Proposed Investment in two stages by Seventy Ninth Group of approximately2.18 millionsubject, inter alia, to FCM shareholder approval
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A car ploughed into a busy outdoor Christmas market in Germany, killing at least two people and injuring at least 68 others.
President Joe Biden signed a government funding bill on Saturday that averted a government shutdown.
Maricopa County will invest $1 million to bridge the life expectancy gap between North Scottsdale and South Phoenix.
With a government shutdown looming, here’s where Maine’s congressional delegation stands.Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree, of the 1st Congressional District, said she was willing to support the original bipartisan deal, but she blamed House Republicans for the bill’s failure.”Just days ago, we had a bipartisan deal that would have kept the government running for three months,” Pingree said in a statement. “Despite my misgivings about certain aspects of the bill, I was ready to support it. But House Republicans killed it.”The congresswoman also said the most recent bill cut too many benefits.”Millions of people will be impacted by this Republican dysfunction and chaos,” Pingree said. “I sincerely hope that my Republican colleagues come to their senses and vote on a funding bill that both parties can support and that millions of Americans will benefit from.”Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, of the 2nd District, voted no on Wednesday night’s Continuing Resolution, citing concerns with suspending the debt limit.”I cannot in good conscience vote to give the incoming trifecta a blank check to blow up the national debt, Golden said in a statement Thursday night. This Congress must pass either a clean CR to avoid a government shutdown or pair any suspension of the debt limit with provisions to ensure we take steps to reduce the budget deficit in the new Congress. I voted no with hopes negotiators will go back to the drawing board while we still have time to get this right.Golden was also against the original deal due to the congressional pay raises included in the bill.In a statement, Republican Sen. Susan Collins said her goal is to prevent a government shutdown.”Shutdowns have negative consequences all across government, and can disrupt everything from air travel, to the ability of older Americans to apply for Social Security benefits, to pay for our service members and other essential federal employees,” she said. “In fact, government shutdowns actually cost taxpayers money by increasing the cost of short-term borrowing by the government and by adversely affecting the entire economy.” A spokesperson for Sen. Angus King said the independent senator is continuing to monitor negotiations in the House.
Farmers and Ranchers for Trump co-chair Kip Tom weighs in on the spending bill passage giving farmers relief on ‘The Bottom Line.’
Nancy Goodman joins The Lead
The House approved a new plan late Friday from Speaker Mike Johnson that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid.
Nancy Goodman, founder and CEO of Kids v Cancer, told Newsweek the funding would go to critical research for pediatric cancer.
Hazing scandals at high schools and colleges across New Mexico have led to canceled seasons, firings of coaches, and even criminal charges. Despite these developments, New Mexico remains one of only six states in the U.S. without an anti-hazing law.Now, the New Mexico Department of Justice has released a report with 35 recommendations aimed at preventing hazing and addressing its toxic culture.Hazing scandals at NMSU and beyondThe issue of hazing took center stage earlier this year with allegations of abuse within New Mexico State Universitys mens basketball program. Players came forward with claims of physical and sexual misconduct by teammates during the 20222023 season, leading to the programs cancellation.Attorney General Raul Torrez charged three players with multiple counts of criminal sexual penetration, criminal sexual conduct, and false imprisonment: Kim Aiken Jr., Doctor Bradley, and Deshawndre Washington.Bradley and Aiken Jr. reached plea agreements and are expected to testify against Washington, whose trial is set for February.A Target 7 Special Investigation, “Hazed, Fear and Failure,” revealed how NMSU was recruiting felons, how attempts to pass anti-hazing legislation recently failed, and that no college in the state had an anti-hazing hotline.I think that our conclusive finding is that there was a toxic locker room culture as a result of the players that were on that team, said NMDOJ special counsel Sean Sullivan, who conducted the review. There werent systems in place throughout the university to really capture when those things were happening, identify them, and then once identified, properly address them.DOJ recommendationsThe DOJs 70-page report includes recommendations for addressing hazing, including: State legislation: Creating a new anti-hazing law for New Mexico. Prevention funding: Allocating resources for training and outreach. Recruitment reform: Prohibiting the recruitment of individuals with felony convictions. Victim reporting: Establishing better reporting mechanisms, such as hotlines and independent oversight.Sullivan noted that these measures are critical to preventing future incidents like those at NMSU. All schools across the state can look to these recommendations and ask, Do we have what we need to stop hazing? he said.Legislative efforts stalledTarget 7 previously reported on failed legislative efforts to pass anti-hazing laws in New Mexico. In 2024 alone, three bipartisan bills were introduced but ultimately failed.With the upcoming legislative session starting Jan. 21, the DOJ is working with lawmakers to draft a new bill that incorporates its recommendations.Impact beyond collegesHazing allegations have not been limited to universities. Santa Fe High Schools football program faced allegations this year, leading to the suspension of players and the resignation of the head coach.Sullivan emphasized the need for all institutions to take hazing seriously. If not exposed, hazing can occur in the shadows of a locker room, he said.Whats next?The DOJ plans to release specifics of its proposed anti-hazing bill in the coming weeks. In the meantime, schools and institutions across the state are being urged to adopt proactive measures outlined in the DOJs report.
President Joe Biden on Saturday signed legislation that averts a government shutdown heading into Christmas, bringing a final close to days of upheaval in Washington after Congress passed a bipartisan budget plan just past the deadline and rejected Donald Trump’s core demand in the negotiations.The deal funds the government at current levels through March 14 and provides $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers.House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had insisted lawmakers would meet our obligations and not allow federal operations to close. But the outcome at the end of a tumultuous week was uncertain after Trump had insisted the deal include an increase in the government’s borrowing limit. If not, he had said, then let the closures start now.Johnson’s revised plan was approved 366-34, and it was passed by the Senate by a 85-11 vote after midnight. By then, the White House said it had ceased shutdown preparations.There will be no government shutdown, said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.Johnson, who had spoken to Trump after the House vote, said the compromise was “a good outcome for the country and that the president-elect was certainly happy about this outcome, as well.The final product was the third attempt from Johnson, the beleaguered speaker, to achieve one of the basic requirements of the federal government keeping it open. The difficulties raised questions about whether Johnson will be able to keep his job, in the face of angry Republican colleagues, and work alongside Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, who was calling the legislative plays from afar.The House is scheduled to elect the next speaker on Jan. 3, 2025, when the new Congress convenes. Republicans will have an exceedingly narrow majority, 220-215, leaving Johnson little margin for error as he tries to win the speaker’s gavel.One House Republican, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, criticized Republicans for the deficit spending in the bill and said he was now undecided about the GOP leadership. Others are signaling unhappiness with Johnson as well.Yet Trump’s last-minute debt limit demand was almost an impossible ask, and Johnson had almost no choice but to work around that pressure. The speaker knew there wouldnt be enough support within the slim Republican majority alone to pass any funding package because many Republican deficit hawks prefer to cut the federal government and would not allow more debt.Video below: Get the Facts on the debt ceilingInstead, the Republicans, who will have full control of the White House, House and Senate in the new year, with big plans for tax cuts and other priorities, are showing they must routinely rely on Democrats for the votes needed to keep up with the routine operations of governing. The federal debt stands at roughly $36 trillion, and the spike in inflation after the coronavirus pandemic has pushed up the governments borrowing costs such that debt service next year will exceed spending on national security. The last time lawmakers raised the debt limit was June 2023. Rather than raise the limit by a dollar amount, lawmakers suspended the debt limit through Jan. 1, 2025.There is no need to raise that limit right now because the Treasury Department can begin using what it calls extraordinary measures to ensure that America does not default on its debts. Some estimate these accounting maneuvers could push the default deadline to the summer of 2025. But thats what Trump wanted to avoid because an increase would be needed while he was president.GOP leaders said the debt ceiling would be debated as part of tax and border packages in the new year. Republicans made a so-called handshake agreement to raise the debt limit at that time while also cutting $2.5 trillion in spending over 10 years.It was essentially the same deal that flopped Thursday night minus Trumps debt demand. But it’s far smaller than the original deal Johnson struck with Democratic and Republican leaders a 1,500-page bill that Trump and Musk rejected, forcing him to start over. It was stuffed with a long list of other bills including much-derided pay raises for lawmakers but also other measures with broad bipartisan support that now have a tougher path to becoming law.Trump, who has not yet been sworn into office, is showing the power but also the limits of his sway with Congress, as he intervenes and orchestrates affairs from Mar-a-Lago alongside Musk, who is heading up the new Department of Government Efficiency.___Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves, Mary Clare Jalonick, Darlene Superville and Bill Barrow contributed to this report.
The MBTA Track Improvement Program started more than a year ago with 226 slow zones, prompting shutdowns as 541,000 feet of rail was replaced