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Lawsuits target Maine referendum aimed at curbing foreign influence in local elections

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:20 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Two utilities and two media organizations are suing over a referendum in Maine that closed a loophole in federal election law that allows foreign entities to spend on local and state ballot measures.The three lawsuits take aim at the proposal overwhelmingly approved by voters on Nov. 7 to address foreign election influence.The Maine Association of Broadcasters and Maine Press Association contend the new law imposes a censorship mandate on news outlets, which are required to police campaign ads to ensure there’s no foreign government influence.Meanwhile, Central Maine Power and Versant, the state’s largest electric utilities, each filed separate lawsuits raising constitutional challenges that contend the referendum violates their free speech and engagement on issues that affect them.The Maine Commission on Government Ethics and Campaign Practices is studying the federal complaints filed Tuesday and consulting with the attorney general, Jonathan Wayn...

Saudi registrants for COP28 included undeclared oil company employees, nonprofit says

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:20 GMT

At least 15 people who registered for Saudi Arabia’s delegation to the COP28 climate conference in Dubai appear to be undeclared employees of the Saudi state oil company, according to research by an environmental nonprofit.Saudi Arabia, the world’s second-biggest oil producer, was one of the main countries opposing an aggressive commitment to phase out fossil fuels at the United Nations-led summit. Saudi Arabia and other large oil-producing nations have traditionally held sway in nixing potential agreements on reducing oil, gas and coal, which when burned cause climate change. This year, however, negotiators went into extra time before approving an agreement that calls for a transition away from fossil fuels for the first time, though critics say it is filled with loopholes.New rules for this year’s talks required registrants to disclose their affiliation, a move aimed at improving transparency. Activists have long questioned the presence of fossil fuel producers a...

Oakville couple out nearly $55K after kitchen renovation ‘nightmare’

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:20 GMT

Angela and Gino Costabile’s home in Oakville is all decked out for the holidays. Several lights and decorations adorn the home inside and out.“Christmas is so very special for us,” Angela said.The one thing she enjoys the most is cooking and baking for family and friends. She had plans to do so in a newly renovated kitchen, something the couple has been saving for and planning for 37 years.“That won’t be happening this year,” she told us.Their kitchen is bare bones — a few finished cabinets and countertop but no appliances after a project that was started months ago was never finished.Back in June, they hired a contractor that was recommended to them. He started some of the work, like redoing the floors, some of the cabinetry and ceiling.“He was great in the beginning, and I really liked his work.”But a few weeks in and after the couple gave him nearly $55,000 upfront in deposit funds to pay for work and materials, he stopped showing up.“He just started ghosting us,” Angela sa...

Review: Timothée Chalamet waltzes through the whimsical ‘Wonka’ but Roald Dahl’s daring is missing

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:20 GMT

The original 1971 “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” may have been a delicious dream, lined with trees of gumballs and fields of lollipops. But never has there been a more cautionary tale about the danger of too much of a good thing.Magical as that Roald Dahl-scripted film was, it remains lodged in our imaginations less for its sugary goodness than the way darkness, satire and even mania ebb around its edges — flowing down that nightmarish watery tunnel and pooling somewhere in the back of Gene Wilder’s eyes. Charlie Bucket and Grandpa Joe may bubble with laughter all the way up the ceiling, but there’s a spinning metal blade up there.“Wonka,” the latest attempt to revisit Dahl’s masterwork, bears no such danger. It’s going more for the taste of an Everlasting Gobstopper — an ingenious confection that piles flavor on top of flavor. Tasty though that can be, you miss the daring of Dahl in the more wanly whimsical “Wonka.”Still, the movie has two big things going for it: th...

PwC pays $1.45 million in fines to CPA Ontario for breaching code of conduct

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:20 GMT

TORONTO — CPA Ontario says accounting firm PwC has paid $1.45 million in fines and costs after 445 staff shared answers during mandatory internal training assessments between 2016 and 2020. CPA Ontario says PwC self-reported the breach of the regulatory organization’s code of professional conduct. The training was on accounting and auditing standards, audit strategy, planning, procedures and documentation, professional integrity and independence matters, and other issues related to audits. CPA Ontario says the firm admitted to breaching its code of conduct.The firm has paid a fine of $1 million and a further $455,000 in costs to CPA Ontario. The regulatory organization says it has taken into account the remedial actions by PwC, which include ongoing periodic monitoring and internal discipline. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2023.The Canadian Press

US nuclear regulators to issue construction permit for a reactor that uses molten salt

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:20 GMT

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is issuing a construction permit for a new type of nuclear reactor that uses molten salt to cool the reactor core.The NRC is issuing the permit to Kairos Power for the Hermes test reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the agency said Tuesday. The reactor won’t generate generate electricity and it will be far smaller than traditional ones. This is the first construction permit the NRC has issued for a reactor that uses something other than water to cool the reactor core. The United States Atomic Energy Commission, the predecessor to the NRC, did license other types of designs. Kairos Power is working on fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor technology. The California-based company received funding from the Department of Energy. The 35-megawatt thermal reactor will test the concept of using molten salt as a coolant and test the type of nuclear fuel, the NRC said. Kairos Power aims to develop a larger version for commercial electricity t...

Father of July 4th Illinois parade shooting suspect released early from jail for good behavior

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:20 GMT

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) — The father of the suspect in a deadly 2022 Fourth of July parade shooting in suburban Chicago has been released early from jail after serving part of a 60-day sentence for sponsoring a firearm application for his son.Robert Crimo Jr. was released Wednesday for good behavior, according to authorities.Crimo Jr. pleaded guilty last month in Lake County court in Waukegan, Illinois, to seven misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct. He originally had been charged with seven felony counts of reckless conduct — one for each person his son, Robert Crimo III, is accused of killing.Three years before the attack in Highland Park, Crimo III at 19 was not old enough to seek his own gun license, but could apply with the sponsorship of a parent or guardian. His father signed off on the application even though just months earlier, a relative reported to police that Crimo III had threatened to “kill everyone.”Crimo III faces 21 first-degree murder counts, 48 counts of attempted m...

Man shot to death at large Minneapolis homeless encampment that has been slated for closure

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:20 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A man was shot to death at a large Minnesota homeless encampment, days before it was scheduled to be removed.The shooting was reported around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday at the encampment known as Camp Nenookaasi in Minneapolis. The 45-year-old victim suffered several gunshot wounds and was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. His name has not been released.A man suspected in the shooting was arrested near the encampment and a gun was recovered, police spokesperson Aaron Rose said at a news briefing. A second man also was arrested but it wasn’t immediately clear why. No charges had been filed as of Wednesday morning.After the shooting, police temporarily dispersed people from the encampment and brought in a Metro Transit bus to provide warmth and shelter on a night when the temperature was in the 20s. It wasn’t immediately clear if the residents have been allowed to return. A message left with police on Wednesday morning wasn’t immediately ret...

Illinoisans need $11,600 more just to live like they did in 2021: analysis

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:20 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – An economic analysis by a group of Congressional Republicans may have you feeling nostalgic for January 2021. There’s not much to miss about that time – when many Americans were still out of a job or under stay-at-home orders because of the pandemic – but inflation hadn’t yet exploded.Since then, the cost of just about everything, from groceries to gas to housing, has skyrocketed.An inflation tracker created by the members of Congress’ Joint Economic Committee shows the impact of inflation on the average household in every state. (While the joint committee is chaired by a Democrat, the report and data were put out by the committees’ Republican members.) The report uses January 2021 as a benchmark “because it was the last time inflation was within recent historical norms.”Now, the report claims, most American households would need to spend an additional $10,000 or more just to afford the same goods and quality of life they had less than three year...

Hunter Biden defends father, defies subpoena from House GOP

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:20 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Hunter Biden is defending his father and calling House Republican’s effort to formalize an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden “shameless.”“There’s no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen,” Hunter Biden said.The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Hunter Biden to sit for a closed-door deposition today as part of the committee’s inquiry into President Biden and his family, but Hunter Biden insisted he would only testify in public.“I am here to testify at a public hearing today to answer any of the committee’s legitimate questions,” Hunter Biden continued.The president’s son criticized the house GOP’s probe several times while speaking to the press.“There is no fairness or decency in what these Republicans are doing. They have lied over and over about every aspect of my personal and professional life,” Hunter Biden added.Hunter Biden is facing federal gun charges and was re...