NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with “egregious” improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case. Weinstein, 72, will remain imprisoned because he was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape and sentenced to 16 years in prison. But the state Court of Appeals ruling reopens a painful chapter in America’s reckoning with sexual misconduct by powerful f ..read more

The Biden administration on Thursday cracked down on planet-warming emissions and other pollution from power plants, aiming to make these power sources more environmentally friendly. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Thursday it had finalized a suite of rules that aim to cut the plants’ pollution.  One such rule, which regulates greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal and new gas plants, will require them to install technology that prevents 90 percent of their carbon emissions.  It also finalized rules that aim to reduce coal plants’ releases of toxic substan ..read more

BOSTON (SHNS) - As the Senate prepares to take on the state's competitive electricity supply sector, it has an enthusiastic supporter in Attorney General Andrea Campbell. Asked by the News Service for a reaction to the Senate's plan to take up legislation Thursday essentially outlawing electric supply competition for residential customers, Campbell initially responded, "Yay!" The bill senators will vote on Thursday (S 2738) would prohibit competitive electric suppliers from signing up new residential customers, effectively limiting them only to larger commercial clients. Supporters s ..read more

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - Congressman Richard Neal made a special visit to 22News this week. Neal sat down with 22News to discuss a series of topics ranging from immigration to the West-East Rail. Following a series of votes in Washington for war and humanitarian aid, the Congressman discussed that and other local issues impacting us here in western Massachusetts. Full Interview Here Biden signs ‘vital’ Ukraine, Israel foreign aid bill Funding for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and Gaza civilians A total of $95 billion in war aid is being sent from Washington to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and civilians ..read more

President Biden on Wednesday signed the $95 billion emergency foreign aid package, calling out “MAGA Republicans” for the holdup to send aid to Ukraine. “It’s a good day for America, it’s a good day for Europe, and it’s a good day for world peace,” Biden said when announcing he signed the legislation. “It’s going to make America safer, it's going to make the world safer, and it continues America’s leadership in the world and everyone knows it.” The Senate approved a package that includes $61 billion for Ukraine, $15 billion in military aid for Israel, $9 billion in humanitarian ..read more

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) - The clock is ticking on TikTok after the Senate passed a bill banning the social media app in the U.S. unless it is sold off by its Chinese owner. The U.S. says it’s time for TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the app to a non-Chinese company or say goodbye to the U.S. market. “Congress is not acting to punish ByteDance, TikTok, or any other individual company. Congress is acting to prevent foreign adversaries from conducting espionage,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) Some lawmakers say TikTok is like a giant intelligence vacuum sucking up American users’ pri ..read more

BOSTON (SHNS) - Gov. Maura Healey thinks her top transportation deputy used a "very poor choice of words" during her recent candid remarks about wielding her policymaking power and exploring controversial tax, fee and toll options, but suggested she's ready to put the matter in the past. In a live interview on WBUR's "Radio Boston" Tuesday, Healey continued to distance herself from the idea of expanding highway tolls to the state's borders, one of many options that Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt said is under consideration by a transportation funding task force. "I am focused on ..read more

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - Congressman Richard Neal made a special visit to 22News on Tuesday. Congressman Neal sat down with 22News anchor Taylor Knight at our studios in Chicopee. He discussed everything from the recent House passage of funding for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and civilians in Gaza, to West-East Rail, to immigration reform. Rep. Neal provides update on West-East rail at Union Station in Springfield That's something Governor Maura Healey has been pushing the federal government for as the state continues to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the emergency shelter system. "Immi ..read more

BOSTON (SHNS) - State government is in the early days of coping with artificial intelligence and the potential it has to dramatically change society, and Attorney General Andrea Campbell issued an advisory to AI developers, suppliers and users Tuesday to highlight their respective obligations under Massachusetts's consumer protection laws. "AI has tremendous potential benefits to society. It presents exciting opportunities to boost efficiencies and cost-savings in the marketplace, foster innovation and imagination, and spur economic growth," Campbell's office wrote in the advisory, adding that ..read more

The Biden administration is restricting drilling on millions of acres of government-owned lands in Alaska — and taking the penultimate step toward blocking a mining access road in the same state. The administration announced on Friday that it would block off oil and gas drilling on 13 million acres in the Western Arctic that are part of an area known as the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. The 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve, found in Alaska’s North Slope, was set aside in 1923 by then-President Warren G. Harding as an emergency supply of oil for the Navy. The area is also home ..read more