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Minnesota Legislature completes $72B budget; Democrats celebrate successes as GOP decries tax hikes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:47 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Legislature put the final touches on a $72 billion state budget Monday as Democrats celebrated enacting an ambitious agenda that ranged from protecting abortion rights, to providing more resources for education, to legalizing marijuana.The big tax bill of the session, which cleared its final test Sunday evening, included $3 billion in tax cuts, including modest one-time rebates from the state’s $17.5 billion budget surplus. But lawmakers also approved tax increases to provide ongoing funding for long-term initiatives like transportation improvements and a new paid family and medical leave program.Democratic Gov. Tim Walz called it “clearly the most successful legislative session” in many Minnesotans’ lifetimes when he spoke to reporters Sunday.Top Democratic legislative leaders agreed Monday as they worked toward an adjournment deadline of midnight. They said they met all the major goals they laid out at the start of the session in January ...

Lil Durk announces Chicago show as part of US Tour

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:47 GMT

CHICAGO -- On the cusp of his highly-anticipated new album, Lil Durk announced he will be hitting the road once again at the end of summer.Lil Durk will be taking his "Sorry For The Drought Tour" to the United Center on Friday, August 11. His 2023 album "Almost Healed" will be released on Friday, May 26.The Chicago-native has been nominated for three Grammy's for his work on Kanye West's "Donda," and his 2020 collaboration hit "Laugh Now Cry Later" with Drake. LL Cool J, first tour in 30 years, to stop in Chicago With over 24.3 million Spotify listeners each month, Lil Durk also took over the main stream with his hit songs "Broadway Girls" and "3 Headed Goat."Special guests Kodak Black, NLE Choppa, and DD Osama will also be performing during the Chicago event, according to Live Nation.The event will begin at 7 p.m. on August 11.Tickets can be purchased here.

White House threatens to veto GOP measure targeting student loan debt relief program

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:47 GMT

(The Hill) - The White House on Monday threatened to veto a Republican-led bill in the House that would block the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness program.In a Statement of Administration Policy, the White House expressed its concerns with a House resolution to disapprove of the student loan forgiveness plan, which provides up to $20,000 in relief for millions of eligible student loan borrowers."This resolution is an unprecedented attempt to undercut our historic economic recovery and would deprive more than 40 million hard-working Americans of much-needed student debt relief," the administration said in a statement, adding that President Biden would veto the measure if it came to his desk. Future of student loan forgiveness looms over Biden in 2024 The White House further warned that overturning the student loan relief program would disproportionately hurt middle class Americans, noting that roughly 90 percent of the student debt relief is expected to go to individ...

K-Pop group Aespa heading to Chicago in fall

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:47 GMT

CHICAGO -- One of the biggest K-Pop groups will be coming to the Windy City this fall.The South Korean group Aespa announced their first global tour "SYNK: KYPER LINE" will make a stop in Chicago at the Rosemont Theatre on Wednesday, August 30."Aespa’s name is derived from a combination of “ae” (avatar and experience) + “aspect.” Each of the four members of Aespa has a correlating avatar in the virtual world created from their personal data," according to Live Nation. The group includes Karina, Winter, Giselle, and Ningning. Chicago & House Music: A relationship over four decades in the making K-Pop girl group aespa perform during the Circle Chart Music Awards in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)K-Pop girl group aespa perform during the Circle Chart Music Awards in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)K-Pop girl group aespa pose for photos during the red carpet of the Circle Chart Music Awards in Seoul, South Kore...

Manor PD identifies woman killed in apparent hit-and-run near U.S. Highway 290

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:47 GMT

MANOR, Texas (KXAN) -- The Manor Police Department is investigating after a woman was found overnight Sunday into early Monday morning. Manor police said a call came in at 2:48 a.m. about a body in a ditch near Gregg Manor Road and U.S. Highway 290 westbound. MPD identified the woman Monday afternoon as 54-year-old Alisa Allen, a Manor resident.MPD said it's investigating her death as a hit-and-run, and the department is asking that anyone who was in the area between 12:10-12:25 a.m. Monday should contact them if they have information relevant to the case.The Travis County Medical Examiner is examining the cause of death, according to Manor police.

Auto theft is on the rise in Austin, stolen vehicles being used in felonies says APD

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:47 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Police Department held a press conference Monday warning people about a rise in auto theft.Auto thefts have increased 13% from last year, and data shows there have been 1,979 since April. Class action lawsuit filed against Kia, Hyundai over viral thefts APD says Kia and Hyundai models are being targeted the most because of a Tik Tok trend that shows how to start the car without a key. Most of the people being arrested in these cases are juveniles, APD said."I have been in auto thefts the last three years, and auto thefts have been going up every single year," said APD officer Francisco Jimenez.Karen Manson said she went to the Domain for a family outing recently, and after dinner, her son's Ford F-250 was nowhere to be found."The crime now is totally out of control," said Manson.Manson says they got a call from San Antonio police a few days later letting them know the truck had been found, but it was gutted. Austin police warn of increase in ‘Kia Chall...

North Dakota’s Amy Olson wins medalist honors at Mendota Heights U.S. Open qualifier

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:47 GMT

North Dakota’s Amy Olson has quite a majors pedigree, something she’ll have a chance to add to in July at Pebble Beach.The 30-year-old earned medalist honors at Monday’s U.S. Open qualifier event at Somerset Country Club in Mendota Heights with a 36-hole score of 6-under par.The other qualifying spot went to Bailey Tardy, who topped Jennifer Chang in a playoff after both golfers finished with two-round scores of 4-under par. Tardy won the playoff with a birdie on the fourth playoff hole.Olson has twice finished in a tie for second at major championships — the Evian Championship in 2018 and the 2020 U.S. Open. She was three back of a qualifying spot after her first round Monday, where she fired an even-par round of 72.But Olson — who’s currently the 334th-ranked player in the world and has just one LPGA Tour start this season — turned in a 66 to out-pace the field in Round 2. The women’s U.S. Open is slated for July 6-9 in Pebble Beach,...

White Bear Lake police chief to retire after more than two decades with the department

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:47 GMT

Longtime White Bear Lake Police Chief Julie Swanson will retire later this summer, the city recently announced.Swanson, who has been chief since 2014 and a member of the police department for 23 years, will retire Aug. 25.White Bear Lake Police Chief Julie Swanson is set to retire later this summer after serving with the department for 23 years. (Photo courtesy of White Bear Lake)During her time with the department, Swanson also served as a DARE instructor, field training officer, school resource officer, sergeant and captain.“The White Bear Lake community has encapsulated every aspect of my life,” she said in a statement. “We all agree that this is a community like no other, and I have had the fortune to serve it in a capacity that I never envisioned (when she moved to the area at age 12).”Swanson, the city said, has been instrumental in shaping the department’s morale, cultivating a team approach to policing and enhancing the department’s commun...

Staffing levels left out of final nursing bill as MN Legislature wraps up historic session

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:47 GMT

Facing a lobbying blitz from the Mayo Clinic and other hospitals Minnesota Democrats said Monday they only had the votes to pass a watered-down nurse staffing and safety bill.The Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act that would have given nurses a say in staffing levels was replaced with the Nurse and Patient Safety Act, which aims to reduce workplace violence without creating committees to oversee staffing levels.It is expected to be one of the final bills to be approved by the Legislature.It was a somewhat sour note for DFLers at the end of a legislative session that was historic by political and financial measures.DFLers pass their prioritiesDemocratic-Farmer-Labor Party members, with a narrow majority in both chambers, and Gov. Tim Walz enacted a progressive agenda with billions in new spending and taxes. Republicans had little recourse to stop Democrats plans after losing their narrow edge in the Senate during the 2022 election.The roughly $72 billion two-year budget Democrats pass...

City and school officials eye Barker’s Alps Park as possible site of new Bayport elementary school

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:47 GMT

The city of Bayport started leasing the area now known as Barker’s Alps Park from the state in the 1970s and purchased the 48-acre parcel in 1985.The land, formerly part of the Minnesota State prison farm lands, was “dedicated and set aside for park and recreational purposes,” according to the city ordinance that was enacted on May 6, 1985.Now, officials with Stillwater Area Public Schools are wondering whether the land — which is home to wooded hiking trails, a playground, picnic shelter, soccer fields and baseball and softball fields — could become the new home of Andersen Elementary School.City and school district officials plan to hold a public meeting in June to gauge public interest in such a plan, said Bayport Mayor Michele Hanson, who serves on the school district’s facilities planning team.“I just feel like it would be a huge, huge hole in our community to not have a school here,” Hanson said. “We need (residents) to understand that we can’t keep it ...