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Nova Scotia to address housing shortage by boosting tax for short-term rentals

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:16:09 GMT

HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia government’s plan to increase the annual registration tax for short-term rentals, such as apartments and Airbnbs, is being panned by the province’s opposition parties as inconsequential.Housing Minister John Lohr said following a cabinet meeting Thursday the government’s goal by raising taxes is to encourage people to convert their short-term rentals into long-term ones, but he admitted the plan likely won’t do much to address the housing shortage.“We recognize that it won’t be many, but I will say every unit counts,” said Lohr, about the number of additional long-term rentals the higher taxes would bring. “There will certainly be some.”The minister said legislative amendments would be introduced during the legislature’s fall sitting, which begins Oct. 12, to be followed by regulations that will take effect in April.Under the changes, Lohr said, the annual tax for owners who rent a room in a home will be $10, while the tax to list an entir...

Pennsylvania chocolate factory fined for failing to evacuate before fatal natural gas explosion

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:16:09 GMT

WEST READING, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania chocolate factory was fined more than $44,000 by the federal workplace safety agency on Thursday for failing to evacuate before a natural gas explosion that killed seven people.R.M. Palmer Co. did not heed warnings from employees about a natural gas leak, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which issued multiple citations to the company.“Seven workers will never return home because the R.M. Palmer Co. did not evacuate the facility after being told of a suspected gas leak,” OSHA Area Director Kevin T. Chambers, of the agency’s Harrisburg office, said in a written statement. “The company could have prevented this horrific tragedy by following required safety procedures.” Palmer denied it violated any workplace safety standards and said it would contest the OSHA citations, which the company said are “legally and factually unsupported.”The powerful natural gas explosion leveled one building and heavily damaged anot...

US regulators seek to compel Elon Musk to testify in their investigation of his Twitter acquisition

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:16:09 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday it is seeking a court order that would compel Elon Musk to testify as part of an investigation into his purchase of Twitter, now called X.The SEC said in a filing in a San Francisco federal court that Musk failed to appear for testimony on Sept. 15 despite an investigative subpoena served by the SEC and having raised no objections at the time it was served.But “two days before his scheduled testimony, Musk abruptly notified the SEC staff that he would not appear,” said the agency’s filing. “Musk attempted to justify his refusal to comply with the subpoena by raising, for the first time, several spurious objections, including an objection to San Francisco as an appropriate testimony location.”X, which is based in San Francisco, didn’t immediately return a request for comment.The SEC said it has been conducting a fact-finding investigation involving the period before Musk’s takeover last year when Twitter was st...

Black voting power gets boost in Alabama as new US House districts chosen by federal judges

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:16:09 GMT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Federal judges on Thursday selected new congressional lines for Alabama to give the Deep South state a second district where Black voters comprise a substantial portion of the electorate. The judges stepped in to pick a new congressional map after ruling that one drawn by Alabama illegally diluted the voting power of Black residents, and that Republican lawmakers failed to fix the Voting Rights Act violation when they adopted new lines this summer. It sets the stage for potentially flipping one U.S. House of Representatives seat from Republican to Democratic control and for the state to have second Black Congressional representative for the first time.“It’s a historic day for Alabama. It will be the first time in which Black voters will have an opportunity to elect candidates of their choice in two congressional districts,” said Deuel Ross, an attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund who represented plaintiffs in the case.Black voters in 2021 filed a lawsui...

Reprieve for New Orleans as salt water creeping up the Mississippi River slows its march inland

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:16:09 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Salt water inching up the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico is progressing more slowly than projected, authorities said Thursday, meaning water systems in the greater New Orleans area that draw drinking water from the river have additional weeks to prepare.For some small systems downriver, the projected arrival of salt water was pushed back to later this month. For New Orleans and neighboring Jefferson Parish the threat to water system intakes was pushed back from late October to late November. Unexpected October or November rains could further delay and diminish the threat, said Col. Cullen Jones, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ New Orleans District.Typically, the Mississippi’s flow is sufficient to prevent salt water from moving far upstream. But for the second year in a ro w, hot and dry weather has lowered the river, allowing a denser, heavier layer of salt water from the Gulf to push inland. State, local and federal officials disc...

City, team, province announce finalized deal for new $800M arena for Calgary Flames

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:16:09 GMT

CALGARY — The deal is sealed — the NHL’s Calgary Flames are getting a new $800-million arena.Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek says the preliminary deal announced in April for a new $1.2 billion events centre and entertainment district near the city’s downtown has been finalized.The deal includes the new home for the Flames hockey team, with an opening date expected around 2027, and officials say the four-way cost sharing arrangement has not changed.The Alberta government is committing a maximum $330 million for area infrastructure and to cover half the cost of a new community rink that would be attached to the Flames arena.The City of Calgary is to put in $537 million, and the group that owns the Flames is to pay an initial $40 million then $17 million a year over the course of a 35-year lease.The rink is to be built near the team’s current Saddledome rink, which has been its home for four decades.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 5, 2023The Canadian Press

Highest paying jobs in Chicago that require a bachelor's degree

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:16:09 GMT

While college and university tuition costs may be skyrocketing, a bachelor's degree remains essential to many high-paying jobs across the United States.Annual tuition and fees at four-year colleges rose 10 to 14% on average from 2010-11 to 2021-22, National Center for Education Statistics data shows. For many students, this means taking out loans. Federal student loan recipients who earned a bachelor's degree in 2016 borrowed an average of over $45,000 to earn their degree, as measured four years after graduation.While expensive, bachelor's degrees provide higher earnings potential for U.S. workers. A Bureau of Labor Statistics analysis from 2021 shows that bachelor's degree holders make $277 more weekly than the median for all jobs, and $525 more than those whose highest education level is a high school diploma. What's more, the unemployment rate is lower for bachelor's degree holders at 3.5%, compared to 4.7% for all U.S. workers.To be sure, not all jobs that require a b...

Lawsuit about Texas Pete not being from Texas dismissed, company says

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:16:09 GMT

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) — A lawsuit over Texas Pete hot sauce has been dismissed. According to a release by TW Garner Food Co., the parent company of the Texas Pete brand, plaintiff Phillip White filed a motion on Sept. 28 to dismiss his lawsuit against the brand. The class action lawsuit claimed that TW Garner Food Co. was deceptively marketing Texas Pete as a Texan product when it’s actually made in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. White’s complaint, filed on behalf of all people in the U.S. who have purchased Texas Pete, asked the court to force Texas Pete to change its name and branding and to give money to past customers.White’s legal team had argued that a “reasonable consumer” could be duped into thinking that Texas Pete is a Texas product due to the brand name and the labeling on the bottle and that he would not have paid the same amount of money for a North Carolina-made hot sauce as he would a Texas-made one, which was around $3 at a Ralph's in his home state of...

Congressional chaos puts future aid for Ukraine in doubt

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:16:09 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) - The turmoil in the House as they pick a new leader is putting future aid for Ukraine at risk, even though most lawmakers still support sending more.On Thursday Ukranian rescuers searched through the rubble for bodies after a Russian rocket hit a cafe, killing at least 50 people. Across the globe, the U.S., one of their staunchest allies is considering whether to send more aid. How DeSantis built a conservative following on education "We have to continue to support the people of Ukraine, because this is the horrifying nature that they live in every day," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.Top U.S. military leaders briefed President Biden on the war effort this week, as he urges Congress to pass a new round of funding for Ukraine."It's critically important for the United States and our allies that we keep our commitment," Biden said.The majority of both parties in the House and the Senate have signaled their approval to continue supporting Ukr...

Sen. Dianne Feinstein honored by dignitaries, family at memorial service

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:16:09 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – A memorial service for the late U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is being held on the front steps of San Francisco City Hall on Thursday, in the city where she served as its first female mayor. The service started at 1 p.m., and several dignitaries and notable guests were slated to give remarks.Speakers at Sen. Feinstein’s memorial service include Vice President Kamala Harris as well as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Eileen Mariano (Sen. Feinstein's granddaughter) are also scheduled to speak.A recorded message from President Joe Biden will also be played at Thursday's memorial.Members of the public await their turn to pay respects as the casket of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein in the Rotunda of City Hall in San Francisco, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023. (Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)Members of the public were invited to pay their respects on Wednesday at San Francis...