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B.C. puts fish protection orders in place as heat, drought persists

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:35:46 GMT

BURNABY, B.C. — The British Columbia government is putting fish protection orders in place for the Thompson Okanagan region as extreme drought conditions affect river levels and threaten the local salmon populations.More than 80 per cent of the province has reached Level 4 or 5 drought conditions, the highest possible rankings, after months of little or no rain. The government says the orders aim to protect spawning chinook salmon in the lower Salmon River and Bessette Creek by temporarily restricting water use for forage crops for about 400 surface and groundwater licence holders.It says they must stop using water for forage crops, including grass for hay, alfalfa and corn to help restore water flow levels and protect the salmon runs. The government says the order may be revoked if water flows recover, but affected farmers can access programs, such as the federal-provincial AgriStability program, which helps producers with drought-related income declines.Compounding the situation i...

AP, other news organizations develop standards for use of artificial intelligence in newsrooms

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:35:46 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The Associated Press has issued guidelines on artificial intelligence, saying the tool cannot be used to create publishable content and images for the news service while encouraging staff members to become familiar with the technology.AP is one of a handful of news organizations that have begun to set rules on how to integrate fast-developing tech tools like ChatGPT into their work. The service will couple this on Thursday with a chapter in its influential Stylebook that advises journalists how to cover the story, complete with a glossary of terminology.“Our goal is to give people a good way to understand how we can do a little experimentation but also be safe,” said Amanda Barrett, vice president of news standards and inclusion at AP.The journalism think tank Poynter Institute, saying it was a “transformational moment,” urged news organizations this spring to create standards for AI’s use, and share the policies with readers and viewers.Generative AI has the a...

NDP adds to Greenbelt complaint to integrity commissioner in light of auditor report

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:35:46 GMT

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles is asking the province’s integrity commissioner to consider within his Greenbelt investigation the premier and government staffers’ reported use of personal phones and emails.Stiles’ request comes in the wake of last week’s scathing auditor general’s report into the government’s decision to open up protected Greenbelt lands to housing development.Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk found that the process of selecting the 15 specific sites was not transparent, with all but one suggested by Housing Minister Steve Clark’s chief of staff, who was given packages at an industry event by two key developers.Lysyk also found that political staff received emails from lobbyists on their personal accounts, sometimes forwarded emails from their government accounts to personal ones, contrary to public service guidelines, and were regularly deleting emails, contrary to the rules.“These facts demonstrate the government’s...

Election workers who face frequent harassment see accountability in the latest Georgia charges

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:35:46 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Tonya Wichman has overseen elections in a rural Ohio county for eight years and hasn’t experienced any significant problems with voting or counting the ballots. But that doesn’t mean no big worries at all.What does concern her is the frequent harassment, intimidation and even physical threats she and her staff have been receiving since the 2020 election. It got so bad ahead of the 2022 midterms that her staff got police protection when leaving or coming to the office.That’s why she paid close attention this week to the indictment of former President Donald Trump and 18 others charged in an alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. Among many charges, the indictment names several people accused of a harassment campaign that led to death threats against two Atlanta election workers.It marks the highest-profile effort yet to hold people accountable for targeting state or local election officials, many of whom have left their jobs a...

Renata Scotto, soprano of uncommon intensity, dies at 89

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:35:46 GMT

Renata Scotto, a soprano of uncommon intensity who became a successful director after her singing career, died Wednesday in her hometown of Savona, Italy. She was 89.Scotto’s New York-based manager, Robert Lombardo, said he was called by her family and informed of her death. “I had spoken to her several weeks ago and I didn’t get any any indication that anything was going on,” he said.Scotto maintained homes in Italy and Armonk, New York.“Renata Scotto is a true artist and profound connoisseur of voice and repertoire, gifted with technique, musicality, a personality of a rare power, always at the service of the composer, and able to emotionally stir the public in all the world in every phase of her long career,’’ soprano Cecilia Gasdia, superintendent of the Fondazione Arena in Verono, said in a statement.Scotto made 314 appearances at the Metropolitan Opera from her debut in Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly″ on Oct. 13, 1965, to her finale, also as Cio-Cio-San, on Jan....

Biden marks the 1-year anniversary of his signing of a major climate, health and tax law

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:35:46 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden proclaimed Wednesday his administration is “turning things around” for Americans when it comes to the economy, with his signature climate, health care and tax package giving people “more breathing room” on prices and investing anew in clean energy jobs.“We’re leaving nobody behind,” Biden told a packed East Room filled with lawmakers, advocates and people who have benefited from his economic policies. “We’re investing in all of America — in the heartland, and coast to coast.” His remarks, delivered on the anniversary of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, came as the White House ramped up efforts to illustrate the real-world impact of Biden’s economic plans. At a White House event Wednesday afternoon to celebrate a year since he signed the bill, the president stood alongside people — from union workers to small business owners to consumers — who the White House says have been aided by the law. That sweeping package, along wi...

Energy sector helps keep S&P/TSX flat Wednesday, U.S. stock markets down

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:35:46 GMT

TORONTO — Strength in the energy sector helped buoy Canada’s main stock index to close flat on Wednesday while U.S. markets moved lower. The S&P/TSX composite index closed down less than one point at 19,899.07.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 180.65 points at 34,765.74. The S&P 500 index was down 33.53 points at 4,404.33, while the Nasdaq composite was down 156.42 points at 13,474.63.Stocks wavered Wednesday amid lingering worries about China’s economy, said Angelo Kourkafas, an investment strategist at Edward Jones.Those worries have been “a pretty major driver” of the pullback markets have seen so far in August, he said. “At the same time, it seems like policymakers are trying to step up their efforts to provide stimulus, which could help stabilize the economy down the road,” he said. “But I think in the near term, that’s going to be an ongoing headwind for global risk sentiment.”Ten-year bond yields have been climb...

Devastated Tuohys ready to end conservatorship for Michael Oher, lawyers say

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:35:46 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A prominent Memphis couple with a longstanding relationship to former NFL player Michael Oher want to end a conservatorship that he’s challenging in court, their lawyers said.Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy intend to enter into a consent order to end the conservatorship, lawyer Randall Fishman told reporters on Wednesday. Oher filed a petition Monday in a Tennessee probate court accusing the Tuohys of lying to him by having him sign papers making them his conservators rather than his adoptive parents nearly two decades ago.Oher, now 37, wants a full accounting of assets considering his life story produced millions of dollars, though he says he received nothing from the Oscar-nominated movie “The Blind Side.” He accuses the Tuohys of falsely representing themselves as his adoptive parents, saying that he discovered in February 2023 that the conservatorship was not the arrangement he thought it was — and that it provided him no familial relationship to the Tuohys.But t...

Lawyers say Tuohy family 'devastated' by Oher's 'Blind Side' allegations

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:35:46 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) — Attorneys representing Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy say Michael Oher's allegations that he was led to sign away his rights over his story in "The Blind Side" are patently false."Forty-eight hours ago, a bomb dropped on our clients," attorney Randy Fishman said. "To say they were devastated by these allegations is truly an understatement."The response Wednesday comes two days after a petition was filed in Tennessee's Shelby County court by Oher, seeking to dissolve a conservatorship with the family. Michael Oher claims Tuohy family ‘exploited’ him, asks court to end conservatorship Oher alleges the Tuohy family never adopted him as promised, and instead tricked him into signing a conservatorship and exploited him for their financial gain. He claims he found out in February of this year.But Fishman said Oher wrote a book in 2011 acknowledging that there was a conservatorship set up with the Tuohys.The Tuohy family took in Oher, now 37, when he was in high school...

Austin approves $5.5B budget, largest in city history

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:35:46 GMT

Editor's Note: The video above shows KXAN Live's top headlines for Aug. 16, 2023AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin City Council voted in favor of adopting its $5.5 billion budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year, marking the largest-ever budget in city history.Alongside its budget, council approved the FY24 ad valorem property tax rate of 44.58 cents per $100 valuation, marking a 3.4% increase. Both the budget and tax rate were adopted on a 10-1 vote, with Council Member Mackenzie Kelly voting against both items."My vote against the budget stems from my concerns regarding certain budget items that deviate from our core priorities and don't align with a back-to-basics approach," Kelly said, in part, in a statement shared with KXAN Wednesday. "While I recognize the importance of various services, there are areas where government funding should not be directed."Included in the property tax discussion are several property tax exemptions for qualifying parties. Disabled veterans: Exemptions range from $...