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Feds approve new COVID vaccines

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:47:50 GMT

WASHINGTON — The U.S. approved updated COVID-19 vaccines Monday, hoping to rev up protection against the latest coronavirus strains and blunt any surge this fall and winter.The Food and Drug Administration decision opens the newest shots from Moderna and Pfizer and its partner BioNTech to most Americans even if they’ve never had a coronavirus vaccination. It’s part of a shift to treat fall updates of the COVID-19 vaccine much like getting a yearly flu shot.There’s still another step: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must sign off. A CDC advisory panel is set to issue recommendations Tuesday on who most needs the updated shots.Vaccinations could begin later this week, and both the COVID-19 and flu shot can be given at the same visit.A third vaccine maker, Novavax, said its updated shot is still being reviewed by the FDA.COVID-19 hospitalizations have been rising since late summer although –- thanks to lasting immunity from prior vaccinations and infect...

Texas AG Ken Paxton’s affair took a toll on office, a former staffer says at impeachment trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:47:50 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — One of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ‘s former staffers testified Monday that the Republican’s extramarital affair took a toll on employees who had to work long and odd hours because of the secret relationship that is now a factor in his impeachment trial.“I told General Paxton quite bluntly it wasn’t my business who he was sleeping with, but when things bleed over into the office and into the state work, it becomes my business,” said Katherine Cary, the former chief of staff in Paxton’s office. The affair is part of the abuse of power and bribery charges that Texas House Republicans have made against Paxton after years of alleged scandal and corruption. If convicted, he could be banned from holding office again in Texas. His fate is in the hands of the Republican-controlled Texas Senate, where a verdict could happen as soon as this week.His wife, Angela Paxton, is a senator but is barred from voting in the proceedings. She sat at her desk ...

Cybersecurity issue prompts computer shutdowns at MGM Resorts properties across US

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:47:50 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A “cybersecurity issue” led to the shutdown of some casino and hotel computer systems at MGM Resorts International properties across the U.S., a company official reported Monday.The incident began Sunday. The extent of its effect was not immediately known on reservation systems and casino floors in Las Vegas and states including Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York and Ohio, company spokesman Brian Ahern said.The FBI is “aware of the incident,” the bureau said in a statement from its national press office. It characterized the event as “still ongoing” and did not disclose details. MGM Resorts said in a statement it identified a “cybersecurity issue affecting some of the company’s systems” and that its investigation involved external cybersecurity experts.The nature of the issue was not described, but the statement said efforts to protect data included “shutting down certain systems.” It said the investigation was continuing.A po...

Elon Musk’s refusal to have Starlink support Ukraine attack in Crimea raises questions for Pentagon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:47:50 GMT

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (AP) — SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s refusal to allow Ukraine to use Starlink internet services to launch a surprise attack on Russian forces in Crimea last September has raised questions as to whether the U.S. military needs to be more explicit in future contracts that services or products it purchases could be used in war, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Monday. Excerpts of a new biography of Musk published by The Washington Post last week revealed that the Ukrainians in September 2022 had asked for the Starlink support to attack Russian naval vessels based at the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Musk had refused due to concerns that Russia would launch a nuclear attack in response. Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and claims it as its territory.Musk was not on a military contract when he refused the Crimea request; he’d been providing terminals to Ukraine for free in response to Russia’s February 2022 invasion. However, in the months since...

B.C. premier announces task force on climate emergencies on tour of wildfire disaster

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:47:50 GMT

KAMLOOPS, B.C. — British Columbia will form an expert disaster task force providing rapid response and support for people and communities facing climate emergencies amid a historic wildfire season that has destroyed about 400 structures, mostly homes, said Premier David Eby.Eby made the announcement Monday as he visited the North Shuswap Lake area, located about one hour east of Kamloops, where the Bush Creek East wildfire destroyed almost 200 structures, including the firehall at Scotch Creek. “The goal here is that the task force will be working with the public service in partnership with the hard-working people from emergency response from the wildfire service to ensure we’re deploying additional resources, we’re deploying solutions as they’re recommended to us,” he said at a news conference in Kamloops.Some local residents in the Shuswap area ignored evacuation orders to stay behind and protect homes from the fast-moving fire.Hundreds of properties ...

Indigenous tribes urge federal officials to deny loan request for Superior natural gas plant

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:47:50 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Indigenous tribes in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin have asked federal officials to deny a utility’s request for a loan to help build a natural gas-fired power plant on the shores of Lake Superior, calling the project unthinkable in the face of climate change.Chippewa tribes located across the northern third of the three states sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture officials on Sunday asking them to deny Dairyland Power Cooperative’s request for a $350 million public loan. The request is intended to cover the utility’s share of the cost of building the Nemadji Trail Energy Center power plant. “As our shared climate rapidly continues to destabilize, it is unconscionable that Dairyland Power Cooperative has not canceled its request for a $350 million public loan and permits to build Nemadji Trail Energy Center,” the tribes said in the letter. It added later, “In short, this location was never the place, and now is obvious...

Jill Biden calls swearing in of the 1st woman national archivist ‘momentous’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:47:50 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — First Lady Jill Biden saluted Colleen Shogan, the first woman to be sworn in as national archivist, saying on Monday that democracy’s power is “made real with access to history, unfiltered and uncensored.” Shogan, a former government and politics professor at George Mason University, heads the National Archives and Records Administration, which maintains billions of documents — including the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Louisiana Purchase, Harriet Tubman’s Civil War pension claims and Thomas Edison’s patent for the lightbulb.During a formal swearing-in ceremony, Biden noted that the nation’s historic documents were once held by George Washington and later by the State Department, before being entrusted to the National Archives, founded by Congress in 1934. “The history of a democracy belongs to its people, and we must preserve it with care for future generations,” the first lady said. “As far back as the Constitutional Conven...

Man who crashed car hours before Hurricane Idalia’s landfall is fourth Florida death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:47:50 GMT

DADE CITY, Fla. (AP) — A fatal single-vehicle crash just hours before Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Florida has been declared the state’s fourth death from the Category 3 storm, officials said Monday.A 40-year-old man driving in heavy rain went off the roadway and hit a tree near Dade City in the Tampa Bay area on Aug. 30, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Hurricane Idalia made landfall later that morning with 125 mph (201 kph) winds across the state in Florida’s remote Big Bend region.Other Idalia-related deaths in Florida confirmed by the state’s 25 local district medical examiners are a man who died in a traffic crash near Gainesville hours before Idalia made landfall, a windsurfer who went missing that same day off Florida’s Space Coast and an older adult who was struck by a falling tree after the storm passed while clearing debris with a tractor.A man in Valdosta, Georgia, also died when a tree fell on him as he tried to clear another tree ...

Colorado deputies who tased a man multiple times are fired following an investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:47:50 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Two Colorado sheriff’s deputies were fired after an investigation found their repeated use of Tasers against a man, including in his lower lip, was unjustified, the Las Animas County Sheriff’s office confirmed Monday.Deputy Mikhail Noel and Lt. Henry Trujillo violated a number of agency policies, including inappropriately using a Taser against Kenneth Espinoza while he was handcuffed and inaccurately reporting what happened, according to the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office.Investigators also recommended referring the matter for a criminal probe, alleging that Noel’s and Trujillo’s actions during the traffic stop escalated the use of physical force, bodily injury and false arrest. It is unknown if a criminal investigation has been launched.“The existence of excessive and unlawful force was so apparent here that there’s really only one conclusion,” said attorney Kevin Mehr, who’s representing Espinoza in lawsuits against the deputies and the sherif...

Joliet rodeo accused of animal abuse

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:47:50 GMT

JOLIET, Ill. — A popular Joliet rodeo has been hit with a temporary restraining order after an animal rights group documents alleged animal abuse.  This is part of a Mexican-style rodeo act which is popular not just in Illinois but around the country.  They’re well-attended with musical acts, food and alcohol being a big part of the experience. they can operate as long as owners follow animal welfare rules. Recently, an organization approached Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow with a video that showed a steer suffering a leg injury during a Joliet Labor Day rodeo act. Steve Hindi leads the organization “Showing Animals Respect and Kindness” or SHARK.He said, as far as he could tell, the animal didn’t get the proper care that day.   Recent investigates from Lourdes: Chicago’s ‘Rat’ Rage Grows “He should’ve been secluded if a vet is not on site,” he said. “The vet should have been called immediately and the animal needs to be put down. It ...