ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has nominated a 32-year veteran of the New York State Police to be its new leader.

If the state Senate agrees, Steven G. James would be the second Black person confirmed to hold the rank of superintendent and the third to lead the 5,000-member force, which has to diversify its ranks.

It is not immediately clear when state lawmakers will vote on his confirmation, but for now, James

The federal government is spending another $362 million to help provinces and cities find housing for asylum seekers — but Ontario says it’s nowhere near enough.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller billed the assistance Wednesday as a measure of support against the growing impact of asylum claims across Canada.

But he, too, acknowledged that a lot more must be done.

“This program is important because it gets shelters over people’s heads, particularly with the temperature that it is outside,” Miller said.

“But it

NEW YORK (AP) — Melinda Ledbetter Wilson, the longtime wife and manager of Brian Wilson whom the Beach Boys co-founder often credited for stabilizing his , has died at age 77.

Wilson died Tuesday at the couple’s home in Beverly Hills, California, Brian Wilson announced online. Brian Wilson’s spokesperson Lauren Mele said Wednesday that she passed away “suddenly,” but no other details were available.

“Our five children and I are just in tears. We are lost,” Brian Wilson

MIAMI (AP) — A small venture capital firm faced tough questions from conservative judges Wednesday as it defended a grant program for Black women-owned businesses in a lawsuit that has become emblematic of a .

The Fearless Fund, which provides early stage funding for businesses owned by women of color, is asking a three-judge panel in a U.S. federal court of appeals to lift an injunction against one of its programs, the Strivers Grant Contest, which provides $20,000 to businesses that

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters said Wednesday his agency is working to see if several teachers who were can keep them after he faced bipartisan criticism over attempts to recover the money.

During a press conference, Walters said the Oklahoma Department of Education is working closely with the federal government to ensure there is no clawback of the bonuses as long as all federal requirements are met.

“We have been in close contact with the feds throughout this entire project,” Walters said of the program that used federal

EDMONTON — Investigators probing a plane crash that killed six people in the Northwest Territories have recovered the cockpit voice recorder and talked to the lone survivor.

The investigation by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada is in its early stages and has faced some weather hurdles, but progress is being made, said Jon Lee, the board’s western regional manager.

“We’ve recovered (the cockpit voice recorder) and it has reached our lab today and it’s in the process of being downloaded — the data — and

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House will add international climate policy to his job responsibilities, replacing special climate envoy John Kerry as the top U.S. official on international climate issues, the White House said Wednesday.

Kerry announced in mid-January that he would step down from the climate job to work on President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign. Podesta will take over Kerry’s responsibilities, though not his title, when he departs, likely this spring, the White House said.

Podesta was a behind-

OTTAWA — The federal Liberal government is denying that it told CBC/Radio-Canada to cut its budget by 3.3 per cent, despite executives with the public broadcaster insisting that’s part of the reason they’re laying off 10 per cent of their workforce.

The Treasury Board, which oversees spending in the federal budget, said that no such directive was given to the public broadcaster.

“Whatever Radio-Canada and CBC is doing is their decision,” the office of the Treasury Board president,

OTTAWA — The federal Liberal government is denying that it told CBC/Radio-Canada to cut its budget by 3.3 per cent, despite executives with the public broadcaster insisting that’s part of the reason they’re laying off 10 per cent of their workforce.

The Treasury Board, which oversees spending in the federal budget, said that no such directive was given to the public broadcaster.

“Whatever Radio-Canada and CBC is doing is their decision,” the office of the Treasury Board president,