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Budget 2023 belt-tightening: Liberals order federal spending review, cuts

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:53:31 GMT

OTTAWA — Federal departments and agencies are being told to start tightening their belts as the Trudeau government looks for ways to pay for its latest budget promises while easing recent criticism over its use of outside consultants such as McKinsey & Company.But while Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the savings won’t come at the expense of service to Canadians, others aren’t so sure given what happened when Stephen Harper’s Conservatives ordered similar cuts about a decade ago.Freeland unveiled the Liberals’ latest federal budget plan on Tuesday, which promises billions of dollars for the health-care system, clean-energy infrastructure and other priorities.Yet buried among the roughly $59.5 billion in new measures over the next five years are plans to rein in federal spending in other areas. That includes cutting back on government travel and hiring consultants, alongside a broader spending review.“We are reducing government spending by mo...

Budget 2023: Liberals add foreign interference office, new money-laundering rules

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:53:31 GMT

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government plans to launch a National Counter-Foreign Interference Office, amid ongoing scrutiny of allegations that Beijing interfered in recent federal elections.Tuesday’s federal budget earmarked $56 million over five years for measures to combat foreign interference, threats and covert activities. The Mounties are slated to receive most of that money before April 2026 in support of efforts to investigate threats and proactively work with diaspora communities at risk of being targeted by foreign interference.The budget document says the new office will be stood up within Public Safety Canada, but it does not include a timeline for its launch. The measures come as former governor general David Johnston takes up his role as a special rapporteur, with a mandate to sort out whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should call the public inquiry demanded by the three main opposition parties.The Liberals are also proposing legislative...

Budget 2023: Feds commit consultation money for Indigenous resource sharing

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:53:31 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal Liberal government is committing $8.7 million to hold more consultations on Indigenous resource sharing, in a budget that offers relatively new spending on its reconciliation agenda.  Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled a spending plan that prioritizes Canada’s transition to a greener economy, offering billions in new tax credits, as well as health care and affordability.Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples remains a major priority for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, with billions announced in previous years including early in his first mandate. Major Indigenous organizations, including the Assembly of First Nations, have told the federal government that billions more are needed to address current and future infrastructure needs, such as housing.  The budget shows Ottawa plans to inject $4 billion over seven years into an urban, rural and northern Indigenous housing strategy beginning in 2024-25, but that remains under development...

Court backs victim's family in Adnan Syed's 'Serial' case

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:53:31 GMT

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A Maryland appellate court on Tuesday reinstated Adnan Syed's murder conviction and ordered a new hearing in the case, marking the latest development in the protracted legal odyssey chronicled in the hit podcast “Serial.”Though Syed's conviction has been reinstated, he will not immediately be taken back into custody.In a 2-1 decision released Tuesday, the Appellate Court of Maryland ruled a lower court failed to give sufficient notice to the victim’s family when it scheduled the September hearing that vacated Syed’s conviction and allowed him to regain his freedom after more than two decades behind bars.The court's order does not go into effect for 60 days.Maryland law provides victims with the right to prior notice of such hearings, and that right was violated in the case of Hae Min Lee's brother, the appellate court ruled. Syed was convicted of killing Lee, his high school ex-girlfriend whose body was found in a makeshift grave after her disappearance in 1999...

'Just really appreciate everything': Jonathan Toews opens up as he skates with the Blackhawks

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:53:31 GMT

CHICAGO - Since last January, he's been doing a lot of work alone, watched his longtime teammate get traded, all while thinking about an uncertain future that lies ahead this offseason."That part of it's not easy," said Jonathan Toews of being away from the team as he dealt with symptoms of long COVID and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome. "So it's definitely nice to be back and be on the ice with the guys."So maybe that's why it was quite a moment for the Blackhawks' captain to take part in something he's done so many times since arriving in Chicago in 2007 on Tuesday. A morning skate.Toews did so for the first time at the United Center on Tuesday since January 28, when he last played for the Blackhawks against the Oilers in Edmonton. The flare-up of the illnesses forced him out of the lineup and, for most of it, away from the team. Yet there was a desire for the three-time Stanley Cup champion to try to return to the ice since he's entering the final stretch of his contract with th...

Amazon delivery driver walks into North Carolina police standoff to drop off package

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:53:31 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C (WNCN) -- When Amazon guarantees delivery, it means it - especially in North Carolina.A TikTok video posted earlier this month shows an Amazon driver walking by multiple parked police cars, with lights flashing, toward a Raleigh house to deliver a package. The officers appear to be in a standoff at or near the recipient's house.Officers appear visibly surprised upon noticing the man, wearing an Amazon vest, attempting to deliver the package. Once police realize what the man was doing, they approach him, ask him to stop, and take the package from him, the video shows.The video then shows the Amazon driver walking back to his car - but not before he takes a picture, to prove it was delivered. Delivery driver accused of stealing over 50 packages in NC county, deputies say The video shows more than half a dozen Raleigh police cars visible at the standoff scene when the drop-off was made. Raleigh Police confirmed to Nexstar's WNCN that, on March 18, when the video was cap...

Elgin Police ID 2 victims in double homicide, suspect remains at large

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:53:31 GMT

ELGIN, Texas (KXAN) -- Two people are dead, and a suspect remained at large, after shooting late Monday night in Elgin, according to a news release from the Elgin Police Department Tuesday.Around 11 p.m., officers responded to 817 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. to a report of shots fired, the release said.When officers arrived on the scene, they found two victims with gunshot wounds, according to police. They died at the scene.Both victims were identified as Crystal D. Fitzgerald, 43, and Reggie W. Smith, 45, police said.Elgin PD detectives also identified the suspect as Terrance Wayne Lewis, 35, the release said. Lewis fled the scene, and his current whereabouts as of Tuesday were unknown, police said.Image provided by the Elgin Police DepartmentPolice said this was believed to be an isolated incident, and there was no ongoing threat to the public.The Bastrop County Sheriff's Office, Travis County Sheriff's Office, Manor Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety, Te...

Restrictions to drag performances, story times advance in Texas Senate

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:53:31 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas lawmakers voted along party lines to advance two bills that would enact restrictions to drag-related events and even criminalize performers in the state. Members of the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs agreed Monday to push forward the two proposed drag restrictions — Senate Bill 12 and Senate Bill 1601 — for debate to the full chamber. Both measures advanced in committee by votes of 6-2. It's unclear when the full Senate will take up both pieces of legislation for discussion. If they ultimately pass there, they would head to the Texas House of Representatives for approval before going to the governor's desk for signature. Texas lawmakers discuss bill that could levy $10K fine for schools, teachers celebrating Pride week SB 12 would levy a penalty of up to $10,000 against any business owner hosting a “sexually oriented performance” with anyone who’s younger than 18 present. A city or county would also not be able to host these kinds of performances on...

Round Rock police searching for suspects in H-E-B parking lot assault

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:53:31 GMT

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — Round Rock police are looking for several people involved with an assault in an H-E-B parking lot near Interstate 35.The alleged assault happened at 250 University Boulevard around noon on March 12, police said.Video RRPD released shows two women and three men driving through the parking lot in a red Hyundai Sonata. The two women got out of the car and hit an H-E-B employee near one of the entrances to the store, it shows.Then, the video shows the women running back to the car and leaving the area. The driver of the vehicle was described as a Hispanic man with visible tattoos, police said.RRPD said the vehicle was stolen and has since been recovered. It said the car could be connected with other crimes in the Austin area.If you have any information, you should call the Williamson County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-253-7867 or send a tip through WilcoCrimeTips.org.

St. Paul woman sentenced for stealing good Samaritan’s SUV after I-94 rollover

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:53:31 GMT

A St. Paul woman was given three years of probation Monday for stealing a man’s SUV after he stopped to help her on the side of Interstate 94.Sydney Ann McKellepp (Courtesy of the Ramsey County sheriff’s office)Sydney Ann McKellepp, 22, was convicted of simple robbery and motor vehicle theft, two felonies she pleaded guilty to last month in connection with the Jan. 16 incident.A 180-day jail sentence was stayed, pending completion of probation, and a count each of fleeing police in a motor vehicle and receiving stolen property were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.St. Paul police were called to eastbound I-94 at Lexington Parkway about 11:10 p.m. to assist the Minnesota State Patrol with a rollover accident. Officers saw an unidentified man walking up the highway embankment away from the crash scene.Officers then saw another man trying to pull a woman, later identified as McKellepp, out of the driver’s seat of a Nissan Rogue and then being dragged a short distance as the ...