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Judge threatens to dismiss lawsuit from Arkansas attorney general in prisons dispute

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:44 GMT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas judge on Tuesday threatened to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the state’s attorney general against the Corrections Board that he would normally represent, the latest in a widening legal fight between the panel and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders over prisons.Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox on Tuesday criticized Attorney General Tim Griffin for filing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Board of Corrections without arranging for a special counsel to represent the panel in the case. The judge said he’ll dismiss the lawsuit in 30 days if Griffin doesn’t reach an agreement with the board on a special counsel. Griffin has accused the panel of violating the law when it hired an outside attorney in its dispute with Sanders over who runs the state prison system.“The case, at this juncture, from a procedural standpoint, is that the attorney general has sued his own clients, in violation of his duties and responsibilities mandat...

McCombs family rejoining Spurs ownership group 30 years after patriarch sells franchise

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:44 GMT

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The McCombs family has purchased a share of the San Antonio Spurs, returning after 30 years to the organization their patriarch helped establish and once owned.Billy Joe “Red” McCombs owned at least a share of the Spurs for 11 years and was the team’s primary owner for five years. McCombs, who died on Feb. 19 at age 95 after a lengthy illness, was a driving force in bringing the franchise to San Antonio in 1973.“Red, Charline and the entire McCombs family mean so much to the Spurs and San Antonio,” said Peter J. Holt, Spurs Sports & Entertainment managing partner. “To see the McCombs family come full circle and officially welcome them back into our investor group is beyond special. Red was a visionary whose bold work shaped San Antonio and put us on the global map. The McCombs family is continuing his legacy and together with our entire investor group, we are committed to seeing the Spurs and this great city thrive.”The size of the investment was not revealed....

Odds of another rate hike have fallen, BoC governing council agreed as it held rate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:44 GMT

OTTAWA — The odds of another rate hike have decreased, the Bank of Canada’s governing council agreed during its discussions ahead of its most recent interest rate decision.The Bank of Canada released its summary of deliberations for the Dec. 6 interest rate decision Wednesday, revealing the governing council felt more optimistic about the country’s inflation outlook and found “recent data pointed in the right direction.”“Members agreed that the likelihood that monetary policy was sufficiently restrictive to achieve the inflation target had increased,” the summary says.Recent data showed the economic slowdown is being driven by a pullback in spending, which the central bank is relying on to bring inflation down.  The central bank opted to hold its key interest rate steady earlier this month for a third time in a row, as forecasters widely expect its next move will be to cut interest rates sometime next year. Its key rate currently sits at five per ...

Challengers attack Georgia’s redrawn congressional and legislative districts in court hearing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:44 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — The people who successfully sued to overturn Georgia’s congressional and state legislative districts told a federal judge on Wednesday that new plans Republican state lawmakers claim will cure illegal vote dilution should be rejected.The plaintiffs argued before U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in an hourslong hearing in Atlanta that the new maps don’t increase opportunities for Black voters to elect their chosen candidates. They also said they do not remedy vote dilution in the particular areas of suburban Atlanta that a trial earlier this year had focused on.“The state of Georgia is playing games,” lawyer Abha Khanna said of the new maps. “We’re going to make you chase us all over the state from district to district to achieve an equal opportunity for Black voters. It’s a constant game of whack-a-mole.”But an attorney for the state argued that lawmakers added the Black-majority districts that Jones ordered in October, including one in Congress, two ...

Federal agency wants to fine Wisconsin sawmill $1.4 million for violations found after teen’s death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:44 GMT

FLORENCE, Wis. (AP) — A federal agency wants to fine a northern Wisconsin sawmill more than $1 million after inspectors said they found “egregious” violations at the site following a June accident that killed a teenage worker.The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Tuesday that it proposed fining Florence Hardwoods LLC $1.4 million for numerous violations of federal safety and health regulations, including for “the most serious violations the agency issues.”Florence Hardwoods previously agreed to pay nearly $191,000 and stop hiring children under the age of 16 to settle a federal lawsuit labor regulators filed against the mill, which is in northern Wisconsin along the border with Michigan.That lawsuit was filed after 16-year-old Michael Schuls died July 1, two days after he was injured at the sawmill, where other child employees were also injured in a string of accidents.“It is incomprehensible how the owners of this company could have such disregard for the saf...

New lawsuit against the US by protesters alleges negligence, battery in 2020 clashes in Oregon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:44 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Protesters who were injured by federal law enforcement officers in Portland more than three years ago have filed a new lawsuit alleging negligence and battery.In July 2020, “the federal government unleashed unprecedented and sustained violence and intimidation on the people of Portland,” the lawsuit states. Protesters after that filed lawsuits against the Trump administration, federal law enforcement agencies and individual officers, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. Many of the lawsuits relied on a type of claim that the U.S. Supreme Court has since gutted.Tuesday’s lawsuit raises similar issues and involves the same injured protesters but was filed under a different federal legal theory, said David Sugerman, one of the attorneys involved.Thousands of protesters in Portland took to the streets in 2020 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, part of a wave of protests nationally. The protesters in Portland at times clashed with police, and milita...

Pedestrian dies 10 days after being struck by vehicle in North York

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:44 GMT

A pedestrian who was struck by a vehicle while walking in North York on Dec. 9 has died in hospital, police said in an update on Wednesday.Emergency crews were called to the Epsom Downs Drive and William Cragg Drive area for reports of a pedestrian struck at around 8:42 p.m.A black BMW sedan was reportedly travelling eastbound on Epsom Downs Drive when it struck a pedestrian who was walking.The pedestrian was transported to Sunnybrook Hospital with life-threatening injuries.Police say the person passed away in hospital on Tuesday, Dec. 19.The investigation is ongoing and there’s no word on potential charges at this point.With files from Hayley McGoldrick

No charges in B.C. 2022 Christmas Eve bus crash that left 4 dead

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:44 GMT

VICTORIA — The British Columbia Prosecution Service says there will be no charges stemming from a bus crash on an icy highway in the province’s Interior last Christmas Eve that killed four people. Service spokesman Dan McLaughlin says it reached the decision after the Crown counsel assessing the allegations concluded that the standard for charges had not been met.The prosecution service guideline says in order for charges to be approved, there must be a “substantial likelihood of conviction” based on the strength of the evidence as well as the public interest being served in a prosecution.The crash of the bus operated by Alberta-based Ebus happened on Highway 97C, the Okanagan Connector, east of Merritt, when the bus went off the road and flipped on its side. Police said extremely icy road conditions caused the rollover, with driving conditions described as “very poor with ice and snow on the road surface along with rain and hail falling.”Four of the 40...

Rome court convicts far-right activists for storming union offices to oppose COVID vaccine passes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:44 GMT

MILAN (AP) — A court in Rome convicted the leader of a far-right party and six other far-right activists Wednesday for rampaging through the headquarters of Italy’s most powerful labor confederation during an October 2021 protest against COVID-19 certification requirements for workplaces.Roberto Fiore, leader of the Forza Nuova, or New Force, party, was found guilty of resisting public officials, instigation to delinquency and an aggravated charge of causing devastation. He received a prison sentence of 8 1/2 years.His convicted co-defendants were sentenced to terms ranging from eight years and two months to eight years and seven months. All had denied the charges, describing the protest as peaceful and joyful. Prosecutors presented testimony to the contrary from numerous law enforcement officers as well as video evidence.An Associated Press report at the time said that 10,000 opponents of a government decree requiring vaccine certificates to return to work turned out in Rome’s vast...

Federal regulators give more time to complete gas pipeline extension in Virginia, North Carolina

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:44 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The builders of a proposed natural gas pipeline that will enter North Carolina from Virginia now have another 2 1/2 years to complete the project after federal regulators pushed back a deadline for the work.The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved on Tuesday a request by owners of the proposed 75-mile (121-kilometer) Southgate extension of the Mountain Valley Pipeline to allow for more time for construction, news outlets reported.According to the previous FERC certificate, the project was supposed to be built and in service six months ago. But permitting problems in North Carolina and Virginia amid legal challenges to the larger Mountain Valley Pipeline meant the owners missed the deadline.Now, with the FERC’s order, the owners have until June 2026 to complete the MVP Southgate project and bring it into service. More permits still must be secured for construction to occur.The owners of the project, which includes a consortium of natural gas and energy c...