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Pledge to plant 2 billion trees lofty but attainable, Natural Resources minister says

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:16:49 GMT

SURREY, B.C. — Canada’s plan to plant two billion trees by 2030 is ahead of schedule, but mitigating the effects of climate change is as important as adapting to them, says Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson. The minister was in Surrey, B.C., Wednesday to tout the federal government’s pledge to plant two billion trees, saying the plan is on track and even exceeding its targets. “We are focusing a good chunk of this program increasingly on the reforestation of areas burned by forests, but as I say, the challenge of climate change, we’ve talked a lot about the need for us to reduce carbon emissions to actually ensure that we’re not making the problem worse,” Wilkinson said. “The reality is that we are going to actually have to focus far more on adaptation.”Wilkinson said in the first two years of the Trudeau government’s tree-planting pledge, 110 million trees have been planted, exceeding early targets of 90 million tree...

Ohio utility that paid federal penalty says it’s now being investigated by a state commission

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:16:49 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio-based utility company says it’s being investigated by a state office focused on organized crime in connection with payments the company made to the state’s former House speaker and a top utility regulator, a news outlet reported Wednesday.FirstEnergy said in a financial report filed Monday that it had received a subpoena on June 29 from the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission, Cleveland.com reported. The commission is a division of the state attorney general’s office. The payments were the focus of a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement between the Akron-based firm and federal authorities in which the company agreed to pay a $230 million penalty and cooperate with investigators. The company said in its filing Monday that it had been unaware of the state investigation.In the federal agreement, FirstEnergy acknowledged having bankrolled former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder’s political ascendance in exchange for nuclear p...

What we know about the four firefighters killed in July in Canada

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:16:49 GMT

It has been one of the deadliest years in recent memory for firefighters battling blazes in Canada. Here is what we know about the four firefighters killed while on duty in Canada in July.— Devyn Gale, 19Gale died July 13 while fighting a wildfire near Revelstoke, B.C. Police say the young firefighter was clearing brush in a remote area near a wildfire when her team found her pinned under a fallen tree.Gale, who died after being airlifted to hospital, was a former member of the B.C. gymnastics team and a star pupil at her high school. Her family said Gale was considerate, hardworking, and did everything out of kindness. —Adam Yeadon, 25Yeadon died July 15 while fighting a wildfire near his home in Fort Liard, N.W.T., a hamlet north of the British Columbia border. Family have indicated Yeadon was injured by a tree.Yeadon’s father said the young man loved his job as a woodland firefighter and had been doing it for several years. He is described as “brave, kind ...

2 Alabama inmates killed while working on road crew for state

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:16:49 GMT

HAMILTON, Ala. (AP) — Two Alabama inmates on a work crew were killed Wednesday after being struck by a car while picking up trash on the side of a highway, prison officials said. Ronnie Steven Cornelius, 30, and Colt Eugene Morris, 40, were hit by a vehicle while working on a Alabama Department of Transportation road crew in Marion County, the prison system said in a news release. The accident occurred on Highway 278. “ADOC would like to express its deepest condolences to the families of these two men who were killed in this tragic accident,” Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said. The two men were housed at a community correctional facility in Hamilton. The facility had an 11-man road crew picking up trash along the highway when the accident occurred, the prison system said. The Alabama Department of Corrections did not release additional information about the accident other than to say the men were wearing reflective vests and “safety policies were being followed when the crash o...

Family, friends mourn B.C. firefighter Zac Muise killed while fighting wildfire

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:16:49 GMT

VANCOUVER — Family, friends and colleagues are mourning the young firefighter killed in northeastern British Columbia, the fourth fatality in one of the deadliest fire seasons in recent memory.The family of 25-year-old Zak Muise has launched a memorial fundraiser in his name, saying in a statement that he was “loved by many” and that family members ask for privacy during this difficult time.Police say Muise was killed on July 28 in a remote area about 150 kilometres north of Fort St. John when his heavy-duty ATV rolled over a steep drop on a gravel road.Muise’s death is the fourth on the Canadian fire line in July, and the second in British Columbia. Cliff Chapman, operations director at the BC Wildfire Service, says he has never in his 21-year-career at the agency felt the heaviness he and other firefighters are feeling.Chapman says firefighters need continued support from people around the province and across Canada, since crews are “leaving their families&...

Veterans sue U.S. Defense and Veterans Affairs departments to get access to infertility treatments

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:16:49 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Defense Department and the Department of Veteran Affairs are making it difficult, and sometimes impossible for veterans to get infertility treatments, according to lawsuits filed Wednesday in federal courts in New York and Boston.The lawsuits seek to hold the United States accountable for creating obstacles to health care access for a population that advocates say has a higher rate of infertility than the population at large.Both suits attempt to obtain in vitro fertilization coverage for military service members and veterans who don’t fit the Veterans Affairs definition of infertility, which is limited to married, heterosexual couples.In a release, West Point graduate and Army veteran Renée Mihail said she has seen many friends and colleagues struggle with fertility after serving in the military.“This is not just a coincidence; Our service has seriously impacted our ability to build families,” said Mihail, a law student intern with the Yale Veterans L...

Spin Master sees sales, earnings decline in second quarter amid weaker order volume

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:16:49 GMT

TORONTO — Spin Master Corp. says it earned US$28 million in the second quarter, down from US$88.1 million a year earlier. The Toronto-based toy and entertainment company says revenue was US$420.7 million, down from US$506.3 million during the same quarter last year. Earnings per diluted share were 26 cents, down from 83 cents. Toy revenue for the company was US$346.3 million, down from US$437.6 million last year. Sales for toy products declined due to lower order volume, as Spin Master says customers reduced retail inventory levels. Chief financial officer Mark Segal said while the company’s results were challenged compared with last year, it’s maintaining its 2023 outlook. This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 2, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:TOY)The Canadian Press

Hundreds of police, soldiers raid illegal logging camps on southern edge of Mexico City

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:16:49 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hundreds of police and soldiers raided illegal logging camps on the southern edge of Mexico City Wednesday and seized four illegal sawmills, sparking the anger of local residents.Some residents of the mountain towns blocked highways leading out of Mexico City with burning tires to demand the release of people allegedly detained in the raid.However, prosecutors in the neighboring state of Morelos did not mention any arrests in the raid, which involved at least 300 officers of the state police, the National Guard and the army. Prosecutors said Wednesday the raid targeted logging and sawmills in the pine forests of the township of Huitzilac. They said authorities had seized a large quantity of logs, saws, trucks and stolen vehicles that were apparently used to distribute the wood.Huitzilac is a largely lawless community located in the mountains that separate Mexico City and Cuernavaca, in Morelos state, where kidnap gangs, loggers and other criminals have taken up re...

FBI offers $20k reward after several BMO Harris bank robberies in western, southern suburbs

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:16:49 GMT

CHICAGO — The FBI is offering a $20,000 reward in connection with several robberies at BMO Harris banks in the western and southern suburbs.According to the FBI, the reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the "Bundled Bandits." Multiple hospitalized following South Side shootings The FBI said they are believed to be responsible for the following BMO Harris bank robberies.June 10 in MattesonJune 17 in FrankfortJuly 1 in BolingbrookJuly 19 in NapervilleJuly 21 in AddisonOn July 28, the FBI said the two people knocked out the glass front door around 10 a.m. in the 2400 block of 75th Street in Woodridge because the door was locked and a guard wouldn't unlock it.The two people never entered the bank and left the area, the FBI said.One of the people involved is described as being about 6 feet tall, weighing about 160 pounds, and had on a black hoodie, black mask, dark pants and a black semi-automatic handgun. The other was wearing a black or dark...

Skilling: Hazy, warm continues into Thursday night before possible showers

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:16:49 GMT

It's been another hazy, warm summer day with warm BUT SEASONABLE TEMPS in Chicago. EPA reports the air quality here has been moderate—not unusual this time of year but with the added presence of some Canadian wildfire smoke aloft. The agency cautions moderate air quality which could affect folks with respiratory challenges on Thursday. Low and mid 60-degree dew points indicate atmospheric moisture levels in the "MODERATE" range—enough to notice, especially leaving an air conditioned room—but not enough to cause major distress outdoors unless exercising real exertion. A gentle easterly lake breeze has reduced temps modestly along Lake Michigan. We're beyond the point, given the warming which has gone on with water temps, that MAJOR COOLING ISN'T OCCURRING. The Chicago shoreline water temp has reached a seasonal high of 74-deg on city beaches. At mid afternoon, Greater Chicago area air temps ranged from 77 on the lakeshore at Wilmette and Lake Forest and 75 at Kenosha—but in the ...