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EPA offers $2B to clean up pollution, develop clean energy in poor and minority communities

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is making $2 billion available to community groups, states and tribes to clean up pollution and develop clean energy in disadvantaged communities in what officials called the largest-ever investment in environmental justice.Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan called the grant program unprecedented and said it “has the promise to turn disadvantaged and overburdened areas into healthy, resilient and thriving communities for current and future generations.”“Folks, this is historic,” Regan told reporters at a news conference Tuesday. The program, funded by the sweeping climate law signed last year by President Joe Biden, is aimed at poor and minority communities “that have long been overlooked and forgotten” and struggle to gain access to federal funding, Regan said.The climate law authorized $3 billion for underserved communities burdened by pollution, including $1 billion that has already been allocated.Regan, th...

Maine island that was site of eviction of historic mixed-race community added to national register

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:21 GMT

An island along the coast of Maine that was home to a mixed-race fishing community later forcibly removed by the state has been added to the National Register of Historic Places after a years-long effort.Malaga Island, a 42-acre (17-hectare) island about a 40-mile (64.37-kilometer) drive up the coast from Portland, is these days a public preserve visited by hikers and nature lovers. More than a century ago, it was home to a small community that historians believe was settled by free Black Americans around the time of the Civil War.In late 1911, during the administration of Maine Gov. Frederick W. Plaisted, several islanders were committed to the Maine School for the Feeble-Minded. The state then bought Malaga Island from a local family and ordered the remaining residents to vacate the island by July 1912. Nearly a century later, then-Gov. John Baldacci would issue an apology on the island.The island, located in the tiny town of Phippsburg, was formally listed on the national registe...

Ali’s lawyers call no evidence in murder of B.C. girl, says Crown didn’t prove case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:21 GMT

VANCOUVER — Ibrahim Ali’s lawyers have told the jury in his first-degree murder trial they will not be calling any evidence in defence of allegations he sexually assaulted and killed a 13-year-old girl in Burnaby, B.C. Defence lawyer Kevin McCullough told the jury that the Crown hasn’t met the burden of proof to find Ali guilty.Justice Lance Bernard told the jury that closing arguments from both Crown and defence are expected to begin in about a week.Ali has pleaded not guilty to murdering the teenager, whose name has been protected by a publication ban. The girl’s body was found in Burnaby’s Central Park in July 2017, just hours after her mother reported her missing.The jury heard from almost 50 Crown witnesses over the course of the trial, including police, civilians and experts. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2023. The Canadian Press<!– Photo: 2023112113110-655cf10a209d7f1211fc5f5fjpeg.jpg, Caption: Lawyers for Ibra...

Book Review: A dazzlingly fun historical fiction, ‘A True Account’ tests the borders of reality

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:21 GMT

Hannah Masury, for a brief time, was a pirate. At least, according to the mysterious manuscript that shows up on Professor Marian Beresford’s desk, brought by a bright-faced student excited at the possibility of finding the treasure that Hannah left behind.Novelist and historian Katherine Howe embarks on a dazzlingly fun historical fiction, “A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself: A Novel” — aptly named given the way it tests the boundaries between reality and imagination.When undergrad Kay Lonergan brings Hannah’s found manuscript to her professor, Marian’s years of cynicism have hardened her. She highly doubts its authenticity and even points out the more doubtful details, verging on breaking the fourth wall. But Kay convinces Marian to approach her famous explorer of a father and persuade him, and his expedition society club, to back their trip in search of long-lost pirate booty.And is that jealousy we detect in the professor? The further...

Fill your holiday stocking with Cher, Ella Fitzgerald, Brandy, Andrea Bocelli and more

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:21 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — What is a holiday season without festive music? The classics are great, but the classics performed by some of the best performers across pop, R&B, rock, opera, soul and beyond? That’s a real reason to celebrate.In honor of the most wonderful time of the year, The Associated Press’ Music Writer Maria Sherman has compiled some of the best new holiday releases for your listening pleasure. Because sometimes the best thing that can happen to an old classic is revitalizing it with a new performance.Ella Fitzgerald, “Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas”Don’t bore us, get to the chorus — or in the case of this collectible vinyl release of “Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas,” give us the hits! Ella Fitzgerald ‘s 1960 holiday record is largely considered by critics to be one of the greatest of all time — so why not celebrate the best of the best on a new piece of wax? It’s not a bad gift idea, either.Cher, “Christmas”Somehow, “Christmas...

‘Making life harder’: Uber trips soar following Scarborough RT closure

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:21 GMT

With the Scarborough Rapid Transit Line shutdown, many locals have been relying on alternatives, and commuters could face worsening conditions.A spokesperson for Uber Canada says since this past summer, rideshare trips have grown by more than 70 per cent in Scarborough compared to other regions in the City of Toronto.The timeline is consistent with the premature shutdown of the Scarborough RT after a derailment. Service was suspended last month after the rear car of a train separated from the rest of the train on July 24 – five people were sent to hospital with minor injuries.Uber says many customers have been using the rideshare platform to connect to Kennedy Station, and the number of destinations has increased by nearly 30 per cent.“Scarborough has consistently been underserved for years by all levels of government, and it was never clearer than when the Scarborough RT derailed and shut down early this summer,” said Shawn Allen, President of the Scarborough...

NBA, NHL and MLB unveil a 30-second ad promoting responsible sports betting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:21 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball have joined forces to produce a 30-second ad promoting responsible sports betting.The “Never Know What’s Next” commercial unveiled Tuesday is a coordination of the three leagues, sportsbook operators DraftKings, Fanatics, PENN Entertainment and the National Council on Problem Gambling.Scott Kaufman-Ross, the NBA’s senior VP and head of gaming and new business ventures, said it was important to educate especially young bettors on the inherent risk of sports gambling and correct the misperception that it’s a good way to make money.“With more fans than ever having the opportunity to legally bet in their home states, it is imperative that we work with our media and sportsbook partners, as well as with our friends at the NBA and MLB, to inform and emphasize the risks and encourage the importance of setting limits and betting responsibly, especially among our growing fanbase in the younger demographic,” NHL chief bus...

4 Las Vegas high school students charged with murder as adults in classmate’s fatal beating

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:21 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Prosecutors in Las Vegas have formally charged four high school students as adults with murder in the deadly beating of their schoolmate, a fight that was captured on cellphone video and has been widely shared across social media.The two 16-year-olds and two 17-year-olds are charged with second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit battery.After court, District Attorney Steve Wolfson said his office chose not to bring a first-degree murder charge against the teens because, he said, the evidence shows that the beating was not a premeditated act.The four teens will remain held without bail, but a judge on Tuesday granted a joint request from prosecutors and defense attorneys to transfer them from the county jail to the juvenile detention center, citing the teens’ safety.At least eight students between the ages of 13 and 17 have so far been arrested in connection with the Nov. 1 brawl that left 17-year-old Jonathan Lewis Jr. dead. The other students are awaiting...

Gaza health officials say they lost the ability to count dead as Israeli offensive intensifies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:21 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian health officials in Gaza said Tuesday that they have lost the ability to count the dead because of the collapse of parts of the enclave’s health system and the difficulty of retrieving bodies from areas overrun by Israeli tanks and troops.The Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, which carefully tracked casualties over the first five weeks of war, gave its most recent death toll of 11,078 on Nov. 10. The United Nations humanitarian office, which cites the Health Ministry death toll in its regular reports, still refers to 11,078 as the last verified death toll from the war.The challenges involved in verifying the number of dead have mounted as Israel’s ground invasion has intensified and at times severed phone and internet service and sown chaos across the territory.“Unfortunately, the Ministry of Health has not yet been able to issue its statistics because there is a breakdown in communication between hospitals and disruption to the inter...

Ed Burke trial shifting to alleged Burger King scheme

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:21 GMT

CHICAGO — Testimony in Ed Burke's federal trial Tuesday is expected to shift to an alleged scheme to pressure the owners of a Burger King restaurant.Burke and his former aldermanic aid Peter Andrews are expected to be front and center Tuesday as prosecutors present evidence that they say will show a "pressure campaign" meant to steer business toward Burke's law firm.He arrived to the Dirksen Federal Building Tuesday morning in his signature fedora and raincoat.Burke, Chicago's longest-serving alderman, was the powerful chairman of the finance committee, controlling the city's purse strings for decades.He's charged with 14 counts of racketeering, bribery and extortion.The federal case rests on four incidents of alleged wrongdoing — dealing with a Burger King, a Binny's, the old main Post Office and the Field Museum.The day started with the former head of the Field Museum continuing his testimony on the witness stand from Monday. Ed Burke trial focus shifts to Field Museum In that a...