U.S. crops ready for picking, but farm workers in short supply It’s nearly apple-picking time in Washington’s Yakima Valley. Cherry season will be around for a few more weeks, and a bounty of other fruits and vegetables are maturing on branches and in fields.
“The orchards are big and beautiful,” said Dan Fazio, executive director of the Washington Farm Labor Association. More
Ebola virus re-emerges in Congolese conflict zone KINSHASA, Congo — At least four new cases of the Ebola virus have emerged in Congo’s northeast, just a week after an outbreak in the northwest was declared over, the country’s health ministry said Wednesday.
There was no indication the two outbreaks, separated by more than 1,553 miles, are related, Health Minister Dr. More
Trump pressures China with threat to crank up size of proposed tariffs WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday tried to increase pressure on China to change its trade practices by directing administration officials to consider more than doubling the size of proposed tariffs he has already threatened to slap on $200 billion in imports.
But the administration stopped short of actually making such a move, raising questions about whether it was a negotiating ploy in its widening trade war with China. More
Photographer joins bear hunt, but not to kill The largest grizzly hunt in the Lower 48 in more than 40 years is set to open next month in Wyoming, and more than 7,000 people applied for a chance to kill one of up to 22 bears. Among the tiny number of people who won the draw for permits is a wildlife photographer who has produced some of the most famous images of the area’s grizzlies.
Thomas Mangelsen, who has lived near Grand Teton National Park for four decades, said this week that he will use the permit to shoot bears as he’s always done – with a camera, not a gun. More
Sen. Collins says it’s ‘unbelievable’ that Trump wants to stop Russia probe Donald Trump called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to halt Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, ramping up his attacks on the probe as the president’s former campaign chairman goes on trial for unrelated criminal charges. More
Crime and Public Safety We just have to do our best in making sure the community watches out for each other,” one event organizer said. 01/2/2025 - 8:55 am | View Link
Enjoy your balmy Monday, South Florida: The polar vortex snarling much of the U. S. in snow and ice is on its way — and it’s planning to chill here for a few days.
The National Weather Service is forecasting a multiday stretch of unusually cold weather for South Florida beginning on Tuesday morning, when minimum apparent temperatures, also known as the “feels like” temperature, will be in the mid to upper 40s.
But that’s just the prelude for a bitter night, when “feels-like” temperatures Tuesday night and Wednesday morning will be in the upper 30s in western sections of Palm Beach and Broward counties, with low to mid 40s along the coast.
The pattern is expected to continue on Wednesday and Thursday, with highs only hitting the mid to upper 60s before falling to the upper 40s and low 50s across the region overnight.
After enduring a chilly morning with lows in the low 50s, Friday’s high should return to the low to mid 70s, slightly warmer and sunny on Saturday.
Temperatures in some parts of western Broward County will feel like the 30s early Wednesday morning.
WASHINGTON — To hear President-elect Donald Trump tell it, he is about to take over a nation ravaged by crisis, a desolate hellscape of crime, chaos and economic hardship. “Our Country is a disaster, a laughing stock all over the World!” he declared on social media last week.
But by many traditional metrics, the America that Trump will inherit from President Joe Biden when he takes the oath for a second time, two weeks from Monday, is actually in better shape than that bequeathed to any newly elected president since George W.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N. J. — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is in line to miss his second consecutive game with an ailing hip and sixth game of the 2024 regular season.
Tagovailoa enters Sunday’s finale against the New York Jets doubtful. Inactives will be announced 90 minutes prior to the 4:25 p.m.
MIAMI — The last time Jimmy Butler forced his way out from a team during the course of a season, as he is in the midst of doing now with the Miami Heat, the return was meager.
On Nov. 12, 2018, in exchange for Butler and Justin Patton, the Timberwolves received from the Philadelphia 76ers Jerryd Bayless, Robert Covington, Dario Šarić and a 2022 second-round draft pick.
That is all.
Not a single definitive difference maker.
Now, it appears if the Heat come up with a Butler trade ahead of the Feb.
By VALERIE GONZALEZ
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — When Roselins Sequera’s family of seven finally reached the U. S. from Venezuela, they spent weeks at a migrant shelter on the Texas border that gave them a place to sleep, meals and tips for finding work.
“We had a plan to go to Iowa” to join friends, said Sequera, who arrived at the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley in October.
By FATIMA HUSSEIN
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Sunday plans to sign into law a measure that boosts Social Security payments for current and former public employees, affecting nearly 3 million people who receive pensions from their time as teachers, firefighters, police officers and in other public service jobs.
Advocates say the Social Security Fairness Act rights a decades-old disparity, though it will also put strain on Social Security Trust Funds, which face a looming insolvency crisis.
The bill rescinds two provisions — the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset — that limit Social Security benefits for recipients if they get retirement payments from other sources, including public retirement programs from a state or local government.
The Congressional Research Service estimated that in December 2023, there were 745,679 people, about 1% of all Social Security beneficiaries, who had their benefits reduced by the Government Pension Offset.