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Debate resumes on Nebraska bill to ban trans care for minors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:12 GMT

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have begun a second round of debate on a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors that has proved to be so contentious, it’s led opponents filibuster every single bill before the Nebraska Legislature since late February.That effort has largely hamstrung the body’s work. While lawmakers have managed to advance a number of bills, it had not passed a single bill by Wednesday, which marked the 60th day of this year’s 90-day session.Lawmakers entered the debate Thursday already raw from a contentious all-day showdown Wednesday over a bill that would greatly restrict abortion access in the state. That bill, which advanced on the slimmest of margins over strident objections from opponents, would ban abortion once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo, which is generally around the sixth week of pregnancy and before most women even know they are pregnant.The transgender health proposal has proved to be even more polemic. It a...

EPA awards $177 million to environmental justice groups

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:12 GMT

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to announce Thursday that it’s investing $177 million to create 17 technical assistance centers around the country to help environmental justice organizations successfully apply for federal funds. Better training on how to navigate the complex federal grant making process is something environmental justice organizations have been demanding since the beginning of the Biden administration. The community groups want to compete for federal money for projects including pollution cleanup, air quality monitoring and workforce development for jobs in wind and solar.EPA administrator Michael Regan will make the announcement in New York City with U.S. Rep. Adriano Espailla at a community space popular for dancing and music built on top of a sewage treatment plant along the Hudson River.“We know that so many communities across the nation have the solutions to the environmental challenges they face. Unfortunately, many have lacked access or faced b...

Higher-than-normal levels of sulfur dioxide pollution released from Suncor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:12 GMT

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (KDVR) — Higher-than-normal levels of air pollution were found in the areas surrounding the Suncor refinery, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said. CDPHE reported high levels of sulfur dioxide were found in Commerce City Wednesday morning. However, the department confirmed that although the levels were higher-than-normal they did not exceed federal standards. According to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, air pollution standards are measured in one-hour increments and it is 75 parts per billion per hour. Air monitors near Suncor recorded two short-term spikes, one that measured 115 parts per billion and another at 186 parts per billion. What’s a ‘middle class’ income in Denver these days? CDPHE said the numbers dropped significantly at 9 a.m. Wednesday and slowed to normal levels again. Why was there a spike in air pollution?According to the refinery, a sulfur recovery unit associated with a tail gas unit was briefly offline ...

Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell is missing and considered 'endangered,' Florida police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:12 GMT

(WFLA) — Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell, known for his role on the network's hit show "Drake & Josh," was reported missing on Thursday by the Daytona Beach Police Department.Bell, whose legal name is Jared Drake Bell, was last seen on Wednesday just before 9 p.m., in the area of Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Florida, police said.Bell is believed to be traveling in a grey 2022 BMW."He is considered missing and endangered," the department wrote on Facebook."For those asking, this is a legitimate post from the Daytona Beach Police Department," the department later clarified, presumably in response to commenters questioning the accuracy of the alert.Anyone with information on Bell's disappearance is asked to contact Detective Jayson Wallace at (386) 671-5207 or [email protected] Drake Bell appears onstage during MTV's "Total Request Live" at the MTV Times Square Studios Wednesday June 20, 2007 in New York. Bell's latest album "It's Only Time" hit stores Dec....

RARE RAIN EVENT

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:12 GMT

Happy Thursday, South Florida!Hopefully, everyone has been able to manage this wet weather that south Florida has had all week as countless rounds of rain continued over our area, led to multiple tornado warnings in Broward and produced flash flooding across South Florida. After days of heavy rain, conditions are finally much more quiet this morning than what we’ve seen in previous days. Preliminary rainfall totals across South Florida through the last 24 hours shows astonishing rainfall amounts. Some of the hardest hit areas received between 15 to 24 inches of rain.  And that was yesterday alone.  This doesn’t include all of the heavy rain we have seen Sunday afternoon through Tuesday.The weather pattern will slowly begin to change across South Florida today but unfortunately more rain and thunderstorms are in the forecast. The disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico continues to move northward and lifted the old front (that had been stalled over the FL Keys) northwards across main...

Slovakia’s central bank boss convicted of bribery in absentia: report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:12 GMT

The governor of Slovakia’s central bank, Peter Kažimír, was convicted by Slovakia’s Special Criminal Court of bribery, the country’s SME newspaper reported Thursday.Kažimír, a former Slovakian finance minister who is also a member of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council, which sets interest rates, now faces a fine of €100,000.Kažimír was in Washington for the International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings when the conviction was determined. Katarina Kudjakova, a spokesperson for the court, told SME the decision was not final, but that if Kažimír failed to pay the fine, he would face prison time. An appeal would also see him face trial.The European Central Bank declined to comment about the verdict when contacted by POLITICO.

Hungary withdraws from sanctioned Russia-linked bank

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:12 GMT

BUDAPEST — Hungary is withdrawing from a Russia-linked investment bank a day after it was sanctioned by the United States. The International Investment Bank (IIB) moved its headquarters from Moscow to Budapest in 2019, fanning fears in Western capitals that it could be used as a cover for Russian intelligence operations inside Europe. On Wednesday, Washington sanctioned IIB and its top managers — including a Hungarian citizen — after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government repeatedly dismissed American concerns about its activities. And while Hungarian officials have criticized U.S. policy toward Hungary, on Thursday the country’s ministry for economic development said Budapest is withdrawing from the IIB and pulling its representatives from the institution. “The government discussed the situation and found that although the International Investment Bank played an important development role in Central and Eastern Europe, the operation of the bank lost ...

Transit Police: 35-year-old man arrested for attempted assault with a knife at Assembly Square station

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:12 GMT

A 35-year-old man was arrested Wednesday night for attempting to assault another man with a knife at the Assembly Square MBTA station, according to Transit Police. The incident happened around 11 p.m., police say. The suspect also had a warrant for his arrest for malicious damage to a motor vehicle out of Somerville District Court. No additional information has been released.https://twitter.com/MBTATransitPD/status/1646530739427500032

Lobsterman Catches Five-footer: Maine State Police dispose of military rocket caught by lobster trapper

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:12 GMT

State police in Maine safely disposed of a five-foot-long military rocket discovered off the coast this week.Maine State Police said members of its bomb squad were called in Tuesday morning after a lobsterman based out of Cushing caught the armament some 20 miles away from shore.According to MSP’s Facebook page, the lobsterman brought the rocket ashore and contacted authorities a day after making the discovery.Bomb squad personnel were able to analyze the item and identify it as an “MK29 Mod-0” type rocket, but when using X-ray imaging, state police said technicians could not confirm whether it contained explosive materials.Due to the condition of the missile, authorities opted to “countercharge” the missile with guidance from a Navy Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit and were able to safely dispose of it.

Mary Quant, miniskirt mastermind of swinging 60s, dies at 93

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:12 GMT

By DANICA KIRKA and JILL LAWLESS (Associated Press)LONDON (AP) — Mary Quant, the visionary fashion designer whose colorful, sexy miniskirts epitomized Swinging London in the 1960s and influenced youth culture around the world, has died. She was 93.Quant’s family said she died “peacefully at home” in Surrey, southern England, on Thursday.Quant helped popularize the miniskirt — some credit her with inventing it — and the innovative tights that went along with it, creating dresses and accessories that were an integral part of the look. She created simple mix-and-match garments that had an element of whimsy. Some compared her impact on the fashion world with The Beatles’ impact on pop music.“I think it was a happy confluence of events, which is really what fashion is so often all about,” said Hamish Bowles, international editor at large for American Vogue magazine. “She was the right person with the right sensibility in the rig...