Guardiola denies rift with De Bruyne during Man City's dramatic slump
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Colorado State center Jacob Gardner highlighted a group of nine CSU Rams honored by the Mountain West on its football all-conference teams released Tuesday. Most Popular Trending Nationally
WASHINGTON — The Senate is pushing toward a vote on legislation that would provide full Social Security benefits to millions of people, setting up a potential passage in the final days of the lame-duck Congress. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday he would begin the process for a final vote on the bill, known as the Social Security Fairness Act, which would eliminate policies that currently limit Social Security payouts for roughly 2.8 million people. Schumer said the bill would “ensure Americans are not erroneously denied their well-earned Social Security benefits simply because they chose at some point to work in their careers in public service.” The legislation passed the House on a bipartisan vote, and a Senate version of the bill introduced last year gained 62 cosponsors. But the bill still needs support from at least 60 senators to pass Congress. It would then head to President Biden. At least one GOP senator who signed onto the bill last year, Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana, said he was still “weighing” whether to vote for the bill next week. “Nothing ever gets paid for, so if it’s further indebtedness, I don’t know,” he said. Decades in the making, the bill would repeal two federal policies – the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset – that broadly reduce payments to two groups of Social Security recipients: people who also receive a pension from a job that is not covered by Social Security and surviving spouses of Social Security recipients who receive a government pension of their own. The bill would add more strain on the Social Security Trust funds, which were already estimated to be unable to pay out full benefits beginning in 2035. It would add an estimated $195 billion to federal deficits over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Sen. John Thune, the no. 2 Republican in leadership, acknowledged that the policy has strong bipartisan support, but said some Republicans also want to see it “fixed in the context of a broader Social Security reform effort.” Conservatives have opposed the bill, decrying its cost. “Even for something that people consider to be a good cause, it shows a lack of concern for the future of the country, so I think it would be a big mistake,” said Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky. Still, other Republicans have pushed Schumer to bring it up for a vote. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said last month that the current federal limitations “penalize families across the country who worked a public service job for part of their career with a separate pension. We’re talking about police officers, firefighters, teachers, and other public employees who are punished for serving their communities.” He predicted the bill would pass. We invite you to add your comments. We encourage a thoughtful exchange of ideas and information on this website. By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use . More information is found on our FAQs . You can modify your screen name here . Comments are managed by our staff during regular business hours Monday through Friday as well as limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Comments held for moderation outside of those hours may take longer to approve. Please sign into your Press Herald account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe . Questions? Please see our FAQs . Your commenting screen name has been updated. Send questions/comments to the editors. « Previous Next »Former President Jimmy Carter , who devoted his life after the presidency to humanitarian efforts, died Sunday at 100. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his work in finding peaceful solutions to international conflicts, advancing democracy and human rights, and promoting social and economic development. For more than 35 years, Carter and wife Rosalynn volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, joining “Habitat builds” in the United States and abroad. They also founded the Carter Center , committing to human rights and to alleviating human suffering. Jimmy Carter, a peanut farmer from Georgia, served one term in the White House before losing the 1980 presidential election to Ronald Reagan. Carter served as a naval officer before entering politics he was elected governor of Georgia in 1970. Here are a few of the former president’s memorable quotes. On war and peace “War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children. The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices.” – Nobel lecture on Dec. 10, 2002, after winning the Nobel Peace Prize On government watchdogs “Thoughtful criticism and close scrutiny of all government officials by the press and the public are an important part of our democratic society.” – Presidential farewell address on Jan. 14, 1981 Peacemaker, not policeman “We have no desire to be the world's policeman. But America does want to be the world's peacemaker.” – 1979 State of the Union address On marijuana decriminalization "Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself; and where they are, they should be changed. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against possession of marijuana in private for personal use. We can, and should, continue to discourage the use of marijuana, but this can be done without defining the smoker as a criminal." – 1977 message to Congress about drug abuse On Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo “Since 2001, the U.S. government has abandoned its role as a champion of human rights and has perpetrated terrible and illegal abuses in prisons in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, sent prisoners secretly to other nations to be tortured, denied the applicability of the Geneva Convention restraints, and severely restricted time-honored civil liberties within our own country. Certain political leaders of other nations, who are inclined to perpetrate human rights abuses to quiet dissenting voices and were previously restrained by positive influence from Washington, now feel free to emulate or exceed the abuses approved by American leaders.” – 2007 book, "Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope" On human rights “I realize that violence is not more prevalent today than in previous periods of human history, but there is a difference. We have seen visionary standards adopted by the global community that espouse peace and human rights, and the globalization of information ensures that the violation of these principles of nonviolence by a powerful and admired democracy tends to resonate throughout the world community. We should have advanced much further in the realization of women's rights, given these international commitments to peace and the rule of law.” – 2014 book, "A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power" On children and gun violence “Every day in the United States, seventeen children are killed by gunfire. That’s about 6,000 children each year who are killed by guns, as compared, for example, with about 3,000 a year who died at the height of the polio epidemic of the 1950s. We rose up as a society to fight against polio. Why do we not act more forcefully to halt today’s even greater scourge?” – 1997 book, "Sources of Strength: Meditations on Scripture for a Living Faith" On drugs and the justice system "I don't think there's any doubt that the drug culture has shaped at least one major change, and that is the treatment of prisoners. When I was governor, I competed with other progressive Southern governors in who could reduce our prison population the most. ... But now, with the increase of the drug culture, politicians brag about how many prisons they’ve built. We have a massive increase in prison occupancy, and the punishment for drug use has become the pre-eminent basis for overloading our courts and prisons." – 2007 Rolling Stone interview
AP Sports SummaryBrief at 4:18 p.m. ESTMLB NOTES
Kenny Atkinson's hot-shooting Cavs take on middling WarriorsPercentages: FG .449, FT .667. 3-Point Goals: 5-10, .500 (Benjamin 2-5, Martinez 1-1, N.Krass 1-1, Harrison 1-2, Miles 0-1). Team Rebounds: 2. Team Turnovers: 3. Blocked Shots: 2 (Benjamin, Mpaka). Turnovers: 11 (Harrison 4, Benjamin 2, Martinez 2, N.Krass 2, Miles). Steals: 5 (Harrison 3, Miles 2). Technical Fouls: None. Percentages: FG .320, FT .750. 3-Point Goals: 9-28, .321 (Aranguren 4-10, Robinson 2-4, Gadsden 1-1, Farmer 1-2, Sanders 1-6, Davis 0-5). Team Rebounds: 0. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: 7 (Sunday 3, Aranguren, Davis, Graham, Sanders). Turnovers: 9 (Davis 4, Sunday 2, Aranguren, Farmer, Sanders). Steals: 5 (Aranguren 3, Davis 2). Technical Fouls: None. .
Wisner has career day as No. 3 Texas advances to SEC title game with 17-7 win over No. 20 Texas A&M
Packers' improving run defense ready for challenge against NFC North-leading LionsSpaceX knocked out a midnight launch from Cape Canaveral on Sunday, but has a midnight Monday launch on tap from Kennedy Space Center to cap off a record year for the Space Coast. The Sunday launch saw a Falcon 9 lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 carrying communication satellites for Astranis Space Technologies Corp. The mission was delayed from a Dec. 20 attempt that saw the booster shut down as the countdown clock reached 0. SpaceX ended up switching boosters for the mission. This one, flying for the seventh time, including this year’s Crew-8 and Polaris Dawn missions, made a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic. It marked the 92nd launch from the Space Coast for 2024, already 20 more than the 72 seen from all providers in 2023, and one more to go. SpaceX’s final launch of the year could come at midnight with another Falcon 9 carrying 21 Starlink satellites set to lift off from KSC’s Pad 39-A during launch window that runs until 3:28 a.m. and backup opportunities on Dec. 31 during the same window. Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron forecasts a 60% chance for good launch conditions as a front moves though the Florida peninsula on Sunday. The first-stage booster for that mission is flying for the 16th time having previously flown the Crew-6 mission among 15 other flights. It will aim for a recovery landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic. It will mark the end of a busy weekend for SpaceX, which also flew a Starlink mission from California late Saturday. Elon Musk’s company will have flown 134 missions of its Falcon family of rockets with 62 from Cape Canaveral, 26 from KSC, including the two Falcon Heavy launches of the year, and 46 from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base. It also flew its in-development Starship and Super Heavy on four suborbital test flights from its Texas launch site Starbase. For the Space Coast, the KSC launch will mark 93 launches for the year, with all but five from SpaceX. The other five were all from United Launch Alliance, which flew three different rockets from two launch pads. 2024 saw the debut of its Vulcan rocket in January, which flew a second time in the fall while also flying two Atlas V missions, including the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test, all from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 41. The year also saw the final launch of ULA’s Delta IV Heavy rocket from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 37. Among the Space Coast launches were five human spaceflights carrying 16 people to space. Those include the Starliner flight from ULA to the International Space Station, and four launches of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. SpaceX’s launches of the Crew-8 and Crew-9 missions as well as its flight for Axiom Space on the Ax-3 mission also went to the ISS. The Polaris Dawn mission took billionaire and the next nominee to head NASA, Jared Isaacman, and three others on an orbital mission that featured the first commercial space walk. One rocket that didn’t launch in 2024, but could still, is Blue Origin’s New Glenn, which had been trying to get its debut mission off the ground before the end of the year. The Federal Aviation Administration only gave Jeff Bezos’ company a launch license for the heavy-lift rocket on Friday, which was also when Blue Origin was able to finally perform a test hot fire of the rocket on the pad at Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 36. The FAA has cleared the NG-1 Blue Ring Pathfinder mission for a launch window late Monday during a window from 11:30 p.m. into early Tuesday until 2:45 a.m. and a backup late New Year’s Eve into New Year’s Day during the same window. ©2024 Orlando Sentinel. Visit orlandosentinel.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.