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Ex-FCC chief, public TV advocate Newton Minow dead at 97

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:24:00 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Newton N. Minow, who as Federal Communications Commission chief in the early 1960s famously proclaimed that network television was a “vast wasteland,” died Saturday. He was 97.Minow, who received a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, died Saturday at home, surrounded by loved ones, said his daughter, Nell Minow.“He wanted to be at home,” she told The Associated Press. “He had a good life.”Though Minow remained in the FCC post just two years, he left a permanent stamp on the broadcasting industry through government steps to foster satellite communications, the passage of a law mandating UHF reception on TV sets and his outspoken advocacy for quality in television.“My faith is in the belief that this country needs and can support many voices of television — and that the more voices we hear, the better, the richer, the freer we shall be,” Minow once said. “After all, the airways belong to the people.”Minow was appointed as FCC chief...

Government still investigating why threats against Chong not passed up to cabinet

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:24:00 GMT

OTTAWA — Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says the government is still investigating why warnings that a Conservative MP was being threatened by the Chinese government never made it to the desk of any cabinet minister.Mendicino says Canada’s priority is holding China accountable for any threatening or harassing behaviour to Michael Chong and his family in Hong Kong and discussions about whether to expel diplomats from China are ongoing.The diplomat Chong was told oversaw an effort to target him and his family continues to work as a consular official for China in Toronto.But Mendicino says it’s also important to get to the bottom of why the information was never provided to his predecessor Bill Blair, to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or to Chong himself.Trudeau has said CSIS did not tell anyone outside the spy agency about information it had about the threats, but Chong was told the national security adviser was told about it two years ago.Mendicino and Trudeau say ...

Air conditioning collapse injures 6 at Colorado resort pool

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:24:00 GMT

AURORA, Colo. (AP) — Six people were hurt — two with life-threatening injuries — when part of a heating and ventilation system collapsed at a resort pool in Colorado on Saturday, fire officials said.Aurora Fire Rescue said there were 50 to 100 guests in the pool when the collapse occurred Saturday morning at the Gaylord Rockies resort near Denver International Airport.Fire Chief Alec Oughton said crews were already at the resort for training when the collapse happened.The Associated Press

Prince Harry an odd man out at father’s coronation spectacle

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:24:00 GMT

LONDON (AP) — In the fairy-tale ending to the ancient pageantry in which King Charles Ill was crowned monarch, he stepped into a gilded horse-drawn carriage with his queen and rode off to his palace.Following closely behind was Prince William, his eldest son and heir, along with his family, including 9-year-old Prince George who is second in line to the throne. The king’s youngest son was nowhere to be seen. On his father’s biggest day, Prince Harry arrived at Westminster Abbey alone and he left alone. The disgruntled Duke of Sussex was assigned to sit two rows behind his brother.His isolation was likely the result of him quitting his royal duties and, thus, no longer ranking as a senior family member — as well as alienating himself from his father and brother by airing grievances and telling palace secrets in his explosive best-selling memoir, “Spare.”After months of speculation about whether he would attend, it was announced about three weeks ago that Harry would come ...

Chris Strachwitz, founded Arhoolie label, dies age 91

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:24:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Chris Strachwitz, a producer, musicologist and one-man preservation society whose Arhoolie Records released thousands of songs by regional performers and comprised an extraordinary American archive that became known and loved worldwide, has died. He was 91.Strachwitz, recipient in 2016 of a Grammy Trustee Award, passed away Friday from complications with congestive heart failure at an assisted living facility in the San Francisco Bay Area’s Marin County, the Arhoolie Foundation said Saturday.Admired by Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt and many others, Strachwitz was an unlikely champion of the American vernacular — a native German born into privilege who fell deeply for his adopted country’s music and was among the most intrepid field recorders to emerge after Alan Lomax. He founded Arhoolie in 1960 and over the following decades traveled to Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana among other states on a mission that rarely relented: taping little-known artists in their home e...

Thousands of Israelis protest government legal change plans

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:24:00 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered Saturday for a demonstration against a contentious government plan to overhaul the judiciary, demanding the changes to be scrapped rather than delayed.The protests have been held on a weekly basis for most of the year and they continued despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing in March that he was postponing the proposals to reach a compromise agreement.Organizers of the protests, now in their 18th week, say they want to ramp up the pressure on Netanyahu’s government and lawmakers after the parliament resumed its work this week following a month-long recess.In Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial hub and epicenter of the protests, protestors held a large banner addressing Netanyahu that read, “You will never be a dictator!”The plan would give Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, and his partners in Israel’s most hardline coalition in its history the final say in appointing judges. It would also gi...

Elevated cancer rates found near Kansas chemical spill

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:24:00 GMT

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas health officials have identified elevated levels of liver cancer among people living in several historically Black neighborhoods in Wichita where groundwater was polluted by a rail yard chemical spill.The Kansas Department of Health and Environment released a study Friday that found a liver and biliary tract cancer diagnosis rate of 15.7 per 100,000 people in the contamination zone, which was more than double the statewide rate of 6.4 per 100,000, The Wichita Eagle reports.Among non-Hispanic Black residents, the diagnosis rate was even higher, at 23.9 per 100,000. Experts believe that the spill of trichloroethene (TCE), a common solvent that is used to clean off paint and remove grease, could have happened as early as the 1970s, although it wasn’t identified until 1994. It created a plume of polluted groundwater that runs for 2.9 miles (4.67 kilometers) from the Union Pacific Railroad rail yard site.TCE can cause cancer in humans — “especially kidne...

Person struck and killed by driver in Skokie

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:24:00 GMT

SKOKIE, Ill. — A person was struck and killed by a driver late Friday night in Skokie, according to police.Skokie Police Department officers and emergency personnel were called to the crash around 11 p.m. near Gross Point Road and Lincoln Avenue. Off-duty police officer fatally shot in Avalon Park: police A preliminary investigation found the driver was driving north on Gross Point Road with a green signal and struck the person who was on the north side of the intersection, according to a news release from police.The driver who hit the person stayed on the scene, police said. The identities of those involved haven't been released.Members of the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force Major Crash Assist Team are assisting Skokie police with the investigation.Anyone with information is asked to call police at 847-982-5900.

Prom price index shows cost of celebration is getting relatively cheaper – even at a time of high inflation

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:24:00 GMT

(The Conversation) - Going to the prom can be an expensive affair for cash-strapped teenagers. Past estimates and surveys put the average cost anywhere from $600 to $1,000 or more. Some teens reportedly spend upward of $2,000 on the traditional dancing ritual at the end of high school – and that’s not including an over-the-top after-prom party.But with inflation running at the fastest pace since the 1980s over the past year, has the price of prom jumped in cost too?As an economist, I became curious about the cost of proms back in 2014, when my daughter attended the dance. After tallying up how much this rite of passage was costing me, I started tracking the costs over time. What I found surprised me – and will likely delight any parent helping cover the cost of their teenager’s big day.A centuries-old traditionProms have been around since at least the end of the 1800s and are a signature high school experience.Proms have been featured in Broadway plays&...

Texas House committee recommends expelling Rep. Bryan Slaton

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:24:00 GMT

AUSTIN (Texas Tribune) — A House committee has recommended the expulsion of Republican state Rep. Bryan Slaton after finding that he engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with a subordinate.In a speech from the floor, Rep. Andrew Murr, R-Junction, chairman of the House General Investigating Committee, said Slaton's behavior was "induced by alcohol" that the representative provided the 19-year-old woman."Rep. Slaton then acted systematically to influence that subordinate and multiple witnesses to obstruct the investigation,” Murr said.Murr said expelling Slaton was necessary to protect the "dignity and integrity" of the Legislature.After Murr's speech, clerks distributed the House Committee on General Investigating report on Slaton. Members sat silently for about 10 minutes and read it. Slaton remained seated at his desk, occasionally peering at his phone. Speaker Dade Phelan then resumed normal legislative business.A Capitol employee filed a complaint with the ...