Colorado lawmakers eye regulatory funeral home crackdown over mishandled remains cases
On the heels of two egregious cases of funeral home owners mishandling bodies and cremated remains, Colorado lawmakers aimed Wednesday at trying to shore up the state’s lax regulations that failed to prevent the horrific incidents. A bipartisan House committee unanimously voted in a hearing to introduce a bill that would bring Colorado’s regulations more in line with nearly all other states by requiring routine inspections of funeral homes, including after a home’s registration has expired. It would also give the agency that oversees the industry greater enforcement power. The legislative action comes less than one week after an arrest warrant was issued for an ex-funeral home owner in Denver who authorities say left a woman’s body in the back of a hearse for two years and hoarded cremated remains of at least 30 people. DEAD WOMAN’S BODY, CREMATED REMAINS OF UP TO 30 FOUND AFTER EX-FUNERAL HOME OWNER ARRESTED That case followed the discovery of nearly 200 decomposed bodies at another Colorado funeral home last year. The owners allegedly sent fake ashes to grieving families, and have been charged with abusing corpses. “The current legislative and regulatory framework has failed individuals in Colorado,” Patty Salazar said during the hearing. Salazar is the executive director of the Department of Regulatory Agencies or DORA, which oversees funeral homes. “There is a general understanding that things must change and Colorado needs to do better.” The new bill will be formally introduced in the coming weeks and is expected to be joined by a second proposal to require stricter qualification requirements for those who run funeral homes. Joe Walsh, president of the Colorado Funeral Directors Association, said the industry is broadly behind both proposals. “Our industry, we are taking a beating. Going back to 2018 there have been four incidents, they have been grievous,” said Walsh. “We need to definitely react to this and we need to make sure everything is being done to not make that happen again.” Under current law, there is no requirement for routine inspections of a funeral home or qualification requirements for funeral home operators. That’s left Colorado with egregious cases going back a decade. Funeral home operators on Colorado’s western slope were caught illegally selling body parts and giving families fake ashes between 2010 and 2018. In the case of Return to Nature Funeral Home, where 190 decomposing bodies were found stacked on top of each other, alarms were raised in 2020, three years before the discovery. But state lawmakers have dragged their feet in passing regulations common in other states. Those include yearly inspections and requirements that funeral home operators pass a test or receive a degree in mortuary science. In 2022, a law was passed that gave state regulators the authority to do unannounced funeral home inspections, but the bill did not provide additional funding to carry those inspections out. If these regulations were passed earlier, said Sam Delp, who heads DORA’s division overseeing funeral homes, “it’s possible the remains may have been discovered earlier.”
Maine’s Democrat governor wants to tackle gun control and mental health in wake of mass shooting
Maine’s governor rolled out legislation on Wednesday she said will prevent dangerous people from possessing weapons and strengthen mental health services to help prevent future tragedies like the Lewiston mass shooting that shook the state. Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, called for the changes in January in a speech that came three months after an Army reservist killed 18 people in the worst mass shooting in the history of the state. The reservist had a history of mental illness and erratic behavior before the shootings. DEMOCRAT MAINE GOVERNOR TOUTS LOCATION FOR A KEY WIND PORT, SEEKS TO LEAD IN OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY Mills said there is broad support for the kind of changes in her proposals, which would also establish a violence-prevention program at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The proposals would need to find support in a state with a higher percentage of gun ownership than most of the Northeast. “They are practical, common-sense measures that are Maine-made and true to our culture and our longstanding traditions while meeting today’s needs. They represent meaningful progress, without trampling on anybody’s rights, and they will better protect public safety,” Mills said. One of Mills’ proposals would strengthen the state’s extreme risk protection order law. Some law enforcement personnel have said the state’s yellow flag law made it difficult to remove shooter Robert Card’s weapons despite clear warning signs. Mills said her change would allow law enforcement to seek a protective custody warrant to take a dangerous person into custody to remove weapons. Another proposal would extend the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to advertised, private sales of firearms. Still another would incentivize the checks for unadvertised, private sales. The proposals would also establish a statewide network of crisis receiving centers so that a person suffering a mental health crisis could get care swiftly, Mills said. The governor’s supplemental budget includes other proposals geared at crisis response and mental health. It also proposes to create a Maine mass violence care fund with $5 million to cover physical and mental health expenses connected to a mass violence event and not covered by insurance. “Our community’s difficult healing process will continue long into the future, and this will provide folks with the support they need when they need it,” said Democratic Rep. Kristen Cloutier of Lewiston. Card committed the shootings at a bowling alley and restaurant in Lewiston on Oct. 25. He was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Card had been well known to law enforcement for months before the shootings, and a fellow reservist told an Army superior that Card was going to “snap and do a mass shooting.”
Democrat Illinois governor proposes $53B budget including funding for migrants
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker pitched a $52.7 billion state spending plan Wednesday with more money to address the migrant crisis, education and quantum computing, while proposing tax increases that will mostly target business, including a major sports betting tax hike. The second-term Democrat characterized the proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1, and representing a roughly 2% increase in spending, as “focused and disciplined.” “I wish we had big surpluses to work with this year to take on every one of the very real challenges we face,” Pritzker told lawmakers during the budget combined with the yearly State of the State address. “It’s important to note, that while this budget is tight this year, our fiscal house is in order, and we are able to keep our commitments to the people of Illinois.” CHICAGO RESIDENTS SPEAK OUT AGAINST MIGRANTS WELCOMED BY CITY: ‘JUNKING UP OUR COUNTRY’ Funding for asylum seekers is expected to be among the most controversial issues as lawmakers in the Democrat-majority House and Senate begin budget negotiations. House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch has already convened a panel on new arrivals while Republicans vow to target sanctuary laws. Illinois has already invested $638 million to address the crisis. The budget proposal includes another $182 million for migrants, part of a joint funding plan with Cook County. The money would be used for “welcoming center” services, like coordinating housing and legal help, and a program used to fight homelessness. Chicago, which has allocated roughly $150 million in the city budget, has struggled to house and care for the nearly 36,000 asylum seekers who have arrived since 2022 on buses and planes largely under the direction of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. While migrants are still arriving, recent weeks have seen the pace slow, coinciding with a dip at the border attributed partially to the weather. Abbott has said the federal government should step up, but Pritzker has repeatedly blamed the Republican governor for manufacturing a crisis that has been cruel to families. Pritzker ratcheted up the criticism during his speech, which comes as immigration has moved to the forefront of presidential year politics and Chicago prepares to host the Democratic National Convention in August. “Abbott willfully planned the arrival of these individuals in locations and at times that would engender the maximum chaos for the city of Chicago and for the asylum seekers themselves,” Pritzker said. “Children, pregnant women, and the elderly have been sent here in the dead of night, left far from our designated welcome centers, in freezing temperatures, wearing flip-flops and T-shirts. Think about that the next time a politician from Texas wants to lecture you about being a good Christian.” Late last year, Pritzker’s budget office had predicted a nearly $900 million shortfall, but his budget office said Wednesday that the deficit is smaller than anticipated and outlined new revenues to help close the gap. That includes more than doubling the sports wagering tax — paid by casino sportsbooks — to 35% from 15%, generating an estimated $200 million. Pritzker also wants to cap a deduction that allows corporations to reduce their taxable income for $526 million in savings. The governor’s proposed budget also includes $500 million for quantum computing technology, including for a cryogenic facility. Pritzker called education the “central tenet” of all six of the budgets he has presented and proposed another $150 million for a statewide effort announced last year to have universal preschool in Illinois by 2027. Spending for K-12 education will also increase by about $450 million, including money for transportation and special education grants, a state literacy program and a teacher vacancy pilot program. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Pritzker also previewed a plan to address Illinois’ massive pension debt by boosting the funding target from 90% to 100% and extending the payment deadline to 2048. For consumers, he pitched permanently repealing a 1% sales tax on groceries, which was temporarily suspended for a year in 2022.
US congressman Andy Ogles stirs outrage with Gaza comment: ‘Kill them all’
Muslims, Democrats and social media users expressed their displeasure on Wednesday with remarks made by Republican Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee, who responded to an activist’s question about the deaths of Palestinian children in Gaza by asserting that “we should kill ‘em all”. In a statement released Wednesday, the American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC) “unequivocally” denounced Ogles and wrote that his remarks were tantamount to advocating for “the extermination of the Palestinian people”. Noting an increase in anti-Muslim attacks across Tennessee since Israel began its indiscriminate bombing and blockade of Gaza in October, AMAC wrote: “Such rhetoric is not only abhorrent but also antithetical to our values as a state. It is such rhetoric that has continued to foster a political climate where extremist ideologies flourish, empowering neo-Nazis to openly parade through our streets and allowing genocidal sentiments to go unchallenged. This cannot be tolerated any longer. As citizens of Tennessee, we deserve better representation from those elected to office.” On the social media platform known as X, the opprobrium directed at Ogles was even worse, with one user writing Wednesday: “Name em and shame em! Say hi to Andrew ‘I think we should kill em all’ Ogles. This extraordinary piece of feces is a USA congressman.” Another user, posting as Saira Rao, wrote: “Andrew Ogles, a sitting member of Congress, says the quiet part out loud. ‘I think we should kill ‘em all.’ He states WE [America] are responsible for killing all Palestinians [genocide]. Congress + Biden + Entire Cabinet are ALL WAR CRIMINALS Palestine will be free.” Noting that Palestinians are also Semitic people, Susan Jones posted on X: “‘I think we should kill ‘em all.’ @AndrewOgles #SenatorofTennessee Has NO Shame in his admission of #USIsraeliINTENT to commit #USIsraeliGenocide of #IndigenousSEMITICPalestinians and the IRONY is completely lost on the ignorant that #KillingPalestiniansISANTISEMITISM!!!” Ogles’s comments were in response to a pro-Palestinian activist who peppered him with questions as the two walked through a corridor in the United States Capitol. “I’ve seen the footage of shredded children’s bodies,” the activist told Ogles. “That’s my taxpayer dollars that are going to bomb those kids.” Ogles responded bluntly: “You know what? So, I think we should kill ’em all if that makes you feel better. Hamas and the Palestinians have been attacking Israel for 20 years. It’s time to pay the piper.” Finally, Ogles turned towards a camera and uttered a final comment before walking away: “Death to Hamas!” In an email to the congressman’s hometown newspaper, The Tennessean, Ogles’s spokesperson Emma Settle wrote: “The Congressman was not referring to Palestinians, he was clearly referring to the Hamas terrorist group.” They cant even fake it anymore. #AndrewOgles you are a war criminal #SaveRafah https://t.co/Q4NW6koKwo — Lea (@LeaOrtizRivera) February 20, 2024 The exchange between Ogles and the activist occurred on February 15, but video footage of Ogles’s remarks was posted to social media hours after the administration of President Joe Biden vetoed a ceasefire resolution at the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, representing the third time since Israel’s assault began that the US has voted against a suspension of hostilities in Gaza. A first-term congressman, Ogles represents Tennessee’s gerrymandered 5th district, which was created in 2022 to favour Republican candidates and includes a swath of the state capital of Nashville. Hours before the US exercised its veto, a spokesman for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that Gaza is “poised to witness an explosion in preventable child deaths” as malnutrition and disease spread rapidly across the enclave. Israeli forces have killed more than 12,400 children in Gaza since October 7, according to Palestinian health authorities. More than 600,000 children are currently trapped in the city of Rafah on the Egyptian border, with Israeli forces preparing to invade. Additionally, officials with the charity organisation Save the Children say that nearly 10 Palestinian children in Gaza per day have lost one or both of their legs since October. “After four months of relentless violence, we are running out of words to describe what children and families in Gaza are going through, as well as the tools to respond in any adequate way,” Jason Lee, Save the Children’s country director for the occupied Palestinian territory, said in a statement Tuesday. “The scale of death and destruction is astronomical.” “Children are being failed by the adults who should be protecting them,” Lee added. “It’s beyond time for the adults in the room to step up their responsibilities and legal obligations to children caught up in a conflict they played no part in, who just want to be able to live.” A Nashville Metro Council member, Zulfat Suara, told The Tennessean that she learned about Ogles’s comments while at a council meeting Tuesday night. Coincidentally, on the agenda that evening was a resolution condemning the public display of Nazi symbols, chants and hate speech in downtown Nashville during a rally last weekend. Born in Nigeria, Suara, a Democrat, is the first Muslim person elected to the metropolitan government of Nashville and Davidson County. She said that rhetoric like Ogles’s encourages people “to march and preach hate”. She told The Tennessean: “In the conflict overseas, I have been very mindful of what I say and how I say it because I want to make sure that my Jewish friends are not hurt in what I say and to make sure that my Palestinian families are taken care of. But when legislators at the federal level and the state level continue to demonize people, continue to only look at one side and not the other, that’s the result that we see on the streets. And I hope that we will continue to do better. “This otherization, this demonization, this ‘Kill them all’ is only breaking us apart.” Adblock test (Why?)
Riley Gaines hostage for ransom, assault investigation ‘suspended’ by SFSU police with no charges
EXCLUSIVE: The San Fransisco State University Police Department has suspended its investigation into women’s sports activist and former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines’ hostage incident and assault last year, saying the alleged charges are “unfounded.” Gaines said she was assaulted and held hostage for ransom in April 2023 after speaking at San Francisco State University about her experience in her senior year of college competing against male swimmer Lia Thomas. The two had tied for fifth place in a national swimming championship. RILEY GAINES TELLS CONGRESS SHE WAS HELD FOR RANSOM AT SAN FRANCISCO STATE, UNSURE IF SHE COULD LEAVE SAFELY Following Gaines’ speech, she was met by a mob of violent protesters that she said stormed into the room, turned off the lights, rushed to the podium where she was standing and assaulted her before holding her hostage. Gaines was then barricaded in a room after the assault, and has said she had been hit multiple times, even while under police protection. Gaines, the director of the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute and host of Outkick’s “Gaines for Girls” podcast, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that she followed up with the San Fransisco State University Police Department last month on its investigation into the incident “where I was held hostage.” “Can you please let me know if you have completed your investigation?” She wrote in an email reviewed by Fox News Digital. “I wondered if you can share with me any conclusions you have reached regarding your investigation and whether any charges will be filed against the individuals who sought to threaten, intimidate and harm me? Is there a timetable concerning this matter? Is there any additional information you need from me?” In an email dated Feb. 2, an officer replied: “After a thorough investigation, the alleged charges in this case are unfounded and have been suspended pending further lead.” RILEY GAINES SHREDS SAN FRANCISCO LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR ‘FAILING MISERABLY’ AT PROTECTING HER FROM ANGRY MOB The officer said the department sent emails to Gaines in June and July of last year “for a case follow up,” which they claim “went unanswered.” The officer then requested “any photos and/or videos you may have in your possession as well as the contact information for anyone who was present that may have digital evidence.” The officer added: “Please do so and the case may be further investigated.” But Gaines told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview Wednesday that after the incident in April 2023, she met with campus police for hours and provided them with an official statement. “We talked for multiple hours. I told them over and over and over and over and over again what had happened, which, all the while, both of the officers that I was talking to were there, so it is not like they didn’t know what happened,” Gaines told Fox News Digital. Gaines said one of the officers present for the incident sent the email notifying her that the investigation had been suspended. Gaines told Fox News Digital that the emails the campus police sent to her in June and July were requests to meet again, and to share her story “again.” “I just wasn’t willing to do that,” Gaines said, telling Fox News Digital that she was advised against it. Gaines said advisors told her she had already given a statement and didn’t need to do so again. RILEY GAINES URGES FEMALE ATHLETES TO BOYCOTT COMPETING AGAINST TRANS GIRLS: ‘DON’T RUN…DON’T SWIM’ Gaines also said the campus police had promised to give her security footage for her review by the beginning of July, but said “they never provided the footage.” Meanwhile, Gaines reflected on the incident, describing the mob of protesters. “They were everything under the sun,” she said. “Women, men, men dressed as women, women dressed as men — and everything in between, which is why it was so disorienting.” “These people turned the lights off, flickered the lights for a bit, which I imagine was done entirely strategically,” she explained. “I was confused and trying to make sense of what was happening.” Gaines told Fox News Digital that as she was being assaulted, a female officer — whom she said is the same officer who notified her that the investigation had been suspended — approached her and tried to take her to a separate location. “I didn’t meet any police before the event, and she was totally unmarked, wearing all black, her face was in a mask, so she comes up to me, and says ‘come with me, I’m the police’ and was grabbing me and pulling me,” Gaines said. “I didn’t believe that she was with the police because there really was no indication that she was, but I honestly didn’t really have a choice.” Gaines said the officer took her to a back room where she was ultimately barricaded and held hostage for ransom for more than four hours. Gaines said that the protesters outside the room she was being held in were “negotiating a price I had to pay each of them to leave to be able to make it home safe to see my family.” Gaines said the students came to an agreement that she had to pay them each $10, but eventually, the San Fransisco Police came to the scene. “They were able to effectively remove me,” she said. FROM OUTKICK: RILEY GAINES CALLS MIKE DEWINE ‘SPINELESS COWARD’ AFTER OHIO GOVERNOR VETOES TRANSGENDER-WOMEN’S SPORTS BILL Gaines told Fox News Digital that she feels that the suspension of the investigation sets a precedent. “This just encourages what happened to me to happen to other people because the precedent has now been set,” she said. “We don’t see this happening to liberal speakers or to anyone with a dissenting viewpoint to that of my own.” Gaines told Fox News Digital that the protesters “had every intention of getting me to step down essentially, to shut up, to scare me into submission.” “But this does
Wisconsin GOP Senate candidate says challengers must be ‘pretty worried’ after latest ‘smearing’ attempt
FIRST ON FOX: Wisconsin Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde is pushing back on some left-wing criticism he has received after formally launching his campaign, insisting that his challengers must be “pretty worried” after “smearing” him and the charity he operates to help victims of human trafficking. Shortly after Hovde spoke to supporters, Heartland Signal, which is described online as a “regional digital newsroom anchored to the progressive radio station WCPT 820AM in Chicago,” shared a clip on social media that appeared to twist Hovde’s claim that he understands child trafficking issues in Central America because “he owns” homes in the region. “Announcing his bid for a U.S. Senate seat in Wisconsin, Republican Eric Hovde says he understands the tragedy of children being trafficked through Central America because he owns three homes there,” the outlet wrote in a post on X. In a follow-up tweet, Heartland Signal wrote, “While not mentioned in his speech, Hovde appears to be referring to his charitable foundation, Hovde Homes.” REPUBLICAN ERIC HOVDE SEEKS TO FLIP DEMOCRAT BALDWIN’S SEAT RED IN WISCONSIN SENATE RACE The clip, which has received upwards of 1.5 million views, was met with a flurry of criticism directed toward Hovde. The video showed the Republican acknowledging human trafficking issues in Central America and referencing his charity’s three homes that are located in the region. “I knew when I got into this race that Senator Baldwin and her allies would lie about me. And that the more worried they got, the bigger the lies would be,” Hovde told Fox News Digital. “Well they must be pretty worried because they started the campaign by smearing the charity my brother and I run to get children out of human trafficking.” He added, “Protecting the most vulnerable and ending human trafficking should be something we can all find agreement on. They can play the politics of personal destruction. I’ll focus on restoring the American Dream.” In the clip shared by Heartland Signal, in which Hovde was discussing immigration, the Wisconsin Republican said, “Do you know how many lives are lost on that journey to get here? Do you know how many people’s life savings have been wiped out by the human trafficking cartels? And they’ve lost 100,000 children that they can’t account for.” He continued in the clip, “Let me assure you, more than a few of them have ended up being sexually trafficked. I know this all too well. … My brother and I have homes all over the world and we have three in Central America that deal with issues like this.” Defending the Senate hopeful, National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC) spokesman Tate Mitchell suggested that “Baldwin and her allies” are “terrified” of running against Hovde. “Tammy Baldwin and her allies were quick to weaponize the far-left misinformation machine against Eric Hovde over his foundation’s work to support victims of human trafficking,” Mitchell said in a statement. “Clearly, Democrats are terrified to run against a conservative outsider and successful businessman like Eric Hovde.” WISCONSIN LAWMAKERS VOTE ON TAX CUTS, VETO POWERS AND HUNTING FEES IN FINAL SESSION PUSH Hovde formally launched his bid for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., on Tuesday, saying that “America is slipping away” and “everything is going in the wrong direction.” This is Hovde’s second Senate campaign; he ran in 2012 but lost in the GOP primary to former Gov. Tommy Thompson. Baldwin went on to win election that year and is now seeking a third term in the battleground state of Wisconsin. Reelecting Baldwin to a third term is critical for Democratic hopes to maintain majority control of the Senate. Democrats are defending 23 seats in the Senate in November, including two held by independents who caucus with Democrats. That’s compared with just 11 seats that Republicans hope to keep in their column. Baldwin’s campaign branded Hovde as “an out-of-touch megamillionaire” in a fundraising email sent minutes after his campaign website went live. Baldwin’s campaign said Hovde would “rubber stamp” the agenda of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “Hovde would vote to pass a national abortion ban, raise taxes on working families and seniors while cutting Social Security and Medicare, and repeal the Affordable Care Act,” Wisconsin Democratic Party spokesperson Arik Wolk said separately. Wisconsin’s primary election is slated to take place on Aug. 13. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Federal appeals court kills Obama-era moratorium on coal leasing
A federal appeals panel vacated a lower court ruling on Wednesday, effectively killing an Obama-era action that placed a moratorium on new federal coal leasing. In a short six-page ruling, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit tossed an August 2022 decision from Judge Brian Morris of the U.S. District of Montana reinstating the 2016 moratorium. The National Mining Association (NMA), which led the appeal of the 2022 lower court decision alongside the States of Montana and Wyoming, cheered the ruling Wednesday as a victory for American energy. “This is a victory for American-mined energy and we are pleased with the court’s recognition of the need to dismiss this irreparably flawed ruling,” NMA President and CEO Rich Nolan said in a statement. “With this ruling, important projects can once again advance and support the production of affordable, reliable power to the grid, while creating jobs and economic development across the country, helping federal, state and localities with necessary funding by contributing hundreds of millions each year in revenues to state and local governments,” he added. FEDERAL COURT JAMS BRAKES ON BIDEN ADMIN’S EFFORT TO SHUT DOWN MAJOR PETROCHEMICAL PLANT In 2016, under the leadership of then-Secretary Sally Jewell, the Department of the Interior (DOI) issued a first-of-its-kind moratorium on all new coal leases on federal land. Then, one year later, former DOI Secretary Ryan Zinke rescinded that order shortly after being confirmed to the position by the Senate, stating “the public interest is not served by halting the federal coal program for an extended time.” TOP HOUSE COMMITTEE PROBES JOHN KERRY’S COORDINATION WITH ECO GROUPS PUSHING COAL POWER SHUTDOWN Although current DOI Secretary Deb Haaland revoked Zinke’s secretarial actions shortly after taking office in 2021, it stopped short of reinstating the coal leasing moratorium. But, at the same time, environmental groups continued litigating a challenge to the Zinke order, leading to the 2022 ruling which blocked that order despite the fact that the Biden administration had already rescinded it. Counsel for NMA and the States of Montana and Wyoming argued in court earlier this month that the Biden administration’s actions rendered the case moot and, therefore, the 2016 moratorium dead. “The Zinke order and its [environmental] analysis present no case or controversy and are moot because current Interior Secretary Haaland vacated them long before the district court purported to do so a second time and plaintiffs have not challenged that Haaland order,” NMA attorney James Auslander said in oral arguments before the Ninth Circuit on Feb. 6, Courthouse News Service reported. The panel’s ruling Wednesday sided with the arguments presented by NMA, Montana and Wyoming. REPUBLICAN STATE SUES BIDEN ADMIN OVER ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ACTIONS: ‘DYSTOPIAN NIGHTMARE’ “The district court reasoned that the Haaland Order’s failure to reinstate the coal leasing moratorium from the Jewell Order meant that ‘the Zinke Order still remains in partial effect,’” the ruling states. “That is incorrect.” “The Haaland Order definitively ‘revoked’ the Zinke Order,” it continues. “While appellees may be dissatisfied with the government’s position that the Haaland Order did not revive the Jewell Order’s moratorium, this does not provide a basis for concluding that a challenge to the defunct Zinke Order is live.” Following the ruling, environmental plaintiffs in the case — including activist groups Earthjustice, Montana Environmental Information Center, Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club and WildEarth Guardians — lamented the decision’s implications and called for the Biden administration to take immediate action banning coal leasing. “This decision could throw the doors open to coal leasing on federal lands at the very same time that we need to be rapidly transitioning to clean energy,” said Taylor McKinnon, of the Center for Biological Diversity. “There’s no safe climate future with the federal coal program. It needs to end. The Interior Department must act now to make sure that happens.”
Head of Boeing 737 MAX programme out amid safety concerns at planemaker
Ed Clark oversaw the Renton factory where the Alaska Airlines plane involved in blowout was completed. The head of Boeing’s troubled 737 MAX programme has left the planemaker, according to a company memo, amid scrutiny around production and safety measures following a mid-air blowout on a plane last month. The company also reshuffled its leadership team at the Commercial Airplanes division, according to the memo sent to staff by Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) CEO Stan Deal and first reported by the Seattle Times on Wednesday. Ed Clark, an 18-year Boeing veteran who was vice president of the MAX programme, will leave the company, the memo said. The Seattle Times reported that he had been pushed out. Clark is being replaced by Katie Ringgold as vice president and general manager, according to the memo. Boeing has been scrambling to explain and strengthen its safety procedures after the January accident on a brand new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9, in which a cabin panel became detached and flew off in midair. Clark was general manager at the company’s factory in Renton, Washington, where the plane involved in the accident was completed. In the memo, Deal said the leadership changes were intended to drive BCA’s “enhanced focus on ensuring that every airplane we deliver meets or exceeds all quality and safety requirements”, The Seattle Times reported. The leadership changes come in advance of Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun’s planned meeting with US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) Administrator Mike Whitaker next week after the regulator travelled to Renton to tour the Boeing 737 plant. The FAA grounded the MAX 9 for several weeks in January and has capped Boeing’s production of the MAX while it audits the planemaker’s manufacturing process. The door panel that flew off the jet appeared to be missing four key bolts, according to a preliminary report from the US National Safety Transportation Board in early February. According to the report, the door plug in question was removed to repair rivet damage, but the NTSB has not found evidence the bolts were re-installed. The panel is a plug on some 737 MAX 9s instead of an additional emergency exit. This is the second crisis involving Boeing in recent years, after two crashes of MAX planes that killed 346 people. Adblock test (Why?)
Zelenskyy invites Poland’s leaders to border to resolve farmers’ protests
Polish farmers have been protesting Ukrainian food imports, angry at what they say is unfair competition. Ukraine’s president has invited Polish leaders to meet him at their shared border to resolve a blockade by Polish farmers protesting Ukrainian food imports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media on Wednesday that he hoped the proposed border meeting for him, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and a European Union representative could happen before the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Saturday, February 24. “This is national security,” Zelenskyy said. “I am ready to be at the border with our government.” “We have had enough misunderstanding. We should not humiliate each other; we should not humiliate either Ukrainian or Polish farmers. We need unity. We need solutions – between us, Ukraine and Poland, and at the level of the whole of Europe,” Zelenskyy said in a statement. There was no immediate reaction from the Polish government. Zelenskyy added that Ukraine could not accept the appearance of slogans supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin at the protests, after one such banner was displayed on Tuesday. Earlier, Polish authorities voiced concern over the slogans praising Putin and his war against Ukraine. Poland, a member of NATO and the European Union, has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, accepting unlimited numbers of refugees and providing Ukraine with weaponry. Poles, with past oppression by Moscow rooted deeply in generational memory, are largely supportive of Ukraine. But tensions have been growing as Polish farmers blame imports of Ukrainian grain and other food for pushing down prices and harming their livelihoods. Polish farmers are among farmers across Europe who have been protesting competition from Ukraine as well as EU environmental policies, which they say will increase their production costs. On Tuesday they staged a major day of protest, blocking almost all traffic on the border with Ukraine, angering Kyiv, in an escalation from previous demonstrations. ‘Under the influence of Russian agents’ Earlier Wednesday, Poland’s Foreign Ministry said it believed that extreme groups were trying to take over the protest movement “perhaps under the influence of Russian agents”. It noted “with the greatest concern the appearance of anti-Ukrainian slogans and slogans praising Vladimir Putin and the war he is waging”. On Tuesday, a tractor at a protest in the southern Polish region of Silesia carried a Soviet flag and a banner that said: “Putin, put things in order with Ukraine, Brussels, and our rulers.” A photograph was published by the Gazeta Wyborcza daily. Poland’s Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski called the banner “scandalous” and said it was immediately secured by police, and prosecutors were investigating. “There will be no consent to such criminal activities,” he said. The public promotion of a totalitarian system can be punished with up to three years in prison under Polish law. The Foreign Ministry called on protest organisers “to identify and eliminate from their movement” the initiators, arguing it was necessary for Poland’s interest. “The current situation of Polish farmers is the result of Vladimir Putin’s aggression against Ukraine and the disruption of the global economy, not because Ukrainians are defending themselves against the aggression,” the ministry said. Polish farmers blocked eight major roads on Wednesday. Police said protests continued at border crossings to Ukraine in Medyka and Korczowa, but passenger traffic was smooth and some trucks were also being let through. Adblock test (Why?)
UK parliament speaker gives Labour Gaza ceasefire vote reprieve
The UK’s House of Commons has descended into chaos as the government and the Scottish National Party (SNP) condemned Speaker Lindsay Hoyle for his handling of a key vote on support for a ceasefire in Gaza. SNP members of parliament (MPs) and some Conservatives walked out of the chamber on Wednesday in an apparent protest at the speaker’s actions as the debate reached its conclusion. Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt claimed Hoyle had “hijacked” the debate and “undermined the confidence” of the House in its longstanding rules by allowing MPs to vote on a Labour amendment to an SNP motion calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza and Israel. The initial SNP motion also called for an end to the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people” by Israel. But Labour’s motion included language that caveated calls for a ceasefire by noting that “Israel cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence”. It had been expected that Hoyle would prioritise a government amendment to the SNP motion, which sought an “immediate humanitarian pause” – and not a ceasefire – to Israel’s war on Gaza. However, by instead prioritising the opposition Labour Party’s rival motion, Hoyle was accused of breaking precedent. More importantly, the decision allowed Labour to avoid a potentially damaging split over the SNP motion, with some Labour MPs willing to support it, but party leadership telling its parliamentarians not to vote for it without the Labour amendment. The number of Labour MPs willing to vote against the directive from party leader Keir Starmer would likely have led to the biggest revolt against his leadership since he became leader of the opposition in 2020. Instead, by bringing the Labour motion forward, Hoyle gave potential rebels the opportunity to support their party leadership instead of the SNP, while still backing a ceasefire – even if the motion’s language was less blunt than the Scottish party’s. Israel’s assault on Gaza has led to a damaging split within Labour ahead of what many observers believe will be a return to power for the party in the next UK general elections, which must be held before the end of January next year. Much of the party’s traditional voter base, and previous leader Jeremy Corbyn, are vocal supporters of the Palestinian cause. But, with Starmer attempting to move away from Corbyn’s legacy, the man regarded as prime minister in waiting has avoided heavy criticism of Israel and has been accused of ignoring the plight of the Palestinians. This is an absolute disgrace. Labour and the government have managed to turn what should have been a solemn vote on ending the killing in Gaza into a spectacle. They should be completely ashamed. — Rohan Talbot (@rohantalbot) February 21, 2024 Speaker denies accusations SNP MPs were understood to have headed to the voting lobby after the walkout from the chamber. Ian Blackford, an SNP MP, told Al Jazeera that the day’s events in parliament had distracted from events in Gaza and made the eventual vote less impactful. “[The Labour Party] came up with this proposition that allowed them to have a vote, and the purpose of that – particularly when the government party [the Conservatives] wouldn’t participate in it – meant that our meaningful vote … wasn’t taken,” Blackford said. “I regret that tonight we’re having to discuss this, rather than discuss the need of protecting the people in Gaza that need that ceasefire to take place.” One Conservative MP, William Wragg, has brought forward a parliamentary motion expressing no confidence in the speaker, a sign of the anger of some parliamentarians at what is perceived to be a deviation from the speaker’s traditionally neutral role. Hoyle returned to the House of Commons later in the evening and apologised. “I have tried to do what I thought was the right thing for all sides of this House,” Hoyle said. “It is regrettable, and I apologise, that the decision didn’t end up in the place that I wished.” According to Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett, reporting from London, Hoyle denied favouring “one set of politicians over the other”. “It has ended in this real farce,” Fawcett added. “The Labour amendment [went] through because no Conservatives took part in the vote. The SNP motion, which began the whole story, was not voted on at all; the SNP and Conservatives are furious.” “Keir Starmer [and] his Labour Party have kind of gotten out of a sticky mess, but it leaves parliament looking extremely compromised. What was a serious debate about this crucial issue about civilian life in Gaza has ended in this procedural nightmare.” Adblock test (Why?)