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With strike looming, General Motors makes a wage offer, which auto union leader calls ‘insulting’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:39 GMT

By TOM KRISHER (AP Auto Writer)DETROIT (AP) — General Motors’ first wage-and-benefit offer to the United Auto Workers on Thursday fell far short of the union’s initial demands.The offer comes just a week before the UAW’s national contracts with GM, Stellantis and Ford expire, and even though both sides are far apart, it’s a sign of movement on economic issues. Still, union President Shawn Fain called the offer “insulting.” He is threatening to strike against any automaker that hasn’t reached a tentative agreement by the time contracts expire at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 14. A strike against one or more automakers by up to 146,000 auto workers is a real possibility.GM said in a letter to workers that it’s offering a 10% wage increase during a new four-year contract, plus two more 3% one-time payments. It’s also offering a $6,000 inflation payment, $5,000 more in lump sums to protect against inflation during the contract, and a $5,...

Western Canada a global hot spot over summer months: Climate Central study

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:39 GMT

Western Canada was a global hot spot in a summer that climate change made one of the warmest on record, according to a new analysis.“Canada, and especially the western provinces, have been unusually warm this summer,” said Andrew Pershing, science director of Climate Central, which released its study linking greenhouse gases to daily temperatures around the world.Climate Central took widely accepted peer-reviewed methods that calculate the contribution of climate change to extreme weather events and applied them to daily temperatures between June and August in 202 jurisdictions around the world.The study found 98 per cent of humanity sweltered under temperatures that were made at least twice as likely by atmospheric carbon dioxide in what the World Meteorological Organization has already called the warmest for that period in recorded history. “Nobody is safe from climate change,” Pershing said. Certainly not Canadians. “Very strong fingerprints of clima...

Regardless of immigration status, people in Minnesota can begin applying for driver’s licenses

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:39 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — People living in Minnesota without legal immigration status can now begin the process of getting their driver’s license by making an appointment for their written driver’s test, state officials announced at a news conference Thursday.Around 81,000 people are expected to be eligible under the state’s new law — dubbed “Driver’s License for All.” They can now make appointments to apply but won’t be able to actually get a license until the law goes into effect Oct. 1.“We’re incredibly proud to be a part of a handful of states that offer driver’s license for all,” said Pong Xiong, Driver and Vehicle Services Director at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, at the news conference. “And the first step to getting your driver’s license is to pass that written test.”The new law removes the requirements for applicants to show legal presence, said Jody-Kay Peterson, the department’s Driver Services Program Director.When asked about any risk for d...

A man charged with aiding Michigan Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot says the scheme didn’t seem serious

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:39 GMT

One of three men accused of assisting a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer testified in his own defense Thursday, portraying himself as a scared participant in a daytime ride to see her vacation home in northern Michigan.Eric Molitor and twin brothers William Null and Michael Null are charged with providing material support for terrorist acts.Molitor said Whitmer’s name didn’t come up when he was encouraged by the scheme’s leader, Adam Fox, to go to Antrim County to check out a “high-profile vacation house” in August 2020.But Molitor said he became anxious when he learned that it was the governor’s lakeside house in Elk Rapids. He was in a pickup truck with Fox and an FBI informant when they twice drove by the property.“What do I say? How do I act? What do I do? How do I get out of this situation?” Molitor told the jury. “I don’t have training. I don’t have backup. I got nothing.”Molitor’s decision to testify was a rar...

Louisiana grand jury charges 91-year-old disgraced priest with sexual assault of teenage boy in 1975

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:39 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A state grand jury has charged a now-91-year-old disgraced priest with sexually assaulting a teenage boy in 1975, an extraordinary prosecution that could shed new light on what Roman Catholic Church leaders knew about a child sex abuse crisis that persisted for decades and claimed hundreds of victims. The priest, Lawrence Hecker, has been at the center of state and federal investigations of clergy sex abuse and a deepening scandal over why church leaders failed to report his admissions to law enforcement even as they permitted him to work around children until he quietly left the ministry in 2002. It wasn’t until 2018 that the Archdiocese of New Orleans publicly identified Hecker as a suspected predator when it released its list of “credibly accused” priests.Hecker faces felony counts of rape, kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature and theft. He is accused of choking the teen unconscious under the guise of performing a wrestling move and sexually assaulting h...

Episcopal Church restricts Michigan bishop from ministry during misconduct investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:39 GMT

An Episcopal bishop in Michigan has been placed on an immediate restriction from ministry as part of a misconduct investigation stemming from allegations by his adult sons of past verbal and physical abuse.The restriction against the Rt. Rev. Prince Singh of the Episcopal Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan was announced Thursday by the Episcopal Church.The Episcopal News Service reported from a church statement in June that Singh requested a Title IV investigation into himself after two of his sons accused him of physically, verbally and psychologically abusing them and their mother. They also alleged that he drank alcohol excessively. Title IV refers to the section of the Episcopal Church’s canons that details the process for investigating and resolving matters when a clergy member is accused of misconduct.The Associated Press left a voicemail and email Thursday afternoon with the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Michigan seeking comment from Singh.Singh has said in a statement r...

Virginia lawsuit stemming from police pepper-spraying an Army officer will be settled

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:39 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A town in Virginia has agreed to independent reviews of misconduct allegations against its police force to settle a lawsuit filed after a Black and Latino Army lieutenant was pepper sprayed during a traffic stop.The town of Windsor also agreed to more officer training as part of a settlement agreement signed Thursday. In exchange, the state Attorney General’s Office will drop its argument that Windsor police broke a new law by depriving Caron Nazario of his rights.Windsor agreed to keep working toward accreditation by the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission. Police also will hold officer training exercises twice a year and submit to the Isle of Wight Commonwealth’s Attorney reviewing any allegations of excessive force or misconduct against its officers. The Attorney General began investigating the town after a December 2020 traffic stop involving two Windsor Police Department officers and Nazario, an Army lieutenant who is Black and ...

Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard to join Professional Pickleball Association in 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:39 GMT

Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard appears ready to try her hand at a different racquet.The Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) announced Thursday that Bouchard has agreed to join the tour in 2024.With one of the biggest signings of the year @geniebouchard, professional tennis star with a WTA #5 career high in singles, joins the PPA Tour in 2024! ???? pic.twitter.com/7lSNCDkQfT— Carvana PPA Tour (@PPAtour) September 7, 2023It is unclear what this means for Bouchard’s tennis career, but Sport TV’s José Morgado reported that from his understanding, “her tennis career is not over.”RELATED: Canadian rapper Drake, actor Michael B. Jordan invest in pickleball teamThe 29-year-old from Montreal reached a career-high WTA ranking of No. 5 in 2014. She also appeared in the 2014 Wimbledon final, losing in straight sets to Petra Kvitova.However, since her peak in 2014, which included her only win on the WTA Tour, Bouchard has failed to have much success. She is ...

Hurricane Lee becomes Category 4 storm, Tropical Storm Margot forms, NHC says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:39 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Hurricane Lee has rapidly strengthened into a Category 4 major storm on Thursday, and Tropical Depression 14 has become Tropical Storm Margot, the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 p.m. update.Lee is about 780 miles east of the Northern Leeward Islands and moving west-northwest at 15 mph, according to the NHC. Hurricane Lee strengthens into Category 2 storm, Tropical Depression 14 forms in Atlantic Hurricane Lee has sustained winds of 130 mph, according to the NHC. Most models still show Lee making a turn to the north.Margot is moving west-northwest at 17 mph and is expected to stay out to sea, according to the NHC. It’s expected to become a hurricane over the weekend.Swells from Hurricane Lee are expected to impact the Northern Caribbean on Friday and the mainland U.S. by Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center.The swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.(WFLA)Lee is the 12th named storm of the Atlantic hur...

New baby giraffe at Brookfield Zoo gets ready for public debut

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:39 GMT

BROOKFIELD, Ill. — A new baby giraffe will be making her public debut at the Brookfield Zoo on Friday.Guests will be able to come to see three-week-old Kinda, a brand new baby reticulated giraffe. PHOTOS: Brookfield Zoo animals keeping cool in muggy heat Kinda, which means beautiful in Swahili, was born on Aug. 19. She was born 5 foot 10 inches tall and weighed 129 pounds."She's touching and tasting everything with her nose and her tongue, which is kind of normal baby behavior, you know, everything goes in their mouth," Joan Daniels, senior curator at the zoo, said.For the first three weeks, Kinda has only been seen by staff at the zoo and spent time indoors with her mother, Arnieta, a 16-year-old giraffe who struggled with past pregnancies"Unfortunately she lost her first two pregnancies to miscarriage," Daniels said.Once Arnieta became pregnant again, veterinarian endocrinologists at both the Brookfield and Omaha zoos, worked together to help the giraffe carry her baby the full ...