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Biden, McCarthy reach debt ceiling deal to avoid default

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:39:54 GMT

Top leaders in both parties reached a long-sought deal on Saturday to avoid an unprecedented government default, announcing an agreement on a plan to lift the debt ceiling immediately and apply new caps on federal spending in the name of curbing deficits.To get there, negotiators had to iron out their differences on a small but crucial list of outstanding issues that had dogged the talks in recent days, including lower spending levels, new work requirements for social benefit programs and permitting reforms to expedite approval of energy infrastructure projects — three Republican demands that were opposed by most Democrats. The impasse became so entrenched Saturday evening that President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who had no plans to speak, staged a break-the-glass phone call in an 11th-hour effort to break the stalemate. McCarthy said during a press call that there's still some work left to do, but he expects to post the legislative text on Sunday, and s...

‘Anatomy of a Fall’ wins Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or, the 3rd time a woman has won top honor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:39:54 GMT

Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” won the Palme d’Or at the 76th Cannes Film Festival in a ceremony Saturday that bestowed the festival’s prestigious top prize on an engrossing, rigorously plotted French courtroom drama that puts a marriage on trial. “Anatomy of a Fall,” which stars Sandra Hüller as a writer trying to prove her innocence in her husband’s death, is only the third film directed by a woman to win the Palme d’Or. One of the two previous winners, Julia Ducournau, was on this year’s jury. Cannes’ Grand Prix, its second prize, went to Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest,” a chilling Martin Amis adaptation about a German family living next door to Auschwitz. Hüller also stars in that film. The awards were decided by a jury presided over by two-time Palme winner Ruben Östlund, the Swedish director who won the prize last year for “Triangle of Sadness.” The ceremony preceded the festival’s closing night film, the Pixar animation ...

Biden GOP agree to 2 year budget-debt ceiling deal, work requirements for food aid

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:39:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached an “agreement in principle” late Saturday as they raced to strike a deal to limit federal spending and resolve the looming debt crisis ahead of a June 5 deadline, the House speaker said.A deal would avert a catastrophic U.S. default, but risks angering both Democratic and Republican sides with the concessions made to reach it.The Democratic president and Republican speaker reached the agreement after the two spoke earlier Saturday evening by phone, said McCarthy, speaking Saturday night. The country and the world have been watching and waiting for a resolution to political standoff that threatened the U.S. and global economy.With the outlines of a deal in place, the legislative package could be drafted and shared with lawmakers in time for votes early next week in the House and later in the Senate.Central to the package is a two-year budget deal that would hold spending flat for 2024 a...

No teacher raises, no voucher program: Lawmakers fail to reach compromise on school funding bill

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:39:54 GMT

AUSTIN (The Texas Tribune) — A multibillion-dollar school funding bill that became a last-ditch effort to enact a voucher-like program in the state — a priority for Gov. Greg Abbott this legislative session — died Saturday after lawmakers failed to reach a compromise before a key deadline. Previous: Districts in "dire straits" as they watch school funding fights in Texas legislature It was a dramatic end for one of the top items on the governor’s wish list. Abbott, who traveled around the state promoting the idea, has said he’s prepared to call lawmakers back for a special session if lawmakers didn’t pass a “school choice” bill he liked.The proposal’s failure means that school districts won’t get funding to raise teachers’ salaries or balance their budgets, which they said became necessary expenses after the pandemic rattled their finances and inflation diminished the value of the money they get from the state. The Legislature’s proposed budget, which was released Thursday, d...

St. Paul’s many changes to rent control

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:39:54 GMT

St. Paul voters approved one of the nation’s strictest rent control policies in November 2021, imposing a 3% cap on rent increases. The city’s administrative rules have offered landlords a way to seek exemptions for capital improvements, increased operating expenses and new services, and the St. Paul City Council approved additional changes last fall through a wide-ranging ordinance amendment.The new provisions, which took effect Jan. 1, include:• The city council approved a complete exemption from rent control for all new construction for 20 years. A lookback period exempts apartments built within the past 20 years, as well.• Affordable housing was exempted, too. That includes subsidized housing, deed-restricted housing and other apartments whose rents are maintained below a certain level through written agreements with city, state or federal government.• The city council’s ordinance amendment includes improved tenant notifications when a landlord seeks a rent con...

St. Paul rents flat for two-bedrooms, spike for three-bedrooms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:39:54 GMT

Pricing in key segments of St. Paul’s rental market remained relatively flat this past year.Median rents for two-bedroom apartments ($1,300 per month) in St. Paul showed no increase from March 2022 to March 2023, according to the housing research group HousingLink. Rents for two-bedroom rentals in Minneapolis increased 7% in the same period.Did rent control have an impact there, or were St. Paul’s stable rents a function of the same pandemic-era trends — like relocations due to remote work — that have softened rents in many urban areas across the country, from New York to San Francisco?That’s unclear.“There’s a lot of dynamics at play,” said Angie Wiese, director of the St. Paul Department of Safety and Inspections. “Housing supply has an impact. The number of bedrooms has an impact. The supply chain has an impact. Workforce has an impact.”Median rents for three-bedrooms or family-size housing in the Twin Cities tell a diff...

Large warehouse on fire in St. Louis, north of downtown

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:39:54 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Fire crews are responding to a large warehouse fire Saturday evening in St. Louis, just a little north of downtown.Fire crews are responding to a large warehouse fire Saturday evening in St. Louis, just a little north of downtown. (Photo courtesy: Mary Scott/FOX 2)Large flames engulf what appears to be an abandoned warehouse near North Seventh and O'Fallon streets in the Columbus Square neighborhood, according to a tweet from the St. Louis Fire Department. Teen walks two hours for 8th grade graduation in St. Louis It's unclear what caused the fire at this time or if it has led to any injuries. The St. Louis Fire Department and other agencies are responding to the scene. FOX 2 employees around Downtown St. Louis say they can see thick smoke from several miles away. This is a developing story. FOX 2 will update as more information becomes available.

Colorado Mammoth drop opening game of NLL Finals in Buffalo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:39:54 GMT

If the Colorado Mammoth are going to repeat as NLL champions, they’ll have to do it the hard way.The top-seeded Buffalo Bandits flipped a one-goal halftime deficit with a 5-1 third quarter, then held on in the final minutes to escape with a 13-12 victory over Colorado in Game 1 of the NLL Finals in Buffalo.Colorado will be playing for its season in Game 2 of the best-of-three series at 2 p.m. Monday inside Ball Arena.It appeared the defending NLL champions just might escape Buffalo with a victory, with the Mammoth withstanding a 4-0 Buffalo run to begin with game by scoring eight of the next 11 goals to go up 8-7 late in the second quarter. But a penalty late in the first half came back to haunt the Mammoth, with Tehoka Nanticoke scoring a power play goal to even the score just 24 seconds into the third quarter.The Bandits scored three straight after that over the next three minutes, including one of Dhane Smith’s game-high five goals, to take control of the game with an...

Valor Christian in command of Class 5A state baseball tournament heading into final weekend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:39:54 GMT

LAKEWOOD — Somebody better check the RPI machine, because in no baseball universe is Valor Christian a No. 15 seed.The Eagles played like the Class 5A favorite through the first weekend of the state tournament, beating Rocky Mountain 12-7 in Friday’s opener before routing Regis Jesuit and Rock Canyon, 11-1 in both Saturday games, to advance to next weekend’s championship.It puts Valor Christian, which won three straight 4A crowns from 2016-18, in the driver’s seat to win the program’s first 5A title.“We’re not done,” asserted senior second baseman Carson Tinney, who homered in both of Saturday’s games. “We’ve got a job to finish.”The Eagles used a nine-run second inning to uncork the blowout against Rock Canyon in Saturday’s semifinals at All-Star Park, a frame fueled by a pair of three-run homers from Tinney and junior first baseman Keegan Waters. Tinney, a Notre Dame pledge, is one of six college commits...

1 killed in three-vehicle road rage crash in San Bernardino

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:39:54 GMT

A three-vehicle hit-and-run road rage crash in San Bernardino left one person dead and another in critical condition on Saturday.The vehicles smashed through the front yard of a home on the 350 block of West Base Line Street around 10:45 a.m., according to the San Bernardino Police Department.The incident began when a Dodge Ram truck and a BMW coupe were traveling eastbound on Base Line Steet near D Street.At some point, the Dodge tried to overtake and pass the BMW, but was unsuccessful and clipped the BMW on the side, police said.The maneuver caused the Dodge to collide with a minivan and both vehicles crashed through a fence and landed in the front yard of a home.Video of the scene showed major damage to both the truck and the minivan as stunned onlookers surrounded the area.One person was killed and another was hospitalized after a a three vehicle road rage hit-and-run crash in San Bernardino on May 27, 2023. (OnScene.TV)One person was killed and another was hospitalized after ...