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Wildfire-prone California to consider new rules for property insurance pricing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A new plan from California's insurance commissioner aims to stop the nation's top insurers from leaving the wildfire-prone state by letting them consider climate risks when setting their prices.Unlike most states, California tightly restricts how insurance companies can price policies. Companies aren't allowed to factor in current or future risks when deciding how much to charge for an insurance policy. Instead, they can only consider what's happened in the past on a property to set the price.At a time when climate change is making wildfires, floods and windstorms more common, insurers say that restriction is making it increasingly difficult for them to truly price the risk on properties. It’s one reason why, in the past year, seven of California’s top insurance companies have paused or restricted new business in the state.A recent report from First Street Foundation said about one-quarter of all homes in the nation are underpriced for climate risk in insur...

Republican David McCormick makes second Senate bid in Pennsylvania, aims to oust Democrat Bob Casey

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republican David McCormick announced Thursday that he will make his second bid for U.S. Senate in swing-state Pennsylvania, this time to take on Democratic Sen. Bob Casey after losing in last year’s bruising and crowded Republican primary.In a ballroom filled with supporters at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, McCormick said the economy and culture of the United States had suffered under Casey and President Joe Biden.“Under Joe Biden and Bob Casey, what’s supposed to be up is down and what’s supposed to be down is up,” said McCormick, who left his job atop one of Wall Street’s best-known hedge funds to enter politics.The Senate candidates in Pennsylvania will share a ticket with candidates for president next year in a state that is critical to whether Democrats can maintain control of the White House and the Senate.A race between Casey and McCormick could be one of the nation’s most expensive and closely watched in a year when Democrats have...

Nigerians protest mysterious death of Afrobeat star as police exhumes body for autopsy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Thousands marched across Nigeria on Thursday over the mysterious death last week of an Afrobeat star whose body has been exhumed for an autopsy as authorities investigate the cause of his demise.Lagos police said the body of the late Ilerioluwa Aloba, better known as MohBad, was exhumed Thursday afternoon in response to complaints about the unclear circumstances surrounding his death.Aloba, widely known as one of Nigeria’s fastest-rising young pop stars, died last week Tuesday in a Lagos hospital at the age of 27 after being admitted for an unknown illness.Young Nigerians on Tuesday took to the streets in Lagos to demand justice for Aloba, but the protests swelled across the country amid an outpouring of grief – and questions about what caused his death.The police in Lagos said it received complaints about the singer’s death, leading them to set up a criminal investigations team to “aggregate all allegations, suspicions and insinuations from various sources on ...

CP NewsAlert: B.C. First Nation research finds 158 child deaths at four facilities

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

MISSION, BRITISH COLUMBIA — An investigation into unmarked graves and missing children by British Columbia’s Sto:lo Nation has revealed at least 158 deaths, most of them at an Indigenous hospital.Researchers with the nation say archival research about three residential schools in southwestern B.C. and a First Nation hospital shows most of the children reportedly died of disease, some of accidents, while other causes of death are unknown. More coming.The Canadian Press

Black leaders say threats to undermine US democracy appear aimed at their community

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some of the nation’s most influential Black leaders on Thursday said many threats to democratic institutions in the U.S. appear to be aimed squarely at their community, including efforts to make voting more difficult, censor lessons around race and weaken social safeguards such as affirmative action.They used a wide-ranging forum at the annual meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation as a call to action to ensure that the interests of Black Americans are not further eroded.“The attacks on our democracy are happening on all fronts,” said Nicole Austin-Hillery, president & CEO of the foundation.She said they are grounded in “a racist view of America, and they all depend on misinformation and often downright deceit.”Several members of the Black Caucus, along with voting rights advocates and community activists spoke about how mostly Republican-led actions to dismantle affirmative action in higher education, ban books in schools and restrict voting are ...

1.5 million people asked to conserve water in Seattle because of statewide drought

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle Public Utilities is asking about 1.5 million customers in the Seattle area to use less water as drought conditions continue throughout most of the state. Residents on Thursday were asked to stop watering their lawns, to reduce shower time, to only run full laundry machines and dishwashers, and to fix leaking pipes and running toilets, according to a post on the utility’s website. An unusually dry summer along with a forecast of ongoing dry conditions, including a potential delay in sustained autumn rains, have prompted concerns about having sufficient water for people and fish, the utility said.“Our hydrologic model suggests a deep drawdown of our mountain reservoirs. Water levels are already lower than average, and we are adjusting to sustain adequate water supply for our customers and the rivers this fall,” Elizabeth Garcia, utility water resources planner, said in the online statement.Garcia said customers are asked to use less water until there is en...

Government shutdown risk spikes as House Republicans leave town in disarray amid hard-right revolt

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — With House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s latest funding plan in ruins and lawmakers leaving town for the weekend, there’s no endgame in sight as hard-right Republicans push dangerously closer to a disruptive federal shutdown.The White House will tell federal agencies on Friday to prepare for a shutdown, according to an official with the Office of Management and Budget who insisted on anonymity to discuss the upcoming instructions. That’s standard seven days out from a federal disruption.The Republican McCarthy has repeatedly tried to appease his hard-right flank by agreeing to the steep spending cuts they are demanding to keep government open. But cheered on by Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner for president in 2024, the conservatives have all but seized control in dramatic fashion. In a crushing defeat Thursday, five Republican hardliners blocked a typically popular defense bill from advancing — the second time this week it was set back, an un...

Police seek suspect in hate-motivated assault

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

Toronto police have released images of a suspect being sought in a hate-motivated assault investigation.Police say it happened on Wednesday in the Yonge Street and Park Home Avenue area. Two people were walking on the concourse level of 5150 Yonge Street when the suspect ran towards them from behind and pushed them.He then allegedly began assaulting them while making racial comments.“The suspect made comments suggesting the assaults were motivated by hate,” police said in a release Thursday.Police are seeking this man in connection to a have-motivated attack investigation. Toronto police.The suspect then changed some of his clothing and fled.He’s described as being clean-shaven, with a shaved head.He was originally wearing a black hoodie, grey track pants, and black flip-flops and was carrying a black backpack.He then changed his clothing and was last seen wearing a brown hoodie, black shorts, black runners and carrying the same backpack.“After consultation w...

Wisconsin Republicans propose impeaching top elections official after disputed vote to fire her

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A group of Republican Wisconsin lawmakers on Thursday proposed impeaching the battleground state’s top elections official as Democrats wage a legal battle to keep the nonpartisan administrator in office.Democrats say the GOP-controlled state Senate acted illegitimately when it voted along party lines last week to oust Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe. In a lawsuit challenging the vote, Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul accused Republicans of attacking the state’s elections.The resolution introduced Thursday by five Assembly Republicans makes Wolfe the second state official GOP lawmakers have threatened with impeachment this month. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, Wisconsin’s top Republican, created a panel last week to investigate the criteria for impeaching liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz, whose installment in August tipped the Wisconsin Supreme Court to liberal control for the first time in over a decade.Wolfe has b...

Supreme Court to decide whether Alabama can postpone drawing new congressional districts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to soon rule on Alabama’s request to let it keep new GOP-drawn congressional lines in place as it fights a three-judge panel’s plan to create a second majority-Black district, or something close to it, in the Deep South state.The state attorney general and lawyers representing Black voters who challenged the map gave different interpretations in court fillings this week of whether Alabama blatantly defied justices’ June decision in the case. The outcome could determine what map the state uses in the 2024 elections and whether the high court will revisit arguments over the role of race in redistricting. A three-judge panel is drawing new congressional lines in Alabama after lawmakers refused their directive to create a second district where Black voters would at least come close to comprising a majority. The Alabama secretary of state last week asked justices to put the redrawing process on hold as the state appea...