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Texas GOP Wants Citizens to Stop Migrants. Critics Say It’s a “Vigilante Death Squads Policy.”

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:52 GMT

Dade Phelan, the Republican speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, sounded mostly triumphant delivering speech at a right-wing think tank in Austin earlier this month. “Eleven-hundred people come here every single day,” the fourth-generation real estate developer told a friendly audience at the Texas Public Policy Foundation as he laid out his party’s objectives in the final weeks of the state’s legislative session.“They’re voting with their feet,” Phelan said of the newcomers. “They know we’re a conservative state. They know we value the Second Amendment. They know we value life, and they know we value religious liberty.” These people are “fleeing states like California, New Jersey, New York, and Illinois for a very good reason,” the speaker argued, because Texas is “the land of opportunity.”The news wasn’t all good though. The promise of opportunity had consequences, which would require a stiff response from the state’s residents. “In southeast Texas we care about four thi...

Fairfax County zoning revamp thrown out by Virginia Supreme Court, citing virtual meeting

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:52 GMT

This article was written by WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.The Virginia Supreme Court has voided a massive zoning modernization plan approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2021 because the board’s approval occurred during a virtual meeting.The court’s ruling, issued Thursday, could call into question scores of routine decisions made by local governing bodies during the first 15 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of those bodies met virtually, rather than in person, as is required by Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act.Four Fairfax County residents — David Berry, Carol A. Hawn, Helen H. Webb and Adrienne A. Whyte — challenged the Board of Supervisors’ decision in March 2021 to update and modernize the county’s zoning ordinance, a process known as zMOD. The new ordinance, which replaced one that had been in place since 1978, bec...

Jonsson Workwear Open Scores

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:52 GMT

ThursdayAt The Club at Steyn CityJohannesburgPurse: $1.5 millionYardage: 7,716; Par: 72First RoundMartin Vorster, South Africa34-30—64Darren Fichardt, South Africa33-31—64Hennie O’Kennedy, South Africa31-34—65Sebastian Soderberg, Sweden31-34—65Nick Bachem, Germany33-32—65Joakim Lagergren, Sweden33-32—65Gavin Green, Malaysia34-32—66Niklas Norgaard Moller, Denmark34-32—66Martin Simonsen, Denmark33-33—66Ewen Ferguson, Scotland34-32—66Aaron Cockerill, Canada33-33—66George Coetzee, South Africa33-33—66Calum Hill, Scotland32-34—66Jayden Trey Schaper, South Africa33-33—66Julien Brun, France34-33—67Joost Luiten, Netherlands32-35—67Wilco Nienaber, South Africa34-33—67Daniel Van Tonder, South Africa33-34—67Trevor Fisher, South Africa34-33—67Benjamin Follett-Smith, Zimbabwe33-34—67Mikko Korhonen, Finland33-34—67Andy Sullivan, England33-34—67Daniel Gavins, England36-31—67Paul Waring, England32-35—67Hurly Long, Germany34-33—67Sami Valimaki, Finland35-32—67Nicolai Von Dellingshausen, German...

Jonsson Workwear Open Par Scores

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:52 GMT

ThursdayAt The Club at Steyn CityJohannesburgPurse: $1.5 millionYardage: 7,716; Par: 72First RoundMartin Vorster, South Africa34-30—64-8Darren Fichardt, South Africa33-31—64-8Hennie O’Kennedy, South Africa31-34—65-7Sebastian Soderberg, Sweden31-34—65-7Nick Bachem, Germany33-32—65-7Joakim Lagergren, Sweden33-32—65-7Gavin Green, Malaysia34-32—66-6Niklas Norgaard Moller, Denmark34-32—66-6Martin Simonsen, Denmark33-33—66-6Ewen Ferguson, Scotland34-32—66-6Aaron Cockerill, Canada33-33—66-6George Coetzee, South Africa33-33—66-6Calum Hill, Scotland32-34—66-6Jayden Trey Schaper, South Africa33-33—66-6Julien Brun, France34-33—67-5Joost Luiten, Netherlands32-35—67-5Wilco Nienaber, South Africa34-33—67-5Daniel Van Tonder, South Africa33-34—67-5Trevor Fisher, South Africa34-33—67-5Benjamin Follett-Smith, Zimbabwe33-34—67-5Mikko Korhonen, Finland33-34—67-5Andy Sullivan, England33-34—67-5Daniel Gavins, England36-31—67-5Paul Waring, England32-35—67-5Hurly Long, Germany34-33—67-5Sami Valimaki,...

Ocean City hotel tax effort stalls after debate in Maryland Senate

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:52 GMT

This content was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.A bill that would allow counties on the Eastern Shore to hike their hotel tax rates by 1% faces an uncertain future after a debate in the Maryland Senate on Wednesday.The bill would have amounted to a nearly $5 million tax on Maryland residents who vacation in Ocean City, Montgomery County Sen. Benjamin F. Kramer (D-Montgomery) said, as he questioned the policy on the Senate floor.“This is a $5 million tax hit on every one of your constituents who saved all year long to take the opportunity to join with their families and have a little vacation time in Ocean City, Maryland,” Kramer told senators, before launching into other arguments against the bill, including talking points typically employed by Republican lawmakers. ” … I am concerned that Ocean City borders other jurisdictions. Those very tax dollars could easil...

Zebra on the loose gives zookeepers the runaround in Seoul

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:52 GMT

(CNN) — A male zebra broke loose in South Korea’s capital on Thursday, trotting down busy roads and back alleys for hours before being tranquilized and returned to a zoo.Videos on social media showed 3-year-old Sero galloping through the Gwangjin district of Seoul amid heavy traffic, strolling down narrow alleys in residential neighborhoods, and passing zebra crossings as it scuttled around the city.Firefighters dispatched to the scene later herded the mammal to an alley, where it was tranquilized and brought back to the Children’s Grand Park, its home in the east of Seoul.According to the Gwangjin-gu fire station, officers received the first report at 3:43 p.m. about a zebra roaming free around the precinct.As a team of fire officers drove to the reported location, they spotted the zebra running in the opposite direction, prompting them to give chase, an official from the station told CNN.The officers blocked its escape route from a back alley with safety fences, ...

China says it ‘firmly opposes’ a potential forced sale of TikTok

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:52 GMT

(CNN) — China said it would “firmly oppose” any forced sale of TikTok, in its first direct response to demands by the Biden administration that the app’s Chinese owners sell their share of the company or face a ban in its most important market.The comments came as TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified in front of US lawmakers amid mounting scrutiny over the app’s ties to Beijing.China’s commerce ministry said Thursday that a forced sale of TikTok would “seriously damage” global investors’ confidence in the United States.“If the news [about a forced sale] is true, China will firmly oppose it,” Shu Jueting, a spokeswoman for the ministry, told a Thursday news conference in Beijing, adding that any potential deal would need approval from the Chinese government.“The sale or divestiture of TikTok involves technology export, and administrative licensing procedures must be performed in accordance with Chinese l...

Quiet Friday, Raw Saturday

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:52 GMT

View PostDespite the clouds and a few passing showers yesterday, the temperatures did not disappoint as highs cracked 60 degrees for many. Although it won’t be as mild today, it’ll be dry with highs in the low to mid 50s, still a few degrees above average for the time of year. The breeze gusts 20-25mph with filtered sunshine amid the mid to high level clouds.Tomorrow, it’ll turn cold and raw as highs head for the low 40s, and then slip back into the mid to upper 30s as a mix of snow/sleet and rain break out. Even if we see sleet or some wet snow flakes mixed in near and inside 495, it won’t amount to much thanks to temps well above freezing at the surface. In the northern Worcester Hills, some minor accumulations are possible. A cold rain/mix continues into the evening before tapering off overnight. Sunday we dry out as highs head for the mid 50s, but it’ll be windy with gusts 30-40mph.

US and Canada reach a deal on decades-old asylum agreement

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:52 GMT

(CNN) — The US and Canada have struck a deal on changes to a decades-old asylum agreement that would restrict certain migrants from seeking protections in Canada, two Canadian officials told CNN, marking a significant change in how Canada accepts asylum seekers.While discussions have been ongoing for years, the sharp increase of people crossing into Canada from the US — some of whom are believed to have initially crossed the US southern border — had recently placed added urgency on talks.US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are expected to announce the modifications to the agreement before Biden concludes his visit and travels back to the US, according to one Canadian official.Ahead of Biden’s visit to Canada, Trudeau faced blowback domestically over hundreds of migrants crossing Roxham Road, a remote street that connects Champlain, New York, with Hemmingford, Quebec.The so-called Safe Third Country Agreement, signed in ...

Trump attorney set to testify before grand jury in Mar-a-Lago classified documents probe

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:52 GMT

(CNN) — Donald Trump’s primary defense attorney is expected to testify Friday to a federal grand jury, answering questions in the documents probe that the former president unsuccessfully fought to hold back.The attorney’s appearance before the grand jury this week has the potential to make or break the special counsel’s investigation into the handling of classified records at Mar-a-Lago and possible obstruction of justice when the federal government tried to get the documents back.Evan Corcoran, the attorney, has been told by the federal court he cannot withhold information any longer about communications he had with Trump, his client, leading up to the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago last summer. He was also ordered earlier this week to turn over notes he had considered to be his written work as an attorney in the probe. Corcoran would have had a window into many of the moments where Trump and his team were responding to the federal government&#...