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Senate bill to give detailed look into Republicans' plans for 'school choice'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:44:25 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — State Senator Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe), chair of the Senate Committee on Education, will file Senate Bill 8 Friday afternoon, giving a detailed look into top Republicans' priority to subsidize private education.Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick chose Senate Bill 8 to carry one of his top 30 priorities of "empowering parental rights -- including school choice." Governor Greg Abbott has advocated for creating state-funded "education savings accounts" that will give money to Texans to pay for education-related expenses, including private school tuition. Lt. Gov. voices support for special sessions to ‘pass school choice’ "We've seen [education savings accounts] work very effectively in other states, and we've also already seen them work here in the state of Texas," Gov. Greg Abbott told a crowd in Tyler Thursday night, referring to state-subsidized tuition for special needs students. "What we want to do this session is expand that program so that every parent wil...

City removes permit-parking sign originally clipped over handicap parking

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:44:25 GMT

Editor’s Note: The video above shows KXAN News Today’s top headlines for March 10, 2023.AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A KXAN viewer sent in a picture showing a sign for permitted parking clipped over a handicap-accessible parking sign near the convention center in downtown Austin. The viewer said he struggled to find parking, and ultimately found a spot six blocks away, while "walking for [him] is quite difficult." How to get to, from South by Southwest for 2023 festival KXAN reached out to the City about the signage. The Austin Transportation Department (ATD) said during special events, such as SXSW, the City has to remove some on-street parking spots to accommodate temporary road closures and vehicles that need to load and unload for the event.ATD added: "When possible, the City prioritizes closing blocks without any Americans with Disability Act (ADA)-accessible parking. However, occasionally the City does have to temporarily remove ADA-accessible on-street spots to allow event operations t...

Steve Sarkisian's takeaways from Ewers, Manning and 1 week of spring football

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:44:25 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — One of the biggest names in recent college football recruiting is on campus and practicing for the University of Texas. Quarterback Arch Manning and the rest of the Longhorns football team wrapped up the first week of spring practice."We make a big deal out of the guy losing his ID twice the first couple weeks of school," Steve Sarkisian said with a smile about growing pains with Manning. "He's a freshman in college, but he does take it seriously and wants to be really good." Texas beats feisty Oklahoma State to advance to Big 12 Tournament semifinals Manning enters a quarterback room with returning starter Quinn Ewers. Sarkisian has been clear he wants improvement from the passing game after a subpar 2022. Ewers missed three full games with a shoulder injury last fall. When he was on the field, the now-redshirt sophomore tallied 2,177 yards passing, 15 touchdowns and six interceptions."This winter, it just feels natural," Sarkisian said about Ewers. "He's throwing...

SXSW: Can milk and meat save us from climate change?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:44:25 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — One of the big topics at this year's South-by-Southwest is the battle against climate change. While transportation and the energy sector play a huge role in global warming, another vital piece of our lives has a major role: meat and agriculture.A recent report published in the scientific journal Nature found that around 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions were produced by agriculture. According to the report, food consumption alone could cause the global temperature to raise by 1 degree Celsius by 2100."I think there's an increasing understanding that food and agriculture has a big impact on climate," said Marcus Lovell Smith, CEO of Neutral Foods. "With food and agriculture, you can you can make choices every single day in a grocery store."Finding a solution for this problem may be found in an unlikely place: Cows.Cows and Climate ChangeNeutral Foods produces carbon-neutral milk. "We work directly with dairy farmers all across the country. We work with the cows d...

Silicon Valley Bank seized after run by depositors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:44:25 GMT

By KEN SWEET (AP Business Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S rushed to seize the assets of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday after a run on the bank, the largest failure of a financial institution since Washington Mutual during the height of the financial crisis more than a decade ago. Silicon Valley, the nation’s 16th largest bank, failed after depositors — mostly technology workers and venture capital-backed companies — hurried to withdraw their money this week as anxiety over the bank’s situation spread. Silicon Valley was heavily exposed to tech industry and there is little chance of contagion in the banking sector similar to the chaos in the months leading up to the Great Recession more than a decade ago. In 2007, the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression rippled across the globe after mortgage-backed securities tied to ill-advised housing loans rippled from the U.S. to Asia and Europe. The panic on Wall Street led to the collapse of the stor...

UMN-Twin Cities students could see 7% tuition hike if Legislature rejects U’s budget proposal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:44:25 GMT

Twin Cities undergraduates could face anywhere from a tuition freeze to a 7 percent increase this fall, depending on what the Legislature does with the University of Minnesota’s latest budget request.Budget director Julie Tonneson said the U’s budget projections usually are highly accurate, but they’re off by 3 percent this year because of lower than expected enrollment. “We simply just didn’t get it right,” she told the Board of Regents on Friday.Earlier in the week, Tonneson told a legislative committee the U system is seeing fewer freshmen, transfers from other colleges, and graduate and nonresident students while also struggling to retain its own students; and, she said, students who do graduate are doing so more quickly than they used to.The U initially had penciled in a 3.5 percent tuition increase for its flagship campus and 1 percent at the four out-state campuses for the 2023-24 school year. But those numbers have been revised to 7 and 3.5 percent, respectively, in response...

Downtown St. Paul will be busy this weekend. Here’s some ways to navigate it.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:44:25 GMT

Motorists traveling into downtown St. Paul this weekend should be aware of likely traffic congestion.The Minnesota Boys Hockey State Tournament at the Xcel Energy Center, the “Let’s Play Hockey” Expo and the “Show Me Reptile & Exotics” show both at the RiverCentre and Minnesota Roller Derby at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium are all scheduled for this weekend.It’s also worth keeping in mind that the National Weather Service is forecasting 2 to 4 inches of snow for Saturday.Xcel Energy Center offiicals also note that streets surrounding Rice Park will be closed Friday through Sunday. Those include Washington Street from Fifth Street to Kellogg Boulevard, and Fourth Street from Market Street to Washington Street.Those seeking parking should look to downtown parking ramps and lots, Xcel Energy Center officials said. For more information on parking go to the city of St. Paul’s website.Xcel Energy Center officials also offered these tips:• St. Pau...

George Dierberger to fill remainder of Baytown Township Board term

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:44:25 GMT

Former Stillwater Area Public Schools Board Chairman George Dierberger has accepted another public-service position.George Dierberger (Courtesy photo)Dierberger, 66, last week was appointed to the Baytown Township Board of Supervisors. He is filling the remainder of the term previously held by Chris McLaughlin, who had to step down because of personal issues.Three Baytown residents – Dierberger, Erin Quast and Dennis Heuer – applied to fill the remainder of the term, which expires at the end of 2024, and Dierberger was selected, said Nancy Healey, township clerk.Dierberger is a full-time professor and MBA director at Augsburg University in Minneapolis. He previously worked in sales and marketing for companies including 3M and owned a small business developing products for outdoors retail. He served on the school board from 2009-2012 and was board chairman in 2011 and 2012.Baytown, which has a population of about 2,000, is at a crossroads, according to Dierberger.“We have some new de...

Explainer: Why Minnesota taxes Social Security income

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:44:25 GMT

Calls for eliminating Minnesota income taxes on Social Security income are coming not just from Republicans, but some Democrats as well, and it’s shaping up as one of the biggest issues of the 2023 legislative session.The GOP minority in the Minnesota Senate is threatening to hold up a public infrastructure package that passed the House on Monday unless it gets some kind of tax relief from the state’s enormous $17.5 billion budget surplus. The tax on Social Security is a popular candidate for cutting. Several top Democratic leaders, who would rather target tax cuts to needier Minnesotans, are coming under pressure to compromise.RELATED: Cut Social Security taxes? Here’s what MN lawmakers are considering.Minnesota is one of 11 states that tax Social Security income to some degree. But many Minnesota seniors already are fully or partially exempt, and eliminating the taxation could have big costs down the road. Here is a look at the complex issues in the debate:Why does Minnesota...

Capital Region concert roundup: March 10-16

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:44:25 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — This is your weekly roundup of concerts happening around the Capital Region from March 10 to March 16. From tribute bands to regional and local favorites, here are the upcoming concerts for the weekend and the following week. Get all of the latest news, weather, sports, and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! March 10: Enter the Haggis, The Egg in Albany, 7:30 p.m. You can buy tickets on The Egg website.March 10: Dan Sherwin, Frog Alley Brewing in Schenectady, 5 p.m.March 10: Guy Davis, Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, 8 p.m. You can buy tickets on the Eventbrite website.March 10: In the Dust, Rivers Casino, 8 p.m. Free.March 10 and 11: Dark Star Orchestra, Palace Theatre in Albany, 8 p.m. You can buy tickets on the Ticketmaster website.March 11: Irish Hooley with the Screaming Orphans, Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs, 7:30 p.m. You can buy tickets on the UPH website.March 11: Horse Torso, Cleric, and Ampevene, No Fun in Troy, 7 p.m....