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Texas Capitol jolted by investigation of attorney general, accusation House speaker was drunk on job

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:45 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas lawmakers revealed Tuesday a monthslong corruption investigation into Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, going public with the probe shortly after Paxton accused the GOP House speaker of being drunk on the job.Hours after Paxton’s claim, House Speaker Dade Phelan announced the House General Investigating Committee has been looking into “alleged illegal conduct” by Paxton, who is already under FBI investigation over accusations of corruption by former staff. Phelan brushed off Paxton’s allegation as a desperate attempt “to save face.”Both jolted the Texas Capitol near the frantic end of a legislative session that has again laid bare the raw divisions between Republicans who control every level of power in the state goverment.At stake for Paxton in the final days of the session is whether lawmakers will approve using $3.3 million in taxpayer dollars to settle a lawsuit brought by the attorney general’s accusers. Paxton, who...

Typhoon Mawar closes in on Guam as residents shelter, military sends away ships

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:45 GMT

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Residents stockpiled supplies, battened down windows and abandoned wood and tin homes for emergency shelters as Guam was buffeted by rains and winds Wednesday from Typhoon Mawar, the strongest storm to approach the U.S. Pacific territory in decades.The U.S. military sent away ships, President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration and anyone not living in a concrete house was urged to seek safety elsewhere ahead of the typhoon, which was forecast to arrive as a Category 4 storm but could possibly strengthen to a Category 5. The last Category 5 to make a direct hit in Guam was Super Typhoon Karen in 1962. Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said on social media that the emergency declaration will support the mobilization of resources into Guam, which is “especially crucial given our distance from the continental U.S.” Guerrero ordered residents of coastal, low-lying and flood-prone areas of the territory of over 150,000 people to evacuate to higher elevations.Federa...

Brazil builds ‘rings of carbon dioxide’ to simulate climate change in the Amazon

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:45 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — In the depths of the Amazon, Brazil is building an otherworldly structure — a complex of towers arrayed in six rings, poised to spray mists of carbon dioxide into the rainforest. But the reason is utterly terrestrial: to understand how the world’s largest tropical forest responds to climate change.Dubbed AmazonFACE, the project will probe the forest’s remarkable ability to sequester carbon dioxide — an essential piece in the puzzle of world climate change. This will help scientists understand whether the region has a tipping point that could throw it into a state of irreversible decline. Such a feared event, also known as the Amazon forest dieback, would transform the world’s most biodiverse forest into a drier savannah-like landscape.FACE stands for Free Air CO2 Enrichment. This technology first developed by Brookhaven National Laboratory, located near New York City, has the ability to modify the surrounding environment of growing plants in a way that replicat...

Protesters cut short questioning of San Francisco mayor over drug crisis

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:45 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Protesters cut short a rare outdoor meeting of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Tuesday where the board president had planned to question Mayor London Breed on her administration’s response to the crisis of brazen open-air drug dealing. Board President Aaron Peskin moved the first part of the board’s weekly meeting to a plaza in the troubled Tenderloin neighborhood near City Hall, where rampant dealing and drug use take place. He asked the mayor if she would commit to setting up an emergency operations center and coordinate departments to shut down “public drug dealing” in open sites such as in the plaza within 90 days. But heckling and chants of “no more cops” from the large crowd were so loud that Peskin moved the meeting back to City Hall before the mayor could answer. Breed did not answer Peskin’s question directly after the meeting reconvened indoors.The fentanyl crisis has hit all of California, including San Francisco. In April, Gov. Gav...

Michigan man gets community service for shooting anti-abortion campaigner

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:45 GMT

IONIA, Mich. (AP) — A western Michigan man who pleaded no contest to shooting an 84-year-old woman campaigning against abortion rights at his home was sentenced to community service Tuesday.Richard Harvey, 75, was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service. Judge Suzanne Hoseth Kreeger also gave him a suspended jail sentence of two months and a delayed sentence of one year on probation.Harvey pleaded no contest last month to felonious assault, careless discharge of a firearm causing injury and reckless discharge of a firearm.Kreeger also must pay $347.19 in restitution and cannot have any contact with the woman he shot, 84-year-old Joan Jacobson. Jacobson was shot Sept. 20 at Harvey’s home in Odessa Township, a community about 130 miles (210 kilometers) northwest of Detroit. Jacobson told investigators that she was asking a woman at the home to vote against a proposed constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right to abortion in the state when she was told to leave....

Texas sues Biden administration over asylum rule, saying phone app encourages illegal immigration

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:45 GMT

The state of Texas is suing the Biden administration in an attempt to have a newly-introduced asylum rule thrown out, saying a phone app used by migrants to set up appointments at the border to seek entry into the United States is encouraging illegal immigration.The lawsuit filed Tuesday is the latest legal salvo attacking various aspects of the administration’s plan to manage migration in the aftermath of the end of a key pandemic-era immigration regulation called Title 42.In the lawsuit, Texas argues that the asylum rule encourages the use of a cellphone app — called CBP One — for migrants who don’t have proper documentation to make an appointments to come to a port of entry and seek entry into the United States.Texas argues the Biden administration is essentially encouraging people to come to the U.S. even though they don’t have legal basis to stay. “The Biden Administration deliberately conceived of this phone app with the goal of illegally pre-approving more f...

Brazilians protest outside Spanish consulate after Vinicius Júnior’s racism row

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:45 GMT

SAO PAULO (AP) — About 100 Brazilian protestors gathered outside the Spanish consulate in Sao Paulo on Tuesday to condemn the racist abuse of Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior in Spain’s top-flight soccer league.The protesters chanted “La Liga is racist” and “end with racism in Spain and in Brazil” for about an hour. They brought flares, banners and stickers that read “Vini Jr, I am with you.” They projected the words “it is not soccer, it is racism” onto the walls of the consulate.Vinícius, who is Black, has been subjected to repeated racist taunts since he arrived in Spain five years ago. Since the Spanish league season began in September, he has experienced racist abuse by fans of at least five rival teams. Former soccer player Claudia Rodrigues, 51, one of the organizers of the protest, said the idea was not to bring thousands of people to the consulate, which sits in one of Sao Paulo’s wealthiest regions, but to act quickly and show the Spanish goverment it needs to act...

Bill to restrict youth access to ‘sexually explicit’ public library books advances in Louisiana

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:45 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Activists in Louisiana are voicing concerns over a bill advancing through the GOP-controlled Legislature to restrict children and teens’ access to public library books deemed “sexually explicit,” saying the proposal could be used to target LGBTQ+ content.Around the country this year, lawmakers have debated banning gender-affirming care for minors, restricting bathroom access of transgender students and determining what shouldn’t be discussed in school curriculums. Now, legislators are facing questions about what material should be accessible in public and school libraries, often focusing on books with LGBTQ+ themes. Louisiana’ s bill, which advanced out of a legislative committee Tuesday and is headed to the full House for debate and possible final passage, would require public libraries to create a card system that would prevent children from checking out “sexually explicit material” unless they have parental approval. Additionally, the bil...

Durham police say child, 3, has drowned in Ajax

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:45 GMT

A three-year-old child is dead after drowning in Ajax on Tuesday, police confirm.Durham Regional Police officers responded to a drowning call in the Rossland Road West and Harwood Avenue area.The child, whose gender was not revealed, was pronounced dead at hospital.“At this time we are requesting privacy for the family,” police said. “Our thoughts are with the family and all emergency personnel.”No further details were immediately available.More to come

The most popular college majors aren't the highest-paying – these degrees are, study finds

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:45 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – When it comes to choosing a major in college, a recent study found that there are sizable differences in pay depending on the field of study.The HEA Group, founded by Michael Itzkowitz, a former Education Department official under Obama, compared Department of Education data and looked at average salary numbers four years after students graduated with an undergraduate degree."We hope our data remains helpful for those considering college. It’s important that wherever students attend—and whatever field of study they choose to pursue—they leave knowing it was worth it," Itzkowitz tweeted.The study found that some of the most popular college bachelor's degrees don't always lead to high-paying jobs. A Washington Post report found that nearly two in five U.S. college grads regretted their choice of majors, with that number nearly half for those in the humanities or arts. The most common undergraduate degrees awarded in Illinois In fact, only three of the top ten most popula...