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Budget watchdog reviewing underused housing tax again as U.S. critics push for relief

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:53 GMT

WASHINGTON — Canada’s budget watchdog is taking a second look at Ottawa’s new tax on underused housing that critics hope will lead to a last-minute reprieve for U.S. cottage owners. The Parliamentary Budget Office has agreed to review its initial 2022 analysis of the measure in response to a request from a group of Conservative MPs led by Tony Baldinelli, who has represented the riding of Niagara Falls since 2019. Originally intended to ease big-city housing prices, the impacts of the tax “are catching many Canadian and foreign property owners by surprise in Canada’s rural and agricultural areas,” the group wrote to the office earlier this month.In rural communities across the country, some farmers and their families own multiple properties in order to house agricultural workers, the letter continues. “Meanwhile, in border communities like Fort Erie and Port Colborne, many U.S. residents have owned properties in Canada for decades — and in some ca...

Actors and writers on strike rally in Philadelphia and Chicago as union action spreads

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:53 GMT

Striking screenwriters and actors held rallies in Philadelphia and Chicago on Thursday as the labor dispute that has halted Hollywood spreads to more cities.While Los Angeles and New York are the epicenters of strike actions, there are dozens of mid-sized and small locals across the country representing performers and writers.“We have the same issues,” said Nikki Izanec, president of the Philadelphia SAG-AFTRA local, on her way to Thursday's rally. “Lots of people pay attention to L.A. and New York, but our issues are the same as theirs.”The Philadelphia rally at Love Park drew actors Sheryl Lee Ralph and Lisa Ann Walter, stars of the hit Philly-set TV show “Abbott Elementary.” Said Ralph: “Enough is enough and we demand more.” Actors David Morse and Brian Anthony Wilson also attended. Leaders of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) voted unanimously last week to start striking, joining the Writers Guild of America, who walked out o...

Five things to know about the real-life Oppenheimer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:53 GMT

(The Hill) - With the Friday release of the critically acclaimed film “Oppenheimer,” audiences are getting a fresh look at the physicist dubbed the “father of the atomic bomb.”Cillian Murphy stars as the title role in the Christopher Nolan-directed biopic based on the 2005 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin, “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.”Gregg Herken, author of “Brotherhood of the Bomb: The Tangled Lives and Loyalties of Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence, and Edward Teller,” described Oppenheimer as “complicated and contradictory.”“He could be needlessly cruel, but he could also be very generous,” Herken told The Hill this week.Here are five little-known facts about the real-life Oppenheimer, who before dying of throat cancer at 62 in 1967, changed the course of history:Intelligence evident at an early ageThe New York Times, in a 1963 profile of Oppenheimer, described how when the budding scientist w...

Person found dead after EMS responds to wilderness call in southeast Austin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- One person is dead after they were found at Mabel Davis District Park Thursday, Austin-Travis County EMS medics told KXAN.The Austin Fire Department said it arrived to the scene first and found the body.Around 9:30 a.m., medics said they responded to a report for a wilderness call and pronounced the person deceased.Additionally, the Austin Police Department said it was not investigating the incident as a homicide.It was not immediately clear what led to the person's death, which remained under investigation Thursday.

Camila, Matthew McConaughey start initiative aimed at making school safety grants more accessible

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:53 GMT

(KXAN) -- Camila and Matthew McConaughey are behind a new initiative operating with the goal of helping improve school safety. The Texas couple started the Greenlights Grant Initiative to "help more school districts across the country gain access to federal funds to make their students safer, healthier, and happier," an announcement on the initiative's website said. The project was launched almost a year after the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was enacted in the wake of mass shootings and school shootings like the Robb Elementary School shooting that happened in Matthew McConaughey's hometown of Uvalde last May. McConaughey played a part in getting the bipartisan bill off the ground. RELATED: Matthew McConaughey responds to President Biden signing gun bill The bill, according to the project's website, "made common-sense reforms to keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous people, and also allocated billions of dollars to help school districts make their schools safer."Howeve...

NYS Thruway service areas receive criticism from travelers, state leaders

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:53 GMT

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — It's been just over two years since plans were announced to modernize the New York State Thruway Authority's rest stop stations. However, not everyone is excited about the new facilities. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Construction is done at the Clifton Springs Travel Plaza, but some are saying both this location and others still need some work.The 27 service area project is more than a third complete, with 10 stations being rebuilt across the thruway. The $450 million investment is meant to better the quality of food service and amenities for travelers, which travelers like Maria Jacobi say it has accomplished."This is the rest stop that we love to stop. My sister lives in Boston, so we make this trip all the time," she says, "and this is awesome."However, not everyone agrees. These service areas have already gotten their fair share of criticism. Josh Dieter was traveling to Cortland from Roches...

Greenfield man arrested following an investigation into narcotics sales

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:53 GMT

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A Greenfield man was arrested following an investigation into illegal narcotics sales in the City of Saratoga Springs. Michael West, 37, was charged with numerous narcotics-related offenses. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! According to the Saratoga Springs Police Department Special Investigations Unit, the investigation lasted months. West was arraigned in the City Court of Saratoga Springs and released to pre-trial services with a future appearance date.

Amazon rolls out pay-with-palm tech at Whole Foods

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:53 GMT

(The Hill) — Amazon announced Thursday it is rolling out its pay-by-palm services in Whole Foods Market stores across the country. It lets customers use their hand to buy things conveniently without a wallet or phone. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! The palm recognition service, called Amazon One, will be available for payment and Prime membership benefits in all Whole Foods Market locations by the end of this year. Instead of traditional payment methods, the Amazon One allows customers to hover their pam over an Amazon One device. Customers who link their Prime membership with their Amazon One profile will also automatically receive savings once their palm is registered, according to the Seattle-based retail giant. The technology, launched in 2021, "uses the information embedded in your palm to create a unique palm signature that it can reach each and every time you use it,” Amazon said.Technology experts have expressed c...

Missouri Supreme Court settles state spat delaying abortion ballot petition

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:53 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A disagreement between Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick has been settled by the state supreme court. It has to do with Missourians’ constitutional right to direct democracy through the initiative petition process.The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday to decide if Bailey could override Fitzpatrick regarding the cost of initiative petitions asking voters if abortion rights should be restored. Bailey appealed a Cole County judge’s decision last month. The decision came down today.The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s judgement saying that Attorney General Andrew Bailey must comply with his duty to approve Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick’s fiscal note summary in the next 24 hours. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Politics ...

To trade or not to trade? Tough decisions ahead on Jack Flaherty, Jordan Montgomery

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:53 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Less than two weeks away from the MLB trade deadline, teams in need of pitching will likely ask the St. Louis Cardinals about two pending free agents: Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery. After spending most of the season dead-last in the NL Central, the Cardinals are quietly playing some of their best baseball of the season. Having won five straight and eight of their last 10, the Cardinals now stand at 43-53 and might have a small window of opportunity to crawl back into the postseason race. Full Interview: Martin Kilcoyne one-on-one with John Mozeliak The recent surge puts the team in a tough spot with Flaherty and Montgomery, both due for new contracts next season.If the Cardinals are looking more ahead to future seasons, St. Louis could test the trade market and potentially pick up a haul for either starter. If contending this year is still the mindset, it would likely be in the Cardinals' best interest to keep two steady rotation pieces rather than fill their sp...