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Flash drought, invasive grasses, winds, hurricane and climate change fuel Maui’s devastating fires

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:30:44 GMT

Hawaii went from lush to bone dry and thus more fire-prone in a matter of just a few weeks — a key factor in a dangerous mix of conditions appear to have combined to make the wildfires blazing a path of destruction in Hawaii particularly damaging.Experts say climate change is increasing the likelihood of these flash droughts as well as other extreme weather events like what’s playing out on the island of Maui, where dozens of people have been killed and a historic tourist town was devastated. “It’s leading to these unpredictable or unforeseen combinations that we’re seeing right now and that are fueling this extreme fire weather,” said Kelsey Copes-Gerbitz, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia’s faculty of forestry. “What these … catastrophic wildfire disasters are revealing is that nowhere is immune to the issue.”Here’s a look at the Maui fires, and what’s behind them:FLASH DROUGHTSFlash droughts are so dry and ho...

White supremacist accused of threatening jury and witnesses in trial of Pittsburgh synagogue gunman

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:30:44 GMT

WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) — A self-proclaimed white supremacist was arrested Thursday on charges that he made online threats toward the jury and witnesses at the trial of a man who killed 11 congregants at a Pittsburgh synagogue, the U.S. Justice Department said.Hardy Carroll Lloyd of Follansbee, West Virginia, is accused of sending threatening social media posts and emails along with comments on websites about the trial of Robert Bowers. In addition, Lloyd, 45, allegedly was responsible for stickers placed in predominantly Jewish areas of Pittsburgh directing people to a website containing his threats and antisemitic messages, the Justice Department said in a news release.“Jury trials are a hallmark of the American justice system and attempts to intimidate witnesses or jurors will be met with a strong response,” U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld said. “The use of hateful threats in an effort to undermine a trial is especially troubling.”Bowers was sentenced to death last week after a jury...

Fund sued over grant program for Black women enlists prominent civil rights attorneys to fight back

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:30:44 GMT

Attorneys for an Atlanta-based venture capital firm being sued over a grant program for Black women vowed Thursday to fight back against the lawsuit, calling it misguided and frivolous. At a New York news conference, the attorneys also announced that prominent civil rights lawyers, including Ben Crump, would join the defense for the Fearless Fund, which was founded in 2019 by three Black women. The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, was brought by a nonprofit founded by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum, the man behind the Supreme Court cases that led to the dismantling of race-conscious college admissions programs across the U.S. The complaint could be a test case, as the battle over considerations on race shifts to the workplace. Last month, thirteen Republican state attorneys general sent a letter to 100 of the biggest U.S. companies arguing that the court ruling on affirmative action could also apply to private entities, like employers.In its ...

Aurora Cannabis slashes Q1 net loss as it eyes orchid business, further savings

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:30:44 GMT

Aurora Cannabis Inc. shaved $590.4 million off its net loss in its most recent quarter as it continued its search for savings and began laying the groundwork for a future orchid business.The Edmonton-based pot business revealed Thursday that its first quarter net loss amounted to $28.3 million compared with a net loss of $618.8 million a year earlier.It attributed the dramatic decrease seen in the three months ended June 30 to an increase in gross profit along with lower impairment charges and operating expenses — the fruits of an ongoing transformation plan that uncovered $400 million in savings so far and aims to generate another $40 million soon.“Our target of removing a further $40 million of cost during fiscal 2024 is ambitious, but when considering how much we’ve already accomplished through our business transformation, it is entirely within our wheelhouse,” said Aurora’s chief executive Miguel Martin on a Thursday call with analysts.Aurora’s tran...

Family of Henrietta Lacks files new lawsuit over cells harvested without her consent

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:30:44 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — Just over a week after Henrietta Lacks’ descendants settled a lawsuit against a biotech company they accused of unjustly profiting off her cells for generations, the family’s attorneys have filed another claim against a different corporation.The new lawsuit, which targets California-based biopharmaceutical company Ultragenyx, was filed Thursday in Baltimore federal court, the same venue as the recently settled case. Lawyers for the family have said they plan to bring a series of lawsuits against various entities that continue to reap rewards from the racist medical system that took advantage of Lacks.A Black mother of five from southern Virginia, Lacks and her family were living outside Baltimore when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1951. Doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital saved a sample of her cancer cells collected during a biopsy — without her knowledge or consent.She died at age 31 in the hospital’s “colored ward,” but her genetic material lived on, the...

Federal judge will hear arguments on potential takeover of New York City’s troubled jail system

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:30:44 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge agreed Thursday to begin a process that could wrest control of New York City’s troubled jail system from Mayor Eric Adams and place a court-appointed outside authority in charge of Rikers Island. The decision follows a series of reports from a court-appointed federal monitor that outlined a “ disturbing level of regression ” inside the jail system, with nearly every category of violence now higher than when the monitor was appointed to oversee reform efforts eight years ago. At a hearing in federal court in Manhattan, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain said the latest reports of violence and dysfunction inside Rikers Island had raised “profound questions” about the city’s ability to manage the jail complex, suggesting the incarcerated population is “at great risk of immediate harm.”She ordered federal prosecutors and attorneys representing detainees to begin preparing arguments in support of a court-ordered receivership, a critical step that could...

Canadian Milos Raonic falls in third round of National Bank Open

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:30:44 GMT

Milos Raonic’s unexpected run to the third round at the National Bank Open ended Thursday when he dropped a 6-3, 6-3 decision to American Mackenzie McDonald at Sobeys Stadium.The veteran Canadian, who returned to the ATP Tour in June after an injury absence of nearly two years, showed flashes of his previous form this week but struggled in the afternoon match against his 59th-ranked opponent.“Some things came together well, some things I can hope to do better,” Raonic said of his first appearance at the Toronto tournament since 2018.“I did everything I could, and it took me where it did.”Milos Raonic's run comes to an end in the Third Round.#NBO23 | @NBOtoronto pic.twitter.com/WL4H3rQ9eI— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 10, 2023Raonic’s serve didn’t have its usual zip and he made 32 unforced errors to just 12 for the American. The former world No. 3 was the last Canadian remaining in the singles draw.Raonic upset ninth-seeded America...

British Columbia warns of incoming prolonged hot weather, but no heat dome

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:30:44 GMT

VANCOUVER — A heat wave that is expected to last most of next week has prompted British Columbia’s government to warn people to prepare for sweltering conditions, but a repeat of the deadly 2021 heat dome isn’t being forecast.The hot weather starting Sunday is expected to send temperatures into the high 30s in the province’s south, after recent cooler weather and rain helped wildfire suppression efforts, Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma said Thursday.The heat is expected to dry out forests again, increase fire risks, and worsen the province’s already severe drought levels, she said.“While these elevated temperatures may pose risks, I do want to assure everyone that this upcoming heat event is not expected to be as extreme as the event that we faced in June and July of 2021,” Ma said at a news conference.“Nevertheless, it is critical that people understand the risks, prepare for the conditions and know where to access support,” s...

Sentence is cut for trans youth’s father, who discussed treatment against court order

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:30:44 GMT

VANCOUVER — The British Columbia Court of Appeal has struck down a six-month prison sentence for a trans youth’s father who was convicted of contempt for publicly discussing his child’s private medical details in breach of a court order.Instead, the appeal court sentenced the man to time served, effectively amounting to 45 days, according to the ruling released on Wednesday.The youth had taken his father to court to stop him giving media interviews in which he identified his child and discussed their medical treatment for gender dysphoria, as well as the father’s objections to the process.The father pleaded guilty to contempt, but his lawyer advised him to reject an offer to make a deal with the Crown for 45 days’ imprisonment, and he was instead sentenced to six months.The three-judge appeal panel found the man’s lawyer provided ineffective assistance by not recognizing the prosecutors’ deal would have seen his client released upon his guilty ple...

Off-duty Cook County Sheriff's investigator shot on Chicago's Southwest Side

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:30:44 GMT

CHICAGO — An off-duty Cook County Sheriff's investigator was injured in a shooting Wednesday on Chicago's Southwest Side.The shooting happened around 9 p.m. Wednesday near West 47th Street and South Cicero Avenue, not far from Midway Airport.According to police, the 37-year-old off-duty investigator witnessed two vehicles heading north on Cicero Avenue when shots fired between the two cars.One of the vehicles hit another car headed in the opposite direction, then slammed into a wall near a McDonald's restaurant.The investigator sustained multiple gunshot wounds, Chicago police said. He was shot in the right elbow and lower back. Police say he was the unintended target.“He was transported to the hospital in critical condition. On Thursday afternoon the Cook County’s Sheriff’s Office released a statement that said he has now stabilized.” Shot fired at SWAT teams in Austin as they investigate armed robbery case; suspect barricaded inside Police said the driver of the vehicle attempte...