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X marks the spot: Yellen tells Congress US could run out of money to pay all its bills by June 5

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Congress on Friday that the U.S. could default on its debt obligations by June 5 — four days later than previously estimated — if lawmakers do not act in time to raise the federal debt ceiling.Yellen’s letter comes as Congress breaks for a long Memorial Day weekend, and tensions build over whether a deal between the White House and Republicans in Congress will be struck in time.The so-called “X-date” arrives when the government no longer has enough of a financial cushion to pay all its bills, having exhausted the “extraordinary measures” it has been employing since January to stretch existing funds.Yellen said in her letter that the agency used one such measure for the first time since 2015 to get the U.S. financial position to this point: a swap of roughly $2 billion in Treasury securities between the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and the Federal Financing Bank.“The extremely low level of remaining resources dema...

Oregon, awash in treatment funds after decriminalizing drugs, now must follow the money

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:51 GMT

Funding for drug treatment centers in Oregon, financed by the state’s pioneering drug decriminalization policy, stood at over a quarter-billion dollars Friday as officials called for closer monitoring of where the money goes.That need for oversight was demonstrated Wednesday when state officials terminated a $1.5 million grant agreement with a drug recovery nonprofit in Klamath Falls accused of failing to submit completed expenditure and data reports and buying a building for more than double the authorized amount.That $1.5 million is just a drop in a huge bucket — $264.6 million has been allocated to date for recovery centers — and state officials have a massive responsibility to ensure the money does what it is supposed to: combatting drug use in a state with one of the nation’s highest addiction rates.Oregon’s drug decriminalization had a rocky start after voters approved it in a 2020 ballot measure. Only a tiny number of people have accessed treatment services ...

Miami zoo apologizes for treatment of threatened kiwi bird

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:51 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Officials at a South Florida zoo have apologized and promised to end its “Kiwi Encounter” experience after a viral video showed humans petting one of the threatened birds, which are a national symbol for New Zealand.Zoo Miami spokesperson Ron Magill said in a statement Tuesday that they’re sorry for the stress caused by a video on social media of people handling Paora, the kiwi bird under the zoo’s care.“Though Paora has thrived at Zoo Miami while receiving the best care available, the development of the Kiwi Encounter was, in hindsight, not well conceived with regard to the national symbolism of this iconic animal and what it represents to the people of New Zealand, especially the Maori,” the statement said.An online petition was started after a video posted on Twitter Monday showed the flightless, nocturnal bird being handled by visitors and kept awake by artificial lighting. The online outcry got the attention of New Zealand’s Department...

Essay: A mega-fan’s appreciation for Tina Turner’s limitless energy and lessons of survival

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:51 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — When Tina Turner died at age 83, I found myself drifting back to the fourth grade, to the day I truly discovered her voice. I was on Thanksgiving break — bored — when I decided to rummage through my parents’ old cassette tapes in search of entertainment.What I found was astonishing: an album called “Private Dancer.”“I look up to the stars with my perfect memory. I look through it all and my future’s no shock to me.”“Who was this magnificent woman?” I thought as the lyrics of the song “I Might Have Been Queen (Soul Survivor),” flowed through the headphones of my Walkman. “What had she been through?”I quickly consulted an expert on the matter: my mom, who as a teenager in the ’60s, had been listening to Tina since she first made hits with her then-husband Ike. Mom, like Tina, didn’t sugarcoat the superstar’s history: Off-stage, Ike was beating her. It was something she herself — and most others — didn’t know when she and Dad first went to see her ...

Provinces, territories agree to help feds in ’30 by 30′ goal to halt land, water loss

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:51 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada’s provinces and territories are on board to help the federal government in its goal to halt land and water loss across the country.Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault met with his counterparts in Ottawa today and said they’re all on the same page about conservation targets.The Liberal government is leading a biodiversity strategy to protect 30 per cent of Canadian land and water by 2030. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the target in 2020 and Canada was among the countries which pushed successfully for more than 190 other countries to follow suit at a UN biodiversity conference in Montreal last December.“It’s a necessary plan. Nature is what nurtures all life. It provides us with food, clear air and water, as well as protection from nature’s hazards,” Guilbeault said on Friday.Provincial, territorial leaders have agreed to collaborate with Ottawa and Indigenous Peoples moving forward because “there’s n...

Music Review: Arlo Parks wishes her eyes were still wide on new album ‘My Soft Machine’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:51 GMT

“My Soft Machine,” by Arlo Parks (Transgressive)Britpop artist Arlo Parks approaches her work as a poet, laying incisive lyrics over a murkily cozy lo-fi hip-hop. On her second album, “My Soft Machine,” Parks balances childlike wonder with personal trauma and disappointment. The opening track, “Bruiseless,” sets the mood expertly with the line, “I just wish that my eyes were still wide.”Since the release of her 2018 single, “Cola,” Parks has produced a steady stream of stories told with disarming warmth and honesty. Her debut album, “Collapsed in Sunbeams,” composed during quarantine, is a striking document of time spent inside her room and her mind. On the new release, she retains her inviting, catchy vibe, but starts to venture outside both thematically and musically.In interviews, Park says that she has come to know exactly what she wants. On “My Soft Machine,” Parks stays true to her DIY foundations, but, as a producer on the recording, she has expanded her sound. The exploratio...

Fulton Market developers, restaurant groups look to hire private 24 hour security

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:51 GMT

CHICAGO -- A proposal to hire private security to patrol Fulton Market has been drawing fire Friday afternoon.A new association of powerful developers and restaurant groups, backing a proposal to annually pay a $800,000 price tag, that reportedly calls for building owners merchants to foot the bill for private 24 hour security."Businesses are extremely upset that their property taxes have gone through the roof and now Walter Burnett, and other city officials now want them to pay more money for police security that they've already paid for," Romanelli said.Roger Romanelli reached out publicly to City Hall to ask Mayor Brandon Johnson and 27th Ward Alderman Walter Burnett to stop the proposed Fulton Market private security plan.  "Everybody in the neighborhood has got to pony up $1 million? Alderman Burnett? This makes no sense," Romanelli said.Romanelli, long time executive Director of the Fulton Market Association, said smaller, family-owned restaurants are being forced out of Chica...

Chicago firefighters battle 2-alarm fire in West Pullman

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:51 GMT

CHICAGO — The Chicago Fire Department is battling a house fire Friday afternoon in West Pullman.According to the Chicago Fire Department, some sort of explosion was reported in the two-alarm fire in the 12000 block of South Lafayette Avenue. Shots fired on Chicago’s North Avenue Beach hours after opening for the summer One firefighter was injured and suffered non-life-threatening injuries, the fire department said. It's not clear if anyone else was injured.Provided / Chicago Fire DepartmentPictures from the Chicago Fire Department show flames coming from the second story of the home.This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

70-year-old man in critical condition after drive-by shooting near UIC

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:51 GMT

CHICAGO — A 70-year-old man is fighting for his life after being shot outside a Near West Side apartment complex within walking distance of the University of Illinois Chicago.  According to police, the shooting occurred around 2:45 p.m. in the 1300 block of S. Morgan St. when someone inside a vehicle opened fire.   Shots fired on Chicago’s North Avenue Beach hours after opening for the summer The shooting victim was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he is listed in critical condition. Police are investigating.  Anyone with information may leave an anonymous tip at cpdtip.com.Read more: Latest Chicago news headlinesSkyCam9 flew above the scene. 

'Dangerous road': Debt ceiling negotiations linger as U.S. inches to deadline

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) – In Washington, lawmakers are racing toward an agreement to raise the debt ceiling as the country is approaching a potential default – which could have major negative impacts on the economy.The United States is only a few days away from the June 1 deadline when the country could potentially run out of money to pay for debts. Additionally, it’s possible the government could be unable to pay for things like military paychecks and Social Security checks.While negotiators say talks over the debt ceiling are progressing, publicly, neither side seems to be backing down.“We got to make more progress,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said.Republican Florida Senator Rick Scott added, “we cannot be raising people's taxes. We cannot be increasing the size of government. We should be living within our means."Republicans continue to demand budget cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.“I do not think it's right that you borrow money from China to pay people to st...