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SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — If you have any gas-powered gardening tools, you may be forced to give them up soon. California is considering a statewide ban on the equipment. At least 60 cities in California have some kind of ban on gas-powered garden tools, but now state regulators are concerned about the impacts these tools could be having on the environment.

NEW YORK -- The judge in Harvey Weinstein's rape trial declined the defense's request that he step aside as jury selection dipped into a third day Thursday. Judge James Burke announced his decision Thursday, a day after Weinstein's lawyers sent him a letter asking that he remove himself from the case. They objected to comments Burke made when he asked Weinstein if he was willing to got to jail “for life” if he kept ignoring a court order that bars texting in the courtroom. Weinstein’s lawyers blasted the judge's comments as “prejudicial and inflammatory,” and raised questions about his impartiality....

WASHINGTON: We’ll say it again and again until it sinks in: There is a huge difference between ordinary political dissent and the criminal provision of “aid and comfort” to an enemy. And the Congressional Anti-American Caucus comprised of Muslim anti-Semites Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, along with enablers like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and most other Democrats, demonstrates the difference daily. President Donald Trump’s decision to thump Iran over its incessant sponsorship of terrorist and military activities against the U.S. for more than two decades by killing top Gen. Qassem Soleimani has brought out the worst (best?) examples of treason we’ve seen...

Full Title: President Donald J. Trump Is Committed to Modernizing Environmental Policies and Paving the Way for Vital Infrastructure Improvements "The administration is committed to ensuring that we are good stewards of our environment, while supporting American prosperity."~President Donald J. TrumpMODERNIZING ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS: President Donald J. Trump is modernizing environmental regulations to deliver infrastructure projects that will improve our communities. The Administration is proposing a rule to modernize and accelerate environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) so that infrastructure can be built in a timely, efficient, and affordable manner. Modernizing environmental regulations will help bring new infrastructure...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), whose campaign is running largely on the issue of climate change, may increase his private jet usage during the Senate impeachment trial, allowing him to jet back and forth between D.C. and early primary and caucus states, his senior campaign adviser Jeff Weaver stated this week. While the Senate has not set the parameters of the upcoming impeachment trial and House Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) has yet to transmit the articles to the upper chamber, senators — particularly those who are also running presidential campaigns — are beginning to strategize on how they will effectively balance the...

London (CNN) The House of Commons has voted overwhelmingly in favor of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, finally paving the way for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union later this month after more than four decades of membership. The deal has cleared its biggest hurdle with the vote that followed a third reading in Parliament, in which 330 voted for and 231 against, putting an end to three years of political wrangling following the 2016 Brexit referendum. Thursday was the last opportunity for MPs to reject the bill before it is sent to the House of Lords,...

I’ll leave it to others to debate the merits of San Francisco’s new district attorney Chesa Boudin, who (according to this San Franciso Examiner article) won election in the face of “intense opposition” from the city’s police union and political establishment and who has plans “to immediately begin reforming the criminal justice system.” I am very surprised, though, to learn that Justice Sotomayor somehow saw fit to send Boudin a video of ardent congratulations at his swearing-in yesterday. In her video, Sotomayor tells Boudin that she is sending “this message to tell you how much I admire you” and that...

Over the last three years, these lunatics have tried to fake it, but their mask is off. We have watched them express outright hate for the Founding Fathers, the police, law and order, the rule of law, the Constitution, election results, and, most recently, the electoral college. When I thought they had reached their wits ends, they put the pedal to the metal with their recent reaction to the killing of Iran’s top military General Qasem Soleimani. I never thought I would see the day when Americans would be so full of hate toward their own country that they would...

The CEOs of the three largest U.S. voting equipment companies on Thursday supported more disclosure requirements, marking a major step for an industry that has come under close scrutiny in recent years due to election security concerns. The leaders of Election Systems and Software (ES&S), Dominion Voting Systems, and Hart InterCivic testified before the House Administration Committee during a House hearing, marking the first time leaders from the three major voting equipment manufacturers testified together before Congress. Committee Chairwoman Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) kicked off the hearing by asking whether the CEOs of these companies, which are estimated to control...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told Republicans during a closed-door lunch on Thursday to expect President Trump’s impeachment trial to start next week. Three GOP senators said the Republican leader warned lawmakers during the caucus meeting that they should not expect to be able to go home next weekend, indicating that the long-delayed trial will be underway. Proceedings have been held up while Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has refused to send over the House-passed articles of impeachment, but she told reporters earlier Thursday that she would “soon” do so. "We thought, we as the body, that the Speaker will...

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) endorsed Joe Biden for president on Thursday, giving the former vice president a high-profile backer in a key Super Tuesday state. Garcetti, who was once considered a potential 2020 contender, credited Biden with helping the city enact a $15 minimum wage and forging “the most sweeping climate agreement prior to the Paris accords.” “Democrats are blessed to have such an extraordinary field of candidates, but I will never forget what Joe Biden has done for my city and our nation,” Garcetti said in a statement. “We need Joe Biden to bring our nation and...

Forensics officials in the western Mexican state of Jalisco are trying to determine how many victims are accounted for in 26 plastic bags... The Jalisco state prosecutor’s office said in a statement that it began to collect the bags Tuesday in the municipality of Tonala on the outskirts of Guadalajara. Officials initially recovered 14 bags of body parts. They returned Wednesday and found 12 more.

RUSH: You remember during the campaign, Trump asked people…? Well, he didn’t ask. He told people that, if they vote for him, they’re gonna someday become tired of winning. That we were gonna be winning so much that we were gonna call him and say, “Mr. President, slow down. We can’t handle all this winning. You gotta lose a couple just to keep people honest.” Remember that? I have a question for the Democrats. When are you people gonna get tired of losing? (laughing) Do you even realize that you are losing, and you are losing magnificently, and you are...

Florida Highway Patrol troopers only meant to write a simple citation, but it quickly turned into a felony arrest after they found $1.2 million worth of cocaine. Troopers pulled over 27-year-old Elizabeth Espinoza on Tuesday afternoon after observing illegal window tint on her vehicle on Interstate 75 southbound. Troopers noticed she was acting exceedingly nervous, which stood out because of the innocuous nature of the stop.

Flashback to 2011 when now Speaker of the House Pelosi said Obama "did not need authorization" to use force in Libya. This contrasts with her current criticism of President Trump's decision to kill Iranian terrorist leader Qasem Soleimani. ...

For the first time ever, a blood red flag is being flown over the famous Jamkaran Mosque in the Iranian "holy city" of Qom. And as I will explain below, the fact that this mosque is directly associated with the Mahdi makes this symbolic gesture doubly significant. The hoisting of this flag was broadcast on Iranian state television, and it was obviously intended to send a message to Shiites all over the globe. So precisely what was that message? Well, we are being told that according to Shiite tradition a red flag represents both "blood spilled unjustly" and a call...

There were no champagne corks popping, no crystal balls dropping in Wang Yi's new year. The pastor of Early Rain Covenant Church was in prison, spending his second January 1st in a dark cell, charged with a crime Americans commit every day: worshipping Jesus. The actual allegations were much more subtle -- things like "illegal business activities" or "inciting subversion of state power." But in China, government officials need no excuse. Christians, like Uyghurs, Falun Gong, and any other men and women of faith, are fair game. "Where are you taking my husband?" a woman pleads on a cell phone...

Pope Francis Appoints Pro-Gay Rector as Bishop of Northampton Canon David Oakley mired in seminary scandal NORTHAMPTON, England (ChurchMilitant.com) - The rector of England's largest seminary, who reportedly went to bat for an openly gay seminarian, has been appointed as the new bishop of Northampton.  Canon David Oakley succeeds Bp. Peter Doyle, who has also come under fire for promoting a pro-gay agenda and sharing the platform at an LGBT conference with homosexualist Jesuit Fr. James Martin.   The 64-year-old bishop-elect, rector of St. Mary's College, Oscott, has been described by those who know him as "pastoral, discerning and faithful" and "having a ministry in the mold...

Tax enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service has reportedly tumbled to the lowest level in at least four decades. Just 0.45% of individuals were audited in 2019, down from 0.59% in 2018 and marking the eighth straight year of decline, following years of budget cuts, the Wall Street Journal recently reported. That figure is down more than half from when the IRS audited 1.1% of tax returns in 2010. In other words, roughly 1 out of every 220 taxpayers were audited last year. A decade ago, those odds were closer to 1 in 90, CNBC explained. The IRS said it...

The Kabuki Dance in the DC Swamp between San Fran Nan and Cocaine Mitch is about to come to its grand climax. – The only question at this point is whether the drunken Speaker with the constantly misbehaving dentures will cave in and deliver her vodka-stained articles of impeachment to the Senate, or whether the Senate Majority Leader will deem them to have been delivered and begin the Senate trial anyway. The Hill reported Thursday afternoon that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: …warned lawmakers during the caucus meeting that they should not expect to be able to go home next weekend,...