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GOP goes 'behind closed doors' to choose next Speaker

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) -- A new Speaker of the House of Representatives could be selected within the next few days -- but only if Republicans can put aside their differences and unite behind a candidate.And now, for the first time since he was ousted as Speaker, Kevin McCarthy is not ruling out returning to the role.However, House Republicans say this Speaker election will be different than the one in January when it took 15 rounds to elect McCarthy. Colorado Republican Ken Buck doesn't want a repeat."It's better to play out in private where the cameras aren't on and we don't have people trying to get attention," Buck said. "For those folks who think we're projecting a chaotic image, it makes a lot more sense to do this behind closed doors."After the war broke out between Israel and Hamas, McCarthy said the House needs a Speaker as soon as possible. He left the door open to returning to the role."Whether I'm Speaker or not I'm a member of this body. I know what history it's had. And I...

Two in hospital after downtown Austin shooting early Monday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:54 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Police said two people were in the hospital with non-life threatening injuries after a shooting early Monday morning in downtown Austin. Police said a Department of Public Safety trooper witnessed the shooting. According to APD, the DPS trooper saw the shooting around 1:30 a.m. near the intersection at East Seventh Street and the Interstate 35 service road. The drivers left the scene, APD said, and one of them was stopped in the 2200 block of Interstate 35. Later, APD said it received a report that two people were at the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Further investigation showed they were connected with the shooting.Austin Police did not give any other information about the people involved other than that officers were investigating. Police closed East Seventh Street at Red River Street for the investigation until 4:30 a.m. Monday.

'Execution style, they were defenseless:' Austin family's relative killed in Israel attack

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:54 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN)—Moshe S. has been in his living room, eyes glued to Israeli news coverage since the weekend. By him on the couch, are posters of his cousin's fiancé, Imbar Tzur and cousin Hillel Zalmnovich. "He [Imbar Tzur] was missing for like 24 hours until they found his body and two other friends next to a car," Sananes said. According to Moshe, Tszur was killed my Hamas Palestinian militants. Moshe said Tszur was 26-years-old and was attending a music festival in Israel when the first attack over the weekend happened. 'Pure evil'"They were hiding behind the car and the terrorists came and just shot them, execution style," Moshe said. "They were defenseless." Austin rabbi reacts to outbreak of Israel-Hamas war Moshe and his wife are still waiting to see where their cousin Zalmnovich is. They said he is still missing. "This is evil, pure evil," Moshe said. "That's the only word I can say. "We are not talking here about freedom fighters...civilians are being slaughtered and butche...

Watch out! ATCEMS talks scooter accidents ahead of second week of ACL

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:54 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Scooters are a popular way for many people to get around Austin, especially during big weekends like Austin City Limits."Scooters have been the way to go," said Jackie Amato, who is in town for ACL.Amato said hopping on a scooter is much faster than waiting for an UBER, and she said it's much cheaper."Uber is very expensive so the scooters have been coming in and really helping us get around a lot quicker," Amato said.Joe Hernandez has used scooters as well, but he has mixed feelings."They are convenient when you are using them and when you are using them safely, but they can also be dangerous."In October 2022, Austin-Travis County EMS responded to 23 scooter-related incidents involving injuries. So far this October, they have responded to six scooter related injuries.Medics tells KXAN injuries from these accidents vary from things like minor cuts and bruises to more serious injuries. Austin trauma surgeon says 95% of traumatic scooter injuries involve alcohol "The...

Prominent Twin Cities attorney charged with hitting construction worker on I-35 in Pine County

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:54 GMT

PINE CITY, Minn. — The head of a prominent Twin Cities personal injury law firm was intoxicated and acknowledged taking sleeping pills before injuring a construction worker in a hit-and-run crash Friday, authorities said.James Patrick Carey, 64, of Edina, was arraigned Monday morning on four charges in the Interstate 35 collision near Hinckley. The president and managing partner of SiebenCarey was expected to be released from custody a short time later, having spent the weekend in the Pine County Jail.Carey, according to a criminal complaint, claimed he was not aware he hit the worker, though he acknowledged leaving the scene, and authorities said he showed signs of impairment.James Patrick CareyThe complaint says the worker, Joseph Gregory Flanagan, 27, of Duluth, was wearing a high-visibility vest and had just finished removing cones from one of the northbound lanes. He was walking on a dirt shoulder toward his truck when he was clipped by the passing vehicle around 11:40 a.m.A tr...

Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood to lead affordable homebuilding at The Heights in St. Paul

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:54 GMT

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, husband-and-wife grandmasters of country music, are coming to St. Paul to build affordable housing.Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit homebuilder and home lender based in St. Paul, will host the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project in the fall of 2024 with a construction project at The Heights, the new development taking shape in the former Hillcrest Golf Course on the city’s East Side.The annual Carter Work Project event has landed in different cities annually for the past 40 years, celebrating the charitable homebuilding works of President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter. As the Carters have retired from public life, Brooks and Yearwood have agreed to continue the Carters’ legacy as event hosts.The celebration, which brings together thousands of volunteers, celebrities and elected officials, has traveled to 14 countries. It last came to the Twin Cities in 2010.Twin Cities Habitat plans to build up to 150 homes ...

‘We dreamed he would do this’: Ascension of Twins’ Royce Lewis gratifying to those who drafted him

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:54 GMT

Sean Johnson stood off to the side in the Twins’ clubhouse, taking in the scene unfolding in front of him. In the center of the room, players were spraying champagne and dumping cans of beer onto each other in celebration of their Wild Card Series victory last week.In the midst of it all was Royce Lewis, shirtless, basking it all in with his teammates.Lewis, currently limited to DHing because of a strained hamstring, hit two big home runs a day earlier, helping the Twins snap a 19-game postseason losing streak. Days later, he would hit a home run in Game 1 of the ALDS, and on Sunday, he walked, collected a hit and scored a run in the Twins’ Game 2 victory over the Astros in Houston.“We dreamed he would do this,” said Johnson, the Twins’ vice president of amateur scouting. “And when you see it happen in real life and in a playoff game, it just makes the whole process complete in your mind.”Selecting Lewis, whom the Twins grabbed first overall in the 2017 draft, was one of...

The Minnesota Sinfonia will close shop in January 2025

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:54 GMT

The Minnesota Sinfonia will end in January 2025, according to the Friends of Sinfonia Board of Directors.Following the upcoming 2023/2024 concert season and a set of farewell performances in fall 2024, all concert activity will cease. Music in the Schools performances and related materials will continue to be available to school districts free of charge into the winter of 2025.The Sinfonia was founded by conductor Jay Fishman in 1989, who has also spent the past 35 years as artistic director. His idea was to create a professional orchestra that would perform free concerts to ensure live classical music was available in underserved and low-income communities in Minnesota.Professional freelance musicians from all over the world, most with graduate degrees from major universities or conservatories, perform up to 60 free concerts a year, many of which feature award-winning national and international guest soloists. They present classical and pops concerts in schools, churches and outdoo...

Homeless encampment relocates to St. Louis Municipal Court building

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:54 GMT

ST. LOUIS – Temporary barriers remain outside St. Louis City Hall along Market Street and at Poelker Park, with signs saying the park is closed for restoration. This comes after city authorities cleared the area last week of a growing homeless encampment.Meanwhile, some in the unhoused community have pitched their tents next door at the former St. Louis City Municipal Court building at 14th and Market.“Those who are experiencing hardship and homelessness are our friends, and family, and neighbors and friends,” said Yussef Scoggins, CEO of Covenant House Missouri. “And not to think about people in the abstract as ‘those people’ or people who are not connected to us.”Scoggins has spent the last 20 years working as an advocate for the unhoused. His Covenant House Missouri helps with education, counseling, and finding stable employment and secure housing for 16- to 24-year-olds. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subsc...

St. Louis Jewish community rallies support for Israel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:54 GMT

ST. LOUIS – Israel remains under attack after Hamas militants fired thousands of rockets into Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip on Saturday.“Imagine Chesterfield shot rockets at downtown St. Louis. This is the distance,” Snir Dagan, an Israeli educator living in St. Louis, said.Dagan watch the news from his St. Louis apartment, fearing for the lives of his family and friends.“All of the windows in my apartment were shattered. My mom found a piece of metal from the rocket in my 10-year-old brother’s bed,” Dagan said.Dagan’s family in Israel survived the blast and sought safety with relatives nearby. He works as an Israeli educator in St. Louis after serving in the Israeli military. The timing of Saturday's surprise attack disgusts him. Crackdown on speeders in St. Charles yielding results, mayor says “We’re talking 7:00 a.m. Israel time. Saturday morning. In what we call Simchat Torah or the Joy of Torah. How sick can you be to start a war on one of the most joyful days on the Jewi...