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Montana House speaker silences trans lawmaker for 2nd day

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:36:57 GMT

By AMY BETH HANSON (Associated Press)HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A transgender Montana lawmaker was silenced for a second day Friday as her Republican colleagues refused to let her speak on the chamber’s floor until she apologizes for saying lawmakers would have “blood on their hands” if they passed a law to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth.The standoff is expected to continue next week, with neither side ready to back down. The bill at the heart of the issue is in the hands of Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte, who has indicated he will sign it.Democratic Rep. Zooey Zephyr sought to speak on a bill Friday that would prevent minors from seeing pornography online, but the chair blocked the request and House Speaker Matt Regier asked lawmakers to uphold the decision he made a day earlier not to recognize her requests to speak.“I’m still going to expect the same standard for all representatives in this House. I’m still going to sta...

Area near Mall of America shut due to possibly armed suspect

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:36:57 GMT

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — An area near the Mall of America was closed Friday evening as authorities were negotiating with a person was was believed to have a gun. Crisis negotiators were communicating with the suspect, who “has what is believed to be a firearm” and they were trying to negotiate his surrender, the Bloomington Police Department said on Twitter.The age of the suspect was not immediately known.Roads near the mall were closed shortly before 5 p.m. Friday and officials asked the public to avoid the area.Mall of America spokesperson Laura Utecht said one mall entrance near the site of the disturbance was closed but the mall remained open.The Associated Press

U.S. Marine gets 12 years for cross-border drug smuggling

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:36:57 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A former Marine who for years helped smuggle drugs from Mexico into the United States and even tried to get a song written to glorify his exploits was sentenced Friday to 12 years in federal prison.Roberto Salazar II, 26, of San Diego was sentenced for importing fentanyl and for conspiracy to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.Salazar, who pleaded guilty last October, could have faced up to life in prison.He was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego. Prosecutors said that before joining the corps and while on active duty, he and couriers he recruited made dozens of smuggling trips across the border.Salazar would obtain cars that were driven to Mexico, where drugs were loaded into the engine compartments. Couriers would then drive them back across the border into the U.S., prosecutors said.The scheme began around 2015, authorities said.By the time of his arrest ...

Haaland defends Willow, says US won’t end oil drilling

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:36:57 GMT

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Interior Secretary Deb Haaland defended her department’s approval of the contentious Willow oil project on Friday, saying that despite President Joe Biden’s campaign promise to end new drilling on federal lands, “We’re not going to turn the faucet off and say we’re not drilling anymore.”Speaking to the annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists, Haaland said the Biden administration is “following the science and the law when it comes to everything we do, and that includes gas and oil” leases considered by her agency, which oversees U.S. public lands and waters. Despite Biden’s pledge, “We’re not going to say we’re not going to use gas and oil. That’s not reality,” Haaland said. “So we are doing the best we absolutely can.”Haaland’s comments came after the administration faced sharp criticism from some of its strongest supporters — especially young climate ...

Texas man indicted for alleged threat to kill US Rep. Waters

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:36:57 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal grand jury indicted a Houston man Friday for allegedly calling the office of California Democratic U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters several times last year and leaving threatening voice mails, including saying he intended to “cut your throat.”Brian Michael Gaherty, 60, was charged in the indictment with four counts of making threats in interstate communications and four counts of threatening a U.S. official, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles said in a statement.Gaherty was arrested April 13 after prosecutors filed a criminal complaint alleging that he had threatened Waters, other elected officials and a news reporter in Houston.The indictment says Gaherty called the congresswoman’s office four times — twice in August and twice in November — and each time left a threatening message. Prosecutors said that in one, he told the congresswoman he intended to “cut your throat.”The indictment alleged Gaherty “knowingly threatened to assault and kill” Waters ...

Tennessee Legislature wraps up; gun reform reconvene likely

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:36:57 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s Republican-led Legislature finished its annual session on Friday without taking action on a gun-control plan offered by the GOP governor in the wake of a deadly school shooting.House Speaker Cameron Sexton said he expects the governor will reconvene lawmakers for a gun policy-related special session. It’s unclear when or what kind of changes would be considered.“I think we owe it to Tennesseans to actually have conversations with all sides of the public conversation before we ever get to proposed legislation,” Sexton said at a committee meeting Friday.Republican lawmakers instead squared their focus on putting final touches on bills that range from restrictions on Nashville’s local powers, to an expansion of school vouchers, to more laws targeting the transgender community. They did not bring up a vote on Gov. Bill Lee’s “temporary mental health order of protection” proposal, which aims to keep guns away from people who could harm themselves...

Tribes seek invitation to Rio Grande water commission

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:36:57 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A commission that oversees how the Rio Grande is managed and shared among three Western states has adopted a recommendation that could set the stage for more involvement by Native American tribes that depend on the river. The Rio Grande Compact Commission voted unanimously Friday during its annual meeting in Santa Fe to direct its legal and engineering advisers to look into developing protocols for formal discussions with six pueblos that border the river in central New Mexico. Pueblo leaders have been seeking a seat at the table for years, saying their water rights have never been quantified despite an agreement made nearly a century ago between the U.S. Interior Department and an irrigation district to provide for irrigation and flood control for pueblo lands.Isleta Pueblo Gov. Max Zuni told the commission that progress has been made over the last year after the Interior Department established a federal team to assess the feasibility of settling the pueblo...

Review finds no misconduct at Missouri trans youth clinic

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:36:57 GMT

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri university said Friday that an internal review has found allegations of improper care at a center for young transgender patients were “unsubstantiated,” after a former employee made claims of poor treatment — leading the state’s attorney general to investigate.The former employee in February claimed Washington University Transgender Center is too quick to prescribe puberty blockers and hormones, does not do enough to educate parents and children before providing care, does not track negative side effects, and does not have adequate wraparound services for mental health care.Washington University’s eight-week review found “allegations of substandard care causing adverse outcomes for patients at the Center are unsubstantiated,” according to a summary of the findings. The former staffer’s allegations prompted Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who was appointed in January and is running for election, to launch an investigation into the cent...

CBC keeps accounts ‘on pause’ amid review after Twitter axes ‘government-funded’ tag

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:36:57 GMT

The CBC is leaving its Twitter accounts inactive as it evaluates the social media platform’s decision to remove the “government-funded media” tag on its accounts.CBC spokesperson Leon Mar says the public broadcaster is “reviewing this latest development” and will leave its Twitter accounts “on pause” before taking any next steps.Twitter removed the “government-funded media” description on a number of public broadcasters’ accounts, including the CBC, without any explanation on Thursday.The move came after the Global Task Force for public media called on Twitter earlier in the day to correct its description of public broadcasters in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.Twitter has labelled other news outlets as “government-funded media”The group chaired by CBC president Catherine Tait had said Twitter applied the label without warning to the accounts of CBC/Radio-Canada; the Australian Broadcasting Corpo...

Union, feds sign deal to staff military heating plants after shutdowns during strike

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:36:57 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal government reached a deal with striking workers on Friday to keep the central heating plants at military bases running after three were taken off-line.The Union of National Defence Employees is part of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, and its members have been on strike since Wednesday.National president June Winger said the government failed to consider heating and wastewater plant workers as essential during the strike, leading to a shortage of staff.“The employer is obligated to determine what the essential services are to maintain the safety for Canadians, and they failed miserably in this regard,” she said in an interview. “I’m gobsmacked.”Winger said central heating plants at bases in Petawawa, Ont., Winnipeg and Halifax were forced to shut down. There was concern the heating plant at Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont., and the wastewater treatment plant in Winnipeg may also stop running.Winger said the union and e...