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Virginia lawmakers pass long-overdue budget bill with tax rebates, extra aid for schools

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:45 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The politically divided Virginia General Assembly approved long-overdue budget legislation Wednesday, voting in an unusually fast-paced special session to both reduce taxes and boost spending on public education and mental health as part of the package. Lawmakers spent just a few hours in the Capitol considering the compromise plan before overwhelmingly adopting it and sending it to Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. He can sign it as is, or seek amendments. “I’m really pleased with the budget we have before us today. The negotiations have been very intense and very extended. But the outcome is both fair and balanced towards the priorities of both the House and the Senate,” said Democratic Sen. Janet Howell of Fairfax County, who co-chairs the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee. Howell was among a small group of negotiators holding closed-door budget talks since the Legislature’s regular session ended without agreement on adjustments to the two-year ...

Greek ferry captain, 3 seamen charged over death of tardy passenger pushed into sea by crew member

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:45 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A Greek prosecutor brought criminal charges Wednesday against an island ferry captain and three of his crew over the death of a tardy passenger whom a crew member pushed into the sea as he tried to board the departing vessel in Greece’s main port of Piraeus.One crew member was charged with homicide with possible intent, and the other two with complicity, while the captain was charged with severe breaches of shipping regulations, state-run ERT television reported.Greece’s minister for merchant marine, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, expressed “shock, horror and sorrow” at the incident, and identified the victim as Andonis Kargiotis, 36.The incident late Tuesday, captured on a video and shared on social media, sparked anger across the maritime country. It showed the passenger running onto the Blue Horizon ferry’s loading ramp, which was still down and in place on the quay, as the ship had cast off its moorings and was about to leave. He tried to push past two crew ...

West Virginia University faculty express symbolic no confidence in President E. Gordon Gee

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:45 GMT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia University faculty approved a symbolic motion on Wednesday expressing no confidence in President E. Gordon Gee as the university addresses a $45 million budget shortfall.The university is struggling with the financial toll of dwindling enrollment, revenue lost during the COVID-19 pandemic and an increasing debt load for new building projects. The budget shortfall is projected to grow as high as $75 million in five years.The faculty resolution on Gee said his administration’s poor planning, faulty decision making and financial mismanagement has significantly contributed to the crisis. It called into question Gee’s “ability to responsibly, honestly and effectively lead, facilitate and participate in decision making.”“I must say that if I had done all of those things, I’d probably vote no confidence myself,” Gee told the faculty prior to the vote.He later said that “we will proceed forward with what we are doing right now. And I think that w...

CP NewsAlert: Appeal Court overturns stay granted to Quebec judge in wife’s killing

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:45 GMT

MONTREAL — Quebec’s Court of Appeal has overturned a stay of proceedings granted to a retired Quebec judge whose conviction for fatally shooting his wife in 2012 was reversed by the federal justice minister.The province’s highest court has ordered that the case against Jacques Delisle return to Quebec Superior Court, where he had been facing a second trial.More coming.The Canadian Press

Father of Pakistani sought over death of 10-year-old daughter in UK asks him to surrender, cooperate

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:45 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Pakistani man whose son is being sought by Pakistani and U.K. police in connection with last month’s death of his 10-year-old daughter in the United Kingdom on Wednesday issued an appeal, urging his fugitive son to cooperate with investigators to clarify his position, as going into hiding isn’t a good thing.Muhammad Sharif made his remarks after authorities in Pakistan widened hunt to arrest his son Urfan who fled to Pakistan after the girl, Sara Sharif, was found dead at her home in Woking, on the southwestern outskirts of London, on Aug. 10.In London, police have identified the girl’s father as Urfan, his wife Beinash Batool, who are believed to be hiding in the Islamic nation. U.K. police are also seeking the arrest of Urfan’s brother, Faisal Malik, to question them as part of the investigation. On Wednesday, Sharif told The Associated Press that he didn’t know anything about the whereabouts of his son.He said his son and daughter-in-law...

Air Canada vomit incident sparks anger among Canadians fed up with subpar service

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:45 GMT

MONTREAL — Experts say the outrage sparked by news of a passenger incident involving a vomit-smeared airplane seat reflects a broader frustration with flight operations in Canada.On Tuesday, Air Canada said it apologized to two passengers who were escorted off the plane by security after protesting that their seats were soiled — and still wet.The airline said the customers did not receive the proper standard of care ahead of the Aug. 26 flight from Las Vegas to Montreal.In a Facebook post that has since gone viral, Susan Benson of New Brunswick said she was in the row behind the two women, who asked for blankets and wipes to clean the area themselves before a pilot told them they could either leave the plane voluntarily or be escorted off by security and placed on a no-fly list due to rude behaviour — a characterization Benson rejected.John Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University, says the plane never should have been dispatched, given what he dubbed a biohazard...

Montreal-area police equip schoolchildren with backpacks that display speed cameras

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:45 GMT

MONTREAL — Children in Quebec are becoming living speed cameras as a way to get drivers to slow down in school zones.Police in the Montreal area are equipping a handful of schoolchildren with backpacks that display passing vehicles’ speeds.The demonstrations are part of a series of measures municipalities are deploying to better secure school zones this year.The City of Montreal is launching biweekly police operations to crack down on dangerous driving around schools.It’s also raising sidewalks and reducing the size of lanes on streets by dozens of schools to improve safety and calm traffic.Efforts to make Montreal school zones safer took on renewed urgency last December when a seven-year-old girl who had recently arrived from Ukraine was killed in a hit-and-run on her way to class.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2023.The Canadian Press

Field Museum's ID Day returns Saturday

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:45 GMT

CHICAGO — Anyone wondering if a recent rock they collected could be something more can get it identified by scientists Saturday at the Field Museum.Scientists will work to identify any clean and dry animal bones, fossils, rocks, meteorites, seashells and photographs of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and insects.The event returns for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic and will take place Saturday from 10 a.m. through 2 p.m. in the Field Museum's main hall.Saturday is also a free admission day for Illinois residents. This summer was a global record breaker for high heat, meteorologists say Even if you do not have an item to bring in, the museum's scientists will have specimens on display to see and touch.

Federal lawsuit over Chicago Fire training facility in court Wednesday

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:45 GMT

CHICAGO — City of Chicago and federal housing lawyers are defending Wednesday leased land to the Chicago Fire soccer club.The federal lawsuit was brought by a coalition of community based groups that say the land should be used for housing.The hearing was trying to decide whether or not those groups have legal standing to bring the lawsuit in the first place. The judge said he would make a decision at a later date.The 23 acres of land is owned by the Chicago Housing Authority on the Near West Side.Near the end of her term, Lori Lightfoot pushed a lease with the Chicago Fire. The soccer club paid $8 million to lease the land for 40 years to build a training facility.The coalition of community based groups sued to try and say the city is reneging on a promise to build close to 800 housing units.Attorneys for CHA say it still plans to build the housing just on a smaller footprint, and doesn't need the acrage leased to the Fire. Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, signed off on the d...

Wednesday Forecast: Temps in mid 80s with isolated afternoon showers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:45 GMT

CHICAGO — Scattered thunderstorms Wednesday morning will give way to partly cloudy skies by midday.  Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here A Flash Flood Warning issued for southern Cook County, including Orland Park, Tinley Park and Chicago Heights, and parts of Will County expired at 9:45 a.m.The rain complicated the morning commute, causing crashes and delays on area expressways and tollways. ComEd is reporting over 3,000 are without power due to storms in Illinois, and just over 1,000 in Northwest Indiana.Isolated showers are possible late this afternoon as temperatures fall from highs in the mid-80s to the upper 70s for the evening commute.  Isolated showers are possible this evening, then temperatures fall into the mid-60s under mostly cloudy skies.  Future Forecast: Thursday and Friday will stay mostly cloudy with inland highs in the lower 70s, but mid to upper 60s lakeside.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog