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MN House passes housing bill with $1 billion in spending, 0.25% metro sales tax hike

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:26 GMT

Minnesota would spend $1 billion over the next two years to provide affordable housing under a bill passed Tuesday by the state Senate. The vote was 39-28.The legislation, sponsored by DFL Sen. Lindsey Port of Burnsville, aims to reduce children’s homelessness, cut racial disparities in homeownership rates and subsidize construction of more affordable homes.It also would impose a 0.25 percent sales tax increase in the seven-county metro area to help pay for new housing programs. The tax would raise an estimated $353 million over the next two years and $391.2 million in 2026-2027.The bill would provide eight times more money for housing than the state currently spends, Port said. Most of the funding — about $750 million — would go to building new housing.It now goes back to the House, which passed a similar measure next week. If the two chambers resolve any differences, the bill would go to Gov. Tim Walz, who has pledged to sign it.Port said the measure would increase the...

Yancy, Simon: Automatic voter registration makes restoration of voting rights more effective

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:26 GMT

Last year, approximately 4.6 million Americans and nearly 55,000 Minnesotans were unable to vote even though they had already served their prison time — roughly 2% of the country’s voting-age population. But that’s about to change here in Minnesota.Starting this summer, Minnesotans who have left prison behind will be eligible to register to vote and regain access to the ballot box. The legislation providing for that — championed by the Restore the Vote coalition, state Sen. Bobby Joe Champion and state Rep. Cedric Frazier — will make us one of 25 states that have taken action to re-enfranchise returning citizens. Unfortunately, in many of these states, voter registration rates for those who have had their right to vote restored remain quite low. That’s why, for Minnesota’s efforts to restore the vote to be more successful, we need to pass automatic voter registration.Automatic voter registration is a proposal currently before the Minnesota Legislature that promises to ease the...

Hochul on finalized budget, "The end is near"

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:26 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) -- The state's budget is now almost a month late, the latest budget in over ten years. An additional extender was signed by the Governor on Monday to keep state employees paid, and state operations funded. When exactly will lawmakers reach a final budget agreement? At a press conference on Tuesday, Governor Hochul said the end could be near, with the possibility of a budget deal as early as this week. Two issues still on the table are re-issuing zombi charter schools and the states plan to crack down on illegal cannabis stores, which Hochul said is critically important considering the states efforts to create a legal industry, "This is not easy to do, but when you set up these businesses to fail already because of illegal competition, we have to take some dramatic steps now."Hochul said this could mean giving enforcement tools to the Office of Cannabis Management as well as Tax and Finance to have the authority to search those shops resulting in a fine, and ...

1 man dead in Collinsville shooting; multiple people in custody

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:26 GMT

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. – A young man is dead after shots rang out Monday night in a Collinsville, Illinois, neighborhood. Multiple people are in custody, but police are still searching for one more suspect.The shooting happened around 7 p.m. in a residential area on North Seminary Street, near the Collinsville Police Department.Officers found one victim, an unidentified man, shot to death near a sidewalk. A woman who identified herself as the victim's mother said her son was just 19 years old. Neighbors said they heard at least four shots.“We were gone only 10 minutes. When we were on our way back, the kids called crying and upset they heard the shots and called 911,” Jessica Dawson said. “He was lying there dead when I got back.” Gardner won’t be held in contempt, judge rules Witnesses reported seeing four people running from the scene and were able to provide officers with descriptions.Police searched the area and located three people matching those descriptions and took them into c...

Memorial for former U.S. Rep. Pat Schroeder to be held in Denver

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:26 GMT

U.S. Rep. Pat Schroeder, D-Colo., sits on the porch outside her Capitol Hill headquarters in Denver on July 18, 1994. Schroeder, a pioneer for women’s and family rights in Congress, has died at the age of 82. Schroeder’s former press secretary, Andrea Camp, said Schroeder suffered a stroke recently and died Monday night, March 13, 2023, at a hospital in Florida, the state where she had been residing. (Joe Mahoney, The Associated Press)A public celebration of life for former U.S. Rep. Pat Schroeder will be held in Denver on Friday with Gov. Jared Polis opening the ceremony.Related ArticlesPolitics | Letters: Banning abortion pills — Wyoming endangers essential medical care The event will begin at 2 p.m. at History Colorado, 1200 Broadway. The celebration is open to the public and no RSVP is needed.Schroeder’s husband, Jim, will speak and a video collection of highlights from her media interviews will be shown.For 24 years, Schroeder represented Color...

Weak tornado touches down in Weld County, warning issued for area

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:26 GMT

Residents of a section of Weld County are under a tornado warning after a weak tornado briefly touched down Tuesday afternoon before quickly dissipating.Related ArticlesWeather | Extreme winds prompt diversions and delays at DIA Weather | March is usually Denver’s snowiest month — but not this year Weather | Denver weather: Less wind, sunny skies and warmer weather The warning area included Keenesburg and Roggen along Interstate 76 as well as Prospect Valley just south of the highway.The warning is in effect until 3:45 p.m., according to the National Weather Service in Boulder.Tornado Warning including Keenesburg CO, Prospect Valley CO and Roggen CO until 3:00 PM MDT pic.twitter.com/pekXB3qeBI— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) April 25, 2023A “brief landspout/weak tornado” developed in the area but dissipated. Another tornado may develop, the weather service warned.More landspouts are possible across a large swath of the we...

Tornado touches down briefly northeast of Denver metro area

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:26 GMT

Residents of a section of Weld County are under a tornado warning after a weak tornado or landspout briefly touched down Tuesday afternoon before quickly dissipating.The warning area included Keenesburg and Roggen along Interstate 76 as well as Prospect Valley just south of the highway.RELATED: Why landspout tornadoes are common in ColoradoThe warning is in effect until 3:45 p.m., according to the National Weather Service in Boulder.Tornado Warning including Keenesburg CO, Prospect Valley CO and Roggen CO until 3:00 PM MDT pic.twitter.com/pekXB3qeBI— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) April 25, 2023A “brief landspout/weak tornado” developed in the area but dissipated. Another tornado may develop, the weather service warned.More landspouts are possible across a large swath of the western Denver metro area, including Aurora and Denver International Airport. Landspouts, unlike tornados, form from the ground up instead of stretching from the clouds to the ground. Landspouts ar...

Who's up for a rock 'n' roll enema?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:26 GMT

In perhaps the weirdest intersection of healthcare and pop culture, Travis Barker, drummer for rock band Blink-182, is teaming with nonalcoholic beverage company Liquid Death Mountain Water for a hard-rocking enema kit.I'm not making this up.The Liquid Death Enema of The State Collectible Enema Kit pays homage to Blink-182's 1999 album "Enema of the State."According to the Liquid Death website, the $182 enema kit is in fact "a limited edition collectible adult art piece and not intended for use as a real medical device," which kind of takes the fun out of it.The kit includes a can of Liquid Death water (natch) that's been hand-signed by Barker (or so they say). And there's an enema bulb.In a video on the Liquid Death site, Barker -- a.k.a. Mr. Kourtney Kardashian -- says that "thanks to my new Enema of the State collectible enema kit, I've been able to turn my dreams into reality."Dare to dream, right?As a collectible, this is certainly one of the goofier products to hit the market....

‘We’ve been watching our California dream degrade’: San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner addresses rise in violent crime 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:26 GMT

Violent crime in the Inland Empire and California as a whole has increased, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner, and now he's addressing the issue head on and asking state and federal legislators and the public to help combat the rise in criminal activity. “We’ve been watching our California dream degrade with increased crime, homelessness and substance abuse,” said San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Shannon Dicus in an op-ed. The San Bernardino County Homeless Outreach and Proactive Enforcement Team estimates that there are 2,100 homeless individuals who are “adverse from help and suffer from extreme mental health and substance abuse issues” in San Bernardino County alone.  Data from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shows that California had 6,987 parolees at large as of December 2022, with 552 of them at large in San Bernardino County. Dicus believes that the spike in violent crimes is directly correlated with the high number of at-...

Solar panels to be installed at Six Flags Magic Mountain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:26 GMT

New solar panels will be installed at Six Flags Magic Mountain, the theme park announced Tuesday. The installation will be considered the “largest single-site commercial renewable energy project in California,” officials said.“Here in California, innovation and climate action go hand-in-hand – our success as America’s economic powerhouse and the world’s fourth largest economy is built on our ambitious transition to a cleaner, greener future.,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.“Six Flags’ commitment to clean energy is the type of work that will power our future and ensure our kids have a healthy planet to call home.”Six Flags Entertainment Corporation will partner with Solar Optimum and DSD Renewables to install solar panels at the “Thrill Capital of the World.” US invests in alternative solar tech, more solar for renters According to a news release, the solar panels will provide the following benefits:Produce 20.8 million hours of energy annually, equivalent to the...