Argus

Houston, 12 January (Argus) — Landowners are contesting Nebraska’s approval of TransCanada’s 830,000 b/d Keystone XL pipeline route, shifting the case to a state appeals court.

The move adds uncertainty to the future of the project which has already faced years of delay.

Dozens of Nebraska landowners filed a notice of appeal to the Nebraska Court of Appeals. They are planning to contest a 20 November decision by the Nebraska Public Service Commission to approve a route through the state for Keystone XL.   Continue reading “Keystone XL route faces landowner challenge”

LA Times

A driver who later admitted to using narcotics crashed his car into the second-floor dental offices of a Santa Ana building today, according to police.

The white sedan was partially wedged into the second story of the office building, Santa Ana Police Department reported. A specialized fire truck from Los Angeles was brought in to extract the car from the dentist’s office.   Continue reading “Car goes airborne, crashes into 2nd-floor dental office in Santa Ana”

Yahoo News – by Jon Fingas, Engadget

It’s not just state officials who are investigating Hawaii’s false alarm over a (thankfully non-existent) missile attack. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has confirmed that the regulator’s investigation into the error is “well underway.” While Pai shied away from making many definitive statements early on, he said that early findings suggested Hawaii didn’t have “reasonable safeguards or process controls” to prevent a mistaken alert.

Not surprisingly, Pai labeled the alarm as “absolutely unacceptable.” It wasn’t just that it triggered panic for the 38 minutes between the initial alert and the correction, according to the Chairman — it’s that this reduced confidence in the alert system and may have hurt its effectiveness in a real crisis.   Continue reading “FCC investigates Hawaii’s false missile alert”

The Hill  – by Max Greenwald

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said on Saturday that it has begun allowing certain young, undocumented immigrants to renew protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

The move comes after U.S. District Judge William Alsup issued a preliminary injunction this week blocking President Trump‘s decision to end the Obama-era program, which granted temporary reprieve from deportation to hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, often called “dreamers.”   Continue reading “Trump admin resumes accepting DACA renewals after court order”

Fox News

A man aboard a Greyhound bus who allegedly threatened to shoot and kill fellow passengers on Friday, leading police on a chase that began in Wisconsin and ended in Illinois, is an illegal immigrant, and is now facing terror charges.

Police responded to a call around 9:40 p.m. Friday from a bus passenger who claimed there was a person threatening to kill people, Fox 6 reported, citing the Racine County Sheriff’s Department.   Continue reading “Greyhound bus chased by police after illegal immigrant threatens passengers”

Yahoo News

(Reuters) – The “heroic actions” of teachers, school staff and first responders following the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre of 26 young children and educators at Newtown elementary school may have prevented the death toll from being even higher, Connecticut State Police said in a report released on Friday.

The 74-page report detailed state police response to the attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School, one of the five deadliest mass shootings by a single gunman in U.S. history.  Continue reading “Connecticut police commend ‘heroic’ response to Sandy Hook massacre”

The Hill – by Timothy Cama

The GOP chairman overseeing the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) says the agency is partly to blame for the failure of the prosecution against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy.

Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), who heads the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a letter that he wants Trump administration leaders to investigate what he sees as major problems in the BLM’s enforcement programs that led to the Bundy mistrial, including withholding evidence.   Continue reading “GOP chairman slams federal agency involved in Cliven Bundy case”

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The Hill – by Rebecca Savransky

White House aide Kellyanne Conway said late Wednesday President Trump“discovered” there doesn’t need to be a “physical wall” along the country’s entire southern border.

“What’s true is that after conferring with the experts who are involved in this process…the president discovered that part of it will be, he knows, part of it will be the physical wall, part of it is better technology, part of it is also fencing,” Conway said during an interview on CNN.   Continue reading “Conway: Trump ‘discovered’ there doesn’t need to be ‘physical wall’ along entire border”

The Hill – by Max Greenwood

The White House on Wednesday called for the Iranian government to end its crackdown on widespread demonstrations and release thousands of protesters who have reportedly been jailed in recent weeks.

In a statement, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the Trump administration is “deeply concerned” by reports that thousands of peaceful protesters have been arrested amid massive anti-government protests, and called other reports that some prisoners had been tortured or killed “even more disturbing.”   Continue reading “White House calls for Iran to release ‘political prisoners’ amid protest crackdown”

ABC News

In a major policy shift that could affect millions of low-income people, the Trump administration said Thursday it is offering a path for states that want to seek work requirements on Medicaid recipients.

Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said work and community involvement can make a positive difference in people’s lives and in their health. Still, the plan probably will face strong political opposition and even legal challenges over concerns people would lose coverage.   Continue reading “Major shift as Trump opens way for Medicaid work requirement”

KTLA 5 News

The San Antonio, Texas, police chief’s decision to release a dozen undocumented immigrants discovered in a tractor trailer has spurred demands by the local police association that the chief be put on leave while his actions are investigated.

At least one expert, however, says that though there are unusual aspects to the case, it doesn’t appear Chief Bill McManus did anything inappropriate by releasing the immigrants to the local Catholic Charities last month.   Continue reading “San Antonio Police Chief Under Fire After Releasing a Dozen Undocumented Immigrants to Charity”

Yahoo News

Harvey Weinstein was attacked Tuesday night at a restaurant … TMZ has learned.

Weinstein was at Elements restaurant at the Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort in Scottsdale, eating dinner with his sober coach when 2 men sat at a table next to them.

One of the men — Steve — tells TMZ he walked up to Weinstein and told him he loved his movies and would like to take a photo with him. Steve says Weinstein became belligerent and told him to buzz off. The manager of the restaurant says Weinstein was not belligerent — she says to the contrary he was “very sweet about it” and said, “I’d rather not take a picture right now.” The manager says the two shook hands and Steve went back to his table.

Continue reading “Harvey Weinstein Attacked at Scottsdale Restaurant”

Argus Media

Washington, 10 January (Argus) — President Donald Trump’s administration has abruptly withdrawn offshore acreage around Florida from its proposal to open more federal waters to oil and gas leasing, dealing a blow to industry hopes to develop the area.

US interior secretary Ryan Zinke said today he decided to remove Florida from a draft offshore leasing plan after talking today to Florida governor Rick Scott (R). The offshore acreage near Florida includes the eastern Gulf of Mexico, an area thought to hold 3.6bn bl of oil that industry officials say would be easier to develop because it is close to existing oil and gas infrastructure.   Continue reading “US drops Florida from offshore leasing plan”

Hindustan Times

The Trump administration’s decision to not follow through with a proposed change in the H-1B regime has brought cheer to between 500,000 and 750,000 Indians, mostly technology workers, and their families in the US. It has also come as a relief to the Indian government which had expressed concern when news of the plan broke.  Continue reading “Status quo in H-1B visas will bring cheer to Indian techies”

ABC News

At least 13 people are dead and more than 20 are injured in California from weather-related incidents, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday. The southern part of the state has been drenched with severe rain just weeks after several fires tore through the area.

Flash flooding, debris flow and mudslides are punishing the communities hit hard by the Thomas and La Tuna fires, prompting “dozens and dozens” of rescues on the ground, a spokesperson from the Santa Barbara County Fire Department told ABC News.   Continue reading “13 dead after flooding and mudslides force thousands to flee in California”

CNN

A federal judge in California late Tuesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Judge William Alsup also said the administration must resume receiving DACA renewal applications.

But the ruling is limited — the administration does not need to process applications for those who have never before received DACA protections, he said.  Continue reading “Judge blocks Trump administration plan to roll back DACA”

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Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

On Tuesday, we reported  that the Russian military in Syria thwarted a massive drone attack at the Khmeimim air base and Russian Naval point in the city of Tartus on January 6, intercepting 13 heavily armed UAVs launched by terrorists.  Continue reading ““A Strange Coincidence”: US Spy Plane Circled Near Russian Base During Massive Drone Attack”