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Prosecution rests at Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:20:26 GMT

By PAUL J. WEBER and JAKE BLEIBERG (Associated Press)AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A woman who was expected to testify about an extramarital affair with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton made a sudden appearance Wednesday at his impeachment trial, but never took the stand as the prosecutors abruptly rested their case against the Republican.The affair is central to the historic proceedings and accusations that Paxton misused his power to help Austin real estate developer Nate Paul, who was under FBI investigation and employed the woman, Laura Olson. One of the 16 articles of impeachment against Paxton alleges that Paul’s hiring of Olson amounted to a bribe. Olson was called to take the stand Wednesday morning in the Texas Senate and waited outside the chamber. But her testimony was delayed for hours before Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is acting as the trial’s judge, said toward the end of the day that Olson would not testify after all. He provided no further explanation but sai...

Federal judge again declares that DACA is illegal with issue likely to be decided by Supreme Court

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:20:26 GMT

By JUAN A. LOZANO (Associated Press)HOUSTON (AP) — While a federal judge on Wednesday declared illegal a revised version of a federal policy that prevents the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, he declined to order an immediate end to the program and the protections it offers to recipients. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen agreed with Texas and eight other states suing to stop the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. The judge’s ruling was ultimately expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, sending the program’s fate before the high court for a third time.“While sympathetic to the predicament of DACA recipients and their families, this Court has expressed its concerns about the legality of the program for some time,” Hanen wrote in his 40-page ruling. “The solution for these deficiencies lies with the legislature, not the executive or judicial branches. Congress, for a...

MassDOT addresses toxic lead paint chips falling from Tobin Bridge in Chelsea

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:20:26 GMT

Environmental advocates in Chelsea say they are seeing less toxic lead paint chips fall to the ground from the Tobin Bridge due to mitigation efforts the Massachusetts Department of Transportation put into place after hearing calls for action.A temporary netting, installed in July, has been catching chips, and frequent vacuuming has collected the flakes that fall to the ground. Inspections are also being conducted weekly.These strategies are in place as MassDOT has its eyes on a much larger project that would clean the 2-mile bridge, which carries traffic over the Mystic River between Boston and Chelsea, and remove its decades-old paint with new coatings.The project, estimated to last up to four years and cost $127.9 million, would also repair more than 75-year-old bridge’s steel and concrete.MassDOT’s Capital Programs Committee on Wednesday approved moving the project to the agency’s Board of Directors, which is scheduled to meet next week.GreenRoots, a community-based environmenta...

Advocates push Massachusetts lawmakers to act on tax cuts

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:20:26 GMT

A new report by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation points to huge post-pandemic jumps in state revenue before urging the Legislature to use the time left in the year to finally get their act together on tax cuts.A pair of tax reform bills were passed by either chamber long before lawmakers went home for their August recess, but the conference committee working to merge the differing proposals has yet to show any sign lawmakers are moving closer to a compromised piece of legislation.Last year, a move to cut taxes by then-Gov. Charlie Baker was stopped short in the same committee.According to the MTF, the waiting routine is getting kind of old.“Tax relief has been at the top of the Beacon Hill agenda for 20 months since Governor Baker kicked off discussions with his proposal in January of last year. In that time, the plan has been expanded and improved in light of increasing competitiveness and cost concerns that pose a real threat to the state’s economic outlook,” the group wrote...

Battenfeld: Boston voters resoundingly reject unethical behavior [+election chart]

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:20:26 GMT

Voters in Boston resoundingly rejected two scandal-scarred City Council candidates but not necessarily the super woke progressive policies they espoused.What the preliminary election showed was that voters will tolerate some extreme left positions but not repeated above-the-law behavior exhibited by defeated incumbents Kendra Lara and Ricardo Arroyo.Lara and Arroyo, both proudly progressive, made history Tuesday night as the first incumbents toppled in a city preliminary election in four decades – not an easy feat.But it was their personal behavior that sank them, not their devotion to bike lanes, a fossil fuel ban and racial equity.Boston, one of the bluest and most reliably liberal cities in the country, didn’t suddenly become un-woke overnight. This was not a realignment.This was also not a repudiation of liberal Mayor Michelle Wu – in fact she showed her endorsement power by helping Enrique Pepen win one of the two finalist slots in District 5.Pepen was the leading vote-getter i...

Former suburban Detroit prosecutor gets no additional jail time in sentence on corruption charges

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:20:26 GMT

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A former Detroit-area prosecutor will serve no additional time behind bars after he was sentenced Wednesday on corruption charges that he embezzled more than $600,000 from drug and drunken driving forfeiture funds.A Michigan State Police investigation found former Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith used the funds to throw parties, buy gifts and install a personal home security system.Smith, 56, accepted a plea bargain from Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in which pleaded guilty to official misconduct, tampering with evidence and conspiracy to commit forgery while seven other counts against him were dropped. Smith apologized in court “for spending these drunk driving forfeiture funds as I did.” This sentence was ordered to be served concurrently with a 21-month federal sentence Smith already has served after pleading guilty to attempting to obstruct justice. Smith also was sentenced to four years of probation, a fine of $8,000, forfeiture of his pub...

Delaware man gets 7 1/2-year federal term in carjacking of congresswoman’s SUV in Philadelphia

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:20:26 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Delaware man has been sentenced to 7 1/2 years in federal prison in the carjacking of a U.S. congresswoman’s sport utility vehicle in a Philadelphia park almost two years ago.Josiah Brown, 21, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, a Democrat, was walking to her parked car after a meeting in south Philadelphia’s FDR Park shortly before 3 p.m. on Dec. 22, 2021, when Brown and another person demanded her keys, police said. She handed them over, and one drove off in the car while the other followed in a dark sport utility vehicle, police said.Brown, then 19, said he didn’t know who the congresswoman was and his weapon was unloaded. He also didn’t know that the vehicle had a tracker that quickly led authorities to his Wilmington home. He and four juveniles were arrested at nearby Christiana Fashion Center in Newark, Delaware, about 45 miles (74 kilometers) from Phila...

B.C. aware of dike problems before destructive flooding in 2021, documents show

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:20:26 GMT

Officials with the British Columbia government and the City of Merritt were aware of significant problems with dikes for several years before a series of atmospheric rivers flooded the community, documents released through a freedom of information request show.The documents obtained by the B.C. office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives show a registered professional engineer found numerous problems in 2018 with dikes protecting the community in the province’s southern Interior. The engineer, Aaron Hahn with the B.C.-based consulting company Interior Dams, reiterated the same concerns in2019, 2020and in June 2021, just five months before the flooding that forced more than 7,000 people out of their homes.Dike maintenance is the responsibility of local authorities, but the B.C. government provides regulatory oversight through the Ministry of Forests.At a news conference about B.C.’s wildfire, drought and flood conditions Wednesday, Forests Minister Bruce Ralston...

A timeline of the E. coli outbreak linked to Calgary daycares and a central kitchen

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:20:26 GMT

CALGARY — More than 300 people, mostly children, have been infected in an E. coli outbreak linked to 11 daycares in Calgary. Twenty-one children are in hospital. Seven are on dialysis, which is a treatment for kidney failure. Here’s a timeline of key developments in the outbreak:Aug. 31 to Sept. 3: Patients start showing up with gastrointestinal illnesses at various hospitals across Calgary, including Alberta Children’s Hospital. Symptoms of E. coli typically appear three to four days after exposure, but can appear as early as one day after exposure to more than a week later.Some parents believe their children were infected on or around Aug. 29. Meatloaf, fresh vegetables and fruit are listed on the online menu for that day.Sept. 3: Fueling Brains says on its website that it has been notified by Alberta Health Services of a potential E. coli outbreak and is working with health officials to investigate the source. It says it has sent a note to families and closed its dayc...

‘Needle in a haystack’: Experts say finding daycare E. coli outbreak source complex

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:20:26 GMT

CALGARY — Public health investigators and scientists in Alberta are working like detectives — interviewing people, gathering evidence and waiting for lab test results — to find out what caused a massive E. coli outbreak at several daycares.“Just like a criminal investigation, the idea is the same,” said Siyun Wang, an associate professor of food safety engineering at the University of British Columbia.“If you find the same DNA fingerprinting in the crime scene and on the suspect, then that’s the most straightforward link — the smoking gun.”But Wang and other experts say definitive answers may be hard to come by.As of Wednesday, there have been 310 lab-confirmed cases of the bacterial infection since the outbreak at 11 Calgary daycares was declared Sept. 4.Twenty-one children were still in hospital, with 20 having hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication affecting the blood and kidneys. Seven patients were on dialysis at Alberta Children’s Hospita...