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EPA to strengthen lead protections in drinking water after multiple crises, including Flint

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:53 GMT

Decades after officials banned lead in gasoline for new cars and stopped the sale of lead paint — huge steps toward eliminating lead exposure to the public — there are still an estimated 500,000 U.S. children with levels of lead in their blood that are considered high, and experts say lead in drinking water is one important reason. Now, the Environmental Protection Agency is aiming to further reduce lead levels in drinking water and tighten a rule that failed to prevent drinking water crises in cities like Flint, Michigan and Newark, New Jersey. Although the specifics aren’t public, the agency says it will propose requiring that utilities actively replace harmful lead pipes.President Joe Biden has already called for eliminating the country’s estimated 9.2 million lead pipes, lines that connect water mains under the street to homes and businesses and are responsible for most of the lead that gets into drinking water.But it’s costly to send out workers to dig up the pipe, lay new ones...

Pope’s big meeting on women and the future of the church wraps up – with some final jabs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:53 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis’ monthlong meeting on the future of the Catholic Church was wrapping up Saturday with voting on a final document on the role of women and how the church can better respond to the needs of the faithful today.Organizers and participants alike have tried to temper expectations for any big changes to emerge, especially on hot-button doctrinal issues such as the church’s views on homosexuality. They have insisted that the mere process of forcing bishops to sit down at round tables to listen to ordinary Catholics for a month was the important novelty of the gathering.But there was no denying that Francis’ big Synod on Synodality, as the meeting is called, and the two-year canvassing of rank-and-file Catholics that preceded it, has indeed generated expectations.Progressives have hoped the gathering would send a message that the church would be more welcoming of LGBTQ+ people and offer women more leadership roles in a hierarchy where they are barred from ord...

New Speaker Mike Johnson holds favor with conservatives. Can he unite the GOP where others failed?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — New House Speaker Mike Johnson inherits many of the same problems that bedeviled Republican leaders with far more experience. At least for now, however, he holds favor with the ultra-conservative wing of his party that toppled previous House speakers. But can he unite House Republicans where others failed?The Louisiana Republican emerged last week from the lower ranks of the House GOP leadership to ascend to speaker after lawmakers, driven by a faction of hard-liners, ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the job and then rejected two more top-ranked Republicans in leadership as well as conservative favorite Rep. Jim Jordan.To his supporters, Johnson represented a turn to “decentralizing the power” from the speaker’s office, with a goal of cutting government spending and engaging forcefully on socially conservative priorities.“The greatest threat to our national security is our nation’s debt,” Johnson said in a speech after taking the gavel.While not a member of th...

A spider web of Hamas tunnels in Gaza Strip raises risks for an Israeli ground offensive

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:53 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — As an Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip looms in its most devastating war yet with Hamas, one of the greatest threats to both its troops and the 2.3 million Palestinians trapped inside the seaside enclave is buried deep underground.An extensive labyrinth of tunnels built by the Hamas militant group stretches across the densely populated strip, hiding fighters, their rocket arsenal and over 200 hostages they now hold after an unprecedented Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Clearing and collapsing those tunnels will be crucial if Israel seeks to dismantle Hamas. But fighting in densely populated urban areas and moving underground could strip the Israeli military of some of its technological advantages while giving an edge to Hamas both above and below ground.“I usually say it’s like walking down the street waiting to get punched in the face,” said John Spencer, a retired U.S. Army major and the chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point.U...

Man in hospital after being shot in Mimico

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:53 GMT

A man is in hospital after being shot in Mimico late last night. Police were called to Lake Shore Boulevard West and Park Lawn Road at 11 p.m. Friday to reports of gunshots. No victim was found in the area.Shortly after, a man in his 30s showed up at a Toronto hospital on his own with a gunshot wound. His injuries are considered non-life-threatening. No further details have been released.

Sharp increase in Afghans leaving Pakistan due to illegal migrant crackdown, say UN agencies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:53 GMT

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — U.N. agencies have reported a sharp increase in Afghans returning home since Pakistan launched a crackdown on people living in the country illegally. They urged Pakistan to suspend the policy before it was too late to avoid a “human rights catastrophe.” Pakistan earlier this month said it will arrest and deport undocumented or unregistered foreigners after Oct. 31. Two provinces bordering Afghanistan have set up deportation centers. The government says the campaign is not aimed at a particular nationality, but it mostly affects Afghans who make up the bulk of foreigners living in the country.U.N. agencies said Friday there are more than 2 million undocumented Afghans in Pakistan, at least 600,000 of whom fled after the Taliban takeover in 2021.Afghanistan is going through a severe humanitarian crisis, particularly for women and girls, who are banned by the Taliban from education beyond sixth grade, most public spaces and many jobs. There are also restrictio...

Saturday Forecast: Low 50s, wind chills up to 30 mph

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:53 GMT

Saturday: Temperatures to reach up to low 50s, wind chills 5-15 mph. Saturday Night: Temps reach mid 30s, high winds, chance of showers Chicago Weather | Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center's Forecast (wgntv.com)Sunday: Chance of cold showers in after noon. cloudy, high: 45Extended outlook calls for dry and sunny but cold on Monday with our first widespread frost / freeze of the season. High 42. Cold for Halloween with partly sunny skies and chance of a few snow showers. High 40

Israel unleashes 'most intense' bombardment, knocking out communications

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:53 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel on Saturday heavily bombed Gaza backed with infantry and armored vehicles backed by massive strikes from the air and sea.The bombardment, described by Gaza residents as the most intense of the war, also knocked out most communications in Gaza. This largely cut off the besieged enclave's 2.3 million people from the world, while enabling the Israeli military to control the narrative in a new stage of fighting.The military released grainy images Saturday showing tank columns moving slowly in open areas of Gaza, many apparently near the border, and said warplanes bombed dozens of Hamas tunnels and underground bunkers.“The forces are still on the ground and are continuing the war,” said the army spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, indicating that the next stage has begun in what is expected to evolve into an all-out ground offensive in northern Gaza.Early in the war, Israel had already amassed hundreds of thousands of troops along the border. Until now, troops had...

Wet weather continues as the cold air approaches

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- This wet weather pattern Central Texas has been in will continue for a few more days. There will be a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms today, decreasing to 30% of a showers and a few thunderstorms.High temperatures today will warm to the lower to middle 80s with south winds 10 to 15 mph. View your neighborhood rainfall totals Attention then turns to the cold front. There are differences when it comes to the timing of the front. One model has it coming around sunrise Sunday. Another one has it coming in during the middle of the afternoon. The cold air arrives Sunday afternoonThe thinking here is the front should be south of Austin by noon with falling temperatures.There will be a chance of showers and thunderstorms ahead of the front with lingering showers and a few isolated thunderstorms likely behind it. The chance of measurable precipitation tomorrow will be 60%, increasing to 70% Sunday night/Monday morning.There will be a flash flood threat in counties ...

Allred leads crowded field in new Texas Democratic primary poll

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Four months ahead of the primary election in Texas, Rep. Colin Allred leads the Democratic field in a new poll.The primary will feature a slate of candidates, but only two made it into the double digits in the poll conducted by the University of Texas/Texas Politics Project.Allred, who represents Dallas-area Congressional District 32, picked up 21% among the 409 poll respondents who said they planned to vote in the primary. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, polled at 10%.Twelve percent of respondents said they didn't know who they would vote for if the election were held today, while 34% said they haven't thought about it enough to form an opinion.Name recognition is hindering the majority of candidates on the ballot. Of poll respondents, 59% said they had not heard of Allred, while 70% said they didn't know of Gutierrez. At least 90% of respondents said they hadn't heard of 10 of the other candidates. Trump has wide lead in Texas primary poll; perfo...