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Supreme Court limits federal power over wetlands, boosts property rights over clean water

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:29 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday made it harder for the federal government to police water pollution in a decision that strips protections from wetlands that are isolated from larger bodies of water.It’s the second decision in as many years in which a conservative majority of the court narrowed the reach of environmental regulations. The justices boosted property rights over concerns about clean water in a ruling in favor of an Idaho couple who sought to build a house near Priest Lake in the state’s panhandle. They objected when federal officials identified a soggy portion of the property as a wetlands that required them to get a permit before building.By a 5-4 vote, the court said that wetlands can only be regulated if they have a “continuous surface connection” to larger, regulated bodies of water.The court jettisoned the 17-year-old opinion by their former colleague, Anthony Kennedy, that allowed regulation of wetlands that have a “significant nexus” to the l...

Steve Bannon’s trial in ‘We Build the Wall’ scheme set for May 2024

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:29 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Steve Bannon, the conservative strategist and longtime all of Donald Trump, will stand trial next May on charges that he duped donors who gave money to build a wall along the U.S. southern border, a judge said Thursday.Bannon’s trial in the “We Build the Wall” case will start May 27, 2024, right after the former president is scheduled to stand trial in the same Manhattan courtroom in an unrelated criminal case.Bannon, 69, pleaded not guilty last September following his indictment on state money laundering, conspiracy, fraud and other charges. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg took up the case after Bannon’s federal prosecution was cut short by a Trump pardon.Bannon is accused of falsely promising donors that all money given to the We Build the Wall campaign would go toward building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Instead, prosecutors allege that the money was used to enrich Bannon and others involved in the project.Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato pleaded...

Housing crisis remains in Kentucky’s poor Appalachia region after flood waters recede

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:29 GMT

JACKSON, Ky. (AP) — Shirley Howard’s feet splashed into nearly a foot of water when she stepped out of bed on a summer morning last July amid a torrential rainfall. A devastating flood swallowing up Kentucky’s Appalachian region had reached her bedroom in the night. The family grabbed their dogs and fled their brick bungalow in Jackson as the water eventually rose to the ceiling.Ten months later, they still haven’t returned home. Howard, her husband, son and their three dogs, Maisey, Charlie and Lilly, have been living in a cramped trailer provided by the state. At least 100 other families are living in trailers and hundreds more remain displaced, living with relatives or in damaged homes while they rebuild. “I am so dying to go home every day,” the 65-year-old Howard said. Howard’s house and nearly 9,000 others in 13 counties were severely damaged or destroyed by the intense four-day storm that dumped up to 16 inches of rain in eastern Kentucky. The fast-rising waters s...

Struggling to return to the office? You’re not alone, new study shows

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:29 GMT

A new study is highlighting the dynamic of Canadians returning to the office and the struggles of getting back to what was once the norm for workers.A global study by Unispace found that employers are having difficulty convincing their people to work from the office but are overlooking a willingness from employees to return in a four-day working week.According to the data, aptly named Returning for Good, a Unispace Global Workplace Insights report, half of Canadian workers are in the office four or more days a week, but only 31 per cent like being in the workplace regularly.The research was conducted between April 3, 2023, and April 14, 2023. The survey included 9,500 employees and 6,650 business leaders from across 17 countries.Employers and workers appear to be at odds, study showsIn a traditional office setting, the report found that 41 per cent of employees currently “hot-desk” or share a workstation with other employees. Of those surveyed, 79 per cent indicated they...

One of Rwanda’s most wanted genocide suspects arrested in South Africa after 22 years on run

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:29 GMT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — One of the most wanted suspects in Rwanda’s genocide, a police officer suspected of orchestrating the killing of more than 2,000 people at a church nearly three decades ago, has been arrested in South Africa after 22 years on the run, a special tribunal set up by the United Nations to find the perpetrators said Thursday.The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) said Fulgence Kayishema was arrested Wednesday at a vineyard in Paarl, a small town in a wine-making region about 30 miles east of Cape Town.Kayishema, who is believed to be in his early 60s, had assumed a false identity and gone by the name Donatien Nibashumba, South African police said. He was captured in a joint operation by the tribunal’s fugitive tracking team and South African authorities, the tribunal said, following an investigation that had tracked him across several African countries, including Mozambique and Eswatini, since his indictment in 2001....

Roma striker Tammy Abraham on racism in soccer: ‘These things hurt people’

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:29 GMT

ROME (AP) — Before it was Vinícius Júnior in Spain, it was Romelu Lukaku in Italy. And Mario Balotelli. And Kevin-Prince Boateng. And countless others.Whoever it is, the damages from fan racism go far beyond the soccer field, Roma striker Tammy Abraham said Thursday.“It’s only a small minority of people but a small minority of people can affect somebody’s life,” said Abraham, who grew up in England as the son of Nigerian parents. “We are more than just footballers; we’re humans as well. We do have feelings, so these things hurt people.“We might not show it — or we cannot show it on the pitch — but these things do affect us,” Abraham added at Roma’s media day ahead of the Europa League final. “These things need to stop. … It’s a small minority of silly people that need to change.”Repeated insults against Vinícius, a Brazilian forward who plays for Real Madrid, have unleashed a heated debate about racism in Spain.Lukaku has also been subjected to discriminatory chants on numerou...

3 dead after attack in central Japan; suspect with rifle and knife holed up in building

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:29 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Three people including two police officers were killed in Nagano in central Japan on Thursday and a suspect with a rifle and knife was holed up inside a building, police said.A witness told NHK public television that a woman fell while being chased by the suspect, who then stabbed her with a knife and shot at two police officers as they arrived at the scene in a patrol car in Nakano city in Nagano prefecture.The witness said he asked the suspect why he attacked her, and he replied that he wanted to kill her, NHK said.The three victims were taken to a nearby hospital, where they were later pronounced dead, police said. A fourth person who was injured could not be rescued because he was near the suspect, Kyodo News agency reported. Video on NHK showed police wearing bulletproof vests and carrying shields, with an ambulance nearby. The area is in a quiet farming neighborhood. Police described the suspect as a man wearing a camouflage outfit, a hat, a mask and sunglasses, K...

Connecticut has issued 521 X gender marker driver's licenses since 2020

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:29 GMT

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- Since allowing residents to pick a third option, 521 people in Connecticut have been issued driver's licenses bearing the gender marker "X," the state DMV confirmed. "We're lucky to be in a state like Connecticut where driver's licenses will now identify you as either M, F or X, for nonbinary," said Lenny Courtemanche, the director of global prevention, outreach and advocacy at Health Care Advocates International.The state started offering the nonbinary gender option on licenses in 2020. Courtemanche said it has "made a huge change" in the lives of those who have received the new licenses. Twenty-two states plus Washington, D.C. have similar laws in place, allowing residents to choose an X gender marker on birth certificates, licenses and other forms of ID. ‘Wake up America’: California governor responds to Target removing some LGBTQ merchandise Connecticut also recently raised the transgender Pride flag over the state capitol in honor of Transgender Day...

Seeing double? Two sets of twins among co-valedictorians

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:29 GMT

DAVIESS COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO) -- We've all heard the saying "sharing is caring," which is often applied to the relationships we have with our siblings. But what about sharing one of the highest honors you can get in high school -- with your twin? That is exactly what's happening at North Daviess Jr/Sr High School in Daviess County, Indiana.Seniors Lance and Logan Wilson will be graduating Friday as valedictorians. “All the way through elementary, Mom always told us that if we didn’t have straight A's, we couldn’t play basketball. We knew that really wasn’t going to be the case and she’d let us play anyway, but we still wanted to motivate ourselves and get straight A’s,” Logan Wilson said. But wait, there's another set of twins as well. North Daviess seniors Madylin and Marydith Borders will share the title of valedictorian with the Wilson twins and two other non-twin students -- Kristy Knepp and Brycen Skinner -- making the total six students.“Our older sister, Aubrey, also got it, an...

Goodbye, Colonials: George Washington University announces new nickname following student pressure

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:03:29 GMT

(The Hill) – George Washington University has selected “Revolutionaries” as its new moniker, after the school decided to scrap its former team nickname — Colonials — under growing student pressure.The new nickname, announced Wednesday, will take effect starting in the 2023-2024 academic year.Since making the decision to replace the school's Colonials nickname last year, University officials said they received 47,000 points of feedback and 8,000 moniker suggestions, according to a press release. The school’s trustees ultimately approved the new moniker among four finalists proposed by a committee of students, faculty, staff and alumni. NBC’s Chuck Todd, an alumnus of the school, announced that “Revolutionaries” would be replacing the “Colonials” in a video posted by the university.  “This is an exciting day for the George Washington University Revolutionaries," University President Mark Wrighton said in a statement, adding that the moniker "broadly reflects our community — and o...