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Debt ceiling explained: Why it's a struggle and how the impasse could end

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met Monday after a weekend of on again, off again negotiations over raising the nation's debt ceiling and mere days before the government could reach a “hard deadline” and run out of cash to pay its bills. The two sides are working to reach a budget compromise before June 1, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the country could default. Ex-Denver schools administrator criticizes disciplinary system Speaking to reporters after Monday's meeting, McCarthy said the two sides had not yet reached an agreement but the meeting was “productive.” In his own statement following the Oval Office sit-down, Biden echoed those sentiments.“We reiterated once again that default is off the table and the only way to move forward is in good faith toward a bipartisan agreement,” Biden said. Their handpicked negotiators will continue to meet. McCarthy and Republicans are insisting on spending cuts in exchange for raising t...

Celtics look to pull off the impossible, as Heat stand on brink of making NBA Finals

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:42 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Blown out in Game 3, facing elimination in Game 4, tasked with engineering the sort of comeback that no team in their league has ever pulled off before.This may sound familiar to Boston fans.Yes, what the Red Sox did to the New York Yankees in 2004 was discussed around the Boston Celtics on Monday. A day after a debacle in Miami to fall into a 3-0 deficit in these Eastern Conference finals — “embarrassing,” Boston forward Jaylen Brown said — the Celtics will try to extend the series and at least delay a Heat celebration in Game 4 on Tuesday night.“We still believe we’re the better team,” Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon said Monday. “We have not played like it in any of the three games. But, you know, there is always a first.”No NBA team has rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a series; it’s happened only once in Major League Baseball, when the Red Sox shook off a 19-8 drubbing in Game 3 to win four straight and top the Yankees in that 2004 AL championship series.Of co...

Send for Agent BoJo! Boris Johnson dispatched to Texas to shore up Republican support for Ukraine

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:42 GMT

DALLAS — Britain might have fallen out of love with Boris Johnson. But Ukraine’s allies in the U.S. reckon the charismatic ex-prime minister is still the perfect messenger to shore up support for the war in wavering Republican heartlands.Pro-Ukraine think tankers on Monday brought Johnson to a private lunch in Dallas, Texas, to meet two dozen of the state’s leading conservative figures, including politicians, donors and captains of industry.The message Johnson was there to deliver was simple: America must stay the course in Ukraine.“I just urge you all to stick with it,” Johnson told those seated in the grand, wood-panelled dining room in downtown Dallas, where POLITICO was also in attendance. “It will pay off massively in the long run.”The former U.K. prime minister flew to Texas as a growing number of conservative lawmakers, candidates and activists have started to question the size of the U.S. support package for Ukraine as it attempts to fight back agains...

Man dies after shooting in Dorchester, police searching for shooter

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:42 GMT

An investigation was ongoing Monday night as police continued their search for the person behind a deadly shooting in Dorchester. Police said a man was shot while in a car on Columbia Road Monday afternoon near Devon Street. The man was later taken to a hospital where he died. Hours after the shooting, police asked for the public’s help, asking anyone with information on this shooting to reach out. “It happened in the middle of the day,” said Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox. “A lot of people are our here in general. So, we’re asking for the public to help us with this.”SKY7-HD was over the scene around 5:30 p.m., where several Boston police cruisers were visible. Roughly 30 minutes later, the investigation appeared to focus around two cars in the area. The cars were taped off and evidence markers could be seen in multiple spots around the scene. On the ground, police blocked off a large stretch of Columbia Road for hours, working close to Boston’s Frederic...

Woman taken to hospital after multi-vehicle crash in Springfield

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:42 GMT

A multi-vehicle crash left at least one woman temporarily trapped inside her car in Springfield Monday morning, according to state police. Police said troopers responded around 8:30 a.m. on I-91 northbound near Exit 8. Once on scene, police said troopers used a cruiser to help stabilize one of the cars involved while crews worked to free the woman trapped inside. State police said the woman, a 29-year-old from Westfield, was taken to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.While an investigation was ongoing, investigators said they believed the woman was stopped in traffic when she was hit from behind.

Milford nips North Quincy in marathon volleyball match

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:42 GMT

MILFORD – In an electric battle of premier Div. 2 state title threats Monday night, just about the only thing that could match the red within each teams’ school colors was Milford setter Owen Callahan’s face from how intensely he was flexing and screaming during a dominant fifth set.As part of a thrilling match that saw each team trade large swings of momentum, none came by more force than Callahan’s Scarlet Hawks overpowering reigning state finalist North Quincy in the final frame for a 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 25-23, 18-25, 15-1) nonleague win.Callahan served on each of the last six points for Milford, adding to a 44-assist performance that helped junior Alex Guerra erupt for 29 kills.It was the first time the Scarlet Hawks (13-4) played the Raiders (15-3) since losing to them in the Div. 2 state semifinal round last year, and much of this episode proved evenly matched.Perhaps the only thing more meaningful than getting that revenge, though, was overcoming a distant loss in the fourth s...

Chicago White Sox are limited to 3 hits in a 3-0 loss to the Cleveland Guardians in the series opener

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:42 GMT

Andrew Benintendi ripped a double to right. With one out in the fourth inning, the Chicago White Sox had one of their best scoring chances Monday against the Cleveland Guardians.Hunter Gaddis, who entered the game with a 6.86 ERA, struck out Luis Robert Jr. Yoán Moncada got hit by a pitch, but the Sox came up empty when Gavin Sheets popped out to second baseman Andrés Giménez.It was that type of night for the Sox, who lost 3-0 in front of 13,878 at Progressive Field. Gaddis and four relievers limited the Sox to three hits in the opener of the three-game series.The Guardians had only four hits as both teams pitched well.With Mike Clevinger on the injured list, the Sox went with the combination of Jimmy Lambert and Jesse Scholtens for the bulk of the game. The reliever Lambert served as the opener, allowing one hit and a walk in a scoreless first.Scholtens, recalled from Triple-A Charlotte on Monday, allowed one run on two hits with one strikeout and two walks in five i...

Family of suicidal Black teen killed by police in Nevada agrees to $2M settlement, more training

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:42 GMT

SPARKS, Nev. (AP) — The parents of a suicidal Black teenager who was fatally shot by police in 2020 in Nevada have agreed to a $2 million settlement with the city of Sparks that also includes more crisis intervention and mental health training for police officers.The city of about 110,000 on the edge of Reno said in a statement Monday it hopes the agreement helps bring “closure” to all parties.Miciah Lee, 18, Sparks, had no criminal history and was not wanted for any crime when a white officer shot him five times while he was sitting in his car with a handgun between his legs and his hands in plain sight on Jan. 5, 2020, his family’s lawyer, Terri Keyser-Cooper, said. But she said Lee did have a long history of mental illness and drug abuse, and that the officers’ rush to violence defied any limited training they had received to diffuse such confrontations. Lee’s mother, Susan Clopp, called 911 shortly before the shooting and told the dispatcher three times her son...

Federal agents, prosecutors going after machine-gun conversion devices in Tennessee

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:42 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Twenty-six people in Tennessee have been recently convicted or face charges for possessing “switches,” devices that convert semi-automatic firearms into a machine guns, which can be made with 3-D printers and bought on the internet, federal law enforcement officials said during a news conference Monday.Federal investigators and local law enforcement officers in Memphis and Jackson have been trying to slow down the proliferation of switches as they work to stem a growing wave of gun violence, said Kevin Ritz, the U.S. attorney for the federal district in West Tennessee.A Memphis native who was nominated by President Joe Biden and sworn in last September, Ritz said communities “are reeling from gun violence” — a problem worsened by the increased number of switches found in the region. “Switches are illegal and highly dangerous devices that convert semiautomatic firearms into machine guns,” Ritz said. “These devices threaten public safety and make the gun vi...

Actor Jeremy Renner wants tax credits for film projects in northern Nevada but he may have to wait

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:16:42 GMT

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Actor Jeremy Renner’s hopes to expand a measure for the film industry to northern Nevada were effectively dashed Monday when the bill’s sponsor said it’s too late to entertain in the current legislative session.A bill moving through the Nevada Legislature would provide $190 million annually in tax credits over at least 20 years aimed at bringing film productions to two sites in southern Nevada, including a $1 billion Sony expansion. Renner, who played the sharp-shooting Hawkeye of the Avengers squad in Marvel’s sprawling movie and television universe, lobbied lawmakers Monday for a third site in northern Nevada that he said could rival film production studios in Atlanta and New Mexico where he shot Avengers and other films.Democratic Sen. Roberta Lange of Las Vegas, the bill sponsor, and Brandon Birtcher, a developer who spearheaded the project said it was too late in the project to add another site. But Lange said a potential amendment cou...