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Senate prepares to pass massive Israel aid package

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Senators from both sides of the aisle are rallying behind the president's request to send more aid to Israel.The Senate is preparing to pass a massive aid package to help Israel defeat Hamas."Hamas is a terrorist organization dedicated to Israel's eradication," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said.Schumer, the Senate majority leader, says the plan will not only surge military aid to Israel. It will also include humanitarian funds to help those trapped in Gaza without food, water or electricity."Palestinian civilians who have nothing to do with Hamas," Schumer said.Across the board, Republicans say they're ready to help Israel.But Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, says she fears anything sent to Gaza could end up in the hands of Hamas."Until we can guarantee we can get that humanitarian aid directly to the people who need it, I think we should slow down," Ernst said.The Biden administration says it's already working with Egypt and Israel to ensure aid can be safely delivere...

Veteran's urn found in dumpster after cleaning crew accidentally throws it away, officials say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

ELKINS, W.Va. (WBOY) — A veterans' group in West Virginia said it has tentatively identified a former Air Force serviceman whose urn was accidentally placed in a dumpster earlier this month. A sanitation worker in Elks, West Virginia, discovered an urn and a photo of an Air Force veteran in a dumpster in early October. (Courtesy: American Legion Post 29)American Legion Post 29 Commander John Miller said a sanitation worker noticed the urn and a photograph of the serviceman in a dumpster outside the Gateway Apartments in Elkins. The concerned worker retrieved both items before emptying the dumpster and took them to the local American Legion Hall. Miller said a cleaning crew accidentally disposed of the urn while cleaning one of the apartment units. He said the crew did not know what the urn was at the time and has since apologized. The urn and the photograph were not labeled with a name.Legion officials posted the photograph on their Facebook page, asking for help with identifying th...

Biden's announces aid to Israel in historic visit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) -- President Biden was in Israel on Wednesday to meet with the prime minister and war cabinet. He expressed staunch support for Israel, but also concern for innocent Palestinians.Biden's visit to Tel Aviv is a historic one, as the Israeli Prime Minister hasn't allowed any other U.S. President to visit Israel in a time of war."Thank you for standing with Israel today, tomorrow and always," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Biden strongly condemned the Hamas terrorist attack and U.S. officials announced plans for new aid to Israel."The brutality we saw we have cut deep anywhere in the world, but it cuts deeper here in Israel," Biden said. "I'm going to ask the United States Congress for an unprecedented support package for Israel's defense.""We know that virtually every Israeli has been touched by the bloody hand of Hamas," added Sec. of State Anthony Blinken.Biden also said the U.S. is "pursuing every avenue to bring home those who are being held captive by ...

Delta scales back changes to its loyalty program after a revolt by customers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

(AP) — Delta Air Lines is backtracking slightly on changes it previously announced in its frequent-flyer program, but it still plans to reshape SkyMiles to favor big spenders over customers who take the most flights.Delta outlined the revisions in an email from CEO Ed Bastian to SkyMiles members on Wednesday.“I have read hundreds of your emails, and what’s been most clear to me is how much you love Delta and the disappointment many of you felt by the significance of the changes,” Bastian wrote.The objections focused on the difficulty of achieving elite status and new restrictions on entering airport lounges.Delta announced the changes in mid-September, saying they were needed to address overcrowding at the lounges and a surge in elite-status customers that was making it harder to score upgrades.The airline proposed to make spending with Delta the only way to reach elite status — no longer counting flights taken or miles flown. In simplifying the path to status, Delta sharply ra...

Why did the City of Austin send you a Land Development Code notice in the mail?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- If you got a public notice in the mail from the City of Austin warning of proposed Land Development Code changes, you're one of more than 725,000 people and yes, they are new. Austin City Council is working to better notify land owners of zoning changes that may impact them after the City ended up in court over just that. "We’re working to provide the public ample notice about upcoming hearings and Council action, something that was lacking the last time. The process changes are the direct result of public feedback during CodeNext. We’ve heard you," Mayor Kirk Watson said in his newsletter. The notices going out now notify property owners of three proposed changes: Allowing up to three housing units, including tiny homes and RVs, on a single-family zoned propertyRevising regulations that apply to a property with two housing unitsRemoving restrictions on the number of unrelated adults living in a house How we got hereA group of homeowners has sued the city twice over...

Austin couple shares their list of local Halloween haunts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Halloween season has many of the usual events: haunted houses, costume parties, ghost tours. But in a large city like Austin, there can be too many to track. Leila Sales and Brian Pennington started tracking Austin-area Halloween events in 2019, a year after the couple moved to the city. The list took a pandemic pause in 2020 and 2021 and returned for 2022 and 2023."I have always loved Halloween; I feel like what we do with the newsletter and what we're interested in is creative, artsy, homegrown, DIY sort of stuff. And I feel like Halloween is the perfect holiday for that," Sales said.The list started as a way for the couple to promote their local events newsletter Lite + Brite Events. "We were trying to find at the time ways to help grow the newsletter," Pennington said. "[The spreadsheet] made sense on Reddit, because there's this great community of Austinites there that we want to reach. I think we grew [subscribers] like 100% the first time we did it."Some o...

Could Austin tap into public-private funding collaboration on I-35 caps?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- With hundreds of millions of dollars needed to support the City of Austin's Interstate 35 Cap and Stitch program, Council Member Mackenzie Kelly submitted a memo Wednesday urging city leadership to evaluate possible public-private partnerships to support funding the initiative.Kelly shared a copy of her memo in a social media post Wednesday afternoon. The memo, addressed to Interim City Manager Jesús Garza, requested looking into those partnerships "as a potential avenue for funding and managing the Cap and Stitch projects, as well as other future infrastructures projects in the City of Austin."In her memo, Kelly also requested more information on the city's current Certificate of Obligation bond capacity "and the possibility of issuing a public response to these inquiries to inform our residents."Public-private partnerships have historically been used as a means of funding infrastructure projects. Working with private sector partners can lean into their expertise "...

Hottest late-October temperatures ever observed possible on Friday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Temperatures remain the big weather story this week with a significant warming trend expected to last through the weekend.Afternoon highs will return to the mid-80s today, courtesy of abundant sunshine, dry air and southerly winds. Today is likely to be the coolest day of the next 7 with daytime highs jumping a few degrees each afternoon. Eventually, temperatures will approach daily records with Austin soaring to 94° Friday and 93º on Saturday. Saturday's previous record high is 92º set in 1979 and 1934.The unseasonably hot weather will make it uncomfortably hot, but not too humid for Formula One races at COTA this weekend,. At least rain won't delay any races, but we sure could use some wet weather. Humidity doesn't jump much until AFTER the weekend.Formula 1 race weekend at COTAExtended forecasts show a change in the weather pattern next week. A trough of low pressure may combine with tropical moisture from the Pacific to bring welcome rain to the area, but exact ...

St. Paul City Council votes 4-3 to overhaul zoning code, allow duplexes, density

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

A divided St. Paul City Council voted 4-3 on Wednesday to approve a sweeping overhaul of the city’s zoning code, lifting restrictions that since the 1970s have prevented duplexes and denser development in many corners of the city.The zoning overhaul, initially dubbed the 1-to-4 unit housing study, is intended to boost housing affordability and housing choices by adding more housing units on city blocks previously zoned exclusively for single-family homes.Council President Amy Brendmoen joined Mitra Jalali, Nelsie Yang and Rebecca Noecker in approving the changes, while Council Members Jane Prince, Chris Tolbert and Russel Balenger cast the dissenting votes after expressing concerns over housing teardowns.“What we’re trying to do is change the rules so we can have more use on the same amount of land, in the same amount of space … to create more housing and places to live,” said Jalali, who envisioned local community developers getting a leg up.“Thi...

Letters: It’s a free country. Let’s keep it that way

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

Free country, let’s keep it that way“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” is a quote commonly attributed to Voltaire. Similarly, as I grew up in the shelter of the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights that “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech” I’d hear and say “Hey, it’s a free country. You can say what ever you want, I just don’t have to agree with it.”Oh how I wish that that was universally accepted, but it is evidenced that it is not.As exampled by the apparent “doxxing” action at Harvard. The publishing of the names, faces and often addresses of those who express an unpopular point of view as a punishment for their having the temerity to state it. It’s as if to goad some un-American loony into an act of violence against these individuals. Hey Harvard, it’s a free country, say what you want, without fear, and in turn, I’m free to tell you, if I think it’s stupid, short-sighted or just plain wr...