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States OK solar panels for balconies. Safety guidelines haven't caught up

Current News / News & Features /

Over the past year and a half, a dozen states have embraced a new vision for solar power: small, cheap panels that can be hung from a balcony or porch, be plugged into a standard wall outlet and take a dent out of residents’ utility bills.

These systems, known as balcony solar or plug-in solar, are attractive because they can be installed ...Read more

This Pittsburgh man with a rare form of muscular dystrophy is bucking the odds with a clinical trial drug

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In an infusion bay at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Billy Ellsworth twists the plastic top off of a bottle of Gatorade. “That was kind of tough, to be honest,” he said. “I wasn’t sure I was going to get it.”

Billy has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disease that causes progressive muscle weakness and affects about ...Read more

Harmon Dobson/The Denver Post/TNS

The US Supreme Court will open its term with the Boulder climate lawsuit. Here's how it could affect other similar complaints

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The U.S. Supreme Court will open its latest term Monday morning by hearing arguments over whether Boulder can sue two oil and gas companies for their roles in climate change in a case that is garnering national attention because the decision could affect the outcome of other climate cases pending in the United States.

Suncor Energy and ...Read more

(Michael B. Krieg/Indiana National Guard)/Digital KFF HEALTH/TNS

These 100 nursing homes face perilous flood risk. Minnesota shows what can happen

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NEW RICHLAND, Minn. — Floodwater seeped through the nursing home’s front door just before sunrise.

Inside the New Richland Care Center, staff members rushed to move 36 residents out of the building on Sept. 19 while they still could. They pushed elderly residents in wheelchairs through 4-inch-deep water to buses waiting in the parking lot, ...Read more

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool/Getty Images North America/TNS

India seeks bigger role in effort to end the Russia-Ukraine war

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India is taking a more direct role in efforts to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, engaging both sides on issues including shipping and reducing hostilities, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said.

Speaking at a security conference over the weekend, Jaishankar said India in recent months has become “a little bit more involved...Read more

Protests in Seattle, across WA call for pause on AI data center boom

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As a steady stream of vehicles passed beneath Seattle's John Lewis Memorial Bridge on Sunday afternoon, Faith Mathison stood with a gaggle of protesters holding oversized signs that read: Stop Data Centers" and "Moratorium Now."

A 26-year-old Seattleite who cleans glass at the Space Needle, Mathison said she worries about data centers using too...Read more

EVARISTO SA/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Bolsonaro vaults to lead over Lula as Brazil swings right

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Flávio Bolsonaro unexpectedly finished ahead of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the first round of Brazil’s presidential election while conservative allies dominated downballot, setting the nation up for a sharp shift to the right.

Bolsonaro earned 47.2% to the leftist Lula’s 44.7% with about 97% of votes counted, according to ...Read more

EVARISTO SA/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Bolsonaro takes surprise lead over Lula before Brazil runoff

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Right-wing senator Flávio Bolsonaro surged to a surprise lead over incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the first round of Brazil’s presidential race, a result that if confirmed in final counts would rally markets and position him as the favorite in a runoff later this month.

Bolsonaro led Sunday’s first round election with about 49.6% ...Read more

STEPHEN HOBBS/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Why did a California state agency waive $57 million in interest payments in 2024?

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The California State Controller’s Office on a single day in 2024 approved wiping away more than $57 million in interest it was owed in a sweeping action with no public explanation at the time, a Sacramento Bee investigation has found.

The money was owed by corporations, insurance companies and other businesses who were on the hook — in some...Read more

AI policy coming to University of Alaska as student misuse increases

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As the use of artificial intelligence to cheat is becoming increasingly common among students at the University of Alaska Anchorage, the UA Board of Regents will consider adoption of a document guiding AI use across the university system later this year.

The UA system does not have a single policy governing AI use across more than a dozen ...Read more

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Hurricane center increases odds Gulf system could develop

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The National Hurricane Center on Sunday continued to track a system forming in the Gulf that could develop into the season’s next tropical depression or storm.

As of the NHC’s 2 p.m. tropical outlook, the broad area of low pressure was forecast to form by the middle of the week in the southwestern Gulf.

“Although environmental conditions...Read more

Do we have a serial killer?' top question Lansing police get in trail deaths

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Lansing police Chief Robert Backus has addressed the speculation among some residents of the state's capital city that a serial killer is behind the string of deaths resulting from violence on the city's River Trail.

"Do we have a serial killer in Lansing?" is the top question police recently have been asked, Backus said during a press ...Read more

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Korean government is negotiating to fund Westinghouse nuclear plants in the U.S.

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The U.S. government appears to have found a financier for a nuclear building spree in the U.S.: the Republic of Korea.

A non-binding framework announced last week at the White House would provide $120 billion toward the construction of eight nuclear reactors. They are to be built in pairs across at least four federal sites, in Ohio, Tennessee, ...Read more

National Hurricane Center/TNS/TNS

Tropical depression could form this week in Gulf: forecasters

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A trough of low pressure in the Gulf near Mexico’s Yucatan on Sunday could become a tropical depression later this week as it drifts north, forecasters said.

Initially given a 20% chance of development within the next seven days by the National Hurricane Center, that number was increased to 40% by Sunday afternoon.

“A dip in the jet ...Read more

Wojtek Radwanski/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Latvia leader surges to election win as Russia threats rise

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Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs’ party won a record number of seats in Latvia’s parliamentary elections, an outcome that should help him consolidate power at a time of growing security threats from Russia.

The result — the best recorded by a single party since the Baltic nation regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 — is ...Read more

Nancy Lane/Boston Herald/TNS

Med flight debris field found off Nantucket; six passengers still missing

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The Coast Guard found a debris field off the coast of Nantucket from a Canadian medical flight that went missing over the weekend, but they’re still looking for the people who were onboard.

“Our priority is to find the six personnel on that aircraft,” said Rear Admiral Matt Lake, the Coast Guard Northeast District Commander, at a Sunday ...Read more

Erik Marmor/Getty Images North America/TNS

FlyDubai stabbing attack from co-pilot came after he asked to pray: captain

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The attack on FlyDubai pilot Smit Machchhar began with his co-pilot’s request to pray, the hero captain revealed Saturday, explaining how he had managed to wrench open the cockpit door while being hacked with an ax.

He had no idea that his second-in-command was Omani national Hamam al-Hammami, whose own country’s airline had barred him from...Read more

KENT NISHIMURA/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Taiwan's envoy prods Trump administration on stalled arms sale

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Taiwan’s representative to the U.S. projected confidence that President Donald Trump would ultimately approve additional weapons sales to the self-governing island, which has been waiting for a $14 billion arms package.

“Obviously the speed could be a little faster, but we hope the United States — the United States understands very well ...Read more

Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

Amendment 3 divides Central Floridians as vote on property taxes looms

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Elaine Parker is fed up with “skyrocketing” property tax bills propelled by soaring home values.

The east Orange County resident is also mad that local governments, even as they take in more tax revenue, have not made significant cuts to spending or lowered tax rates. So she’s made it her “passion” to advocate for Amendment 3, a ...Read more

Hurricane center tracking new Gulf system that could develop

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The National Hurricane Center on Sunday continued to track a system forming in the Gulf that could develop into the season’s next tropical depression or storm.

As of the NHC’s 8 a.m. tropical outlook, the broad area of low pressure was forecast to form in a few days.

“Some subsequent slow development of this system is possible while it ...Read more