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'Quite irresponsible': What to know about the student debt strike

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:45:00 GMT

(The Hill) - While many borrowers are preparing to make payments on their student loans when they restart in October, others are ignoring their accounts and going on what has been labeled a “student debt strike.”A movement led by the student loan group Debt Collective, the “strike” is not as clear cut as it seems. In contrast with the name, most borrowers will not undergo any financial harm when on “strike” nor do their demands indicate they want to go back to paying on student loans by striking a deal with the Education Department. ‘End Call’ button will be moved in latest iPhone software update Instead, the movement, which has been around since 2015, is typically made up of borrowers who already have $0 monthly payments through an income-driven repayment plan or have already deferred on their loans. Since they are not paying anything to the government, the group has labeled these actions a “strike.”And President Biden’s “on-ramp” repayment plan that allows borrowers to skip paym...

BCSO investigating after three people found dead in hole

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:45:00 GMT

Editor's Note: The video above shows KXAN Live's top headlines for Aug. 9, 2023BASTROP COUNTY, Texas -- The Bastrop County Sheriff's Office is investigating after three people were found dead in a hole, a spokesperson confirmed to KXAN.The Austin Fire Department confirmed it responded to a recovery at a hole on New Trail near County Road 461. AFD said the hole is filled with hydrogen sulfide or sewer gas.AFD said it has to ventilate the hole before anyone can go down there. The scene is still active, AFD said.This developing story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Officials responding to fire in Caldwell County

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:45:00 GMT

CALDWELL COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) -- Officials are responding to a fire in Caldwell County, the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office said on social media Wednesday.CCSO reported the fire shortly before 3:30 p.m. on Dickerson Road with reports of heavy smoke. The fire is being called the Plum Hopper fire.The fire is estimated at 35 acres and is 0% contained, according to the Texas A&M Forest ServiceDrivers are urged to avoid the area.This developing story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Wildfire: 'Home ignition zone' inspections can help prepare

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:45:00 GMT

CEDAR PARK, Texas (KXAN) -- Wind speeds combined with low moisture, dry trees, and possible dead limbs and vegetation left over from the winter freeze likely created ideal conditions for a Cedar Park wildfire to spread, according to experts."I'm intimately familiar with their operations," said Travis County Chief Fire Marshal Tony Callaway, who was previously a fire marshal in Cedar Park. "They have an excellent fire department that did an unbelievable job in their response yesterday and how they handled the situation that was thrown at them."On Tuesday, Cedar Park released new aerial video of the 50-acre Parmer Lane wildfire. It shows how the fire tore through grass and brush while appearing to stop short and spare dozens of townhomes and apartments. VIDEO: Drone footage shows scope of Cedar Park brush fire damage Callaway credits the emergency response on the ground, the good separation between the buildings and undeveloped land and how they were built. "It's going to be in reg...

Extreme fire danger as Austin tallies another heat record

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:45:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Today holds the highest wildfire risk of the season so far, with parts of our area under a 5-out-of-5 "extreme" wildfire danger. This, while Austin recorded its 27th 105°+ day of the year -- an all-time record for extreme heat days. We have had 49 total 100° days this year -- a tie for the 9th most in a given year.Very high to extreme fire danger in parts of Central Texas Wednesday BLOG: When will 100º days end in Austin? A Red Flag Warning (also known as) Fire Weather Warning has been reissued for all of Central Texas this evening and again Thursday. Low humidity, gusty winds (25-35 mph) and dry conditions will allow any wildfire that starts to spread rapidly.Red Flag Warning issued to due elevated to critical fire dangerWe are seeing hints of at least a chance of rain beginning somewhere around Aug. 20, along with temperatures that may finally drop below 100°, but this is not yet a guarantee. Stay with KXAN and the First Warning Weather team for updates as the h...

CapMetro experiencing issues with Apple, Google Pay

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:45:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Wednesday, CapMetro said it was aware of an issue that users were having while using Apple Pay and Google Pay on the CapMetro App.CapMetro said riders should use a different payment method until it could resolve the payment issue.The metro system apologized for the inconvenience and said users should contact 512-474-1200 if they needed help.

David Redman: American education and great white fables

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:45:00 GMT

Recent battles over how to teach history in American schools have focused on views of America’s domestic racism, but that’s only one piece of the problem of how we view history. Our pre-college curriculums and popular histories are filled with stories of great white men who single-handedly changed the world. This heroification, however, is often as much a made-up history as the stories of Marvel heroes in the movies. Many of these supposed ground-breakers were in fact preceded by generations of people including persons from other cultures and nations.We’re taught that one man, James Watt, an 18th-century Scot, is responsible for steam power — but steam power was being used 2,000 years earlier in Egypt. American Thomas Edison “invented” the light bulb a century after it was in development by inventors such as Alexander Lodygin from Tambov Governorate of the Russian Empire, Italian Alessandro Cruto and the African-American inventor, Lewis Howard Lat...

Stephen L. Carter: When a thumbs-up emoji gets a defendant a thumbs-down

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:45:00 GMT

Social media is all atwitter — um, all a-X-er? — about the emoji at the heart of the federal court ruling allowing a securities suit to proceed against billionaire investor Ryan Cohen. To be sure, litigation following a corporate collapse sprouts like weeds, but in this case both my law professor and wordsmith sides are fascinated by the allegation that Cohen used an image of a smiling moon to boost the stock price of Bed Bath & Beyond, after which he started selling his significant stake.The law professor in me marvels at the way judges must now struggle with the collapse of formal language. The wordsmith despairs at … well, the collapse of formal language, the costs of which we will be some while counting.The lawsuit arises from events in August of 2022, when Cohen still held a massive position in Bed Bath stock. CNBC tweeted a link to a negative story about Bed Bath, illustrated by an image of a shopper:Cohen tweeted back, “At least her cart is full...

Lisa Jarvis: AI improves breast cancer detection. But will that save lives?

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:45:00 GMT

A large, rigorous study in Sweden of artificial intelligence in breast cancer screenings suggests AI can help doctors detect cancers more efficiently. We need more such studies to determine when the technology has real value — and when it might have risks. And although the findings are incredibly promising, because Europe uses different processes and technologies for cancer screening, the U.S. needs to commit to running its own similar studies to guide doctors here.Previous large studies all looked back at old medical records to gauge whether AI was capable of detecting cancers as accurately as doctors can. This study is the first trial of its size to test AI in real time on real patients — and will one day tell the field whether it actually improves the health of women. All of this is critical information as the technology increasingly becomes integrated into health care.In the study, some 80,000 women in Sweden were randomly assigned to receive either a double reading,...

Letters: Is St. Paul leadership building a city that people want to live in?

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:45:00 GMT

Share a little kindnessI read the obituaries. This is to everyone who read the memorial (Sunday, Aug. 6) for Brian Eldridge: Remember the Golden Rule and share a little kindness; especially to those less fortunate.Susan Rudisill, Wyoming A city that people want to live in?Is St. Paul leadership building a city that people want to live in?Recent census data show that St. Paul’s population decreased by 2.7% from 2020 to 2022. Downtown businesses are still not returning to in-office work requirements, putting small businesses at risk. Property taxes went up by almost 15% last year, and now they want to increase the local sales tax by 1%, making St. Paul the highest-taxed city in the state.Over the last five years, the City’s budget has increased by over 40% to $801 million.  The Parks & Rec portion of the budget has increased 26.9% over the same period to $68.4 million yet per Director Andy Rodriguez they have a $100 million maintenance backlog. Over the same period the Public...