Pipeline company could face fines ADVERTISING Pipeline company could face fines CANNON BALL, N.D. (AP) — Officers in riot gear clashed again Wednesday with protesters near the Dakota Access pipeline, hitting several dozen with pepper spray as they waded through
Pipeline company could face fines
CANNON BALL, N.D. (AP) — Officers in riot gear clashed again Wednesday with protesters near the Dakota Access pipeline, hitting several dozen with pepper spray as they waded through waist-deep water in an attempt to reach property owned by the pipeline’s developer.
The confrontation came just hours after North Dakota regulators discussed the possibility the pipeline company could be fined for not immediately reporting American Indian artifacts were found along the route.
Public Service Commission Chairwoman Julie Fedorchak said she was “extremely disappointed” that Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners waited 10 days before reporting last month’s discovery of stone cairns and other artifacts. The panel could decide to levy fines of up to $200,000, Fedorchak said, though she said such a high amount would be unlikely.
After an inspection, company consultants decided to divert the construction by about 50 feet, even though they determined there was a “low likelihood” any additional artifacts were buried nearby. The State Historic Preservation Office concurred with the company’s plan on how to proceed after the artifacts were found.
Although that change was relatively minor, President Barack Obama said it was possible the Army Corps of Engineers could eventually examine much larger ones that would reroute the pipeline in southern North Dakota to alleviate tribal concerns. He made the remarks during an interview with the online news outlet NowThis.
FBI investigating ‘Vote Trump’ tag, fire at black church
GREENVILLE, Miss. (AP) — The FBI opened a civil rights investigation of a fire that heavily damaged a black church in Mississippi where someone wrote “Vote Trump” in silver spray paint.
The Tuesday night fire heavily damaged the 200-member Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville, Miss., where Mayor Errick Simmons on Wednesday called it a “heinous, hateful, cowardly act.”
“We consider it a hate crime … because of the political message which we believe was intended to interfere with worship and intimidate voters,” Simmons said. “This act is a direct assault on people’s right to freely worship.”
The mayor said the FBI and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are assisting the investigation in the Mississippi River city, where about 78 percent of the 32,100 residents are African-American.
Putin offers new pause for besieged Aleppo
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday offered a new unilateral humanitarian pause for Syria’s war-ravaged Aleppo, urging rebels to use it to leave the city’s eastern, besieged districts. The Syrian rebels quickly dismissed Putin’s initiative.
Later in the day, at least eight civilians were killed in presumed government or Russian air strikes on the rebel-controlled town of Saraqib in Idlib province, a local search-and-rescue outfit reported.
Putin ordered his forces to open humanitarian corridors to eastern Aleppo this Friday, along with two routes for rebels to leave the city “in order to prevent a senseless loss of life,” the Defense Ministry announced Wednesday.
One exit leads to the Turkish border, the other to the city of Idlib, according to the ministry.
The U.N. and other relief organizations declined to use the corridors two weeks ago, when Russia first opened them, saying rebels and pro-government forces would not guarantee their safety. Few rebels or civilians were seen leaving the city, either.
Chief of the Russian General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov said he was “calling on all leaders of armed groups directly to cease hostilities and leave Aleppo with their weapons.”
Gerasimov also said the rebel offensive on the Syrian government-held districts in western Aleppo, which was launched last week, has failed to break through the siege.
Cops: Mom texted video of dead toddler during fight with dad
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A woman jailed on charges she killed her toddler son sent a video of the boy’s apparently lifeless body to his father in a jealous, vengeful rage during a text-messaged argument that lasted more than two hours, police said in a criminal complaint.
Christian Clark, 21, of McKeesport, was jailed without bond after being arraigned on charges of criminal homicide in the death of 17-month-old Andre Price III and attempted homicide of his 2-year-old sister, Angel. Clark doesn’t have an attorney listed in online court records.
Allegheny County homicide detectives say Clark was arguing with the boy’s father, Andre Price Jr., when she started sending increasingly violent text messages beginning about 9 p.m. Tuesday. The complaint indicated Clark was upset at having to clean up toilet water the children spilled but mostly because Price had left for work earlier in the day and Clark believed he planned to have sex with another woman.
“Ya kids ain’t safe here I don’t want them here” and “Answer me or im going to jail for child endangerment” were two of the dozens of texts listed in the criminal complaint. Then came a message at 10:01 p.m. that said, “I’m killing them” — followed by a laughing emoji with tears coming from its eyes, police said.
At various points, Clark also texted photos of each child — including one of the boy face-down on an air mattress with his face in a comforter.
Some immune-boosting cancer drugs may pose rare heart risks
(AP) Doctors have found a disturbing downside to some powerful new drugs that harness the immune system to fight cancer: In rare cases, they may cause potentially fatal heart damage, especially when used together.
“The problem is, no one has this on their radar,” so patients are not routinely checked for it, said Dr. Javid Moslehi, head of a Vanderbilt University clinic specializing in heart risks from cancer therapies.
He led a report Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine describing two patients who died of heart trouble two weeks after receiving their first doses of two Bristol-Myers Squibb drugs, Opdivo and Yervoy, for the deadly skin cancer melanoma.
Two similar drugs also are on the market, and the study leaders believe they might pose heart risks, too.
“My sense is that this is a class effect, not limited to one drug,” Moslehi said.
Facebook gold streak continues in 3Q, thanks partly to video
NEW YORK (AP) — Whether it’s a video clip of your friend’s dog or a live stream of the presidential debates, you are likely watching more videos on Facebook than ever. And that means you’re also more likely to see video ads.
Facebook’s latest strategy is to grow both user-generated and advertiser-created videos as it tries to get a firm foothold in this nascent but growing market. The strategy appears to be working. While Madison Avenue is not known for risky experimenting, advertisers are already testing the waters with live video. General Motors, for example, launched its electric Chevy Bolt EV through Facebook Live this year.
“People are spending more and more time on mobile, especially video,” David Wehner, Facebook’s chief financial officer, said in an interview.
He said this has been a big factor in helping drive up overall mobile advertising.
It helps on the video front that Facebook had successfully transitioned from desktop to mobile, despite early doubts. Now, when Facebook tries to sell video to its advertisers, it can simply point to past financial results. The percentage of ad revenue that came from mobile has increased every quarter since the company began reporting this figure in 2012.
