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Minnesota legislators finalize cannabis bill that would allow growing to start this year
Aspiring cannabis entrepreneurs who meet social equity criteria could begin growing marijuana later this year — ahead of everyone else — under a bill finalized by Minnesota lawmakers on Wednesday.
The state is also poised to change how it will award cannabis business licenses, shifting from a points-based scoring system for applications to ...Read more
News briefs
Climate change is central to both Pope Francis and California Gov. Newsom. But do Catholic voters care?
ROME — Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's speech on climate change at the Vatican this week gives him an opportunity to align himself and his party with Pope Francis, an influential figure among American Catholics and a leader in the fight ...Read more
Sen. Bob Menendez's lawyer cites 'innocent explanations' for gold and cash stash in bribery trial
NEW YORK — Gold bars and $480,000 cash found in U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez’s house isn’t evidence of bribes — and the alleged quid pro quo the veteran lawmaker is accused of was actually proper and legal constituent services, his defense lawyer said Wednesday during opening arguments at Menendez’s corruption trial.
The gold seized by the ...Read more
Water bills, building permits and other Kansas City services remain hampered by computer hack
KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Nearly two weeks after a cyberattack on Kansas City’s website, contractors still can’t get building permits. Zoning matters are going unheard.
And customers still can’t pay their water bills online, prompting the city to announce it would provide a 30-day grace period to those who don’t normally pay through ...Read more
Stuck in Brazil with premature baby, Minnesota family fights bureaucracy to return home
This week, Greyson Leo Phillips turned nine weeks old. He's finally out of neonatal intensive care after 51 days, and he has more than doubled his birth weight of 2 pounds, 2.6 ounces.
But he's not home, unless an Airbnb in the Brazilian coastal city of Florianópolis counts at home. Instead, Greyson is stuck in a Brazilian bureaucratic ...Read more
Repeal of health exemption from NC's mask ban passes Senate, sending bill to House
RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Senate voted to repeal a health and safety exception to the state’s longstanding ban on wearing masks in public, and enhance penalties for wearing a mask while committing another crime.
Senators approved the bill, which was introduced as a substitute to existing legislation last week and cleared two ...Read more
Missouri anti-LGBTQ advocate Vicky Hartzler appointed to US religious freedom agency
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday appointed former Rep. Vicky Hartzler — a conservative Christian who was once brought to tears speaking out against a bill to provide federal protections to same-sex marriages — to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Her appointment to the commission, a bipartisan federal agency ...Read more
Democrats confident about Maryland after Alsobrooks beats Trone
WASHINGTON — Democrats who backed Maryland Senate primary winner Angela Alsobrooks brushed aside concerns Wednesday that they might miss the millions of dollars Rep. David Trone was willing to spend to keep the seat under the party’s control.
But a win in November will mean a previously little-known county official must defeat a former ...Read more
A secretary of state walks into a bar: Mixed reviews after Blinken rocks out in Kyiv
KYIV, Ukraine — Was it guitar-hero time? Or a tone-deaf attempt at wartime solidarity?
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken garnered some mixed reviews in the Ukrainian capital on Wednesday after busting out his ’80s-rock chops at a bedraggled but beloved Kyiv bar.
Some Ukrainians cheered Tuesday night’s packed-house performance as a ...Read more
NASA researchers bid farewell to 'flying laboratory' at Ames Research Center
For many NASA scientists, flying aboard a decked-out Douglas DC-8 plane provided them some unique glimpses of Earth: the Moai on Easter Island, Central Park in New York and Mount Vesuvius in Italy.
On Wednesday, some of the same scientists who worked on that “flying laboratory” looked on as it made one last flight over Ames Research Center ...Read more
Pro-Palestinian protesters take over abandoned UC Berkeley building
BERKELEY, Calif. — A group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators took over UC Berkeley’s Anna Head Alumnae Hall on Wednesday, just a day after a large encampment in Sproul Plaza was taken down following an agreement between administrators and demonstrators.
“This is an active crime scene,” said UC Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof. “They�...Read more
Government officials warn of complex threats to US elections
WASHINGTON — Biden administration officials expressed confidence Wednesday about the government’s ability to safeguard U.S. elections but noted the threat landscape remains complex with the presence of foreign adversaries and generative artificial intelligence.
The officials appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee for a wide-...Read more
Crowd at Gaza Solidarity Encampment demanding UC Irvine reverse suspensions, divest; police have arrived
Students and supporters calling for University of California, Irvine administrators to drop suspensions of students involved in a Gaza Solidarity Encampment on campus and meet other demands kicked up the pressure on Wednesday.
A couple hundred supporters gathered at the Pro-Palestinian encampment in the afternoon in response to a call for an ...Read more
California Democrats want Gavin Newsom to close more prisons over cutting child care, welfare
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Democrats worried about deeper child care and social safety net cuts in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised budget want the state to instead close more prisons.
That way, they argue, there would be more funding for the programs in jeopardy.
Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles, and Assemblyman Corey Jackson, D-...Read more
US warns Israel of Gaza power vacuum and wants post-war plan
The U.S. warned Israel it risks creating a power vacuum across swaths of Gaza and urged the country’s leaders to focus more on post-war planning for the Palestinian territory.
“We can’t have anarchy and a vacuum that’s likely to be filled by chaos,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on Wednesday during a trip to ...Read more
Crowd gathers around Gaza Solidarity Encampment, demanding UC Irvine reverse suspensions, divest
Students and supporters calling for University of California, Irvine, administrators to drop suspensions of students involved in a Gaza Solidarity Encampment on campus and meet other demands kicked up the pressure on Wednesday.
A couple hundred supporters gathered right outside the walls of the Pro-Palestinian encampment in the afternoon in ...Read more
Groups seek legislation to punish NC public schools for books that some call 'obscene'
RALEIGH, N.C. — Some lawmakers and conservative groups are promoting legislation that would allow North Carolina parents to seek penalties against public schools for having books that the parents consider to be obscene.
Legislation will soon be introduced to remove exemptions that public schools have from the state’s obscenity laws, ...Read more
Morehouse College willing to halt graduation rather than allow disruptions
ATLANTA — Morehouse College President David A. Thomas said that he is prepared to shut down Sunday’s commencement exercises rather than have it disrupted before a national audience and with President Joe Biden on the stage.
In an interview with NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe, Thomas was asked if the school was “open to scenarios where you would ...Read more
Pro-Palestinian encampment at UC Berkeley ends, while tents remain at SJSU, USF
BERKELEY, Calif. – Less than 24 hours after UC Berkeley administrators and protestors concluded negotiations, a small clean-up crew dressed in white jumpsuits was busy scrubbing away the remnants of a pro-Palestine encampment that ballooned to dozens of tents over the past few weeks and seemingly disappeared overnight.
Demonstrators began ...Read more
Florida principal caught on video beating special needs student
A Florida elementary school principal is facing charges after allegedly beating a special needs student in an incident that was caught on camera.
Dontay Prophet, 33, was arrested and accused of whipping the child with a charging cable and putting him in a chokehold at Destiny Leadership Academy, a private school in Ocala.
The Marion County ...Read more
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