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Cooperation of lawmakers questionable following audit announcement

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:59:35 GMT

State Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s nearly unprecedented announcement that her office has begun an audit of the state Legislature is not being met with applause.“Under the Massachusetts Constitution and as the separation of powers clause dictates, the Senate is required to manage its own business and set its own rules,” a spokesperson for Senate President Karen Spilka told the Herald.On Tuesday, DiZoglio, in keeping with a long-standing campaign commitment, announced the Office of the State Auditor had begun an audit of the House and Senate.“As I committed, my office has begun an audit of the state Legislature. We hope this will increase transparency, accountability and equity in an area of state government that has been completely ignored,” the former state Senator from Methuen said in a statement announcing the audit.According to DiZoglio, the last time her office conducted an audit of the Legislature’s procedures and practices was in 1922, while Massachusetts “ranks as one...

Ticker: When the shoe don’t fit; Feds launch Tesla investigations

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:59:35 GMT

Adidas is still wrestling with how to dispose of $1.3 billion worth of Yeezy shoes after its breakup with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. The split forced the German sportswear maker into a big loss at the end of last year and expectations of more pain ahead.The company’s CEO said Wednesday that selling the popular line of shoes would mean paying royalties to Ye. He says destroying them could raise “sustainability issues,” while restitching them for resale “is not very honest.” Donating them would likely mean a resurgence of the shoes “so that’s not really an option.” The breakup helped drive the company to a net loss of 513 million euros in the fourth quarter.Feds launch Tesla investigationsU.S. safety regulators are turning up the heat on Tesla, announcing investigations into steering wheels coming off some SUVs and a fatal crash involving a Tesla suspected of using an automated driving system when it hit a parked firetruck.The National Highway Traffic S...

Snowstorm will miss Massachusetts, but meteorologists ‘keeping a close eye’ on another potential storm

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:59:35 GMT

The Bay State will be dodging a winter storm bullet this weekend, but before spring celebrations begin, there’s a chance that another storm with heavy wet snow could arrive here early next week.The National Weather Service is closely watching the next potential winter storm that might hit Massachusetts in the Monday to Wednesday timeframe.“We’re keeping a close eye on that,” Kyle Pederson, meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Boston office, told the Herald on Wednesday. “The European/Canadian models have a stronger storm tracking right over us, leaving us with a lot of snow in some areas.“The American/GFS is weaker,” he added about the different forecast models. “There’s still a high uncertainty on the track, and mixed precipitation could become an issue… This far out, it’s nearly impossible to figure out.”Early forecast models had shown the potential for a potent storm to impact the region this...

From the Archives: The last World War I ace remembered

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:59:35 GMT

Arthur Raymond Brooks was a hero of World War I and a gracious man. I think of him almost every day.I’m a journalist to my core and I owe a weekly “From the Archives” report today (sorry for being late), so I’ll share my story of Arthur.He’s now being honored by his hometown of Framingham by being inducted into the city’s hall of fame, posthumously of course. The ceremony will take place on April 28.I interviewed Lt. Arthur Raymond Brooks a year before he died in 1990. If you go to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, he told me then, you could see his biplane hanging from the rafters. I wonder if it’s still there. Tens of thousands of people must have seen his plane over the years.Arthur was the nation’s last surviving World War I ace when I interviewed him over the phone one November day. He told me he could still recall seeing the beard of a feared German pilot from the cockpit of his biplane during World War I.“I was trying ...

Federal protection granted for imperiled freshwater mussels

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:59:35 GMT

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Federal regulators designated two U.S. freshwater mussels as threatened on Wednesday, a further sign of trouble for native mollusks that help cleanse waters by filtering out pollutants as they feed.The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it was granting protection to longsolid and round hickorynut mussels, which have declined in many Eastern and Midwestern streams.The primary cause is habitat damage from urban sprawl, farming, oil and gas development, pipelines and mining. Other factors include competition from nonnative mussels and rising stream temperatures linked to climate change.“Both of these mussels have suffered proverbial deaths from a thousand cuts,” said Gary Peeples, deputy supervisor of the agency’s field office in Asheville, North Carolina. “A lot of little things have added up.”Flourishing mussel populations signal healthy streams, he said. North America is a historical showcase of mussel diversity, hosting about 300 of the world̵...

Women’s Day measures by Brazil’s Lula take aim at setbacks

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:59:35 GMT

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced measures Wednesday seeking to promote and protect women after years of setbacks in their causes blamed in part on a rise in far-right forces.At a ceremony in the capital, Brasilia, Lula presented a package of over 25 measures, the most significant of which is a bill that would guarantee equal pay for women and men who perform the same jobs. He also announced plans to spend 372 million reais ($72 million) to build domestic violence shelters and 100 million reais ($19 million ) for science projects led by women.The president has expressed his indebtedness for the votes of women who helped him beat incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 election. And on Wednesday he blamed his predecessor for policy decisions that harmed Brazilian women.“The previous government lacked respect when it opted for the destruction of public policies, cut essential budgetary resources and tacitly motivated violence against women,” said the...

First Nations chiefs criticize Alberta premier’s oilsands tailings spill comments

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:59:35 GMT

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is minimizing the effect of two large releases of oilsands tailings water, two area First Nations leaders said Wednesday.Meanwhile, Environment Canada confirmed the Alberta government didn’t pass along news of the spill. The federal agency, which is investigating the spill, released a timeline saying the department first learned of the releases from First Nations. Earlier this week, Smith said the release of at least 5.3 million litres of toxic tailings from Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine had no effect on local waterways or wildlife. She also blamed Imperial for slow communications on the releases, which resulted in “misinformation” being spread.“I don’t really know why she would say that,” said Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaro of the Mikisew Cree First Nation, which is downstream of the releases. Its members also harvest on land adjacent to them.“I truly believe it’s too early to be definite. (Smith’s) com...

Panama reaches 20-year deal with Canadian copper mine

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:59:35 GMT

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Panama’s government announced Wednesday that it reached an agreement with a local subsidiary of a Canadian mining company that will allow it to operate for 20 years more.The government had ordered the company to cease operations at its huge open pit copper mine in December, after it failed to sign a new contract outlining substantially higher payments.Minera Panama, a subsidiary of Canada’s First Quantum Minerals Ltd., is the largest private investment in the history of Panama. It employs thousands and accounts directly and indirectly for some 3% of Panama’s gross domestic product. Panama expects to receive $375 million per year in royalty, tax or transfer payments under the new deal, President Laurentino Cortizo’s office said in a statement.That would be 10 times more than the payments under the old deal, which was signed in the late 1990s. The government said the new deal also includes more labor and environmental protection.The agreement can be extended for ano...

‘An emerging threat’: Rising concern about lithium-ion batteries safety amid increase in fires

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:59:35 GMT

As the City of New York continues to deal with the aftermath of a five-alarm fire in the Bronx that officials said was caused by a lithium-ion battery, it’s part of a growing trend of fires caused by batteries that are being seen in Toronto too.On Sunday, New York City Fire Department (FDNY) crews were called to a plaza on after officials said a battery on an e-scooter exploded. They said it took less than five minutes for the building to be engulfed in flames. It’s not clear why exactly the battery exploded.Seven people were injured and several businesses were destroyed, prompting demands for action, additional regulation and education.“This is an emerging threat here in New York City. We have seen a quadrupling in e-bike fires just in the last few months alone. We are incredibly concerned about the damage they can cause, the loss of life that it can cause, and the danger it faces our first responders,” Laura Kavanagh, the FDNY’s fire commissioner, told repo...

FAA says technology will help avoid some dangerous landings

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:59:35 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal officials said Wednesday they have completed outfitting 43 major U.S. airports with technology to warn when incoming planes are aimed at a taxiway instead of a runway.The Federal Aviation Administration said the system’s software predicts when a plane is lined up to land on a taxiway and sends an alert to air-traffic controllers.None of the recent close calls between planes have involved aircraft lined up incorrectly to land on a taxiway, but that type of error nearly resulted in disaster at San Francisco International Airport in 2017.The National Transportation Safety Board recommended the technology change after the San Francisco incident in which an Air Canada jet nearly crashed into four other planes on a taxiway at night. The safety board also recommended that the FAA require planes landing at major airports have systems to alert pilots if they are not lined up with a runway. The FAA said it is still considering that recommendation. Commercial pl...