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Mass. lawmakers still searching for deal on migrant, homeless shelter funding

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:14:53 GMT

Massachusetts lawmakers were still searching for a deal Wednesday night on a $2.8 billion spending bill that includes hundreds of millions for state emergency shelters housing homeless and migrant families.As the clock quickly ticked down to the end of formal law making for the year, a compromise had not surfaced on legislation closing out the books on fiscal year 2023 that also included $250 million for the Healey administration to respond to a shelter crisis that has sucked up much of the political oxygen on Beacon Hill in recent months.As sun set over the State House, the House had just finished approving a long-term care overhaul bill while the Senate was tying off prescription drug cost legislation. But no public action had been taken on the multi-billion supplemental budget.Gov. Maura Healey repeatedly stressed in recent months that the shelter system — burdened by an influx of migrants and high housing costs — is in dire straits and needs more money to sustain itself through ...

Takeaways from Biden’s long-awaited meeting with Xi

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:14:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — It was a meeting a year in the making. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping sat down together on Wednesday just outside of San Francisco, where Asian leaders gathered for an annual summit. It was almost exactly one year since their last encounter in Bali, Indonesia, on the sidelines of another global gathering. In addition to a formal bilateral meeting, Biden and Xi shared a lunch with top advisers and strolled the verdant grounds of the luxury estate where their meeting took place.There’s no word on whether Chinese pandas will return to Washington’s zoo. But Biden said the meeting included “some of the most constructive and productive discussions we’ve had.” Here’s a look at how the day panned out. NEW AGREEMENTSBiden left the meeting with commitments on key issues.Xi agreed to help curb the production of the illicit fentanyl that is a deadly component of drugs sold in the United States. A senior administration official, who...

Ryan Reynolds becomes newest member of Order of British Columbia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:14:53 GMT

VANCOUVER — Ryan Reynolds is the newest member of the Order of British Columbia.The Vancouver-born actor and producer received the honour from Premier David Eby and Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin at a private ceremony in Vancouver.The province’s Intergovernmental Relations Secretariat says a last-minute scheduling conflict means Reynolds won’t be attending a ceremony in Victoria on Thursday where more than a dozen other recipients will be recognized.The award is considered the province’s highest honour.Recipients this year include Dr. Penny Ballem, who led B.C.’s COVID-19 vaccination program; nurses Evanna Brennan and Susan Giles, who have worked in the Downtown Eastside for decades; and Chief Harold Leighton, who has served as the chief councillor of the Metlakatla First Nation for more than 35 years.The government biography for Reynolds says he is a “homegrown heavyweight” whose kindness and selflessness have benefited countless people in B.C., Canada an...

Australia proposes law to allow prison time for high-risk migrants who breach visa conditions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:14:53 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — High-risk migrants in Australia will face up to five years in prison for breaching their visa conditions under emergency legislation introduced Thursday in response to a High Court ruling that migrants can’t be detained indefinitely.The government said it has released 83 foreigners — most of whom have convictions for crimes including murder and rape — since the court ruled last week that indefinite detention of migrants is unconstitutional.The decision reversed a High Court ruling from 2004 that had allowed stateless people to be held in migrant centers for any length of time in cases where there were no prospects of deporting them from Australia.The legislation introduced in Parliament by Immigration Minister Andrew Giles would let the government order certain migrants to wear electronic tracking bracelets and to comply with curfews. Failure to comply with those visa conditions could be a criminal offense punishable by up to five years in prison.The relea...

Suspect in fatal Hawaii nurse stabbing pleaded guilty last year to assaulting mental health worker

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:14:53 GMT

A former Hawaii psychiatric hospital patient indicted Wednesday on a murder charge in the stabbing death of a nurse at the facility had pleaded guilty to a 2020 assault of a state mental health worker, court records show. A grand jury indicted Tommy Kekoa Carvalho on a second-degree murder charge and a judge ordered him held without bail, the state attorney general’s office said.Carvalho, 25, is accused of stabbing Justin Bautista, 29, a nurse working at a transitional group home at the Hawaii State Hospital in Kaneohe, a Honolulu suburb. There were no details available on what prompted Monday’s incident and what was used in the stabbing. Hospital administrator Dr. Kenneth Luke called it an “unanticipated and unprovoked incident.”Carvalho pleaded guilty last year to assaulting an employee “at a state-operated or -contracted mental health facility” in May 2020. According to the Hawaii Department of Health, Carvalho was discharged from the hospital in August and was ...

Will Ferrell's 'Elf' returning to theaters for 20th anniversary

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:14:53 GMT

(WXIN) – "Elf" is coming back to the big screen—and you’d be a cotton-headed ninny muggins to miss it.Starting Nov. 17, the Will Ferrell Christmas classic will return to participating theaters in celebration of its 20th anniversary.Yeah, that’s right—we’ve been quoting Will Ferrell’s Buddy the Elf for two decades ("Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?"). The movie debuted in U.S. theaters on Nov. 7, 2003. 5 moves to prevent more debt this holiday season The modern holiday classic tells the story of Buddy the Elf, who’s whisked away to the North Pole as a baby, grows up as a (rather large) elf and passes “through the seven levels of the candy cane forest” and “the sea of swirly-twirly gum drops” to reach New York City in the search for his biological father, played by James Caan.The movie, directed by Jon Favreau, also features Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen, Bob Newhart, Ed Asner and Peter Dinklage.Will Ferrell during premiere of "Elf" at Loews Astor Plaza in New York, Ne...

Man sentenced for killing, planning to eat American bald eagle; second man sought

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:14:53 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (KCAU) — A man has been sentenced after authorities say he shot and killed a bald eagle in northeast Nebraska with the intention to eat it. Meanwhile, authorities are still looking for a second man involved in the case. Domingo Zetino Hernandez, 21, of Guatemala, appeared in federal court in Omaha Tuesday and was sentenced to time served for violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Nebraska. He has been in custody since March 20. He will also be subject to removal proceedings with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He pleaded guilty in August.The case began on February 28 when authorities received a report of a suspicious vehicle at the Wood Duck Wildlife Management Area in Stanton County. The Stanton County Sheriff's Office arrived at the scene and made contact with Zetino Hernandez and another man, Ramiro Hernandez Tziquin. The release stated that Zetino Hernandez admitted to shooting a bird and that...

'Batkid' is cancer free 10 years after 'saving' San Francisco in viral moment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:14:53 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Exactly one decade ago, 5-year-old Miles Scott transformed into "Batkid," saved the city of San Francisco through Make-A-Wish, and endeared countless news viewers. Miles’ wish happened on November 15, 2013. With help from then-Mayor Ed Lee, the police and fire departments, the San Francisco Giants, and countless others, San Francisco transformed into Gotham and more than 25,000 people crowded the streets to cheer Miles on. He battled villains, thwarted crime, freed San Francisco Giants mascot Lou Seal, and earned a key to the city.The crowd cheers for Miles, aka "Batkid," on Nov. 15, 2013. (Image courtesy Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area)His story was so heart-warming, Warner Bros. Pictures turned it into a film, "Batkid Begins." Released in 2015, the documentary follows Patricia Wilson, the executive director of the San Francisco Make-A-Wish chapter, and her team as they work to ensure Miles' day goes according to plan. It won three awards, according to IMDb. G...

Texas education board rejects climate change lessons in textbooks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:14:53 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- The State Board of Education on Wednesday gave an initial rejection to some science textbooks after concerns over their lessons on climate change.Members of the 15-seat education policy committee voted on party lines to withhold approval from numerous textbooks that recognize fossil fuels as a cause of manmade climate change.Among the rejections were publisher Green Ninja's middle school science textbooks, which provides exercises that direct students to write about the future changes to weather and climate. Another publisher, EduSmart, was struck from the list for depictions that one board member worried cast the oil and gas industry in a "negative light.""There's an overemphasis on the evils of oil and gas and virtues of renewables," District 15 board member Aaron Kinsey said of another textbook. Kinsey is a Midland Republican and CEO of the oilfield services company American Patrols, which contracts with oil and gas companies to provide aerial surveys."I just ...

Nuggets Podcast: Denver dispatches the Clippers, Draymond Green escalates matters and threats emerging in the West

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:14:53 GMT

In the latest edition of the Nuggets Ink podcast, host Matt Schubert and beat writer Bennett Durando catch up after the Nuggets’ win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night. Among the topics discussed:Where does Draymond Green choking Rudy Gobert rank among the great fights in NBA history? Who are the NBA’s real tough guys? Fake tough guys? The fellas provide a semi-definitive list.What teams on the rise appear to be legitimate threats to the Nuggets’ repeat championship hopes? Minnesota is balling, the Oklahoma City Thunder are making noise and the Phoenix Suns are setting.The new-look L.A. Clippers came to Denver and got sent home with an “L” once again. Should the Nuggets be at all worried about them? Or is this just the same, old Clippers?Listener reviews! All five stars, and at least one of them is pretty saucy.Subscribe to the podcastSoundCloud | iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | RSSProducer: AAron OntiverozMusic: “The Last Dragons”...