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Judge in Alaska upholds Biden administration’s approval of the massive Willow oil-drilling project

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:27 GMT

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday upheld the Biden administration’s approval of the Willow oil-drilling project on Alaska’s remote North Slope, a massive project that drew the ire of environmentalists who accused the president of backpedaling on his pledge to combat climate change.U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason rejected calls made by a grassroots Iñupiat group and environmentalists to vacate the approval and dismissed their claims against the project, which is in the federally designated National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.The company has the right to develop its oil and gas leases in the reserve “subject to reasonable restrictions and mitigation measures imposed by the federal government,” Gleason wrote. She added that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s analysis of alternatives was consistent with the policy objectives of the petroleum reserve and the stated purpose and need of the Willow project.The decision can be appealed. Environmental groups hav...

Department of Justice, civil rights group to appeal federal judge’s ruling declaring DACA illegal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:27 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice and a civil rights group filed legal notices on Thursday saying they plan to appeal a federal judge’s recent ruling that declared illegal a revised version of a federal policy that prevents the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.In September, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Houston ruled in favor of Texas and eight other states suing to stop the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. The federal policy was first created by the Obama administration in 2012.In his ruling, Hanen expressed sympathy for DACA recipients and their families but said the executive branch had overstepped its authority in creating the program and it was up to Congress to take action on this issue.In separate notices of appeal filed Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice, which represented the federal government, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, which is r...

Toronto pharmacist ending vaccination program over supply issues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:27 GMT

Less than two weeks into Ontario’s flu and COVID-19 vaccination rollout, a Toronto pharmacist will no longer provide the shots to members of his community, citing ongoing supply issues putting people at risk. Kyro Maseh, who works at two pharmacies, Rylander and Lawlor in the east end of Toronto under the Pharmasave umbrella, said the distribution of flu and COVID-19 shots has been a disaster. Sometimes, they’ve received empty boxes or just 20 doses from an order of 200.“If you have patients who are transplant patients or a patient about to start chemo, we had to prioritize these patients as we always do, but unfortunately, we have had to do a lot more triaging this year than any other year,” said Maseh. “At Rylander [Pharmasave], we had nothing, so we’ve been turning away 50-60 people a day.”He said the issues started with the decision by the Ministry of Health to appoint Shoppers Drug Mart as one of the distributors of publicly-f...

Suburban food drive aims to fill tables with food and hope for the holidays

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:27 GMT

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, a local food pantry is asking for help filling their shelves.Yellow barrels started popping up all over Will and DuPage counties last week, in hopes the community will fill them with enough food for those who might otherwise go without this Thanksgiving holiday.  They call it “Harvest Week.”"That's what food pantries are there for. To be that net to help people make it through day-to-day," Sarah Corbin is with the West Suburban Community Food Pantry. "Every year our numbers really increase around the holidays." For CEO Sue Armato, Harvest Week is a personal one."When I was a little girl, we struggled financially and we were dependent on being able to have help from food pantries and if it weren't for those good kind people, we wouldn't have had a holiday meal at all,” she said."We never want to run out of food, so the Harvest drive is really our opportunity to make sure we are packed and ready for that huge Saturday right befo...

What's ahead for the Bears in the 2nd half of the 2023 season?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:27 GMT

Joe Lewis of The Barber's Chair Network and the "79th and Halas" podcast talks Bears ahead of Thursday's game against the Panthers on "9 Good Minutes" on WGN News Now.CHICAGO — While no one expected the Bears to be dominant, its safe to say the first half of the team's season has been a disappointment.Through nine games, the team has won just two games, dealt with the departure of two assistant coaches and a serious injury to their starting quarterback while only moderate progress has been made from a 3-14 campaign in 2022. While the team has increased its talent through free agency and trade at the deadline to acquire defensive end Montez Sweat, the Bears haven't exactly inspired faith in the Matt Eberflus era of the franchise. Hence the head coach's seat is already hot not even two years into his tenure in Chicago.So a lot of curious eyes will be on Soldier Field as the Bears open the second half of their season against the Panthers on Thursday. This final run is a chance for Ebef...

Hootie & the Blowfish coming to Chicago this summer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:27 GMT

CHICAGO -- Hootie & the Blowfish "only wanna be with you" this upcoming summer.Hootie & the Blowfish with bring their "Summer Camp with Trucks Tour" to the Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre in Tinley Park on Friday, Aug. 9.The rock band from South Carolina has been nominated four times for a Grammy Award, including winning the categories for Best Pop Performance By A Duo or Group for "Let Her Cry" and Best New Artist in 1994. President of Chicago local SAG-AFTRA on Hollywood strike ending With over 2.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify, their hit song "Only Wanna be With You" has over 175 million streams.Hootie & the Blowfish last performed in the Chicagoland back in 2019 during their "Group Therapy Tour."The event begins at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 9.Tickets on sale now. For ticket information, click here.

Lawmakers look for answers around aviation safety after close calls

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:27 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) -- Lawmakers and experts are raising alarms around close calls and near misses at airports across the country."Rather than watering down existing safety standards, we must always be looking to enhance aviation safety," Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said.Duckworth said mistakes by air traffic control, flight crews or ground personnel happen partly because of a lack of rest."Is it time for FAA and Congress to re-examine and update rest rules that are tailored to optimize air traffic controller performance," Duckworth asked."You have people working mandatory overtime, six days a week, ten-hour days," Jennifer Homendy, National Transportation Safety Board chair said.Experts said long hours under hard and stressful working conditions, make it difficult for the FAA to keep enough air traffic controllers on the job."Has exasperated the situation resulting in 1000 fewer controllers in this elevated aviation upturn," Rich Santa, National Air Traffic Controller Associatio...

'Ethical crisis': Senate Democrats want to subpoena wealthy Republicans

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:27 GMT

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) -- Senate democrats want to subpoena wealthy Republicans to get information about alleged luxury gifts given to Supreme Court justices.But their effort to investigate the matter hit a roadblock on Thursday.The absence of an ethics code for Supreme Court justices means the justices aren't required to recuse themselves from cases that involve the interests of wealthy individuals."Congress needs to understand the full scope of the court's ethical crisis," said Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.).Republican lawmakers made it clear they're opposed to issuing the subpoenas."You've opened up Pandora's Box and you'll get a look into it. It's not very pretty," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). "We could spend all of our time talking about what we would like to subpoena."Graham, as well as Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), said they planned to offer so many amendments and subpoenas of their own that the process would grind to a halt."I think we need to get to the bottom of Presi...

Israel agrees to daily humanitarian pauses in Gaza

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:27 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Israel has agreed to allow four-hour humanitarian pauses each day to let civilians flee Gaza.The White House has been pushing this for days: While speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday, President Joe Biden urged Israel to pausing fighting against Hamas. This comes as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza grows more dire each day.On Thursday, Israel's government agreed to start humanitarian pauses. For four hours each day, civilians in Gaza will be allowed to flee without fear of bombings."This is a welcome step in the right direction," Principal Deputy State Department Spokesperson Vedant Patel said.The U.S. Department of State says Palestinians evacuating northern Gaza will have access to two corridors but acknowledges that longer pauses are also needed as fighting on the ground intensifies."This is not a black and white situation," Patel said. "It's something we're going to continue to work on with our partner."Biden says he is still pushi...

Palatine man charged with shooting gun into air

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:27 GMT

PALATINE, Ill. — A man has been charged after police said he fired shots into the air in September in Palatine.According to a news release, the Palatine Police Department said officers were called on Sept. 9 to the 1200 block of East Prairie Brooke Drive on the report of a man shooting a gun into the air. 85-year-old woman killed in Palatine crash identified Officers arrived, found several shell casings, collected them and sent them to the Illinois State Police Crime Lab for additional analysis, according to the release.On Tuesday, Zaurbek Bogov, 29, turned himself in to police and was charged with one count of reckless discharge of a firearm, a Class 4 felony, according to the release.He is due back in court at 9 a.m. on Dec. 1.