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Remains found of Colorado woman Suzanne Morphew, who went missing on Mother’s Day 2020

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:50:01 GMT

LAKEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Searchers have found the remains of a woman who was reported missing on Mother’s Day in 2020 after she did not return from a bike ride near her home in the Salida area in southern Colorado.Agents with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation found the remains of Suzanne Morphew, 49, during an unrelated search near the small southern Colorado town of Moffat on Friday, and her remains were positively identified Wednesday. Morphew’s husband, Barry Morphew, had been charged in her presumed death, but prosecutors dropped charges against him last year just as he was about to go on trial. Prosecutors had been barred by a judge from calling most of their key witnesses for repeatedly failing to follow rules for turning over evidence in his favor. That included DNA evidence linked to sexual assault cases in other states that raised the possibility of a different person being involved.At the time, prosecutors said they wanted more time to find Suzanne Morphew’s body. B...

Report says Alberta energy regulator followed rules in Kearl mine wastewater release

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:50:01 GMT

EDMONTON — A third-party report into the release of millions of litres of oilsands wastewater at Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine has found Alberta’s energy regulator followed its rules in keeping the public and area First Nations informed — but concludes those rules are significantly lacking.“There were no areas of non-adherence to stated policies and procedures,” says the Deloitte report, prepared for the regulator’s board.But the report finds those procedures deeply lacking and recommends the regulator firm up and add details to many of its notification protocols. Essential terms such as “emergency” are left undefined, it says. Guidelines for handling water samples are not provided. Details were vague on how First Nations and other area communities were notified.“There are no documented procedures for internal communication and escalation to management or the board,” it said. “We have received feedback from both Indigenous Peop...

Hajdu says ‘co-developed’ First Nations water legislation to be tabled this fall

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:50:01 GMT

OTTAWA — Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu says she hopes to table a piece of legislation this fall that she says is the closest the federal government has come to co-developing law with First Nations.“It’s really, to me, very important that it reflects the input of Indigenous Peoples,” she said.The proposed bill would aim to begin addressing the protection of fresh water within First Nation communities, as well as water that flows into them.“I’m pretty excited about it,” Hajdu said in a wide-ranging interview with The Canadian Press. “It’s an opportunity to show the country that we can do things together — even in this very Westminster parliamentary setting.”The new bill is expected to come more than one year after Canada repealed the 2013 Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act in June 2022.The federal government that introduced the bill said it aimed to support the development of federal regulations to support First N...

Late-night TV shows plan their returns after Hollywood writers strike ends

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:50:01 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — TV’s late-night hosts planned to return to their evening sketches and monologues by next week, reinstating the flow of topical humor silenced for five months by the newly ended Hollywood’s writers strike.Bill Maher led the charge back to work by announcing early Wednesday that his HBO show “Real Time with Bill Maher” would be back on the air Friday. By mid-morning, the hosts of NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” and “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” on CBS had announced they’d also return, all by Monday. “Last Week Tonight” with John Oliver was slated to return to the air Sunday.Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” which had been using guest hosts when the strike hit, announced Wednesday that it would return Oct. 16 “with an all-star roster of guest hosts for the remainder of 2023.” The plans for “Saturday Night Live” were not immediately clear.The strikes have had a “catastrophic”...

2 Central American migrants found dead in Mexico after trying to board a moving train

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:50:01 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Two migrants from Honduras and El Salvador died Wednesday trying to board a moving train in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila, authorities said.Coahuila’s department of public security said the bodies of two male migrants, aged 22 and 23, were found Wednesday morning along the railway tracks near the town of Escobedo, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the Texas border.The deaths are the latest in a string of accidents involving Central and South American migrants traveling north through Mexico on a network of trains known collectively as “The Beast” in a bid to reach the U.S. border.A sudden surge of migrants last week triggered the closure of one U.S. border crossing and forced Mexico’s largest railroad to suspend dozens of freight trains.Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday his office will invite about ten foreign ministers from countries where he suggested most migrants originate.López Obrador said the meeting, expected to take ...

Mississippi activists ask to join water lawsuit and criticize Black judge’s comments on race

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:50:01 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Activists in Mississippi’s majority-Black capital city are trying to join a federal lawsuit against the city for violating standards for clean drinking water, even as they say the Black judge presiding over the case is stirring racial division.The activists from the Mississippi Poor People’s Campaign and People’s Advocacy Institute filed court papers Wednesday asking to intervene in the federal government’s lawsuit against Jackson. During a news conference Wednesday, activists said they spoke for residents in the 80% Black city who want more say over reforms to the water system. “We feel like our lives are on the chopping block here in the city of Jackson,” said Danyelle Holmes, an organizer with the Mississippi Poor People’s Campaign. “We could no longer sit by idly as government agencies allow residents to be told that it’s OK to drink unclean water.”The federal government has taken legal steps to scrutinize Jackson’s water quality for over ...

Judge Chutkan denies Trump’s request to recuse herself in federal election subversion case

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:50:01 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said Wednesday she won’t recuse herself from Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case in Washington, rejecting the former president’s claims that her past comments raise doubts about whether she can be fair.Chutkan, who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama and was randomly assigned to Trump’s case, said in her written decision that she sees no reason to step aside. The case, scheduled for trial in March, accuses the Republican of illegally scheming to overturn his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.There’s a high bar for recusal, and legal experts had widely considered Trump’s request to be a long shot aimed at undermining the legitimacy of the case publicly that could only sour the relationship between the judge and the defense in court. Alanna Durkin Richer And Eric Tucker, The Associated Press

A murder suspect mistakenly released from an Indianapolis jail was captured in Minnesota, police say

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:50:01 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A murder suspect who was mistakenly released two weeks ago from jail in Indianapolis was captured Wednesday by the U.S. Marshals Service in Minnesota, where he faces charges in a 2021 killing, police said.Kevin Mason, 28, was apprehended in the afternoon in St. Paul, said Marion County Sheriff Kerry Forestal, who added in a statement that he’s grateful to the Marshals Service “for concluding this manhunt and safely bringing Mason back into custody.”Mason was arrested in Indianapolis on Sept. 11, but a preliminary review found he was released two days later because of a faulty records review by clerks with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, officials have said.Last week the sheriff’s office announced that the Marshals Service would be leading the search and was offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to Mason’s arrest. The sheriff’s office also said it had determined that he left Indianapolis on the evening of Sept. 13.Mason’s...

Michigan judges ordered to honor pronouns of parties in court

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:50:01 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered all judges to address people in court by the pronouns they use or by “other respectful means.”“We serve the entire public and are required to treat those who come before us with civility and respect,” Justice Elizabeth Welch said. “The gender identity of a member of the public is a part of their individual identity, regardless of whether others agree or approve.”The statewide rule was approved, 5-2.Some transgender, nonbinary or gender-fluid people use they, them and their as a gender-neutral singular personal pronoun.“Courts must use the individual’s name, the designated salutation or personal pronouns, or other respectful means that is not inconsistent with the individual’s designated salutation or personal pronouns,” the Supreme Court said.During a public comment period earlier this year, some critics cited religious reasons for not wanting to address someone by a pronoun they use.The rule, which kicks in Jan. 1, will...

Biden vetoes two Republican-led bills to undo protections for prairie chicken and northern bat

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:50:01 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has vetoed Republican-sponsored bills to undo federal protections for two endangered species that have seen their populations plummet over the years: the lesser prairie chicken and northern long-eared bat.The two GOP measures would overturn “science-based rulemaking” that offers important protections for the once-abundant species and would undermine the Endangered Species Act, Biden said. “The lesser prairie-chicken serves as an indicator for healthy grasslands and prairies, making the species an important measure of the overall health of America’s grasslands,” the White House wrote late Tuesday in a veto statement about the prairie bird. It’s a member of the grouse family found in parts of the Midwest and Southwest, including the oil-rich Permian Basin in New Mexico and Texas. The bird’s range also extends into parts of Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kansas.Environmentalists have long sought stronger federal protections for the prair...