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Commission studying new Mass. seal, motto stares down Nov. 15 deadline to finish work

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:12:45 GMT

A state commission tasked with recommending a new Massachusetts seal and motto is turning to UMass Boston to conduct a survey that they hope will help inform work that is scheduled to wrap up this fall.The Seal and Motto Commission has received multiple extensions to turn in final recommendations to the Legislature and now faces a Nov. 15 deadline to turn in to the state Legislature final recommendations for a new seal and motto.At a virtual meeting on Wednesday, commission co-chair Brian Boyles said the group completed an interim report at its last meeting in December 2022 but could not submit it to lawmakers because state law did not specifically call for one.“We now have about five months to follow through on the steps identified in the interim report and provide our final recommendations for the Legislature,”  Boyles said amid many technical issues that made it hard to follow along with the virtual-only public meeting. “I would start today on a hopeful note, but I think also a r...

Midwest small town’s Pride festival attracts thousands who reject far-right local politics

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:12:45 GMT

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (AP) — Shawn Duncan and her wife, Betty, moved to Grand Haven 14 years ago, but kept their relationship hidden for most of that time fearing a backlash in the small city in a traditionally conservative part of Michigan.“We knew if we wanted our company to thrive, we were going to have to just squash that we were together and married,” said Duncan, who works in respite care. “We both had the same last name, so it was easy to just say we’re sisters.”But last weekend, surrounded by allies and members of the LGBTQ community, the Duncans held hands publicly in their hometown for the first time, at Grand Haven’s inaugural Pride festival.It was time to celebrate, she said, after decades in the closet.Organizers had hoped the festival would attract at least 500 attendees to the city of 11,000 people, but instead the drag show, dance party and vendor-filled streets drew thousands. For many, it was a shocking rebuttal of the increasing hostility toward the LGBTQ community s...

Singh and Poilievre to begin talks on terms for public inquiry on foreign meddling

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:12:45 GMT

OTTAWA — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre were set to meet Wednesday to discuss terms for a possible public inquiry on foreign interference, as the prime minister praised opposition parties for behaving in a less-toxic manner. A spokesperson for the Conservatives said Poilievre’s office first reached out to Singh on Tuesday, and confirmed the two would speak Wednesday evening by phone.Poilievre sat down with Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet on Tuesday.“We mainly discussed the fact that we were not to discuss publicly what we discussed,” Blanchet said on Wednesday. The New Democrats were more forthcoming, saying they would be recommending that main federal party leaders or their representatives sit at a table to discuss terms of reference for an inquiry — or that the discussion happen at the procedure and House affairs committee, which has been studying foreign interference. Singh said the former option would be similar t...

Stock market today: Wall Street swings as Fed keeps rates steady but signals more hikes may come

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:12:45 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are swinging on Wall Street Wednesday after the Federal Reserve hinted it may raise interest rates two more times this year, even if it’s holding rates steady for now.The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in afternoon trading after pinballing from a modest gain before the Fed’s announcement to a modest loss just after. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 247 points, or 0.7%, at 33,964, as of 3 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher.The Fed closed its latest policy meeting by saying it would hold rates steady, to give more time to see how its fusillade of rate hikes over the last 15 months is affecting the economy. It’s attempting the excruciating balancing act of slowing the economy just enough through rate increases to snuff out high inflation, but not so much as to break the job market and create a recession.Standing pat would give the economy more time to absorb all the past rate hikes, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell said “ideall...

Washington says it’s asking Israel about the death of detained Palestinian-American

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:12:45 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The United States on Wednesday said it was seeking more information about the closure of an Israeli military investigation into the death of a 78-year-old Palestinian-American who was detained, gagged and left unconscious shortly before being pronounced dead.Israel had announced on Tuesday that it would not bring criminal charges against the soldiers involved in the detention of the Palestinian-American, Omar Assad, from an impromptu checkpoint in the occupied West Bank last year. The military admitted that the actions of the soldiers — who left Assad lying unresponsive on the ground without offering medical help or checking to see if he was alive — showed a lapse of moral judgement. But it said the soldiers would face only internal disciplinary measures because it could not determine that their misconduct directly caused Assad’s death.Assad’s death has sparked outrage, shining a light on the dangers faced by Palestinians in the West Bank. Palestinians say the...

Commuter train collides with truck in Connecticut, pickup driver hospitalized

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:12:45 GMT

NORWALK, Conn. (AP) — A commuter train collided with a pickup truck in Connecticut on Wednesday, injuring the driver and heavily damaging the vehicle, authorities said.The crash happened just before 11:30 a.m. at a Metro-North Railroad street crossing in Norwalk that has warning lights and gates, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.The pickup driver’s name and condition had not been released Wednesday afternoon. The MTA said the person was alive at the scene and taken to Norwalk Hospital. A hospital spokesperson said they needed a name to check the person’s condition.None of the 24 passengers on the train was hurt, the MTA said.A photo of the aftermath posted by The Hour newspaper shows a front corner of the train pushed into the pickup’s passenger compartment on the driver’s side. The train pushed the truck an unknown distance down the track.The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. The MTA was investigating.The accident happened o...

B.C. border agents find 6,300 kg of meth, including largest single seizure to date

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:12:45 GMT

DELTA, B.C. — The Canada Border Services Agency says it has confiscated more than 6,300 kilograms of methamphetamine in British Columbia over the last six months, including the largest ever single seizure of the drug.The agency says the drugs were found in four Metro Vancouver seizures in jugs labelled as canola oil and destined for export to Australia.In December of last year, agents in Burnaby found 40 jugs containing just over 200 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, and a month later 180 containers with 2,900 kilograms of liquid methamphetamine were seized coming through the container examination facility in Delta. The agency says in a statement that the January discovery was enough to fill 35 large suitcases and is its largest methamphetamine seizure to date.In May, two other major seizures happened at the container examination facility, where more than 3,000 kilograms of liquid methamphetamine was discovered.The agency says the seizures were a result of collaboration between ...

Canada halts activity at Asian development bank, looks to review its membership

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:12:45 GMT

OTTAWA — Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Wednesday that Canada will halt all government-led activity at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank after a Canadian citizen tendered his resignation from the financial institution. Bob Pickard said in a tweet Wednesday that he resigned as the bank’s global communications chief because the bank is “dominated” by members of the Chinese Communist Party. “The government of Canada will immediately halt all government-led activity at the bank and I have instructed the Department of Finance to lead an immediate review of the allegations raised and of Canada’s involvement in the AIIB,” Freeland told reporters on Wednesday. The finance minister said the review would be conducted “expeditiously” and that she wasn’t ruling out any outcome following its completion. In a statement, the AIIB called Pickard’s allegations “categorically false.”“We are an independe...

What you need to know about wildfires in Canada

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:12:45 GMT

Wildfires continue to rage in Canada in one of the worst seasons in recent memory. Not enough rain in Quebec fell to help the firefight, while B.C. reports fire above highway is held. Here’s a look at developments Wednesday:Canada expecting more firefighting help from abroadMore firefighters from abroad were expected Wednesday in Canada as the country grapples with its worst wildfire season of the 21st century.Officials from Quebec said 240 firefighters, 100 from Portugal and 140 from Spain, are landing in Quebec City to aid in fighting some of the 130 forest fires raging across the province.About 5,000 firefighters from other countries, including the United States and France, have been deployed across Canada, while teams from Chile and Costa Rica are expected in the coming days.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will continue to rely on foreign crews to fight fires in the coming years, and that it’s clear Canada needs to increase firefighting resources at many le...

Remains identified as murdered teen missing since 1969

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:12:45 GMT

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (WBRE/WYOU) — A teenager who disappeared more than 50 years ago died by homicide, Pennsylvania State Police said Tuesday.Joan Marie Dymond was 14 years old when she was last seen on Andover Street Park on June 25, 1969. Her remains weren't discovered until November 2012 on the grounds of a former coal-mining operation. People digging for relics in a trash-filled depression in the ground made the discovery.“After supper, she told her family she was going to the Andover Street Park in Wilkes-Barre and she never returned,” Trooper Andrew Morgantini said.On Tuesday, investigators and the Luzerne County Coroner's Office announced they have ruled Dymond's death a homicide. Joan Marie Dymond (Photo courtesy Pennsylvania State Police)Lab results indicated a high probability she died in the late 1960s, investigators said. An examination determined the remains were those of a female, who died of suspicious or “foul play” circumstances.The remains had been submitted to Othram...