Author: Wolf Blitzer

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Facing projections of spiking energy demand, U.S. states are pressing for ways to build new power plants faster as policymakers increasingly worry about protecting their residents and economies from rising electric bills, power outages and other consequences of falling behind Big Tech in a race for electricity.Some states are dangling financial incentives. Others are undoing decades of regulatory structures in what they frame as a race to serve the basic needs of residents, avoid a catastrophe and keep their economies on track in a fast-electrifying society.“I don’t think we’ve seen anything quite like this,” said Todd…

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A new law in South Dakota prohibiting the use of eminent domain to acquire land for carbon capture pipelines raises questions about the viability of a proposed 2,500 mile (4,023-kilometer) project snaking through five Midwest states.Summit Carbon Solutions, the company behind the estimated $8.9 billion pipeline, vowed to keep pursuing the project despite South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden’s announcement Thursday that he had signed a bill into law that will make routing the line much more difficult. The law bans Summit from forcing South Dakota landowners to allow the pipeline through their property.Plans call for…

CHICAGO (AP) — The country’s preeminent federal fire training academy canceled classes, effective immediately, on Saturday amid the ongoing flurry of funding freezes and staffing cuts by President Donald Trump’s administration.The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that National Fire Academy courses were canceled amid a “process of evaluating agency programs and spending to ensure alignment with Administration priorities,” according to a notice sent to instructors, students and fire departments. Instructors were told to cancel all future travel until further notice.Firefighters, EMS providers and other first responders from across the country travel to the NFA’s Maryland campus for the federally funded…

If you listen to some self-proclaimed exercise experts on social media, they swear that working out on an empty stomach burns more fat. But it’s a common misconception that exercising in a fasted state improves performance or burns more calories, said Abby Langer, a dietitian in Toronto.“The research shows that in terms of gains, it doesn’t really make much of a difference,” she said.Does that mean you should load up on protein and carbs right before a workout? No, that’s not true either.Here’s a look at when — and how — you should eat, before, after or even during a…

WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of labor unions are asking a federal court for an emergency order to stop Elon Musk ‘s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing the sensitive Social Security data of millions of Americans.The motion for emergency relief was filed late Friday in federal court in Maryland by the legal services group Democracy Forward against the Social Security Administration and its acting commissioner, Leland Dudek. The unions want the court to block DOGE’s access to the vast troves of personal data held by the agency.Included in the filing is an affidavit from Tiffany Flick, a former senior…

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A towering figure in cinema for decades, retired actor Gene Hackman spent his final years in seclusion with his wife, living with heart disease and Alzheimer’s, authorities said Friday.An investigation into the deaths of Hackman and his wife, 65-year-old Betsy Arakawa, paint a tragic picture of the 95-year-old Oscar-winner’s last days before he succumbed to heart disease, one week after Arakawa died from a rare disease called hantavirus.Here are some takeaways:Hackman may not have realized his wife died a week earlier“Mr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer’s disease,” New Mexico chief medical investigator Dr. Heather…

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico home, likely unaware that she was dead because he was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease, authorities revealed Friday. Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were found dead Feb. 26. In the days that followed, mystery swirled around the deaths as authorities ruled out foul play, and immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative.Then authorities in New Mexico released the causes, proposing a simple but tragic theory for the deaths: Shortly after Arakawa’s…

After two days of dredging, a crane on Friday pulled from the Columbia River a Ford station wagon that officials believe belonged to an Oregon family who disappeared while on a trip 66 years ago to find Christmas greenery.No human remains were found in the vehicle, which was pulled out of the water on Friday afternoon in a process that took about 10 minutes. The vehicle’s body, which was visible in videos shot by divers, came off during the lifting and only the frame and wheels came out of the water.The car will be wrapped and sent to a warehouse,…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The son of a Mexican drug cartel boss was sentenced Friday to life in prison for helping his father run one of the country’s largest and most violent narcotics trafficking organizations.Rubén Oseguera, known as El Menchito, is the son of fugitive Jalisco New Generation cartel boss Nemesio Oseguera. The son served as the CJNG cartel’s second-in-command for seven years before his extradition to the U.S. in February 2020.The younger Oseguera faced a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum of 40 years in prison when U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell sentenced him in Washington,…

The Trump administration has stalled at least $60 million in funding intended largely for affordable housing developments nationwide, throwing hundreds of projects into a precarious limbo, according to information and documents obtained by The Associated PressThe move is part of a flurry of funding freezes, staffing cuts and contract cancellations by the Trump administration at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, changes that have instilled widespread uncertainty in the affordable housing industry.The some $60 million is intended to go to small community development nonprofits in small grants. The money is often used as seed funding for affordable housing…