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Congress departs without deal on Ukraine aid and border security, but Senate plans to work next week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress was departing Washington on Thursday without a deal to pass wartime support for Ukraine, even as President Joe Biden’s administration raced to negotiate with Senate Republicans who are demanding changes to U.S. border security policy in return.The Senate planned to come back next week in hopes of finalizing a deal to place new restrictions on asylum claims at the U.S. border and pass the $110 billion package of aid for Ukraine, Israel and other national security needs. But the House showed no sign of returning to push the legislation through the full Congress.Lawmakers leaving the impasse unresolved through the holidays would mean the Biden administration would have to rely on a dwindling supply of funds for Ukraine. The wartime aid has so far been vital to Ukraine’s defending against Russia’s invasion, and Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier Thursday recommitted to his goals in the war.Repelling Russia has been one of Biden’s ...

Ja Morant set for comeback, ‘understands the process’ that has led to his return after suspension

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:54 GMT

Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies have been counting down the days until the two-time All-Star’s 25-game suspension ends.For Morant, almost literally.The point guard suspended for flashing a gun on social media twice in the span of three months has posted the hourglass emoji a couple times, the last on Monday with “return soon” followed by that emoji with the number of days and games left until he plays again for the Grizzlies.Morant will speak to reporters Friday morning after a shootaround in Memphis. His season debut will be Tuesday night in New Orleans.Coach Taylor Jenkins said Morant has been “unbelievable” working to be ready the moment his suspension ends.“I expect him to be full go come Game 26,” Jenkins said. “He’s really excited. He understands the process that’s gotten him here.”Still, it’s up to Morant to prove the undisclosed steps required during the league-imposed timeout actually worked with everyone watching and waiting for any slip-up or mistake in hi...

Fox picks up B.C.-shot crime drama ‘Murder in a Small Town’ for upcoming fall lineup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:54 GMT

Fox has ordered the B.C.-shot crime drama “Murder in a Small Town” for its fall lineup next year.Based on the “Karl Alberg” novel series by late Canadian author L.R. Wright, Fox says the series will star Vancouver’s Rossif Sutherland and Kristin Kreuk. Production is slated to begin January in British Columbia.Fox says it obtained the U.S. rights to the series, which hails from the Vancouver-based Sepia Films in association with L.A.’s Future Shack Entertainment. Sutherland stars as Karl Alberg, a detective who moves to a quiet coastal town in search of peace of mind but finds “this gentle paradise has more than its share of secrets,” the logline reads.Fox says the series will be directed by Toronto’s Milan Cheylov with Vancouver’s Ian Weir on board as head writer.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2023.The Canadian Press

Lawyers for Atlanta ask federal appeals court to kill ‘Stop Cop City’ petition seeking referendum

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:54 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Lawyers for the city of Atlanta on Thursday asked a federal appeals court to overturn a lower court ruling that let nonresidents collect signatures as part of the “Stop Cop City” effort to force a referendum on a police and fire training center.If the city wins, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could kill the petition drive by ruling it illegal under state law, or rule all of 100,000-plus signatures collected are void because none were submitted by the original 60-day deadline of Aug. 21.Even a ruling just narrowing which petitions are accepted could doom the chances that opponents will have enough signatures from eligible registered Atlanta voters to force a referendum, an analysis by The Associated Press, Georgia Public Broadcasting, WABE and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has found. Statistical sampling of 1,000 entries found it’s possible opponents have the required 58,231 signatures if all entries are counted. But excluding signatures collected after Aug....

Supreme Court refuses to block Illinois law banning some high-power semiautomatic weapons

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to put on hold a new Illinois law that would ban high-power semiautomatic weapons like the one used in the mass killing of seven people at a 2022 parade in Highland Park.The justices did not comment in refusing an emergency appeal from a gun rights group and others.The law prohibits the possession, manufacture or sale of semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity magazines. It takes effect Jan. 1.Last month, a three-judge panel of the 7th District U.S. Court of Appeals voted 2-1 in favor of the law, refusing a request by gun rights groups to block it. The Illinois Supreme Court separately upheld the law on a 4-3 decision in August. Lawmakers call for gun safety measures on 11th anniversary of Sandy Hook At least eight other states and the District of Columbia have some sort of prohibition on semiautomatic weapons, and several cases challenging those laws are making their way through the federal courts, relying at least in part o...

Andre Braugher died from lung cancer, rep for 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' and 'Homicide' star says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:54 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Andre Braugher died from lung cancer, a representative said Thursday. When the Emmy-winning actor who starred in the series “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Homicide: Life on the Street” died Monday at age 61, his representatives said only that he had been through a brief illness, but his publicist Jennifer Allen gave the cause on Thursday. Braugher generally revealed little about his private life, and his death was unexpected for many of his co-stars. He told the New York Times in 2014 that he stopped smoking and drinking years ago. The Chicago-born Braugher had his Hollywood breakthrough in the 1989 film “Glory” acting alongside Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman. He went on to play Det. Frank Pemberton, the lead role in the NBC police drama “Homicide: Life on the Street,” for seven seasons. He would win the first of two career Emmys for his work on the show. Luke Combs helping a fan who almost owed him $250,000 for selling unauthorized merchandise Braugher was no...

House passes defense spending bill

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) - The House sent the annual defense funding bill to President Joe Biden's desk today without many of the priorities Republicans wanted to include.This bill is usually an easy pass, but two provisions related to abortion and transgender issues made it more divisive.Alabama Republican Congressman Mike Rogers supported the legislation saying, "Enacting the NDAA has never been more vital than today."The bill approves $886 billion in defense funding which is an increase of nearly $30 billion from last year.The sweeping legislation includes the largest pay raise for service members in more than two decades.But some Republicans, like Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz still opposed the measure over what it didn't include."This bill came back in far worse shape," he said.This summer the House passed a version with controversial provisions related to abortion and transgender health care access, but the Senate removed those.The changes made it easier for Democrats like New Je...

'Wonka' review: Timothée Chalamet becomes a movie star

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:54 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — It's been 52 years since Roald Dahl's iconic chocolatier Willy Wonka first treated audiences to a world of pure imagination, but a new generation of fans are about to meet a new candy man this holiday season. After a delayed release, "Wonka," the latest film from "Paddington" director Paul King, is finally out Dec. 15. The musical fantasy stars Timothée Chalamet ("Dune," "Call Me By Your Name") as a young Wonka long before the events of Dahl's 1964 book or its subsequent film adaptations.Chalamet heads a robust cast of seasoned talent that includes Olivia Colman ("The Favourite"), Sally Hawkins ("The Shape of Water," "Paddington"), Keegan-Michael Key ("Schmigadoon!") and Hugh Grant ("Paddington 2," "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves"), just to name a few. ‘Barbie’ leads Critics Choice Awards with 18 nominations It's difficult to review "Wonka" without first reviewing its star, as the film — which is successful — is successful thanks in great part to him. Desp...

Letters: What’s a negative $2.4 billion plus a positive $2.4 billion?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:54 GMT

Simple $2.4 billion mathAs a Mathematics Teacher (I capitalize) I taught simple arithmetic on what are the current grounds of the Minnesota Supreme Court. I guess it should have been Refresher Math for our legislators and our governor, too. Instead, they didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when the governor waved two documents. One showed a $2.4 billion surplus for the next year two years, for which he smiled, and a $2.4 billion potential debt for the following two years for which he lamented. He didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. He was in need of another $2.4 billion from us taxpayers to cover the future debt.My Mechanic Arts students would have immediately known the simple solution: Save the $2.4 billion for two years now and cover the $2.4 billion debt for the costs ahead. Simple math. Simple legislators and a simple governor who once was a teacher, but no longer remembers.We can’t keep spending what we don’t have. Save it and you can.Tom King, West St. Paul They could...

Texas men charged in Roseville ATM ‘hook and chain’ heist, a growing problem across U.S.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:16:54 GMT

Five Texas men are accused of using a stolen pickup and a chain to yank an ATM from its foundation outside a Roseville bank early Tuesday in a heist that was foiled by an alarm and an officer who pulled up to the scene.Law enforcement and banking security officials say these “hook and chain attacks” are gaining in popularity among thieves in the U.S. and rising to unprecedented numbers.Roseville Deputy Police Chief Joe Adams said Thursday the FBI is among law enforcement agencies working to see whether the Roseville suspects are tied to a Texas-based organized group known as the “Hook and Chain Gang” carrying out the thefts across the U.S.“The hard part is going to be whether these five guys are the gang or whether there are like 100 guys doing this,” Adams said.In the Roseville attack, one suspect was captured after he sped away from Great Southern Bank, across from Rosedale Center, in the stolen pickup and crashed. The others were tracked back to a nearby h...