On CBS and streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S.

A data center owned by Amazon Web Services, front right, is under construction next to the Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Berwick, Pa., on Jan. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)A data center owned by Amazon Web Services, front right, is under construction next to the Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Berwick, Pa., on Jan. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

Some state lawmakers have contested the incentives in places where a heavy influx of massive data centers has caused friction with neighboring communities. In large part, the fights revolve around the things that tech companies and data center developers seem to most want: large tracts of land, tax breaks and huge volumes of electricity and water.And their needs are exploding in size: from dozens of megawatts to hundreds of megawatts and from dozens of acres up to hundreds of acres for large-scale data centers sometimes called a hyperscaler.While critics say data centers employ relatively few people and pack little long-term job-creation punch, their advocates say they require a huge number of construction jobs to build, spend enormous sums on goods and local vendors and generate strong tax revenues for local governments.

In Pennsylvania, lawmakers are writing legislation to fast-track permitting for data centers. The state is viewed as an up-and-coming data center destination, but there is also a sense that Pennsylvania is missing out on billions of dollars in investment that’s landing in other states.“Pennsylvania has companies that are interested, we have a labor force that is capable and we have a lot of water and natural gas,” said state Rep. Eric Nelson. “That’s the winning combination. We just have a bureaucratic process that won’t open its doors.”

Kansas approved a new sales tax exemption on goods to build and equip data centers, while Kentucky and Arkansas expanded pre-existing exemptions so that more projects will qualify.

Michigan approved one that carries some protections, including requirements to use municipal utility water and clean energy, meet energy-efficiency measures and ensure that it pays for its own electricity.And while the Jordan-Jordan pairing is front and center and full of charisma, Jordan himself would probably agree the most important pairing here is the one

The supremely talented writer-director turns once again to Jordan — star of all four of his previous films — for his first completely original movie. Both men are firing on all cylinders.So what exactly is “Sinners,”

(including IMAX 65 mm and Ultra Panavision 70) befitting the size of its vision, about? Depends which layer you’re looking at.The outer layer is a story of two brothers coming home to Mississippi in 1932 to launch a juke joint after spending time on the German front in World War I and then learning from Al Capone in gangland Chicago. Peel away, and it’s a story about music, especially the transporting power of the blues. It’s also about love: love that’s lost, love that’s found, love that’s impossible. And it’s about the tenuousness of life in the Jim Crow South.