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FAQ: What you need to know about an impending government shutdown

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:55 GMT

With the expiration of last year’s federal funding coming up this Sunday, Oct. 1, and the two chambers of Congress starkly divided, a government shutdown seems imminent. The 2018-2019 shutdown, that lasted a record 35 days, is still fresh in the minds of D.C. area residents. Many federal and contract workers around the District are wondering if they should be preparing to be furloughed or work without pay for an indefinite amount of time.Americans that don’t work for the government will also be affected, as government and federally funded services will be restricted or delayed.Let’s jump into what exactly is fueling this possible shutdown and how it could affect you.Source

Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley eager to show everyone, including the Falcons, his true skills

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:55 GMT

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — It admittedly took Calvin Ridley “a couple days” to get over the worst performance of his NFL career.Two dropped touchdown passes. Two false start penalties. Two days of mulling what went wrong and why in a 37-17 loss to Houston.“You have to throw it away,” Ridley said Wednesday. “Everyone hates dropping a pass. You think I went out there to drop a pass? I come out here and practice hard, catch pretty much everything. You feel me?“I made a mistake. I can’t wait to get back out there to show the fans, whoever, my mom, my family and my teammates that I’m working hard to be a great player.”He left out one more: the Atlanta Falcons.Ridley will travel 4,300 miles (6,900 kilometers) to face his former team for the first time when the stumbling Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2) “host” the Falcons (2-1) at Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday. It’s the first of back-to-back games for Jacksonville across the pond and Ridley’s first venture to London.Ridley initially tried t...

Police clear suspicious item at Boulder death investigation scene

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:55 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The Boulder Police Department evacuated several apartment units near the 4500 block of 13th Street in Boulder because of a death investigation and a "suspicious device."FOX31's Vicente Arenas was on the scene. He reported just before 5 p.m. that investigators were clearing the scene. Evacuations were lifted and residents were soon to return to their homes.Police deployed robots to investigate the item and learned the suspicious device was nonhazardous but made to look like a bomb — an unusual box with wires coming out of it. Buyer, beware: Police warn of card-tapping scam Nothing had been released as of Wednesday evening about the person who was found dead at the scene. Boulder Police tweeted about the evacuation on Wednesday at 11:38 a.m. Explosive detection investigators were on the scene. Download the FOX31 App: Breaking news alerts & Pinpoint Weather At first, only one building was being evacuated while the surrounding units were sheltering in place. The...

Another day, another dousing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:55 GMT

The wet weather trend continues for much of south Florida (and the pattern is getting old and tiresome for many). For the past 15 days, we’ve had rain and storms break out. The excessive rainfall has caused numerous street flooding hazards, on a regular basis. Since more downpours are in the forecast, brace for more instances of “splashing and dashing”. The reason we’re stuck in this wet and unsettled pattern is because of a moisture connection to the tropics. A large shield of tropical moisture continues to stream northward towards Florida (from the Caribbean Sea). As it gets pulled in our direction, it acts as fuel for heavy rain and thunderstorms. There’s no immediate relief coming. Instead, we’ll have to put up with more damp days to close out the week. Looking beyond that time frame, if some of our long range forecast models are correct, there’s a glimmer of hope ahead. Once we get into the start of October, we may have a turn...

Victims’ families protest in Surfside ahead of commissioners’ vote on future development of condo collapse site

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:55 GMT

A battle continues to brew in Surfside over what’s being built at the site of the deadly condominium collapse, and despite the developers’ announcement that they will be changing some of the plans, families of the victims are still upset.Families of the victims of the June 24, 2021 collapse peacefully protested outside Surfside Town Hall on Wednesday before commissioners meet for a final vote on future development at the site of the tragedy and Surfside memorial.“Is this normal? is it normal for 98 people to get killed in a place they called home and have to rally for respect?” said Martin Langesfeld, who lost his sister and brother-in-law in the collapse.The victims’ families have been fighting for a memorial on 88th Street and have been meeting with commissioners and the developers. They have voiced their concerns about the placement of a garbage collection area and a loading dock for the new luxury condo that will be built in the same location.“...

Chinese hackers nab 60,000 emails in US State Department breach

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:55 GMT

WASHINGTON — Hackers linked to the Chinese government stole around 60,000 emails from the unclassified inboxes of 10 U.S. State Department employees as part of a high-profile hack earlier this summer, according to a readout from a Senate staff briefing on Wednesday.The new details of the previously known hacking incident, which also impacted U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, are likely to only exacerbate concerns on Capitol Hill about Chinese hacking efforts, which have ramped up this year.According to a Senate staffer for Senator Eric Schmitt (Republican, Missouri), granted anonymity in order to discuss a private briefing, top officials from the State Department revealed the new details of the hack during a Capitol Hill briefing for staffers.The officials, who included State Department Chief Information Officer Kelly Fletcher, told attendees the focus of the hack was on Indo-Pacific diplomatic efforts, with nine of the 10 email accounts breached at the State Departme...

US lawmakers thwart hard-right push to gut Ukraine funding

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:55 GMT

House Democrats and Republicans teamed up to defeat a pair of proposals to gut Ukraine funding in annual defense spending legislation, though each vote showed sizable GOP opposition to continued aid for Kyiv.The amendment votes on Wednesday serve as a barometer of Republican views on further support for Kyiv as the war with Russia drags on, with funding for Ukraine becoming a major sticking point in Capitol Hill talks to avert a government shutdown.Lawmakers rejected 104-330 an amendment from Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) to strip $300 million from the bill for the Pentagon to train Ukrainian soldiers and purchase weapons for Kyiv. A second amendment from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) that would have barred security assistance to Ukraine failed in an even wider 93-339 vote.Ukraine funding has become a political football just days before a possible shutdown. While the two votes show bipartisan support for helping fight off Russia’s invasion, nearly half of House Repub...

Fantasy Fixer: Week 4

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:55 GMT

7’s Morey Hershgordon has the inside scoop on who to start and sit this week in Fantasy Fixer. Go set your lineups!

LA-based operator of Green Card mill pleads guilty to fraud

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:55 GMT

Call off the honeymoon — the wedding’s a fraud.Marcialito “Mars” Biol Benitez, 49, a Philippine national living in Los Angeles, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Boston to conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration document fraud. The charges come with a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.The feds say he operated a sham wedding agency in California that married off immigrants — including at least three Massachusetts residents — to U.S. citizens, often homeless women, for payment.Benitez operated what then-U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins called, at an April 2022 press conference announcing the indictment of Benitez and 10 others, a “one stop shop” for immigration fraud. Benitez is the seventh person indicted in the fraud to plead guilty.The feds say that a foreign client would pay between $20,000 to $30,000 for the service, which they saw as a quick route to permanent residency and possible future c...

Healey: ‘It’s time’ to look at MCAS changes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:55 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey once again indicated her administration is “looking at” changes to the MCAS and the question of whether the test should remain a graduation requirement.“When it comes to something like MCAS, I think what’s important here is that we have a test that actually works,” Healey said on WGBH’s “Ask the Governor” segment Tuesday. “It’s there as an assessment tool. So I think it’s time, and I’ve charged my department with evaluating what it is we’re testing; are there changes that need to be made.”The governor’s comments come amid a legislative and high-profile ballot question push to overturn the MCAS graduation requirement spearheaded by the Massachusetts teachers’ union and advocates. If the MCAS ballot question gains enough signatures by mid-November, the opportunity to overturn the testing requirement will go to voters in November 2024.Healey did note that the ballot questio...