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Debt ceiling negotiators rushing for weekend deal, but much work remains

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:09 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Negotiators from the White House labored Thursday over the U.S. debt limit with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s emissaries at the Capitol, grinding through a second day of head-to-head talks trying to strike a budget deal to avert a looming economic crisis.Brown bags of lunch snacks were delivered to the stately room signaling a long day ahead.With a deadline as soon as June 1 drawing nearer, President Joe Biden and McCarthy tapped their top representatives to work out a deal after a week of talks with a larger contingent stalled out. Upbeat, McCarthy said it was important to have an “agreement in principle” by this weekend if they hope to get to a House vote next week. “Everyone’s working hard.” McCarthy told CNN and others at the Capitol.The White House team also appeared upbeat as they entered the building, but declined comments. They departed two hours later, and it was unclear if talks would continue late in the day.“This does not have to be a crisi...

Mastodon bones unearthed by Michigan work crew go on display in museum

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:09 GMT

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A selection of bones belonging to a juvenile mastodon who roamed the woods of Michigan 13,000 years ago is now on display at the Grand Rapids Public Museum, after workers unearthed it by chance last year.Excited museum officials showed off some of the long-extinct pachyderm’s remains on Thursday, although much of the skeleton still is going through the drying process. Mastodons might seem similar to woolly mammoths, but they were shorter and stockier — imagine a mix between a woolly mammoth and modern elephant — and their tusks were shorter and less curved.The Michigan skeleton was discovered by Kent County workers digging a drainage ditch about 30 miles north of Grand Rapids. Museum CEO Dale Robertson called the discovery “amazing.”“It’s probably an understatement,” he said during a news conference Thursday before officials toured the new exhibit.It’s not unusual to find mastodon bones, especially in the Midwest. But what’s special about...

Incredible shrinking lakes: Humans, climate change, diversion costs trillions of gallons annually

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:09 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Climate change ‘s hotter temperatures and society’s diversion of water have been shrinking the world’s lakes by trillions of gallons of water a year since the early 1990s, a new study finds.A close examination of nearly 2,000 of the world’s largest lakes found they are losing about 5.7 trillion gallons (21.5 trillion liters) a year. That means from 1992 to 2020, the world lost the equivalent of 17 Lake Meads, America’s largest reservoir, in Nevada. It’s also roughly equal to how much water the United States used in an entire year in 2015.Even lakes in areas getting more rainfall are shriveling. That’s because of both a thirstier atmosphere from warmer air sucking up more water in evaporation, and a thirsty society that is diverting water from lakes to agriculture, power plants and drinking supplies, according to a study in Thursday’s journal Science. Authors also cited a third reason they called more natural, with wat...

‘Indiana Jones’ swings into Cannes Film Festival; Harrison Ford honored before joyous festivalgoers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:09 GMT

CANNES, France (AP) — Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford swung into Cannes on Thursday for the world premiere of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” in one of the most anticipated events of the French Riviera festival.Fedoras abounded in the throngs of onlookers who watched Ford and company hit the red carpet.Ford walked hand in hand with his wife, Calista Flockhart, and later joined his cast mates as John Williams’ score played across the red carpet. Among those in attendance were Disney chief Bob Iger, Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy and filmmaker Steve McQueen.Ford, 80, who has said “Dial of Destiny” will be his last performance as the character, also received an honorary Palme d’Or from the Cannes Film Festival. Last year, Cannes feted “Top Gun Maverick” and Tom Cruise in a similar manner. Inside the theater, Ford was greeted with thunderous applause. He beamed and looked around the theater before receiving the honorary Palme.“I’m very touched. I’m very moved by this,” a cle...

Kansas governor vetoes part of school funding bill, setting up likely legal battle with GOP

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:09 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ Democratic governor on Thursday vetoed parts of the Republican-backed $6 billion funding plan for the state’s K-12 schools, setting up a likely legal battle that will test her office’s powers.Gov. Laura Kelly, who won reelection in the conservative state in November, issued a statement explaining her decision to take the unprecedented step of vetoing parts of the proposed education budget, saying she objected to one provision, in particular, that she says would cut funding for rural public schools, which have been dealing with declining enrollment.“This provision pulls the rug out from rural school districts at the 11th hour,” Kelly said. “If the provision is enacted, it will bring dangerous and devastating consequences for our rural districts.”The spending plan, which would provide the bulk of the money that the state’s 286 school districts rely on, would also expand a program aimed at providing private school scholarships for low...

El Ninos are far costlier than once thought, in the trillions, study says — and one’s brewing now

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:09 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The natural burst of El Nino warming that changes weather worldwide is far costlier with longer-lasting expenses than experts had thought, averaging trillions of dollars in damage, a new study found.An El Nino is brewing now and it might be a big — and therefore costly — one, scientists said. El Nino is a temporary and natural warming of parts of the equatorial Pacific, that causes droughts, floods and heat waves in different parts of the world. It also adds an extra boost to human-caused warming.The study in Thursday’s journal Science totals global damage with an emphasis on lasting economic scars. It runs counter to previous research that found, at least in the United States, that El Ninos overall aren’t too costly and can even be beneficial. And some — but not all — outside economists have issues with the new research out of Dartmouth College, saying its damage estimates are too big.Study authors said the average El Nino costs the global economy abou...

George Goldhoff’s new job: Keep Atlantic City’s Hard Rock casino running fast

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:09 GMT

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — It could be said that George Goldhoff, the new president of Atlantic City’s Hard Rock casino, has been handed the keys to a smooth-running, high-performance Ferrari that’s purring at nearly every turn.Goldhoff is in charge of one of the market’s top-performing properties. It won nearly a half-billion dollars from in-person gamblers last year, second only to the Borgata.And Goldhoff says it can be even better. Despite the casino’s success in its first five years, Goldhoff says there is not a single aspect of Hard Rock’s operations that can’t be improved.“Sometimes the last 10% is more difficult to achieve than the first 90%,” said Goldhoff, who has been on the job for about 60 days. “We have to earn it every day.”Hard Rock is the renovated successor to the Trump Taj Mahal casino. It opened in June 2018, on the same day as another revamped casino, the Ocean Casino Resort, which is the former Revel casino.Hard Rock and Ocean, along wit...

Former Auburn AD Jacobs retiring after nearly 4 decades in college athletics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:09 GMT

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jay Jacobs’ first job was at a funeral home owned by his grandparents in Lafayette, Alabama. At age 12, Jacobs mowed the lawn, trimmed hedges, picked weeds and occasionally rode along on ambulance calls. He even helped out at burials.“Last man to let you down,” Jacobs jokes 50 years later.After working nearly every day since that summer in 1972, Jacobs is formally retiring following nearly four decades in college athletics. The 62-year-old, who spent 13 years as Auburn’s athletics director and won the 2010 national championship with coach Gene Chizik and Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton, will step down at the end of June as Florida’s associate AD for external affairs.“It’s bittersweet,” Jacobs told The Associated Press. “Made some great relationships over the years. It’s tough to leave, but it’ll be fun what I’m about to do regardless of where I’m at geographically.”Jacobs spent the past five years in Gainesville with his wife, Angie. His day-to-day role inc...

Ted's Montana Grill closes Larimer Square location in Denver

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:09 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) – After two decades in business, the Larimer Square location of Ted’s Montana Grill has closed.According to a post on the business’s Facebook page, it was unable to come to a lease agreement with the landlord. Denver’s office vacancy highest in 6 years “We have made the difficult decision to close this location today as we were unable to negotiate an extended lease with Larimer Square’s current ownership, Asana Partners of North Carolina,” the post said.Ted’s isn’t the first business to close in this part of downtown. There are several other vacant storefronts on the square, which is located in the Union Station neighborhood on Larimer Street between 14th and 15th streets.In 2021, chef Troy Guard closed his flagship restaurant Tag, which had been open in the square for more than a decade. And last year Bistro Vendome moved from Larimer Square to Park Hill. Chef Frank Bonnano closed his underground cocktail bar-speakeasy, Green Russell, and Russell's Smokehouse at the...

Colorado auto theft returns to prepandemic levels in early 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:09 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Colorado's auto theft problem might be improving, but it's still miles away from good. Auto thefts fell in the first months of 2023 compared to the same time period in 2022. Auto thefts in the first quarter of 2023 were down 22% from the same quarter last year, which are close to the number from the first quarter of 2020.CSP reminds Coloradans not to get complacent since auto theft is still elevated from prepandemic level. “The noticeable decline of auto theft is a testament to the resiliency of our citizens and the collaborative effort of many law enforcement and key partners across the State,” Matthew C. Packard, chief of the Colorado State Patrol, said in a release. “However, now is no time to rest and relax your vehicle securities. CATPA and the Colorado State Patrol ask you to continue to stay in this fight to reduce auto theft and overall crime in your communities.”The Denver metro area, which is the area with the most auto theft, has seen one of the biggest d...