New York Times

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed its first significant public lands conservation bill in years, designating more than one million acres of wilderness for environmental protection and permanently reauthorizing a federal program to pay for conservation measures.

The House passage of the bill, on a vote of 363-62, sends the measure, which was passed by the Senate this month, to the desk of President Trump. The vote Tuesday offered a rare moment of bipartisanship in a divided chamber and a rare victory for environmentalists at a time when the Trump administration is working aggressively to strip away protections on public lands and open them to mining and drilling.   Continue reading “In Show of Bipartisanship, House Approves a Sweeping Land Conservation Bill”

Yahoo News

A generous Oregon couple stepped in to pay for 45 hotel rooms for the homeless on Tuesday night as snow coated the ground. Amberly Batten and her husband Ryan had come across Facebook posts from volunteers with the local nonprofit Compassion Highway Project and knew they needed to help.

“I had seen some posts about some people who were homeless that were contemplating suicide because they were cold and didn’t have anywhere to go, and that hit something in my core. I had to do something,” Amberly told local NBC affiliate KOBI-TV.   Continue reading “Oregon couple pays for 45 hotel rooms to house homeless on snowy night”

ABC News

San Francisco has become the latest city to push for old marijuana-related criminal offenses to be cleared, with the city’s district attorney announcing that thousands of people will have their cases dismissed and sealed.

In all, 9,362 people will be eligible for dismissal, according to George Gascon, the San Francisco District Attorney. Each of them had received either a misdemeanor possession convictions or felony convictions for possession with intent to sell, sales or transportation of marijuana or the cultivation of more than six marijuana plants.   Continue reading “More than 9,000 marijuana convictions dismissed in latest case of cities taking action”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Three months after Israeli police recommended that the country’s attorney general pursue charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his alleged involvement in “Bezeq Walla Affair”, it appears an indictment is finally being handed down on Thursday, much to the longtime leader’s chagrin.   Continue reading “Israeli Attorney General Indicts Netanyahu On Charges Of Bribery, Fraud & Breach Of Trust”

Breitbart – by AWR Hawkins

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) signed legislation Wednesday to abolish his state’s concealed carry permit requirement.

Oklahoma joins Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Vermont as the 15th state to declare the Second Amendment as an individual’s carry permit.  Continue reading “Oklahoma Governor Signs Bill Eliminating Concealed Permit Requirement”

KVAL 13 News

OAKRIDGE, Ore. — With Highway 58 still largely impassible due to issues on the road, the town of Oakridge is cut off from help.

The town has no power, meaning gas stations and grocery stores are closed, and Lane Electric says power may not be restored for another week.   Continue reading “Residents of Oakridge stranded with no access to water, food or power”

Breitbart – by AWR Hawkins

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed gun confiscation into law for New York on Monday.

The law takes effect 180 days from the date of signing.

Buffalo News reports that the law allows that “family members, school administrators and law enforcement officials can seek to get guns confiscated from people deemed by courts to be an ‘extreme risk’ to themselves or others.”   Continue reading “Andrew Cuomo Signs Gun Confiscation into Law in NY”

Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday takes up one of the biggest cases of its current term when it weighs whether a cross-shaped war memorial on public land in Maryland is an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion.

The so-called Peace Cross, a 40-foot-tall (12 meters) concrete memorial to 49 men from Maryland’s Prince George’s County killed in World War One, is situated on public land at a busy road intersection in Bladensburg just outside Washington.   Continue reading “In major religion case, Supreme Court weighs Maryland cross dispute”

ABC News

An Amtrak train with 183 passengers aboard was stranded in Oregon for over 24 hours.

The Coast Starlight Train 11, traveling from Seattle to Los Angeles, came to a standstill near the tiny town of Oakridge on Sunday evening after hitting a tree that had fallen on the snow-covered tracks, according to Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari.   Continue reading “Rescue underway for 183 Amtrak passengers stranded in Oregon”

Yahoo News

DETROIT —When Nikki Joly’s Jackson home burned down in 2017, some thought the fire was a hate crime against the transgendered, gay-rights activist who had fought for a local anti-discrimination ordinance.

But now, instead of a victim, the 54-year-old is accused of being the perpetrator.   Continue reading “Gay rights activist set fire to his own home in fake hate crime, Michigan police say”

The Weather Channel

Winter Storm Ryan brought more snow to the Pacific Northwest on Monday, causing slippery driving, school closings and thousands of power outages.

The snow fell so hard Monday in parts of Montana that plows had trouble keeping up, according to the Associated Press. With buses struggling to drive on the snowy roads, Butte public schools will have their first closure in at least 20 years on Tuesday, the report added.

Continue reading “Winter Storm Ryan Dumps Heavy Snow on the Northwest: Butte, Montana, Schools to Close for First Time in Two Decades”

WCYB – by John Engle

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. — A Sullivan County deputy is in serious condition, and a suspect is dead, after a shootout with law enforcement Saturday.

Sheriff Jeff Cassidy said deputies arrived for a welfare check at the home of Jackie Pendergrass near 11W and TN-394 Saturday morning, when Pendergrass fired at least one shot. Pendergrass fired again after deputies attempted to communicate with him.   Continue reading “Sullivan County deputy in serious condition, suspect dead in shooting”

ABC News

A Florida mayor, who was accused of practicing medicine without a license, resigned on Friday, one day after he was arrested for allegedly firing shots at deputies who were attempting to serve a search warrant, according to police.

Port Richey Mayor Dale Massad was arrested and charged with two counts of attempted homicide after he allegedly shot at two sheriff’s deputies at his home in central Florida, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office said.   Continue reading “Florida mayor resigns after arrest for allegedly shooting at police officers”

Fox News

At least three Venezuelan troops have abandoned their posts at the country’s border with Colombia as confrontations with protesters over incoming humanitarian aid grow more violent by the day.

The soldiers have abandoned their watch near the Simon Bolivar International Bridge at the Venezuela-Colombian border near Urena, where the Venezuelan National Guard fired tear gas at residents on Saturday, BBC reports.   Continue reading “Venezuelan troops abandon posts amid violent clashes with protesters at Colombian border”

AP News

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The State Land Office says this month’s oil and natural gas lease sale has netted more than $35 million.

Officials say that includes the largest open bid sale in the agency’s history, with numerous tracts in southeastern New Mexico closing at more than $12 million.   Continue reading “New Mexico oil and gas lease sale nets $35 million”

Yahoo News

A Coast Guard lieutenant arrested earlier this week on drug and gun charges was planning to commit domestic terrorism, according to a court filing from the U.S. District Court in Maryland.

In a motion filed Tuesday, U.S. attorneys said Christopher Hasson, a lieutenant in the U.S. Coast Guard who has served at the service’s headquarters in Washington since 2016, had a hit list of targets, a cache of guns and a series of communications with white supremacists. The first sentence in the motion imploring the court to detain Hasson pending trial: “The defendant intends to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country.”   Continue reading “Coast Guard lieutenant accused of murder plot ‘on a scale rarely seen in this country’”

SP Global

Washington — With developers of about 10 projects racing to build deepwater crude export terminals off Texas and Louisiana, Enbridge only sees enough demand for one of them in the late 2021-early 2022 timeframe, the company said in its fourth-quarter 2018 earnings call.

Enbridge, Kinder Morgan and Oiltanking have proposed the Texas Colt Offshore Loading Terminal offshore Freeport, Texas. It would be capable of loading VLCCs directly, something only the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port can currently do.   Continue reading “Competition heats up in US oil exporting race”

Wood TV

SOLON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Four people, including children, were found shot to death in northern Kent County Monday afternoon.

Speaking to reporters at the scene, Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young would not say how many of the victims are children, nor would she provide any information about the victims’ genders. She said authorities were still working on confirming their identities.  Continue reading “Sheriff: 4 dead, including children, in northern Kent Co., Michigan”

Reuters

NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Indian Oil Corp, the country’s top refiner, has signed its first annual deal to buy U.S. oil, paying about $1.5 billion for 60,000 barrels a day in the year to March 2020 to diversify its crude sources, its chairman said on Monday.

IOC is the first Indian state refiner to buy U.S. oil under an annual contract, in a deal that will also help boost trade between New Delhi and Washington.   Continue reading “Indian Oil signs first annual deal for U.S. oil”