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Regulators begin hearings on how much customers should pay for Georgia nuclear reactors

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:16:05 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Power Co. is urging the state’s utility regulators to approve a deal to pay for the company’s new nuclear reactors as a few holdout opponents keep fighting to try to get the Public Service Commission to keep the utility from collecting any cost overruns for the two reactors at Plant Vogtle.Commissioners began hearings Monday on the proposed deal, which would add $8.95 a month to a typical residential customer’s monthly bill, atop the $5.42 that Georgia Power is already collecting. The five elected commissioners, all Republicans, are scheduled to vote on the $7.56 billion proposal on Dec. 19.The increase would raise the current typical monthly residential bill of nearly $157 by almost 6%. The increase would begin in the month after Unit 4 begins commercial operation. Georgia Power says that will happen next spring.The largest unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co., Georgia Power announced the deal in August, agreeing with commission staff and some...

Heisman finalists: LSU QB Daniels, Oregon QB Nix, Washington QB Penix Jr., Ohio St WR Harrison Jr.

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:16:05 GMT

LSU’s Jayden Daniels, Oregon’s Bo Nix and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., transfer quarterbacks who have all played at least five college seasons, and Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. were announced as the Heisman Trophy finalists on Monday night.The Heisman has been given to the nation’s most outstanding college football player since 1935. This year’s winner will be announced Saturday in New York. The top four vote-getters determined by more than 870 voters, which include members of the media and former Heisman winners, are selected as finalists.With Nix and Penix, the Pac-12 has two Heisman finalists for the first time since 2010 when Stanford’s Andrew Luck was the runner-up to Auburn’s Cam Newton, and Oregon running back LaMichael James finished third in the balloting.The Pac-12 is in its final season with its current membership before 10 schools depart, including Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten. A look at each finalist’...

Reported cancellation of Virginia menorah lighting draws rebuke from governor

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:16:05 GMT

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) — Virginia political leaders, including Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, on Monday condemned the reported cancellation of a menorah lighting at a community event in Williamsburg over apparent concerns related to the Israel-Hamas war.The criticism from Youngkin and members of the General Assembly from both parties came after the Virginia Gazette reported over the weekend that the ceremony, which had been scheduled for a monthly art and musical festival happening Dec. 10, had been canceled. Shirley Vermillion, the festival’s founder, told the newspaper that the menorah lighting “seemed very inappropriate” in light of the conflict.“The concern is of folks feeling like we are siding with a group over the other … not a direction we ever decide to head,” Vermillion told the newspaper for Sunday’s story. Youngkin — who has been outspoken in his support of Israel since Hamas’ bloody Oct. 7 rampage — said on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Singling out the Jewish c...

David Yee wins $75K Siminovitch Prize for uplifting Asian Canadian theatre community

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:16:05 GMT

Trailblazing playwright David Yee has been awarded this year’s $75,000 Siminovitch Prize for his body of work dedicated to uplifting Asian Canadian voices in theatre.It’s Canada’s biggest theatre purse, celebrating an artist whose work helps transform the country’s theatre scene.The 2023 jury praised Yee’s artistic range spanning forms and genres, and the way he’s opened doors for talent in the Asian Canadian community as both an artist and advocate.The Toronto playwright is also an actor and co-founding artistic director of fu-GEN Theatre Company, which produces the works of Asian North American playwrights. His distinctive voice has earned him a Governor General’s Award for his play “carried away on the crest of a wave,” as well as residences at theatres in Toronto and beyond.He says his playwriting, which “has been informed and cultivated by an overwhelming and essential need for community,” is inherently linked to...

GM’s Cruise robotaxi service faces potential fine in alleged cover-up of San Francisco accident

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:16:05 GMT

California regulators are alleging a San Francisco robotaxi service owned by General Motors covered up an accident involving one of its driverless cars, raising the specter they may add a fine to the recent suspension of its California license.The potential penalty facing GM’s Cruise service could be around $1.5 million, based on documents filed late last week by the California Public Utilities Commission.The notice orders Cruise to appear at a Feb. 6 evidentiary hearing to determine whether the robotaxi service misled regulators about what happened after one of its driverless cars ran into a pedestrian who had already been struck by another vehicle driven by a human on the evening of Oct. 2 in San Francisco.The February hearing comes just six months after the commission authorized Cruise’s robotaxi service to begin charging passengers for around-the-clock rides throughout San Francisco despite strident objections from city officials who warned the driverless cars malfun...

9 businesses targeted in crash-and-grab burglaries in under 2 months 

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:16:05 GMT

CHICAGO — A string of crash-and-grab burglaries across the city has prompted Chicago police to offer a warning to businesses.According to police, nine businesses across the city were targeted in crash-and-grab burglaries in the last month and a half. Police say during each burglary, the group responsible drove a vehicle through the front of a store before ransacking the business and stealing from inside. The individuals involved then fled the scene in a vehicle that was waiting nearby.  Employee shot inside store in Gary According to police, the burglaries unfolded in the morning hours between Oct. 24 and Dec. 4. Chicago police provided the following timeline of the burglaries:700 block of North Franklin Street in River North on Tuesday, Oct. 24.2200 block of West Taylor Street on the Near West Side on Wednesday, Oct. 25.900 block of North Michigan Avenue along the Magnificent Mile on Wednesday, Oct. 25.1800 block of South State Street on the Near South Side on Thursday, Oct....

'Barbie' gets streaming release date on Max

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:16:05 GMT

The biggest box office hit of the year will soon make its streaming debut.'Barbie' will be available to stream on Max on Friday, Dec. 15. A special sign language version of the smash film will also be available.SEE ALSO | Dean’s Reviews: ‘Maestro’“Max is the premiere destination for storytelling, so being able to share the biggest movie of the year in ASL, the first language for many, will make this story resonate in a more meaningful way,” said Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content.Starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as 'Barbie' and 'Ken,' respectively, the hit film based on the popular toy has taken in more than $1 billion globally at the box office.Directed by Greta Gerwig, the film is also garnering serious Oscar buzz.Max launched in May of this year, merging the previously known HBO MAX and Discovery + apps. Streaming plans start as low as $9.99.Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly ne...

Wild’s secret sauce during winning streak? Players working ‘twice as hard’

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:16:05 GMT

CALGARY, Alberta — The Wild have looked like a new team since John Hynes took over as head coach last Tuesday.Tight and listless during a seven-game losing streak that cost Dean Evason his job, the team is loose, skating and scoring in three straight wins under Hynes, outscoring opponents by a combined 13-3 in the Wild’s first three-game winning streak of the season.Minnesota brings that streak, and the confidence that comes with it, into a big, four-game road trip that begins Tuesday night in Calgary with an 8 p.m. CST puck drop at the Saddledome.“It’s been a good week,” Hynes said after Minnesota’s 4-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday at Xcel Energy Center.Reporters have been trying to pry the secret sauce out of Hynes and players since the Wild beat St. Louis, 3-1, in his Minnesota debut, and certainly an emphasis on closing gaps defensively in the neutral zone has worked to reduce the team’s time in its own zone and kickstart rushes the other way.Hynes also has emph...

Thomas Friedman: This is the 9/11 lesson Israel needs to learn

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:16:05 GMT

As Israel debates what to do next in the Gaza Strip, I hope Israel’s political-military leadership will reflect on the adage often attributed to Confucius: “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves” — one for your enemy and one for yourself.Wise man, Confucius.The reason I was so wary about Israel invading Gaza with the aim of totally eliminating Hamas was certainly not out of any sympathy for Hamas, which has been a curse on the Palestinian people even more than on Israel. It was out of a deep concern that Israel was acting out of blind rage, aiming at an unattainable goal — wiping Hamas from the face of the earth, as one of its ministers advocated — and with no plan for the morning after.In doing so Israel could get stuck in Gaza forever, owning all its pathologies and having to govern its more than 2 million people amid a humanitarian crisis, and even worse, discrediting the very army that it was trying to restore Israelis’ trust in.Quite honestly, I thought back...

Timberwolves’ clutch-time offense is vastly improved this season. You can thank Mike Conley for that

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:16:05 GMT

Mike Conley and Chris Finch have both previously described a strong working relationship. Such a dynamic between point guard and coach is invaluable for a basketball team.Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley dribbles down the court during the second half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, Friday, April 21, 2023, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)It’s especially important in winning time, when a possession here or there — and the decisions about what to do with it — can change a win to a loss, and vice versa.Sometimes, in those moments, Conley said he will lean on Finch for play calls or directions. But there are other times when Finch will look at the 36-year-old veteran and ask, “What do you got?”“And I’ll go out there and run something,” Conley said.Saturday’s win in Charlotte, in which Minnesota turned a four-point deficit with fewer than five minutes to play into a six-point victory, wa...