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Arson likely caused fire that damaged vital artery of Los Angeles freeway, governor says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:53 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Arson likely caused a massive weekend fire that has indefinitely closed a vital section of a freeway in Los Angeles, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday. The columns of Interstate 10 were charred and chipped, guardrails along the deck were left twisted and blackened, and crews shored up the most damaged section for the safety of workers clearing the debris. It’s still unclear what structural damage, if any, the blaze caused to the freeway. Newsom did not say whether there were any suspects or persons of interest.Engineers were assessing the situation Monday. The freeway is used by 300,000 vehicles daily and the closure is expected to be felt well beyond the city, including possibly slowing the transport of goods from the twin ports of LA and Long Beach, federal officials have said. The ports are among the nation’s largest and handle more than half the goods coming into the U.S. President Joe Biden had been briefed on the fire that erupted Saturday.Los Angeles...

Jill Biden hosts tea for female faith leaders and others, including South Carolina prayer partner

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden hosted a White House listening session on Monday with about 60 female faith leaders, community leaders and others, including the South Carolina pastor’s wife whom she credits with helping restore her faith in God after the Bidens’ son Beau died of cancer in 2015. The first lady said she sought Robin Jackson’s help assembling the group “so that I could learn what’s on your minds, and what’s on your hearts.”Jackson’s husband is pastor of Brookland Baptist Church in West Columbia, where the women met when Joe Biden visited in 2019 as he campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination. South Carolina is the state that helped set Joe Biden on the path to becoming the nominee in 2020, a feat he hopes to replicate next year as a candidate for reelection. Jill Biden discussed her faith journey during a visit to the church in 2021.But in the Blue Room of the White House on Monday, after the women were treated to a T...

South Dakota hotel owner sued for race discrimination to apologize and step down

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:53 GMT

A South Dakota woman who said she would ban Native Americans from her hotel cannot manage the establishment for four years and must publicly apologize under agreement with the U.S. Justice Department. The federal agency announced the apology last week as part of a consent decree with owners of Rapid City’s Grand Gateway Hotel.Hotel co-owner Connie Uhre in March 2022 posted on social media that she would no longer allow American Indians on the property because of a fatal shooting at the hotel involving two teenagers who police said were Native American.“We will no long(er) allow any Native American(s) on (our) property,” Uhre wrote in a Facebook post, while offering a “very special” hotel rate to travelers and ranchers. Members of the Indigenous-led activist group NDN Collective were denied hotel rooms shortly after Uhre’s posts.After months of boycotts and protests against the hotel and its owners, the Justice Department stepped in and sued, alleging racial discrimination agai...

Legal action is sought against Arizona breeding company after 260 small animals were fed to reptiles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:53 GMT

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Two humane societies are considering legal action against an Arizona breeding company after as many as 260 small animals that were supposed to be placed for adoption were instead frozen and fed to reptiles at a metro Phoenix farm.“I’m heartbroken for our organization whose mission it is to protect and save animals,” Humane Society of Southern Arizona board chair Robert Garcia said at a news conference last week.Garcia, who is a Tucson attorney, didn’t immediately return a phone call Monday seeking an update on the situation.But on the society’s website, Garcia said the breeder clearly intended “to use these animals as feed instead of finding them adoptive homes.”Garcia said he wants to “ensure this tragedy never happens again and that those who are responsible are held accountable.”Authorities said that due to overcrowding, the San Diego Humane Society asked the southern Arizona nonprofit chapter in July for help with finding homes for a large group of “pocket p...

Northwest Territories to hold election today delayed by wildfire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:53 GMT

YELLOWKNIFE — Residents of the Northwest Territories are heading to the polls today, more than a month after the election was originally set to be held.The election had been scheduled for Oct. 3, but was delayed because of a wildfire season that saw about 70 per cent of the territory’s population under evacuation order.Legislature members voted unanimously to delay the election during a late August session held in the town of Inuvik, with the capital Yellowknife and its roughly 20,000 residents still under an evacuation order at the time.Premier Caroline Cochrane announced in September that she wasn’t running for re-election.Sixteen seats are being contested, while three candidates have been acclaimed.After the vote, the 19 legislature members will elect a premier, six other cabinet members and Speaker from their own ranks.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2023.The Canadian Press

Native American tribes fight US over a proposed $10B renewable energy transmission line

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:53 GMT

Work on a $10 billion project that will funnel renewable energy across the West has come to a halt in southwestern Arizona, with Native American tribes saying the federal government has ignored concerns about effects that the SunZia transmission line will have on religious and cultural sites.Federal land managers temporarily suspended work on the SunZia transmission project along a 50-mile (80-kilometer) segment last week after the Tohono O’odham Nation asked for immediate intervention, saying bulldozers were clearing a stretch of the San Pedro Valley and that one or more historic site were demolished. The tribe was joined in their plea by the San Carlos Apache Tribe and archaeologists. Zuni Pueblo in neighboring New Mexico and other tribes in the Southwestern U.S. also have raised concerns, saying the area holds cultural and historical significance for them as well.The letter includes a photograph of an area where desert scrub was cleared in preparation to build pads for transmissi...

Video purports to show Israeli-Russian researcher kidnapped in Iraq

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A video broadcast on an Iraqi television station and circulated on pro-Iranian social media Monday purported to show an Israeli-Russian researcher who was allegedly kidnapped in Iraq, the first sign of life since her disappearance nearly eight months ago.No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Elizabeth Tsurkov. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this year that she was being held by the powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataeb Hezbollah.The Associated Press could not verify the authenticity of the video released Monday. In it, Tsurkov speaks in Hebrew with Arabic subtitles, calling for efforts to secure her release and for an end to the war in Gaza, indicating the video was made after the surprise Hamas attack in Israel on Oct. 7.Videos of prisoners meant to document a proof-of-life often include statements coerced by captors or statements otherwise made under duress.A spokesperson for Tsurkov’s family said in a statement: “It...

White House hoping Biden-Xi meeting brings progress on military communications, fentanyl fight

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials expressed hope Monday that this week’s highly anticipated face-to-face meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will produce some concrete results, including the possible reestablishment of military communication between the two nations and a shared effort to combat illicit fentanyl trafficking. The two leaders will meet Wednesday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco. The Biden-Xi bilateral will be the marquee moment of the forum, which is dedicated to promoting trade, investment and economic development among nations around the Pacific Ocean. Biden and Xi have not spoken in a year. Their last meeting was at the Group of 20 summit in Indonesia last fall. And since then, tensions between the two nations have grown following a series of events touched off by the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon that had wafted across the U.S. earlier this year. The frosty relationship ...

'He was a light of sunshine:' Chicago firefighter dies after battling fire in Lincoln Park

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:53 GMT

CHICAGO — A procession was held on Monday afternoon for a Chicago firefighter who died after battling a blaze that broke out at a tavern in the city's Lincoln Park neighborhood on Monday morning. Fire officials confirmed his death in a post on X on Monday morning and said in part: "On behalf of the Fire Commissioner, it is my sad duty to report the passing of our member injured this morning at 2430 Lincoln.The firefighter, who has been identified as 39-year-old Andrew Price, joined the department in March 2009 and was assigned to Truck 44 in 2015.  FDA approves first vaccine for mosquito-borne disease — and more Price, who would have turned 40 in January, was known as "Drew" by co-workers who described him as a health nut who loved his job. Fire officials say the blaze broke out around 5:30 a.m. in the kitchen of the Lincoln Station Bar and Grill in the 2400 block of Lincoln Avenue."Our apartment was filled with smoke and we heard the alarms going off," Kaitlyn Mill...

Long-stalled Navy Pier marina gets green light

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:53 GMT

CHICAGO — Seven years after the Chicago City Council first approved plans for a marina next to Navy Pier, the long-stalled project appears ready to set sail.“I couldn’t be happier,” said developer Randy Podolsky. Podolsky sued former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration accusing the city of illegally blocking the project, which was approved by everyone from aldermen to the Army Corps of Engineers. Lightfoot’s team said it had security concerns since the marina would be near the Jardine water treatment plant, which provides fresh drinking water to millions of people. Podolsky countered that boaters can currently get close to the water plant’s south side and the infamous Lake Michigan party spot known as the “playpen” is just north of the water facility.  Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration has now settled the lawsuit and agreed to issue the required permits with some minor changes, Podolsky tells WGN Investigates.When asked ...