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House passes $56.2B budget, $700M over Healey’s plan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:10:52 GMT

The House passed its version of the state’s fiscal 2024 spending plan late Wednesday afternoon, a slightly ballooned version of Gov. Maura Healey’s late winter budget offering which will now head to the Senate for further revision.Coming in at $56.2 billion, the budget makes free school meals for all of the Commonwealth’s students permanent, carries through on Healey’s plan to provide free community college to adults without degrees and moves the state lottery online, among other initiatives.“From critical investments in healthcare and workforce development, to funding for new initiatives that are designed to increase educational opportunities, better support working families, and provide for a safer and more reliable public transportation system, the House’s FY24 budget will help to make Massachusetts more affordable for residents, while allocating support for the Commonwealth’s most consequential institutions,” House Speaker Ron Mariano said in a written statement.A mass of the bu...

Ed Davis at Boston Marathon bombings hearing calls out government for getting in way of police doing their jobs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:10:52 GMT

Police departments across the country are afraid to use tools that could help prevent crime from getting out of hand due to possible backlash from the government and public.Former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis shared that message in Washington on Wednesday during a hearing on the lessons learned 10 years after the Boston Marathon bombings.Davis, the city’s police leader at the time of the tragedy, called for a “clear direction” from the feds on how departments should be using technology in policing. He pointed to how some cities and towns in Massachusetts, including Boston, have banned the use of facial recognition.“I understand the concerns about privacy in those situations,” Davis said, “But we must remember, as a government, that the police are the security team for the poor people in our cities. It’s scary to think that a political body has eliminated the use of an effective tool to solve crime at the local level.”Wednesday’s Senate hearing focused on the 2013 bombings and...

San Diego-area spots nominated for 'Best Beaches on the West Coast'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:10:52 GMT

SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Several beaches in San Diego have been nominated for USA Today's 2023 Readers' Choice for "Best Beach on the West Coast."With over 30 beaches spread across the region's coastline, San Diego is a perfect location for sunbathing, surfing, kayaking and more. This San Diego beach is considered ‘the most beautiful’ in the US: study But there are four specific beaches that some have considered top-notch while comparing them to all areas where sand meets the Pacific Ocean in the U.S. This is quite a compliment as the West Coast stretches over 1,000 miles. The first beach that's in the running is North County's Oceanside Harbor Beach. USA Today says this sandy spot "offers a relaxed and family-friendly atmosphere, with gentle waves suitable for swimming, boogie boarding and surfing."Some qualities that may set Oceanside Harbor Beach aside from others include its fire pits, volleyball courts, picnic table areas and the fact that it's in walking distance to a variety o...

What’s in the GOP bill to lift debt limit, cut spending

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:10:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are trying to exact a price from Democrats for agreeing to increase the nation’s borrowing authority and prevent the government from defaulting on the obligations it has accrued over decades. They’re arguing for their priorities and going after President Joe Biden’s in a separate bill that passed the chamber on Wednesday.The legislation in question has virtually no chance of becoming law. But Republicans hope the bill’s passage will force Biden to the negotiating table, where they could seek concessions in return for lifting the nation’s borrowing authority and ensuring that the U.S. Treasury can fully pay its bills.“He either has to negotiate now or we’re the only ones that have raised the debt limit,” McCarthy said after the vote.A look at key aspects of the legislation that the House approved by a vote of 217-215.LIMIT FEDERAL SPENDINGThe bill would set federal discretionary spending at $1.47 trillion during the ne...

Louisiana ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill advances out of committee

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:10:52 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — As several conservative states adopt legislation that prohibits school employees from teaching or discussing sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom, Louisiana advanced its own “Don’t Say Gay” bill Wednesday.The anti-LGBTQ+ measure was narrowly approved by a Republican-controlled House committee and heads to the full House, where an emotionally charged debate over the culture war measure is all but guaranteed. It comes as hundreds of bills have been filed in statehouses taking aim at nearly every facet of transgender existence — from health care to athletics to bathroom access — and the LGBTQ+ community.“This bill would erase someone like me,” Maxwell Cohen, 27, who identified as transgender, told Louisiana lawmakers Wednesday. “This piece of legislation tells queer kids that they must hide, that they don’t matter and that they are wrong. But we know that’s far from the truth. We must protect queer kids and acknowledge them for who they are, b...

Jolie, Salonga, Chloe Kim glam up state dinner for SKorea

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:10:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Actor Angelina Jolie, home improvement duo Chip and Joanna Gaines and Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim headlined the list of big names from politics, business, sports and entertainment glamming up a fancy black-tie dinner that President Joe Biden hosted Wednesday night for South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.Broadway’s Lea Salonga, one of the night’s entertainers, confessed as she arrived that she was “freaking out” over the whole experience, allowing, “It feels like being in the middle of a fairy tale.” Kim, for her part, served up a classic understatement as she strolled in, telling reporters, ”I heard the food’s going to be very good.” Jolie wasn’t inclined to chat as she arrived but her date for the night, 21-year-old son Maddox, did at least offer that his favorite thing about Seoul was “the people.”A smattering of politicians made the guest list, too, and most of them were determinedly on message, talking a lot of shop. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D...

Judge halts Missouri rule limiting transgender health care

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:10:52 GMT

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge on Wednesday temporarily halted a first-of-its-kind rule restricting access to gender-affirming health care for transgender kids and adults, just hours before it was set to take effect.St. Louis County Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo put Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s emergency rule on transgender health care on hold until at least Monday. Bailey has touted the rule as a way to shield minors from what he describes as experimental medical treatments, though puberty blockers and sex hormones have been prescribed for decades. The restrictions also apply to health care for adults.Transgender Missourians and health care providers sued to stop it from taking effect as scheduled Thursday. They argued that Bailey sidestepped the GOP-led Legislature and acted beyond his authority in attempting to regulate gender-affirming health care under the state’s consumer-protection laws.Their attorney, Tony Rothert with the American Civil Liberties Union of...

BC Financial Services Authority issues ‘landmark penalty’ against Kamloops woman

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:10:52 GMT

KAMLOOPS, B.C. — The BC Financial Services Authority has issued its largest penalty to date against a Kamloops, B.C., woman who it says failed to comply with an order to stop unlicensed rental property management services.The authority says Kathy Alaina Bakker provided unauthorized rental property management for 10 properties in the city between December 2019 and August 2022.It says Bakker has been ordered to pay a $125,000 penalty and nearly $55,000 in investigation and hearing fees.The agency says aggravating factors in its decision included that she continued to manage the properties after being notified of the investigation and “intentionally ignored” the order to stop.Bakker, who has 30 days to appeal the decision, could not immediately be reached for comment.The authority called it a “landmark penalty” that comes after legislation was updated to increase maximum penalties for misconduct to $250,000.Raheel Humayun, director of investigations for the auth...

Man convicted of killing mom of 2 New Mexico police officers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:10:52 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A Mexican national was convicted of first-degree murder Wednesday in the 2019 slaying of the mother of two state police officers in a case that drew national attention and spotlighted Albuquerque’s struggle with crime.Jurors also found Luis Talamantes-Romero, 35, guilty of eight other felonies in the death of Jacqueline Vigil, who authorities say was killed outside her northwest Albuquerque home in an attempted burglary.Vigil, 55, was shot in her driveway in November 2019 as she prepared to leave for a gym.The case went unsolved for months, drawing the attention of then-President Donald Trump as he pushed his tough-on-crime agenda. Vigil’s family also traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with Trump.Prosecutors said Talamantes-Romero also was convicted of aggravated burglary, attempted armed robbery, tampering with evidence, conspiracy and other charges.They said a man who was with Talamantes-Romero when Vigil was shot agreed to testify against him as a cond...

Ants march, whales swoop in Museum of Natural History update

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:10:52 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The American Museum of Natural History in New York is set to open its new building, a sweeping piece of architecture designed to connect visitors with their place in the natural world.Tiny ants march along a glass bridge overhead in the new museum wing, The Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation. Giant whales swoop along the walls in an immersive video display. And the building’s natural curves — inspired by canyons in the Southwest — are meant to highlight how all of it is intertwined.The $465 million center, nearly a decade in the making, is set to open to the public next Thursday, adding a new wow factor to one of the world’s most visited museums.Architect Jeanne Gang said at a media preview Wednesday that she asked herself how the space could contribute to peoples’ natural desire to learn. “This led us to look at geological landscapes, where one can see how the natural forces actually shape the material, shape our worl...