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North Carolina gerrymander ruling gives electoral gift to GOP in Congress

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:59 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina redistricting ruling has set up a possible electoral windfall for congressional Republicans in preserving their U.S. House majority next year, declaring that judges should stay out of scrutinizing seat boundaries for partisan advantage.While Democrats only need to flip five GOP seats overall to regain control, experts say the state Supreme Court decision means four Democratic incumbents in the state — three of them first-term members — are vulnerable.Meanwhile, litigation involving congressional maps in states such as Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, Ohio and Texas could also rework district lines and alter the 2024 electoral map. The legal guardrails on redistricting are in an unusual state of flux. State and federal courts both were active in striking down congressional maps during the most recent bonanza of redrawing legislative lines based on once-a-decade census data. Additional action by the U.S. Supreme Court in the coming weeks could spark n...

Pennsylvania high court to consider plan to make power plants pay for greenhouse gas emissions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:59 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court will take its first crack at whether a governor can force power plant owners to pay for their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, or whether he first needed approval from a Legislature that refused to go along with the plan.Hanging in the balance is Pennsylvania’s effort to become the first major fossil fuel-producing state to adopt carbon pricing.On Wednesday, the state’s highest court will hear arguments on whether a lower court was right to halt Pennsylvania’s participation in a multistate consortium that imposes a price and declining cap on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.The way the justices react could give hints as to how they might ultimately rule on whether Pennsylvania’s participation — without legislative approval — is constitutional.It is no small amount of money: Pennsylvania would have raised more than $1 billion had it begun participating in 2022 when former Gov. Tom Wolf intended, a...

Debt ceiling talks stuck on classic problem: Republicans demand spending cuts and Democrats resist

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Debt ceiling negotiations are locked on a classic problem that has vexed, divided and disrupted Washington before: Republicans led by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy want to roll back federal government spending, while President Joe Biden and other Democrats do not.Time is short to strike a deal before a deadline as soon as June 1, when the Treasury says the government risks running out of cash to pay its bills. Negotiators are expected to convene Wednesday for another round of talks as frustration mounts. The political standoff is edging the country closer to a crisis, roiling financial markets and threatening the global economy. “They’ve got to acknowledge that we’re spending too much,” said McCarthy.Cheered on by a hard-charging conservative House majority that hoisted him to power, McCarthy, R-Calif., was not swayed by a White House counter-offer to freeze spending instead. “A freeze is not going to work,” McCarthy said.The longstanding Washington debate over the ...

Just in case: Anxious retirees, social service groups among those making default contingency plans

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Phoenix retiree Saundra Cole has been watching the news about the debt limit negotiations in Washington with dismay — and limiting her air conditioning use to save money just in case her monthly Social Security check is delayed due to a default.For her, air conditioning is no small thing in a city where the average daily high hits 94 degrees in May. If the government can’t make good on its obligations, she says, “I would be devastated.”“What I’m worried about is food banks and electricity here because you know, we’ve had deaths with seniors because of the heat,” says Cole.Politicians in Washington may be offering assurance that the government will figure out a way to avert default, but around the country, economic anxiety is rising and some people already are adjusting their routines.Government beneficiaries, social service groups that receive state and federal subsidies and millions more across the country are contemplating the possibility of massive and imm...

DeSantis set to make much-anticipated presidential campaign announcement, formalizing Trump rivalry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:59 GMT

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, an outspoken cultural conservative long seen as Donald Trump’s leading rival for the Republican nomination, is set to launch his 2024 presidential campaign on Wednesday. The 44-year-old Republican governor plans to announce his decision in an online conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the announcement publicly. The audio-only event will be streamed on Twitter Spaces beginning at 6 p.m. EDT. He will follow up with a round of prime-time appearances on conservative programs, including Fox News and Mark Levin’s radio show.DeSantis will join a crowded Republican contest to decide whether the party will move on from Trump in 2024 as it works to retake the White House from President Joe Biden.Beyond Trump, those already in the GOP field include former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carol...

Uvalde victim’s mother perseveres through teaching, connecting with daughter’s memory

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:59 GMT

UVALDE, Texas (AP) — The first thing Veronica Mata sees when she wakes up each day is her 10-year-old daughter, Tess, smiling down at her from a photo perched on her bedside table. Speaking to the silent image of the child she lost in one of the United States’ most notorious mass shootings, Mata asks for the fortitude to go on and to be a good teacher.“I just look at it and I just tell her, ‘Tess, give me the strength, baby girl. Help me get up.’” Throughout the day, every day, Mata carries her daughter with her: “Tess 10″ is written on her license plate. Dangling from the silver bracelet she wears on her left wrist is a charm that reads, “Uvalde Strong.” The slogan, adopted by other U.S. cities after mass killings, became the mantra of her town after Tess, 18 other fourth-grade students and their two teachers were gunned down at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022. In a decade replete with mass killings, many of them involving shootings, Uvalde stands out — both for ...

Class 4A Girls Soccer: Dakota Ridge shuts out Lutheran’s lethal attack, holds on to win first title since 2003

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:59 GMT

COMMERCE CITY — Entering the 2023 season, there weren’t any statistics to be found on Dakota Ridge senior Bailey Pignatore. After Tuesday night, however, here’s two: She scored her 18th goal of the campaign and got the game-clincher in the Class 4A state title game. Not too bad for one year of high school soccer.The forward, who will play at Texas Wesleyan in college, scored the game-clinching goal as the Eagles defeated Lutheran to win their first title since 2003. The pandemic-cancelled season was followed by a pair of injuries for Pignatore, including a hip and ACL. She came into the season pressure-free and early in the second half, flicked in a set-piece goal to put the game beyond reach at 2-0.“I’ve waited for this for so long and especially getting to do it with girls that I’m so close to, it’s been a dream,” Pignatore said. “… On the goal, we all run out to different spots to try and confuse the team and goalkeeper and wh...

Parents protest Pride event at North Hollywood elementary school

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:59 GMT

“Keep your kids home and innocent.”That’s part of the message included in a flyer being distributed in North Hollywood to protest a Pride event scheduled at Saticoy Elementary School next month. The flyer has upset some parents and educators who believe it is spreading a message of intolerance.“We respect everyone, but some things are appropriate for children (of) that age, and some things are not,” said George Dzhabroyan, who is among the Saticoy parents unhappy with the school. “Hopefully the message gets across and people understand that parents should be the primary contact of what their children should be exposed to and shouldn’t be exposed to.”A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Unified School District says the June 2 event will include an assembly and teachers will read students a book titled, The Great Big Book of Families, which highlights diversity.The district says parents can allow their child to skip the program.A flyer being distributed in North Hollywood protests a sch...

NCS baseball playoffs: Clayton Valley rocks SRV early, punches ticket to NCS title game

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:59 GMT

DANVILLE – One Clayton Valley Charter leadoff single turned into two straight hits. Then three, then four singles in a row. Every other swing by a visiting batter pinged the ball into a gap in the San Ramon Valley defense. By the time the top of the first ended, the statline read six singles, two doubles and seven Ugly Eagles runs. “We put our foot on the gas in the top of the first,” senior Ryder Oakley said. The Wolves had gained a reputation for winning tight games and extra-inning contests, but there would be no comeback on Tuesday night as CVC triumphed 10-1. “It was bound to run out at some point, and it did today,” SRV shortstop Luke Baker said, referring to what he called ‘late-game magic.’DANVILLE – San Ramon Valley shortstop Luke Baker jumps for an RBI line drive in the first inning as a CVC runner advances. San Ramon Valley and Clayton Valley Charter played a high school baseball game in the North Coast Section Playoffs at San Ramon Valley high school in Danvi...

CCS and NCS softball playoffs: Tuesday’s semifinal results, championship matchups

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:59 GMT

NEW: PREP SPORTS MAILBAGThe Bay Area News Group is introducing a high school sports mailbag in May. Get your questions in as soon as possible. Our debut edition is an open forum. Got questions about spring sports playoffs, coaching changes, an early peek at football season, etc.? Send them to [email protected]. Please include “mailbag” in the subject line.NCSDivision ITuesday’s semifinalNo. 3 California 9, No. 2 Granada 1Wednesday’s semifinalNo. 4 Freedom (18-9) at No. 1 San Ramon Valley (22-5), 5 p.m.Division IITuesday’s semifinalsNo. 5 Livermore 8, No. 1 Redwood 2No. 2 Casa Grande 5, No. 3 Alameda 0Friday’s finalNo. 2 Casa Grande (24-4) vs. No. 5 Livermore (15-11) at San Marin high school, 5 p.m.Related ArticlesHigh School Sports | NCS baseball playoffs: Clayton Valley rocks SRV early, punches ticket to NCS title game High School Sports | CIF track and field: Bay Area News Group’s top state meet contenders High...