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Democrats upset Arizona budget doesn’t limit school voucher expansion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:03 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — A $17 billion budget package that Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs negotiated with leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature and won approval on Wednesday is drawing criticism from Democrats for failing to put limits on an expansion of a school voucher program that they say is a drain on the state’s coffers.The Democratic governor came into office in January with plans to undo the massive explosion in the voucher program, championed by her GOP predecessor Gov. Doug Ducey, that lets students apply to use public money for private-school tuition and other education costs. Hobbs’ office had said the expansion siphons money from underfunded public schools and would cost $1.5 billion over the next decade.The governor didn’t propose doing away with all vouchers, but she wanted to return to the voucher program to what it was before Ducey expanded it to include every child in the state — when disabled children, students living on American Indian reservations, students att...

People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier eyes Manitoba seat long held by Tories

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:03 GMT

OTTAWA — People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier appears set to announce his candidacy in an coming byelection for a federal seat in Manitoba.A news release says Bernier, a former cabinet minister who quit the Conservative caucus in 2018 to found the party, will make an important announcement about the byelection in the Portage-Lisgar riding on Friday.The byelection was prompted by longtime member of Parliament Candice Bergen, who served as interim Conservative leader last year, stepping down in February.Bernier has previously said he was considering running for the seat, in part because it is in a rural area with a large francophone community.The People’s Party of Canada candidate in the 2021 election lost to Bergen but nonetheless gained 22 per cent of the vote.Bernier would not confirm his prospective run in an interview, but said he wants to become an MP again — and people in Portage will be in a position to make history. “I can tell you that I believe t...

New Hampshire utility has latest entrant to trade electricity with Canada

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:03 GMT

The newest proposal for a major electrical transmission line from Canada that would be able to carry power to New England from Canada, would also be able to send to Quebec renewable energy produced by future power generators off the New England coast or other sources.The proposed 211-mile, $2 billion Twin State Clean Energy Link would enter the United States in Canaan, Vermont. It would be buried along state highways in Vermont and New Hampshire until it linked to an existing transmission corridor in Monroe that would carry the power to a new substation in Londonderry. From there the power could be distributed throughout New England.“You can think about the Twin States line almost like battery storage — the line would not need to be ‘always on’ and delivering energy from Quebec to New England,” said a statement from the electric utility National Grid, one of the developers of the proposed New Hampshire project. “Instead, it would be used when there is a need to bring additiona...

'Proof not promise:' Former United Airlines CEO reflects on tenure, talks aviation's future

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:03 GMT

CHICAGO — He helmed one of Chicago's biggest employers, and operated an airline that almost everyone has an opinion about.Oscar Munoz took over as CEO for United Airlines in September of 2015, a time when the airline was shrinking, employees were angry, and passengers frequently found flying with united anything but friendly.Munoz was a railroad guy without the prototypical airline experience history of previous industry leaders before joining the aviation industry. he said he realized the airline's fractured culture after a recent merger with Continental and fraught relations with its unionized workforce needed to change."I think words can be empty, actions mean more anything," Munoz said.  "I have a saying: ‘Proof, not promise.’ It stems from the fact that when you listen and learn from people, before you lead an organization, there are so many people who are going to feel a part of it.”In a conversation with WGN's Ben Bradley, Munoz reflected on his tenure with the airline, ...

Pritzker signs law that benefits Chicago first responders disabled by COVID

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:03 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday signed a law providing full disability benefits to Chicago police officers and firefighters struck by COVID-19 before vaccines were available, presiding over an emotional statehouse ceremony which marked the end of a financial struggle for responders including the brother of Comptroller Susana Mendoza.The Act-of-Duty law, HB3162, ensures disability benefits of 75% of salary plus health insurance for anyone unable to work after contracting the coronavirus from March 9, 2020, when the flare-up intensified in Illinois, until June 30, 2021. The law grants them the presumption that they picked up the illness on the job.Pritzker said after COVID-19′s arrival in early 2020, police, fire and medical personnel were both a line of defense and a lifeline. Arwady on COVID public health emergency ending: ‘It doesn’t mean it’s gone’ “Our first responders were key to our national response, transporting infected patients to hospitals, ...

Migrants volunteer in community garden as they await placement at local shelters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:03 GMT

CHICAGO — For the last 15 days, Manuel Moreno and his wife, Laurimar, have been living out of the Chicago Police Department's 22nd District police station in Morgan Park.While they wait for placement in a local shelter, Moreno and a group of men have been helping in the nearby Edna White Community Garden."Picking up trash, a spring clean-up getting rid of dead plants, putting down mulch," said Tim Noonan, who works as a mutual aide in the 19th Ward. "It gives them something to do because they’re sitting around all day staring at the walls." CPSA joins FOP, calls out City for sending migrants to police stations for days on end Moreno said their journey here wasn't easy.The two said they left Venezuela eight months ago, traveling on foot through the jungles of Panama and Guatemala. Along the way, Moreno said they went without food for days and dead bodies were found everywhere. At one point, he said they had to drink water from a river filled with corpses.Moreno said he saved $3,000...

Thousands of honeybees take over Louisiana home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:03 GMT

JEANERETTE, La. (KLFY) - A Louisiana family can no longer live in their home due to unwanted visitors taking over.Annie Lively said she has not been able to stay at her home in Jeanerette because thousands of honeybees have made a nest for their colony inside the house.Lively said she woke up one morning and saw they were inside the house. For nearly a decade, Lively has lived in her home raising her family. She said the neighbor across the street noticed numerous bees in a tree near Lively's home long before Lively moved in. Starbucks rolls out $1 charge for certain orders, causing confusion "I never started seeing them until like two or three years ago," Lively said. "[My neighbor] said it has been going on with this tree in the back of the house."Lively said she has tried to get help from the city, but they have not been able to get the bees from the home. Nexstar's KLFY spoke with Jeanerette Mayor Carol Bourgeois who said he and his department have done everything they can do ...

Texas ranks as worst state for mental healthcare

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:03 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A recent study has ranked Texas as the worst state for mental healthcare in the U.S. and claimed the state has the highest percentage of uninsured adults with mental illness.The study, conducted by Forbes, evaluated states on the availability of mental health services and the barrier to accessing those services. Along with the aforementioned metric, Texas also ranked the highest for the "highest percentage of adults with a cognitive disability who could not see a doctor due to cost" and "highest percentage of youth who had a major depressive episode in the past year and did not receive treatment." Forbes Digital Public Relations Manager Zoi Galarraga said that the study weighed these three metrics over the other four."They were a better reflection of needing mental health services and lacking access to care, than just number of mental health treatment centers per 10,000 businesses, for example," Galarraga said. "We essentially provided a heavier weighting to any met...

Minnesota Democrats have deal on new gun control — red flag laws, expanded background checks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:03 GMT

Minnesota Democrats believe they have agreement on two gun control laws that can win approval in the state Senate where they have a one-seat majority.Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party members, who won a trifecta of control of state government in November, have said addressing gun violence was a top priority. But until Wednesday there were a lot of doubts DFLers could win approval of substantial changes in the Senate, where several members won close races and are politically vulnerable on the issue.Now both expanded background checks and a red flag law appear to have the support to pass. They were inserted Wednesday into the judiciary and public safety budget bill being finalized by a bicameral committee of lawmakers.The gun control measures have already passed the House once along party lines, but they have not been debated in the full Senate.“I am so proud the Legislature is finally getting this done,” said Sen. Bonnie Westlin, DFL-Plymouth, who is in her first term and has...

Starbucks debuts two new limited-time summer beverages

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:03 GMT

Starbucks is getting a jump start on this year’s warmer months, introducing two new summer beverages that will be available in U.S. stores for a limited time starting on Tuesday.The new menu additions are the Chocolate Java Mint Frappuccino blended beverage and White Chocolate Macadamia Cream Cold Brew.The new Frappuccino is a blend of coffee, chocolate, mint, and Frappuccino chips, topped with mocha sauce, whipped cream, and a sprinkle of mint-chocolate cookie crumble, the coffee shop chain says.“With the Chocolate Java Mint Frappuccino, we wanted to take a new approach to the classic combination of mint and chocolate to create a blended coffee beverage that elicits nostalgia for one of our favorite summer treats,” Maureen Matthews of Starbucks beverage development team, said in a press release.“The new white chocolate mint sauce is subtle and creamy, and when paired with the crunch of Frappuccino chips and a swirl of rich mocha, is reminiscent of mint chocolate chip ice cream pool...