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Healey Signs $56 Bil Budget After Going Light on Changes

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:56 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey signed into law most of a policy-filled $56 billion state budget for fiscal year 2024 on Wednesday, her most significant legislative action since she took office in January. The spending plan makes permanent a pandemic-era program providing free school meals to all students, clears the way for high school graduates without legal immigration status to access in-state tuition and financial aid at public colleges and universities, offers assistance to help Bay Staters ages 25 and older attend community college for free, and more. It also sets aside $580 million to cover the anticipated impact of a tax relief package, which remains mired in Democrat-led negotiations more than a year after lawmakers first began debating the idea. “This budget makes our state more affordable, competitive and equitable,” Healey said during a ceremonial bill-signing event, flanked by Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, House Speaker Ron Mariano, Senate President Karen Spilka and Cabinet sec...

Under Biden, US oil production is poised to break Trump-era records

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:56 GMT

 (CNN) — New York (CNN Business) — Critics accuse President Joe Biden of waging a war on the oil industry that is hurting consumers at the gas pump. And yet, on his watch, US oil production is poised to shatter all-time records set during the Trump administration.US oil output is now projected to rise to an average of 12.8 million barrels per day this year for the first time ever, according to federal estimates released Tuesday.For context, that’s about half a million barrels per day more than the prior annual record set in 2019. It’s also more oil than any other country on the planet produces — the next-closest nation, Saudi Arabia, produces about 10 million barrels per day, according to OPEC.The looming milestone undercuts the argument made by some 2024 GOP presidential contenders that the Biden administration is strangling the oil industry with red tape.“There’s a narrative out there that US production is dead or dying,” said Hunter Kornfe...

Even ‘Barbie’ may not be able to rescue AMC Theaters

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:56 GMT

New York (CNN) — Barbie has already pulled in over a billion dollars. That still may not be enough to save AMC Theaters, which has a looming bill it may not be able to pay back.The world’s largest theater chain said Tuesday that sales increased 15% during the quarter ending on June 30, and the company was profitable again. AMC (AMC) also saw its highest quarterly attendance since 2019.The quarter did not include revenue from “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” July releases, which AMC said lifted the company to its best month in its 103-year history. “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” respectively, have given the troubled film industry a big shot in the arm, kindling hopes that consumers may have fallen back in love with the big screen three years after the pandemic forced movie theaters to close.Still, the financial toll of the pandemic has been immense, and is still weighing down AMC and other movie theater chains. AMC, Cineworld and other theater chains are jus...

At least six more people considering joining lawsuit against Lizzo, says plaintiffs’ lawyer

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:56 GMT

(CNN) — The attorney for the plaintiffs in the complaint against Lizzo tells CNN that “at least” six more inquiries have come in from other people with similar stories about the singer.Ron Zambrano, the plaintiffs’ attorney and a partner and employment litigation chair at West Coast Employment Lawyers, said, “We have received at least six inquiries from other people with similar stories since we filed the complaint.”Lizzo has been sued by three former dancers who claim they were subjected to a hostile work environment and harassment while they were employed as her dancers.“Noelle, Crystal and Arianna have bravely spoken out and shared their experiences, opening the door for others to feel empowered to do the same. Some of the claims we are reviewing involve allegations of a sexually charged environment and failure to pay employees and may be actionable, but it is too soon to say,” Zambrano said.CNN has reached out to Lizzo’s representatives for comment.The complaint, ...

'Bunnie Fire' threatens structures in Ramona

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:56 GMT

RAMONA, Calif. -- A vegetation fire is threatening structures in the area of Chuck Wagon Road in Ramona, Cal Fire and San Diego County Fire warned on Twitter.At 11:35 a.m. Wednesday, fire officials confirmed crews were on the scene of what they called the "Bunnie Fire." Officials say the fire has a moderate rate of spread, warning structures on Chuck Wagon Road are threatened. People fleeing Hawaii wildfires pulled from ocean 'Bunnie Fire' map locator for Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2023 in Ramona, Calif. (Cal Fire and San Diego County Fire)At 12:39 p.m., the San Diego Sheriff's Department announced an evacuation order is in place for those who live in the shaded area of the map shown below:"Bunnie Fire" in Ramona prompts an evacuation order in this area. (Credit: San Diego Sheriff's Department)A temporary evacuation point is being set up at Olive Pierce Middle School located at 1521 Hanson Lane, said SDSO. Officials say the safest route is going north on San Vicente Road or south on Baro...

Pakistan’s parliament is dissolved to pave way for elections as Imran Khan seeks release from prison

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:56 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s president on Wednesday dissolved the National Assembly, or lower house of parliament, a first step in the countdown to a general election by mid-November. The move came as the country’s top opposition leader is fighting to overturn a corruption conviction that landed him in a high-security prison over the weekend.A statement from President Arif Alvi’s office said he acted on the advice of the country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in disbanding the lawmakers as the assembly’s five-year term is ending. Usually, such a step is a formality and a general election would typically have to be held within 90 days. But this year there’s a twist. A delay until the spring is possible if Pakistan’s election commission opts for redistricting ahead of an election, based on the results of a recent census.The uncertainty over the election date coincides with the legal and political drama surrounding Sharif’s predecessor and nati...

Utah man suspected of threatening President Joe Biden shot and killed as FBI served warrant

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:56 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah man accused of making threats against President Joe Biden was shot and killed by FBI agents hours before the president was expected to land in the state Wednesday, authorities said. Special agents were trying to serve a warrant on the home of Craig Deleeuw Robertson in Provo, south of Salt Lake City, when the shooting happened at 6:15 a.m., the FBI said in a statement. Biden is scheduled to fly to Utah late Wednesday. The shooting is under review by the FBI. Court documents allege Robertson referenced a “presidential assassination” and also allege threats against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Attorney General Merrick Garland and New York AG Letitia James. “The time is right for a presidential assassination or two. First Joe then Kamala!!!” authorities say Robertson wrote in a September 2022 Facebook post included in the filings. No attorney was immediately listed for Robertson in court documents. Biden is in the middle of a trip to the Western...

A lawsuit accuses a Georgia doctor of decapitating a baby during delivery

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:56 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — A doctor used too much force and decapitated a Georgia woman’s baby during delivery, according to a lawsuit attorneys said was filed Wednesday. The baby’s mother and father, Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr., attended a news conference in Atlanta where their attorneys announced the lawsuit against Dr. Tracey St. Julian and Southern Regional Medical Center, a hospital in Riverdale, Georgia, where Ross went on July 9 to have her son. Riverdale is about 13 miles (20 kilometers) south of Atlanta. “They were so excited about the birth of their first child,” said attorney Cory Lynch. “Unfortunately, their dreams and hopes turned into a nightmare that was covered up by Southern Regional Medical Center.”Calls to St. Julian’s office went unanswered, and an email message was not immediately returned. The Associated Press was not able to determine whether she had an attorney.Southern Regional said in statements it could not discuss treatmen...

3 dead in a Russian attack on a Ukrainian city while a blast near Moscow kills 1 and wounds dozens

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:56 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Russian rocket attack on Wednesday killed three people and wounded at least seven others in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, which is near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Ukrainian officials said. The number of victims could rise in the attack, which damaged a residential area, regional Gov. Yuriy Malashko said on Telegram. The city lies about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has been occupied by Russian forces since the early weeks of the war. Shelling in the plant’s surroundings have raised persistent fears of a nuclear accident.In Russia, an explosion on the grounds of a factory that makes optical equipment for Russia’s security forces north of Moscow killed one person, wounded 60 others and left at least eight people unaccounted for, officials said.Russian officials did not provide a suspected cause of the explosion in the city of Sergiev Posad, which produced a tall plume of bl...

Vehicle strikes 3, fatally injuring 1 in service area of Los Angeles car dealership, official says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:56 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A vehicle driven by a customer struck three people Wednesday in the service area of a Los Angeles auto dealership and fatally injured one of them, a woman who was briefly trapped beneath the vehicle, authorities and witnesses say. The vehicle, driven by a female customer, struck another female customer and two workers in the service center before coming to rest in a customer reception area, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Brian Humphrey said.Bystanders freed the badly injured woman from beneath the vehicle and an off-duty nurse who was present administered CPR before she was rushed to a trauma center, Humphrey said in a statement.The woman later died, Humphrey said.Two men who work at the dealership and were struck by the vehicle were taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, including a head wound, Humphrey added. The driver had no obvious injury and remained at the scene, speaking with police officers.The dealership is in the M...