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Democrats On Beacon Hill Punt Shelter, Spending Talks To Conference

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:00 GMT

The Massachusetts Legislature ended formal sessions for the year early Thursday morning with no agreement on a spending bill to steer money toward the emergency shelter crisis, a negotiating collapse among Democrats that douses the state’s response to that situation in uncertainty.After keeping sessions open for roughly 13 hours over the course of the day while top Democrats traded proposals via email and phone, the House and Senate abruptly pivoted after midnight to naming a conference committee to embark on more formal negotiations.Ways and Means Committee Chairs Aaron Michlewitz and Michael Rodrigues told reporters — in separate press huddles — that they were unable to find agreement to resolve differences in the House and Senate versions of a $2.8 billion spending bill.“We weren’t close enough to try to see it through tonight. Obviously, over the last couple of years, we’ve had some late nights here, and I think at those points in time, we fel...

Facebook, Instagram will allow political ads that claim the 2020 election was stolen

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:00 GMT

New York (CNN) — Meta will allow political ads on its platforms to question the outcome of the 2020 US presidential election, part of a rollback in election-related content moderation among major social media platforms over the past year ahead of the 2024 US presidential contest.The policy means that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will be able to directly profit from political ads that boost false claims about the legitimacy of the 2020 election. While the company will allow political advertisements to claim that past elections, including the 2020 presidential race, were rigged, it will prohibit those that “call into question the legitimacy of an upcoming or ongoing election.”The change is part of a year-old policy update but has not been widely reported. The Wall Street Journal reported Meta’s ads policy change earlier Wednesday.Meta says the policy allowing 2020 election denialism in political ads was part of an August 2022 announcement abo...

The Oakland Athletics’ move to Las Vegas has been approved by MLB owners, AP sources says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:00 GMT

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Oakland Athletics’ move to Las Vegas was unanimously approved Thursday by Major League Baseball team owners, cementing the sport’s first relocation since 2005, according to two people familiar with the vote. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the league had not yet announced the results. A 75% vote of the 30 teams was necessary to make the move, which was endorsed by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred.After years of complaints about the Oakland Coliseum and an inability to gain government assistance for a new ballpark in the Bay area, the A’s plan to move to a stadium to be built on the Las Vegas Strip with $380 million in public financing approved by the Nevada government. The A’s lease at the Coliseum expires after the 2024 season and it remains unclear where the team will play before a new ballpark opens, in 2027 at the earliest.Las Vegas will become the fourth city for a franchise that played in Philadelphia from...

Plant-based meat is a simple solution to climate woes – if more people would eat it

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:00 GMT

THORNTON, Colo. (AP) — Lars Obendorfer says he was “badly insulted” after he first began offering vegan sausage at his 25 German stands, dubbed “Best Worscht in Town.” He even found himself mediating between customers arguing on social media.“There was downright hostility between the meat eaters and the vegans,” he said. That was six years ago. Today, 15% of the 200,000 sausages each year are plant-based.“It actually tastes like a normal sausage,” customer Yasemin Dural said. Eating more plants and fewer animals is among the simplest, cheapest and most readily available ways for people to reduce their impact on the environment, climate scientists have long said. According to one University of Michigan study, if half of U.S. animal-based food was replaced with plant-based substitutes by 2030, the reduction in emissions for that year would be the equivalent of taking 47.5 million vehicles off the road.An explosion of new types of plant-based “meat” — the burgers, nuggets and other cut...

Woman arrested for deliberately setting fire to house in Cabbagetown: police

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:00 GMT

A woman is facing charges after she allegedly deliberately set fire to a house in Cabbagetown on Wednesday morning.Emergency crews were called to the house on River Street, just north of Gerrard Street East, around 6:05 a.m. on Wednesday.Fire crews said they encountered two vacant homes fully engulfed in flames with heavy smoke coming from the second floor of one of the homes. The fire eventually spread to neighbouring homes.Two residents needed to be evacuated from one of the adjacent buildings. No injuries were reported.Police allege the fire was started by someone deliberately. Officers arrested 41-year-old Jeannine Hilles, of no fixed address, and charged her with arson and failure to comply with a release.

After court defeat, the UK says its Rwanda migrant plan can still work. Legal experts are skeptical

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:00 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s interior minister said Thursday that the U.K. government can revive its blocked plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda without breaching international law, with the first flights taking off next year.Home Secretary James Cleverly said the government is “absolutely determined” to begin Rwanda deportation flights before a national election that must be called by the end of 2024.Many legal experts said that’s wishful thinking, and critics urged the government to ditch a plan they say is costing millions and harming Britain’s international reputation.On Wednesday, the U.K. Supreme Court quashed the government’s plan, saying Rwanda is not a safe country where migrants can be sent. Britain’s top court said asylum-seekers faced “a real risk of ill-treatment” and could be returned by Rwanda to the home countries they had fled.Despite the justices’ unanimous verdict, the British government doubled down on the policy, which it says will deter people from aro...

Small business owners call on government to take on Amazon, level playing field

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:00 GMT

An association representing 97,000 of Canada’s small businesses is calling on Ottawa to do more to address Amazon.com Inc.’s dominance.The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said in a report Thursday that it wants the federal government to tackle the e-commerce giant by modernizing competition laws to level the playing field for small businesses.“E-commerce offers a lot of opportunity for small businesses to expand and reach more customers, but they’re facing an uphill battle trying to compete with online giants,” Corinne Pohlmann, executive vice-president of advocacy at CFIB, said in a news release.“Many small businesses looking to get a foothold online will sign up for Amazon’s Marketplace but a number of them report that Amazon’s business practices can make it more challenging for them to compete.”As a result, CFIB feels the federal government should use the ongoing review of the Competition Act to stand up for small businesses.Its recommend...

U.S. applications for jobless claims rise as labor market begins to show some signs of cooling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:00 GMT

More Americans filed for jobless claims last week and while the labor market remains broadly healthy, there have are growing signs that it may finally be cooling.Applications for unemployment benefits rose by 13,000 to 231,000 for the week ending Nov. 11, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s the most in three months.Jobless claim applications are seen as representative of the number of layoffs in a given week.The Federal Reserve has been tapping the brakes on the economy and the labor market for nearly two years, trying to stem what was the highest inflation in four decades. The central bank raised its benchmark rate 11 times since March of 2022 as part of that effort.Yet for months it seemed as though the aggressive actions from the Fed had little impact and companies have been forced to pay more to land employees. Cracks, however, may be staring to show.Overall, 1.87 million people were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended Nov. 4, about 32,000 more ...

Here’s why heavy rain in Florida has little to do with hurricane season

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:00 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Why has it been raining so much in South Florida? Experts say the latest windy, rainy storm system has nothing to do with hurricane season — and it’s finally moving on.The storm system that formed over the Florida Keys this week and dumped up to 9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain across parts of South Florida has moved into the Atlantic Ocean, bringing clearing skies to the region on Thursday, the National Weather Service in Miami said.While hurricane season doesn’t officially end until Nov. 30, this storm wasn’t associated with a tropical system, according to Luke Culver, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami.“It’s not considered a tropical system because of the way it formed,” Culver said, noting that the system developed more like a nor’easter, which are more common in the northeastern United States.Heavy rain started falling across South Florida on Tuesday night, continuing into Wednesday before mostl...

CFD battling massive warehouse fire in Back of the Yards

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:00 GMT

CHICAGO — The Chicago Fire Department is currently battling a massive warehouse fire in Back of the Yards.A three-alarm response has been called out to the fire, located in the 4100 block of South Halsted.SkyCam9 is over the scene showing massive flames and dark smoke.WGN News will update this story once more information becomes available.