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Water contamination in Oregon could prompt EPA to step in

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:11:47 GMT

BOARDMAN, Ore. (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is urging Oregon to clean up water contamination from nitrates in the eastern part of the state, warning it could step in under the Safe Drinking Water Act in the absence of sufficient local action.It’s been three decades since state agencies first noted high levels of nitrate contamination in the groundwater in Morrow and Umatilla counties, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported, and residents have long complained that the pollution is negatively impacting their health.Environmental groups say that large-scale livestock and agriculture operations are largely to blame for the contamination. The two counties have a combined population of more than 100,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.EPA Region 10 Administrator Casey Sixkiller met with dozens of residents, representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the local nonprofit Oregon Rural Action in Boardman, Oregon, on Monday to...

Trudeau, Biden could agree to end ‘loophole’ in Safe Third Country Agreement: source

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:11:47 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada and the United States are negotiating a deal that could designate all 8,900 kilometres of their shared border as an official crossing under the Safe Third Country Agreement.A Canadian government official with knowledge of the talks says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Joe Biden will discuss the issue when they meet in Ottawa on Friday. The Canadian Press is granting anonymity to the official to discuss matters not yet made public. Such a deal would not physically close off the Roxham Road unofficial crossing in Quebec, where thousands of migrants have entered Canada so they can make an asylum claim.But it would mean that migrants who continue to cross there, or at any other unofficial crossing, would be treated as if they crossed at an official border checkpoint and returned to the United States to make an asylum claim there.Those travelling into the U.S. from Canada at unofficial crossings would likewise be returned to Canada by American authorities. Und...

Informant didn’t spy on Proud Boys defense, prosecutors say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:11:47 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — As revelations that a defense witness was also an FBI informant roil the already contentious Capitol riot trial of members of the far-right Proud Boys group, prosecutors said Thursday that the informant was never told to gather information about the defendants or their lawyers. The FBI, meanwhile, ended its relationship with the informant this past January after it learned that the person had received a subpoena to testify, an agent said in an affidavit filed in court. The government only found out from the defense team that the informant had been communicating with the defense and had participated in “prayer meetings” with relatives of at least one of the Proud Boys on trial, prosecutors said. They called suggestions of government misconduct “baseless.” The revelation came Wednesday when defense lawyer Carmen Hernandez said in court papers that the defense team was told by prosecutors on that afternoon that the witness they were planning to call to the stand on th...

Scientists say mine plan claiming no swamp harm has errors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:11:47 GMT

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Scientists for the federal government say documents that Georgia state regulators relied upon to conclude a proposed mine won’t harm the nearby Okefenokee Swamp and its vast wildlife refuge contain technical errors and “critical shortcomings” that render them unreliable.Since 2019, Twin Pine Minerals has been seeking permits to mine titanium less than 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) from the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, the largest refuge east of the Mississippi River. Scientists have warned that mining near the swamp’s bowl-like rim could irreparably harm the swamp’s ability to hold water and increasing the frequency of withering droughts. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division moved the project a big step forward in January by releasing a draft plan for how Twin Pines would conduct mining operations and mitigate any environmental damage. The agency said its own analysis “concluded that water level in the swamp will be minimally impact...

Brampton man charged for fleeing from police in tractor trailer, crashing into vehicle

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:11:47 GMT

A Brampton man is facing several charges, including fleeing from police, after he allegedly sped away from officers during a traffic stop and crashed into another vehicle with his tractor-trailer.Peel Regional Police say on March 10, just after 9:30 a.m., officers witnessed the driver of a heavy tractor-trailer allegedly driving in a “no heavy trucks” zone in the Williams Parkway and Dixie Road area in Brampton.It’s alleged that officers conducted a traffic stop and approached the driver, who fled at a heavy rate of speed in his truck. Police did not pursue the man due to the risk to public safety.Officers observed the truck again in the Airport Road and Queen Street area a few minutes later. Once the man saw the police, he began driving erratically, investigators said.RELATED: Pedestrian struck by vehicle in Brampton, life-threatening injuriesA short distance away at Goreway Drive and Steeles Avenue, police said the tractor-trailer allegedly collided with another ...

Q&A: Chuck D talks rap’s rise through ‘Fight the Power’ doc

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:11:47 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hip-hop became a cultural phenomenon against the backdrop of American history, and now Public Enemy’s Chuck D has committed himself to explore the artform’s origins. Chuck D rounded up several rap greats — including Ice-T, Run DMC and MC Lyte — who offered their firsthand accounts ahead of this year’s 50th anniversary of hip-hop. Their reflections are explored in the four-part docuseries “Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World,” that aired on PBS and is available to stream on its platforms and YouTube with a premium subscription. The series delves into the history of hip-hop including the genre’s radical rise from the New York City streets, creating a platform for political expression and being a leading voice for social justice“Fight the Power” touches on how the hip-hop has played an impactful role in speaking up against injustice in the aftermath of America’s racial and political reckoning in 2020 after George Floyd’s killing by Minnea...

CP NewsAlert: Boy who shot police previously apprehended under Mental Health Act

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:11:47 GMT

Edmonton police say a16-year-old boy who shot and killed two officers a week ago had been apprehended in November under the Mental Health Act and taken to hospital for assessment.Police also say the same gun was used in a shooting days earlier at a nearby pizza restaurant that left a man injured. More coming.The Canadian Press

Names, photos of Los Angeles undercover police posted online

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:11:47 GMT

The Los Angeles police chief and the department’s constitutional policing director are under investigation after the names and photographs of undercover officers were released to a technology watchdog group that posted them online, the Los Angeles Times reported. LAPD Chief Michel Moore offered his “deep apologies” to the undercover officers, who were not given advance notice of the disclosure, during a police commission meeting Tuesday. The technology watchdog group Stop LAPD Spying Coalition posted more than 9,300 officers’ information and photographs Friday in a searchable online database following a public records request by a citizen journalist, the Times reported. It was not immediately clear how many of those were undercover. The coalition opposes police intelligence-gathering and says the database should be used for “countersurveillance.” “You can use it to identify officers who are causing harm in your community” the group wrote. “Police have vast information ab...

1 million march in France, unions call new pension protests

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:11:47 GMT

PARIS (AP) — French unions have called for new nationwide protests next week, which will coincide with King Charles III’s planned visit to France.The announcement follows record turnout in Thursday’s demonstration in Paris against President Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular bill to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64.French authorities say 119,000 people marched through the capital, which the Interior Ministry said was the biggest so far for Paris.Over one million people joined protest marches around the country Thursday, the ministry said.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.PARIS (AP) — Protesters filled the streets of Paris and other French cities Thursday, with violence marring several marches, a day after President Emmanuel Macron further angered his critics by standing strong on a bill raising the retirement age that his government forced through parliament without a vote.Strikes upended travel as protesters blockaded train stations, Cha...

Authorities: 1 person fatally shot during rescue of migrants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:11:47 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — A hostage rescue in Houston in which one person was fatally shot on Thursday first began days ago when three migrants were kidnapped from a vehicle in a neighboring county, according to a prosecutor.The three migrants had been traveling in a vehicle on Interstate 10 in the southern part of Waller County on March 18 when they were stopped by an unknown number of individuals and forced into another vehicle, said Sean Whittmore, a prosecutor with the Waller County District Attorney’s Office.It is believed the driver of the vehicle with the migrants called 911 and informed the Waller County Sheriff’s Office about the kidnapping, Whittmore said. The prosecutor declined to comment on the migrants’ immigration status, nationalities or whether they were being illegally transported at the time of their kidnapping. The sheriff’s office later worked with the FBI, whose agents were involved in a shooting early Thursday morning in north Houston in which all three...