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Georgia Power customers could see monthly bills rise $9 to pay for the Vogtle nuclear plant

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:36 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Residential customers of Georgia’s largest electrical utility could see their bills rise $9 more a month to pay for a new nuclear power plant under a deal announced Wednesday.Georgia Power Co. said customers would pay $7.56 billion more for Plant Vogtle construction costs under the agreement with utility regulatory staff. The Georgia Public Service Commission’s five elected commissioners must approve any deal, but such agreements are typically persuasive. With the commission’s Public Interest Advocacy staff and three ratepayer groups signing on, the agreement is likely to avert contentious hearings over how much blame the company should bear for billions in cost overruns at two new nuclear reactors southeast of Augusta. Vogtle’s Unit 3 and Unit 4 are the first new American reactors built from scratch in decades. Each reactor can power 500,000 homes and businesses without releasing any carbon. But even as government officials and some utilities ...

Alex Murdaugh loses prison phone privileges after lawyer records phone call for documentary

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:36 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh has lost his phone privileges and his prison tablet computer after his lawyer recorded him reading his journal entries on a call for a documentary about his case, South Carolina Corrections Department officials said Wednesday.Prison policy prohibits inmates from talking to the media without permission because the agency “believes that victims of crime should not have to see or hear the person who victimized them or their family member on the news,” state prisons spokeswoman Chrysti Shain said in a statement.The media interview violation, along with another violation for using a different inmate’s password to make a telephone call, are prison discipline issues and not a crime, Shain said.Murdaugh also lost his ability to buy items in the prison canteen for a month. He will have to get permission from prison officials to get another tablet, which can be used to make monitored phone calls, watch approved entertainment, read b...

Mexican Navy hopes to expand net-snagging hooks to protect endangered vaquita porpoises

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:36 GMT

SAN FELIPE, Mexico (AP) — Mexico’s Navy said Wednesday it is planning to expand the area where it sinks concrete blocks topped with metal hooks to snag gill nets that are killing vaquita marina porpoises.The Navy began dropping the blocks into the Gulf of California last year, in hopes it may help save the world’s most endangered marine mammal.The vaquita lives only in the Gulf, also known as the Sea of Cortez, where as few as ten vaquitas remain. They cannot be held or bred in captivity.The vaquitas are caught and drown in illegal gill nets set for totoaba, a Gulf fish whose swim bladder is considered a prized delicacy in China, worth thousands of dollars per pound. That is where the concrete blocks come in; the hooks catch on the expensive totoaba nets, ruining them.That should supposedly discourage illicit fishermen from risking their expensive gear in the “zero tolerance area,” a rough quadrangle considered the last holdout for the vaquitas. It’s called that because that’s where...

Texas judge rules as unconstitutional a law that erodes city regulations in favor of state control

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:36 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — A Texas judge ruled Wednesday that a new law eroding the power of the state’s Democratic-led cities to impose local regulations on everything from tenant evictions to employee sick leave is unconstitutional and cannot take effect. The decision by state District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble of Austin, an elected Democrat, is a significant win for progressive leaders in Texas’ biggest cities that want to be able to represent their communities. Critics of the law say it would have taken power from local government and denounced it as “The Death Star.” Texas and its major cities join battles that have flared nationwide over statehouses flexing authority over municipalities. “That’s tremendous victory for the people in this city because it allows the local leadership to represent the Houstonians that we have an obligation to serve,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said at a news conference following the ruling.The state immediately appealed the ruling, according to ...

2 women tasked with constructing migrant housing plan lay out road ahead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:36 GMT

CHICAGO — Tomorrow marks one year since the first bus of migrants arrived in Chicago from Texas, and the two woman tasked with developing a plan for integrating them into Chicago sat down to talk about their work for the first time.Guiding the efforts to house them are Deputy Mayor Cristina Pacione-Zayas, and the head of the newly-created City Office of Immigrant, Migrant and Refugee Rights, Beatriz Ponce De Leon."While we are not completely saying [it was a] slam dunk, we did really well," Pacione-Zayas said. "In the last 100 days, we’ve done quite a bit of work to meet the moment."Since that fateful day on Aug. 31, 2022, more than 13,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago via bus or plane, with the City setting up at least 15 shelters to manage the crowds, but that hasn't been enough."It is a very fluid situation and the buses that are coming are out of our control," Pacione-Zayas said. "We are now seeing on a regular basis 30 to 40 people that are arriving at O’Hare."Pacione-Zayas ...

See the Bears' latest roster moves, including practice squad

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:36 GMT

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Bears' 53-player roster was set on Tuesday at 3 p.m. central time, but like most years, it doesn't stay like that for long. Thanks to having the top spot in the waiver wire along with a deadline to set another part of their team, general manager Ryan Poles was quite busy on Wednesday. Here is the Bears initial practice squad for the 2023 season..The team has also claimed 2 players:.- DE Khalid Kareem (Colts)- DB Quindell Johnson (Rams).They’ve reportedly signed WR/KR Trent Taylor, who was with the Bengals the last 2 seasons..@WGNNews pic.twitter.com/4bljUhgHxE— Larry Hawley (@HawleySports) August 30, 2023The team ended up claiming two players on the afternoon - defensive end Khalid Kareem, who was previously with the Colts, and defensive back Quindell Johnson, who was on the Rams. Yet their biggest move was one they've reportedly made in free agency, signing wide receiver and kick returner Trent Taylor. A five-year NFL veteran who played his first three...

Will Hurricane Idalia impact gas prices?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:36 GMT

(NewsNation) — As Hurricane Idalia sweeps across the Southeast, it's hard not to wonder whether prices at the pump will spike in the aftermath like the U.S. saw with storms like Hurricane Katrina. If you live in the affected area, like Florida and Georgia, you may see gas prices spike. But out of the Southeast, it's unlikely Idalia will have an impact at the pump.Andrew Gross, with the American Automobile Association, told NewsNation that based on Idalia's path, there's no need for most of the country to worry about rising gas prices."When you think of those mega-refineries that we have, that Texas to Louisiana section, that's where those mega-refineries are," Gross said. PHOTOS: Idalia blasts Florida, Georgia Because Idalia's path took a more eastern route, away from the Gulf refineries, the nationwide gas supply should remain stable.For those in the Southeast, there could be shortages or price increases temporarily due to port closures and damaged roads hindering the ability to...

Hurricane Idalia slams Florida as Biden rallies FEMA support

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:36 GMT

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) – As predicted, Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday morning in Florida with high winds and surging water.Although two deaths were reported due to crashes, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says the hurricane hasn't officially been designated as the cause of those fatalities.Hurricane Idalia slammed Florida as a Category 3 storm, causing major damage to counties in rural areas.“These counties are not going to be able to afford that on their own and of course even with a 75% cost share with the federal government,” Gov. DeSantis said.Storm surge sent several feet of water into streets in towns in the Big Bend area.“Idalia is the strongest storm to hit this part of Florida,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said.The storm eventually slowed to a category one as it continued on its path to Georgia, “but it is still very dangerous with winds up to 75 miles an hour,” President Joe Biden said.President Biden says he spoke to the governors of all the states expected to be...

Witness accounts, autopsy results shared on second day of 6th Street shooting suspect trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:36 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The trial of Sixth Street mass shooting suspect De'ondre White continued Wednesday in Austin. White, 21, is charged with one count of murder and 14 counts of aggravated assault. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday in court. Day 1 Trial Coverage: 6th Street mass shooting suspect pleads not guilty On June 12, 2021, 25-year-old Douglas Kantor was killed and more than a dozen others were injured in a mass shooting on Sixth Street. White is accused of firing into a crowd after a confrontation with a group of people.On Wednesday, the court heard from a Travis County deputy medical examiner and an Austin Police detective in the digital forensics unit about the case. Shooting witnesses also took the stand. The autopsy of Douglas KantorThe first witness Wednesday was Dr. Vickie Willoughby, a Travis County deputy medical examiner. She performed the review of Kantor's autopsy in June 2021. Willoughby said an external examination found two gunshot wound pathways. One was through th...

Court documents say woman hit by vehicle in deadly north Austin crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:36 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- One man was arrested and charged with accident involving death, a second-degree felony, after hitting a woman with a vehicle following a north Austin crash, according to an arrest affidavit.The crash killed the woman and injured several other people, Austin-Travis County EMS and records state. 1 dead, 4 injured after collision in north Austin Shortly before 3:45 a.m. Sunday, the Austin Police Department responded to the scene of a head-on crash in the 9900 block of North Lamar Boulevard, court records said. The incident began as a two-vehicle crash between a Chevrolet Camaro and Nissan Versa in the northbound lanes of North Lamar. The Camaro pushed the Nissan back approximately 15 feet, according to the affidavit.Several drivers stopped to help Yasmine Galindo Macedo and a family member, who were both seriously injured in the crash. A witness to the collision tried to use his vehicle to block traffic as others helped Galindo Macedo and the family member, court rec...