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What benefits may be lost with a government shutdown?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:01:44 GMT

With the prospect of a government shutdown on the horizon, will people lose benefits like their Social Security check?This is one of many questions that Americans are asking as the federal government is heading toward a shutdown. With Congress divided between a Democratic-controlled Senate and a Republican-led House, and Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s hard-right conservatives looking to use the shutdown as leverage for spending cuts, many are bracing for a stoppage that could last weeks.Programs that rely on appropriated funds — that Congress needs to approve every year — are the ones most in jeopardy during a government shutdown.“Social Security and Medicare do not fall in that category, they are not appropriated, because they have their own source of funding,” said Joseph Cordes, a professor of economics and public policy at the George Washington University in D.C.However, if you have a question about your benefits during a shutdown, the government agencies that provide those serv...

Teen shot to death in Southeast DC, police in search of 2 suspects

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:01:44 GMT

A teenage boy is dead after a shooting in Southeast D.C.D.C. police said a call came in just before 4 p.m. Monday for a shooting on Green Street near 16th Street in Anacostia.When officers arrived, they found the victim unconscious and not breathing, and he was later pronounced dead.Police said they are looking for two suspects.Below is a map where the shooting took place: Stick with WTOP for the latest updates.Source

Nuts about acorns: Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources wants your acorns

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:01:44 GMT

Acorns in Montgomery County, Maryland are seen in this photo. (WTOP/Kate Ryan) Acorns in Montgomery County, Maryland are seen in this photo. (WTOP/Kate Ryan) Every year, when acorns drop to the ground — or batter the roof of your car — the state of Maryland puts out the call: They’re collecting, and they’d be happy to have yours.Francis Smith, a natural resources planner with the Maryland Forest Service, explained that the acorns and seeds collected each fall are used to replenish the state’s nursery, where seedlings are grown for eventual use in parks, school properties and reforestation efforts across the state.The forest service is part of the state’s Department of Natural Resources.Smith just put out the call ...

Jalen Hurts throws for TD, runs for another as Eagles thump Buccaneers 25-11 to remain unbeaten

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:01:44 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jalen Hurts threw for a touchdown, ran for another and led the Eagles on a game-ending drive that lasted more than nine minutes as Philadelphia remained unbeaten with a 25-11 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.The defending NFC champions, who won their first eight games a year ago, are off to a 3-0 start in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1992-93.Hurts improved to 20-1 over his last 21 regular-season games. He tossed a 34-yard TD pass to Olamide Zaccheaus that helped Philly build a 13-3 halftime lead, and his 1-yard scoring run gave the Eagles a 17-point advantage early in the second half.The Eagles led 25-3 by the time the Bucs finally got into the end zone on Baker Mayfield’s 1-yard TD throw to Mike Evans. A 2-point conversion trimmed Philadelphia’s lead to 14 with 9:22 remaining, but Hurts and the Eagles never let Tampa Bay get the ball back.Hurts was 4 of 5 passing and ran for a first down on that final drive.The Buc...

Editorial: Don’t stop ICE from keeping Mass. safe

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:01:44 GMT

Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state, but a recent memo to Bay State police chiefs has turned the Registry of Motor Vehicles into a sanctuary state agency.In a memo obtained exclusively by the Herald, Massachusetts police chiefs were warned to keep RMV records locked away from immigration officials unless there’s a “judicial warrant” or grand jury or trial “subpoena.”It leaves no doubt that ICE and Border Patrol agents are specifically blocked from accessing driving records in the wake of the state’s new immigrant driver’s license law.This game of keep-away with Homeland Security echoes the policies of the state’s sanctuary, or “welcoming” cities ( Amherst, Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Concord, Newton, Northampton, and Somerville). Practices vary, but these cities and towns limit cooperation with federal immigration laws.Thanks to that new RMV law, eligible state residents can apply for a standard driver’s license, regardless of immigration status.If youR...

The Orioles’ top postseason moments: How do they rank?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:01:44 GMT

The Orioles have been creating postseason memories for more than half a century. With the team poised to make more in 2023, here’s a look back at the most magical moments in franchise history.Vote for your favorites in the widget after the story through Sept. 25 and check back Sept. 27 to view the poll results.1966: Moe Drabowsky fans 11 in Dodgers reliefSummoned in the third inning, with the bases loaded and one out, Orioles reliever Moe Drabowsky does the improbable: He holds the Los Angeles Dodgers to one hit for the last 6 2/3 innings in a 5-2 victory in the 1966 World Series opener. En route, the journeyman right-hander, whom the Orioles drafted on the cheap in the offseason, strikes out 11 Dodgers, including six in a row, retiring all six of them swinging.Drabowsky’s effort sets the tempo for the Orioles’ four-game sweep: Los Angeles does not score again in the Series.1966: Jim Palmer comes of age against Sandy KoufaxJim Palmer is 20 years old when he bests D...

‘Speed Is Expensive’ full of high-octane lore & legend

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:01:44 GMT

What is the motorcycle that inspired guitar troubadour Richard Thompson to write a song? It was a Vincent Black Lightning. What motorcycle sold in 2018 for almost $1 million at Bonhams Auction House? A Vincent Black Lightning. Philip Vincent, 1928-1955-era creator of the Vincent Black Shadow and its heir the Lightning once said, “My motorcycles will stand the test of time.”A graduate of England’s posh Harrow School in London and a student of engineering at King’s College Cambridge, Vincent left university before getting his degree because he didn’t want to attend lectures about out-of-date techniques. Vincent, who drew motorcycles obsessively and apparently knew what was both on the outside and the inside, wanted to build a motorcycle unlike any before it.With 450 pounds sterling earned from the sale of a family ranch in Argentina, Vincent bought a factory in Stevenage, 27 miles north of London, where technicians and engineers built unique motorcycles.Narrated by m...

Boston College must find its middle ground against Virginia

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:01:44 GMT

Many FBS football teams experience extreme games that extend to opposite ends of the spectrum during the course of a 12-game season.There is the game where a team plays way beyond its capabilities against a superior opponent. Then there is the game where they get blitzed from the onset and end up on the business end of an embarrassing blowout. The Boston College Eagles reached both extremities over the course of consecutive games against the top two teams in the ACC.The Eagles came within three points of knocking off No. 3 Florida State in a 31-29 home loss on Sept. 16. BC was a 24.5-point underdog and FSU’s margin of victory was a missed PAT kick and errant PAT pass. On Saturday the Seminoles went into Death Valley and knocked off defending ACC champion Clemson to maintain its share of first place in the realigned conference.The Eagles’ season bottomed out last Saturday when the Louisville Cardinals scored touchdowns on their opening seven possessions enroute a to 56-28 victory at ...

Josi: Congress must fix Medicare doc payment system

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:01:44 GMT

After years of continued payment cuts to doctors, the future of healthcare as we know it increasingly hangs in the balance. Congress has reached a pivotal moment in this regard — where it can relieve pressure on the broken Medicare payment system by addressing the massive disparity between what Medicare reimburses physicians and what it actually costs those physicians to provide care.Without such action, the repercussions for patients, providers and the future of healthcare delivery in America will turn ugly — and quickly. Failure to put the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule on a more sustainable path could destabilize the Medicare program and eventually lead to a groundswell of support for the dreaded Medicare for All, which would, of course, undermine the integrity and efficacy of the entire system. Policymakers must sort out the current mess before it comes to that.The MPFS lacks annual inflationary updates, unlike the payment systems for all other Medicare provider types. While in...

Dear Abby: MIL’s smoking has young mom fuming

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:01:44 GMT

Dear Abby: My mother-in-law is a heavy smoker. She lives two hours away from us, so when she visits, she likes to stay for one or two nights. My husband and I have a 3-year-old son, and my MIL’s smoking is a huge concern for me.Every two hours, she smokes outside on our back patio. She seems to think this is her right. She closes the sliding glass door behind her, but I can still smell the smoke inside the entire time. And, of course, when she comes back inside, the smell permeates even more.After her last visit, our home smelled like an ashtray. My eyes burned, and my son was also rubbing his eyes. By the second day, I’m seething each time she ventures out to smoke. I have asked her in the past to go down the street away from our home, but there’s always an excuse why she can’t. (For example, she doesn’t want to risk walking down the incline of the sidewalk for fear of falling.)I don’t think it should be her right to expose my child (or us) to he...