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House to take up tax relief, free college, Speaker tells Greater Boston Chamber

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:34 GMT

The House will take up some version of the governor’s tax cuts and carry through with her plan to give Massachusetts adults free community college, House Speaker Ron Mariano told the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.“I have been clear; if revenue predictions indicate that there is an opportunity to responsibly provide tax relief, the House will do so,” he said Thursday morning, according to prepared remarks provided by his staff.“After countless informative conversations with colleagues, months of internal research, and consensus revenue and tax relief hearings, I’m proud to announce today that the House will soon release a comprehensive tax reform package aimed at providing responsible, permanent financial relief to all residents of the Commonwealth, regardless of income status,” he said.Mariano also addressed the Chamber during one of their regular Government Affairs Forums in May of last year, when the state was considering a different tax cut proposal, that time put forw...

Covering over well at Indian temple collapses, killing 8

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:34 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — A structure built over an old temple well in India collapsed Thursday as a large crowd of devotees prayed at a festival for Rama, one of the most widely worshipped Hindu deities, killing at least eight people, police said.Up to 35 people fell into the well in the temple complex in Indore in central Madhya Pradesh state when the structure collapsed and were covered by falling debris, police Commissioner Makrand Deoskar said. At least eight were killed.The structure apparently caved in because it could not handle the weight of the large crowd. The state’s top elected official, Shivraj Chauhan, ordered an investigation.Local news reports said temple authorities had stopped using the well years ago and covered it with the structure.Witnesses said a large crowd of devotees had thronged the temple to perform a fire ritual and celebrate the Hindu festival.Building collapses are common in India because of poor construction and a failure to observe regulations.In Octob...

Vatican rejects Doctrine of Discovery, a move Indigenous people have long urged

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:34 GMT

The Vatican has rejected the Doctrine of Discovery a year after Pope Francis met with Indigenous groups from Canada and delivered his first apology for the Catholic Church’s role in residential schools.  A statement from the Vatican says the papal bulls, or decrees, “did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of Indigenous peoples.”The 15th-century doctrine was connected to the idea that lands being colonized were empty, when in fact Indigenous people had long called them home. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops says in a statement it is grateful for the move Indigenous organizations had been urging.A year ago First Nations, Métis and Inuit groups went to Rome to meet with Pope Francis and many told him the doctrine must be rejected.  The pontiff travelled to Canada in July for a six-day tour, during which he apologized repeatedly but was criticized for not addressing the papal bulls.  This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, ...

Suspect arrested in unprovoked assault on 15-year-old at Bathurst station

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:34 GMT

A man is under arrest after a 15-year-old boy was assaulted at Bathurst Station last week.Officers were called to the TTC station around 9:15 a.m. on March 23 for reports of an assault.It’s alleged a boy was on an escalator heading up to a street-level exit when a man, who was walking in front, turned around and punched the boy in the face. Police alleged the attack was unprovoked.Police arrested 33-year-old Justin Corbett, of Toronto, and charged him with assault.The accused is scheduled to appear in a Toronto courtroom on Thursday morning.There’ has been renewed calls for improved safety measures on the TTC this week after another wave of violence. Most recently, 16-year-old Gabriel Magalhaes was fatally stabbed in an unprovoked attack at Keele Subway Station over the weekend.

Germany criticizes Russian role in French nuclear fuel plant

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:34 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German officials have criticized plans by French firm Framatome to produce nuclear fuel in a joint venture with Russia’s Rosatom at a facility in western Germany, and said Thursday that they will consider whether an application to do so can be rejected.Officials in the state of Lower Saxony have received a request for the Framatome-owned ANF facility in Lingen, near the German-Dutch border, to be allowed to produce hexagonal fuel rod arrangements used in Soviet-designed water-water energetic reactors. Such reactors, known by the Russian acronym VVER, are common in Eastern Europe and the fuel production would take place under license from state-owned Rosatom.“Doing business with (Russian President) Putin must stop, and that also and especially applies to the nuclear sector,” Lower Saxony’s Energy Minister Christian Meyer said.He added that it would be wrong to cement the nuclear industry’s dependence on Russia through a direct or indirect involvement o...

Professors end strike at Quebec’s Université Laval, approve conciliator deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:34 GMT

QUEBEC — Professors at Université Laval in Quebec City have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a deal brokered by a conciliator, putting an end to their indefinite general strike.About 93 per cent of the 800 teachers who voted Wednesday accepted the deal, which was also approved by the university.Professors were back at work today after about 1,300 walked off the job March 13.The union did not release details of the deal but said it included wage gains.The university said Wednesday night that classes would resume according to the usual schedule on Friday or by Monday at the latest.Université Laval said it would hold a news conference later today. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2023.The Canadian Press

WATCH LIVE | Aldermen to vote for more independence from Mayor's office Thursday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:34 GMT

CHICAGO —The group of aldermen are pushing for more independence from the mayor's office happening just a week before a new mayor is elected to run the city.The aldermen are looking to increase the number of committees and subcommittees from19 to 28 which would include adding a youth services subgroup and another focused on entertainment and conventions. The group also wants council members to pick their own committee chairs instead of thew power belonging to the mayor.City Council has allowed mayors to hand-pick committee chairs for the past few decades, helping ensure the mayor could push through their legislation more quickly.Another change is stopping ordinances from being introduced last minute without making information available to the public. A rare Michael Jordan card is up for auction Even though the vote is taking place Thursday, any rules approved later would still have to be re-approved by the newly elected City Council once the new ter...

DeSantis' new board says Disney stripped its power: 'Never seen anything like this'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:34 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The new board controlling the special district that oversees Walt Disney World was stripped of nearly all its powers through an agreement made before the state took control of the district from Disney, lawyers for the new board said Wednesday. In February, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law stripping the entertainment giant of its control over the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special tax district and governance jurisdiction which had been controlled by Disney since 1968. The new law changed the district's name to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and gave the governor power to appoint a new Board of Supervisors. The state's takeover also came months after the governor clashed with Disney executives over the company's opposition to Florida's Parental Rights In Education legislation, or the so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill that later became law.DeSantis picked five allies, including a donor, an evangelical minister and Bridget Ziegler, a...

Dean's A-List Interview: Chris Cooper on 'Boston Strangler'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:34 GMT

CHICAGO - It was one of the great crime investigations of the 1960s that's now being retold 60 years later."Boston Strangler" is a movie streaming now on Hulu about the murders of 13 women in Boston from 1962 through 1964 and how two female newspaper reporters for the Boston Record American broke the story.Veteran actor Chris Cooper portrays newspaper editor Jack MacLaine in the film and the Oscar winner joined Dean Richards to discuss the film on "Dean's A-List Interview" on Thursday's WGN Morning News.He discussed what he did to learn more about newsrooms and the challenges the reporters had in breaking the story in the 1960s.See more of Cooper's discussion with Dean from the March 30 show in the video above.Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly newsletter. You'll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!

Holy Carp! 67-pound invasive fish caught in Oklahoma

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:34 GMT

DELAWARE COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) -- The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) says a fishing guide service recently caught a 67-pound male bighead carp in the Grand Lake area.Fisheries biologists have asked skilled fishing guides for help in capturing invasive bighead carp out of the Grand Lake system, according to ODWC. "Shout out to High Water Guide Service for reeling in this massive 67-pound male bighead carp!" said ODWC on Facebook. "They've gotten us a few now and we simply can't appreciate it enough."Image courtesy Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.According to the ODWC, the bighead carp is native to eastern China and was first brought to the United States in 1972 by an Arkansas fish farmer. "The bighead carp utilizes open water areas, moving about in the surface zones of large lowland rivers, consuming large quantities of blue-green algae, zooplankton, and aquatic insect larvae and adults," the ODWC stated. "Because of its feeding habits, bighead carp a...