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Lahaina fire insured losses estimated at $3.2B 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

The Lahaina fire caused about $3.2 billion in insured property losses, calculated Karen Clark & Company, a prominent disaster and risk modeling company. That doesn’t count damage to property not insured.The risk firm said more than 2,200 buildings were damaged or destroyed by fire with a total of more than 3,000 buildings damaged by fire or smoke or both. Because so many of the buildings were wood frame and older, the damage rates were higher than other fires, the firm said.Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday he wants Congress to help Hawaii by approving a supplemental spending package that includes $13 billion to replenish federal disaster funds “as quickly as possible” once lawmakers return after Labor Day.Schumer, D-N.Y., said his heart goes out to all those impacted by the devastating fires in Maui, adding that the Senate would “do everything we could to help Hawaii.”Last week the Biden administration requested $13 billion in overall disaster funds a...

Allston businesses to begin making deliveries via e-cargo bikes, ditching cars and trucks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

More than a handful of businesses in Allston will soon be delivering packages via electric cargo bikes instead of cars or trucks, an initiative the Wu administration says will reduce pollution and improve street safety.Eight companies that make deliveries to and from the neighborhood are participating in the Boston Delivers pilot program, which will start in mid-September and run for at least a year.The involved businesses will receive subsidies from the city to cover delivery costs, making their services more affordable to operate, the Wu administration announced Tuesday. The city is allocating $345,000 as well as using state funds.Officials say the program will bring relief to not just businesses but also pedestrians, cyclists and motor vehicle drivers. The city has seen a rise in delivery services following the pandemic, triggering “more congestion outside local businesses and double parking in bus, bike and vehicle travel lanes,” they say.“The way our small businesses and reside...

Georgia clerk says ‘mishap’ caused erroneous release of list of Trump charges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

The clerk of the Fulton County, Georgia, court system acknowledged Tuesday accidently releasing what appeared to be a list of criminal charges against Donald Trump before he was actually indicted, and sought to deflect blame amid mounting criticism from Republicans who have seized on the blunder to characterize the case as rigged. After refusing to explain what happened for more than a day after Reuters posted the document the media outlet said was published on the court’s website, clerk Che Alexander’s office said she was doing a “trial run” of the court’s filing system on Monday “in anticipation of issues that arise with entering a potentially large indictment.” Alexander’s office said that led to the docketing of “what appeared to be an indictment, but which was, in fact, only a fictitious docket sheet.” Reuters found the docket and reported on it Monday afternoon, hours before the grand jury returned the indictment charging Trump and 18 allies over effort...

UN chief urges deployment of police special forces and military support to combat gangs in Haiti

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief urged the international community on Tuesday to deploy a multinational force comprising “police special forces and military support units” to Haiti to combat gangs with sophisticated weapons and restore security to the impoverished Caribbean nation.Secretary-General António Guterres said in a 12-page letter to the U.N. Security Council obtained by The Associated Press that “ Addressing the security situation in Haiti requires a range of coercive law enforcement measures, including active use of force in targeted police operations against heavily armed gangs.”The letter was a response to a Security Council resolution adopted on July 14 asking Guterres to come up with “a full range of options” within 30 days to help combat Haiti’s armed gangs including a non-U.N. multinational force.Guterres welcomed Kenya’s offer to lead an international force as well as renewed pledges of support from the Bahamas and Jamaica, and the announcement by An...

Air conditioners ‘a necessity’ as B.C. heat breaks records set almost a century ago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

VANCOUVER — When Nicky Fried and her husband arrived in Vancouver from South Africa more than 30 years ago, they didn’t need an air conditioner. Now they have two, she said on Tuesday as she enjoyed an iced coffee and shade outside a Cambie Street café.“I don’t think it’s that wildly expensive. They do work and you can sleep in comfort, and you can spend your time indoors in comfort,” said Fried.Her husband, Hirschel Wasserman, added that air conditioning is “no longer a luxury; it has become a necessity.” Most of southern B.C. is broiling in a heat wave as temperatures knock down records in some areas of the province that were set almost a century ago. On Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, an outreach team for the Union Gospel Mission has been working to ensure people are aware and are prepared to cope with the heat spike.Mission spokeswoman Nicole Mucci said those who are experiencing mental illness, homelessness or who have chronic health conditions are most a...

North Korea says US soldier bolted into North after being disillusioned at American society

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea asserted Wednesday that a U.S. soldier who bolted into the North across the heavily armed Korean border last month did so after being disillusioned at the inequality of American society.It’s North Korea’s first official confirmation of the detention of Private 2nd Class Travis King, who entered the North while on a tour of a Korean border village on July 18. He became the first American detained in the North in nearly five years.The North Korean official news agency, KCNA, said King told investigators that he had decided to enter North Korea because he “harbored ill feeling against inhuman mistreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army.”It said King also expressed his willingness to seek refuge in North Korea or a third country, saying he “was disillusioned at the unequal American society.”KCNA is a propaganda arm of North Korea’s dictatorship and often releases statements and articles carefully calibrated to refle...

Young environmentalists won a landmark climate change ruling in Montana. Will it change anything?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Young environmental activists prevailed in a closely watched Montana lawsuit that said state officials weren’t doing enough to protect them from climate change.Legal observers called it a landmark victory for the 16 plaintiffs: It marks the first time a court in the U.S. has declared that a government has a constitutional duty to protect people from climate change.Here’s what to know about Monday’s potentially groundbreaking ruling that followed a first-of-its-kind trial earlier this summer:WHAT DID THE RULING SAY?State District Judge District Judge Kathy Seeley said officials violated Montana’s highly protective constitution by refusing to consider the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions when they’ve approved coal mines, oil drilling and new power plants.Attorneys for Montana argued the state’s emissions were too small to make much difference in climate change.Seeley rejected the argument, saying essentially that every ton ...

Special prosecutor will examine actions of Georgia’s lieutenant governor in Trump election meddling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia state agency said Tuesday that it will name a special prosecutor to consider whether the state’s Republican lieutenant governor should face criminal charges after former president Donald Trump and 18 of his allies were indicted Monday for working to overturn the state’s 2020 election results.Lt. Gov. Burt Jones was one of 16 Republican electors who falsely claimed that Trump won Georgia. As a state senator, he also sought a special session of Georgia’s Legislature aimed at overturning President Joe Biden’s narrow win in the state. But Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was barred by a judge from indicting Jones. Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney agreed with Jones that Willis, an elected Democrat, had a conflict of interest because she hosted a fundraiser for the Democrat who lost to Jones in the 2022 election for lieutenant governor.McBurney said in a hearing that Willis’ decision to host the fundraiser was a “what are you thinking?&#...

Judge calls new Texas election law unconstitutional; state says it will appeal ruling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — A judge on Tuesday called unconstitutional a new law passed by the GOP-led Texas Legislature that will dictate how elections are run in the state’s most populous county, which is a Democratic stronghold and home to Houston.The law, which would abolish a position that oversees elections in Harris County, was temporarily blocked by state District Judge Karin Crump in Austin after county officials filed a lawsuit earlier this month.But the judge’s order, issued Monday, was short-lived. It was put on hold on Tuesday after the Texas Attorney General’s Office filed a notice that it will appeal to the Texas Supreme Court. The new law, set to take effect Sept. 1, was pushed through by Republican lawmakers who accused Harris County officials of mismanaging recent elections. Democrats accused Republicans of singling out the county because, like other large urban areas around the state, it has increasingly voted Democratic.In a statement, the Texas Attorney General’s Office said...

Victim walks into hospital with life-threatening injuries after Rexdale shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

Toronto police say a male has walked into a hospital with life-threatening injuries after a shooting in Rexdale on Tuesday. Police were called after shots were fired in the Finch Avenue West and Martin Grove Road area at around 4 p.m.Initially it was believed that no one was hurt in the incident, but in a follow up police said a male victim attended hospital on his own. His injuries are critical. No further details were immediately available. More to come