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Senate launches late-night votes to stave off US default, wrap up Biden-McCarthy debt ceiling deal

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 10:50:10 GMT

By LISA MASCARO, KEVIN FREKING, STEPHEN GROVES and FARNOUSH AMIRI (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Rushing to prevent a U.S. debt default, the Senate pressed ahead Thursday night to give final passage to a debt ceiling and budget cuts package and send it to President Joe Biden’s desk to become law before the fast-approaching deadline.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced a late-night floor schedule with nearly a dozen amendments up for debate to the package Biden negotiated with Speaker Kevin McCarthy, though none was expected to be approved or change the overall deal.“Let’s finish the job,” Schumer implored his colleagues.Passage in the Senate will require cooperation between Democrats and Republicans, much the way the narrowly divided House was able to approve the compromise late Wednesday night. Fast action is vital if Washington is to meet next Monday’s deadline, when Treasury has said the U.S. will start running short of cash to p...

Meet of Champions: St. John’s Prep’s Nathan Lopez breaks long-standing two mile record

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 10:50:10 GMT

FITCHBURG — The two mile run is a grueling event that can sometimes lack the excitement of a sprinting race or the pole vault. Despite this, it was the event to watch at opening day of the MIAA Meet of Champions.That’s because St. John Prep’s Nathan Lopez, the two-time defending champ at the meet, came in with a chance to break a meet record that’s stood since 2004. That is exactly what the senior, a University of Michigan commit, did in a time of 8:59.29.“Just to have my name in the record books, even if it’s just for a little bit, is something special,” Lopez said. “It definitely doesn’t outweigh the emotion that comes with winning this title for the third time. That was something that was super, super big on my list of things I wanted to accomplish to close out my senior year.”As Lopez approached the finish line, he saved room for theatrics. The crowd was up from the start, and as Lopez approached the home stretch, a few fist bumps to the crowd preceded the final steps.“I d...

Red Sox notebook: The unbeatable NL Central

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 10:50:10 GMT

The National League Central is the Red Sox’s inexplicable kryptonite this season.Entering Thursday night’s series finale against the Cincinnati Reds, Boston was 0-8 against that division.In their second series of the season, they allowed the Pittsburgh Pirates to sweep them at Fenway Park for the first time in franchise history.But in Boston’s defense, their May series against the St. Louis Cardinals could’ve easily gone very differently. They carried a lead into the ninth inning in the series opener, only to have Kenley Jansen blow the save and complete a loss. Likewise in the second game, when Chris Sale’s eight-inning, one-run gem fell apart when Jansen again struggled.The Cards came to town 13-25, and left with a new lease on life; the Red Sox haven’t exactly been the same since. Now, they were two games in the hole against the Reds, who entered this series 24-29.Why can’t the Red Sox, who’ve been a winning team for most of the sea...

New details of Jeffrey Epstein’s death and the frantic aftermath revealed in records obtained by AP

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 10:50:10 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Two weeks before ending his life, Jeffrey Epstein sat in the corner of his Manhattan jail cell with his hands over his ears, desperate to muffle the sound of a toilet that wouldn’t stop running.Epstein was agitated and unable to sleep, jail officials observed in records newly obtained by The Associated Press. He called himself a “coward” and complained he was struggling to adapt to life behind bars following his July 2019 arrest on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges — his life of luxury reduced to a concrete and steel cage.The disgraced financier was under psychological observation at the time for a suicide attempt just days earlier that left his neck bruised and scraped. Yet, even after a 31-hour stint on suicide watch, Epstein insisted he wasn’t suicidal, telling a jail psychologist he had a “wonderful life” and “would be crazy” to end it.On Aug. 10, 2019, Epstein was dead.Nearly four years later, the AP has obtained more than 4,000 pages of docum...

Journalists to strike June 5 at the largest US newspaper chain

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 10:50:10 GMT

Journalists across the U.S. will walk off their jobs next week at roughly two dozen newsrooms run by Gannett, the largest newspaper chain in the U.S., their union said Thursday.The mostly one-day strike, which will start June 5, aims to protest Gannett’s leadership and cost-cutting measures imposed since its 2019 merger with GateHouse Media.According to the NewsGuild, the union representing workers at more than 50 Gannett newsrooms, those measures include job cuts and the shuttering of dozens of newsrooms; squeezed pay and benefits; and a failure to negotiate pay and working conditions in good faith.In a statement, Gannett Chief Communications Officer Lark-Marie Anton said the company “strives to provide competitive wages, benefits, and meaningful opportunities for all our valued employees.” She added that “there will be no disruption to our content or ability to deliver trusted news” as a result of the expected work stoppage.The walkout will coincide with Gannett’s annual sharehold...

Bill to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youths in Louisiana resurrected

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 10:50:10 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Amid mounting pressure from Republicans, a bill banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender youths in Louisiana that was narrowly killed by a legislative committee last week has been resurrected.In a rare occurrence, the Senate voted to recommit the controversial bill to a different committee, giving it a second chance at life. The measure, which was rejected by the Senate Health & Welfare Committee last week, received statewide and national attention after a Republican cast the tie-breaking vote to kill the bill.Sen. Fred Mills, the Republican chairman of the Health & Welfare Committee who cast last week’s decisive vote, told his colleagues on the chamber floor Thursday that he opposed reviving the bill, adding that if lawmakers respect the vote of the majority of the committee, they will uphold the decision. But the Senate voted 26-11 — along party lines, with the exception of Mills – to recommit the bill to the Senate Judiciary Committee,...

Federal government provides $5.9M for Indigenous clean energy projects in B.C.

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 10:50:10 GMT

VANCOUVER — The minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada has announced the government is giving nearly $6 million for Indigenous communities in British Columbia to develop clean energy projects. Harjit Sajjan says the funding shows Canada is committed to working with First Nations to help them grow their economy and take advantage of opportunities in the technology sector.He says more than $3.9 million of the funding, provided by PacificCan and Indigenous Services Canada, will be given to the BC Indigenous Clean Energy Initiative to help 14 communities develop clean energy projects.Sajjan says the agency is also providing another $2 million for the Digital Horizons technology employment training program, which will be offered by the First Nations Technology Council.He says this program will train more than 700 Indigenous people with skills they need to work in the technology sector.Sajjan says he hopes graduates from those programs will bring knowle...

Audit finds National Highway Traffic Safety Administration auto safety defect probes take too long

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 10:50:10 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government agency charged with keeping the roads safe is slow to investigate automobile safety defects, limiting its ability to handle rapidly changing or severe risks, an audit made public Thursday found.Problems at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation limit the agency’s ability to respond to rapidly evolving problems or severe risks to auto safety, the audit by the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General found.The agency also doesn’t have an integrated computer system for its probes, and doesn’t consistently follow its own procedures for making safety problems a high priority, the audit found.The office has made progress in restructuring and modernizing its data and analysis systems, auditors determined, but weaknesses in meeting its own goals for timely investigations increase possible delays in probing important safety issues.The office also doesn’t always record key document...

Library cancels trans speaker after Montana bans drag readings

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 10:50:10 GMT

Montana’s new law banning drag reading events at public libraries has led to the cancellation of a Native American transgender speaker in a southwestern Montana city on Friday.The Butte-Silver Bow Public Library canceled its “First Friday” speaker, Adria Jawort, at the recommendation of county attorneys, library director Stef Johnson said in a statement on the library’s website.On Monday, Jawort posted online that she was going to do an LGBTQ and two-spirit history lecture at a library on Friday. “Two-spirit” is a Native American term for people with both male and female spirits.The speech might be illegal in Montana “as a flamboyantly dressed trans woman,” she posted. On Thursday she said her Tweet was meant to mock the law that bans drag reading events at public schools and libraries. Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed it on May 22 and it took effect immediately.Under the law, “drag queen” is defined as a performer who adopts a “flamboyant … femini...

Oregon youths’ climate lawsuit against US government can proceed to trial, judge rules

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 10:50:10 GMT

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge ruled on Thursday that a lawsuit brought by young Oregon-based climate activists can proceed to trial years after they first filed the lawsuit in an attempt to hold the nation’s leadership accountable for its role in climate change. U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken ruled that the plaintiffs can amend their case, known as Juliana v. United States, and go to trial. A previous trial was halted by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts days before it was to begin in 2018.Aiken wrote in her decision, “It is a foundational doctrine that when government conduct catastrophically harms American citizens, the judiciary is constitutionally required to perform its independent role and determine whether the challenged conduct, not exclusively committed to any branch by the Constitution, is unconstitutional.”The 21 plaintiffs, who were between the ages of 8 and 18 when the lawsuit was filed in 2015, will move forward on the question of whether the fed...