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‘It’s crazy’: Shutdown caps week from hell for US Congress

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:02 GMT

Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman has never seen a scenario like this week: “Not in real life — in movies. It’s crazy.”It’s practically a national adage to say that Congress is wracked by dysfunction. Yet in the days leading up to Sunday’s potential shutdown, the House and the Senate are witnessing a cinematic parade of horribles.The GOP-controlled House has failed to pass a spending plan. At the helm, Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces daily threats to his job from the right and recently launched an impeachment inquiry that some of its own members believe botched its inaugural hearing.The Democratic Senate has its own troubles, well beyond a military promotion blockade: The death of one member, Dianne Feinstein, and the indictment of another, Bob Menendez. With two more Democrats sidelined by Covid, the chamber is laboring to pass a spending bill as Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) threatens to use the rules to force his very own brief government shutdown (again).“The dark part is losing Sen. Feinstei...

Kyiv removes Hungary’s OTP Bank from blacklist in bid to unlock EU aid

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:02 GMT

The Ukrainian National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) announced on Friday that it temporarily removed Hungary’s OTP Bank from a list of “international sponsors of war,” a move the agency said was aimed at securing Budapest’s support for the latest package of EU military aid to Ukraine. The anti-corruption agency said in a statement that the decision was the result of negotiations with the bank and officials in Budapest. A permanent removal from the blacklist will depend on the bank’s willingness to terminate cooperation with Russia, the agency said.The Hungarian bank was added to the blacklist in May because of the “position of the bank’s management to continue operations in Russia.” The “war sponsors” list was created in the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 in an attempt to deter companies from maintaining their operations in Russia.“The agency hopes that this decisi...

Former Mass. state senator faces ethics charges for allegedly using state payroll to conduct campaign activities

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:02 GMT

Former State Sen. Dean Tran has been indicted and charged for using his senate staff to illegally conduct campaign activities, officials announced Friday.The Attorney General’s Office announced that 47-year-old Tran, a Fitchburg native, was indicted on two counts of violating the state ethics law.The charges allege that Tran had members of his staff campaign for him while on state time and payroll. Staff members organized fundraisers, knocked on doors and created mailers, officials said.The Senate Committee on Ethics raised concerns in 2020, which prompted an investigation by the AG.Tran pleaded not guilty last year on charges that he stole a gun from an elderly woman. The Attorney General’s office alleged in 2022 that Tran used his status as a public official to intimidate the woman into parting with the firearms, making her sign a pre-prepared contract for $1,500 cash before stealing the gun.7News reached out to Tran for comment but did not hear back.

As Hollywood strikes roll on, are shows premiering this fall

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:02 GMT

Hollywood has been in limbo these last few months. It’s been especially tough for everyone who earns their living making TV and film. But it also means viewers will start seeing just how that is impacting the fall network lineup. A prolonged strike — still ongoing — will inevitably have that effect and the work stoppage has reshaped prime time in significant ways.If the studios are unable to resolve the strikes soon, their streaming pipeline will slow to a trickle. We’ll know more when we see just how many (or few) premieres there are this winter. Until then, here’s a look at some offerings in the first few weeks of the fall TV season, in order of their premieres “The Changeling” (Sept. 8 on Apple TV+): The eight-part drama stars LaKeith Stanfield as a new father who finds his life spinning out of control. It’s adapted from a novel that has been described as a “punchy cocktail of modern parenting and ancient magic” wherein the “anxieties of fatherhood, race and money are dwarfed by ...

The Dianne Feinstein they knew: Women of the Senate remember a tireless fighter and a true friend

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:02 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Washington Sen. Patty Murray received a call early Friday morning that Sen. Dianne Feinstein had died, she immediately started calling her fellow female senators.The Democrat’s first call was to Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who had worked with Feinstein almost as long as she had. Murray and Feinstein were elected in 1992 — “the year of the woman” — and Collins was elected just four years later. Murray then called several other female Senate colleagues, hastily arranging a tribute.“My immediate response was my women Senate colleagues that have been her friends and her family for so long, and that we needed to be together on the floor.” Murray said in an interview in her Capitol office Friday afternoon.They were all there when the Senate opened at 10 a.m., just hours after Feinstein had died at her home in Washington after serving more than three decades in the Senate. Standing near Feinstein’s Senate desk, now draped in black cloth, the senators — along with ...

The Supreme Court will take up abortion and gun cases in its new term while ethics concerns swirl

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:02 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is returning to a new term to take up some familiar topics — guns and abortion — and concerns about ethics swirling around the justices.The year also will have a heavy focus on social media and how free speech protections apply online. A big unknown is whether the court will be asked to weigh in on any aspect of the criminal cases against former President Donald Trump and others or efforts in some states to keep the Republican off the 2024 presidential ballot because of his role in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Lower-profile but vitally important, several cases in the term that begins Monday ask the justices to constrict the power of regulatory agencies. “I can’t remember a term where the court was poised to say so much about the power of federal administrative agencies,” said Jeffrey Wall, who served as the deputy solicitor general in the Trump administration.One of those cases, to b...

When Kula needed water to stop wildfire, it got a trickle. Many other US cities are also vulnerable

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:02 GMT

Hours before devastating fires scorched the historic town of Lahaina on Maui, Kyle Ellison labored to save his rental house in Kula, a rural mountain town 24 miles away, from a different blaze.As high winds whipped burning trees and grass, Ellison and his landlord struggled with plummeting water pressure. Ellison had to wait for pots to slowly fill in the sink before running them to the fire; his landlord wielded a garden hose with little more than a trickle. Firefighters had to rush away for half-hour stretches to find a working fire hydrant to refill their tanker, and every time they did, the fire gained.“It’s a very disconcerting feeling when the fire department shows up and they don’t have water,” Ellison said.The lack of backup power for critical pumps seriously hindered firefighting in Kula, county water director John Stufflebean told The Associated Press. Once the winds knocked out electricity, pumps were unable to push water up into tanks and reservoirs that were key t...

6 miners killed, 15 trapped underground in collapse of a gold mine in Zimbabwe, state media reports

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:02 GMT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Six people have died in the collapse of a gold mine in Zimbabwe, and 15 others are still trapped underground, according to state media reports.State-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation quoted deputy mines minister Polite Kambamura as saying 34 miners had been caught in Friday’s collapse. Thirteen managed to escape.The broadcaster on Saturday said rescue operations were underway at Beyhose mine in the gold rich town of Chegutu, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of the capital, Harare.The police and the mines ministry could not be reached for comment Saturday.Incidents of mine collapses, often involving artisanal miners, are rampant in the southern African country that is rich in gold, coal and diamonds. The country of 15 million people also has Africa’s largest reserves of lithium, a mineral in global demand due to its use in electric car batteries.Zimbabwe’s mineral-rich national parks, abandoned mines, rivers and even towns are often swarmed with ...

President Biden says the looming shutdown isn’t his fault. Will Americans agree with him?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:02 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Staring down a likely government shutdown, the White House wants to make sure any blame falls at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue — specifically on House Republicans. After all, it’s House Republicans who have been paralyzed by their inability to pass a funding package, and Republicans who don’t want to uphold a bipartisan spending agreement from earlier this year. President Joe Biden is hoping the rest of the country will see things the same way. It’s a murky proposition at a time of extreme political polarization, with many Americans dug into their partisan corners regardless of the facts of the matter.A shutdown would arrive at a tenuous moment for Biden, who already faces low poll numbers and concerns about the economy as he seeks a second term in office, partially on the pitch that he offers steady stewardship in Washington.If no spending bill passes Congress by the end of Saturday, federal workers stop getting paid, air travel could be e...

Saturday Forecast: Low 80s and sunny

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:02 GMT

Saturday: Sunny & warmer -- except lakeside. SE 0-10 mph. Air quality is in the Good category for Chicagoland.  High 82, upper 70s by the lake. Saturday night: Mostly clear & mild for the season. Patchy fog after midnight. SE 0-5 mph. Near: 60Sunday: Sunny & warm. Cooler by the lake.  SSE 0-5 mph. Highs low 80s, cooler lakeside. Chicago Weather | Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center's Forecast (wgntv.com)Extended outlook calls for sunshine and temps in the mid to low 80s for Mon/Tue and possibly Wednesday too as we see increasing clouds. Showers and possible thunderstorms look likely for Thursday with temps in the mid 70s and wind developing. Some rain at times and highs near 70 for Friday.