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New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, first Black woman to serve as state Assembly speaker, dies at 71

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:24 GMT

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who made history as the first Black woman to serve as speaker of the state Assembly, died Tuesday. She was 71.Oliver served as Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s top deputy, stepping in for him while the governor was out of state and also overseeing the Department of Community Affairs, which coordinates state aid to towns and cities and supervises code enforcement.No cause of death was given, Murphy’s office said in a statement from the Oliver family. Murphy said he and his family are distraught at the news. Naming Oliver as his lieutenant governor was, he said, “the best decision I ever made.”As acting governor, she signed a handful of bills including a 2021 measure that established a pilot program to overhaul the state’s juvenile justice system in four cities and which aimed to reintegrate young people into their communities.Murphy’s office announced on July 31 that Oliver was hospitalized while filling in for Murphy, who was in I...

Molson Coors boosts outlook as earnings and sales rise in second quarter

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:24 GMT

MONTREAL — Molson Coors Beverage Co. has bumped up its outlook for the year as it saw notable volume and net sales growth in the second quarter.The brewery and beverage company says it now expects to see an increase in its underlying income before taxes of 23 to 26 per cent compared with last year, while it earlier was expecting growth in the low single digits. The increase came as the company, which reports in U.S. dollars, reported a net income in the second quarter of US$342.4 million, or US$1.57 per diluted share, up from US$47.3 million or 22 cents US, a year earlier.Adjusted earnings per share came in at US$1.78 per share, compared with U$1.19 per share last year, while analysts had on average expected adjusted earnings of US$1.63 according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.Molson Coors says underlying net income for the quarter ending June 30 was US$387.2 million, up from US$260.1 million last year, while net sales for the quarter were US$3.3 billion, up from US$2.9 bi...

Wisconsin officials add recommendations to new management plan to keep wolf population around 1,000

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:24 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin wildlife officials released a revised draft wolf management plan Tuesday that recommends holding the statewide population at around 1,000 animals, a concession to conservatives looking for a hard limit.The Department of Natural Resources adopted a wolf management plan in 1999 that calls for capping the statewide population at 350 wolves. The population has roughly tripled since then, leading to occasional wolf attacks on pets, hunting dogs and livestock. Hunters and farmers have pointed to the 350-animal limit as justification for generous kill quotas, angering animal rights advocates.The department released a draft of a new wolf management plan in November. The proposal didn’t include a hard population goal, instead recommending that advisory committees monitor local wolf populations and decide whether to reduce them, maintain them or allow them to grow.The draft wasn’t well received by hunters, farmers and GOP legislators. State Rep. Chan...

Organizers of heavy metal festival in Germany ask visitors to leave cars at home due to bad weather

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:24 GMT

The organizers of Wacken Open Air, a hard rock and metal festival in northern Germany, have asked visitors to leave their heavy metal at home. They issued a travel ban Tuesday for ticket-holders with cars and trucks due to the muddy terrain of the festival grounds.The world-famous music festival is held every year in the Schleswig-Holstein state village of Wacken. This year’s installment is scheduled to open Wednesday and run through Saturday. The organizers said that because of heavy rain in recent days and more expected, camping areas, the event grounds and access roads, were in poor condition and no more vehicles could be allowed onto the site.“Due to this extraordinary situation, please refrain from further journeys to Wacken,” a statement posted on the event’s website said. “We apologize to all metalheads for the delayed information. We are in constant, cooperative exchange with all relevant authorities and responsible persons in order to continue to ensure the safety of ...

Canadian Sarah Bernstein among Booker Prize semifinalists that also include 4 Irish writers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:24 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A Canadian is among the semifinalists for the Booker Prize, competing with 12 other authors that also include an Irish writer who has received four previous nominations and twice been shortlisted for it.Author Sebastian Barry was one of four Irish writers Tuesday to make the long list for the prestigious 50,000 pound (C$85,000) prize.Barry is up this year for his novel “Old God’s Time,” about a retired police detective who gets dragged back into a cold case investigation of a murdered priest suspected of sexually abusing children.Meanwhile, Montreal-born Sarah Bernstein is nominated for “Study for Obedience,” which the judges described as an “absurdist and darkly funny” novel about a woman who moves to a new place and experiences a hostile reaction from the community. Bernstein now lives and teaches in Scotland. “Study for Obedience” is her second novel following her 2021 debut, “The Coming Bad Days.”“All 13 novels ...

Russia accuses Ukraine of striking same Moscow building that was hit by drone days ago

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:24 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A drone attacked a skyscraper in central Moscow early Tuesday for the second time in around 48 hours, damaging the building’s facade and further underscoring the Russian capital’s vulnerability. Russian authorities accused Ukraine of staging the assault.An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted that Moscow “is rapidly getting used to a full-fledged war,” without confirming or denying Kyiv’s involvement.Russian officials have claimed that the repeated attacks on the capital region reflect failures in Ukraine’s counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory. Zelenskyy said over the weekend that “the war is gradually coming back to Russian territory,” but he stopped short of taking responsibility.Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down two Ukrainian drones outside Moscow and jammed another, sending it crashing into a skyscraper in the business district and damaging the building’s facade.Moscow Mayor Sergei Soby...

Truckers told not to report for work after Yellow Corp. bankruptcy notice: Unifor

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:24 GMT

Nearly 130 Canadian truck drivers were told not to report for work, Unifor says, after the Teamsters Union said U.S. trucking giant Yellow Corp. was shutting down operations and filing for bankruptcy.The head of Unifor’s local chapter representing the truckers said 70 employees and 58 owner-operators for subsidiary YRC Freight Canada have been affected.“The news is devastating for our members,” said Don Lajoie. “There are hundreds of families who are left with very little information right now.”On Monday, the Teamsters said the union received legal notice confirming Yellow was ceasing operations and planning to file for bankruptcy protection after years of financial struggles.The apparent shutdown has renewed attention around Yellow’s ongoing negotiations with unionized workers, a US$700-million pandemic-era loan from the government and other bills the Tennessee-based outfit has racked up over time.Formerly known as YRC Worldwide Inc., Yellow is one of ...

What would ECOWAS’ threat to use force to restore democracy in Niger look like?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:24 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The stance of West Africa’s regional bloc known as ECOWAS in the military takeover in Niger is clear: “We will stand with our people in our commitment to the rule of law,” its chairman, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, said at the body’s meeting this week.The 15-nation bloc summoned its defense chiefs to discuss its threat to “take all measures necessary (that) may include the use of force” if ousted Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum is not reinstated within one week. ECOWAS is resolved to use military force after economic and travel sanctions used against the coup plotters failed, according to a Western diplomat in Niamey who did not want to be identified for security reasons.How the bloc would carry out its threat remains unclear given its lack of coordination in providing security regionally and formally with the U.S. State Department in Niger, said Aneliese Bernard, director of Strategic Stabilization Advisors. “There’s not enough actual trust among EC...

Alaska child fatally shot by other child moments after playing with toy guns, troopers say

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:24 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Moments after two children were playing with toy guns, one of the children picked up a real rifle in a western Alaska home and fatally shot the other child, authorities said.Alaska State Troopers were notified by both tribal and local police Sunday of the child’s death in Mountain Village, the statewide law enforcement agency said.Troopers responded and found “two children were playing with Nerf guns when one of them picked up a rifle and shot the other one,” the troopers said in an online statement.Village health aides declared the child dead, and the body will be sent to Anchorage for an autopsy.The child got the rifle inside the home where the shooting occurred, and an adult was inside the home at the time, troopers spokesperson Austin McDaniel told the Anchorage Daily News.No criminal charges have been filed, and McDaniel said the investigation is ongoing. The Anchorage newspaper reported it’s rare for a gun owner in Alaska to be prosecuted when someone ...

Report says 3 died of blunt force injuries, asphyxiation in Iowa building collapse

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:24 GMT

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Three men killed in a downtown Davenport apartment building collapse more than two months ago died of blunt-force injuries and asphyxiation, Iowa’s health agency said. The finding released Monday by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services declared the deaths of 42-year-old Branden Colvin Sr., 51-year-old Ryan Hitchcock and 60-year-old Daniel Prien as accidental. All had suffered multiple crush injuries and “mechanical asphyxiation,” a term used to indicate that an object or body position prevented a person from breathing. The partial collapse of the century-old, six-story brick building near Davenport’s riverside also injured several people and displaced dozens of people. An investigation is being conducted to determine the cause of the deadly collapse.Questions remain about why residents were allowed to stay in the building, despite many warnings that the building was unstable. Those warnings were issued by structural engineers, masons, city inspecto...