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New voting districts could change again in some states before the 2024 elections

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:27 GMT

The 2022 elections marked the first using new voting districts drawn from updated census data. Those districts typically last for a decade, but they could be short-lived in some states. Court challenges could force lawmakers or special commissions to draw yet another set of maps before the 2024 elections for representatives in Congress and state capitols. That means voters who were just shifted into new U.S. House or state legislative districts could be grouped with different communities when they go to vote the next time. Here’s a look at some places where voting districts could change, and the reasons why. RACE IN REDISTRICTINGThe U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that Alabama’s congressional districts likely violated the federal Voting Rights Act by diluting the political power of Black voters.The ruling means the state’s Republican-led Legislature and GOP governor likely will have to draw new U.S. House districts in which Black voters compris...

Wildfires still causing smoke problems in much of Canada, though weekend may improve

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:27 GMT

OTTAWA — Air pollution from wildfires remained well above healthy levels across much of southern and northern Ontario and several communities in British Columbia and Alberta on Thursday.There may be some hope on the horizon after the number of fires burning across the country fell slightly, but forecasts suggest smoke warnings will remain in place in several provinces into the weekend.Meanwhile, hot temperatures and high winds forced the evacuation of Edson, a town of about 8,400 in northwest Alberta, after a fire jumped a fire guard and threatened the community. “All things considered, so far so good,” said town mayor Kevin Zahara. “But the next 72 hours are going to be critical for us.”The record-setting air pollution that blanketed Ottawa and much of eastern Ontario with a yellow-tinged haze Wednesday had mostly cleared by Thursday morning, and the sun was even glimpsed briefly. But further south, towards the Greater Toronto Area and in areas around Sudbur...

Trump set for first public appearances since federal indictment, speaking in Georgia, North Carolina

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:27 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Donald Trump will make his first public appearances since his federal indictment, speaking on Saturday to friendly Republican audiences in Georgia and North Carolina as he seeks to rally supporters to his defense.Trump, who remains the front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination despite his mounting legal woes, is expected to use his scheduled speeches at state party conventions in the two states to deliver a full-throated rebuke of the charges and amplify his assertions that he is the victim of a politically motivated “witch hunt” by Democratic President Joe Biden’s Justice Department.His appearances will come a day after the unsealing of an indictment charging him with 37 felony counts in connection with his hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. The indictment accuses the former president of willfully defying Justice Department demands to return classified documents, enlisting aides in his efforts to hide the records and even telli...

Analysis: What makes a fair election? Recent redistricting the most politically balanced in years

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:27 GMT

Democrats have for years bemoaned partisan redistricting plans that helped Republicans win far more congressional seats than expected. But that advantage has disappeared.In the first elections held with 2020 census data, Democrats battled back with their own gerrymandering that shaped districts to their advantage and essentially evened the outcome. Though Republicans won control of the House from Democrats, the closely divided chamber more accurately reflects the ratio of Republicans to Democrats among voters nationally than at any time in recent years, according to a new Associated Press analysis.“On the one hand, we have fairer, more representative outcomes. But it looks like we have more gerrymandering happening,” said Doug Spencer, a law professor at the University of Colorado Boulder who administers the All About Redistricting website. The AP’s analysis found that Republicans won just one more U.S. House seat in 2022 than would have been expected based on the average shar...

Florida center says ‘Grey Team’ technology, exercise help veterans overcome PTSD and other ailments

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:27 GMT

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Before Fred Kalfon began exercising at the Grey Team veterans center a couple months ago, the 81-year-old rarely left his Florida home.Parkinson’s disease, an inner ear disorder and other neurological problems, all likely caused by the Vietnam vet’s exposure to the infamous defoliant Agent Orange, made it difficult for him to move. His post-traumatic stress disorder, centering on the execution of a woman who helped his platoon, was at its worst. Treatment through the federal Department of Veterans Affairs didn’t work, he said.“I felt stupid the way I walk around and stumble,” said Kalfon, who led a medical aid unit as a first lieutenant in 1964-65. “I was depressed.”But after months in a veteran-specialized gym and recovery program, the retired pharmaceutical researcher and sales manager is socializing and has thrown aside his walker for a cane. He’s among the latest of 700 veterans of all ages working with the Grey Team, a 7-year-old ...

Kiszla: Nuggets one win away from a championship dream come true

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:27 GMT

MIAMI —  For 56 years, from the first game the Rockets rolled out that red, white and blue ABA basketball to the time Nikola Jokic’s magic made us believe it was not longer an impossible dream, everybody who loves hoops in Colorado has been waiting for this day.The Nuggets are coming home to claim a championship.And you better believe there’s no stopping them now.Denver beat the Heat 108-95 to take a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals and move one victory away from the first championship in franchise history.“Let’s go Nuggets!” chanted feisty basketball fans from the Rocky Mountains, making their presence known in South Florida while staging a takeover of the Kaseya Center.And on this Friday night, the Nuggets did it without Jokic being their most dominant player.Although Jokic finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds, he did not score in the final 18 minutes, 29 seconds of Game 4. sitting many of the most crucial minutes of the fourth quarter, when Miami ...

PHOTOS: Denver Nuggets vs. Miami Heat in NBA Finals Game 4

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:27 GMT

The Denver Nuggets beat the Miami Heat 108-95 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Friday, June 9, 2023. Game 5 moves back to Denver on Monday night with the Nuggets one win away from their first NBA title.Related ArticlesDenver Nuggets | Kiszla: Nuggets one win away from a championship dream come true Denver Nuggets | Keeler: How did Nuggets’ Aaron Gordon beat the Heat in NBA Finals? By being coolest shooter of Game 4. Denver Nuggets | Nuggets-Heat Game 4 superlatives: Denver on verge of NBA championship thanks to non-Jokic minutes late Denver Nuggets | Gritty Nuggets stymie Heat in fourth quarter to take commanding 3-1 lead in NBA Finals Denver Nuggets | Nuggets 3-pointers: Bam Adebayo, that flop you pulled on Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic deserved a yellow card

Keeler: How did Nuggets’ Aaron Gordon beat the Heat in NBA Finals? By being coolest shooter of Game 4.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:27 GMT

MIAMI — Miami sent the Heat at Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic. And Aaron Gordon responded by being the coolest cat on the floor.“That’s why we got him,” Murray said of Gordon, who stunned an amped-up Kaseya Center crowd by dropping a team-best 27 points and three 3-pointers on host Miami, powering the Nuggets to a 108-95 win and stranglehold on the NBA Finals.“He’s a dawg. He’s strong. He’s physical. He’s tough. He’s chill … he brings everybody together off the court. He’s a selfless player. He’s been solid this whole playoff (run). This whole season. This whole time he’s been here, he’s been great.”The Heat, recognizing Murray’s importance as the head of the snake, blitzed the Blue Arrow at almost every turn. But No. 27 kept his head on a swivel and looked to distribute. Murray finished with 12 assists and AG wound up with the most shots he’s taken for the Nuggets in a postseason game (15) since Game 1 of the Nuggets-Portland series two years ago.“I thought Aaron Gordon was hu...

30,000 gallons of raw sewage spills near Palos Verdes beach

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:27 GMT

Officials are monitoring a massive sewage spill near the Lunada Bay beach area in Palos Verdes Estates on Friday night.A public health warning was issued after approximately 30,000 gallons of raw sewage was released into the waters, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.Initially, closures were in effect for 3 ⁄ 4 miles both north and south of the Aqua Amarga Creek opening into Lunada Bay.Health officials removed all closure notices on Friday night after determining the spilled sewage was absorbed into a dry creek bed and did not reach the ocean.The massive leak was caused by a blocked main line at 6850 Faircove Drive in Rancho Palos Verdes, officials said.The blockage sent sewage discharging into Windport Canyon Creek which leads to Aqua Amarga Creek before ending at Lunada Bay. Closures from a sewage spill are in effect for 3 ⁄ 4 miles both north and south of the Aqua Amarga Creek opening into Lunada Bay on June 9, 2023. (L.A. County Fire Department, Life...

Woman runs off road in Ventura, car lands in Pacific Ocean

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:45:27 GMT

A woman was airlifted to a nearby hospital after she ran off a road in Ventura and into the Pacific Ocean on Friday. The woman was identified as an 18-year-old Ojai resident, according to the Ventura California Highway Patrol.Authorities with CHP, the fire department, and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to a solo car crash involving a Mercedes on SR-1 north of Yerba Buena Road at approximately 1:11 p.m.The woman driving the Mercedes was traveling northbound on SR-1 when she traveled off the west road edge of SR-1 into the Pacific Ocean. She was able to extract herself from the vehicle and was airlifted to Los Robles Medical Center for treatment of major injuries.It's unclear what initially caused the woman to crash.Police say that due to unsafe conditions and the rising tide, the woman's Mercedes was unable to be recovered. The vehicle will be recovered at a later date when conditions are safer.Anyone who witnessed this crash is encouraged to call the CHP Ventura Area office to ...