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The federal government will conduct a nationwide emergency alert test via mobile phones and cable TV

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:33 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — “THIS IS A TEST”: If you have a cellphone or are watching television Wednesday, that message will flash across your screen as the federal government tests its emergency alert system used to tell people about emergencies.The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System sends out messages via the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts. The Emergency Alert System is a national public warning system that’s designed to allow the president to speak to the American people within 10 minutes during a national emergency via specific outlets such as radio and television. And Wireless Emergency Alerts are short messages — 360 characters or less — that go to mobile phones to alert their owner to important information.While these types of alerts are frequently used in targeted areas to alert people in the area to thing like tornadoes, Wednesday’s test is being done across the country.The test is slated to start at 2:20 p.m. Eastern Time Wednesday. W...

Former Russian state TV journalist gets 8 1/2-year sentence in absentia for Ukraine war criticism

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:33 GMT

A court in Moscow on Wednesday handed a former state TV journalist a 8 1/2-year prison term in absentia for protesting Russia’s war in Ukraine, the latest in a months-long crackdown against dissent that has intensified since Moscow’s invasion 20 months ago. Marina Ovsyannikova was charged with spreading false information about the Russian army, a criminal offense under a law adopted shortly after the Kremlin sent troops to Ukraine. She held a picket in the Russian capital in July 2022, and held a poster that said “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin is a killer. His soldiers are fascists. 352 children have been killed (in Ukraine). How many more children need to die for you to stop?”Ovsyannikova, who until March 2022 worked at for Russia’s state-run Channel One, was detained and placed under house arrest, but managed to escape to France with her daughter. Russian authorities put her on a wanted list and prosecuted and tried her in absentia. In March, 2022 Ovsyanniko...

Biden forgiving another $9 billion in student loans

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:33 GMT

(The Hill) - The Biden administration announced on Wednesday it is forgiving another $9 billion in student loans for borrowers who have been on an income-driven repayment (IDR) and Public Service Loan Forgiveness plan. The $9 billion will forgive the debt of 125,000 borrowers, with 53,000 getting relief under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, 51,000 through an IDR plan and 22,000 who have a total or permanent disability. Those on the IDR plan have been making payments for more than 20 years but never got the student debt relief they were promised, according to the White House. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program includes those who have been working in a government position or nonprofit for more than ten years. The relief helps only a small portion of student loan borrowers as more than 45 million people still hold $1.75 trillion in student loans, while college prices continue to increase.“For years, millions of eligible borrowers were unable to access th...

McHenry orders Pelosi to vacate Capitol office in one of first acts as Speaker pro tem 

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:33 GMT

(The Hill) - Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) ordered Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to vacate her Capitol hideaway office so he could take it over, just hours after becoming acting Speaker, Pelosi’s office said Tuesday.McHenry became acting Speaker after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted from the role Tuesday, the first time a Speaker has been voted out of the job. McHenry’s office requested that Pelosi vacate her Capitol hideaway office by Wednesday because it was being re-allocated “for speaker office use,” the message, first reported by Politico, reads. A small number of senior Representatives have “hideaway offices” inside the Capitol Building.Pelosi denounced the demand in a statement late Tuesday.“With all of the important decisions that the new Republican Leadership must address, which we are all eagerly awaiting, one of the first actions taken by the new Speaker Pro Tempore was to order me to immediately vacate my office in the Capitol,” she sa...

These 8 Republicans voted to oust McCarthy

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:33 GMT

(The Hill) - Eight House Republicans joined House Democrats in removing Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his post as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, the first time a Speaker has ever been removed by vote.Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) led the motion. The Florida lawmaker has feuded with McCarthy for weeks over debates on passing budget appropriations bills. Gaetz demanded McCarthy pass bills with steep budget cuts, but McCarthy instead opted to back a deal to avoid a government shutdown with a 45-day, last-second budget extension.Like Gaetz, the other Republican lawmakers cited either the national debt or broken promises made to the House GOP as their reasons for voting to remove McCarthy.These are the Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy:Rep. Andy Biggs (Ariz.)Rep. Andy Biggs, listens during a hearing on oversight of the Drug Enforcement Administration, on Thursday, July 27, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)Biggs argue...

Police investigating homicide in south Austin; City's 50th of the year

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:33 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Police Department is investigating the city's 50th homicide of the year after a body was found in south Austin late Tuesday night. APD officers began investigating the scene, which was in the 1100 block of Cumberland Road, around midnight after a person flagged officers down in a park saying they found a man's body in a car. EMS declared the man dead, and according to police, there was trauma to his body. It's unclear how the trauma was caused. Police investigating homicide in 1100 block of Cumberland Road, Oct. 4, 2023 (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey) Police investigating homicide in 1100 block of Cumberland Road, Oct. 4, 2023 (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey) MAP: Where have Austin’s homicides occurred in 2023? APD said someone was detained, and police don't believe there is a threat to the public. Police were interviewing people in the area overnight and into the early morning. This is a developing story.

Rain and autumn-like temps are heading our way

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:33 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Unseasonably hot weather persists for one last day with high temperatures climbing into the middle 90s. Factoring in the very high humidity expect "feels-like" temps to be in the triple digits. But finally some prolonged relief is heading our way! Two strong cold fronts and a rain-making storm are approaching Texas.The Rain and TimingIsolated to scattered showers and storms will be possible Wednesday through the evening. The chance of rain however remains relatively low (30%). The main event bringing us widespread heavy rain doesn't arrive until the Thursday morning commute along the approaching cold front.The cold front begins to push into our viewing area around sunrise Thursday morning.Heavy rain then pushes into the Austin area between 8 AM and 10 AM.Heavy rain likely continues through the morning with it gradually tapering off by the late afternoon.Rainfall AmountsWeather Threats & ConcernsThe Weather Prediction Center has parts of our area in a slight risk...

Kim Cross: How Polly Klaas’ kidnapping and murder 30 years ago changed crime and punishment in America

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:33 GMT

When 12-year-old Polly Klaas was kidnapped by a stranger from her Northern California home on Oct. 1, 1993, the efforts to find her drew worldwide attention. When Polly’s body was found 64 nights after her abduction, the outpouring of grief in her hometown and beyond was overwhelming.Why had Polly’s case so profoundly touched the nation and the world? Eve Nichol, Polly’s mom, didn’t know. She realized not every family receives this kind of support. But she hoped that what had been learned from Polly’s case would help galvanize some other community in the future. If Polly’s fate could change laws or inspire efforts to prevent child abuse, perhaps “something good can come out of this horror,” she thought.In fact, the Klaas investigation would become a Hall of Fame case in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s San Francisco division.“The case was immensely important to us at the time and was followed very closely,” said ...

Sheldon H. Jacobson: Bunching COVID-19, the flu and RSV as a ‘tripledemic’ is misleading

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:33 GMT

The term “tripledemic” is being used to express the concerns about the collective spread of COVID-19, influenza and the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, during this fall and winter. Yet each of these infectious diseases has its own risk profile. Placing them under the same epidemic umbrella may inadvertently overstate the impending dangers — perhaps to the point of crying wolf when a calmer descriptor would be more beneficial and appropriate.The seasonal flu has a long history. A typical season runs from October through early spring. Vaccines are available that provide some protection against this virus. The challenge is predicting about six months in advance which strains will be circulating during flu season. This is the lead time needed to produce the vaccines using an egg-based process, the most common method used today. Each year, the vaccine is typically between 40% and 60% effective across the entire population.Seasonal flu typically affects the very you...

Maureen Dowd: DiFi, breaking into the Boys’ Club

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:33 GMT

WASHINGTON — I’ve always said that the Washington Monument is an apt symbol, a Freudian obelisk redolent of all the male egos that have shaped our capital.To appreciate what Dianne Feinstein accomplished, you need to know how male this city was in 1992, when she was swept into Congress in the “Year of the Woman” as the 18th female senator in history.That wave was buoyed by women’s anger at the vicious Republicans and inept Democrats on the white male Judiciary Committee overseeing the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings. A sexual harasser lied his way onto the Supreme Court, and now he is doing his best to corrupt it.These women arrived on the Hill, home to historic man caves, as journalist Jackie Calmes called the hideaways where male pols horse-traded, sipped whisky and played poker. When one new lawmaker stepped into the House elevator, the female operator said icily, “This elevator is for members only.”“Yes, thank you,” the representative replied, waiting for the operator to spo...