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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A winter storm packing gusty winds and heavy snow that shut down schools and stretches of highways in northern Arizona and New Mexico was making its way out of the region late Wednesday.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Weeks after powerful storms dumped 32 trillion gallons of rain and snow on California, state officials and environmental groups in the drought-ravaged state are grappling with what to do with all of that water.

It’s a given that when the Great Backyard Bird Count begins Friday, Steve and Janet Kistler of Hart County, Kentucky, will be joining in. They’ve done so every year since the now-global tradition began 25 years ago.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Residents of largely minority areas in New Jersey are fighting three proposed gas-fired power plants as they wait for the state's environmental justice law — signed with great fanfare nearly three years ago — to take full effect.

Barclays PLC, once a major oilsands funder, says it will no longer provide financing to the industry.

RICHMOND, СÀ¶ÊÓƵ — Migratory birds have become a traffic hazard in Richmond, СÀ¶ÊÓƵ, and RCMP are warning drivers to take precautions. Almost two dozen snow geese have been killed by vehicles in recent separate road instances.

CALGARY — Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he backs Alberta Premier Danielle Smith over her concerns about what she's called Ottawa's anti-oil-and-gas agenda.

VANCOUVER — A СÀ¶ÊÓƵ wildlife photographer looking for birds off the shores of Vancouver's Stanley Park has instead captured an unforgettable image of a different animal in flight — an orca leaping from Burrard Inlet.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Austin's city manager was fired Wednesday in the wake of outrage over a slow and fumbled response to a winter storm power outage that left thousands of people in the Texas capital without electricity for a week or longer.