RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The very close election for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat heads next to a hand recount even as election officials announced a machine recount of over 5.5 million ballots resulted in no margin change between the candidates. The statewide machine recount — in which ballots were run again through tabulators — that wrapped up this week showed Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs with a 734-vote lead over Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin, who is a Court of Appeals judge. Most county election boards reported minor vote changes from the machine recount requested by Griffin. But State Board of Elections data showed the post-recount lead exactly the same as what Riggs held after all 100 counties fully completed their ballot canvass in November. Griffin led Riggs by about 10,000 votes on election night, but that lead dwindled and flipped to Riggs as tens of thousands of qualifying provisional and absentee ballots were added to the totals through the canvass. Griffin, who already has pending election protests challenging the validity of more than 60,000 ballots counted statewide, has asked for a partial hand-to-eye recount, which county boards will start Wednesday or Thursday. The partial hand recount applies to ballots in 3% of the voting sites in all 100 counties, chosen at random Tuesday by the state board. Once the partial recount is complete, a statewide hand recount would be ordered if the sample results differ enough from the machine recount that the result would be reversed if the difference were extrapolated to all ballots. Riggs, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2023 and now seeks an eight-year term, again claimed victory Tuesday. In a campaign news release, spokesperson Embry Owen said Griffin “needs to immediately concede – losing candidates must respect the will of voters and not needlessly waste state resources.” Riggs is one of two Democrats on the seven-member court. Through attorneys, Griffin has challenged ballots that he says may not qualify for several reasons and cast doubt on the election result. Among them: voter registration records of some voters casting ballots lack driver's license or partial Social Security numbers, and overseas voters never living in North Carolina may run afoul of state residency requirements. State and county boards are considering the protests. Griffin's attorneys on Monday asked the state board to accelerate the matters before it and make a final ruling early next week. "Our priority remains ensuring that every legal vote is counted and that the public can trust the integrity of this election,” state Republican Party spokesperson Matt Mercer said in a news release. Final rulings by the state board can be appealed to state court. Joining Griffin in protests are three Republican legislative candidates who still trailed narrowly in their respective races after the machine recounts. The Supreme Court race and two of these three legislative races have not been called by The Associated Press. The key pending legislative race is for a House seat covering Granville County and parts of Vance County. Republican Rep. Frank Sossamon trails Democratic challenger Bryan Cohn by 228 votes, down from 233 votes before the recount. Sossamon also asked for a partial hard recount in his race, which was to begin Tuesday. Should Cohn win, Republicans will fall one seat short of the 72 needed in the 120-member House to retain its veto-proof majority — giving more leverage to Democratic Gov.-elect Josh Stein in 2025. Senate Republicans already have won 30 of the 50 seats needed to retain its supermajority in their chamber. The AP on Tuesday did call another legislative race not subject to a protest, as Mecklenburg County GOP Rep. Tricia Cotham won her reelection bid over Democrat Nicole Sidman. A machine recount showed Cotham ahead of Sidman by 213 votes, compared to 216 after the county canvass. Cotham’s switch from the Democrats to the Republicans in April 2023 secured the Republicans' 72-seat veto-proof majority so that Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes could be overridden by relying solely on GOP lawmakers. Gary D. Robertson, The Associated PressLenovo ThinkPad T16 Gen 3 First ImpressionsFormer Congressman Steve King said he received a letter from Summit Carbon Solutions that demanded he refrain from making false statements about the company and its proposed carbon dioxide pipeline system. The conservative firebrand is among at least six people who were recipients of Summit's cease and desist letters in the past month. At least one of the allegedly defamatory statements dates back to last year, and it's unclear why the company is threatening legal action now. A Summit spokesperson did not respond to a request to comment about the matter. Ex-U.S. Rep. Steve King campaigns for Vivek Ramaswamy Thursday Jan. 11, 2024, at the Columbus Club in Davenport. "These are just simply threats that say, 'Shut up or we'll sue you because we don't like the truth and what it does to damage our business model,'" King told radio host Jeff Stein on the Eastern Iowa KXEL radio station Friday. King did not mention what specific comments of his the letter targeted but said it will not deter him from speaking against the company's proposed five-state pipeline system. The system would transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to North Dakota for underground storage. Indeed, King spent most of his airtime Friday lambasting the project as "the biggest boondoggle the world has ever seen." He said it would wrongly be funded by billions of dollars of federal tax incentives for carbon sequestration and the production of low-carbon fuels, and would erode landowners' rights if allowed to use eminent domain to force people to host the pipe. "Why do they think that somebody who has faced as much criticism as I have is going to be intimidated by a silly letter?" King said. King was a longtime congressman who represented conservative northwest Iowa and was known for making inflammatory remarks that drew the ire of liberals. But some of those comments eventually led House Republicans to strip him of his committee assignments, and Congressman Randy Feenstra defeated him in a 2020 primary. In the Friday radio interview, King criticized Summit's cofounder, Bruce Rastetter, for allegedly using his political connections and wealth to get the project approved. King also sought to link Erik Helland — the chairperson of the Iowa Utilities Commission that approved a permit for the project — to the company because he started a business in Alaska with a similar name. State records show Helland formed 49th Summit Solutions in 2016 and that the company offered Medicaid mediation services. Five other people have received letters that claim their statements against Summit's project "exposed you to significant legal liability," King said. The Gazette has confirmed these five other recipients: Jess Mazour, of the Sierra Club of Iowa; Trent Loos, a Nebraska farmer and podcaster; Barb Kalbach and Tom Mohan, of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement; and Robert Nazario, who with King is part of the Free Soil Foundation. The letter Nazario received — which he provided to The Gazette — includes a newspaper quote from Nazario about the potential for carbon dioxide plumes to kill people. "There is no proof that Summit Carbon Solutions' pipeline — or any CO2 pipeline — has ever caused death," the letter says. At least two of the anti-Summit statements that were a subject of the letters were published by the Iowa Information newspaper group. The company's president did not respond to a request to comment for this article. Summit's letters demand that their recipients retract the statements and "refrain from making false and defamatory statements about Summit Carbon Solutions." The letters threaten "alternative legal remedies" and allude to lawsuits. The company has obtained route permits in Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota. Summit has reapplied for a permit in South Dakota, which rejected its initial proposal last year. 2024 is set to be the hottest year on record, with global average temperatures exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service. Extreme weather events, including droughts, floods, heatwaves, and cyclones, have devastated regions worldwide. Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels remain the primary driver of global warming, with emissions projected to reach record highs this year despite green pledges. Scientists warn that even a potential cooling from a La Nina event in 2025 won't reverse the long-term warming trend. How sustainable is an electric vehicle whose manufacturing process depends heavily on natural gas? How "green" can a LEED-certified building be when it is constructed with materials with major carbon footprints such as glass and concrete? Even when creating sustainable products, industrial activities like construction and manufacturing contribute greatly to pollution. These activities account for nearly a third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Addressing climate change is one of President Joe Biden's top priorities, and his administration has taken aim at some of these unsustainable industrial practices in part of his executive order to achieve net-zero carbon emissions throughout the U.S. economy by 2050. Machinery Partner researched the U.S. government's commitments to reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions resulting from manufacturing industry processes over the past few years. Between the executive order and funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, there has been substantial activity to reduce U.S. industrial pollution. This has taken the form of direct investments into research and technologies to reduce pollution in manufacturing, as well as using the purchasing power of the federal government to prioritize products with lower carbon footprints. In addition to protecting Earth from the devastating effects of climate change, these efforts also support the U.S. manufacturing industry. By focusing investments in American-made low-emission products, the federal government can prop up domestic companies and grow jobs in an industry that has been struggling for several decades. The Department of Energy allocated more than $6 billion in funding for clean manufacturing technology projects in March 2023. With this funding, the federal government will pay for up to half of the costs for the chosen early-stage, private-sector projects that would reduce emissions in industrial processes that utilize a lot of energy. The program, called the Industrial Demonstrations Program, will select projects and finalize awards by spring 2024. In June 2023, a smaller DOE program provided $135 million for 40 projects to research, develop, and pilot-scale methods of reducing energy consumption and emissions in the industrial sector. The projects—taking place at national laboratories, universities, and companies across the U.S.—focus on reducing emissions in cement and concrete, food and beverages, chemicals, petroleum refining, and iron and steel. The month after, the DOE also announced $100 million in grants for state and local governments and public utilities to procure and use products made with converted carbon emissions. These grants will cover up to half the cost of these materials for awardees, creating further demand for these low-emission products in the economy. In addition to these direct funding opportunities, federal agencies have begun to demand lower-emissions materials for their infrastructure projects. Biden's 2021 executive order created the Buy Clean Initiative , which prioritizes using low-carbon, American-made construction materials in federal projects. Putting $630 billion in annual federal spending on the line—plus even more in state government spending—has pressured greener practices among U.S. manufacturing companies. After years of developing and testing low-emissions material requirements, the General Services Administration released official standards in December 2023 for asphalt, concrete, glass, and steel. The month before, the agency also announced plans to invest $2 billion across more than 150 federal projects utilizing these lower-emission products. The GSA estimates that incorporating these lower-carbon materials will reduce the carbon emissions from these projects by tens of thousands of metric tons. Throughout 2023, the GSA and other agencies announced several high-profile projects using low-carbon procurement standards, including the Department of Homeland Security's new headquarters and the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in New York City. The GSA set the first "Buy Clean" standards for concrete and asphalt in March 2022; by December, it had awarded a concrete contract based on the new concrete standards. GSA drafted more comprehensive requirements by May 2023, setting standards for carbon emissions for concrete/cement, asphalt, steel, and glass. Following the release, the agency ran a six-month pilot program applying the requirements to 11 federal projects, including new construction, land port of entry, modernization, and paving projects. The value of affected materials across these projects totaled around $300 million. In fall 2022, the Department of Transportation released its Buy Clean policies, another major feat considering that transportation comprises another near-third of greenhouse gas emissions. By October, the department had distributed $7.1 million to state DOTs to identify ways to reduce emissions in highway construction, with a focus on sustainable pavements. Other agencies, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, have also readily incorporated low-carbon materials into their projects. By encouraging green manufacturing and creating demand for low-emission materials, these federal programs are forging the way to greener U.S. industrial production. Story editing by Shannon Luders-Manuel. Copy editing by Paris Close. This story originally appeared on Machinery Partner and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio. Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.8k8 withdrawal 。

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Photo: Pixabay stock image Penticton council still has a bone to pick before making a final call on proposed leash-optional dog areas. A leash-optional pilot project operated March 1 to Aug. 31 at five locations that were based on existing usage patterns and accessibility — Okanagan Lake Park, Riverside Drive, Skaha East, Skaha Main and Penticton Avenue. Staff reviewed observational and survey data in the fall following the conclusion of the pilot. They presented findings to council at Tuesday's meeting. The survey was open to all Pentictonites, whether they owned dogs or not. More than 1,200 unique responses were collected. Overall, 65 per cent supported the project. Staff also monitored various social media channels and received comments from emails, and overall the sentiment was "positive or neutral." Staff noted that there were some negative moments, such as when a beloved recognizable Canada goose known as Kevin was killed over the summer, however staff further noted that that incident did not take place in a designated pilot leash-optional area. Okanagan Lake Park was the most popular leash-optional area. However, staff decided not to recommend keeping that pilot area open permanently, citing stress on the turf since the area also hosts many festivals and events. "The increase in dog activity and year round traffic would likely exacerbate the stress on this grassy area, particularly during the winter month, making it challenging to restore the turf to its previous previous health levels," Boyko said. "Instead, staff proposed extending the existing fenced dog park, which currently spans 40 meters long along the lakefront, to a length of 75 meters ... the estimated cost for this extension is $7,000 which can be covered by the remaining capital budget for dog park improvements." The Riverside Park area, on the other hand, has a green light from staff to continue to be leash-optional, with even more fencing, signage and increased monitoring, to ensure the public is aware of restrictions. Skaha East, Skaha Main and the area on 1900 Penticton Avenue near the water treatment plant were also both supported by staff, also with more signage. The latter is the largest area of the five pilot areas. In total, adopting the four sites would see 38,000 square metres of added leash-optional area added to Penticton. Coun. Helena Konanz disagreed with keeping the four areas, instead wanting to keep just the Riverside Park and water treatment plant locations, and consider a fully fenced dog park in the future. She and Coun. Campbell Watt both said they had been contacted by members of the public who shared they felt unsafe at the locations because they were wary of dogs. Coun. Isaac Gilbert and Konanz also agreed they wanted to hear from the citizen-led parks committee and the accessibility committee for their thoughts on all the parks before making a final decision at a later date. Mayor Julius Bloomfield added his own thoughts. "Speaking personally on this, my comments would be that I'm actually surprised that we'd even be taking Okanagan Lake Park off of the list, because I think that from what I've seen, I mean, I drive by two or three times a day, and I've never seen the park so busy since we introduced the [pilot]," Bloomfield said, adding he was at first skeptical about unfenced off-leash areas but came around quickly when he saw them in action. "I think it boils down to the different groups within society, the dog owners and non dog owners and how comfortable they are interacting. And a public park is just that, it's for all the public. So it's learning how to share those spaces ... it's a difficult balance but I mean I think that there is a balance in there somewhere." He concluded by saying he was happy to have the committees have their say. The motion to send the matter to the committees for feedback passed unanimously, and council will hear from them at a later meeting.Trump nominates Charles Kushner, who he pardoned in 2020, as US Ambassador to France

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Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman said the party could not buck the trend in Ireland of junior coalition partners in Fine Gael and Fianna Fail governments losing support in subsequent elections. He said they expected to retain two to three seats out of the 12 they had won in the 2020 election on the back of a worldwide “Green wave”. “Undoubtedly it’s a disappointing result for our party today,” Mr O’Gorman told reporters in Ongar, Dublin. “It’s hard for a smaller party in government, that’s long been the tradition, the history in Ireland. We hoped going into the election to buck that but we haven’t been able to buck that today.” Mr O’Gorman, a candidate in Dublin West, is among the outgoing Green Party TDs in a battle to retain their seats. Culture Minister Catherine Martin, who is fighting to remain a Green Party TD for Dublin Rathdown, said it was a “very tight” race in her four-seat constituency. “We go in (to government) not afraid of that because the issue of the climate and biodiversity crisis is (greater) than our survival,” she said on RTE Radio. “I stand over and am proud of our track record of delivery.” Green candidate in Waterford Marc O Cathasaigh said he would not be “in the shake-up” to retain his seat in that constituency, while junior minister Ossian Smyth looks at risk of losing his seat in Dun Laoghaire. Junior minister Joe O’Brien is expected to lose his seat in Dublin Fingal, Neasa Hourigan is at risk in Dublin Central, while Wicklow’s Steven Matthews garnered just 4% of first preferences. Former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, who announced his retirement from frontline politics in June, said his party had not had a good day. Arriving at the count centre at the RDS in Dublin, the outgoing environment minister told reporters: “If you don’t get elected you accept that, but you come back stronger and you learn lessons, and we’ve done that in the past and we will do that again.” He added: “No matter what the results today there will be a strong Green Party in Ireland, we have deep roots in the community and it’s a very distinct political philosophy and I think there is still space for that in Irish politics, for sure.” Mr Ryan said he did not believe his decision to retire, and the timing of his announcement, had affected the party’s showing. “Unfortunately – and this is just one of those days – we didn’t get the number of votes,” he said. He added: “We’ll look back and see what are the lessons, and what can we learn and what can we do differently. “It’s just one of those days when we didn’t have a good day.