Author: potus

(The Center Square) – Fentanyl deaths in Colorado dropped last year, but still had an economic toll of $13.1 billion, a new report says.That amounts to a cost of $2,220 per resident, according to the report by the Common Sense Institute, a free-enterprise think tank in the state.Fentanyl-related deaths dropped from 1,184 in December 2023 to 801 in November 2024, a 32.4% reduction but still well above death rates prior to 2020.“The economic and human toll of fentanyl in Colorado remains staggering,” John Kellner, a CSI criminal justice fellow and former district attorney, said in a news release. “Even modest reductions in…

(The Center Square) – Colorado has officially joined a multibillion-dollar settlement with Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family.The $7.4 billion settlement will bring nearly $76 million to Colorado, which will be distributed to local and state governments. It is the largest opioid settlement in the United States to date.Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said this settlement is a long time coming.“One of the very first cases I brought was against the Sackler family, working to hold them accountable and provide critical funds to address our opioid crisis,” Weiser said. “Seeing this work to completion marks the end of an…

(The Center Square) – Republican leaders are racing to pass the Trump-endorsed One Big Beautiful Bill Act by Independence Day, but more than a dozen GOP members of Congress still harbor major concerns that could tank the giant package.The House-passed OBBBA, a multitrillion-dollar budget reconciliation bill implementing President Donald Trump’s major policy priorities, has undergone Senate committee revisions and is currently under the Senate parliamentarian’s review.House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., made a variety of delicate compromises to placate Republican factions in his chamber, narrowly passing the bill in May after months of assembling it. Johnson helped accelerate the phaseout of Inflation…

(The Center Square) – The federal government plans to spend $10 million in taxpayer funds on a five-year study on the health impact from the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.The money and the study came at the urging of Vice President J.D. Vance, who worked with former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown on train safety and other East Palestine legislation in the months and years following the derailment and subsequent toxic chemical release.“As a senator, it was incredibly frustrating watching the Biden administration refuse to examine the potentially dangerous health impacts on the people of East Palestine following the…

Silhouettes of laptop and mobile device users are seen next to a screen projection of the YouTube logo.Dado Ruvic | ReutersGoogle is using its expansive library of YouTube videos to train its artificial intelligence models, including Gemini and the Veo 3 video and audio generator, CNBC has learned.The tech company is turning to its catalog of 20 billion YouTube videos to train these new-age AI tools, according to a person who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. Google confirmed to CNBC that it relies on its vault of YouTube videos to train its AI models, but the…

(The Center Square) – Cleveland Clinic, one of the nation’s most prominent nonprofit hospital systems, is facing scrutiny from the watchdog group Consumers’ Research, which says the hospital prioritizes political ideology over patient care while benefiting from taxpayer funding.The group has issued a new Consumer Warning accusing the clinic of embracing an agenda that includes race-based health initiatives, gender ideology, and climate activism under the banner of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Consumers’ Research argues this political pivot takes resources and focus away from the clinic’s core mission: providing affordable, high-quality healthcare. Cleveland Clinic called the report “false and misleading.”Cleveland…

(The Center Square) – It’s a big achievement–Pennsylvania won out over other states for the largest capital investment in its history, $20 billion from Amazon for data centers and technology infrastructure.Though the project promises to create over 1,200 jobs, at least initially, not everyone is happy about where things are going.At the June press conference when Gov. Josh Shapiro announced the historic influx of capital, there was a protest nearby. One reporter asked Gov. Josh Shapiro for his message to the people who oppose the erection of data centers in their communities.“Obviously local zoning decisions are going to be made…

Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold6 at its Galaxy Unpacked event in Paris. The tech giant said the foldable device is thinner and lighter than its predecessor.Arjun Kharpal | CNBCSamsung will unveil a thinner version of its flagship foldable smartphone at a launch likely set to take place next month, as it battles Chinese rivals to deliver the slimmest devices to the market.Folding phones, which have a single screen that can fold in half, came in focus when Samsung first launched such a device in 2019. But Chinese players, in particular Honor and Oppo, have since aggressively released foldables that…

Google suffered a setback Thursday after an advisor to the European Union’s top court recommended it dismiss the tech giant’s appeal against a record 4.1-billion-euro ($4.7 billion) antitrust fine.Juliane Kokott, advocate general at the European Court of Justice, advised the court to throw out Google’s appeal and confirm the fine, which was reduced in 2022 to 4.125 billion euros from 4.34 billion euros previously by the EU’s General Court.”In her Opinion delivered today, Advocate General Kokott proposes that the Court of Justice dismiss Google’s appeal and, therefore, uphold the judgment of the General Court,” the Luxembourg-based ECJ said in a…

A SpaceX Starship is seen in Boca Chica, Texas in 2023.Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty ImagesA SpaceX Starship rocket on Wednesday exploded at the Starbase facility in Texas during routine testing in preparation for a launch flight, according to local authorities and live stream footage.The rocket “experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase” at 11 p.m. local time, SpaceX said on social media, noting “a safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for.”Local authorities said that Starship “suffered a catastrophic failure and exploded,”…