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US judge yanks approval for Idaho mine after finding that federal agency violated environmental laws

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:23:22 GMT

A federal judge has yanked approval for a phosphate mining project in southeastern Idaho, saying federal land managers in the Trump administration didn’t in part properly consider the mine’s impact on sage grouse, a bird species that has seen an 80% decline in population since 1965.U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill’s Friday decision came five months after he found fault with the way the U.S. Bureau of Land Management approved the Caldwell Canyon Mine in 2019.The mine has been proposed by P4 Production LLC, a subsidiary of German pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG. Three environmental groups — the Center for Biological Diversity, Western Watersheds Project and WildEarth Guardians — sued.In January, Winmill agreed with the conservation groups that the federal agency violated the National Environmental Policy Act and other laws on several counts when it approved the mine, including failing to consider the indirect effects of processing ore at a nearby plant and the cumulative impacts on s...

Louisiana Senate passes bill banning gender-affirming car for transgender youths

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:23:22 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A controversial bill — that at one point had been presumed dead — banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender youths in Louisiana was passed by the Senate on Monday and is likely to reach the governor’s desk in the coming days.The bill, which passed in the Senate mainly along party lines, 29-10, would prohibit hormone treatments, gender-affirming surgery and puberty-blocking drugs for transgender minors in Louisiana. The measure will go back to the House, which has already overwhelmingly passed the legislation, to approve of minor amendments, including pushing back the effective date of the law to Jan. 1, 2024.If the House concurs, the legislation would be sent to the desk of Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat who opposes it. Edwards has not said whether he would veto the bill. If he does, lawmakers could convene a veto session to try to override his decision. Last session, Edwards chose not to block a law banning transgender athletes from part...

Recordings shake confidence in Colombia’s leftist government, jeopardize reforms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:23:22 GMT

BOGOTA (AP) — A corruption scandal that has shaken Colombia’s first leftist government and undermined its ability to carry out ambitious reforms grew on Monday, following the release of several voice messages featuring the nation’s former ambassador to Venezuela.In the audios, which were released by Semana Magazine, former ambassador Armando Benedetti speaks to President Gustavo Petro’s chief of staff and threatens to disclose potentially damaging details of Petro’s 2022 presidential campaign.Benedetti, who was once the president of Colombia’s senate, complains that he was not given the job of interior minister after it was vacated in April, and hurls insults at chief of staff Laura Sarabia. He says he hasn’t been given the “political space” he deserves after helping Petro win last year’s election.The former ambassador alleges that he raised almost $4 million for the campaign from donors and hints that some of the money came from drug trafficking groups.“I will not...

Marcus Stroman's strong 2023 start now includes an MLB award

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:23:22 GMT

SAN DIEGO — Just a day after another strong performance on the mound, Marcus Stroman was given another reason to feel good about his start to the 2023 season.This time, it was Major League baseball that gave the Cubs' starter an honor.Stroman was named the MLB's National League Player of the Week on Monday after a pair of outstanding starts for his team. In those outings, the starter allowed just one earned run over 15 innings, striking out 14 batters compared to four walks with just five total hits allowed. Last Monday, Stroman tossed a complete game shutout against the MLB-leading Rays at Wrigley Field while allowing just a single hit. It was the pitcher's second complete game of his career and first since he threw one against the Cubs in 2014. For the team, that outing was the first complete game shutout since Alec Mills' no-hitter against the Brewers in Milwaukee on September 13, 2020. On Sunday, Stroman had another quality outing in a 7-1 Cubs victory over the Padres in San Die...

Connor Bedard, likely Blackhawks 1st round pick, makes history in Canada

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:23:22 GMT

CHICAGO — Before he's likely to become a member of the Blackhawks, Connor Bedard made a little bit of history at the last place he played hockey.After an outstanding season with the Regina Pats of the Canadian Hockey League, the highly-touted center who will likely be the NHL Draft's No. 1 overall pick cleaned up at their annual awards this weekend.The center was the first in the history of the CHL to capture three major awards in one year at the ceremony in Kamloops, British Columbia. David Branch CHL Player of the YearCHL Top ScorerCHL Top ProspectIt is the first time since the league introduced the Top Scorer Award in 1994. Bedard filled up the scoresheet over the course of 64 overall games with Regina in the 2022-2023 season. In the regular season, the center scored 71 goals and 72 assists in 57 regular season games for the Pats. In seven playoff contests, he had ten goals and ten assists. In 2021-2022 with Regina, Bedard had 51 goals and 49 assists in 62 games. He made his debu...

Lake Mead water level stalls as Lake Powell continues strong rise

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:23:22 GMT

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) - As we head into June and the daylight lasts longer, Lake Mead's water level has shown an incredible rebound, rising almost 10 feet this year. While that's great news for the nation's largest reservoir that has seen historic water level drops, it's only a quarter of the rise at Lake Powell.This year's water level rises can be primarily credited to the massive snowpack that's melting off the Colorado Rockies this spring. Lake Powell's water level has now risen more than 41 feet since the beginning of 2023. Lake Mead discovery surfaces half-century-old investigation Lake Mead has also benefited from the decision by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to release more water through the Glen Canyon Dam at Lake Powell, located upriver 360 miles. The initial release took place in May and since then, Reclamation has continued to release more water daily than the average amount most years.Lake Powell water level as of Sunday, June 4 was 3,565.81 feet above sea level. (Image: L...

Isolated showers and thunderstorms continue overnight into Tuesday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:23:22 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Showers and thunderstorms affected many areas Monday afternoon and evening, dropping up to 4.76" of rain in Fayette County south of Round Top. Rain mainly dissipates overnight, but additional isolated showers and thunderstorms cannot be ruled out.LIVE RADARUPDATED RAIN TOTALSScattered rain and thunderstorms are in the forecast again Tuesday afternoon and evening, but rain chances drop thereafter. Only an isolated storm is in the forecast late-week through the coming weekend as heat and humidity become the main story. A ridge of high pressure will lead to the hottest temperatures of the year so far this weekend, and may send temperatures soaring to 100 degrees next week.Austin forecast high temperatures next 7 days INVESTIGATION: LCRA didn't plan for climate change until KXAN investigation Hotter than normal weather may mean 100-degree temperatures next weekFIRST WARNING WEATHER: Stay up to date with your Central Texas forecast, sign up for our weather newsletter a...

Wisconsin man killed by law enforcement was Minnesota corrections officer, authorities say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:23:22 GMT

A man who was shot and killed by law enforcement officers Saturday night in Western Wisconsin has been identified as a corrections officer who worked in the Stillwater prison.Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell identified the man in a press release Monday.“I’d like to extend my deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences to the family of Corrections Officer Tyler Abel, whose death this weekend is both tragic and troubling.”The 42-year-old was shot and killed outside his home after a woman called 911 shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday to report her husband was “out of control” and “threatening to bring his AR out,” apparently referring to an assault rifle.Officers from the New Richmond Police Department and St. Croix County sheriff’s deputies responded to the home in the 1900 block of County Trunk Highway CC in Star Prairie Township, according to a news release Sunday.When they arrived, the woman was outside but two juvenile...

Ross Douthat: Kevin McCarthy has a rare quality for a Republican House Speaker

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:23:22 GMT

Among the various reassessments of Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., after his successful debt-ceiling negotiations, the one with the widest implications belongs to Matthew Continetti, who writes in The Washington Free Beacon that “McCarthy’s superpower is his desire to be speaker. He likes and wants his job.”If you hadn’t followed American politics across the past few decades, this would seem like a peculiar statement: What kind of House speaker wouldn’t want the job?But part of what has gone wrong with American institutions lately is the failure of important figures to regard their positions as ends unto themselves. Congress, especially, has been overtaken by what Yuval Levin of the American Enterprise Institute describes as a “platform” mentality, where ambitious House members and senators treat their offices as places to stand and be seen — as talking heads, movement leaders, future presidents — rather than as roles to inhabit and opportunities to serve.On the Republican side, this tend...

Stephen L. Carter: The Supreme Court’s confusing water ruling, explained

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:23:22 GMT

The Supreme Court’s recent decision on the limits of federal authority under the Clean Water Act has been celebrated or condemned, depending on the ideological predilections of the observer. Everyone agrees, however, that the opinions themselves make for rather rough reading.They boil down to a squabble over the words “adjacent” and “adjoining.”The dispute involves Michael and Chantell Sackett, who were trying to build a house on land they’d purchased in Idaho. They trucked in dirt and rocks, only to be warned by the Environmental Protection Agency that because their lot included wetlands, they were violating the Clean Water Act. Unless they restored the area, they faced fines of $40,000 a day.The Sacketts sued. The case has been up and down the appellate ladder several times. Last month, after nearly two decades of litigation, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled in their favor.But on what ground exactly?That’s where the words get tricky.Althoug...