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Debt ceiling tests McCarthy, as GOP speaker rides breezily through fight of his career

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:57 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — One morning amid the debt ceiling crisis, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy climbed onto his mountain bike and took a ride along the National Mall, marveling at the monuments.The next day he arrived for negotiations at the U.S. Capitol carting in tortilla chips and queso for the beleaguered reporters waiting outside his office during the 24/7 talks.McCarthy, with his laid-back California vibe, was never Washington’s bet to become House speaker, having almost missed seizing the gavel in a history-making spectacle at the start of this year.But the 58-year-old is now leading House Republicans in the high-wire act of his career: Having negotiated with Democratic President Joe Biden over raising the nation’s debt limit, he now must deliver the votes to pass the spending cuts package into law.The standoff is being watched the world over as the U.S. stares down a June 5 deadline when it could run short of cash to pay its bills, potentially hurling the American economy into cha...

‘Succession’ fans brace for series finale of Emmy-winning hit drama

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:57 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jennifer Gould, an Oregon-based trusts and estates lawyer, thinks the premise of “Succession” – HBO’s hit series chronicling a billionaire media mogul and his children’s struggles to take over the family company — is a little flawed.“The idea that they wouldn’t have a firm succession plan in place is ridiculous,” Gould said. Still, she has set aside Monday for “crying and grieving” after watching the hotly anticipated series finale airing Sunday evening.With the critically acclaimed drama’s fourth and final season ending, dedicated fans of “Succession” are locking in plans to watch the whopping 88-minute finale while turning online for emotional support, memes and endless theories about how the show could end and who will prevail. “No one I know in real life watches the show,” Gould said, adding that the emotional toll of season four made her look for support online, which is how she landed on the social news website Reddit, where a chat dedicated to all thin...

Voters in Turkey return to polls to decide on opposing presidential visions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:57 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Voters in Turkey return to the polls Sunday to decide whether the country’s longtime leader stretches his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade or is unseated by a challenger who has promised to restore a more democratic society.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been at Turkey’s helm for 20 years, is favored to win a new five-year term in the second-round runoff after coming just short of an outright victory in the first round on May 14.The divisive populist who turned his country into a geopolitical player finished four percentage points ahead of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the candidate of a six-party alliance and leader of Turkey’s center-left main opposition party. Erdogan’s performance came despite crippling inflation and the effects of a devastating earthquake three months ago.Kilicdaroglu (pronounced KEH-lich-DAHR-OH-loo), a 74-year-old former bureaucrat, has described the runoff as a referendum on the country’s future.More than 64 million pe...

What’s next on the debt ceiling: Selling the plan, and making a deal into a law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:57 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — After weeks of negotiations, President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have announced an “ agreement in principle ” to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and avoid a potentially catastrophic default.The agreement includes spending cuts demanded by Republicans, but it is short of the reductions in the sweeping legislation passed by the Republican-led House last month.To reduce spending, as Republicans had insisted, the package includes a two-year budget deal that would hold spending flat for 2024 and impose limits for 2025. That’s in exchange for raising the debt limit for two years, until after the next election.It also expands some work requirements for food-stamp recipients and tweaks an environmental law to try to streamline reviews to build new energy projects.Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the United States could default on its debt obligations by June 5 if lawmakers do not act in time to raise the federal debt ceiling.A look at what’s ...

Why Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment fight isn’t finished yet

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:57 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Legislature already made one historic move with its impeachment of Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton. Another one is coming.The GOP-led House of Representatives on Saturday approved 20 articles of impeachment on sweeping allegations of wrongdoing that have trailed the state’s top lawyer for years, including abuse of office and bribery. The vote immediately suspended Paxton from office. But the intraparty brawl in the nation’s largest conservative state, one that even drew political punches Saturday from former President Donald Trump, is far from over. The Republican-controlled Senate will hold a trial of Paxton next, and he and his allies hope conservatives there will save him.One member of that chamber is his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, and she could cast a vote on her husband’s political future, which is now in jeopardy in part because of bribery allegations linked to his extra-marital affair.THE SENATEImpeachment in ...

Fight still ahead for Texas’ Ken Paxton after historic impeachment deepens GOP divisions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:57 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The historic impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton plunged Republicans on Sunday into a fight over whether to banish one of their own in America’s biggest red state after years of scandal and criminal accusations that will now be at the center of a trial in the state Senate. Paxton said he has “full confidence” as he awaits judgement from the Senate, where his conservative allies include his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, who has not said whether she will recuse herself from the proceedings to determine whether her husband will be permanently removed from office.For now, Texas’ three-term attorney general is immediately suspended after the state House of Representatives on Saturday impeached Paxton on 20 articles that included bribery and abuse of public trust. The decisive 121-23 vote amounted to a clear rebuke from the GOP-controlled chamber after nearly a decade of Republican lawmakers taking a mostly muted stance on Paxton’s all...

Man arrested, victim’s hand severed in Riverside attack

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:57 GMT

A suspect was arrested in connection to an assault that left a victim’s hand severed in downtown Riverside.The suspect was identified as 38-year-old Stephen Daniel Dillard of Jurupa Valley, according to the Riverside Police Department.On May 13 around 10 p.m., officers responded to an area near 5th Street and Fairmount Boulevard where police said a victim’s hand was found severed after a physical attack.Dillard had fled the scene before officers arrived.On May 23, police located Dillard and he was taken into custody. He was booked on charges of mayhem and released on $55,000 bail. Suspect fatally shot by officers outside Home Depot in Burbank The events leading up to the violent attack remain under investigation. Detectives said there are more witnesses of the incident who have yet to come forward.Authorities are asking anyone with information to contact Detective Melissa Brazil at 951-353-7213 or email [email protected]. The public can also contact Detective Dane Wilkinson ...

NCS softball playoffs: Pinole Valley captures first section title in over a decade

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:57 GMT

PLEASANT HILL – On a sunny Saturday afternoon at Diablo Valley College, Pinole Valley defeated heavy underdog Encinal 6-1 to win the North Coast Section Division III softball championship.Pinole Valley looked every bit like the No. 1 seed in the first inning, batting around the order and scoring four runs. Melina Mendoza singled in one run, Aneesa Brewer drove in another, senior Milanya Rosales put one across the plate, and Jennifer Ramirez finished the scoring with a single into right. For a team that had scored a combined three runs in the past two games, the opening salvo felt like a weight being lifted off the Spartans’ shoulders. “Those first four runs in the first inning were huge just to get their confidence back,” Tatro said. “They were starting to worry. It’d been tough for a while to score.”Pinole Valley’s Aneesa Brewer hits a double against Encinal in the NCS Division III softball championship at DVC College in Pleasant Hill, Calif., Saturday, May 27, 2023. (Karl Mo...

CCS Open championship: Hollister’s big adjustments prevent St. Francis three-peat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:57 GMT

SARATOGA – Hollister’s 4-0 Central Coast Section Open Division victory became official on the West Valley College scoreboard at 5 p.m, but the Haybalers won the mental game a few minutes after the 3 p.m. first pitch. It was only one run in the top of the first inning, but when Hollister’s Grace Peffley drove a grounder into right field and a runner across the plate, the Balers got the emotional edge over the St. Francis Lancers.“When they scored the run in the first inning, I could feel the energy drop,” St. Francis pitcher Shannon Keighran said. “As a captain, that’s really hard to see.”It didn’t hurt that Hollister executed a strategy that turned St. Francis’ fearsome bats into popup machines. Starting pitcher Sophia Mariottini pounded the inside part of the plate and dared the Lancers to pull the ball into gaps, something St. Francis was unable to do. “They beat us in every facet of the game,” St. Francis coach Mike Oakland said. “They pitched better, they hit better, they ...

Crews search for man submersed in Livermore lake: officials

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:57 GMT

(KRON) -- Crews are searching for a man submersed in a Livermore lake Saturday afternoon, East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) announced in a press release. Park officers responded to a call around 3:51 p.m. from a family of a man who entered the water to retrieve an oar. 2 SF women arrested after $50K worth of merch stolen from Santa Rosa Sunglasses Hut: police The man jumped into the water at Lake Del Valle, immediately began to struggle and then went underwater, according to witnesses who spoke to EBRPD. Officers arrived at the scene minutes later.Marine officers and EBRPD lifeguards assisted in the response. As of Saturday night, crews are still searching for the unidentified man.Lake Del Valle is located at Del Valle Regional Park in Livermore, approximately 15 miles southeast of the Livermore outlets.