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Judge says he’ll look at Donald Trump’s comments, reconsider $10,000 fine for gag order violation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York judge said Thursday he would take a fuller look at Donald Trump’s out-of-court comments and reconsider a $10,000 fine he imposed on the former president a day earlier at his civil fraud trial.The development came after Trump’s lawyers urged Judge Arthur Engoron to rethink the penalty. The judge fined Trump on Wednesday after finding that his comments to TV cameras outside the courtroom violated a gag order that bars participants in the trial from commenting publicly on the judge’s staff.Outside court Wednesday, the Republican presidential front-runner complained that Engoron, a Democrat, is “a very partisan judge with a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside of him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is.” The comment came weeks after Engoron imposed the gag order in the wake of a Trump social media post that disparaged the judge’s principal law clerk. She sits next to Engoron, and Trump’s lawyers had groused a bit earlier about the clerk’s facia...

Half of Canadian restaurants only breaking even or losing money: report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:51 GMT

Despite COVID-19 restrictions being lifted more than 18 months ago, the Canadian restaurant industry is still struggling to recoup losses and things appear to be as grim as ever.A new report from Restaurants Canada finds half of all eateries are currently operating at a loss or are just breaking even. It blames things like the high cost of food, insurance, rent and labour, pandemic-related debt, and ongoing labour shortages.Matthew Senecal Junkeer owns two restaurants in Vancouver, one in Gastown, and the other in Chinatown. He says his sales are up, but his bottom line is down.“To give you a sense, our margins pre-pandemic were about eight to nine per cent and our margins are about one to two per cent, which is better than half of our colleagues in this sector,” he told CityNews.Despite COVID-19 restrictions being lifted more than 18 months ago, the Canadian restaurant industry is still struggling to recoup losses and things appear to be as grim as ever. (Courtesy Resta...

Aecon shares sink more than 15% as it faces troubles with legacy projects

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:51 GMT

TORONTO — Shares of Aecon Group Inc. fell more than 15 per cent Thursday morning after the company said it faced challenges with four large fixed-price legacy projects being carried out by joint ventures in which it is a partner.In reporting its third-quarter results, the company says it took an operating loss related to the legacy projects amounting to $91.1 million, compared with an operating loss of $30.1 million related to the projects in the same quarter a year earlier.Aecon shares were down $1.68 at $8.84 in early trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.Overall, Aecon reported its third-quarter profit rose to $133.4 million or $1.63 per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, boosted by the sale in September of a 49.9 per cent stake in Bermuda Skyport Corp. Ltd. The result compared with net income of $34.5 million or 45 cents per diluted share a year earlier.Third-quarter revenue totalled $1.24 billion compared with $1.32 billion in the same period in 2022.Aecon closed the...

‘Grounded,’ a new opera about a female fighter pilot turned drone operator, prepares to take off

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 10 years after it was first imagined as an opera, “Grounded” is ready to take flight.With music by Jeanine Tesori and a libretto adapted by George Brant from his own play, “Grounded” tells the story of an F-16 fighter pilot who becomes pregnant and leaves the service. When she re-enlists she is assigned to a trailer in the Nevada desert, directing unmanned drone attacks on terrorists thousands of miles away. Gradually her personality fractures under the stress of the job until she can no longer separate her private from professional life.The opera has its world premiere at the Washington National Opera on Saturday, with performances continuing through Nov. 13. And next fall it will open the season at the Metropolitan Opera, which commissioned the work.That commission sprang from the fact that back in 2014 Paul Cremo, the Met’s dramaturg, happened to see Brant’s one-woman play at a tiny theater in Manhattan.It’s Cremo’s job to shepherd the creation of new wor...

2 workers at Fukushima plant hospitalized after accidentally getting sprayed with radioactive waste

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:51 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Two workers at the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were hospitalized after accidentally getting sprayed with liquid laced with radioactive materials, officials said Thursday. The incident occurred on Wednesday when a group of workers was cleaning the piping at the Advanced Liquid Processing System. The ALPS is a wastewater filtering facility that is key to the treatment of the radioactive wastewater that accumulates on the plant and its ongoing discharge into the sea. Four workers were cleaning the piping when a drainage hose suddenly came off. They were splashed with the tainted liquid waste, which was not the wastewater running inside the system.All four were wearing full face masks, and test results showed none of them had ingested radioactive particles. None have shown any health issues, according to plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, or TEPCO. A fifth worker, who was also assigned to the cleaning work, was temporarily away w...

Chicago officer struck by vehicle in parking lot on North Side

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:51 GMT

CHICAGO — A Chicago police officer was struck by a vehicle in a parking lot on the city's North Side.The incident happened around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 800 block of West Addison Street. Police said the on-duty officer was walking through a parking lot when they were struck by a vehicle which was occupied by a woman driver.According to police, the officer suffered a minor injury to the elbow and was transported to a local hospital in good condition. Joliet police chief struck in face, bitten during arrest According to the Chicago Sun-Times, police said the incident was not a hit-and-run and no citations were given.

3 Illinois lottery players win $250,000 on crossword scratch-offs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:51 GMT

CHICAGO (WMBD) -- Three lottery players across Illinois have scored the top prize in the $250,000 crossword game.According to an Illinois Lottery news release, three lottery players won the top prize of the $10 scratch-off tickets, which were purchased from retailers across the state.One of the tickets was purchased at a MotoMart in Cahokia, IL. The store manager, John Fraser, was excited to have sold one of the tickets.“It’s quite thrilling that someone won a big prize right here in Cahokia,” Fraser said. “Our regular customers tend to think the big wins happen in Chicago, so we’re very delighted that someone in our small town won!” Illinois Lottery player wins nearly $1 million playing Fast Play lottery game Another one of the tickets was sold at Kelley’s Market in Cortland, IL. The store's assistant manager, Kailyn Emanuelson, said she believes this is the first time the store sold a ticket with a big prize."I grew up here in Cortland and this store has been a community staple ...

The last new Beatles song, 'Now And Then,' will be released next week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Sixty years after the onset of Beatlemania and with two of the quartet now dead, artificial intelligence has enabled the release next week of what is promised to be the last “new” Beatles song.The track, called “Now And Then,” will be available Thursday, Nov. 2, as part of a single paired with “Love Me Do,” the very first Beatles single that came out in 1962 in England, it was announced Thursday.“Now And Then” comes from the same batch of unreleased demos written by the late John Lennon, which were taken by his former bandmates to construct the songs “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love,” released in the mid-1990s.Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison worked on “Now And Then” in the same sessions, but technological limitations stood in the way.With the help of artificial intelligence, director Peter Jackson cleared those problems up by “separating” Lennon's original vocals from a piano used in the late 1970s. The much clearer vocals allo...

VIDEO: Tornadoes spotted as severe weather moves through Central Texas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:51 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Severe weather is moving across Central Texas Thursday morning. Tornado Warnings were briefly issued in various counties across the KXAN viewing area. A live blog of up-to-date weather coverage is below. 9:29 a.m.Tornado Warning for Hays County expired. Find more on current weather conditions on the KXAN First Warning Weather page. 9:13 a.m.The Lower Colorado River Authority, or LCRA, said it plans to open a floodgate at Wirtz Dam and Starcke Dam this morning. According to LCRA, "flows will be fast and water levels will be higher than usual downstream of the dams. Take action to protect people and property that may be affected."9:12 a.m.Tornado Warning issued for Hays County, according to the National Weather Service. 8:40 a.m.Tornado Warnings expired, per the National Weather Service. 8:37 a.m.Del Valle Independent School District says students are taking shelter at all DVISD schools; Creedmoor Elementary, Poppum Elementary, Ojeda Mi...

'It hurts us': Tension on House floor stalls debate on border bill; bill later passes House

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:15:51 GMT

Editor's note: The article is updated to show that the House passed House Bill 4 overnight Wednesday.AUSTIN (KXAN) - The Texas House passed border security legislation overnight Wednesday after tension among Democrats and Republicans in the Texas House reached a boiling point Wednesday evening amid debate. The House approved HB 4, which would create a Class B misdemeanor for anyone to enter Texas illegally. House Democrats filed dozens of amendments to the bill. With 47 amendments filed, Republican House members pushed through a motion to cut off additional amendments to the bill.Rep. Cody Harris (R-Palestine) filed the motion. Rep. Armando Walle (D-Houston) voiced his frustration to Harris. Several lawmakers gathered around the two men, as Walle spoke loudly and forcefully."Y'all don't understand the (*expletive*) that y'all do hurts our community. It hurts us personally, bro," Walle said."It hurts, it hurts us to our (*expletive*) core and y'all don't understand that y'al...