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On debt ceiling, Biden, McCarthy to meet Monday as negotiators ‘keep working’ to resolve standoff

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:38 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House and House Republicans wrapped up another round of debt ceiling talks Sunday as Washington races to strike a budget compromise along with a deal to raise the nation’s borrowing limit and avert an economy-wrecking federal default. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy spoke by phone Sunday while the president was returning home on Air Force One after the Group of Seven summit in Japan. They plan to meet Monday at the White House.“It went well, we’ll talk tomorrow,” Biden said of the phone call as he arrived back in Washington late in the evening.Upbeat, McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters at the Capitol that the call was “productive” and that the on-again, off-again negotiations between his staff and White House representatives are focused on spending cuts.Negotiators for the Democratic president and Republican speaker met for 2 1/2 hours at the Capitol as talks appear to be narrowing on a 2024 budget year cap that would be k...

Legislature OKs bill to boost transportation funding with gas tax hike, new package delivery fee

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:38 GMT

A transportation budget bill that would increase the per-gallon tax on gasoline and introduce a fee on many deliveries is set to become law after gaining final approval from the Minnesota Legislature.Under an $8.8 billion transportation package approved by the Senate and House on Sunday, Minnesota’s gas tax would be indexed to the rate of inflation, a move that could increase the price of fuel by 5 cents per gallon by 2027. The current state tax is 28.5 cents. The new 50-cent tax would apply to retail deliveries over $100.Republicans in the minority oppose the new taxes, but Democratic-Farmer-Labor lawmakers who control the Senate and House say expected future shortfalls in transportation funding demand new sources of ongoing revenue from the state.Rep. Frank Hornstein and Sen. Scott Dibble, Minneapolis DFLers who chaired the House-Senate conference committee on transportation that approved a deal on the taxes, said the bill is a “historic, generational investment.”“I’m ...

3 minors, adult arrested after Fairfield attempted robbery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:38 GMT

(KRON) -- Three minors and one adult were arrested in connection to an attempted robbery Sunday, the Fairfield Police Department (FPD) said in a news release. The incident happened in the parking lot at Solano Town Center Mall. Sonoma County Sheriff’s wife arrested on DUI suspicion after Tesla crashes into Santa Rosa home: authorities The male victim made a large purchase at the mall before being followed at the parking lot near JCPenney, according to FPD. The victim then went to his car and locked his doors.One of the suspects shot at the car window, reached inside and hit the victim with the firearm, police said. The unidentified victim suffered "mild to moderate" injuries from the alleged attack. FPD officers respond and arrived at the scene. Two of the attempted robbers and two others in a getaway car were arrested. FPD did not specify when or what time on Sunday the attempted robbery happened. KRON4 reached out to the department for more details about the incident and is awai...

Reportan caída mundial de la red social Instagram; más de 185,000 usuarios sin servicio

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:38 GMT

MIAMI- La red social Instagram sufre este domingo una caída a nivel mundial que ha ocasionado que decenas de miles de usuarios se queden sin servicio, según consta en el portal downdetector.De acuerdo con este portal, en el pico de la caída, poco antes de las siete de la tarde, hora del este de Estados Unidos, más de 185,000 usuarios en diferentes partes del mundo reportaron haber perdido el servicio, principalmente a través de la aplicación móvil de la red social y que forma parte de la firma matriz Meta.El problema que empezó a producirse sobre las 6 de la tarde, hora del este de EEUU, no parece haber afectado a las otras compañías de Meta, entre ellas Facebook y el servicio de mensajería WhatsApp.“Somos conscientes de que algunas personas tienen problemas para acceder a Instagram. Estamos trabajando para que las cosas vuelvan a la normalidad lo más rápido posible y nos disculpamos por cualquier inconveniente”, señaló Dave Arnold, portavoz de Meta, según recoge el medi...

Poor air quality can affect your pets just as much as their human owners

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:38 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- We have lungs, and our pets do too. So when the air affects our breathing or allergies, it can bother theirs as well.The size of your pet matters too because of how much smaller their lungs are than ours, so it's important to watch them as much as the air."It's easy for us to see the smoke and taste it and smell it, but we forget about our friends," veterinarian Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald said. Denver weather: Mostly dry Monday, more wildfire smoke When humans see smoke they usually think of their breathing, but not often, their pets too."Their cardiovascular system and respiratory system is not that much different than ours," Fitzgerald said.Birds, cats and smaller dogs are particularly vulnerable."It can be bad, particularly for small and older dogs," Fitzgerald said. "Older dogs and younger dogs that are compromised anyway."What are the signs to spot if the bad air outside is affecting "Fido"?"A cough would be a big thing, gagging, salivating," Fitzgerald said, "relu...

2 officers involved in shooting suspect, dog

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:38 GMT

FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KDVR) -- Two Fountain Police Department officers were involved in the shooting of a suspect and his dog on Saturday night. The incident, just south of Colorado Springs in the zero hundred block of Taos Circle, started with a domestic violence call just before 6 p.m."During the investigation, the suspect's dog attacked an officer. While the dog was attacking the officer the suspect then began attacking both officers. While being attacked by both the suspect and his dog, both officers shot at least one round hitting the suspect and the dog," Fountain PD said. 2 men accused of firing shots at Cherry Creek State Park Fountain police said the suspect is recovering in the hospital with at least one gunshot wound but the dog died at the scene.One officer was also taken to the hospital for injuries from a dog bite, but the other officer wasn't injured.The Colorado Springs Police Department is investigating the shooting and the Fountain officers have been put on paid admi...

Rose Byrne, Seth Rogen together again for ‘Platonic’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:38 GMT

Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen reteam with “Platonic,” a new AppleTV+ comedy series launching Wednesday.They first worked on “Neighbors,” the 2014 campus comedy about rowdy frat boys, and then its 2-year-later sequel.  “Platonic,” which revolves around whether guys can really be “just friends” with women, is co-created and directed by their “Neighbors” helmer Nick Stoller.“I didn’t want to do the show if we didn’t have Seth,” Byrne, 43, said in a Zoom interview with Rogen.  “Having worked together for the ‘Neighbors’ movies I knew we would be having fun and enjoying each other. Just a nice dynamic onscreen.“A show like this lives — and dies! — on the chemistry of the friendship. It really does. We went in knowing we had that. Since we aren’t a married couple, this was different but really exciting and made me want to do the show.”“Part of the appeal,” Rogen,  41, said, “was bringing this theatrical style, R-rated adult comedy to a half-hour serialized televi...

Editorial: Ukraine belongs in NATO, just not yet

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:38 GMT

Although no one knows how the war in Ukraine will end, the country’s leaders maintain that they’ll continue to face the threat of Russian aggression long after the fighting subsides. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has said that the only way to ensure the country’s security is for it to join NATO. He wants the alliance to commit to a timetable for Ukraine’s membership during its July summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.It’s a good idea at a terrible time. NATO members are rightly wary of discussing such an escalation while the war is raging. Yet Ukraine’s eventual membership should remain a strategic goal: It would safeguard the country’s independence, bolster the stability of Europe as a whole, and deter Vladimir Putin from ever again attempting to seize control of his neighbor.In 2008, NATO member states made a nonbinding pledge to eventually admit Ukraine and Georgia, both former Soviet republics vulnerable to Russian pressure. However, the alliance refrained from offering eit...

Ambrose: The possible disaster of climate change fear

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:38 GMT

President Joe Biden wants to save us from climate change but who will save us from Joe Biden? The latest trick issuing from his consciously misnamed Inflation Reduction Act is a 681-page rule that could disastrously shut down 3,400 fossil-fuel power plants supplying 60% of our electric power. For them to avoid closure, they would need to eliminate 617 million tons of CO2 emissions even though the means remain iffy at best.He’s a science denier, Biden is, and that’s part of the danger. Scientists agree that atmospheric CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels reflect dangerous heat back to the earth, but not that we will thereby be wiped out. Biden uses the phrase “existential threat” as if climate change will exterminate humankind. Most scientists agree that the hotter it gets, the worse life will be, but don’t go that far.The power plants can supposedly use their own CO2 solution, although the possibilities are limited, and one recommendation of the Environmental Protection Agency s...

Pipes: Scope-of-practice reforms can address doctor shortage

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:38 GMT

America is facing a chronic doctor shortage. Solving that problem will require not just more doctors but a much bigger role for advanced-practice nurses in our healthcare system.A 2021 report found that the United States will need nearly as many as 48,000 more primary care doctors by 2034 to meet patient demand. It’s infeasible to train that many more new doctors over the next decade. We need to make better use of the supply of healthcare professionals we have.In nearly half of states, “scope-of-practice” laws prevent highly qualified nurse practitioners from delivering basic primary care.These laws were intended to protect patients from receiving substandard care. But they just create more work for doctors and unnecessary bottlenecks for delivering care. The result is that doctors are overburdened, fewer patients get seen, and qualified nurse practitioners are frustrated that they can’t exercise the full extent of their training.In today’s healthcare s...