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California EDD dropping BofA for unemployment benefits payments

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:35 GMT

(KRON) -- The California Unemployment Development Department is dropping Bank of America as its partner for distributing unemployment benefits. In a news release on Friday, the EDD said it would be replacing BofA with financial provider Money Network.Just as BofA did, Money Network will issue prepaid debit cards with microchips to benefits recipients. However, the EDD announced it will also be adding a new direct deposit option. Nearly two dozen Bank of America branches closing across Bay Area In addition to unemployment benefits, the change is expected to impact those who receive disability and Paid Family Leave benefits. The EDD began sending letters to the 850,000 Californians with active benefit claims on Monday to inform them of the key transition dates and actions. The official switch to Money Network will take place on Feb. 15, 2024, according to the EDD. Claimants, according to the EDD, can continue using their current BofA prepaid debit cards as they normally do, for now....

Federal Trade Commission is investigating ExxonMobil’s $60B deal to acquire a Texas oil company

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:35 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators are investigating ExxonMobil’s $60 billion deal to acquire a Texas oil company in what would be one the largest mergers in the energy industry in two decades, according to securities filings.The Federal Trade Commission, which enforces federal antitrust law, has asked for additional information from the companies about Exxon’s proposed acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources. The request is a step the agency takes when reviewing whether a merger could be anticompetitive under U.S. law. Pioneer disclosed the request in a filing Tuesday. The investigation comes after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and 22 other Democratic senators urged the FTC to investigate the Exxon-Pioneer deal and a separate acquisition by oil giant Chevron, a proposed $53 billion purchase of Hess Corporation. Both deals are among the largest petroleum deals in U.S. history and could violate antitrust law, the Democrats said. There’s no public indication of a feder...

US officials want ships to anchor farther from California undersea pipelines, citing 2021 oil spill

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:35 GMT

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Federal officials on Tuesday recommended increasing the distance from undersea pipelines that vessels are allowed to anchor in Southern California, citing a 2021 oil spill they said was caused by ships whose anchors were dragged across a pipeline after a storm.The leak occurred in a ruptured pipeline owned by Houston-based Amplify Energy. National Transportation Safety Board officials concluded damage to the pipeline had been caused months earlier when a cold front brought high winds and seas to the Southern California coast, causing two container vessels that were anchored offshore to drag their anchors across the area where the pipeline was located.The October 2021 spill of 25,000 gallons (94,600 liters) sent blobs of crude washing ashore in Huntington Beach and nearby communities, shuttered beaches and fisheries, coated birds with oil and threatened area wetlands.The Beijing and MSC Danit — each measuring more than 1,100 feet (335 meters) long — ha...

St. Louis prosecutor who replaced progressive says he’s ‘enforcing the laws’ in first 6 months

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:35 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Prosecution of violent crime in St. Louis is rising sharply in the six months since an embattled progressive prosecutor was replaced by an appointed circuit attorney, according to the prosecutor’s office.Gabe Gore said Tuesday that his office has prosecuted 45% more cases than in the same six-month period of 2022, when Kim Gardner was the city’s top prosecutor. Gore, speaking at a news conference, said his office also has made a dent in a backlog of pending criminal cases by resolving about 2,500 of them — mostly violent crimes in a city with one of the highest homicide rates in the nation.“There’s no type of crime that we are looking the other way on,” Gore said. “We are enforcing the laws. We don’t accept the notion that as a citizen of the city of St. Louis you have to accept a certain amount of property crime, or what people would refer to as petty crime, as a cost of living in the city.”Gore, a Democrat, was appointed by Republican Gov. Mike P...

Senate censures Sen. Michael MacDonald for ‘insensitive’ comments on ‘Freedom Convoy’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:35 GMT

OTTAWA — Senators have voted to condemn one of their own, following a colourful rant covertly recorded during the self-styled “Freedom Convoy” protest last year.The Senate ethics watchdog found this spring that Conservative Sen. Michael MacDonald violated the code of conduct.The Nova Scotia senator was caught on video in February 2022 castigating downtown Ottawa residents who complained about the protests, saying locals were overpaid and underworked.MacDonald apologized for his remarks in the Senate, and he told media he had been drinking on the evening in question.The Senate’s ethics officer ruled he had breached six sections of the code that governs senators, including two related to his conduct and four others for a lack of compliance in the investigation itself.The ethics officer determined that the Red Chamber must formally censure members whose conduct undermines the Senate’s reputation, and senators recently voted to do so.On Nov. 30, the chamber voted...

1 dead after two-vehicle crash in Scarborough

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:35 GMT

A two-vehicle crash in Scarborough on Tuesday afternoon has claimed the life of a man, Toronto police confirm.The crash happened at Ellesmere and McCowan roads at around 1:15 p.m.Police say a man was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. He was later pronounced dead.Road closures are in effect and police are warning drivers in the area to expect delays.The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Wild salmon conservation group raises concerns about herring kills at B.C. fish farms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:35 GMT

VICTORIA — A salmon conservation group is raising concerns about reported increases in wild fish deaths, primarily herring, in British Columbia’s open-net fish farms.Stan Proboszcz, senior scientist at Watershed Watch Salmon Society, says federal data shows more than 817,000 wild fish were killed at B.C. salmon farms in 2022, five times the number of fish deaths reported in previous years.He says much of the blame for the spike is likely a high-pressure spraying process fish-farm operators are using to clear lice and other parasites off farmed salmon.Cermaq Canada, one of B.C.’s largest aquaculture firms, says herring deaths at its farms were larger in 2022 because of its new use of the sea lice spray technology and that more herring became trapped in their net pens.The company says Fisheries and Oceans Canada data show herring deaths at the salmon farms were estimated to amount to 0.08 per cent of the total amount of surrounding Pacific herring mass last year.Fisheries ...

How to watch the fourth Republican presidential debate and what to look for

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:35 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The number of candidates on stage is shrinking, but the fundamentals of Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate may be familiar to anyone who has watched the previous three meetings.No one has yet emerged as the clear Republican alternative to former President Donald Trump, whose lead is so big that he has skipped all the debates. Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appear to be leading the fight for a distant second place, yet conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are still factors.Here’s how to watch the debate and what to watch for:What time is the Republican debate? The two-hour debate will start at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday. It’s being moderated by NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas; Megyn Kelly, host of “The Megyn Kelly Show” on SiriusXM; and Eliana Johnson, editor-in-chief of The Washington Free Beacon.What channel is the Republican debate on?NewsNation says the event w...

Sen. Scott joins DeSantis in calling for resignation of state GOP chair amid rape investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:35 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Republican Party of Florida chairman is facing mounting pressure to resign as police investigate a rape allegation, with Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott joining Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday in saying Christian Ziegler should step down rather than be a distraction during an important election year.Beyond the possibility of criminal charges, Ziegler and his wife Bridget, a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, are being called out for the hypocrisy of admitting a sexual relationship with another woman even though they very publicly fight against LGBTQ+ rights.“The allegations are very disturbing,” Scott said in a statement released by his re-election campaign. “I don’t see how Christian can continue to successfully act as chairman while this cloud hovers over him.”The allegation comes as Scott is being challenged by former Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell as he seeks a second term, DeSantis is running for president and the state is expected to play a...

Child care cost less in 2023, but more parents say spots are hard to find: StatCan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:35 GMT

A new report from Statistics Canada says child care was more affordable across the country in 2023, but parents are having a harder time finding it.The report released today says expenses for children attending full-time centre-based child care decreased from an average of $663 per month in 2022 to $508 in 2023. It says the decrease occurred as many provinces and territories began implementing lower child-care fees.Meanwhile, the proportion of parents who reported having difficulty finding available child care increased from 53 per cent in 2019 to 62 per cent in 2023. Twenty-six per cent of parents with children aged five and under who were not using child care reported that their child was on a wait list — up from 19 per cent in 2022. The federal government signed separate agreements with provinces and territories to establish $10-a-day child care by 2026, although the pace of the rollout has varied in different parts of the country. This report by The Canadian Press was first publ...