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High-speed rail line linking Las Vegas and Los Angeles area gets $3B Biden administration pledge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:39:22 GMT

By KEN RITTER (Associated Press)LAS VEGAS (AP) — A planned high-speed rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area got a Biden administration pledge on Tuesday of $3 billion to help start laying track, Nevada elected officials said.The $12 billion project led by Brightline West has been talked about for decades, and U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen told reporters that it now has all required right-of-way and environmental approvals, along with labor agreements, for work to start on some 218 miles (351 kilometers) along the Interstate 15 corridor.No date was announced for work to start. But Rosen said electric-powered trains could be carrying passengers by the time Los Angeles hosts the Summer Olympics in 2028.“We’re ready to get to work,” Wes Edens, founder and chairman of Florida-based Brightline, said in a statement ahead of a Friday event in Las Vegas that may coincide with a visit by President Joe Biden.Rosen and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, both Democr...

With George Santos out of Congress, special election to fill his seat is set for February

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:39:22 GMT

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE (Associated Press)ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A special election to pick a successor to George Santos, the New York Republican who was expelled from the U.S. House last week, will be held on Feb. 13, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday.The race for a seat representing some Long Island suburbs and a small part of the New York City borough of Queens is expected to be a high-profile contest that will mark the start of a year of consequential congressional elections in the state. Both Republicans and Democrats are zeroing in on New York as a key battleground in the fight to control the House.For Democrats, the election will be a test of the party’s ability to flip districts around New York City that are seen as vital to their plans to retake control. Republicans are entering the contest with heavy momentum in the city’s suburbs and will fight to hold onto the district as they look to maintain their narrow House majority.Candidates in the special election w...

Healey sees ‘better path forward’ in Massachusetts economic development plan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:39:22 GMT

Addressing housing and transportation challenges, investing in infrastructure, consistent branding, attracting talent, and doubling down on climate technology innovation are all featured priorities in a long-term economic development plan filed by the Healey administration.Gov. Maura Healey’s plan takes aim at Massachusetts’ “unique opportunity to demonstrate to the rest of our country a better path forward,” according to a copy of the plan filed with the Senate.Massachusetts has faced a “complex economic landscape” defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, global conflicts, high inflation, and the threat of climate change, Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll wrote in a letter to the House and Senate clerks.“In the face of these bold macroeconomic forces, Massachusetts stands poised to adapt, innovate, and lead future generations,” the letter said.State law requires each governor to draft and sign an economic development plan in the first year of their administration that sets “lon...

Ticker: Budget rider shifts increased hydro costs to ratepayers; Job openings fall as economy cools

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:39:22 GMT

A budget signed by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey this week will allow utilities to raise rates to make up for hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs to complete a transmission line to bring Canadian hydropower to the New England electricity grid.The head of Central Maine Power Co.’s corporate parent Avangrid has said the cost of the $1 billion project grew to $1.5 billion as litigation delayed construction and inflation caused prices to creep upward.Legislation included the supplemental budget adopted Monday allows transmission service agreements to be renegotiated and additional costs to be passed along to Massachusetts ratepayers to cover the added costs.Avangrid provided the increased costs to Massachusetts’ electricity distribution companies to adjust the rate in the parties’ transmission services agreements, subject to Department of Public Utilities review and approval, Avangrid spokesperson Leo Rosales said in a statement Tuesday.Avangrid partn...

DeSantis wants to cut 1,000 jobs, but asks for $1 million to sue over Florida State’s football snub

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:39:22 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis recommended Florida eliminate more than 1,000 state jobs in a spending proposal released Tuesday that cuts the current budget by more $4.6 billion while maintaining popular sales tax holidays.DeSantis is calling for a $114.4 billion budget. Unlike most years, the presidential candidate announced his budget far from the state Capitol in a news conference held at a charter school on Marco Island in southwest Florida.Instead of detailing what jobs he wants cut, DeSantis spent more time highlighting past achievements and lamenting the decision to exclude the undefeated Florida State University Seminoles from the college football championship playoff.DeSantis said he is asking for $1 million to let FSU sue the College Football Playoff committee even though the championship will be decided months before a budget is approved.“My first-grader, my fifth-grader and my preschooler … they are all ‘noles and they are b...

Lawyer picked to prosecute Army sexual assault is fired over an old email doubting victims’ claims

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:39:22 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The lawyer selected to be the Army’s first top prosecutor of sexual assaults under an overhaul of the military justice system has been fired because of an email he sent 10 years ago appearing to belittle victims’ assault allegations.Brig. Gen. Warren Wells was removed from the job on Friday by Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, just hours after she was given the email. Wells was the Army’s new lead special trial counsel for cases involving sexual assault and other top crimes — a job created as part of Congress’ push to revamp a military justice system it believed could be overly deferential to service members accused of sexual misconduct. The office was expected to begin work around the end of the year.In the email, sent to a number of his staff members in June 2013, Wells complained about what he said were false allegations by the alleged victims, pointing to the firing of an Army two-star general in Japan for failing to properly investigate a sex...

Closures to health services amounted to 30,000 hours of lost care: Ontario Health Coalition

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:39:22 GMT

The Ontario Health Coalition is sounding the alarm over the amount of closures to health care services this year, amounting to the equivalent of 30,000 lost hours of care.According to their report, there were 867 temporary emergency department closures and one permanent, 316 urgent care centre closures, two outpatient laboratory closures, one ICU closure and one labour and delivery unit closure.“These closures are staggering, the numbers are like nothing we’ve seen before,” said Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition. “They mean, without question, that people’s lives have been put at risk.”The Ontario Health Coalition say these nearly 1,200 closures across the province happened between Jan 1. and Nov 24th. They held a rally outside Queen’s Park on Tuesday to call attention to the loss of vital health care services.“Three years ago, emergency department closures were completely unheard of,”...

Family of man who died after struggle with officer sues tow truck driver they say sat on his head

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:39:22 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — The family of a Georgia church deacon who died after struggling with a police officer following a minor car crash has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a tow truck driver they say arrived during the confrontation and sat on the man’s head and neck.The lawsuit filed Monday says the officer’s body camera video shows the tow truck driver straddling Johnny Hollman Sr. during the tussle Aug. 10, “appearing to sit with his full body weight” on Hollman’s head and neck.Relatives have said Hollman, 62, was driving home from Bible study at his daughter’s house and taking dinner to his wife when he collided with another vehicle while turning across a busy street just west of downtown Atlanta.Atlanta police Officer Kiran Kimbrough responded to the crash and he quickly decided Hollman was to blame. Hollman insisted he had done nothing wrong but Kimbrough ordered him to sign a traffic ticket. The two men began to tussle.Kimbrough’s body camera video released ...

Biden calls reports of Hamas raping Israeli hostages ‘appalling,’ says world can’t look away

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:39:22 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday forcefully denounced the reported rape and sexual violence against Israeli girls and women by Hamas militants following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, calling on the world to condemn such conduct “without equivocation” and “without exception.”Speaking at a campaign fundraiser in Boston, Biden noted that in recent weeks, female survivors and witnesses to the attacks have shared “horrific accounts of unimaginable cruelty.”“Reports of women raped — repeatedly raped — and their bodies being mutilated while still alive — of women corpses being desecrated, Hamas terrorists inflicting as much pain and suffering on women and girls as possible and then murdering them,” Biden said. “It is appalling.”Israel has said it is investigating several cases of sexual assault and rape from the Hamas attack on Israel. Witnesses and medical experts have said that Hamas militants committed a series of rapes and other attacks before killing the victims in the Oct....

Meet the candidates vying to be the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:39:22 GMT

OTTAWA — The Assembly of First Nations is set to elect a new national chief this week during a three-day special assembly in Ottawa.The contest comes after the dramatic ouster of former national chief RoseAnne Archibald, who was voted out after colleagues accused her of creating a toxic work environment, an allegation she has denied.After candidates plead their case one last time on Tuesday evening at an all-candidates forum, chiefs or their proxies from more than 600 member First Nations will elect the next national chief on Wednesday. Here are the six candidates competing to be the assembly’s chief advocate. Reginald Bellerose: Bellerose, who is the chair of the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority and the Saskatchewan Indian Training Assessment Group, is hoping to secure the top job after an unsuccessful attempt in the last election. He wants to build generational wealth in communities, strengthen nation-to-nation relationships and to close the gap with northern and remote ...