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Why a drug decriminalization crisis looms for Washington state lawmakers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:51 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — After voting down a bill last month to keep drug possession illegal and boost services for people struggling with addiction, Washington lawmakers are entering a special legislative session to find a compromise before a temporary law keeping the possession of small amounts of drugs outlawed expires. If a new law is not passed, Washington would become the second state in the U.S., after Oregon, to decriminalize possession of personal-use amounts of drugs, even as widely available and cheap fentanyl worsens an opioid crisis defined by open drug use and soaring overdose deaths.Here’s what to know about the crisis.HOW WE GOT HEREThe Washington Supreme Court in 2021 struck down a state law making drug possession a felony. It was unconstitutional, the court said, because it did not require prosecutors to prove that someone knowingly had the drugs. Washington was the only state in the country without that requirement.In response, lawmakers passed a temporary measure giv...

Stock market today: Asian shares advance though China economic data weaker than expected

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:51 GMT

NEW YORK — Asian shares were mostly higher on Tuesday even though the latest data showed China’s economy is weaker than expected, with domestic demand failing to bounce back as much as hoped for after the pandemic. Benchmarks advanced in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul but fell in Shanghai and Sydney.China’s industrial output rose 5.6% year-on-year in April while investment crept up 4.7% from the year before in January-April. But those increases also reflected a big gap from the slow activity at the height of China’s “zero-COVID” restrictions, which Beijing abandoned late in 2022. “While the boost from reopening should still underpin a further recovery in the near-term, the bulk of China’s rebound is now behind us,” Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a report. He said the post-pandemic recovery was likely to “fizzle out” in the second half of the year. “Meanwhile, the challenging global picture will prevent much pick-up in Chinese exports,” he said. Tokyo’s N...

Cannes Film Festival kicks off Tuesday with Johnny Depp and ‘Jeanne du Barry’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:51 GMT

CANNES, France (AP) — The Cannes red carpet springs to life again Tuesday as the 76th Cannes Film Festival gets underway with the premiere of the Louis XV period drama “Jeanne du Barry,” with Johnny Depp. This year’s festival promises a Cote d’Azur buffet of spectacle, scandal and cinema set to be served over the next 12 days. It’s unspooling against the backdrop of labor unrest. Protests that have roiled France in recent months over changes to its pension system are planned to run during the festival, albeit at a distance from the festival’s main hub. Meanwhile, an ongoing strike by screenwriters in Hollywood could have unpredictable effects on the French Riviera festival. But with a festival lined with some much-anticipated big-budget films, including James Mangold’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of the Destiny” and Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” the party is sure to go on, regardless. Stars set to hit Cannes’ red carp...

A net negative: Haddock, a staple Atlantic fish, is in decline off New England, regulators say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:51 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A staple seafood species caught by East Coast fishers for centuries is experiencing overfishing, and regulators have cut catch quotas by more than 80% to prevent the fish’s population from collapse.Haddock are one of the most popular Atlantic fish, and a favorite for fish and chips and other New England seafood dishes. But fewer haddock will be caught in New England this year after regulators cut fishing quotas. A recent scientific assessment found that the Gulf of Maine haddock stock declined unexpectedly, and that meant the catch quotas for the fish were unsustainably high, federal fishing managers said.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration added the Gulf of Maine haddock stock to its overfishing list last month. The New England Fishery Management Council, a regulatory board, has lowered catch limits of the fish in an attempt to halt the overfishing, said agency spokesperson Allison Ferreira.However, numerous fishers said the assessment d...

Kentucky Republicans pick nominee to challenge Democratic Gov. Beshear

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:51 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s crowded Republican primary campaign for governor comes to a close Tuesday, wrapping up a bitter competition between two rivals with ties to former President Donald Trump who dominated the race. Only one of 12 contenders will remain standing to challenge the red-leaning state’s popular Democratic governor.Attorney General Daniel Cameron and former United Nations Ambassador Kelly Craft are considered the frontrunners for the GOP nomination. Although Craft was nominated to her post by Trump, it was Cameron who won the former president’s coveted endorsement early in the campaign.Whoever gets the most votes in Tuesday’s primary will be the GOP nominee because there is no runoff rule.Incumbent Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who is seeking reelection to a second term, awaits the winner of the GOP primary for what’s sure to be a tumultuous general election bid. The November race, one of just a few top contests nationally during an off-year electi...

Washington state lawmakers seek to avoid decriminalizing drugs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:51 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington lawmakers are considering a major new drug policy in a special session that begins Tuesday, a day after reaching a compromise that Democratic and Republican leaders say strikes a balance between public order and compassion for those with substance abuse issues.The bipartisan agreement would avoid making the state the second in the U.S. to decriminalize the possession of controlled substances. Gov. Jay Inslee called lawmakers back to the Washington Statehouse for a special session after they failed to pass one before adjourning late last month.Under a tentative deal, intentional possession or public use of small amounts of illegal drugs would be a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail for the first two offenses and up to a year after that.But police and prosecutors would be encouraged to divert cases for treatment or other services, and the measure provides millions of additional dollars for diversion programs and to provide short-term ho...

3 judges who chipped away abortion rights to hear federal abortion pill appeal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:51 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Three conservative appeals court judges, each with a history of supporting restrictions on abortion, will hear arguments May 17 on whether a widely used abortion drug should remain available.The case involves a regulatory issue — whether the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, and subsequent actions making it easier to obtain, must be rolled back. The appellate hearing follows an April ruling by a federal judge in Texas, who ordered a hold on federal approval of mifepristone in a decision that overruled decades of scientific approval. His ruling was stayed pending appeal. The case was allotted to a panel made up of Jennifer Walker Elrod, James Ho and Cory Wilson.The three judges of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals won’t rule immediately. Their decision, whatever it is, is also unlikely to have an immediate effect pending an expected appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.Here’s a look at who the judges are and thei...

Debt ceiling showdown: Biden and congressional leaders to meet as McCarthy pushes for faster deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is ready to discuss the debt ceiling with congressional leaders at the White House in a high-profile session with reverberations across the globe as early outlines of a potential deal begin to emerge despite painstakingly slow negotiations.Raising the stakes, the Tuesday afternoon session comes as Biden is preparing to depart for the Group of Seven summit in Japan where the U.S. leadership will be on the world stage later this week. The president and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are trying to strike a budget deal before the U.S. Treasury runs out of cash to keep paying the nation’s bills, which could occur as soon as June 1. While Biden has remained upbeat that “we’ll be able to do this,” McCarthy is prodding the president to move faster to avert a crisis. The Republican speaker says they need an agreement soon to avoid default. Expectations are low that a deal is that close at hand. Instead, it is more likely that staff talks will c...

North Carolina GOP to attempt swift override of governor’s abortion veto

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:51 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature on Tuesday will attempt to quickly override the governor’s veto of legislation banning nearly all abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy in a consequential test of unity for the party’s recently attained supermajority.The Senate plans to first consider an override Tuesday afternoon, according to Senate leader Phil Berger. House Speaker Tim Moore’s chief of staff said the speaker then aims to complete the override later in the day should Senate Republicans be successful. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the bill over the weekend in an unconventionally public ceremony after spending last week traveling around the state to convince one or more Republicans to uphold his expected veto. He singled out four GOP lawmakers — one in the Senate and three in the House — whom he said made “campaign promises” to protect abortion access. Among them is Rep. Tricia Cotham, whose recent switch from the Democratic Party to t...

Pivotal House vote moves Texas closer to banning puberty blockers, hormone treatments for trans kids

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:58:51 GMT

AUSTIN (Texas Tribune) — Texas has taken a major step toward banning transgender minors from getting puberty blockers and hormone therapy — care that medical groups say is vital to their mental health — after the state House approved Senate Bill 14 on Monday.Trans Texans and LGBTQ advocates consider the bill one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in this year’s legislative session. It would ban trans people younger than 18 from getting certain transition-related care. Kids already accessing treatments would have to be “weaned off” in a “medically appropriate” manner, the bill says. It also would ban transition-related surgeries, though those are rarely performed on kids.The House formally approved the bill in a 87-56 vote Monday largely on party lines, though some Democrats once again defected to vote in favor of the bill. They include state Reps. Harold Dutton of Houston, Tracy King of Batesville, Shawn Thierry of Houston and Abel Her...