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Court throws out Berkeley’s ban on natural gas in new construction

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:54 GMT

BERKELEY — A federal appeals court on Monday overturned Berkeley, California’s first-in-the-nation ban on natural gas in new construction, agreeing with restaurant owners who argued the city bypassed federal energy regulations when it approved the ordinance.The measure, which took effect in 2020 to cheers from environmentalists, was intended to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses that contribute to global warming. With some exceptions, it banned new residential and commercial buildings from installing natural gas piping in favor of electrical lines.A lawsuit by the California Restaurant Association claimed the regulation violated federal law that gives the U.S. government authority to set energy-efficiency standards for appliances such as stoves, furnaces and water heaters.The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco rejected a lower court judge’s decision two years ago that had upheld the Berkeley ordinance. In her 2021 decision, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Ro...

Tesla reports fatal Bay Area crash this past February involved automated driving

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:54 GMT

By Keith Laing | BloombergTesla Inc. disclosed to US regulators another fatal crash involving automated driver-assist systems, bringing its total to 17 since June 2021 when the government required carmakers to begin submitting data on these accidents.The crash involved a Tesla Model S that collided with an emergency vehicle in February in the San Francisco Bay Area. At the time of the accident, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration asked the company for more information.The crash was one of 66 reported accidents that were included in the latest public release of data collected by the NHTSA about crashes involving so-called Level 2 automated driving systems, gathered under a June 2021 order demanding carmakers and technology companies report the incidents.Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.Safety advocates in Washington have called for regulators and lawmakers to set firmer rules for so-called self-driving cars and technologies that are gaining pop...

China reveals new details of Raytheon, Lockheed sanctions

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:54 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China revealed new details of sanctions it previously announced against two U.S. weapons manufacturers Tuesday, including a ban on Chinese companies doing business with them. China imposed trade and investment sanctions in February on Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies Corp.’s Raytheon Missiles & Defense for supplying weapons to Taiwan, the self-governed island claimed by China. China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement late Tuesday that the sanctions include a ban on exports and imports by the two companies from and to China “to prevent Chinese products from being used in their military business.”It added that Chinese companies should “strengthen their due diligence and compliance system construction to verify transaction information” and should not knowingly conduct business with the two companies while importing, exporting or transporting products.It wasn’t clear what immediate impact the penalties might have, but the restrictio...

McCarthy preps House GOP debt deal to draw Biden into talks

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Kevin McCarthy convened House Republicans behind closed doors Tuesday to unveil his proposal to raise the nation’s debt limit as part of a package to limit future federal spending increases to 1% and other policy changes in an opening bid to draw President Joe Biden into negotiations.The typically fractured House Republican majority has appeared surprisingly open to the plan, which McCarthy outlined in a high-profile speech at the start of the week to Wall Street. But it remains a work in progress. While the Republican proposal has almost no chance of passage in the Democratic-controlled Senate, McCarthy wants to pass the package from the House to kickstart White House talks.“I’m confident we’ll have it and comfortable we’ll pass it,” said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., the chairman of the Rules Committee, who said the bill could come for a vote as soon as next week.Even as some of McCarthy’s most ardent skeptics from the House Freedom Caucus — includi...

Small changes can have a big impact on food waste in Montgomery County

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:54 GMT

This content is provided by the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection.Wasted food is a major issue in the United States, as well as in Montgomery County, Maryland. The startling statistics point to Americans generating nearly 35 million tons of food waste annually and American families wasting approximately 30 percent of the food purchased, according to the USDA. Food waste not only affects budgets, but it also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and wastes water and other natural resources. Reducing the amount of wasted food is a national goal and an important objective for Montgomery County, which aims to reduce waste and recycle more, aiming for Zero Waste. County residents, businesses and organizations can make a significant impact by changing their behavior about food waste.The highest priority of Montgomery County’s solid waste management hierarchy is to prevent waste or at least reduce the amount of waste generated in the County. Reducing the amount of ...

Ari Aster doesn’t want to talk about his new movie right now

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:54 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ari Aster really doesn’t want to talk about “Beau Is Afraid.”“This is so not the right thing,” he laughed anxiously during a recent press day for his new film. “I shouldn’t be talking about this movie for another 10 years.”But, alas, the insatiable publicity machine demands Aster feed it something now, undeterred by the director’s protestations, as his three-hour epic of biblical proportions hits theaters on Friday.“I wish I could just recede as far as possible and have the film just live on its own without any baggage that I’m inadvertently saddling onto it,” he said, aware of the awkward position his reticence puts an interviewer in. “I just want to throw up even hearing myself right now,” he added sheepishly.Aster’s point is a sympathetic one. “Beau Is Afraid” really is one of those movies best seen with minimal prior knowledge of what you are walking into, aside from the fact that it is three hours of chaos, anxiety and terror.The movie, a version of which Ast...

Gun safety demonstrators carry caskets to Tennessee Capitol

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:54 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Protesters calling for gun safety legislation were blocked from bringing caskets inside Tennessee’s Capitol, but a recently reinstated legislator escorted an infant-sized casket inside before he was barred from carrying it onto the House floor.Protesters led by Bishop William Barber II marched in Nashville, demanding that lawmakers pass the legislation and stop using their authority to trample democracy. They carried several caskets symbolizing those lost to gun violence on Monday. “The legislators are back, but returning duly elected lawmakers to their seat does not solve the problem,” Barber said, demanding that lawmakers “stop committing policy murder.”The fatal shooting of six people at a Nashville private school last month kicked off a stream of calls for changes to Tennessee’s gun laws, including a ban on assault weapons, tougher background checks and a “red flag” law. Republican Gov. Bill Lee has urged lawmakers to pass legislation that would kee...

Following stroke, Lucinda Williams back with book and album

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:54 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Lucinda Williams is returning to the spotlight this spring with an autobiography, a new album and concert appearances around the world. Less than three years ago, there was real worry that her creative voice would be stilled.In November 2020, the singer-songwriter suffered a stroke while getting ready to take a shower in her Nashville home. Her husband, Tom Overby, discovered her on the bathroom floor. Williams was rushed to the hospital.Her recovery has been grueling and not yet complete.“I’m doing really well,” she told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “I can walk again, I don’t have to use a cane or anything. I wasn’t sure about that for a while.”She’s fragile and moves slowly. She’s unable to play the guitar, as continued weakness in her left side makes it too painful to grip the fret. It’s hard not to wonder if Williams, who turned 70 in January, is pushing things.Talk to her, and her husband-manager, and it’s...

New Jersey wins Supreme Court dispute against New York

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says New Jersey can withdraw from a commission the state created decades ago with New York to combat the mob’s influence at their joint port.The high court ruled unanimously Tuesday that the Garden State doesn’t need New York’s consent to withdraw from the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor. The commission was created in 1953 when organized crime had infiltrated the port and was demanding payments from workers and shippers through extortion and violence.New Jersey lawmakers have said that changes in the industry, including the development of container shipping, have lessened the influence of organized crime at the port and reduced the need for the commission. The state says the commission has become “an impediment to economic growth.”“We hold that New Jersey may unilaterally withdraw from the Waterfront Commission Compact notwithstanding New York’s opposition,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the court.The two-member commission...

Residents continue to clean up community, homes following historic floods in Fort Lauderdale

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:54 GMT

Residents in Broward County have had difficult days trying to clean up their community after historic floods damaged several homes. So many of those homes have been hit hard at a Fort Lauderdale neighborhood off of Southwest Fourth Avenue. 7News cameras captured residents as they continue to clean their homes. One thing these residents are happy about is the weather because it stopped raining and the sun is out. One woman had to escape her apartment from the window after her home flooded. “God is good, God is extremely good. Just keep praying for everyone who is going through this and keep in mind that no matter how hard we got it, somebody does have it worse,” Calleen Shirley said. “We’re going to get it through it and I’ll be back.”As people continue to assess the damages at their homes, help is on the way.