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Editorial: Budget woes could swamp top-heavy UMass ship

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:28 GMT

University of Massachusetts President Marty Meehan used a sailing analogy to describe the institution’s coming fiscal squeeze.The university system, Meehan said,  is sailing into some “very strong headwinds,” with lower birth rates affecting enrolment, more competition for students, and people questioning whether a college degree is worth the money.The USS UMass, however, is in danger of running aground even in calm waters, thanks to its overloaded cargo hold.As the State House News reported, salary and fringe benefits constitute 60% of UMass’s expenses in fiscal 2024, an increase of $186 million compared to the fiscal 2023 projection. A Boston Herald deep dive in to state payrolls revealed that most of the state’s top earners are employed by UMass. One chancellor took home over $1 million. A year.No wonder people are questioning whether they should take on the financial burden of a college education – knowing that a good chunk of their tuition is...

Dear Abby: Off-leash dogs harass walker on trail

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:28 GMT

Dear Abby: I live in an area with a large number of dog owners who frequent the same walking trails I do. On several occasions, I have encountered dogs that are off-leash and running ahead of their owners. Sometimes the owner isn’t even in sight.On several occasions, dogs have jumped up on me, almost knocking me to the ground. I’m in my late 60s, under 5 feet and weigh 105 pounds. I could easily be injured. I was once attacked and bitten.My question is this: What’s the best thing to say to these dog owners when they finally appear? The last time it happened, the owner happily said to her DOG, “I know you’re excited, but …” The rest I couldn’t hear because she had already passed me on the trail. Abby, she saw her dog jump up on me and never even acknowledged me. I don’t want to respond angrily or sarcastically, but in a friendly yet firm manner. — Walker in WashingtonDear Walker: You are far too nice, lady. Start carrying pe...

Revised DACA program to be debated before Texas judge who previously ruled against it

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:28 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — A revised version of a federal policy that prevents the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children is set to be debated Thursday before a federal judge who previously ruled the program illegal.Attorneys representing the nine states that have sued to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, lawyers for the U.S. Justice Department and DACA recipients were scheduled to appear at a court hearing before U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen.In 2021, Hanen declared DACA illegal, ruling that the program had not been subjected to public notice and comment periods required under the federal Administrative Procedures Act. Hanen also said the states seeking to stop it had standing to file their lawsuit because they had been harmed by the program.The states claimed they incur hundreds of millions of dollars in health care, education and other costs when immigrants are allowed to remain in the country illegally. The states that sue...

LGBTQ+ Pride month kicks off with protests, parades, parties

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:28 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The start of June marks the beginning of Pride month around the U.S. and some parts of the world, a season to celebrate the lives and experiences of LGBTQ+ communities and to protest against recent attacks on hard-won civil rights gains.This year’s Pride takes place in a contentious political climate in which some state legislators have sought to ban drag shows, prohibit gender-affirming care and limit how teachers can talk about sexuality and gender in the classroom.Events have been disrupted. Performers have been harassed. And in Colorado in November, five people were killed and several injured when a gunman shot them inside a gay nightclub.“What we’re seeing right now is probably the worst that it’s been since the early days, in terms of the demonization of our communities,” said Jay W. Walker, one of the co-founders of the Reclaim Pride Coalition, a New York City-based group.But that won’t stop people from coming out to mark Pride this month, he said.“You can’t k...

After sailing though House on bipartisan vote, Biden-McCarthy debt ceiling deal now goes to Senate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:28 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Veering away from a default crisis, the House overwhelmingly approved a debt ceiling and budget cuts package, sending the deal that President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated to the Senate for swift passage in a matter of days, before a fast-approaching deadline.The hard-fought compromise pleased few, but lawmakers assessed it was better than the alternative — a devastating economic upheaval if Congress failed to act. Tensions ran high as hard-right Republicans refused the deal, but Biden and McCarthy assembled a bipartisan coalition to push to passage on a robust 314-117 vote late Wednesday.“We did pretty dang good,” McCarthy, R-Calif., said afterward.Amid deep discontent from Republicans who said the spending restrictions did not go far enough, McCarthy said it is only a “first step.”Biden, watching the tally from Colorado Springs where Thursday he is scheduled to deliver the commencement address at the U.S. Air Force Academy, phoned McCarthy...

LGBTQ+ people flock to Florida for Gay Days festival

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:28 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Tens of thousands of LGBTQ+ people are flocking to central Florida this weekend to go on theme park rides, mingle with costumed performers, dance at all-night parties and lounge poolside at hotels during Gay Days, a decades-long tradition. Even though Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers have championed a slew of anti-LGBTQ+ laws — spurring the most prominent gay rights group in the U.S. and other civil rights organizations to issue warnings that the Sunshine State may no longer be safe — Gay Days organizers are still encouraging visitors from around the world to come to one of Florida’s largest gay and lesbian celebrations. They say a large turnout will send a message that LGBTQ+ people aren’t going away in Florida, which is continually one of the most popular states for tourists to visit. If the hoped-for 150,000 or more visitors come to the half-week of pool parties, drag bingo and thrill rides at Orlando’s theme parks and hotels, then “t...

Debt ceiling deal advances pipeline and tweaks environmental rules. But more work remains.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:28 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite weeks of negotiations, the White House and House Republicans were unable to reach a comprehensive agreement to overhaul environmental regulations and streamline federal permitting as part of their debt ceiling deal, instead settling for limited changes that could simplify some project reviews.The final legislation, approved late Wednesday by the House, includes provisions to speed up infrastructure projects under the landmark National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. However, it does not clear the way to build large-scale electricity transmission lines, instead ordering a two-year study of the issue. One project got special treatment: the legislation essentially ensures construction of the long-delayed Mountain Valley Pipeline, a $6.6 billion project to transport natural gas through Appalachia. The White House supported the plan over the objections of environmentalists as a concession to Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who was a key vote for la...

Grand jury charges ex-GOP candidate with election interference in shootings at lawmakers’ homes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:28 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A failed political candidate has been indicted on federal charges including election interference in connection with a series of drive-by shootings at the homes of state and local lawmakers in Albuquerque, according to a grand jury indictment that was unsealed Wednesday.The indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque takes aim at former Republican candidate Solomon Peña and two alleged accomplices with additional conspiracy and weapons-related charges in connection with the shootings in December 2022 and January of this year on the homes of four Democratic officials, including the current state House speaker.The attacks came amid a surge of threats and acts of intimidation against election workers and public officials across the country after former President Donald Trump and his allies spread false claims about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.U.S. Attorney Alexander Uballez highlighted that the shootings targeted the homes of two count...

Italy displays antiquities looted from Italian territory and recovered from London dealer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:28 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italy on Wednesday displayed hundreds of antiquities that had been looted from Italian territory and were recovered from a London antiquities dealer.The 750 objects, which date from the 8th century B.C. and the medieval period, include an Etruscan three-legged bronze table, marble busts of men from the imperial age, and wall paintings that are believed to be from the area of Mount Vesuvius.The Culture Ministry valued the items at 12 million euro ($12.79 million), according to a statement.They were in the possession of a London company in liquidation, Symes Ltd, owned by dealer Robin Symes.“The most complex moment was when the liquidators showed their availability (to return the objects), which was a willingness that implied a demonstration of illegality,” said Carabinieri Cmdr. Vincenzo Molinese, who is in charge of the carabinieri unit protecting cultural heritage. He said Symes didn’t provide documentation for the artifacts, but research showed the items had been illeg...

Republicans get their IRS cuts; Democrats say they expect little near-term impact

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:28 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are seeking to make good on their campaign promise to rein in the IRS with cutbacks built into the debt ceiling and budget cuts package moving through Congress.The bill rescinds $1.4 billion given to federal tax collector in the Democrats’ health and energy package that was approved last year on party-line votes. The White House says the debt deal also includes a separate agreement to take $20 billion from the IRS over the next two years and divert those funds to other nondefense programs.Democrats expended a lot of political capital to get the IRS more money last year. They faced an onslaught of campaign ads, many of them misleading, about the expected hiring of 87,000 “new agents” to target low- and middle-class Americans. Now, Biden administration officials are offering assurances that the spending cuts secured by Republican negotiators will have minimal impact on the agency’s operations over the next few years. The agency is on course to...