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Ukraine official: Putin taking Belarus as ‘nuclear hostage’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:06 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s top security official on Sunday denounced the Kremlin’s plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus, saying that Russia was taking its ally as a “nuclear hostage.”But Moscow said it was making the move in response to the West’s increasing military support for Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the plan in a television interview that aired on Saturday, saying it was triggered by a U.K. decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium. Putin argued that by deploying its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russia was following the lead of the United States. He noted that Washington has nuclear weapons based in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. “We are doing what they have been doing for decades, stationing them in certain allied countries, preparing the launch platforms and training their crews,” he said. Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukrain...

California looks to spend some Medicaid money on housing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:06 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — At the start of 2022, Thomas Marshall weighed 311 pounds. He had been hospitalized 10 times in five years, including six surgeries. He had an open wound on his left leg that refused to heal — made worse by living in a dirty, moldy house with five other people, two ball pythons, four Chihuahuas and a cage full of rats.More than a year later, Marshall has lost nearly 100 pounds. His wound has healed. His blood pressure has returned to normal levels. His foot, which had nerve damage, has improved to the point he goes on regular walks to the park.Lots of factors are at play in Marshall’s dramatic turnaround, but the one he credits the most is finally having stable housing, after the nonprofit Sacramento Covered helped him get a one-bedroom, 500 square-foot (46.4-square-meter) apartment in a downtown high rise. He has hardwood floors, white pine cabinets and a glass jar on the counter filled with Bit-O-Honeys.“To me it’s the most important 500 square...

Factory or farm? Oregon may alter land use for chipmakers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:06 GMT

NORTH PLAINS, Ore. (AP) — Aaron Nichols walked past rows of kale growing on his farm, his knee-high brown rubber boots speckled with some of the richest soil on earth, and gazed with concern toward fields in the distance. Just over the horizon loomed a gigantic building of the semiconductor chipmaker Intel. For exactly 50 years, the farms and forests that ring Oregon’s metropolitan centers have been protected from urban sprawl by the nation’s first statewide law that placed growth boundaries on cities. Cities cannot expand beyond those borders unless they make a request and justify it. Approval by cities and counties can take months or even a few years (larger expansions also need approval by the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development).But now, a bill being considered in Oregon’s Legislature could authorize the governor to unilaterally expand those boundaries as part of Oregon’s quest to lure chip companies and provide land for them to build their factori...

Men shoot at police, officers fire back in Marshall Square

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:06 GMT

CHICAGO — Shots were exchanged between officers and two men who police put into custody for the possession of handguns Saturday night, police say.According to police, officers were conducting an investigatory street stop near the 2200 block of South Sacramento where two men were placed into custody for possessing handguns. Man fatally shot on West Side, officer injured in group incident Police say two unknown men were standing at the mouth of the alley when one of the men fired shots at the police. Officers retuned fire with no hits or injuries. Officers were able to catch up to the men and they were placed into custody. Another handgun was recovered and COPA is investigating the incident.

Austin neighbors frustrated over lingering burned homes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:06 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The view from Diana Melcer Whitson's front door in north Austin is eye catching for what she said are all the wrong reasons.“It's just gotten worse,” Whitson said as she looked at the house across the street.The front yard is filled with all kinds of oddities.“Mannequins that need to be dressed,” she pointed out. “Vacant vehicles.”And then there are the painted signs throughout the yard.  “It says, 'Love thy neighbor, even if she is bat-s--- crazy'”, Whitson read.Whitson says neighbors in her community have been trying for years to get the owner to clean up. Austin Code Department records show eight complaints in the last three years.A code department spokesperson described to KXAN Investigates a back-and-forth process where the owner would clean up sometimes to get in compliance and not act on other violation notices.The code department even got a warrant to remove junk from the front and back yards, but the spokesperson said the owner kept collecting more stuf...

Sunday sunshine before a mostly cloudy week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:06 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The overnight was mostly clear before some clouds arrived in the upper flow. Those clouds will clear for some of the area during the morning. A mostly sunny sky is forecast from I-35 westward. There will be more cloud cover during the afternoon in our eastern counties where there is a low chance of rain.Low rain chance mostly east of I-35Highs will be warmer than normal again today. Highs should reach the low to mid 80s this afternoon especially in that area from the Hill Country eastward to the I-35 viewing area. Off to the east it looks like highs remain in the upper 70s because of the cloud cover and rain.Highs above the normal of 76°Afternoon humidity will be lowest in the western part of the area. More moisture means higher humidity where the spotty rain is forecast.Somewhat humid in our eastern counties this afternoonThe first of two cold fronts arrives overnight Monday to Tuesday morning with a 30% chance of rain/thunderstorms to a 10% chance of rain after su...

Austin Public Library's puppetry program delights audiences for 45 years

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:06 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — On a recent Wednesday morning at the Austin Public Library's Howson Branch, the sound of delighted squeals could be heard from the dozens of children gathered in the library's meeting room. For 30 minutes, the wide-eyed onlookers were transported into the world of "Wiley and the Hairy Man," a Southern folktale told through puppetry. How did ‘Texas, Our Texas’ become the official state song? For more than 45 years, APL's Literature Live! has sprinkled the magic and wonder of puppetry into APL's youth programming. Ellen Scott, Devo Carpenter and Gabriel Ransenberg are the three puppeteer masterminds behind "Wiley and the Hairy Man," with multiple performances planned throughout the spring."It's magic, you know?" Scott said. "It suspends your disbelief and kids, more than adults, can do that at the drop of a hat."The challenge behind creating a puppet show is navigating the millions of ways the stories can be told, each said. From a script-writing standpoint, Carpente...

What do ‘immersive experiences’ say about the future of entertainment?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:06 GMT

CHICAGO — We live in “the experience culture.”That’s what David Barbour calls it. He’s editor-in-chief of Lighting & Sound America, the monthly trade publication of the entertainment technology industry. Barbour sees no more conspicuous example of that culture, and our ever-theme-parkier menu of experiences for a price, than the multi-projection exhibits like “Immersive Van Gogh,” one of many Van Gogh attractions now playing around the world. Audiences pay their money for a bone-dry swim in an ocean of digital projections and swirly images from famous paintings accustomed to being still.Moving digital images at Lighthouse ArtSpace as the “Immersive Van Gogh” exhibit is previewed in Chicago on Feb. 9, 2021. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS)“Immersive Van Gogh” recently concluded a two-year run engagement at Chicago’s shrewdly renovated and reconfigured Germania Club Building, built in 1889 and located in Old Town. More than 650,000 people paid to see that exhibit. Now...

Nanda: Arrest warrant for Putin is first step to justice for Ukraine’s victims

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:06 GMT

The International Criminal Court’s groundbreaking arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin should not be dismissed as merely symbolic. It is a historical first step and an important one toward accountability and justice for Ukrainian victims.The actual indictment on the current charge of war crimes in Ukraine has yet to follow, as well as likely further charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. Prosecutor Karim Khan said, “We will not hesitate to submit further applications for warrants of arrest when the evidence requires us to do.”A panel of ICC Judges granted the prosecutor’s request for warrants, saying that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights, bear individual criminal responsibility for “unlawful deportation [and] unlawful transfer of children” from the occupied territories and that Putin also bears individual responsibility for his failure to exercise control over...

Meet the people being priced out of Denver as surging housing costs outpace wage growth

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:06 GMT

Gustavo Navarrete Hernández spends his working days installing insulation in Denver’s luxury homes before catching a bus back to his modest apartment off South Federal Boulevard, where he and his family face have faced eviction after falling behind on rent.His three youngest children sleep huddled for warmth in the living room surrounded by space heaters after an ongoing battle with their landlord to fix a broken heater.“I have worked on the nicest apartments, and it makes me sad that I cannot afford one,” Navarrete Hernández said. “I work hard, and I haven’t done anything wrong.”Navarrete Hernández, his pregnant wife and their children sought refuge in Denver a decade ago, fleeing a homeless shelter in the Bay Area where they had lived when unable to keep up with increasing rent. They were headed to Florida, where they have family, but stopped in Denver so Navarrete Hernández could earn enough money for the rest of the journey. They never left.No...