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Wisconsin elections head won’t testify at reappointment hearing that state AG says is improper

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:24 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s top elections official said she will not testify next week at a Senate committee hearing on her reappointment, leaning on a letter from the state attorney general that says lawmakers have no authority to force a vote on firing her.Republicans who control the Senate have vowed to oust Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe before the 2024 presidential election. They moved in June to begin the process of holding a vote on her reappointment despite not receiving a nomination from the bipartisan elections commission, which deadlocked along party lines on the matter.Democratic elections commissioners hoped that by not nominating Wolfe, they could avoid a confirmation vote and keep her in office indefinitely under a recent state Supreme Court ruling that conservatives have used to maintain control of key policy boards.Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul backed that argument in a letter sent to the Legislature’s attorneys on...

CIA stairwell attack among flood of sexual misconduct complaints at spy agency

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:24 GMT

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — In a secluded stairwell at CIA headquarters last year, officer trainee Ashkan Bayatpour came up behind a colleague, wrapped a scarf around her neck and plainly spoke as he tried to kiss her on the mouth.“There are many uses for this,” the woman recalls him saying. “This is what I want to do to you.”Bayatpour was convicted Wednesday of a state misdemeanor charge of assault and battery in a case that was remarkable for breaking through the CIA’s veil of ultra-secrecy and playing out in a public courtroom where it has emboldened a sexual misconduct reckoning.At least two-dozen women have come forward in recent months with their own complaints of abusive treatment within the CIA, telling authorities and Congress not only about sexual assaults, unwanted touching and coercion but of what they contend is a campaign by the spy agency to keep them from speaking out, with dire warnings it could wreck their careers and even endanger national security.“There are harassers ev...

Turkish airstrike in northern Iraq kills 4 Kurdish insurgents as Ankara’s top diplomat visits region

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:24 GMT

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — A Turkish airstrike in northern Iraq on Thursday killed three members of a Kurdish insurgent group, officials said, as Ankara’s top diplomat visited the seat of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish regional government. Turkish military actions against members of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, hiding in northern Iraq, have intensified in recent weeks. The violence is pitting Turkey and Turkish-backed groups on one side, and Kurdish fighters in Iraq and Syria on the other.Ankara considers the PKK — which has waged a decadeslong insurgency within Turkey — and allied Kurdish groups in Syria and Iraq as terrorist organizations. It claims members of the PKK regularly find sanctuary in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region. On Thursday, a Turkish military drone targeted a vehicle some 137 kilometers (86 miles) north of the city of Irbil, the seat of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish government, authorities said. One PKK leader and two fighters were killed.Meanwhile, Tu...

Alex Murdaugh friend pleads guilty to helping steal from dead maid’s family

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:24 GMT

KINGSTREE, S.C. (AP) — Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh ‘s old college buddy has pleaded guilty to a second set of charges for helping the disgraced South Carolina attorney steal millions of dollars of insurance settlements from the sons of Murdaugh’s dead housekeeper.Cory Fleming, a 54-year-old former attorney, wasn’t immediately sentenced after his guilty plea to 23 state charges Wednesday.Prosecutors indicated they would ask at a September hearing that Fleming spend more time in prison than the nearly four-year sentence he received for similar federal charges earlier this month, according to media reports.During his federal sentencing, Fleming said he knew Murdaugh, now serving a life sentence for killing his wife and son, was going to steal something from the family of his housekeeper. She worked for Murdaugh’s family for decades before dying after a fall at their home in 2018.But Fleming said he thought it might be $100,000 — not the entire $4 million-plus awa...

Nova Scotia floods caused $170M in insured damages, estimate shows

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:24 GMT

Historic flooding in Nova Scotia last month caused more than $170 million in insured damages, an initial estimate from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. shows.Severe thunderstorms in July dumped more than 250 millimetres of rain on the hardest hit parts of the province, causing damage to roads, homes and bridges while killing four people.The Insurance Bureau of Canada created a separate web page called Nova Scotia Floods to help people understand insurance coverage and the various stages of the claim process.Craig Stewart, the vice president of climate change at IBC, says over 1.5-million households in Canada remain highly exposed to flooding and don’t have access to flood insurance.IBC says insured weather damages in Canada routinely exceed $2 billion annually, with water damages responsible for most of the losses. Stewart says IBC is advocating for investments in climate adaptation and asking the federal government to work on reducing risks Canadians face due to ex...

Stock market today: Wall Street slips ahead of a highly anticipated speech from the Federal Reserve

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are slipping on Wall Street Thursday, despite a blowout profit report from one of its most influential companies, after a couple mixed reports on the U.S. economy. The S&P 500 was 0.4% lower in midday trading after flipping from an earlier gain. It’s still on track for a winning week, which would trim its loss for what’s been a dismal August. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 83 points, or 0.2%, at 34,389, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.7% lower.Nvidia was in the spotlight after it reported much stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than expected. That raised hopes that this year’s frenzy on Wall Street around artificial-intelligence technology isn’t just hype.Nvidia first stunned the market three months ago when it said the quick adoption of AI would send its revenue soaring in the three months through July. Its sales came in even better than forecast, at $12.51 billion, and the company gave a f...

TTC says Scarborough Line 3 will not resume operation following derailment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:24 GMT

The TTC says service on Scarborough’s Line 3 will not resume following last month’s derailment. The decision to permanently shut down the line comes exactly one month after the rear car of a southbound SRT train separated from the rest of the train and derailed approximately 500 feet from Ellesmere Station, forcing the evacuation of over 40 passengers. Five people were treated for minor injuries at the time. Line 3 was originally scheduled to be decommissioned on November 18 with the TTC planning to run express shuttle bus service along the 6.4 kilometre route from Scarborough Centre and Kennedy stations for the next seven years until the Scarborough Subway Extension opens in 2030.The transit agency says while a comprehensive review is still underway, the decision has been made to permanently close the line ahead of schedule and begin to implement elements of the replacement plan. Those measures include the installation of temporary road markings and signage to establis...

Shohei Ohtani won’t pitch for rest of season due to torn elbow ligament

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:24 GMT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani won’t pitch for the rest of the season because of a torn ligament in his right elbow, Los Angeles Angels general manager Perry Minasian said Wednesday night.The Angels don’t yet know whether the major league homers leader and 10-game winner will need surgery to repair his ulnar collateral ligament for the second time. Ohtani had his first Tommy John surgery in late 2018, following his AL Rookie of the Year season.“A tough day for him,” Minasian said. “Tough day for all of us.”The two-way superstar left the mound abruptly in the second inning of his start against Cincinnati after throwing 26 pitches in the opener of a doubleheader. Ohtani, who hit his 44th homer in the first inning, then insisted on playing in the nightcap even after the tear was discovered while running tests between games.The injury will have a massive effect on baseball’s free agent market this winter with Ohtani headed to free agency. The uniquely valuable AL MVP front-runner ...

'Corn sweat' and why it's heaping on the humidity

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:24 GMT

ILLINOIS — Regions blessed by large swaths of farmland can also be cursed with season spikes in humidity thanks to "corn sweat."You see, as corn and other crops grow, they give off moisture through their leaves. This happens throughout the growing season but reaches its peak as crops mature. Thanks to the US National Weather Service Central Illinois Facebook post, we know a bit more about the science behind this natural phenomenon.The scientific term for the release of moisture is evapotranspiration. This is the combined process by which water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere through evaporation from soil and other surfaces, and transpiration from plants.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog For areas dominated by agriculture the total amount of water pumped into the atmosphere can be staggering. In Illinois, for instance, a mature corn crop can give off more than 35 billion gallons of water daily. This is enough water to fill more than 52,500 O...

Dean's TBT Interview: The Osbournes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:24 GMT

WGN Entertainment Reporter Dean Richards' 2003 interview with Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne.Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly newsletter. You'll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!