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Proposed merger of New Mexico, Connecticut energy companies ends; deal valued at more than $4.3B

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:46 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Officials with New Mexico’s largest electric utility said Tuesday that a proposed multibillion-dollar merger with a U.S. subsidiary of global energy giant Iberdrola has ended.Under the proposal, Connecticut-based Avangrid would have acquired PNM Resources and its two utilities — Public Service Co. of New Mexico and Texas New Mexico Power.The all-cash transaction was valued at more than $4.3 billion and would have opened the door for Iberdrola and Avangrid in a state where more wind and solar power could be generated and exported to larger markets.“We are greatly disappointed with Avangrid’s decision to terminate the merger agreement and its proposed benefits to our customers and communities,” PNM president and CEO Pat Vincent-Collawn said in a statement.PNM officials previously said the proposed multimillion-dollar merger with Avangrid would have helped create jobs, serve utility customers and boost energy efficiency projects in New Mexico.They said being ba...

North Carolina presidential primary candidates have been finalized; a Trump challenge is on appeal

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:46 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s election board finalized on Tuesday the candidates for the state’s March 5 presidential primaries, leaving President Joe Biden as the lone Democrat for the job on ballots and former President Donald Trump among the Republican competitors. The five-member State Board of Elections voted unanimously to stick with the candidate lists provided by the state’s Democratic, Republican and Libertarian parties last month. The board had given initial approval to those names at its Dec. 19 meeting, when members also agreed to reconvene Tuesday to consider additional names before ballots are printed.Board officials said that five additional people had unsuccessfully asked to join the presidential primaries. They included U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, author Marianne Williamson and media personality Cenk Uygur for the Democrats and Jill Stein for the Green Party. A board attorney said Tuesday it was unclear which primary another person, Luis Lavin...

Business group urges Ottawa to start charm offensive on trade ahead of U.S. election

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:46 GMT

OTTAWA — The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is calling on Ottawa to conduct another NAFTA-style charm offensive to defend Canada’s trade interests in the U.S. ahead of November’s presidential election.The group represents businesses of various sizes across Canada, and says now is the time for a co-ordinated outreach campaign by the federal, provincial and municipal governments to protect cross-border trade.That campaign would involve private businesses and aim to convince Americans that Canada is a boon to the U.S. economy, ahead of the scheduled review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement in 2026.The chamber says that Washington has been treating its relationship with Canada as transactional, and it argues the looming election will only encourage politicians to propose more protectionist policies that would sideline Canada.When former president Donald Trump threatened to end the NAFTA agreement that had governed U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico since 1994, Ottawa...

Calgary home sales outpace long-term trends in 2023 as migration fuels demand

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:46 GMT

CALGARY — The Calgary Real Estate Board says the city saw 1,366 home sales in December, a 13.8 per cent increase compared with the same month a year earlier as the number of homes that changed hands in 2023 outpaced long-term trends and activity prior to the pandemic.There were 1,248 newly listed units last month, up 21 per cent compared with December 2022, but the board says housing demand remained relatively high thanks to strong migration levels as inventory declined 2.5 per cent.CREB chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie says supply levels were low compared to demand throughout 2023, resulting in stronger than expected price growth.The unadjusted home benchmark price at the end of the year stood at $570,100, down around $2,600 from the previous month, but 10.4 per cent higher than December 2022.The board says the detached market saw the most significant decline in sales activity in 2023 at nearly 20 per cent.Apartment-style properties were the only type to report an annual sales gain,...

Montreal organization may have to stop feeding homeless for first time since 1877

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:46 GMT

Montreal’s oldest organization serving people without housing says it can no longer afford to serve meals on weekends.Accueil Bonneau, which operates a soup kitchen and provides other services in Old Montreal, says it will stop its weekend meals this Saturday.It says that if an agreement isn’t reached with the province to increase funding, it will have to stop serving meals completely in February.The organization, which was founded in 1877, says it provides meals to around 400 people every day.Lionel Carmant, Quebec’s minister responsible for social services, is scheduled to meet with the organization Wednesday. A spokesman for Carmant says that the minister has been communicating with Accueil Bonneau about the situation and that $50,000 in emergency funding has already been provided.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2024.The Canadian Press

Amber Alert for baby girl believed abducted by mother in Montreal

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:46 GMT

Montreal police have triggered an Amber Alert for a baby girl gone missing from a home in the city earlier today.Police say one-year-old Zeynab Cherrabi El Alaoui was allegedly abducted by her 18-year-old mother, Miryanna Monterrosa-Laberge.The child was reported missing from a home in the Montreal borough of Lachine at about 9:25 a.m.Monterrosa-Laberge is described as 5 feet 3 inches tall and 120 pounds, with a scar on her left lip and her forehead, while the baby girl was wearing a light pink neck warmer with a pink and white unicorn on it.Const. Jean-Pierre Brabant says police don’t have any information about a vehicle in this case.Police are asking anyone with information to call 911.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2024.The Canadian Press

Gunman breaks into Colorado Supreme Court building, holds guard at gunpoint

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:46 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — A man leaving the scene of a car wreck early Tuesday morning shot his way into the Colorado Supreme Court building and inflicted “extensive damage” to the building before being arrested by police, authorities said, adding the incident seems unrelated to the court's recent ruling banning former President Donald Trump from the ballot.Colorado's justices have received threats ever since they ruled 4-3 last month that a rarely-used constitutional provision barring from office those who “engaged in insurrection” applies to Trump. Authorities, however, said Tuesday's incident appears unrelated to that case. Trump is expected to appeal that ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court later Tuesday.“The CSP and DPD are treating this incident seriously, but at this time, it is believed that this is not associated with previous threats to the Colorado Supreme Court Justices,” the Colorado State Patrol said in a statement said, using the acronyms for the state patrol a...

Snoop Dogg joins NBC's Paris Olympics team

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:46 GMT

(The Hill) - Snoop Dogg’s got his mind on the Olympics and the Olympics on his mind — the rapper is poised to offer his “unique take” with a series of reports for NBC at this summer’s Olympics.The “Gin and Juice” rapper will be “on site in Paris to provide regular reports” at the July Olympic games, NBC announced on Sunday.Rapper Snoop Dogg arrives at the premiere of the FX docuseries "Dear Mama," Tuesday, April 18, 2023, at The Ted Mann Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)The coverage by the 52-year-old performer, who was born Calvin Broadus, will highlight “what’s happening in Paris,” the network said.He’ll “explore the city’s iconic landmarks, attend Olympic competitions and events, and visit with the athletes, their friends, and families,” according to a news release.“I grew up watching the Olympics and am thrilled to see the incredible athletes bring their A-game to Paris,” Snoop Dogg said in a statement.“We’re going to have some amazing competitions and, of course...

Voter data expert hired by Trump campaign says 2020 election was not stolen

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:46 GMT

(The Hill) - Ken Block, whom the Trump campaign hired in 2020 to find voter fraud in the election, penned an op-ed Tuesday stating unequivocally that the 2020 presidential election was not stolen and that there was no evidence of voter fraud sufficient to change the outcome of the election.“Can a steady diet of lies and innuendo overcome the truth?” the USA Today op-ed began. “In November 2020, former President Donald Trump asserted that voter fraud had altered the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. The day after the election, his campaign hired an expert in voter data to attempt to prove Trump’s allegations and put him back in the White House.”“I am the expert who was hired by the Trump campaign,” Block wrote.Former President Donald Trump speaks after exiting the courtroom for a break at New York Supreme Court, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)Block, who owns Simpatico Software Systems, said his company’s findings were comm...

$34 million winning lottery ticket sold at Austin H-E-B

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:04:46 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- An H-E-B shopper topped off their 2023 in arguably the best way possible over the weekend after buying a winning lottery ticket. The ticket made its buyer $34 million richer. It was sold at the H-E-B on Village Center Drive, according to the Texas Lottery website. It matched all six winning numbers drawn on Dec. 30, which were: 6, 7, 23, 34, 37, 50. Almost 2,000 Texans have won more than $1 million in state lottery history The winner opted for a cash value option, the website said, which means they took home one lump sum cash prize rather than several payments. In the last month, two other winning lottery tickets worth more than $1 million have been claimed in Austin. One of the winners brought home $3 million after claiming a top prize in the Texas Lottery scratch ticket game “$750 Million Winner’s Circle," while the other claimed $2 million from a winning Texas Powerball ticket.