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Mass. Senate budget writer ‘not surprised’ by $915M shelter price tag for fiscal year 2025

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

The top budget writer in the Massachusetts Senate said Wednesday he was “not surprised” when he learned Gov. Maura Healey’s administration predicted it would spend nearly $1 billion on the emergency shelter system in fiscal year 2025.Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues, who is tasked with shaping many of the major financial bills in the chamber, said there were discussions “a few months ago” that made clear the system housing homeless families with children and pregnant people would need more money.But the massive spend in fiscal year 2025, and a projected budget gap of $224 million this fiscal year, come as state tax revenues in the first months of fiscal year 2024 have come in below expectation.Rodrigues said he understands there are financial challenges ahead for Massachusetts but the state is in “good fiscal shape.”“We’ve been very responsible through the years that we’ve received an amazing amount of revenue increases, a lot of it as a result of hundreds o...

Is 2024 a good time to buy a vehicle? Here’s the projection

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

Kalea Hall and Breana Noble | (TNS) The Detroit NewsConsumers looking for new vehicles should have better luck in 2024, with inventory levels expected to be higher, putting downward pressure on prices, experts say.New-vehicle inventory is finally expected to hit pre-pandemic levels in 2024 at 3 million, three times what was available during the semiconductor supply shortage, according to Cox Automotive, an automotive services company. But even with more vehicles on dealer lots, analysts at Cox expect sales will increase less than 2% year over year to 15.6 million, below the 17 million figure reached in 2019.Automakers, meanwhile, will continue to add more electric options to the market, even though they’ve pulled back some of their EV plans and goals as consumers continue to lean on internal combustion engine products and hybrids.Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at Cox, said there’s “no question” 2024 will be a better time to buy.“The best that we’...

First snow of winter in San Diego County blankets highest peaks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

SAN DIEGO — San Diego County's tallest peaks received its first dusting of snow on Wednesday as the first in a pair of storms this week started to move through the region.Photos and videos of Mount Laguna, one of the region's highest points at 6,000 ft., started to see a dusting of flakes just before 11:45 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. By 1 p.m., about an inch to two inches of snow appeared to blanket parts of the mountain area.That includes outside the Laguna Mountain Lodge on Sunrise Highway. Images from the lodge's live web camera captured between 12:15 p.m. and 1 p.m. Wednesday can be found below.Snow starting to blanket the Laguna Mountain Lodge at 12:18 p.m. on Jan. 3, 2024. (Courtesy of Laguna Mountain Lodge)Snow falling at the Laguna Mountain Lodge at 12:29 p.m. on Jan. 3, 2024. (Courtesy of Laguna Mountain Lodge)Snow falling at the Laguna Mountain Lodge at 12:36 p.m. on Jan. 3, 2024. (Courtesy of Laguna Mountain Lodge)Snow blanketing the Laguna Mountain L...

Ontario woman files proposed class-action lawsuit over salmonella-tainted cantaloupes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

An Ontario woman who became ill after eating cantaloupe is the lead plaintiff in a second proposed class-action lawsuit filed over cantaloupe-linked salmonella infections across the country.A statement of claim filed in the Court of King’s Bench in Manitoba says Sarnia, Ont. resident Michele Lee Gagne had abdominal cramps, diarrhea and vomiting in early November after eating cantaloupe that she believes was tainted with salmonella.“The combination of these symptoms is uncommon for the plaintiff, particularly the vomiting,” says the document filed by London, Ont.-based law firm Siskinds on Dec. 22. The firm said there were “strategic” reasons for filing the case in Manitoba but did not elaborate.A proposed class-action related to tainted cantaloupes was filed in Quebec earlier in December, while a third is pending in British Columbia. The claim filed in Manitoba names Mexican company Malichita, which grew the melons, and two U.S. firms — Trufresh in Noga...

DeSantis in Iowa criticizes House Republicans for not making impact or keeping promises

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis criticized House Republicans Wednesday, lamenting to a crowd in southwestern Iowa that he has “not noticed much of a difference” since they edged into the majority after the 2022 midterm elections.“I’m sick of Republicans always losing to the Democrats,” the Florida governor said to applause in Council Bluffs.“You look in Washington, it’s like, you elect Republicans, control the House. I have not noticed much of a difference in anything,” DeSantis continued. “They promise all this stuff, they go on TV … and then nothing ends up ever happening.”The snub from the former U.S. congressman reflects DeSantis’ attempt to compare his successes in Florida to other Republicans across the country, including former President Donald Trump. DeSantis also took particular care to strike a contrast with Trump when he got an Iowan voter’s question about whether he’s “Trump-lite” during a town hall...

Report: Data from 2022 California traffic stops shows ‘pervasive pattern’ of racial profiling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Black people accounted for nearly 13% of traffic stops in California in 2022, far above their 5% share of the state’s population, according to a report released Wednesday under a law designed to address racial profiling of motorists and pedestrians by police.The annual report, compiled by California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board, for the first time included data from all law enforcement agencies in the state.Andrea Guerrero, co-chairperson of the board and executive director of Alliance San Diego, said in a statement that the “scale of data that California is collecting allows us to say definitively that profiling exists — it is a pervasive pattern across the state.”“We must now turn to the hard work of ending profiling by bringing all the stakeholders to the table to ascertain and change the policies and the practices that enable it,” Guerrero said.The board’s report includes data from nearly 4.6 million vehicle and pedestrian stops by officers f...

‘Debtor’s prison’ lawsuit filed against St. Louis suburb resolved with $2.9 million settlement

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Missouri city will pay nearly $3 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it and six other St. Louis suburbs of violating the constitutional rights of residents by jailing them and forcing them to pay fines and fees amounting to millions of dollars, often for minor traffic violations.The $2.9 million settlement with the city of Florissant was approved by a federal judge on Tuesday and announced Wednesday by ArchCity Defenders, a St. Louis-based public interest law firm. The class-action lawsuit was filed in 2016.Florissant was among several St. Louis County cities whose policing and court practices were scrutinized after the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson. Brown, a Black 18-year-old, was killed by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9, 2014.Wilson was not charged, but the shooting led to months of protests and prompted a Department of Justice investigation. The federal agency in 2015 accused Ferguson of racially biased polici...

PMO clarifies Trudeau and family stayed ‘at no cost’ during vacation in Jamaica

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office is clarifying that he and his family are vacationing in Jamaica “at no cost at a location owned by family friends” after initially saying the family was paying for their stay.The Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement that the federal ethics commissioner was consulted “on these details prior to the travel to ensure that the rules were followed.” The office offered the clarification the day before Trudeau’s holiday on the Caribbean island is set to conclude. Before his family left on Boxing Day, Trudeau’s office said it consulted with the ethics commissioner and the family would cover the cost of their stay and reimburse the public for the cost of travelling on a government plane.Officials are not saying where Trudeau is staying, but CBC and Radio-Canada reported last spring that during the family’s last New Year’s trip to Jamaica, they stayed at a luxury estate owned by P...

Last remaining charge dropped against Virginia elections official

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

MANASSAS, Va. (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped the last remaining charge against a northern Virginia elections official who had been accused of misconduct related to the 2020 elections.A judge on Monday formally dismissed a misdemeanor charge of willful neglect of duty against Michele White, the former registrar in Prince William County, a suburb outside the nation’s capital, after prosecutors requested the dismissal.The most serious charges against White had already been dismissed. The Virginia Attorney General’s Office said it was forced to drop felony charges of corrupt conduct and making a false statement because a key witness had revised their testimony.White was indicted back in 2022, and the office of Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares never spelled out publicly or in court papers exactly what it alleged White did wrong. Court records indicated only generally that the allegations had to do with 2020 election results, and county officials said back when White...

Kentucky’s former attorney general Daniel Cameron to help lead conservative group 1792 Exchange

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:20 GMT

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has been hired to help lead a group pushing back against what it sees as “woke ideology” in the corporate sector, marking the Republican’s next chapter since losing his bid for governor in one of the nation’s most closely watched elections in 2023.Cameron accepted the job as CEO of 1792 Exchange, a role that will include trying to thwart investing that considers environmental, social and governance factors. It was an issue Cameron dealt with as attorney general and frequently talked about during his unsuccessful attempt to unseat Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who notched a convincing victory for a second term last November.Cameron, 38, who was pegged as a rising Republican star with ties to U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and former President Donald Trump, didn’t rule out another run for elected office but said he’s looking forward to delving into his new role in the meantime....