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The Texas House passed a $300B budget. Here are some highlights.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- After months of deliberations and hours of debate on the House floor, the Texas House of Representatives on Thursday night passed a $302.7 billion budget to fund the state of the next two years.Of that sum, about $137 billion comes from the state's general revenue. Much of the rest comes from federal funding. This biennium, Texas has a record budget surplus of $33 billion left over from the last budget.The House budget allocates almost half of the state's general revenue to public education, with a record $60.3 billion. That's a $5 billion increase and gives the state responsibility for more than half of all public education funding."If you vote against this budget, you are voting against the largest increase in state funding for the Foundation School Program in Texas history," House Appropriations Committee Chair Greg Bonnen said.The House also sets aside $17.3 billion to slow the rise of property taxes. The budget bill includes provisions to cap the appraisal v...

UT social work students to protest unpaid field placements

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – University of Texas at Austin social work students are planning a demonstration Tuesday to protest unpaid field placements. The students will hold the rally on the front steps of the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. They hope this rally will encourage school administrators to find a solution where students can be compensated for their work during field placements, according to a press release. The demonstration was set up by UT FED UP,  an organization fighting for universal fair-pay internship stipends.“Paying tuition to work for free is a structurally unjust model that discriminates against low-income students and, disproportionately, students of color,” Beth Wagner, student body president and FED UP organizer, said in a press release. “Saddling social work students with crushing debt and dangerous stress undermines the educational process, depresses wages, and ultimately hurts our clients. There are stacks of literature on the harms of unpaid inte...

Former Hennepin County Sheriff Dave Hutchinson fired from Metro Transit police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

Dave Hutchinson, the disgraced former sheriff of Hennepin County, has been fired from his old job as a sergeant with Metro Transit police because of his 2021 drunken driving crash and for creating a poor work environment while he was sheriff.Dave Hutchinson (Courtesy of the Ramsey County sheriff’s office)Hutchinson was reinstated to his job with Metro Transit police after his term as sheriff ended in January, when he was then put on leave pending an internal affairs investigation. The reinstatement fell under a state law that allows public employees to return to their former job after taking a leave of absence for an elected office.The internal investigation found that Hutchinson violated police department’s policies by being arrested for driving drunk after totaling his sheriff-issued SUV in Alexandria, Minn., on Dec. 8, 2021, and for violating the county’s non-discrimination and respectful workplace policy following racist, sexist and bullying behavior.Metro Transit Police C...

Men’s hockey: Gophers to meet ‘Big Ten killer’ Quinnipiac in title game

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. — For the Quinnipiac University men’s hockey team, the mantra remains the same.For the University of Minnesota, the theme is trying to dictate tempo and use the team’s depth.And, of course, there’s the intrigue of the top-scoring offense in NCAA Division I taking on the toughest team to score on.Those are some of the storylines to watch when the top-ranked Gophers (29-9-1) play the second-ranked Bobcats (33-4-3) at 7 p.m. Saturday (ESPN2) in the national championship game. Minnesota will be looking for its sixth title and will be playing in its 13th title game. Quinnipiac will be playing in its third title game and looking for its first championship.Don’t look for the Bobcats to suddenly throw a new-fangled look into the game.“We’ve done it 40 games in a row for 13-14 years,” said Rand Pecknold, who is in his 29th season as Quinnipiac’s coach. “We’re really good at it and do a good job with it.“We do a 1-1...

Sonny Gray dominant in Twins’ walk-off win over Astros

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

Sonny Gray talked late this spring of wanting the opportunity to pitch deeper into games, of not being satisfied just throwing four or five innings and calling it a day.Friday, Gray certainly backed up his words, dominating the Astros during his seven-inning outing in the Twins’ home opener at Target Field. And unlike the last two games, a dominant outing from a Twins starter did not wind up going for naught as the Twins went on to beat the Astros in a walk-off 3-2, 10-inning win at Target Field.The Astros took a lead in the top of the 10th after Mauricio Dubón’s 10th inning single off reliever Jorge López scored the automatic runner, David Hensley. But the Twins countered with Jose Miranda’s line drive to right, which brought home Byron Buxton to tie the game, and went on to win on Kyle Farmer’s bases-loaded single up the middle.Though Farmer brought the fireworks at the end of the game, it was his former Reds teammate who stole the show.Leaning heavily on his curveball and slider,...

Easter preparations at City Rescue Mission

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

Capital City Rescue Mission is bringing the area together to help those in need have a good holiday. A holiday many wouldn't celebrate otherwise.Pastor and Executive Director, Perry Jones, has been helping the rescue mission hold their Easter open house for decades. When it comes to food, the mission cooks up more than just a few dinners. Easter event for dogs at Hudson Crossing Park "Anywhere from 1800 to 2000, but here, Easter, it's still a good crowd. It gets the whole community, especially the homeless, the needy, the broken. They can have a place to celebrate, because they typically aren't going to grandma's house," explained Jones.Community and Event Liaison, Shelly Wood, works to secure funding to make sure events like this end up being a success. To make the meals, a multitude of ingredients are brought in to make Easter Sunday a success. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! "A lot of donors come together that want to...

Catholic churches celebrate the end of Lenten season with yearly traditions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. - The last day for the fish fries around St. Louis is Friday. The Lenten season ends with Easter this Sunday.For Catholics in Missouri and across the river in Illinois, Good Friday is a day that brings tradition to many in this faith.In Belleville, Illinois, at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, they’re set for their outdoor Easter Mass on Sunday in the Outdoor Amphitheatre. Three masses with a sunrise service at 6:45 a.m. Easter Sunday. Top Story: Fenton clerk recounts terrifying gunpoint robbery and assault On Friday, around 400 people gathered to walk the Way of the Cross, telling the story of the crucifixion of Jesus, his death, and his rising from the dead three days later to ascend into heaven. A tradition marking the end of the Lenten season.A yearly tradition in south St. Louis County is the fish fry at Assumption Catholic Church. It was voted one of the top fish fries in metropolitan St. Louis.They will make more than 1,800 meals Friday ni...

Nearly half of Oakland’s female police officers say they’ve felt harassed, faced discrimination

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

OAKLAND — With two decades of federal oversight likely to be extended next week, new data reveal that efforts by the Oakland Police Department to diversify its ranks are falling significantly short.A recent internal survey found that nearly half the women officers in the department said that they had personally experienced harassment or discrimination. The same number of respondents, 45%, said they had witnessed others being harassed or facing discrimination, and close to a third of those officers said it happened “often” or “very often.”More than half of those officers, meanwhile, said they are not satisfied with how well women are represented at OPD.The survey, published last month, is part of the “30×30 pledge” that police departments across the country have adopted internally to reach 30% female academy recruits by the year 2030.Only 14% of OPD officers last year identified as women, though that’s still a percentage point high...

Letters: Jail ODs | Stop rate hike | Conservative voices | Let freedom prevail | Sacred sites | Liberal policies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Lax visitor searchescontribute to jail ODsRe: “8 fentanyl overdoses reported in February” (Page B1, March 22).It is very sad but no wonder that Santa Rita Jail had so many fentanyl overdoses in February. As noted by the 2021-22 Alameda County Civil Grand Jury, controls to protect against weapons, drugs and other contraband being brought into Santa Rita Jail by staff and administrative visitors are weak, placing staff and detainees at risk.In response to the grand jury, Sheriff Ahern said the type of search a visitor receives is based on who the visitor is employed by. The sheriff also stated that the employees of Alameda County who are subjected to background checks based on their employment are not subjected to an extensive search when entering the facility.The jail authorities allow this kind of lax security even after jail employees have been caught bringing illegal drugs into the jail. Th...

FDA ruling: What is mifepristone?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:36 GMT

By Jen Christensen | CNNA federal judge in Texas has said he will suspend the approval of mifepristone, a drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration that has been shown to be safe and effective for more than two decades, although he is pausing his ruling for seven days so the federal government can appeal.The lawsuit from anti-abortion advocates claims that the drug is not safe and that the FDA didn’t study it enough to approve it.Along with misoprostol, mifepristone is one of the drugs used for an abortion via medication, as opposed to surgery.Mifepristone is marketed under the brand names Mifeprex and Korlym, and it’s sometimes known as RU 486.How mifepristone worksMifepristone blocks a hormone called progesterone, which helps the body maintain the inside of the uterus so a pregnancy can continue. A healthy uterine lining is what supports a fertilized egg, embryo and fetus.Without progesterone, the uterus will expel its contents.Someone having a medication ab...