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Klein: Liberals are getting behind a debt ceiling plan that won’t work

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

The debt ceiling might be the single dumbest feature of U.S. law. Congress decides to spend money and later schedules a separate vote on whether the government will pay its bills. If the government doesn’t pay its bills, calamity ensues.Moody’s Analytics estimates that even a short debt-ceiling breach could cause a recession. An analysis by the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers modeled a more protracted default and foresaw a crash on the order of the 2008 financial crisis:  All of that to pay money we already owe and can easily borrow. Madness.Defenders of the debt ceiling will tell you that the limit has been around a long time and has largely operated to the good. The United States has never defaulted on its debts, but the debt ceiling has often motivated compromise between the two parties. That may be true, but it’s a bit like saying that since the United States has won every game of Russian roulette it’s played so far, it should keep playing.And so I understand — and sh...

Trial scheduled for East Bay siblings linked to 2021 killing of 19-year-old Carmel woman

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

After an April preliminary hearing and arraignment, a Solano County Superior Court judge scheduled a trial-setting for a brother and sister charged in connection to the late-October 2021 killing of a 19-year-old Carmel woman in Fairfield.Judge William J. Pendergast ordered Jessica Yesenia Quintanilla, 22, and Marco Antonio Quintanilla, 28, both of Pittsburg, to return to Department 11 to learn of their trial date 8:30 a.m. July 28 in the Justice Building in Fairfield.Jessica Quintanilla is represented by San Francisco-based attorney William Alan Welch. She is being held without bail on first-degree murder charges in the Claybank Detention Facility in Fairfield.Marco Quintanilla, who is represented by San Francisco attorney Laurie D. Savill, is charged with being an accessory in the case and violating his parole associated with a felony conviction for attempted murder. He was previously being held at the Stanton Correctional Facility in Fairfield on $50,000 bail, but, on Feb. 2, 2022...

3 minors, 1 adult arrested for attempted robbery at Bay Area mall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

Four people, one adult and three juveniles, were arrested Sunday afternoon on suspicion of their involvement in an attempted robbery in the Solano Town Center parking lot, Fairfield police officials said.In a press release, the officials said a male victim, a 23-year-old from Vacaville, had just made a large purchase inside the mall when he was followed by two men into the parking lot near the J.C. Penney store.The victim then fled to his vehicle, locking the doors and the assailants followed, using a gun to shatter the vehicle’s window and then reached inside to strike the victim with the weapon. The victim sustained mild-to-moderate injuries from being struck with the gun, according to the prepared statement.Related ArticlesCalifornia News | Girl, 10, found stabbed to death inside Oakland apartment California News | Teen injures himself in gunfire mishap in downtown Redwood City, police say California News | Jaguar driver shot multiple ti...

Wrong-way driver on I-80 sideswipes 4 vehicles, injuring occupants

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

A wrong-way driver early Monday morning on Interstate 80 in Fairfield sideswiped four vehicles, injuring the occupants, and was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, the California Highway Patrol reported.At about 1:35 a.m., the driver of a Honda sedan was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes of I-80, east of Abernathy Road, when it sideswiped four other vehicles, CHP-Solano spokesman Jason Tyhurst told The Reporter in a text message.All occupants of the involved vehicles sustained minor injuries, consisting of complaint of pain to minor abrasions.Fairfield Fire Department Battalion Chief Andy Cranston, saying crews on a ladder truck and an engine responded, adding that the collision required some extrications.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Girl, 10, found stabbed to death inside Oakland apartment Crime and Public Safety | Teen injures himself in gunfire mishap in downtown Redwood City, police say Crime and Public Safe...

‘Fuel starvation’ is possible cause of plane crash that killed 2 off coast of Half Moon Bay

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

HALF MOON BAY  — Investigators are looking into the possibility that fuel issues may have caused a small plane to crash into the Pacific Ocean, killing two people on board.The Viking Air DHC-6-400 Twin Otter was equipped with an additional fuel system that would have allowed it to go further than it could with its original fuel tanks, said Sarah Sulick, a spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board.“According to reports, they were having problems with their fuel, so investigators want to look at the issue of ‘fuel starvation,’ which would mean there was a problem with ferry tanks supplying enough fuel to the main tanks,” she said.The small plane crashed around 2:15 p.m. Saturday about 40 miles off the coast of Half Moon Bay. The turboprop aircraft was en route from Santa Rosa to Honolulu, federal authorities have said.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | Frontier passenger arrested after striking flight attendant with intercom phone Crashes and Disas...

Father, son sentenced for decadelong, $20 million lottery fraud scheme

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — A father and son from Massachusetts have both been sent to prison for running an elaborate lottery fraud scheme designed to enrich themselves and help prize winners avoid paying taxes on their windfall, prosecutors said.Ali Jaafar, 63, and Yousef Jaafar, 29, both of Watertown, cashed in 14,000 winning lottery tickets over a roughly 10-year period, laundered more than $20 million in proceeds, and then lied on their tax returns to cheat the IRS out of about $6 million, the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston announced Monday.The Jaafars purchased winning lottery tickets at a discount from people who wanted to avoid identification by the state lottery commission, which withholds taxes and outstanding child support payments from payouts.After purchasing the tickets, using the stores that sold them as go-betweens, the Jaafars claimed the full prize amount. Although they reported the winnings on their tax returns, they also claimed equivalent fake gambling losses as an of...

Stock market today: Wall Street futures tick down after US debt talks fail to break impasse

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

Wall Street dipped modestly early Tuesday after talks in Washington on government debt ended with no deal to avoid a default.S&P 500 futures were off less than 0.2% before the bell, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched down about 0.1%.“The resumption of debt ceiling negotiations spurred some hopes despite distinct risks of brinksmanship and blame-shifting,” Tan Boon Heng of Mizuho Bank said in a report.Worries about a potential U.S. debt default have added to investor unease about the health of the global economy following interest rate hikes to cool inflation and high-profile bank failures in the United States and Switzerland.The U.S. government is forecast to run out of money to pay its bills as soon as June 1 if Congress doesn’t increase the amount the Treasury is allowed to borrow. That would send shockwaves through global financial markets and could weigh on an already weakening global economy.President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said they had a pro...

Climate change protesters carried out of Shell shareholders meeting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Climate change protesters were dragged away by security guards at oil company Shell’s annual shareholder meeting in London on Tuesday after activists tried to storm the stage and caused major disruption at the event. Shell chairman Andrew Mackenzie was unable to start the meeting for more than an hour as dozens of protesters stood up, chanting and singing “Shut down Shell” and “Go to hell, Shell.” Several attempted to run onto the stage, but they were stopped by security guards who carried them out of the room at London’s ExCel conference center.The activists, which included members of Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion, say Shell and other fossil fuel firms are making record profits at the cost of the environment. Like other oil companies, Shell posted bumper profits this year as global oil and natural gas prices soared after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In February, Shell said its annual profits for 2022 was a record $39.9 billion.That drew ...

El fundador de Amazon Jeff Bezos se compromete con su novia Lauren Sánchez

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

NUEVA YORK – El fundador de Amazon, Jeff Bezos, y su novia, la experiodista de origen mexicano Lauren Sánchez, se han comprometido, según informó la cadena CNN que cita como fuente de la noticia a alguien cercano a la pareja.La noticia del compromiso entre el multimillonario, de 59 años, y la periodista ganadora de un premio Emmy, de 53, fue también confirmada por la revista PEOPLE.Al parecer, el compromiso se produjo cuando la pareja estaba de vacaciones en el sur de Francia. Durante el pasado fin de semana, ambos fueron fotografiados en la zona abordo de un yate y asistieron el sábado al preestreno de la película “Killers of the Flower Moon”, en el Festival de Cine de Cannes, señala PEOPLE. Jeff Bezos dice que regalará la mayor parte de su fortuna de $140,000 millones El Viernes Negro de los trabajadores de Amazon frente al hogar de Jeff Bezos Bezos y Sánchez, nacida en una familia mexicanoestadounidense en Alb...

Foodie favorite: No need to cross the Bay Bridge to reach this Md. beach town

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:24 GMT

Vaughan Cheese is a cheese counter and restaurant run by a couple with New York City restaurant experience. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)A charming little beach town in the D.C. region is becoming a hot place to eat and drink, and you don’t have to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to get there.It’s North Beach, on the western shore of the bay in Southern Maryland.Resident Krista Pfunder said the town is the opposite of Ocean City.“It never feels too crowded here,” said Pfunder, who is the general manager of Chesapeake Bay Magazine.Several restaurants that have opened in North Beach in just the last five years are getting a lot of attention.Among them is Vaughan Cheese, a cheese counter and restaurant run by a couple with New York City restaurant experience.“Megan and Tyler Vaughan, they are experts in the field,” Pfunder said. “They had a stall, or booth, at the local farmer’s market selling cheese, and eventually were able to open their restau...