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Pritzker announces 2024 state budget deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:51:36 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and democrats in charge of the house and senate announced Wednesday that state lawmakers have reached a deal on the 2024 fiscal year budget.“From the beginning, I vowed to work with the General Assembly to bring fiscal sanity to Illinois while restoring a compassionate state government that invests in the things that build a stronger economy and future,” Pritzker said. Pritzker announces unit of over 30 ‘peacekeepers’ to provide crisis support in Chicago The President of the Illinois Senate Don Harmon (D) and the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives Emanuel Welch (D) joined Gov. Pritzker during Wednesday's press conference to announce that the fiscal year 2024 budget had been approved by Democratic leadership.This will mark the fifth balanced budget since Gov. Pritzker took office in 2019.“From violence prevention, higher education and K-12 funding, and filling teacher vacancies, to more workforce development, and enhance...

Disneyland working on new 'Avatar' experience with James Cameron

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:51:36 GMT

(KTLA) - Walt Disney Imagineering is working with director James Cameron on a new "Avatar" experience planned for Disneyland Resort.Disneyland Resort president Ken Potrock provided an update on the concept during an OC Forum event on May 18, the Orange County Register reported.The event, held at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, allowed Disneyland officials to share their plans for Disneyland Forward with Orange County business and city leaders. Disneyland pitches theme park expansion plans to Anaheim neighbors Disneyland Forward is a plan detailing how the resort intends to update and renovate the Anaheim theme park if zoning changes are approved. The project will include new attractions, shops, and restaurants within its existing 490-acre footprint, the Los Angeles Times reported.News of the "Avatar" experience surprised Disney fans and company officials alike when CEO Bob Iger announced it during a company earnings call in February following the success of “Avatar: The Way of W...

Potential impeachment looms over AG Ken Paxton after investigative hearing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:51:36 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A team of lawyers working with the House ethics committee spent nearly three hours Wednesday morning laying out extensive details covering years of misconduct allegations against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, pointing towards the possibility the state's top law enforcement official could face impeachment.The five attorneys working with the House Committee on General Investigating told the panel during their Wednesday meeting that they began looking into Paxton in March after a proposal to use state funds to pay $3.3 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit filed by four former employees who accused Paxton of wrongdoing. They ultimately said the evidence they collected these past few months would support at least a dozen criminal charges against Paxton, which included abuse of official capacity, official oppression, securities fraud, making false statements and others. However, it's important to note only a prosecutor would be able to officially file any of thes...

Patient safety bill, sparked by KXAN, passes Senate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:51:36 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A major bipartisan bill aimed at protecting Texans from dangerous doctors and reforming the Texas Medical Board passed the Senate on Wednesday and is closing in on becoming law. The bill is in direct response to our "Still Practicing" series of investigations.It now heads back to the House for final review before going to the governor."HB 1998 will save lives in our state, protecting patients and healthcare professionals alike," said the executive director of the nonpartisan nonprofit Texas Watch, which advocates for patient safety, shortly after the vote. "It gives the Texas Medical Board the tools it needs to fulfill its mission of safeguarding the public. We commend legislators for putting safety first and hope the governor will sign this vital legislation into law as soon as possible."On the last day the Senate could consider all bills, the chamber overwhelming passed the measure in a vote of 30-1. The bill was filed by Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Farmers Branch, in r...

Guthrie cast kills it with evocative staging of ‘Murder on the Orient Express’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:51:36 GMT

Suddenly, it’s summer. A long, snowy winter in the Twin Cities gave way to a brief spring, and now the weather is seeming summer-like, complete with heat, mosquitoes and the smoke of Canadian wildfires. Maybe it’s time to put together your summer reading list, complete with a breezy beach read.If you’d like to experience the theatrical equivalent, consider the Guthrie Theater’s production of “Murder on the Orient Express.” Adapted from the novel by murder mystery master Agatha Christie, it’s one of those ripping yarns full of colorful characters, one of whom winds up dead. Each of his fellow passengers on this 1934 journey from Istanbul to Paris is immediately a suspect, and it’s up to world-famous detective Hercule Poirot to catch the culprit.The whodunit plays out on the Guthrie’s proscenium stage in a series of elegantly appointed adjoining train cars with a snow-covered forest out the windows (kudos to Rob Koharchik for the sets and Miko Simmons for the projections). Playwright ...

Truck drivers, no more parking semis on St. Paul streets

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:51:36 GMT

Truck drivers who park their semis on St. Paul streets overnight have until Jan. 1 to come up with alternate arrangements.The St. Paul City Council voted 7-0 on Wednesday to restrict parking for overweight and commercial vehicles citywide when they’re not in active use. Council members Nelsie Yang and Jane Prince said the ordinance delays enforcement until 2024, giving the city and trucking community seven months to look for parking locations that might be suitable alternatives, such as renting private commercial lots that are empty overnight.During a recent roundtable with the trucking community, truckers said they were open to paying for overnight parking, provided it was priced affordably, Yang said.“Our streets just aren’t built for semitrailers, but at the same time, these are workers,” said Yang, who is calling for the state Legislature to invest in a truck parking facility for the Twin Cities. “We need cities to be working together to find soluti...

Michelle Goldberg: Texas is torturing women whose pregnancies fail

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:51:36 GMT

It’s increasingly clear that it’s not safe to be pregnant in states with total abortion bans. Since the end of Roe v. Wade, there have been a barrage of gutting stories about women in prohibition states denied care for miscarriages or forced to continue nonviable pregnancies. Though some in the anti-abortion movement publicly justify this sort of treatment, others have responded with a combination of denial, deflection and conspiracy theorizing.Some activists have blamed the pro-choice movement for spooking doctors into not intervening when pregnancies go horribly wrong. “Abortion advocates are spreading the dangerous lie that lifesaving care is not or may not be permitted in these states, leading to provider confusion and poor outcomes for women,” said a report by the anti-abortion Charlotte Lozier Institute.Others have suggested that doctors are deliberately refusing miscarriage treatment, apparently to make anti-abortion laws look bad. “What we’re seeing, I fear, is doctors with ...

VIA Aquarium's Memorial Day weekend plans

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:51:36 GMT

ROTTERDAM, N.Y. (NEWS10) -At VIA Aquarium, reptiles are going to be the main focus for Memorial Day weekend. Starting off the weekend is Turtle Touch Tank Day on Saturday.This is the first-time marketing manager Hunter Werner says the aquarium is giving visitors a chance to get close with the turtles. “Quite literally, you are going to be able to touch [two] different turtles [and one tortoise]. Sunshine, we got Squirtle and Shelly," said Werner. Off the Beaten Path: Feeding Stingrays In addition to the turtles, there is a similar exhibit with stingrays. In the past, they had jellyfish that could be touched by visitors. VIA Aquarium’s education department uses events like these as a chance to teach visitors about the animals.“These guys will be out with our educator Abby. You’ll be able to touch each one, learn a little bit about them, and we will even have our tortoise named Sunshine out so that you can learn a little bit about the differences between turtles and tortoises," expl...

Remembering Tina Turner: The iconic singer’s St. Louis roots

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:51:36 GMT

ST. LOUIS - In the 6300 block of Delmar Boulevard, St. Louisans have been stopping by and noticing the star of Tina Turner, paying tribute, and leaving flowers.Born Anna Mae Bullock, she came to this river city and made an impact on St. Louis and the world.The singer, dancer, and entertainment icon began her career in the city. She received her star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame in 1991.On Wednesday, the Saint Louis Public Schools District remembered Turner by saying the following:“All of us at Saint Louis Public Schools are remembering the legendary musician and Sumner High School alumna, Tina Turner. She was known as Ann Bullock when she graduated from Sumner back in 1958. Her full name was Anna Mae. The heights she reached as a musician and songwriter go beyond simple fame. She is a legend and an icon. It brings pride to all of us at SLPS who get to claim her as "one of ours." While most of us never had the opportunity to meet her, we all feel as if we know her a little bit. Her ...

State Board of Education discuss implementing social, emotional learning in Missouri classrooms 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:51:36 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The state's top educators want to implement social and emotion learning standards for all of Missouri's students. For the past few months, a group of teachers, school counselors and mental health experts have been researching what would help improve student behavior in the classroom. The reason behind this study is to help with teacher recruitment and retention and create a better outcome for the workforce. "Having these standards gives teachers permission to pay attention to student behavior," Associate Dean for Research for the Mizzou College of Education and Human Development Christi Bergin said. Edwardsville High School asst. principal accused of sex with teen It's a plan to help the current climate of education in the state. Back in December, the Board of Education asked the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to form a working group to create social and emotional learning (SEL) standards starting in kindergarten through 12th grade."It...