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Alaska lawmakers pass bill to keep gun shops open during disasters if other businesses are

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:08:53 GMT

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska lawmakers on Wednesday passed legislation that seeks to block state and local officials from closing gun stores during disasters declared by the governor, unless such closures apply to all other businesses. The bill, HB61, is a response to business closures in Alaska and other states during the pandemic, according to a statement from House Speaker Cathy Tilton, a Wasilla Republican and the bill’s sponsor. Several other states have adopted similar bills.The bill was one of the last debated by lawmakers in the waning days of the 121-day regular legislative session, which was set to end Wednesday. It was backed by the lobbying arm of the National Rifle Association and criticized as a “special rights” bill by state Sen. Jesse Kiehl, a Juneau Democrat. The measure passed the Senate 17-3 on Tuesday and was returned to the House for a concurrence vote. The House agreed 28-12 to pass the bill late Wednesday.Last year a federal appeals court panel ruled tha...

Asian stocks follow Wall St higher on hopes for US debt deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:08:53 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher on Thursday on hopes U.S. political leaders can reach agreement to avoid a potentially disastrous default on government debt.Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced. Oil prices edged lower.Wall Street rallied Wednesday after President Joe Biden expressed confidence “America will not default” despite lack of agreement on Republican demands for cuts in aid to poor families to pay for food, medical care and rent in exchange for raising the amount the government can borrow.“Markets are now fully pricing an in-time resolution of the crisis,” said Clifford Bennett of ACY Securities in a report. “No one wants to sell ahead of an announcement of a deal being made.”Speaker Kevin McCarthy of the House of Representatives said Tuesday the two sides were far apart but could reach a deal by the end of the week. The U.S. government will run out of cash if they don’t agree by June 1 to increase its borrowing limit.Any...

Wisconsin tribe to ask court to shut down oil pipeline

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:08:53 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Attorneys for a Wisconsin Native American tribe are set to argue Thursday that a federal judge should order an energy company to shut down an oil pipeline that the tribe says is at immediate risk of being exposed by erosion and rupturing on reservation land.The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa asked U.S. District Judge William Conley last week to issue an emergency ruling forcing Enbridge to shut down the Line 5 pipeline after large chunks of riverbank running alongside it were washed away by the river in northern Wisconsin.The tribe says less than 15 feet (4.6 meters) of land now stands between the Bad River and Line 5 in four locations on the reservation. In some places, more than 20 feet (6 meters) of riverbank has eroded in the past month alone. Experts and environmental advocates have warned in court that an exposed section of pipeline would be weakened and could rupture at any time, causing massive oil spills.Enbridge’s engineers contend that...

Biden to consult with Japan’s Kishida ahead of Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:08:53 GMT

HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday will open his visit to a Japan that has tightened its economic and national security alliance with the U.S. by meeting privately with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ahead of the larger Group of Seven summit. Kishida’s home city of Hiroshima will play host to the gathering of major industrialized nations. The setting of Hiroshima, where the U.S. dropped the first nuclear bomb in 1945 during World War II, carries newfound resonance as the U.S., Japan and their allies strategize on dealing with Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, said the Russian invasion looms large, and would be a significant conversation during the summit. “There will be discussions about the battlefield,” Sullivan said aboard Air Force One, stressing that the G-7 leaders would work to seal off any loopholes in sanctions so their effect can be maximized. “There’ll be discussions abou...

New Hampshire House voting on whether parents who ask must be told about transgender talk at school

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:08:53 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The national debate surrounding transgender students and parental rights returns to the New Hampshire Statehouse on Thursday.The House is set to vote on a bill to create a “Parents’ Bill of Rights” similar to those already enacted by Republican-led legislatures in multiple states. It passed the GOP-dominated Senate in March along party lines but faces an uncertain future in the 400-member House, where Republicans have a razor-thin majority.Much of the debate has focused on whether to require school officials — when asked by parents — to disclose that their child is using a different name or being referred to as being a different gender.“Parents who ask such questions likely already suspect that their children are having problematic issues in this area, so this bill is not an effort to ‘out’ such students,” Republican Rep. Arlene Quartatiello wrote in remarks printed in the House calendar ahead of the vote. “It is, rather, an effort to empower a partnership betwe...

US metros are growing, many reversing 2021 drops, new estimates show

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:08:53 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The flight from urban areas that took place during the first year of the pandemic either reversed or slowed in its second year, as last year metropolitan areas in Texas and Florida boomed and declines in New York and Los Angeles were halved, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.During the first full year of the pandemic in 2021, more than half of the 20 largest U.S. metro areas lost residents, and all U.S. metro areas grew by just 0.1%, as fear of the virus sent residents fleeing the most densely-populated urban areas and the popularity of remote work allowed people to live far from their workplaces.By comparison, only eight of the 20 largest metro areas decreased in 2022, and the growth rate for all U.S. metros was 0.4%. Among the largest U.S. metros that had gains in 2022 after experiencing losses in 2021 were Washington, Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Seattle, Minneapolis and San Diego, according to 2022 population estimates released Thursday by the...

‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ debuts Tuesday at the Cannes Film Festival

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:08:53 GMT

CANNES, France (AP) — Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford will swing into Cannes on Thursday for the world premiere of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” in one of the most anticipated events of the French Riviera festival.Ford, who has said “Dial of Destiny” will be his last performance as the character, is also set to receive an honorary Palme d’Or from the Cannes Film Festival. Last year, Cannes feted “Top Gun Maverick” and Tom Cruise in a similar manner. It’s not the first “Indiana Jones” film to premiere in Cannes. The fourth installment, “Indiana and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” launched at the 2008 edition of the festival. Critics and fans alike dismissed “Crystal Skull” as a misjudged sequel, though it still made $790 million worldwide. This time, “Dial of Destiny” is hoping to make a similar if not larger global impact without its famous filmmakers. The new film, which the Walt Disney Co. will release June 30 in the U.S., is the first “Indiana” film not di...

The pandemic widened gaps in reading. Can one teacher ‘do something about that’?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:08:53 GMT

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — Richard Evans makes his way through rows of his students in his third grade classroom, stooping to pick up an errant pencil and answering questions above the din of chairs sliding on hardwood floors. The desks, once spread apart to fight COVID-19, are back together. Masks cover just a couple of faces. But the pandemic maintains an unmistakable presence.Look no further than the blue horseshoe-shaped table in the back of the room where Evans calls a handful of students back for extra help in reading — a pivotal subject for third grade — at the end of each day.Here is where time lost to pandemic shutdowns and quarantines shows itself: in the students who are repeating this grade. In the little fingers slowly sliding beneath words sounded out one syllable at a time. In the teacher’s patient coaching through reading concepts usually mastered in first grade — letter “blends” like “ch” and “sh.” It is here, too, where Evans jots pluses and minuses and numbers on ...

Oil drilling project near mouth of Amazon River rejected by Brazil’s environmental regulator

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:08:53 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s environmental regulator has rejected a license for a controversial offshore oil drilling project near the mouth of the Amazon River that drew strong opposition from activists who warned of its potential for damaging the area. The agency’s president, Rodrigo Agostinho, highlighted environmental concerns in announcing the decision Wednesday evening to turn down the state-run oil company Petrobras’ request to drill the FZA-M-59 block. He cited “a group of technical inconsistencies” in the company’s application.With Brazil’s existing production set to peak in coming years, Petrobras has sought to secure more reserves off Brazil’s northern coast. The company earmarked almost half its five-year, $6 billion exploration budget for the area. CEO Jean Paul Prates had said that the first well would be temporary and that the company has never recorded a leak in offshore drilling. The company failed to convince the environmental agency.“Ther...

Northern, central Minnesota under another air quality alert as Canadian wildfire smoke returns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:08:53 GMT

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has issued another air quality alert for parts of northern and central Minnesota beginning at 10 p.m. Wednesday and continuing through noon Thursday due to drifting smoke from Canadian wildfires.Much of the same area was under an alert Tuesday. Southern Minnesota, including the Twin Cities, hasn’t been covered by the alerts, but smoke has still filtered into the atmosphere over the region.Counties include Aitkin, Becker, Beltrami, Big Stone, Cass, Clay, Clearwater, Crow Wing, Douglas, Grant, Hubbard, Itasca, Kittson, Koochiching, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Morrison, Norman, Otter Tail, Pennington, Polk, Pope, Red Lake, Roseau, St. Louis County, Stevens, Todd, Traverse, Wadena and Wilkin.To reduce additional air pollutants, open burning is not allowed, and campfires are discouraged during the alert period. Additional counties may have burning restrictions in place due to high fire danger levels. For up-to-date information on fire dan...