Lifestyle related news.
For homeowners who have been holding off on home improvements, a new law signed last year and now in effect as of Jan. 1 may provide a fresh incentive. The Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, includes tax credits and rebates for homeowners who make energy-saving updates to their homes. Credits for improvements such as new [...]
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — As legal sports gambling proliferates, the number of Americans betting on the Super Bowl and the total amount they're wagering is surging — although most of the action is still off the books. An estimated 1 in 5 American adults will make some sort of bet, laying out a whopping [...]
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — The Biden administration is proposing regulatory changes to encourage voluntary conservation projects on private land, partly by shielding owners from punishment if their actions kill or harm small numbers of imperiled species. The proposed U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule outlines steps to simplify permitting for damage that otherwise would be [...]
A new microgrid comprising an onsite solar array and energy storage should keep clean water flowing to Columbus residents during extended power outages that previously had shut down critical infrastructure. Through AEP Ohio’s Smart City initiative, Columbus has partnered with Cleveland-based power management firm Eaton in the development of a system to enhance and maintain [...]
NEW YORK — After the relative quiet of the pandemic, New York City has come roaring back. Just listen: Jackhammers. Honking cars and trucks. Rumbling subway trains. Sirens. Shouting. Over the years, there have been numerous efforts to quiet the cacophony. One of the latest: traffic cameras equipped with sound meters capable of identifying souped-up [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 50 businesses and non-profits — including rideshare companies Uber and Lyft, industrial giant 3M and automaker Honda — are pledging millions of dollars in initiatives to stem a crisis in road fatalities under a new federal effort announced late last week. It's part of the Department of Transportation's "Call to Action" [...]
DENVER (AP) — Every Colorado school district, like many across the country, began 2023 understaffed. That's caused classes to be crammed together, school bus routes to shrink, Spanish language courses to get cut from curriculums and field trips to be nixed. The situation has prompted lawmakers in Colorado and other states to suggest legislation that [...]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California released a plan this week detailing how Western states reliant on the Colorado River should save more water. It came a day after the six other states in the river basin made a competing proposal. In a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, California described how states could conserve between [...]
NEW YORK (AP) — The doors of a metal box slide open, and a drone rises over a gas well in Pennsylvania. Its mission is to find leaks of methane, a greenhouse gas, so that energy companies can plug the leaks and reduce the emissions that pollute the air. The drone is among an array [...]
NEW YORK — There are those for whom recycling and composting are not nearly enough, who have reduced their annual waste to almost zero, ditched their clothes dryer or given up flying, and are ready to take the next step in exploring the frontiers of sustainable living. For Manhattanite Josh Spodek, that has meant going [...]