took a second, impartial look at the facts and merits,' he told The Times in an email. To attorney Caree Harper, who is handling the couple's lawsuit, the new agreement — which describes Houseton as 'swatting' the deputy's arm — appears to be 'changing the facts' and is not supported by video evidence. If it is approved, she said, she expects activist groups will push for state or county prosecutors to take up the case. As of now, Kirk is slated for sentencing on May 19. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
