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US sets record for billion-dollar weather disasters in a year — and there’s still 4 months to go

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:40:40 GMT

By SETH BORENSTEIN (AP Science Writer)The deadly firestorm in Hawaii and Hurricane Idalia’s watery storm surge helped push the United States to a record for the number of weather disasters that cost $1 billion or more. And there’s still four months to go on what’s looking more like a calendar of calamities.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Monday that there have been 23 weather extreme events in America that cost at least $1 billion this year through August, eclipsing the year-long record total of 22 set in 2020. So far this year’s disasters have cost more than $57.6 billion and claimed at least 253 lives.And NOAA’s count doesn’t yet include Tropical Storm Hilary’s damages in hitting California and a deep drought that has struck the South and Midwest because those costs are still be totaled, said Adam Smith, the NOAA applied climatologist and economist who tracks the billion-dollar disasters.“We’re see...

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano alert level is downgraded after latest eruption

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:40:40 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — The alert level on Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, was downgraded Monday with no infrastructure threatened and no threat of significant ash emission into the atmosphere outside a limited area within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.The downgrade came one day after the volcano began erupting again, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.In June, Kilauea erupted for several weeks, displaying fountains of red lava without threatening any communities or structures. Crowds flocked to the Big Island’s Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which offered safe views of the lava.The current eruption was confined to Kilauea caldera within the park. The observatory said it “does not see any indication of activity migrating elsewhere on Kīlauea volcano and expects the eruption to remain confined to the summit region.”Kilauea, Hawaii’s second-largest volcano, erupted from September 2021 until last December. In 2018, a Kilauea eruption destroyed more th...

Senate committee recommends firing Wisconsin’s top elections official in process Democrats dispute

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:40:40 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Republican-controlled committee on Monday recommended firing Wisconsin’s top elections official rather than reappointing her, clearing the way for a vote by the full GOP-led state Senate as soon as Thursday.The Senate elections committee voted 3-1 along party lines, with one Democrat abstaining, against confirming nonpartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe for a second term. Democrats have accused GOP leaders of improperly pushing through Wolfe’s confirmation after the elections commission’s three Republicans and three Democrats deadlocked along party lines in a reappointment vote in June.Monday’s vote comes despite objections from the state’s Democratic attorney general and the Legislature’s own nonpartisan attorneys who have said that without a majority vote by the commission to reappoint Wolfe, the Senate doesn’t have the authority to go forward with deciding whether to confirm or fire her...

DraftKings apologizes for sports betting offer referencing 9/11 terror attacks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:40:40 GMT

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Sports betting company DraftKings apologized Monday after using the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks to entice people to bet on baseball and football games on the anniversary of the tragedy that killed nearly 3,000 people.The Boston-based company offered users a 9/11-themed promotion that required three New York-based teams — the Yankees, Mets and Jets — to win their games Monday, the 22nd anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and the downing of a passenger jet in a field in Pennsylvania.After an outcry on social media from people offended by the promotion titled “Never Forget,” DraftKings took it down and apologized.“We sincerely apologize for the featured parlay that was shared briefly in commemoration of 9/11,” the company wrote. “We respect the significance of this day for our country and especially for the families of those who were directly affected.”Bret Eagleson, whose father, Bruce, was killed in the World Trade Center, r...

Judges refuse to pause order for Alabama to draw new congressional districts while state appeals

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:40:40 GMT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A three-judge panel refused Monday to pause an order to draw new congressional districts in Alabama while the state pursues another round of appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court.The judges rejected Alabama’s request to stay the ruling, which found the state diluted the voting strength of Black residents and ordered a special master to draw new lines.Alabama is expected to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking to put the order on hold.The three judges last week said they will step in and oversee the drawing of new congressional lines after Alabama lawmakers refused to create a second district where Black voters at least came close to comprising a majority, as suggested by the court. The judges ordered a court-appointed special master to submit three proposed maps by Sept. 25.The judges, in rejecting Alabama’s request for a stay, said state voters should not have to endure another congressional election under an “unlawful map.”“We repeat that we a...

The New York ethics commission that pursued former Governor Cuomo is unconstitutional, a judge says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:40:40 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A commission created last year to enforce ethics rules for New York state’s employees and elected officials violates the state’s constitution because it is too independent, a state judge ruled Monday in a decision that could gut the body’s power to combat corruption and influence-peddling.The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has been fighting an attempt by the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government to force him to forfeit $5 million he got for writing a book about his administration’s efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.The commission was formed by the Legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul to replace a previous ethics body that had been criticized for not being independent enough. The lawmakers said they wanted to increase public trust in government after Cuomo’s 2021 resignation in a sexual harassment scandal.The Commission investigates potential ethics and lobbying violations by state officials, employees, ...

Michigan Catholic group wins zoning fight over display of Stations of the Cross

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:40:40 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — A Catholic group will be allowed to post religious displays along a privately owned “prayer trail” depicting the last day of Jesus, after a zoning fight with a local government in southeastern Michigan went all the way to a federal appeals court.The court ruled 3-0 in favor of the group and issued an injunction Monday, saying Genoa Township in Livingston County was likely violating the rights of Missouri-based Catholic Healthcare International, which controls the 40-acre wooded parcel.The township had said a special-use permit was needed because the project was the equivalent of a church building. The religious group objected but ultimately responded with a plan for a chapel and trail after spending thousands of dollars on the application. It was rejected. Catholic Healthcare obtained the land from the Lansing Catholic Diocese to create a trail with the Stations of the Cross, 14 stops that commemorate the suffering and death of Jesus.Stations of the Cross stayed up un...

US makes deal with Iran to swap prisoners and release $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:40:40 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has cleared the way for the release of five American citizens detained in Iran by issuing a blanket waiver for international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian money from South Korea to Qatar without fear of U.S. sanctions. In addition, as part of the deal, the administration has agreed to release five Iranian citizens held in the United States.Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed off on the deal late last week, but Congress was not notified of the decision until Monday, according to the notification, which was obtained by The Associated Press. The waiver is likely to draw criticism of President Joe Biden from Republicans and others that the deal will boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat to U.S. troops and Mideast allies.The waiver means that European, Middle Eastern and Asian banks will not run afoul of U.S. sanctions in converting the money frozen in South Korea and transferring it to Qatar’...

Wisconsin wolf hunters face tighter regulations under new permanent rules

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:40:40 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wolf hunters in Wisconsin would have to register their kills faster, face a limited window for training their dogs and couldn’t disturb dens under new regulations being finalized by state wildlife officials.The state Department of Natural Resources plans to hold a public hearing on the new regulations Tuesday afternoon via Zoom. The agency plans to bring the regulations to the agency’s board for approval in October. The DNR has been relying on emergency rules crafted after then-Gov. Scott Walker signed legislation in 2012 creating a wolf season. The new regulations would be permanent. They largely duplicate the emergency provisions but make some changes to reflect goals in the agency’s new wolf management plan. That plan doesn’t set a specific population goal, instead recommending the agency work with advisory committees to determine whether local packs should be maintained, grown or reduced.The major changes in the new rules include shri...

Sheriff in New Mexico’s most populous county rejects governor’s gun ban, calling it unconstitutional

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:40:40 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The sheriff in New Mexico’s largest metro area vowed Monday not to enforce an emergency order by the governor to temporarily suspend the right to carry firearms in public in and around the city of Albuquerque.“It’s unconstitutional, so there’s no way we can enforce that order,” Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen said during a news conference. “This ban does nothing to curb gun violence.”Reaction has been swift after Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the order Friday, telling reporters that she expected legal challenges and that state police would handle enforcement. “I welcome the debate and fight about how to make New Mexicans safer,” she said, while also acknowledging that criminals surely would ignore her order. Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman, a Democratic party leader who was appointed by Lujan Grisham, joined Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and Police Chief Harold Medina saying they too would not enforce it. A ...