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Louisiana Senate passes bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender youths

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:52:11 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A controversial bill — that at one point had been presumed dead — banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender youths in Louisiana was passed by the Senate on Monday and is likely to reach the governor’s desk in the coming days.The bill, which passed in the Senate mainly along party lines, 29-10, would prohibit hormone treatments, gender-affirming surgery and puberty-blocking drugs for transgender minors in Louisiana. The measure will go back to the House, which has already overwhelmingly passed the legislation, to approve of minor amendments, including pushing back the effective date of the law to Jan. 1, 2024.If the House concurs, the legislation would be sent to the desk of Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat who opposes it. Edwards has not said whether he would veto the bill. If he does, lawmakers could convene a veto session to try to override his decision. Last session, Edwards chose not to block a law banning transgender athletes from part...

B.C. officials push back against safe supply critics and their ‘polarizing rhetoric’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:52:11 GMT

VICTORIA — British Columbia officials have sought to rebut claims that drugs prescribed through the province’s safe supply program aimed at curbing overdoses are being re-sold to young people, helping fuel the deadly drug toxicity crisis.B.C.’s representative for children and youth, Jennifer Charlesworth, said her office reviews injury and death reports involving young people and she hasn’t seen any sign that youth are either using drugs “diverted” from the safe supply program, or that they are suffering overdoses from such drugs.Instead, she said “polarizing rhetoric” on the issue was causing harm.“Safe supply is an alternative to the poison that is available on the street, and I’ll repeat, for emphasis, what I said earlier: there’s no indication from our data that diverted safe supply is causing overdoses for children and youth,” she said.“Is it possible that diversion will be an issue in the future? Anything is pos...

Oregon is invested in Fox Corp. and is investigating its board over bogus election fraud claims

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:52:11 GMT

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon’s attorney general announced Monday she has begun investigating the board of directors of Fox Corp. for breaching its fiduciary duties by allowing Fox News to broadcast false claims about the 2020 presidential election — claims that cost the broadcaster almost $800 million in a lawsuit. Also joining the investigation is Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read, who oversees the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund, which owns more than 250,000 shares of Fox stock. Both Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and Read are Democrats.“Treasurer Read and I believe that Fox’s board of directors breached its fiduciary duties by allowing Fox News to broadcast false claims that Dominion and Smartmatic rigged the 2020 presidential election,” Rosenblum said. “We hope to hold the board accountable and protect the long-term value of Oregon’s investment in Fox Corp.”The head of Fox’s corporate communications did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ...

Ontario farmers say buying local food more important than ever amid various challenges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:52:11 GMT

As Ontario continues to deal with the effects of inflation, hotter and drier weather, labour shortages, farmers say now is more important than ever to support the province’s agricultural sector.“Supporting local supports our Ontario community as a whole,” Kelty Mackay, a co-owner of Willow Tree Farm in Port Perry, said during a tour of the property on Monday.“We shop in our towns. Keeping that money here in Ontario, I think, is a really important way for the future for us to guarantee that our land and our people are able to enjoy fruits and vegetables for (the) future.”Beginning on June 5, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture marked the beginning of local food week — an effort to promote buying food from local vendors and visiting one of the nearly 180 farmers markets in Ontario. Willow Tree Farm has 150 acres of fields for growing various vegetables and fruits, all of which are handpicked.“We grow everything from asparagus to rhubarb, gre...

Victims plan to sue sheriff for failing to get red flag order against Colorado Springs club shooter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:52:11 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Some victims of the mass shooting at a gay club in Colorado Springs last year plan to sue authorities for not trying to block the shooter from buying guns before the attack.According to legal notices obtained by The Denver Post on Monday, 11 survivors and relatives of those killed notified the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office last month that they intended to file lawsuits over the failure to obtain an extreme risk protection, or red flag, order against Anderson Aldrich, who is charged with killing five people and injuring 22 others at Club Q in November 2022. State law allows authorities and others to get a court order to seize someone’s guns and prevent them from legally buying more if they are deemed a threat to themselves or others.The notices, which were first reported by the Colorado Springs Independent, must be given before people file lawsuits against government agencies and provide a chance to reach a settlement instead. The victims are seeking more ...

Demolition company vows repairs after a blast of air during an implosion damaged nearby homes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:52:11 GMT

SPRINGDALE, Pa. (AP) — A blast of air and dust from the implosion of two smokestacks at a shuttered coal-fired power plant in western Pennsylvania last week felled power poles and caused damage to nearby homes. But the demolition company is vowing full repairs.The implosion at the Cheswick Generating Station in Springdale, a borough just northeast of Pittsburgh, occurred shortly after 8 a.m. Friday, bringing the stacks down with a loud crash and a huge cloud of dust. One tower stood about 550 feet (170 meters) tall and the other 750 feet (230 meters).Controlled Demolition said in a statement that the chimneys fell “exactly where they were supposed to” and noise and vibration levels were “well below” allowable state environmental protection limits, KDKA-TV reported. But, the company said, the larger chimney’s steel liner “focused air pressure as it collapsed upon impact.” Bruno Moretti, Allegheny County’s emergency management coordinator, said the air blast broke wi...

Video shows man setting fire to Lake County jail lobby

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:52:11 GMT

CROWN POINT, Ind. — Lake County Indiana Sheriffs are looking for the man who started a fire in the lobby of the county's northwest Indiana jail. The sheriff released surveillance video of the incident that shows the unidentified suspect spraying an accelerant all over the floor to get the flames to spread.    Fire crews from Lake County Fire and Rescue and Merrillville Fire Department responded to the call but the fire was out upon arrival. The suspect made off in a blue SUV.Read more: Latest Chicago news headlinesNo one was injured.  The case is still under investigation    

Local students take part in unified PE with Special Olympics NY

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:52:11 GMT

GUILDERLAND, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- More than 100 local students teamed up on Monday to play some classic backyard games for a good cause. Guilderland High School partnered with Special Olympics New York to host a unified physical education competition event.The unified PE class brought together students with and without intellectual disabilities. They participated in five different games, including can jam and cornhole. Organizers said the goal was to give everyone the chance to participate in an athletic competition. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! "It provides all students the opportunity to not only be part of inclusion, but to also enjoy activities, to compete, to practice, just like any other sports team or any other type of physical education student," Guilderland High School PE teacher Allison Relyea said.Students from Amsterdam and Niskayuna High Schools also participated. Organizers hope to include more school in the fu...

Sneaky purse thieves caught on video in Beverly Hills

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:52:11 GMT

A pair of thieves have been arrested after snatching purses from unsuspecting customers at some Beverly Hills restaurants over the weekend.  Video captured the suspects at Wally’s, an upscale wine and cheese bar on Canon Drive, on Saturday.  The footage shows a male and female suspect standing behind a table of customers. The man appears to be having a conversation on his cellphone when the woman is seen easily sliding a customer’s purse off the back of the chair and then placing it in a larger handbag she had on her shoulder. The duo then casually turns, appear to speak to an employee and then walk out of the establishment.  Beverly Hills police told KTLA that after the suspects left Wally’s, they strolled down Canon Drive where they committed the same crime at yet another restaurant.  This incident comes on the heels of another purse snatching on Mother's Day that was captured on camera at a popular restaurant in Culver City. In that case, police are searching ...

Second flight loaded with Texas migrants lands in Sacramento

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:52:11 GMT

By Tran Nguyen and Olga R. Rodriguez | Associated PressSACRAMENTO — The state of Florida picked up asylum-seekers on the Texas border Monday and took them by private jet to California’s capital city at taxpayer expense for the second time in four days, California officials said, prompting allegations that migrants were misled and catching shelters and aid workers by surprise.Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials were mum, as they were initially last year when they flew 49 Venezuelan migrants to the upscale Massachusetts enclave of Martha’s Vineyard, luring them onto private jets from a shelter in San Antonio.As California Attorney General Rob Bonta investigated the migrants’ transportation, local officials and faith-based groups sought to provide housing, food and other resources to the more than three dozen new arrivals. Most are from Colombia and Venezuela, and California had not been their intended destination.California Gov. Gavin Newsom, meanwhil...