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Transgender North Carolinians file federal lawsuit challenging gender-affirming care ban for minors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:36:12 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The family of a transgender boy in North Carolina is suing state health officials to block implementation of gender-affirming care restrictions that they say will force their son to undergo a traumatic wrong-gender puberty.A federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court alleges the new state law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment by denying treatment access to transgender youths and undercuts parents’ rights to make medical decisions for their children. The North Carolina lawsuit closely follows the playbook of other successful court challenges to gender-affirming care bans that have swept Republican-controlled states this year. At least 22 states have enacted laws restricting or banning common treatments for transgender minors, and legal challenges have delivered mixed results. But court victories in states like Arkansas, where a federal judge struck down a state ban as unconstitutional, mapped out what Lambda Legal attorn...

Alberta MP accuses premier of ‘baseless,’ ‘ludicrous’ statements on electricity

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:36:12 GMT

CALGARY — The fuse is lit for fireworks in Ottawa after a Liberal member of Parliament accused Alberta Premier Danielle Smith of making false claims days before Smith is slated to appear before a federal environmental committee.Calgary MP George Chahal said Wednesday that Smith is spreading misinformation about the federal Liberal government’s plans to bring Canada’s electricity grid to net-zero. “Over the past several months, the premier has actively worked to undermine and misinform Albertans,” Chahal said in a press conference.He pointed to Smith’s claim that her decision to suspend new approvals for renewable power in the province was done at the request of rural counties, but Rural Municipalities Alberta has said it made no such request.Chahal added that Smith’s United Conservative Party government is keeping secret its own report on the costs of decarbonizing the electrical grid.He called an $8-million ad campaign to sway Ontario voters agai...

Spin Master bets on nostalgic wooden toys in US$950M deal for Melissa & Doug

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:36:12 GMT

TORONTO — The company best known for the kids’ cartoon “Paw Patrol” is betting its acquisition of a U.S. toymaker specializing in wooden games and toys will broaden its appeal with parents limiting their children’s screen time. Toronto-based Spin Master Corp. announced on Wednesday it has signed a US$950 million deal to buy Wilton, Conn.-based Melissa & Doug, which is known for its nostalgic, pretend-play toys for preschoolers.“The acquisition of Melissa & Doug represents a significant step forward in our growth strategy and will help support our vision to reimagine everyday play,” Spin Master chief executive Max Rangel said during a news conference. He said the acquisition will be an important new brand within Spin Master’s infant and preschool toddler group.Doug Stephens, the founder of Retail Prophet, said Spin Master may be sensing resistance from parents toward digital toys and games, and felt the need to diversify.“There&...

Judge gives $725M Facebook settlement final approval

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:36:12 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – A judge in San Francisco gave final approval to the massive Facebook privacy settlement on Tuesday. The social media company has agreed to pay $725 million to settle claims it violated users’ privacy by sharing their data with third parties. While Meta agreed to the payout, it denies wrongdoing. After months of court proceedings, Judge Vince Chhabria overruled several objections to the settlement Tuesday and granted the settlement his final approval. There's one more key step before payments can go out: a window for appeals to be filed. How big will Facebook settlement checks be? Lawyers reveal estimated payment per person A representative for Angeion, the settlement administrator tasked with processing and paying out claims in this case, told Nexstar it's still uncertain whether any appeals will be filed in the next 30 days. If there are no appeals filed, the company is prepared to send out payments "soon" after the window closes, the representative said. An exact da...

What you need to know about pneumonia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:36:12 GMT

Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton is in the intensive care unit battling what her daughter calls a rare form of pneumonia.How can someone so seemingly healthy as a 55-year-old world class gymnast spiral into intensive care from pneumonia? Related: Olympic legend Mary Lou Retton ‘fighting for her life’ in ICU: daughter Dr Catherine Myers is a pulmonologist at Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute.She joined the WGN Evening News to talk about the risk, when to seek medical attention and how to protect ourselves against pneumonia.Sign up for our Medical Watch newsletter. This daily update includes important information from WGN's Dina Bair and the Med Watch team including latest updates from health organizations, in-depth reporting on advancements in medical technology and treatments as well as personal features related to people in the medical field. Sign up here.

Olympic champion gymnast Mary Lou Retton remains in intensive care as donations pour in

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:36:12 GMT

Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton remained in intensive care on Wednesday while dealing with a rare form of pneumonia.Retton's daughters posted a message on Instagram saying their mother “continues to fight” and thanked the thousands who have donated money to help take care of Retton's medical bills.Shayla Kelley Schrepfer, the oldest of Retton's four daughters, said in a video update on Instagram that the family was “overwhelmed” by the outpouring of support for Retton, 55.“We didn’t even realize that there are so many people out there that love her just as much as we do,” Schrepfer said. "And it’s been a really hard time for our family. And so just seeing that people love her like that and showing her that support has just meant the world to us and to her, so thank you.” D.J. Moore gets an NFL award after a unique performance Nearly 5,000 people had donated over $275,000 in the 24 hours since her family launched an online fundraiser on Tuesday. The family said Retton d...

Kansas teacher says he was fired over TikTok videos

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:36:12 GMT

OLATHE, Kan. (WDAF) — Stephen Taylor has been a teacher for six years, most recently at Mill Creek Campus, an alternative school in Olathe, Kansas. He has also been a stand-up comedian for the last eight years, but it seems the school district employing him wasn't amused by his jokes about students.So unamused, Taylor says he was fired for posting videos on TikTok."The reason I'm doing comedy on TikTok is to make money because [the school] only [pays] me $45,000 a year, and I work all the time," Taylor explained to Nexstar's WDAF. Jets’ Aaron Rodgers challenges Chiefs’ Travis Kelce to vaccine debate But a series of videos at the beginning of the school year had him facing an unusual question from administrators: How often does he really pass gas near students? That's something he claimed to do on his TikTok account."I tell my students the wrong thing all the time when they annoy me. I tell them Abraham Lincoln invented the car, that's why it's named after him," Taylor said in a vi...

Is America's child care crisis about to get worse?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:36:12 GMT

(NewsNation) — America has a child care problem, and some advocates fear it's about to get worse.Over the past two years, more than 220,000 child care programs have received federal assistance through the American Rescue Plan's Child Care Stabilization Program. Now, many of those same providers are at risk of closing after the $24 billion in COVID relief funds expired last month. A June report from The Century Foundation — a progressive think tank — projects more than 70,000 child care programs serving over 3 million children could shut down without additional funding. Parents left without child care as federal funding expires "(The child care) sector has been struggling for a really long time, and the shock has left things more precarious," said Laura Valle-Gutierrez, a fellow at the organization and co-author of the report.At issue, is what Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has called a "textbook example of a broken market," where those who provide child care aren't paid well and...

Could Austinites weigh in on an I-35 'cap and stitch' bond election?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:36:12 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- As the Texas Department of Transportation moves ahead on its Interstate 35 Capital Express Central project, Austin city leaders are working to identify hundreds of millions of dollars to support highway "caps," or deck plazas placed on top of sunken portions of the highway.But with an estimated $730 million in funding sources needing to be identified by December 2024, one Austin City Council member is eyeing a possible bond election proposal to help supplement any federal grant dollars the city receives to help move that cap program forward. Austin vying for federal grant for I-35 Cap and Stitch program In late September, Austin City Council approved submitting a federal grant application for constructing funding assistance for its Our Future 35 Cap and Stitch program. The application requested $105.2 million in funds to help finance and construct caps from East Cesar Chavez Street to Fourth Street, joined by a City of Austin match of $45 million.The funding is ma...

How water may be helping to dampen earthquakes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:36:12 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- It turns out rocks full of water might be helping to reduce the power of earthquakes near New Zealand. At UT's Institute for Geophysics, they've been studying water stuck in the rocks under the ocean and how that water may be keeping stronger quakes at bay. KXAN Meteorologist Nick Bannin spoke with Andrew Gase, a postdoctoral fellow at the institute about their findings.Nick Bannin, KXAN Meteorologist: Andrew, your research while at UT looked at the relationship between underground water and earthquakes in New Zealand, what did you end up finding?Andrew Gase, former Postdoctoral Fellow UT Institute for Geophysics: Yeah, so in New Zealand, there's a very large fault that's well known for causing these earthquakes that we call 'slow earthquakes.' They happen over weeks to months instead of big earthquakes that caused a lot of shaking right away. And we wanted to know what's inside the fault. And so we used a tool called 'seismic imaging,' and it's kind of like medical...