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Boil water notice in effect for some West Travis Co. PUA customers

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:02:47 GMT

HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) -- Due to high water system demands from Hays WCID 1 and Hays WCID 2, the water provider West Travis County Public Utility Agency (WTCPUA) is unable to maintain system pressure for some WTCPUA customers, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has required water systems to notify customers to boil their water, officials told KXAN.According to the WTCPUA website, the boil water notice was issued for customers on the Highway 290 System (High Pointe, Ledgestone, Sunset Canyon, Rim Rock, Parten Ranch, Burba Ranch, Sawyer Ranch…) and certain customers on Hamilton Pool Road (Provence, Belvedere, Madrone Ranch and Deer Creek ONLY).To ensure destruction of harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking and making ice should be boiled and cooled prior to use, officials said.Officials also suggest purchasing bottled water or obtaining water from another suitable source.Once it is no longer necessary to boil water, the water system o...

Nearly 64,000 Texas borrowers will have their federal loans forgiven

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:02:47 GMT

AUSTIN (The Texas Tribune) Nearly 64,000 Texas borrowers will have their federal student loans forgiven after a U.S. Department of Education review concluded they qualified for the benefit.The total debt amount forgiven will be $3.1 billion, an average of $48,500 per borrower.The move is unrelated to President Joe Biden's now-defunct student debt forgiveness plan, which was blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court last month. It only applies to borrowers with federal loans taken more than two decades ago.Rather than forgiveness, the steps taken last week are a correction: It affects borrowers whose debts should have been canceled but weren’t due to "past administrative failures," according to the Department of Education.[Help us report on how the return of student loan repayments will affect Texans]The Department of Education started a review of all federal loans last year and, since then, the agency has identified 804,000 borrowers nationwide who would’ve qualified for debt forgiveness if...

Minnesota sees net 4,300 job loss in June, unemployment at 2.9%

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:02:47 GMT

Minnesota on Thursday reported a new loss 4,300 jobs in June, on a seasonally adjusted basis, with the state’s private sector losing 6,500 jobs.Minnesota’s unemployment rate remained steady at 2.9% in June, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development reported. Nationally, the unemployment rate was 3.6%. Looking at job growth over the year, both Minnesota and the U.S. as a whole are up 2.4%, DEED reported.The state did report an increase in the labor force of 9,017, up two-tenths of a percentage point to 68.4%, compared with 62.6% nationally. This rate measured the total number of people working or seeking work compared with the population as a whole.“More workers mean more good news for Minnesota. Our economy is strong with low unemployment, a growing labor force and recognition as one of the top five states in the nation for business,” said DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek in a news release. “While job growth didn’t continue this month, the long term trend remains...

St. Paul: Housing programs commit to better serving marginalized homebuyers

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:02:47 GMT

Before Shereese Turner started her job at Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity in 2018, she asked her friends and family what they knew about the housing agency.SMALL FILE — MAX. WIDTH FOR PRINT: 3.6 INCHES — Undated courtesy photo, circa July 2023, of Shereese Turner, chief program officer at Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, who was on the frontlines of organization’s efforts to better serve American descendants of chattel slavery in their first-time homebuyers program (Courtesy of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity)“A lot of people didn’t know much about it, but the few that did all said that Habitat doesn’t work with Black people,” she said.This reputation concerned Turner. Once she started working as chief program officer, Turner and the Habitat for Humanity team began an internal investigation, and combed through data from the past 30 years to see who their resources were really serving.“That aggregated data was very clear that we’ve served ...

Twins’ Jhoan Duran threw the seventh-fastest pitch in baseball history

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:02:47 GMT

SEATTLE — Before a day game in Oakland last weekend, Twins relief pitcher Jhoan Duran said he always gets stronger in the second half of a season. He wasn’t lying.Duran on Wednesday threw the fastest pitch in Major League Baseball this season, and seventh fastest record in the StatCast Era, a 104.8-mph four-seam fastball that Seattle’s Eugenio Suarez fisted to shortstop Carlo Correa for the second out in the ninth inning of a 6-3 victory over the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.For the final out, and his 16th save of the season, Duran fanned Mike Ford swinging at a fastball that clocked in at a mere 104 mph.Duran, 25, enjoys throwing hard, but Wednesday’s appearance came on two days rest after he saved three straight games in Oakland. He was asked Thursday if any of his coaches have encouraged him, for the sake of his powerful right arm, not to try to throw any harder.“No,” he said. “Everybody says, ‘Hey, when are you going to throw a hundred and five?’ ”Hall of Fame hurlers N...

‘Novid’ no longer: COVID wallops UC San Francisco medical chief who avoided infection for 3 years

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:02:47 GMT

Through the miserable years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Bob Wachter, the University of California-San Francisco medical department chair, became a beacon of guidance to hundreds of thousands who followed his social media tips on avoiding the virus that killed more than 1.1 million Americans.Though he works in a hospital that treated COVID patients, Wachter managed to avoid the respiratory disease through a regimen of crowd avoidance, medical-grade mask-wearing, vaccination and boosting — as well as a little luck.But this week, he told his 274,000 Twitter followers: “my luck ran out.”“My case is a cautionary tale, particularly for the ‘just a cold’ folks,” Wachter tweeted in a long thread about his ordeal Wednesday evening. “Mine definitely was not… I literally have scars to show for it.”Few today pay much mind to the virus that upended life around the world from 2020 through 2022. But Wachter noted the virus is still out there and still poses a threat, though not as great as it di...

Man, 74, rescued after falling off 50-foot cliff near his home along St. Croix River

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:02:47 GMT

A 74-year-old man who fell from a 50-foot cliff near his home along the St. Croix River in Chisago County on Wednesday is expected to survive, authorities say.Rescuers were able to reach the man along steep terrain with a helicopter and fly him to a local trauma center, said Capt. Derek Anklan of the Chisago County sheriff’s office.“He had injuries all over, but I don’t think there’s been any major surgeries,” Anklan said Thursday.Rescue operations of a man who fell from a 50-foot cliff in Franconia Township (Courtesy of the Chisago County Sheriff’s Office)Emergency responders were sent to the man’s Franconia Township home around 3 p.m. after a person he was with called 911 and reported he’d fallen off a cliff and was believed to be unconscious and bleeding.He was “just walking, from what we understand, and kind of did a continuous roll, somersault, all the way down the cliff face,” Anklan said. He ended up at the bottom of a val...

State funding announced for electric vehicle incentives

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:02:47 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)---Nearly $30 million dollars will be going towards electric vehicle charging infrastructure and rebates. New York State now has an estimated amount of 150,000 electric vehicles on the road. By 2035, The state will require all new passenger vehicles to be zero emission.Republican Assemblyman, Robert Smullen, shared one concern some New Yorkers have when it comes to transitioning an electric vehicle."Electric vehicles are a great technology, but I’m not sure in New York State, if we’re quite ready for all of the technology that goes along with it," said Smullen. "In fact, a grid isn’t ready for it. There aren’t enough charging stations."In an effort to lower the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, the state announced $15 million dollars will be going towards Charge Ready New York 2.0, a program that provides incentives for organizations and apartment complexes to install level 2 charging stations."A level 2 charging station it’s the type of charging station you w...

Discovering Saratoga: Saratoga Candy Co. celebrates 25th anniversary

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:02:47 GMT

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (NEWS10) - On July 1, a candy store in Saratoga Springs, known around the region for its peppermint pigs, celebrated 25 years in business. Saratoga Candy Co. is a dream-come-true for Dawn Oesch who says she loves coming to work every day. Discovering Saratoga: Hunting for hidden horseshoes Saratoga Candy Co. is located at 353 Broadway Lower Level in Saratoga Springs. For the latest hours of operation, visit their website.

PSC reviews utility rates & renewable energy progress

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:02:47 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) -- The Public Service Commission is trying to balance the need for affordable energy with the goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. The CLCPA was signed into law in 2019. Their goals include shifting New York to 70% renewable energy by 2030 and 100% zero emission electricity by 2040. Another goal is to electrify 200,000 buildings annually.  NYS Thruway service areas receive criticism from travelers, state leaders "As our state is transitioning off of fossil fuels onto electrification, the commission is extremely concerned about affordability, accessibility, and also reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, while also providing a safe and reliable service from New Yorkers," said Meagan Burton, Senior Attorney at Earth Justice. Burton said there are 20,000 customers receiving incentives for transitioning to fossil fuels but that number needs to increase to 200,000. According to Burton and Commissioner Diane Burman, the problem is, costs are ...