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Boston City Council passes rent control, BPDA reform

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

Mayor Michelle Wu’s major priorities of rent control and BPDA reform are on track to head up to Beacon Hill after the Boston City Council passed them today.The council approved both rent control and reform of the Boston Planning & Development Agency by 11-2 counts.The body approved both in what’s essentially the versions submitted by Wu, so she’s expected to sign them. Once that ink’s dry, both bills then head to the state house, where they need the approval of both chambers of the Legislature and then the governor’s signature.“This is a monumental act by the city of Boston,” Government Operations Chair Ricardo Arroyo said as he recommended passage of the rent-control bill.These are two of Wu’s top priorities — topics she ran on in her 2021 mayoral campaign and also touted in her State of the City speech in January as she laid out her priorities for the year.The rent-control bill would cap year-over-year rent increases at 6% plus consumer price index increases, to a ...

Driver killed after striking tree head-on in rural East County

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A driver was killed after striking a tree head-on in Pine Valley on Wednesday morning, Cal Fire San Diego confirmed to FOX 5. A man was allegedly traveling at a high rate of speed on Old Highway 80 shortly before 6 a.m. when for unknown reasons he left the roadway and crashed in a large tree stump, officials said. Man killed in two-vehicle crash identified The incident occurred in front of Pine Valley Middle School.Cal Fire said responding crews pulled the man out the vehicle and performed lifesaving measures; however, his death was pronounced at the scene.The victim's identity has not been released at this time, but officials described him as a middle-aged man who is possibly from Chula Vista.There were no other injuries reported in relation to this incident.

Jarvis Collegiate Institute locked down after reports of person with a gun

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

A high school in downtown Toronto is under lockdown as police investigate reports of a gun on school property.Police were called to Jarvis Collegiate Institute at Jarvis and Wellesley streets just after 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.No injuries have been reported.More to comePERSON WITH A GUN:Jarvis St + Wellesley St East1:34 p.m.– At Jarvis Collegiate Institute– Police are on scene investigating reports of a firearm on school property– No reports of any injuries– Anyone w/info contact police @TPS51Div#GO527385^lb— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) March 8, 2023Jarvis Collegiate Institute is currently in Lockdown due to a police investigation in the immediate area.— Toronto District School Board (@tdsb) March 8, 2023

Veterans testify of ‘catastrophic’ impact of Afghan collapse

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Active-service members and veterans provided first-hand testimony Wednesday about the implications of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, describing in harrowing and explicit detail the trauma experienced on the ground while imploring Congress to help the allies left behind. The initial hearing of a long-promised investigation by House Republicans displayed the open wounds from the end of America’s longest war in August 2021, with witnesses recalling how they saw mothers carrying dead babies and the Taliban shooting and brutally beating people. Former Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews testified to Congress about the stench of human flesh under a large plume of smoke as the screams of children, women and men filled the space around Kabul’s airport after two suicide bombers attacked crowds of Afghans. “I see the faces of all of those we could not save, those we left behind,” Vargas-Andrews, who wore a prosthetic arm and scars of his own grave wounds from the...

Michigan Democrats move quickly to repeal right-to-work

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s Democratic-led Legislature moved Wednesday to repeal the state’s “right-to-work” law that was passed more than a decade ago when Republicans controlled the Statehouse.Repealing the law, which prohibits public and private unions from requiring that nonunion employees pay union dues even if the union bargains on their behalf, has been a top priority for Democrats since they took full control of the state government this year. Party leaders announced Tuesday that they planned bring the repeal to a vote in the state House on Wednesday.The state House is also expected to vote Wednesday on restoring the state’s prevailing wage law, which requires contractors hired for state projects to pay union-level wages. The House Labor Committee advanced the bills early Wednesday along party lines.Supporters and opponents of the bills packed the main committee room and three overflow areas. The committee allowed just over an hour of testimony, predom...

Kentucky lawmakers advance bill to legalize sports wagering

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Supporters of legalizing sports wagering in Kentucky cleared a first hurdle Wednesday, winning approval from a House panel in their latest quest to regulate and tax the activity.Republican Rep. Michael Meredith, the bill’s lead sponsor, said it’s aimed at “taking an industry that exists in darkness and in the shadows and legitimizing it, legalizing it and regulating it.”The measure won strong bipartisan support in sailing through the House Licensing, Occupations and Administrative Regulations Committee. It represented the bill’s first sign of progress, coming on the 22nd day of this year’s 30-day legislative session.Past efforts to legalize sports betting in the Bluegrass State garnered House support but died in the Senate. It’s a reflection of how divisive gambling is in the state that’s home to Churchill Downs, where the Kentucky Derby is run. Republicans have supermajorities in both chambers.David Walls, executive director of Th...

DeSantis’ new Disney World board hints at future controversy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — The first meeting of the new board of Walt Disney World’s government — overhauled by sweeping legislation signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis as punishment for Disney publicly challenging Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill — dealt with the rote affairs any other municipal government would handle: calls for better firefighter equipment, lessons on public records requests and bond ratings.But the five board members appointed by DeSantis hinted Wednesday at future controversial actions they may take, including prohibiting COVID-19 restrictions at Disney World and recommending the elimination of two cities that were created after the Florida Legislature in 1967 approved the theme park resort’s self-governance.The board also approved hiring the same law firm that advised the governor’s office in making changes to the governing district to help interpret the new legislation.For the most part, the new board members listened in a hote...

As bourbon booms, thirst for rare brands breeds skullduggery

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Buttery, smooth, oaky. These are characteristics of the best bourbons, and a growing cult of aficionados is willing to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars to get their hands on scarce American spirits — and even bend or break laws.The first challenge is figuring out which liquor stores have these premium bottles on their shelves – and that’s where inside knowledge can give bourbon hunters a leg up, and potentially get them into legal trouble.In Oregon, several high-ranking officials at the state’s liquor regulating agency are under criminal investigation after an internal probe found they used their influence to obtain scarce bourbons. That included the holy grail for bourbon fanatics: Pappy Van Winkle 23-year-old, which can sell for tens of thousands of dollars on resale markets. Top-end bourbons have found themselves at the center of criminal investigations in at least three other states, from Virginia to Pennsylvania to Kentucky.Premium spirits were alway...

Pennsylvania lawmaker quits amid sex harassment allegations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania state lawmaker submitted his resignation letter Wednesday, a week after a union lobbyist accused him by name of having sexually harassed her four years ago.Democratic Rep. Mike Zabel of Delaware County said in the letter to Democratic Speaker Joanna McClinton that his resignation will take effect March 16, leaving enough time for her to order that the vacancy be filled during the May primary.“The toll is just too great on my family, and was too detrimental to my well-being. I need to focus on what matters,” Zabel said in a brief phone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, shortly before sending the resignation letter. McClinton and other Democratic leaders issued a statement saying he had “chosen to do what is best for his family, the people he represents, and the state House of Representatives.” His district office will remain open, they said.“Allegations of this nature are impossible to litigate in a public forum,” Zabel wrote in a...

Gun dealer to pay $150K to Kansas City to settle suit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:30 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City has reached a settlement with one of the gun dealers it accused in a lawsuit of contributing to surging violence in the region by ignoring evidence that firearms were being sold illegally.Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said in a statement Wednesday that the settlement is “an important step in reducing the flow of illegal guns into our city.”The lawsuit filed in 2020 alleged that gun trafficking creates a public nuisance in Kansas City, which has one of the highest homicide rates in the U.S.The city was joined in the lawsuit by gun safety advocates Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, which touted the suit as the first of its kind against the gun industry in more than a decade.Under the settlement, CR Sales Firearms in Independence will be required to pay $150,000 in damages to the city through its insurer. It also will face extra monitoring and be required to train staff on how to identify a straw purchase, which is when someone who can legally...