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Boston councilors can’t agree on taking down Mass and Cass tents

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:34 GMT

A majority of the Boston City Council expressed concerns or outright opposition to the mayor’s proposed anti-encampment ordinance for Mass and Cass during a Thursday hearing, placing Michelle Wu’s plan for the troubled area in jeopardy.While most councilors agreed that the tents should be taken down, the opposition ranged from doubts about whether an ordinance to remove them was necessary to the legalities of a measure some felt criminalizes homelessness to skepticism about an approach that was characterized as putting housing before treatment.Only two councilors, Sharon Durkan and Ruthzee Louijeune, indicated that they would be voting in favor of the ordinance, which would give police the authority to remove tents and tarps on Methadone Mile, provided that individuals are offered housing and transportation to services.“I don’t feel like there’s any evidence that this is actually helping in the same way in which I believe other programs and other efforts that you have led in a very ...

Driver killed in North County wrong-way crash

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:34 GMT

VISTA, Calif. -- A driver was killed Thursday in a head-on crash in Vista, authorities said.The collision occurred around 7 a.m. in the 400 block of N. Melrose Drive, Sgt. Eric Cottrell with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO) said in a news release.Authorities say a driver in a Chevy was traveling northbound when the vehicle drifted into the southbound lane and collided with a Toyota.First responders arrived on scene and attempted lifesaving measures on the driver of the Chevy, but he died from his injuries, per SDSO. The Toyota driver, however, was not injured in the collision. Local youth football parents say assistant coach stole thousands from team Deputies shut down northbound and southbound traffic lanes between Copper Drive and Olive Avenue on N. Melrose Drive for several hours. It is unknown if driving under the influence was a factor in the crash.If anyone has any information about the collision, please call the San Diego County Sheriff's Department at (858)...

New California law raises minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour, among nation's highest

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:34 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A new law in California will raise the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour next year, an acknowledgment from the state's Democratic leaders that most of the often overlooked workforce are the primary earners for their low-income households.When it takes effect on April 1, fast food workers in California will have the highest guaranteed base salary in the industry. The state’s minimum wage for all other workers — $15.50 per hour — is already among the highest in the United States. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law Thursday amid a throng of cheering workers and labor leaders at an event in Los Angeles. Newsom dismissed the popular view that fast food jobs are meant for teenagers to have their first experience in the workforce.“That's a romanticized version of a world that doesn't exist,” Newsom said. “We have the opportunity to reward that contribution, reward that sacrifice and stabilize an industry.”Newsom’s signature reflects the p...

Suspects sought in deadly shooting near US-Mexico border fence

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:34 GMT

OTAY MESA, Calif. -- Authorities are asking for the public's help in locating four suspects in connection to a deadly shooting in Otay Mesa.According to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, Cal Fire San Diego firefighters located a man who had been shot near the base of the U.S.-Mexico border fence around 1:30 p.m. on Friday, July 28.Sheriff's deputies were called in to investigate the shooting. Top 8 San Diego area suburbs for first-time homeowners: study The victim's location was reported to be about three miles east of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. He told deputies that he and his friend had crossed into the U.S. through a gap in the border fence the night before, authorities explained.After crossing, the man says they were contacted by a group of four Hispanic men. The suspects reportedly asked the victim and his friend who they had paid to cross the border, SDSO explained further.When the victim informed the suspects they had not paid, he and his friend were alleged...

A man is shot and wounded as tempers flare in New Mexico over the statue of a Spanish conquistador

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:34 GMT

ESPANOLA, N.M. (AP) — Chaos erupted Thursday as a gunshot rang out during a protest in northern New Mexico where officials had planned to install a statue of Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate, an event that county officials had already postponed anticipating that tempers would flare.One man was struck by the gunfire and rushed to the hospital as Rio Arriba County sheriff’s officials took the suspected shooter, 23-year-old Ryan Martinez, into custody. Authorities said they were not currently seeking any other suspects in connection with the shooting.Oñate has been a controversial figure in New Mexico’s history for generations, with activists targeting the statue and other likenesses of the Spaniard for his oppressive and sometimes brutal treatment of Native Americans during his country’s conquest of what is now the Southwestern United States. Some Hispanics have pointed to the statue as a symbol of their heritage. Although the county had postponed the installation of the...

B.C. issues certificate for contentious Roberts Bank terminal expansion project

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:34 GMT

VICTORIA — The British Columbia government has issued an environmental assessment certificate for the contentious container port expansion project at Roberts Bank, saying the province “could not prohibit the project from going forward.”In a written statement, the government says the three-berth marine container terminal in Delta, B.C., south of Vancouver, rests almost entirely on federal land.With the project gaining approval from the federal government in April, the province says it has decided to issue the certificate with requirements to safeguard provincial interests.The government has set out 16 conditions to offset adverse effects the expansion will have on the area, including a wetland management plan, a wildlife management plan and a greenhouse-gas reduction plan for emissions. The province says it is aware that two parties are asking for a judicial review of the federal decision to approve the expansion, but B.C.’s ministers decided to issue the certificat...

Seattle cop who made callous remarks after Indian woman’s death has been administratively reassigned

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:34 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle police officer and union leader under investigation for laughing and making callous remarks about the death of a woman from India who was struck by a police SUV has been taken off patrol duty, police said.The Seattle Police Department confirmed Thursday that traffic Officer Daniel Auderer “has been administratively reassigned to a non-operational position,” The Seattle Times reported. The reassignment information comes a week after one police watchdog group called for Auderer to be suspended without pay. It wasn’t immediately clear when Auderer was taken off traffic duty and reassigned. Auderer, who is vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, has been under investigation since a recording from his body camera was released that depicts him laughing and joking during a phone call with union President Mike Solan. The call happened in the hours after another officer, Kevin Dave, in his police SUV struck and killed 23-year-old student Jaah...

Jury acquits delivery driver of main charge in shooting of YouTube prankster

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:34 GMT

LEESBURG, Va. (AP) — A jury on Thursday found a delivery driver not guilty in the shooting of a YouTube prankster who followed him around a mall food court earlier this year.Alan Colie, 31, was acquitted of aggravated malicious wounding in the shooting of Tanner Cook, 21, who runs the “Classified Goons” YouTube channel.The jury was split though on two lesser firearms counts, and decided to convict him on one and acquit him on the other. The April 2 shooting at the food court in Dulles Town Center, about 45 minutes west of the nation’s capital, set off panic as shoppers fled what they feared to be a mass shooting. Colie pleaded not guilty and said he was acting in self defense. The verdict came Thursday after about five hours of deliberation. Three hours in, the jury sent out a note saying it was “divided in terms of whether the defendant acted in self defense.”Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Snow called the jury back into the courtroom around 3:30 p.m. and urged them to c...

Louisiana citrus farmers are seeing a mass influx of salt water that could threaten seedlings

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:34 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Commercial citrus growers have dwindled over the past few decades in south Louisiana, where farmers have had to battle hurricanes, flooding, invasive insects, freezes and drought to keep their groves alive. The latest hurdle comes from a slow-moving threat — a mass influx of salt water from the Gulf of Mexico that is creeping up the drought-stricken Mississippi River. Not only is the saltwater intrusion threatening drinking water supplies for communities, but it can also kill citrus seedlings. The issue is forcing farmers to brainstorm other ways to irrigate their crops with fresh water — including storing the little rain water they’ve gotten this summer, hauling in fresh water and establishing makeshift salination treatment facilities. Some are looking into whether they can afford, let alone get their hands on, an expensive reverse-osmosis machine. “They’re going to have something up their sleeve. They know how to survive, but there’s no getting around how d...

As migration surges in Americas, ‘funds simply aren’t there’ for humanitarian response, UN says

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:34 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Countries in the Americas are reeling as the flow of migrants reaches historic levels, but international “funds simply aren’t there” for humanitarian needs, a United Nations official said.Ugochi Daniels, deputy director of operations for the International Organization for Migration, said a larger and coordinated regional effort is necessary for a longer term solution to the steady movement of vulnerable people toward the United States. But other global crises — among them the war in Ukraine, conflict in Sudan, Morocco’s earthquake — have pulled global funds away, Daniels said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press.The U.N. estimated that this year through August, it needed $55.2 billion to take on compounding global crises, but it received funds for only 71% of that.A growing number of countries like Panama and Costa Rica are pleading for international aid in handling the flood of migrants, though Daniels would not say who should pay the tab.“Obviousl...