Chicago mayor wins in runoff election
CHICAGO – Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel won a second term Tuesday in a runoff election campaign that hinged on serious financial challenges facing the nation’s third-largest city and the brusque management style of the former White House chief of staff.
Emanuel was forced to campaign furiously across the city to beat Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia after failing to capture a majority against four other candidates in a February election.
With about three-quarters of voting precincts reporting results, Emanuel had 56 percent of the vote, compared to 44 percent for Garcia.
Obama announces climate initiative
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama launched an initiative Tuesday aimed at highlighting the connections between climate change and public health, bringing both medical and data experts to the White House this week.
As part of the effort, the White House will hold a Climate Change and Health Summit later this spring, featuring Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. The administration is expanding its Climate Data Initiative, which it launched a year ago, to include more than 150 health-relevant data sets.
Construction halts on Hawaiian telescope
HONOLULU – After more than a week of demonstrations and more than a dozen arrests, Hawaii Gov. David Ige said Tuesday that the company building one of the world’s largest telescopes atop Hawaii’s Mauna Kea has agreed to his request to halt construction for a week.
“They have responded to my request and on behalf of the president of the University and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs have agreed to a time out on the project, and there will be no construction activities this week,” Ige said at a news conference.
Thirty Meter Telescope is constructing the telescope on land that is held sacred to some Native Hawaiians. Scientists say the location is ideal for the telescope.
California’s efforts to save water failing
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Californians’ efforts to save water in the face of a devastating drought have hit a new low, as statistics released Tuesday showed residents did less to curtail their water use in February than they had in any other month since officials began tracking conservation efforts.
The south coast, home to more than a third of Californians from San Diego to Los Angeles, actually showed an increase in water consumption despite longstanding calls for cutbacks.
Overall, the numbers indicate that statewide water fell by less than 3 percent in February as compared to baseline data established in 2013, the last year before Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency.
Associated Press
