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Housing advocacy group donates $50K to rent control ballot question committee

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:26 GMT

An out-of-state advocacy group is throwing its weight early into a ballot question push to institute rent control in Massachusetts, handing $50,000 to supporters looking to repeal a 1994 ban on the measure.Housing Is A Human Right made the donation to a ballot question committee run by state Rep. Mike Connolly, the Cambridge Democrat said in a statement. The organization has taken part in successful rent control campaigns in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, and Pasadena, California.“We are engaging with a broad set of stakeholders to build consensus for the roll out of a full-fledged signature-gathering campaign this fall,” Connolly said in a statement. “We’re also working with experienced campaign professionals to map out a winning campaign plan for the 2024 general election and hoping to bring everyone to the table in support of housing justice in our commonwealth.”Housing Is Human Right is the housing advocacy division of the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare, a global ...

Efforts to punish Fani Willis over Trump prosecution are ‘political theater,’ Georgia Gov. Kemp says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:26 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday offered his strongest denunciation to date of efforts by his fellow Republicans to go after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, dismissing the moves as “political theater that only inflames the emotions of the moment.”Some Republicans in Washington and Georgia have been attacking Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis since even before she announced the indictment of former President Donald Trump for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. Kemp said that any calls for a special session to impeach Willis or defund her office were wrong and that she had done nothing to merit removal.A special session, the second-term governor said, “would ignore current Georgia law and directly interfere with the proceedings of a separate but equal branch of government.”“The bottom line is that in the state of Georgia, as long as I’m governor, we’re going to follow the law and the Constitution, regardless of who it helps or harms...

More Canadians opting for home co-ownership amid affordability crunch: Royal LePage

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:26 GMT

TORONTO — Affordability is the top reason cited among Canadians who opted for co-ownership with family members and friends, according to a new Royal LePage survey.The survey, published Thursday, revealed six per cent of respondents co-owned their property with people who weren’t their significant other. Of those, 76 per cent cited affordability as the top reason, followed by the need to buy a bigger property.In the online survey, conducted by Leger between Aug. 10 and Aug. 21, 89 per cent of those co-owned homes were purchased with a family member, seven per cent with friends and eight per cent with someone who is not a friend or family. Co-ownership has existed for years, mostly driven by necessities such as help with raising children or supporting parents or grandparents in a multi-generational setting, said Karen Yolevski of Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd. in an interview.That seems to be changing, she said. The historical, family-related reasons for multi-generation...

Polar Express ride at the CNE in Toronto reopens after injury earlier this week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:26 GMT

A popular ride at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto has reopened after a rider was injured earlier this week. CNE spokesperson Tran Nguyen says the Polar Express ride has reopened with permission from the province’s Technical Standards and Safety Authority. The ride was shut down on Aug. 28, after a man suffered undisclosed injuries and was taken to hospital. The TSSA says in a statement that it conducted a thorough technical inspection of the ride and it was deemed safe to resume operation. It says the investigation into the “root cause” of the incident is ongoing. It also says the ride met all safety requirements before it was initially allowed to operate.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 31, 2023.The Canadian Press

Judge says Kansas shouldn’t keep changing trans people’s birth certificates due to new state law

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:26 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge ruled Thursday that Kansas officials shouldn’t keep changing transgender people’s birth certificates so the documents reflect their gender identities.U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree approved Republican state Attorney General Kris Kobach’s request to block the changes because of a new state law rolling back trans rights. Kansas joins Montana, Oklahoma and Tennessee in barring such birth certificate changes.Kansas is for now also among a few states that don’t let trans people change their driver’s licenses to reflect their gender identities. That’s because of a separate state-court lawsuit Kobach filed last month. Both efforts are responses to the new state law, which took effect July 1.In federal court, Kobach succeeded in lifting a policy imposed when Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration settled a 2018 lawsuit from four transgender people challenging a previous Republican no-changes policy. The settlement came only months after Kelly t...

Alabama lawmaker agrees to plead guilty to voter fraud

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:26 GMT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama legislator has agreed to plead guilty to a felony voter fraud charge that he used a fraudulent address to run for office in a district where he did not live, according to an agreement filed Thursday.Republican Rep. David Cole of Huntsville will plead guilty to a charge of voting in an unauthorized location, according to a plea agreement filed in state court. He will resign from office on the day he enters his guilty plea. Cole, a doctor and Army veteran, was elected to the House of Representatives last year. According to a plea agreement, Cole signed a lease in 2021 to pay $5 per month for a “5X5 space” in a home in order to run for office in House District 10. Cole had some mail sent there, but never lived there and never “stepped past the entry foyer” on the two times he visited the location, according to the plea agreement.Alabama law requires candidates to live in a legislative district for one year before they run for office. Cole ...

Mexico’s broad opposition coalition announces Sen. Xóchitl Gálvez will run for presidency in 2024

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:26 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s broad opposition coalition announced Thursday it has chosen Senator Xóchitl Gálvez as its candidate in the June 2, 2024 presidential elections.The de-facto nomination — which will be formalized later when candidates are registered — suggests that Mexico’s next president will likely be a woman, as former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum leads most polls on the primary race for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s Morena party.Mexico has never had a woman president, though there have been several female candidates in the past. The opposition coalition — known as the Broad Front for Mexico — and Morena are by far the biggest political forces in Mexico.Gálvez was once a street-food salesgirl who became a tech entrepreneur and senator. While she caucuses with the conservative National Action Party in the Senate, she is not a member of the party and instead has the kind of folksy, plain-spoken style popularized by López Obrador.López Obrador will leave of...

Court rules Montreal-area city can cull white-tailed deer population in local park

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:26 GMT

LONGUEUIL, Que. — A Quebec Superior Court judge has ruled that a city south of Montreal can proceed with a plan to cull most of the white-tailed deer that have overrun a local park.Justice Bernard Jolin said Longueuil, Que., can move forward with a controlled crossbow hunt that would cut the deer population at Michel-Chartrand Park from more than 100 down to about 20.Jolin’s ruling is the latest in a saga that has seen animal rights organizations and activists fight in court to block the cull, arguing that control methods should favour keeping the animals alive.But Jolin disagreed with that argument, saying that while the law recognizes animals are sentient beings it does not recognize their right or interest in living.In a 57-page ruling released today, Jolin says the groups have not demonstrated the plan is unreasonable and says the planned cull falls within the city’s legal rights when it comes to environment, nuisances and health and safety.The City of Longueuil says...

Jerry Reinsdorf: 'Virtually no possibility' shot came from inside Sox park

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:26 GMT

CHICAGO — At the news conference to introduce new general manager Chris Getz, White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf has something to say about the investigation into the shooting at Guaranteed Rate Field on Friday night.He told reporters at the ballpark that he believes there is "virtually no possibility" that the gunshots came from within the ballpark. "I spoke to Superintendent (Fred) Waller from the police department last night and he authorized me to tell everybody that regardless of what has been said in the past by anybody, the police have not ruled out the possibility or the probability that the gunshots the other night came from outside the ballpark," said Reinsdorf. "I don't want to comment on the specific details because the police are still investigating, they haven't come to a final conclusion, but we have done a lot of investigation, we've gathered a lot of facts, and without going into the detail, because I don't want to influence the police decision, but the fact is, bas...

Suburban organization's equine therapy making a difference to many

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:26 GMT

WAUCONDA, Ill. — Therapy comes in many forms and for hundreds of Chicago area kids, it happens at a barn in Wauconda.Using horses as a form of therapy isn't the most traditional route, but those who have experienced it, say it's been nothing short of life changing. For 19 years, Partners for Progress Therapeutic Equestrian Center has been hoisting kids into saddles.Amanda Bradon is an occupational therapist and the organization’s director."I think the biggest benefit here is this doesn't feel like therapy. This feels like a recreational activity,” she said. “And you're getting a lot of bang for your buck because your body is getting stronger, your brain is getting stronger, and all that is happening while you're doing something you really enjoy." More from Erin: Coffee for a cause at new café in Arlington Heights The program utilized the horses natural gait, movement and connection to help kids with disabilities For the families and volunteers who've seen the end re...