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2023 high school grads could take on $37K in college debt

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:56 GMT

As millions of Americans with federal student loan debt hang in the balance, waiting to learn whether some of what they owe will be forgiven, the machine that has churned out this debt for decades is ready to welcome a new class of college students.This year’s high school graduates could take on $37,300 in student loan debt in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree, according to NerdWallet analysis of data from the Department of Education. These graduates-turned-freshmen may not see alarming tuition increases, but any improvements won’t compensate for the doubling of higher education costs over the past 30 years.Costs are down, but potential student loan debt is still excessiveThe average tuition, fees, room and board at public four-year colleges was $23,250 in the 2022-2023 school year, down 5.4% from the year prior after adjusting for inflation, according to the latest data from the College Board. College costs have been growing more slowly for a decade now, and decreasing for the past fe...

Winning Powerball ticket worth $3.2M sold in La Mesa

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:56 GMT

LA MESA, Calif. — A Powerball ticket worth over $3.2 million was sold at a La Mesa convenience store, the California Lottery announced.The ticket matched five numbers, but missed the Powerball number for Monday night's drawing. The winning numbers were 15, 20, 33, 36, 43 with a Powerball number 12.The winning Powerball ticket was purchased at a 7-Eleven store located at 5746 Amaya Drive in La Mesa. The $3.2 million prize was the top winning ticket sold from Monday's drawing.There was no winner for the $97 million jackpot. In total, there were 37,573 winning Powerball tickets sold in California with prizes ranging from $4 to the $3,202,599 ticket sold in La Mesa. San Diego grant program to give some families, seniors $4K; find out if you qualify The last Powerball ticket sold in California to match all six numbers was the record-breaking $2.04 billion prize won in Altadena last year.The current Powerball jackpot has been rolling since April 19, when someone won the top prize in Ohi...

Press photographer arrested at protest over chokehold death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:56 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A working photojournalist was among about a dozen people arrested at a protest over last week’s chokehold death of New York City subway rider Jordan Neely.Stephanie Keith was arrested Monday at the protest outside a Manhattan subway station and charged with disorderly conduct.Video posted on Twitter shows Chief of Patrol John Chell, one of the highest-ranking members of the NYPD, shouting “Lock her up” as he hands Keith over to two community affairs officers to be handcuffed.Asked about Keith’s arrest at a news conference late Monday, Chell said that “the reporter interfered in at least two arrests in the middle of the street” and later interfered a third time.Videos that have been posted on social media appear to show Keith stepping out into the street to get a good shot of something, not interfering with arrests.Keith said in a text that she could not discuss the arrest itself while charges are pending.Keith is a freelance photographer whose clien...

Canadian envoy who was expelled from Saudi Arabia says consul faces challenging days

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:56 GMT

A former Canadian diplomat who was barred from Saudi Arabia in 2018 says the consul set to be expelled from China should prepare for challenging days ahead. Dennis Horak, the former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, was ordered out of Riyadh in 2018 as the kingdom hit back at Canada for condemning the jailing of two human rights activists. He says there will likely be similarities between his experience and what awaits Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, the Canadian consul in Shanghai, who China is expelling in retaliation against a similar move by Canada. Horak says that because he was on leave when the Saudi order was issued, he had to guide embassy staff over webcam as they packed up his life. He says the ordeal was a huge strain for him and his wife, as they never got the chance to say goodbye to friends and colleagues after three years in Saudi Arabia.Lalonde’s expulsion from China comes after Canada expelled Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei, who the Canadian Security Intelligence Service hasalle...

US regulators OK spent nuclear fuel facility in New Mexico

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:56 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. nuclear regulators have licensed a multibillion-dollar complex to temporarily store tons of spent fuel in New Mexico from commercial nuclear power plants around the nation.The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued its decision Tuesday about the proposed project in southeastern New Mexico. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the state’s congressional delegation oppose locating the storage complex in the state, saying they fear New Mexico will become the nation’s dumping ground for spent nuclear fuel because the federal government has no permanent solution for the waste piling up at commercial reactors around the country.New Mexico approved legislation in March aimed at stopping the project. The fight is expected to end up in court, with state lawmakers saying their new law requires Holtec International, the energy company that wants to build the facility, to acquire construction permits from the state.New Jersey-based Holtec has argued that the New Mexico mea...

Portion of Coastal GasLink construction paused over erosion, sediment control issues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:56 GMT

CALGARY — TC Energy Corp. says it has proactively halted construction on a 20-km stretch of its Coastal GasLink project over concerns about erosion and sediment control.The Calgary-based pipeline company says the affected section of pipeline is located near the Little Anzac River north of Prince George, B.C.TC Energy says the region has been affected by challenging spring melt conditions caused by an abundance of snow this winter, a quick spike in temperatures, and heavy rainfall.The Coastal GasLink pipeline construction project has encountered recurring issues with erosion and sediment control over the past year that have resulted in ongoing compliance and enforcement actions by the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office (EAO).TC Energy says it made the precautionary decision to pause construction prior to the EAO issuing new stop-work orders on May 4 and 5. The company says it has also launched a third-party review of its erosion and sediment control plans for the area.The pipeline ...

Man guilty in Texas protest killing posted ‘I am a racist’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:56 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Prosecutors sought Tuesday to portray as racist a U.S. Army sergeant who fatally shot an armed man during a Black Lives Matter protest in Texas, saying he was hostile toward social justice causes and looking for trouble before the encounter.Daniel Perry’s two day-sentencing hearing began with the introduction of dozens of texts and social media posts that he wrote, shared or liked, including some shockingly racists images. The texts and posts had been excluded from Perry’s trial, but were publicly released after his conviction and introduced as evidence at sentencing by District Judge Clifford Brown.Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott meanwhile has been pressing for the chance to pardon Perry under the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law. Perry was convicted of murder in April and faces up to life in prison. Perry, who is white, was working as a ride-share driver in downtown Austin on the summer night in 2020 when he shot and killed 28-year-old Garre...

First 550 US active duty troops arriving at southern border

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:56 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — About 550 U.S. active duty troops have begun arriving along the U.S.-Mexico border in the first group of military support ahead of an expected increase of migrants, U.S. defense officials said Tuesday. The forces will mainly be used to help monitor and watch the border as pandemic-era restrictions on asylum end, and will have no contact with the migrants. More than 900 more soldiers, Marines and airmen will follow around the end of the month, as the Biden administration bolsters efforts to monitor the border and process incoming migrants. The initial plan calls for a 90-day deployment of the active duty forces, because they can be moved much more quickly to the border than National Guard or Reserve troops. The Pentagon has said that some of the active duty forces could be replaced over time by reservists, who need more time to deploy.According to a defense official, most of the active duty troops will be doing monitoring and detection, which are done from trucks po...

Pet Valu posts lower profit as company sets sights on up to 50 new stores

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:56 GMT

Pet Valu Holdings Ltd. is looking to open 40 to 50 new stores this year as it looks to capitalize on the surge in adoption of furry companions during the pandemic.With more than 700 stores across Canada, Pet Valu also plans to expand, renovate or relocate 20 to 30 of them this year, the company said Tuesday as it reported its first-quarter earnings.Joanne McNeish, a marketing management professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, said the pet food and supplies retailer’s growth since the start of the pandemic reflects how many people turned to dogs, cats and rabbits at the height of restrictions that limited social interaction with other people. “There was an explosion in people buying animals during COVID. That’s really good news for a pet retailer because pet retailers during COVID continued to operate,” she said.“People who had space for a pet, who had houses, for example, often bought a bigger animal, which then require all the accessories that go...

Rare May heat wave brings worries for further floods and fires: emergency minister

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:56 GMT

VICTORIA — A spell of unseasonably warm weather forecast for British Columbia is raising concerns for further flooding and fires.  Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma says the heat will impact the pace of snowmelt, which has already pushed river levels near or over their banks in several parts of central and southeastern B.C. Dave Campbell, with the B.C. River Forecast Centre, said in a briefing on Monday that about three quarters of the snow on the mountains remain and the warm weather may bring further flooding. Ma says the unusual heat also elevates the risks of wildfires burning in B.C. There are more than 50 fires burning in B.C., most of them in the north and central part of the province, and three wildfires have prompted evacuation orders or alerts for nearby residents. Ma says the forecast does not call for a heat dome like the one that killed hundreds of people in the summer of 2021, but heat can still be a risk to human health and the government is able to support comm...