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Tag: Rochester

  • Help NASA gather eclipse data with your smartphone

    Help NASA gather eclipse data with your smartphone

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    The celestial event of the year occurs on Monday, the total solar eclipse, and whether you will watch it from totality or just partial, you could help collect data for science.

    What You Need To Know

    • Record meteorological measurements during the eclipse with a special app

    • Scientists want to gain more knowledge on how wildlife interact during the eclipse

    • Photos taken during the eclipse will help scientists map the sun

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) calls on citizen scientists to document meteorological and biological changes during the eclipse and all you need is a smartphone. Here are the three ways to participate in this historical experience.

    GLOBE Eclipse

    Download GLOBE Observer from the app store and click on the Eclipse tool. Once there, it will prompt you to take and observe meteorological measurements, including air temperature, observations of sky coverage by monitoring the clouds and even characterize the vegetation in your area.

    Eclipse Soundscapes Observers

    The Eclipse Soundscapes project asks how wildlife responds to the eclipse. Citizen scientists should be outdoors during the eclipse and record information about the location, including what they hear, see and feel during the eclipse.

    They will then take this information and submit it via a web form. Participants are encouraged to take photos.

    SunSketcher

    This app provides the ability to photograph the eclipse. Images collected will help scientists to map the sun. The hope is to reveal the precise shape of the solar disk.

    Safety

    NASA urges its citizen scientists to take the proper precautions when viewing the eclipse. Safety glasses must be worn except during the minutes-long section of totality.

    Camera lenses, binoculars and telescopes must be fitted with a special-purpose solar filter to ensure safety when viewing. Otherwise, severe eye injury can occur.

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Meteorologist Stacy Lynn

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  • Here’s what to know about the 2024 Atlantic hurricane names

    Here’s what to know about the 2024 Atlantic hurricane names

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    The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season will follow up on a busy 2023 season. The 2023 season totaled 20 named storms, with 7 of those becoming hurricanes and 3 of those 7 becoming major (Category 3 or greater) hurricanes.

    Of those hurricanes, Hurricane Idalia was the only hurricane that made landfall in the U.S. last year. It was a Category 3 hurricane with max winds of 125 mph when it moved inland in Keaton Beach, Fla. on Aug. 30.

    The other two named storms that made landfall in U.S. were Harold and Ophelia. Tropical Storm Harold made landfall on Padre Island, Texas on Aug. 22 and Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall near Emerald Isle, N.C. on Sept. 23.

    What You Need To Know

    • Forecasters started naming storms in 1950

    • The 2023 Atlantic tropical name list was last used in 2017

    • A supplemental names list replaced the Greek alphabet in 2021 if more than 21 storms are named

    With the expected return of La Niña conditions, forecasts for the upcoming season call for above-normal activity. Colorado State University’s outlook is forecasting the highest amount of storms since it began issuing them in 1995.

    Along with the likely transition to La Niña conditions, record-warm tropical and eastern Atlantic sea surface temperatures are a primary factor in the 2024 outlook. Click here for a breakdown of the 2024 Hurricane Season outlook.

    How and when are storms named?

    A storm gets named when it achieves tropical storm status (winds of 39 mph or higher). It becomes a hurricane when winds reach 74 mph, but keeps the same name. In meteorology, any tropical storm or greater is referred to as a tropical cyclone.

    The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) creates lists of names and cycles each list every six years. Each list contains 21 names, alternating between male and female names. A name may be retired if it is deemed too destructive by the WMO and they would add a new name to the list.

    History of naming conventions

    According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), hundreds of years ago, tropical cyclones were named after Saint’s Day, which occurred nearest to the day of the storm. Consider, “Hurricane Santa Ana,” a violent storm that hit Puerto Rico on July 26, 1825.

    Before 1950, storms were noted by their latitude and longitude. This proved problematic when trying to relay information to the public. It was confusing, so meteorologists streamlined this process using the phonetic alphabet to name the storms (Able, Baker, Charlie, etc.). 

    Starting in 1953, storms were given female names. Rumor has it that a member of the committee was angry at his wife and wanted to name a storm after her. 

    Whether that’s true, Alice was the first named storm of the 1953 season. All-female names continued until 1979, when male names were added to alternate within the list.

    Greek names

    Prior to 2021, after the 21 names were exhausted, the Greek alphabet was used. 2005 and 2020 were the only two seasons to feature the Greek alphabet. 

    However, this proved difficult for several reasons, including what would happen after a storm was so destructive the name should be retired, as was the case for Eta and Iota in 2020. Additionally, coronavirus variants use Greek letters, adding to possible confusion.

    Supplemental list

    To account for these issues, the WMO created a supplemental names list. This list featured another 21 names from A to W that alternate male and female names. This list will remain the same each year, only swapping out a name if it is retired. 

    Hurricane preparedness kit

    Now is the time to reevaluate your hurricane preparedness kit. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, your kit should include, at a minimum: 

    • Water: one gallon per person, per day (3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home).
    • Food: non-perishable, easy-to-prepare items (3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home).
    • Flashlight.
    • Battery-powered or hand-crank radio (NOAA Weather Radio, if possible).
    •  Extra batteries.
    • First aid kit.
    • Medications (7-day supply) and medical items.
    • Multi-purpose tool, like a Swiss Army knife. 
    • Sanitation and personal hygiene items.
    • Copies of personal documents (medication list and pertinent medical information, proof of address, deed/lease to home, passports, birth certificates, insurance policies).
    • Cellphone with charger.
    • Family and emergency contact information.
    • Extra cash (ATMs might be inoperable).
    • Extra fuel for generator and car.

    Depending on your family’s requirements, you may need to include medical care items, baby supplies, pet supplies, and other things, such as extra car and house keys.

    Additional supplies might include towels, plastic sheeting, duct tape, scissors, and work gloves.

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Meteorologist Stacy Lynn

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  • Crews start removing twisted steel from collapsed Baltimore bridge

    Crews start removing twisted steel from collapsed Baltimore bridge

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    Teams of engineers worked Saturday on the intricate process of cutting and lifting the first section of twisted steel from the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, which crumpled into the Patapsco River this week after a massive cargo ship crashed into one of its supports.

    What You Need To Know

    • Engineers in Maryland are working on the daunting task of removing the remains of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge from the Patapsco River
    • Crews on Saturday started to cut the first section of twisted steel so it can be loaded onto a barge. Seven floating cranes, 10 tugboats and nine barges have been tapped to help
    • Clearing the river will allow officials to reopen the economically vital Port of Baltimore
    • A massive cargo ship felled the span Tuesday after smashing into a pillar. The bodies of two of six workers missing after the collapse were recovered earlier this week. But four more have yet to be located and are presumed dead

    Sparks could be seen flying from a section of bent and crumpled steel in the afternoon, and video released by officials in the evening showed demolition crews using a cutting torch to slice through the thick beams. The joint incident command said in a statement that the work was being done on the top of the north side of the collapsed structure.

    Crews were carefully measuring and cutting the steel from the broken bridge before attaching straps so it can be lifted onto a barge and floated away, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath said.

    Seven floating cranes — including a massive one capable of lifting 1,000 tons — 10 tugboats, nine barges, eight salvage vessels and five Coast Guard boats were on site in the water southeast of Baltimore.

    Each movement affects what happens next and ultimately how long it will take to remove all the debris and reopen the ship channel and the blocked Port of Baltimore, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said.

    “I cannot stress enough how important today and the first movement of this bridge and of the wreckage is. This is going to be a remarkably complicated process,” Moore said.

    Undeterred by the chilly morning weather, longtime Baltimore resident Randy Lichtenberg and others took cellphone photos or just quietly looked at the broken pieces of the bridge, which including its steel trusses weigh as much as 4,000 tons.

    “I wouldn’t want to be in that water. It’s got to be cold. It’s a tough job,” Lichtenberg said from a spot on the river called Sparrows Point.

    The shock of waking up Tuesday morning to video of what he called an iconic part of the Baltimore skyline falling into the water has given way to sadness.

    “It never hits you that quickly. It’s just unbelievable,” Lichtenberg said.

    WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

    One of the first goals for crews on the water is to get a smaller auxiliary ship channel open so tugboats and other small barges can move freely. Crews also want to stabilize the site so divers can resume searching for four missing workers who are presumed dead.

    Two other workers were rescued from the water in the hours following the bridge collapse, and the bodies of two more were recovered from a pickup truck that fell and was submerged in the river. They had been filling potholes on the bridge and while police were able to stop vehicle traffic after the ship called in a mayday, they could not get to the construction workers, who were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

    The crew of the cargo ship Dali, which is managed by Synergy Marine Group, remained on board with the debris from the bridge around it, and were safe and were being interviewed. They are keeping the ship running as they will be needed to get it out of the channel once more debris has been removed.

    The vessel is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and was chartered by Danish shipping giant Maersk.

    The collision and collapse appeared to be an accident that came after the ship lost power. Federal and state investigators are still trying to determine why.

    Assuaging concern about possible pollution from the crash, Adam Ortiz, the Environmental Protection Agency’s mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator, said there was no indication in the water of active releases from the ship or materials hazardous to human health.

    REBUILDING

    Officials are also trying to figure out how to handle the economic impact of a closed port and the severing of a major highway link. The bridge was completed in 1977 and carried Interstate 695 around southeast Baltimore.

    Maryland transportation officials are planning to rebuild the bridge, promising to consider innovative designs or building materials to hopefully shorten a project that could take years.

    President Joe Biden’s administration has approved $60 million in immediate aid and promised the federal government will pay the full cost to rebuild.

    Ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore remains suspended, but the Maryland Port Administration said trucks were still being processed at marine terminals.

    The loss of a road that carried 30,000 vehicles a day and the port disruption will affect not only thousands of dockworkers and commuters, but also U.S. consumers, who are likely to feel the impact of shipping delays. The port handles more cars and more farm equipment than any other U.S. facility.

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    Associated Press

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  • The Baltimore collapse focuses attention on vital bridges

    The Baltimore collapse focuses attention on vital bridges

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    After a yearlong closure, a bridge over the Puyallup River reopened in 2019 with a sturdy new span and a brand new name. It even won a national award.

    What You Need To Know

    • Thousands of old bridges across the U.S. are awaiting replacement or repairs after inspectors found them in poor condition

    • About 167 million vehicles travel daily over about 42,000 bridges that are categorized as poor

    • An Associated Press analysis determined that four-fifths of those have problems with the substructures that hold them up or the superstructures that support their load

    • And more than 15,800 of those bridges also were in poor shape a decade ago

    But today, the Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge is closed again after federal officials raised concerns about a vintage section of the nearly century-old bridge that carried about 15,000 vehicles a day. It has no timetable to reopen because the city of Tacoma, Washington, first must raise millions of dollars to clean and inspect it.

    “It’s frustrating — and hard to comprehend how we got here,” said Ed Wallace, whose Harley-Davidson motorcycle store has lost customers since the nearby bridge was shuttered.

    Bridges fulfill a vital function that often goes overlooked until lives are lost or disrupted by a closure or collapse, like that of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday. That bridge crumpled when struck by a cargo ship, not because of poor maintenance. But thousands of others stand in worse shape.

    About 42,400 U.S. bridges are in poor condition, yet they carry about 167 million vehicles each day, according to the federal government. Four-fifths of them have problems with the legs holding them up or the arms supporting their load. And more than 15,800 of those bridges also were in poor shape a decade ago, according to an Associated Press analysis.

    One of those persistently poor bridges — carrying about 96,000 westbound vehicles daily on Interstate 195 over the Seekonk River in Rhode Island — was suddenly shut to traffic late last year, resulting in long delays as drivers diverted to new routes. In March, the governor announced that the bridge must be demolished and replaced. That could cost up to $300 million and take at least two years to complete.

    These closures illustrate a nationwide issue.

    “We have not maintained our infrastructure at the rate that we should for many, many years, and now we’re trying to play catch-up,” said Marsia Geldert-Murphey, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

    When an old bridge gets closed because of safety concerns, it disrupts daily commutes, business supply chains and emergency response times by police, firefighters and medical personnel. Yet many bridges still await replacement or repairs because the costs can reach millions or even billions of dollars.

    A Funding Infusion

    A massive infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden in 2021 directed $40 billion to bridges over five years — the largest dedicated bridge investment since construction of the interstate highway system, which began nearly 70 years ago.

    Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that law already is funding more than 7,800 bridge projects. One of the most notable is a $3.6 billion project in Cincinnati to build a long-awaited new bridge carrying traffic on Interstates 71 and 75 over the Ohio River at the Kentucky border.

    But funding from the infrastructure law will make only a dent in an estimated $319 billion of needed bridge repairs nationwide, according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association.

    “The bottom line is that America’s bridges need a lot of work,” Buttigieg told the AP after visiting the closed Rhode Island bridge. He added: “The sooner we can address those significant bridges, the less likely they will be abruptly taken out of service, or worse, experience the risk of a collapse.”

    Inspectors rate bridges using a 0-9 scale, with 7 or above considered “good.” A “poor” rating reflects a 4 or below. A mid-range rating is considered “fair.” The nation’s poor bridges are on average 70 years old.

    Even before the federal funding infusion, the number of bridges in poor condition declined 22% over the past decade as structures were repaired, replaced or permanently closed, according to the AP’s analysis. But in recent years, more bridges also slipped from good to fair condition.

    Collapsing Bridges

    Though potholes on bridges can jar cars, many of the most concerning problems are below the surface. Chipping concrete and rusting steel can weaken the piers and beams that keep a bridge upright. When the condition of substructures or superstructures deteriorates too much, a bridge typically is closed out of public safety concerns.

    Though rare, bad bridges can eventually collapse.

    Design flaws contributed to the evening rush hour collapse of an Interstate 35 bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis in 2007. The collapse killed 13 people and injured 145 others. It also was costly financially. A state analysis estimated Minnesota’s economy lost $60 million in 2007-2008 due to increased travel time and operating costs for commuters and businesses.

    In January 2022, a bridge carrying a bus and several cars collapsed over Fern Hollow Creek in Pittsburgh, causing injuries but no deaths. Federal investigators determined the steel legs had corroded to the point of having visible holes, yet inspectors failed to calculate the severity of the problem and the city failed to follow repeated recommendations.

    “This bridge didn’t collapse just by an act of God. It collapsed because of a lack of maintenance and repair,” National Transportation Safety Board member Michael Graham said.

    Financial Challenges

    Iowa has the most poor bridges, followed by Pennsylvania, Illinois and Missouri. The twin Burlington Street bridges in Iowa City, Iowa, exemplify the financial challenges facing old bridges. The state owns the southbound span carrying vehicles over the Iowa River while the city owns the northbound span of what’s also known as state Highway 1.

    The city’s part, constructed in 1915, was rated in poor condition in the 2023 and 2013 National Bridge Inventory. Inspection reports show numerous cracks and structural deficiencies in the concrete bridge. The state’s side, built in 1968, is in much better condition.

    Although the federal infrastructure law provided a grant to analyze the bridges, the split ownership has made it difficult to fund the more than $30 million estimated cost of a replacement.

    “It’s not something we can just fund in a year and say: ‘Here we go, let’s do it quick,’” said city engineer Jason Havel. “It takes years of planning, years of working through dedicated funding.”

    Economic Effects

    In Rhode Island, problems had been mounting for the I-195 Washington Bridge connecting Providence to East Providence. It closed after an engineer in December noticed the failure of multiple steel tie rods in concrete beams at two piers. A subsequent examination found widespread structural problems.

    Joseph McHugh, an engineer with 40 years of experience in bridge and road construction, reviewed a draft engineering report compiled after the bridge’s closure along with inspection reports from July 2022 and July 2023.

    “This failure didn’t occur overnight,” McHugh told the AP. “To me, it should have been caught by an inspection, not by a contractor or whomever was looking at what was going on.”

    The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating allegations that false payment claims for the bridge’s construction, inspection or repair were submitted to the federal government.

    Marco Pacheco, who owns a liquor store in East Providence, said he believes “mismanagement,” “negligence” and “incompetence” caused the closure. His business revenue is down 20% since the bridge closed. But he’s even more concerned about the long-term consequences.

    “That traffic doesn’t instantly come back. Folks have reshaped their patterns, their thought processes and so on,” Pacheco said.

    Business owners in Washington share similar concerns about the indefinite closure of the Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge, in an industrial area near the Port of Tacoma. Several years ago, the city spent $42 million to replace a span leading up to the river. But the bridge was abruptly closed again last October after the Federal Highway Administration raised concerns that debris had prevented the inspection of potentially corroded steel connection points.

    To clean and inspect the bridge, the city first must encapsulate it to protect debris from falling into the river. But the city lacks the more than $6 million needed for the project. It also has no means of paying for a potential $280 million replacement.

    A nearby Interstate 5 bridge provides a good alternative but that means many motorists zoom right past an exit ramp without thinking about the Harley-Davidson store or other nearby businesses. At least one shop already has closed.

    Wallace, the Harley-Davidson store owner, wishes the city could reopen the bridge, at least temporarily.

    “Is there a peril that exists?” Wallace asks rhetorically. “Yeah, absolutely, a very serious one for me as a business owner.”

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    Associated Press

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  • The Baltimore collapse focuses attention on vital bridges

    The Baltimore collapse focuses attention on vital bridges

    [ad_1]

    After a yearlong closure, a bridge over the Puyallup River reopened in 2019 with a sturdy new span and a brand new name. It even won a national award.

    What You Need To Know

    • Thousands of old bridges across the U.S. are awaiting replacement or repairs after inspectors found them in poor condition

    • About 167 million vehicles travel daily over about 42,000 bridges that are categorized as poor

    • An Associated Press analysis determined that four-fifths of those have problems with the substructures that hold them up or the superstructures that support their load

    • And more than 15,800 of those bridges also were in poor shape a decade ago

    But today, the Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge is closed again after federal officials raised concerns about a vintage section of the nearly century-old bridge that carried about 15,000 vehicles a day. It has no timetable to reopen because the city of Tacoma, Washington, first must raise millions of dollars to clean and inspect it.

    “It’s frustrating — and hard to comprehend how we got here,” said Ed Wallace, whose Harley-Davidson motorcycle store has lost customers since the nearby bridge was shuttered.

    Bridges fulfill a vital function that often goes overlooked until lives are lost or disrupted by a closure or collapse, like that of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday. That bridge crumpled when struck by a cargo ship, not because of poor maintenance. But thousands of others stand in worse shape.

    About 42,400 U.S. bridges are in poor condition, yet they carry about 167 million vehicles each day, according to the federal government. Four-fifths of them have problems with the legs holding them up or the arms supporting their load. And more than 15,800 of those bridges also were in poor shape a decade ago, according to an Associated Press analysis.

    One of those persistently poor bridges — carrying about 96,000 westbound vehicles daily on Interstate 195 over the Seekonk River in Rhode Island — was suddenly shut to traffic late last year, resulting in long delays as drivers diverted to new routes. In March, the governor announced that the bridge must be demolished and replaced. That could cost up to $300 million and take at least two years to complete.

    These closures illustrate a nationwide issue.

    “We have not maintained our infrastructure at the rate that we should for many, many years, and now we’re trying to play catch-up,” said Marsia Geldert-Murphey, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

    When an old bridge gets closed because of safety concerns, it disrupts daily commutes, business supply chains and emergency response times by police, firefighters and medical personnel. Yet many bridges still await replacement or repairs because the costs can reach millions or even billions of dollars.

    A Funding Infusion

    A massive infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden in 2021 directed $40 billion to bridges over five years — the largest dedicated bridge investment since construction of the interstate highway system, which began nearly 70 years ago.

    Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that law already is funding more than 7,800 bridge projects. One of the most notable is a $3.6 billion project in Cincinnati to build a long-awaited new bridge carrying traffic on Interstates 71 and 75 over the Ohio River at the Kentucky border.

    But funding from the infrastructure law will make only a dent in an estimated $319 billion of needed bridge repairs nationwide, according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association.

    “The bottom line is that America’s bridges need a lot of work,” Buttigieg told the AP after visiting the closed Rhode Island bridge. He added: “The sooner we can address those significant bridges, the less likely they will be abruptly taken out of service, or worse, experience the risk of a collapse.”

    Inspectors rate bridges using a 0-9 scale, with 7 or above considered “good.” A “poor” rating reflects a 4 or below. A mid-range rating is considered “fair.” The nation’s poor bridges are on average 70 years old.

    Even before the federal funding infusion, the number of bridges in poor condition declined 22% over the past decade as structures were repaired, replaced or permanently closed, according to the AP’s analysis. But in recent years, more bridges also slipped from good to fair condition.

    Collapsing Bridges

    Though potholes on bridges can jar cars, many of the most concerning problems are below the surface. Chipping concrete and rusting steel can weaken the piers and beams that keep a bridge upright. When the condition of substructures or superstructures deteriorates too much, a bridge typically is closed out of public safety concerns.

    Though rare, bad bridges can eventually collapse.

    Design flaws contributed to the evening rush hour collapse of an Interstate 35 bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis in 2007. The collapse killed 13 people and injured 145 others. It also was costly financially. A state analysis estimated Minnesota’s economy lost $60 million in 2007-2008 due to increased travel time and operating costs for commuters and businesses.

    In January 2022, a bridge carrying a bus and several cars collapsed over Fern Hollow Creek in Pittsburgh, causing injuries but no deaths. Federal investigators determined the steel legs had corroded to the point of having visible holes, yet inspectors failed to calculate the severity of the problem and the city failed to follow repeated recommendations.

    “This bridge didn’t collapse just by an act of God. It collapsed because of a lack of maintenance and repair,” National Transportation Safety Board member Michael Graham said.

    Financial Challenges

    Iowa has the most poor bridges, followed by Pennsylvania, Illinois and Missouri. The twin Burlington Street bridges in Iowa City, Iowa, exemplify the financial challenges facing old bridges. The state owns the southbound span carrying vehicles over the Iowa River while the city owns the northbound span of what’s also known as state Highway 1.

    The city’s part, constructed in 1915, was rated in poor condition in the 2023 and 2013 National Bridge Inventory. Inspection reports show numerous cracks and structural deficiencies in the concrete bridge. The state’s side, built in 1968, is in much better condition.

    Although the federal infrastructure law provided a grant to analyze the bridges, the split ownership has made it difficult to fund the more than $30 million estimated cost of a replacement.

    “It’s not something we can just fund in a year and say: ‘Here we go, let’s do it quick,’” said city engineer Jason Havel. “It takes years of planning, years of working through dedicated funding.”

    Economic Effects

    In Rhode Island, problems had been mounting for the I-195 Washington Bridge connecting Providence to East Providence. It closed after an engineer in December noticed the failure of multiple steel tie rods in concrete beams at two piers. A subsequent examination found widespread structural problems.

    Joseph McHugh, an engineer with 40 years of experience in bridge and road construction, reviewed a draft engineering report compiled after the bridge’s closure along with inspection reports from July 2022 and July 2023.

    “This failure didn’t occur overnight,” McHugh told the AP. “To me, it should have been caught by an inspection, not by a contractor or whomever was looking at what was going on.”

    The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating allegations that false payment claims for the bridge’s construction, inspection or repair were submitted to the federal government.

    Marco Pacheco, who owns a liquor store in East Providence, said he believes “mismanagement,” “negligence” and “incompetence” caused the closure. His business revenue is down 20% since the bridge closed. But he’s even more concerned about the long-term consequences.

    “That traffic doesn’t instantly come back. Folks have reshaped their patterns, their thought processes and so on,” Pacheco said.

    Business owners in Washington share similar concerns about the indefinite closure of the Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge, in an industrial area near the Port of Tacoma. Several years ago, the city spent $42 million to replace a span leading up to the river. But the bridge was abruptly closed again last October after the Federal Highway Administration raised concerns that debris had prevented the inspection of potentially corroded steel connection points.

    To clean and inspect the bridge, the city first must encapsulate it to protect debris from falling into the river. But the city lacks the more than $6 million needed for the project. It also has no means of paying for a potential $280 million replacement.

    A nearby Interstate 5 bridge provides a good alternative but that means many motorists zoom right past an exit ramp without thinking about the Harley-Davidson store or other nearby businesses. At least one shop already has closed.

    Wallace, the Harley-Davidson store owner, wishes the city could reopen the bridge, at least temporarily.

    “Is there a peril that exists?” Wallace asks rhetorically. “Yeah, absolutely, a very serious one for me as a business owner.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Body found in drinking water reservoir in Rochester was there for nearly a month

    Body found in drinking water reservoir in Rochester was there for nearly a month

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    Body found in drinking water reservoir in Rochester was there for nearly a month – CBS News


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    A dead body was found in a reservoir supplying drinking water to residents of Rochester, New York – nearly a month after officials say the 29-year-old went into the water.

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  • The spring equinox is here. What does that mean?

    The spring equinox is here. What does that mean?

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    Spring is almost here — officially, at least.

    The vernal equinox arrives on Tuesday, marking the start of the spring season for the Northern Hemisphere.

    What You Need To Know

    • The spring equinox is at 11:06 p.m. on Tuesday, March 19

    • Earth’s axis lines up with the sun so both hemispheres get an equal amount of sunlight

    • Astronomical seasons differ from meteorological seasons


    But what does that actually mean? Here’s what to know about how we split up the year using the Earth’s orbit.

    What is the equinox?

    As the Earth travels around the sun, it does so at an angle.

    For most of the year, the Earth’s axis is tilted either toward or away from the sun. That means the sun’s warmth and light fall unequally on the northern and southern halves of the planet.

    During the equinox, the Earth’s axis and its orbit line up so that both hemispheres get an equal amount of sunlight.

    The word equinox comes from two Latin words meaning equal and night. That’s because on the equinox, day and night last almost the same amount of time — though one may get a few extra minutes, depending on where you are on the planet.

    The Northern Hemisphere’s spring — or vernal — equinox can land between March 19 and 21, depending on the year. Its fall – or autumnal — equinox can land between Sept. 21 and 24.

    What is the solstice?

    The solstices mark the times during the year when the Earth is at its most extreme tilt toward or away from the sun. This means the hemispheres are getting very different amounts of sunlight — and days and nights are at their most unequal.

    During the Northern Hemisphere’s summer solstice, the upper half of the earth is tilted in toward the sun, creating the longest day and shortest night of the year. This solstice falls between June 20 and 22.

    Meanwhile, at the winter solstice, the Northern Hemisphere is leaning away from the sun — leading to the shortest day and longest night of the year. The winter solstice falls between December 20 and 23.

    What’s the difference between meteorological and astronomical seasons?

    These are just two different ways to carve up the year.

    Meteorological seasons are defined by the weather. They break down the year into three-month seasons based on annual temperature cycles. By that calendar, spring starts on March 1, summer on June 1, fall on Sept. 1 and winter on Dec. 1.

    Astronomical seasons depend on how the Earth moves around the sun.

    Equinoxes mark the start of spring and autumn. Solstices kick off summer and winter.

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Associated Press

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  • Congress announces agreement on spending deal, races to avert shutdown

    Congress announces agreement on spending deal, races to avert shutdown

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    House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., on Tuesday morning announced that negotiators have reached an agreement on the remaining spending bills needed to fund the federal government through September and avoid a shutdown.

    What You Need To Know

    • Congressional leaders on Tuesday announced they reached an agreement on the remaining spending bills needed to fund the federal government through September and avoid a shutdown

    • Lawmakers had previously reached an agreement on five of the six spending bills needed to avoid a shutdown on Friday night, but they clashed over funding for the Department of Homeland Security

    • The package of bills, also known as a “minibus,” includes funding for not just Homeland Security, but the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Defense, State and Treasury, as well as the legislative branch

    • Timing will be tight to avert a shutdown, with lawmakers scrambling to draft legislative text ahead of Friday’s deadline


    Lawmakers had previously reached an agreement on five of the six spending bills needed to avoid a shutdown on Friday night, but they clashed over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. 

    “An agreement has been reached for DHS appropriations, which will allow completion of the FY24 appropriations process,” Johnson said in a statement, adding that the bill will be drafted “as soon as possible.”

    “Senate and House leaders and the White House have reached an agreement to finish the final set of full year appropriations bills,” Schumer wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “The Senate and House Appropriations Committees are in the process of finalizing text and reports for Congress to closely review and consider ASAP.”

    The package of bills, also known as a “minibus,” includes funding for not just Homeland Security, but the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Defense, State and Treasury, as well as the legislative branch. President Joe Biden pledged to sign it “immediately” once it passes Congress and reaches his desk.

    “We have come to an agreement with Congressional leaders on a path forward for the remaining full-year funding bills,” he said in a statement. “The House and Senate are now working to finalize a package that can quickly be brought to the floor, and I will sign it immediately.”

    But timing will be tight to avert a shutdown, with lawmakers scrambling to draft legislative text ahead of the deadline. House Republican leadership has pledged that it will give members 72 hours to review the legislation, which could make for a close call depending on when the bill is released. Johnson might also need to bring the bill up under the suspension of the House rules, which allows for expedited review of a bill, but would need two-third of the chamber to support it in order for it to pass.

    “In the next few days, upon completion of the drafting process, Congress will review and consider the appropriations package in order to fund the government and meet the needs of hardworking American taxpayers,” Jeffries said in a statement.

    It could also face some Republican opposition. Some members of the House GOP expressed concern about the way the minibus was negotiated.

    “We are back in Ryan-Boehner swamp mode where the omnibus is written behind closed doors,” Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie wrote on X, referring to the last two Republican House speakers, Paul Ryan and John Boehner. “Members are told to take it or leave it, and although Republicans control the House, more Democrats vote for it than Republicans because it spends more money than when [Nancy] Pelosi was in charge.”

    Republicans have also been opposed to the packaging together of bills, as well as the lack of inclusion of provisions like abortion restrictions and bans on diversity and inclusion programs within federal agencies.

    Once enacted by the House, the Senate must then take up the bill. Schumer would need the consent of every member of the chamber to speed up consideration of the measure, and any one lawmaker could hold up the process. Typically, leadership will come to an agreement on expedited consideration in exchange the

    The package being finalized is expected to provide about $886 billion for the Pentagon. The bill will also fund the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and others.

    Overall, the two spending packages provide about a 3% boost for defense, while keeping nondefense spending roughly flat with the year before. That’s in keeping with an agreement that former Speaker Kevin McCarthy worked out with the White House, which restricted spending for two years and suspended the debt ceiling into January 2025 so the federal government could continue paying its bills.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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    Justin Tasolides

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  • Colder air grips the country after a warm start to March

    Colder air grips the country after a warm start to March

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    It’s been a mild start to March across the Eastern U.S., but colder air has moved in and we will see more cooldowns and temperatures swings in the upcoming week.

    What You Need To Know

    • Temperatures have been above normal so far this March east of the Rockies

    • Colder air is moving in behind a cold front

    • An active pattern will bring more precipitation and cold opportunities this month

    A cold front pushing across the country has dropped high temperatures up to 10 to 20 degrees below normal for parts of the Midwest and Ohio Valley on Monday.

    Further south, sub-freezing temperatures in the forecast for tonight have led to Freeze Warnings being issued across the Deep South, stretching from Texas to North Carolina.

    Colder air and below normal temperatures follow the cold front to Florida and the Deep South on Tuesday as temperatures rebound quickly across the Central U.S.

    An active storm pattern will keep temperature swings in the forecast across the country through the week, with more cold blasts and wintry weather opportunities in the Great Lakes and Northeast through midweek and again this weekend.

    March so far

    Most places east of the Rockies are running warm this month. Average temperatures are well above normal through March 17, with areas across the Midwest, Ohio Valley and Northeast feeling a top-10 warmest March on record so far.

    (Iowa Environmental Mesonet)

    Meanwhile, the western U.S. has been running cool with below normal temperatures. With the exception of the Northeast and Florida, it is probable that the rest of the U.S. will close out the month with temperatures around or below normal. 

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Spectrum News Weather Staff

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  • Weather Explained: Why spring allergies have us sneezing

    Weather Explained: Why spring allergies have us sneezing

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    Allergies are the sixth leading cause of chronic illness in the United States, according to American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

    Nearly 10% of the U.S. population is diagnosed with hay fever each year, especially during the spring months when the pollen count is quite high.

    Check out the video above for more on how plants and wind can result in those itchy and watery eyes.

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    Meteorologist Nick Merianos

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  • Judge: DA or special prosecutor must step aside in Trump case

    Judge: DA or special prosecutor must step aside in Trump case

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    Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis must step aside from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump or remove the special prosecutor with whom she had a romantic relationship before the case can proceed, the judge overseeing it ruled Friday.

    What You Need To Know

    • The judge in the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump and others says Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis must step aside or remove the special prosecutor with whom she had a romantic relationship before the case can proceed

    • Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade testified at a hearing last month they had engaged in a romantic relationship but rejected the idea Willis improperly benefited from it as lawyers for Trump and some of his co-defendants alleged

    • Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said Friday he found the “allegations and evidence legally insufficient to support a finding of an actual conflict of interest,” but he found there remains an “appearance of impropriety”
    • An attorney for Trump said that while they respect the court’s ruling, they “believe that the Court did not afford appropriate significance to the prosecutorial misconduct of Willis and Wade”

    Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee did not find that Willis’ relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade amounted to a conflict of interest that should disqualify her from the case. However, he said, the allegations created an “appearance of impropriety” that infected the prosecution team.

    “As the case moves forward, reasonable members of the public could easily be left to wonder whether the financial exchanges have continued resulting in some form of benefit to the District Attorney, or even whether the romantic relationship has resumed,” the judge wrote.

    “Put differently, an outsider could reasonably think that the District Attorney is not exercising her independent professional judgment totally free of any compromising influences. As long as Wade remains on the case, this unnecessary perception will persist.”

    Willis hired Wade to lead the team to investigate and ultimately prosecute Trump and 18 others accused of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally try to overturn Trump’s narrow loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia in 2020. Willis and Wade testified at a hearing last month that they had engaged in a romantic relationship, but they rejected the idea that Willis improperly benefited from it, as lawyers for Trump and some of his co-defendants alleged.

    McAfee wrote that there was insufficient evidence that Willis had a personal stake in the prosecution. But he condemned what he described as a “tremendous” lapse in judgment and the “unprofessional manner of the District Attorney’s testimony.” Even so, he said dismissal of the case was not the appropriate remedy to “adequately dissipate the financial cloud of impropriety and potential untruthfulness found here.”

    McAfee found no showing that the due process rights of Trump and the other defendants had been violated or that the issues involved prejudiced them in any way. He also said the disqualification of a constitutional officer, like a district attorney, is not necessary “when a less drastic and sufficiently remedial option is available.”

    The judge said he believes that “Georgia law does not permit the finding of an actual conflict for simply making bad choices — even repeatedly — and it is the trial court’s duty to confine itself to the relevant issues and applicable law properly brought before it.”

    An attorney for co-defendant Michael Roman asked McAfee to dismiss the indictment and prevent Willis and Wade and their offices from continuing to prosecute the case. The attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, alleged that Willis paid Wade large sums for his work and then improperly benefited from the prosecution of the case when Wade used his earnings to pay for vacations for the two of them.

    Willis had insisted that the relationship created no financial or personal conflict of interest that justified removing her office from the case. She and Wade both testified that their relationship began in the spring of 2022 and ended in the summer of 2023. They both said that Willis either paid for things herself or used cash to reimburse Wade for travel expenses.

    An attorney for Trump said that while they respect the court’s ruling, they “believe that the Court did not afford appropriate significance to the prosecutorial misconduct of Willis and Wade.”

    “We will use all legal options available as we continue to fight to end this case, which should never have been brought in the first place,” said Trump attorney Steve Sadow, who also alleged that Willis “played the race card and falsely accused the defendants and their counsel of racism.”

    The sprawling indictment charges Trump and more than a dozen other defendants with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO. The case uses a statute normally associated with mobsters to accuse the former president, lawyers and other aides of a “criminal enterprise” to keep him in power after he lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.

    Trump, Republicans’ presumptive presidential nominee for 2024, has denied doing anything wrong and pleaded not guilty.

    Earlier this week, the judge dismissed some of the charges against Trump.

    The six challenged counts charged the defendants with soliciting public officers to violate their oaths. One count stemmed from a phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, on Jan. 2, 2021, in which Trump urged Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” for him to win the election in the state.

    Another of the dismissed counts accused Trump of soliciting then-Georgia House Speaker David Ralston to violate his oath of office by calling a special session of the legislature to unlawfully appoint presidential electors.

    McAfee said the counts did not allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of the violations.

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    Associated Press

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  • Rochester’s 3 Minutes of Astronomical Importance

    Rochester’s 3 Minutes of Astronomical Importance

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    On the afternoon of Monday, April 8, the moon will pass directly between the Earth and the sun, producing a total solar eclipse. Across North America, skies will darken, temperatures will drop, and pets will absolutely lose their minds. But for maximum results, viewers will need to be inside the “path of totality,” i.e., the darkest part of the moon’s shadow, which will move diagonally through the U.S. from Texas to Maine.

    New York City is not within this path. Neither is Boston, Philadelphia, or D.C. The largest easternmost city that will see the full benefits of the eclipse — and therefore present the most convenient vantage for eclipse hunters from major seaboard cities — is Rochester, New York.

    “We’re expecting anywhere from 300,000 to 500,000 people,” says Rachel Laber Pulvino, a spokesperson for the tourism agency Visit Rochester. That’s not just wishful thinking. Half a million people visited Greenville, South Carolina, when it was similarly positioned for the last North American total eclipse in 2017. The influx could more than double Rochester’s population. (There are roughly 211,000 people in the city proper, but about a million live across the six counties that make up the Greater Rochester area.)

    This is a lucky turn of events for my beloved hometown, which is usually touristproof thanks to its bad weather and an economy that hasn’t been the same since Kodak, Xerox, and Bausch & Lomb pulled up stakes. But while decades of Rust Belt decay have had their costs, they’ve also taught Rochester to be proud when it has something worth celebrating. (If you ever need to kill five hours, just ask a Rochesterian about garbage plates, Genesee Cream Ale, or the bronze statue of local hero Philip Seymour Hoffman that we accepted with relish after it was apparently rejected by New York.) So now that the city is officially a matter of astronomical importance — or at least it will be on eclipse day for three minutes and 38 seconds beginning at 3:20 p.m. — you can bet that Rochester will make the most of this opportunity.

    With less than a month to go until showtime, the talking points have been dispersed — from the Wegmans on Latta Road to the Wegmans in Pittsford Plaza, from the George Eastman House to the House of Guitars — and practically anybody with a 585 phone number can tell you how momentous the eclipse will be. But let’s start with Hilary Olson, president and CEO of the Rochester Museum and Science Center. “Whenever people have a shared experience, it’s almost always negative: Where were you on 9/11, or when a celebrity died, or during the COVID lockdown? But this is a shared experience that we’re all going to have that’s super positive,” she says. “And for Rochester, it’s unprecedented. We’re going to have more people than we’ve ever had visiting the area. We live in a very special time.”

    As such, Rochester is preparing to unleash the greatest eclipse celebration that Western New York has ever seen. The RMSC will host a three-day festival featuring planetarium shows and presentations from celebrity astronomers; the museum has printed up half a million eclipse glasses so nobody fries their eyeballs. The conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra has composed new space-themed music that will debut in an April 7 performance at the Blue Cross Arena. Rochester businesses are cashing in with eclipse-themed beer (“Totality Black Lager”), wine (“Cosmic Rosé”), and brunch menus (“Crescent Crab Benedict”). There will be eclipse viewing parties across the city: You can meet an astrophysicist at the Seneca Park Zoo; get an autograph from Mittsy, mascot for the Rochester Red Wings, at Innovative Field’s “Solarpalooza”; or take in the “Alpacalipse” at the Lazy Acres Alpaca Farm.

    Ted Shaffrey/AP

    The planning for all this began seven years ago with an local eclipse hunter named Debra Ross. Her daughter begged her to take an 800-mile road trip to Kimmswick, Missouri to catch the 2017 eclipse, and Ross was forever changed by the experience. “In the minute and a half that we were in totality, I understood what it was all about. You can feel yourself in the universe with your body,” she says. In a cosmic stroke of luck, Ross was about to begin a job as the chair of Visit Rochester. (She has since taken on a planning role with the American Astronomical Society.) “I thought, Well, I know everybody in Rochester, so I’m starting an eclipse task force. I began every monthly Visit Rochester meeting by asking, ‘What’s happening on April 8, 2024?’ Total solar eclipse.’”

    The other thing that might happen that day is gridlock traffic. In 2017, highways near the path of totality were clogged when eclipse viewers split for home immediately after the sun reappeared. “It was a nightmare,” says Olson. “There was a bridge from Kentucky to Ohio that was backed up for 17 hours.” Due in part to these concerns, Rochester-area schools will be closed on April 8, so buses won’t get caught in the mess. (This is unusual to say the least. When I was growing up, school in Rochester was almost never canceled, not even for bomb threats, water-main breaks, or blizzards that would’ve shut down New York City for a month.)

    The Rochester eclipse task force is also hoping it can ease traffic by enticing visitors to stick around until April 9. “We’re trying to get people to stay over Monday night,” says Jim Stack, executive director of the Genesee Transportation Council. “Hotels are doing two-night minimums, there are cultural events” — including a concert by the country singer Dylan Marlow that will kick off immediately following the eclipse — “and we’ve come up with the hashtag #TakeTuesdayToo.”

    But of course, the real nightmare scenario would be gray skies. Rochester is one of the cloudiest cities in the U.S. What happens if half a million people show up for the eclipse and can’t see it? “The difference would be significant,” says Olson. “If it’s cloudy, the sky would still get dark, but you wouldn’t be able to see that crescent sun as it goes into totality.”

    “Take a look at this,” says Stack, dropping a picture into our Zoom chat. “That’s a satellite photo of the U.S. on April 8, 2023. People say, ‘Rochester will be cloudy, so go to Texas for the eclipse.’ But last year, Texas had significantly more clouds.”

    That may not necessarily mean much next month. “From this far out, we can only use history as a guide, and in early April, it’s difficult to have sunny weather here,” says Scott Hetsko, meteorologist for the Rochester ABC affiliate WHAM-TV. “The last two years we’ve had blue skies on April 8, but statistically that wouldn’t bode well for this year. It will just depend on the wind and moisture on the day.”

    Still, this will be the last total eclipse in North America until August 23, 2044, so anybody who wants a chance to see it should probably make their reservations now. Most of Rochester’s hotel rooms are already spoken for between April 7 and 9, and even the downtown Hampton Inn, which at press time has one suite available, is charging $700 a night. “I look at some of the hotel rates,” says Stack, “and think, for that place? Over on Ridge Road, or by the mall on 390? Are you kidding me?”

    “It’s exciting,” says Edie, a concierge at the city’s nicest hotel, the Inn on Broadway, which has been fully booked since last April. “People don’t usually come to Rochester unless they have a purpose, and it’s nice to have a purpose.”

    Related

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    Lane Brown

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  • Spring training offers a warm break for teams and fans

    Spring training offers a warm break for teams and fans

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    When birds migrate north in the spring, baseball players and fans migrate south to Florida and Arizona every March for spring training.

    Not only is spring training an opportunity for MLB teams to get some practice in before a long season, but for fans to escape the cold weather and enjoy some warmth, sunshine and baseball in warmer climates. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Florida and Arizona host 15 MLB teams each every year for spring training

    • Spring training games are unofficial, and gives fans a chance to see their team play in warmer climates

    • Florida and Arizona are both warm in March, but differ in precipitation and humidity

    Since the late 1800s, MLB teams have sent their players and coaches south to train and practice in a warmer climate to prepare for the season.

    Since 2018, MLB has split the league with 15 teams training in Florida and the other 15 in Arizona. The reason for those two locations is pretty straight-forward: the weather. 

    Florida Grapefruit League

    MLB spreads out most of the teams that train in Florida along the Gulf Coast, with a few teams in south Florida. Average high temperatures in south and central Florida during March hover around the upper 70s and lower 80s. 

    The Toronto Blue Jays and Minnesota Twins play in the two coldest spots as far as March temperatures go, averaging high temperatures in the lower 40s.

    Not only do the players and fans get to escape the cold, but Toronto and Minneapolis average around 8 inches of snowfall during March.

    Minnesota Twins’ spring home, Fort Myers, has an average high temperature in March almost 40 degrees warmer than Minneapolis, and hasn’t even had a low temperature below 40 degrees in March since 2013. 

    Along with the Twins, the Blue Jays, Red Sox and Tigers all get about a 35 degree temperature increase after traveling south during a typical March day.

    The Marlins actually get to travel more than 80 miles north to Jupiter from Miami, and get a break from the heat, with average temperatures about 3 degrees lower. 

    How about the rest of the list? Besides the Astros, Rays and Marlins, the temperature difference is pretty significant and worthy of a trip to Florida for Spring Break. 

    Arizona Cactus League

    In the Cactus League, all 15 teams play and train in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The average high temperature in March for the Phoenix area is a balmy 78.1 degrees.

    Since the Cactus League is more centralized with no two teams more than a 45 minute drive apart, average temperatures are all within a few degrees of each other.

    The biggest difference from the Grapefruit League? The desert offers much lower humidity and less rainfall. 

    Midwest teams from the NL and AL Central Divisions have the biggest disparity when it comes to Arizona temperatures, getting about a 30 degree increase during the month of March.

    The Colorado Rockies escape Denver’s snowiest month of the year on average to play in sunny Scottsdale. 

    Similar to the Marlins, the Arizona Diamondbacks who play in downtown Phoenix, get to travel 20 minutes into Scottdale, where the average March high temperatures is only a few degrees lower.

    Beach or Desert?

    So, if you’re a neutral fan in a cold weather state and want to take in some baseball on Spring Break, do you go to Florida or Arizona?

    Florida teams are more spread out requiring longer drives, and you’ll have to deal with more humidity and higher rain chances. The Cactus league is much more centralized, and it’s a dry heat, but besides baseball, Phoenix may have less to offer for tourist opportunities when you’re not at a game.

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Meteorologist Reid Lybarger

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  • ‘Oppenheimer’ crowned best picture at an Academy Awards shadowed by war

    ‘Oppenheimer’ crowned best picture at an Academy Awards shadowed by war

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    LOS ANGELES — “Oppenheimer,” a solemn three-hour biopic that became an unlikely billion-dollar box-office sensation, was crowned best picture at a 96th Academy Awards that doubled as a coronation for Christopher Nolan.

    What You Need To Know

    • In anointing “Oppenheimer,” the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences did something it hasn’t done for more than a decade: hand its top prize to a widely seen, big-budget studio film

    • “Oppenheimer” emerged — even over its partner in cultural phenomenon, “Barbie” — as a fittingly foreboding film for times rife with cataclysm, man-made or not

    • The most closely watched contest went to Emma Stone, who won best best actress for her performance as Bella Baxter in “Poor Things”

    • A year after “Navalny” won the same award, Mstyslav Chernov’s “20 Days in Mariupol,” a harrowing chronicle of the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, won best documentary

    After passing over arguably Hollywood’s foremost big-screen auteur for years, the Oscars made up for lost time by heaping seven awards on Nolan’s blockbuster biopic, including best actor for Cillian Murphy, best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr. and best director for Nolan.

    In anointing “Oppenheimer,” the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences did something it hasn’t done for more than a decade: hand its top prize to a widely seen, big-budget studio film. In a film industry where a cape, dinosaur or Tom Cruise has often been a requirement for such box office, “Oppenheimer” brought droves of moviegoers to theaters with a complex, fission-filled drama about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb.

    “For better or worse, we’re all living in Oppenheimer’s world,” said Murphy in his acceptance speech. “I’d like to dedicate this to the peacemakers.”

    As a film heavy with unease for human capacity for mass destruction, “Oppenheimer” also emerged — even over its partner in cultural phenomenon, “Barbie” — as a fittingly foreboding film for times rife with cataclysm, man-made or not.

    Sunday’s Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles unfolded against the backdrop of wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and with a potentially momentous U.S. election on the horizon. Awards for the documentary winner, “20 Days in Mariupol,” and best international film, “The Zone of Interest,” brought geopolitics into the Oscar spotlight.

    The most closely watched contest went to Emma Stone, who won best actress for her performance as Bella Baxter in “Poor Things.” In what was seen as the night’s most nail-biting category, Stone won over Lily Gladstone of “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Gladstone would have become the first Native American to win an Academy Award.

    Instead, Oscar voters couldn’t resist the full-bodied extremes of Stone’s “Poor Things” performance. The win for Stone, her second best actress Oscar following her 2017 win for “La La Land,” confirmed the 35-year-old as arguably the preeminent big-screen actress of her generation. The list of women to win best actress two or more times is illustrious, including Katharine Hepburn, Frances McDormand, Ingrid Bergman and Bette Davis.

    “Oh, boy, this is really overwhelming,” said Stone, who fought back tears and a broken dress during her speech.

    Sunday’s broadcast had razzle dazzle, including a sprawling song-and-dance rendition of the “Barbie” hit “I’m Just Ken” by Ryan Gosling, with an assist on guitar by Slash and a sea of Kens who swarmed the stage.

    But protest and politics intruded on an election-year Academy Awards. Late during the show, host Jimmy Kimmel read a critical social media post from former president Donald Trump.

    “Thank you for watching,” said Kimmel. “Isn’t it past your jail time?”

    Nolan has had many movies in the Oscar mix before, including “Inception,” “Dunkirk” and “The Dark Knight.” But his win Sunday for direction is the first Academy Award for the 53-year-old filmmaker. Addressing the crowd, Nolan noted cinema is just over a hundred years old.

    “Imagine being there 100 years into painting or theater,” said Nolan, who shared the best-picture award with Emma Thomas, his wife and producer. “We don’t know where this incredible journey is going from here. But to know that you think that I’m a meaningful part of it means the world to me.”

    Downey, nominated twice before (for “Chaplin” and “Tropic Thunder”), also notched his first Oscar, crowning the illustrious second act of his up-and-down career.

    “I’d like to thank my terrible childhood and the academy, in that order,” said Downey, the son of filmmaker Robert Downey Sr.

    “Barbie,” last year’s biggest box-office hit with more than $1.4 billion in ticket sales, ultimately won just one award: best song (sorry, Ken) for Billie Eilish and Finneas’ “What Was I Made For?” It’s their second Oscar, two years after winning for their James Bond theme, “No Time to Die.”

    Protests over Israel’s war in Gaza snarled traffic around the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, slowing stars’ arrival on the red carpet and turning the Oscar’ attention toward the ongoing conflict. Some protesters shouted “Shame!” at those trying to reach the awards.

    Jonathan Glazer, the British filmmaker whose chilling Auschwitz drama “The Zone of Interest” won best international film, drew connections between the dehumanization depicted in his film and today.

    “Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people, whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel, or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims, this dehumanization, how do we resist?”

    A year after “Navalny” won the same award, Mstyslav Chernov’s “20 Days in Mariupol,” a harrowing chronicle of the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, won best documentary. The win, a first for The Associated Press and PBS’ “Frontline,” came as the war in Ukraine passed the two-year mark with no signs of abating.

    Chernov, the Ukrainian filmmaker and AP journalist whose hometown was bombed the day he learned of his Oscar nomination, spoke forcefully about Russia’s invasion.

    “This is the first Oscar in Ukrainian history, and I’m honored,” said Chernov. “Probably I will be the first director on this stage to say I wish I’d never made this film. I wish to be able to exchange this (for) Russia never attacking Ukraine.”

    In the early going, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Frankenstein-riff “Poor Things” ran away with three prizes for its sumptuous craft, including awards for production design, makeup and hairstyling and costume design. “Poor Things” fared second best to “Oppenheimer,” with a total of four awards.

    Kimmel, hosting the ABC telecast for the fourth time, opened the awards with a monologue that emphasized Hollywood as “a union town” following 2023’s actor and writer strikes, drew a standing ovation for bringing out teamsters and behind-the-scenes workers — who are now entering their own labor negotiations.

    The night’s first award was one of its most predictable: Da’Vine Joy Randolph for best supporting actress, for her performance in Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers.” An emotional Randolph was accompanied to the stage by her “Holdovers” co-star Paul Giamatti.

    “For so long I’ve always wanted to be different,” said Randolph. “And now I realize I just need to be myself.”

    Though Randolph’s win was widely expected, an upset quickly followed. Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” won for best animated feature, a surprise over the slightly favored “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” Miyazaki, the 83-year-old Japanese anime master who came out of retirement to make “The Boy and the Heron,” didn’t attend the ceremony. He also didn’t attend the 2003 Oscars when his “Spirited Away” won the same award.

    Best original screenplay went to “Anatomy of a Fall,” which, like “Barbie,” was penned by a couple: director Justine Triet and Arthur Harari. “This will help me through my midlife crisis, I think,” said Triet.

    In adapted screenplay, where “Barbie” was nominated — and where some suspected Greta Gerwig would win after being overlooked for director — the Oscar went to Cord Jefferson, who wrote and directed his feature film debut “American Fiction.” He pleaded for executives to take risks on young filmmakers like himself.

    “Instead of making a $200 million movie, try making 20 $10 million movies,” said Jefferson, previously an award-winning TV writer.

    The Oscars belonged largely to theatrical-first films. Though it came into the awards with 19 nominations, Netflix was a bit player. Its lone win came for live action short: Wes Anderson’s “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” based on the story by Roald Dahl.

    The win for “Oppenheimer” offered Hollywood a chance to celebrate despite swirling storm clouds in the film industry. Nolan’s film debuted last year just as actors joined screenwriters in a prolonged strike over streaming economics and artificial intelligence. The actors’ strike ended in November, but little of Hollywood’s unease subsided. Streaming has proved less lucrative for most studios not named Netflix.

    But “Barbenheimer” was the kind of unplanned phenomenon Hollywood needs more of. The two films could also give a lift to the Oscar telecast, which has historically benefitted from having big movies in contention. The Academy Awards’ largest audience ever came when James Cameron’s “Titanic” swept the 1998 Oscars.

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    Associated Press

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  • Biden signs funding bills preventing government shutdown

    Biden signs funding bills preventing government shutdown

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    President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a $460 billion package of spending bills approved by the Senate in time to avoid a shutdown of many key federal agencies. The legislation’s success gets lawmakers about halfway home in wrapping up their appropriations work for the 2024 budget year.

    The measure contains six annual spending bills and had already passed the House. In signing it into law, Biden thanked leaders and negotiators from both parties in both chambers for their work, which the White House said will mean that agencies “may continue their normal operations.”

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden has signed into law a package of spending bills passed by the Senate in time to avoid a shutdown of many key federal agencies

    • He signed the legislation Saturday while offering thanks to leaders and negotiators from both parties

    • The vote Friday night gets lawmakers about halfway home in wrapping up their appropriations work for this budget year

    • Lawmakers are now negotiating a second package of six bills, including defense, in an effort to have all federal agencies fully funded by March 22

    • Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says the first bill’s passage enables the hiring of more air traffic controllers and more support for homeless veterans, among other things

    Meanwhile, lawmakers are negotiating a second package of six bills, including defense, in an effort to have all federal agencies fully funded by a March 22 deadline.

    “To folks who worry that divided government means nothing ever gets done, this bipartisan package says otherwise,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said after lawmakers passed the measure Friday night just hours before a deadline.

    He said the bill’s passage would allow for the hiring of more air traffic controllers and rail safety inspectors, give federal firefighters a raise and boost support for homeless veterans, among other things.

    The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 75-22. Lawmakers sought votes on several amendments and wanted to have their say on the bill and other priorities during debate on the floor. It had been unclear midday if senators would be able to avert a short shutdown, though eventual passage was never really in doubt.

    “I would urge my colleagues to stop playing with fire here,” said Sen. Susan Collins, the top-ranking Republican member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “It would be irresponsible for us not to clear these bills and do the fundamental job that we have of funding government. What is more important?”

    The votes came more than five months into the current budget year after congressional leaders relied on a series of stopgap bills to keep federal agencies funded for a few more weeks or months at a time while they struggled to reach agreement on full-year spending.

    In the end, total discretionary spending set by Congress is expected to come in at about $1.66 trillion for the full budget year ending Sept. 30.

    Republicans were able to keep non-defense spending relatively flat compared with the previous year. Supporters say that’s progress in an era when annual federal deficits exceeding $1 trillion have become the norm. But many Republican lawmakers were seeking much steeper cuts and more policy victories.

    The House Freedom Caucus, which contains dozens of the GOP’s most conservative members, urged Republicans to vote against the first spending package and the second one still being negotiated.

    Democrats staved off most of the policy riders that Republicans sought to include in the package. For example, they beat back an effort to block new rules that expand access to the abortion pill mifepristone. They were also able to fully fund a nutrition program for low-income women, infants and children, providing about $7 billion for what is known as the WIC program. That’s a $1 billion increase from the previous year.

    Republicans were able to achieve some policy wins, however. One provision will prevent the sale of oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China. Another policy mandate prohibits the Justice Department from investigating parents who exercise free speech at local school board meetings.

    Another provision strengthens gun rights for certain veterans, though opponents of the move said it could make it easier for those with very serious mental health conditions like dementia to obtain a firearm.

    “This isn’t the package I would have written on my own,” said Sen. Patty Murray, the Democratic chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “But I am proud that we have protected absolutely vital funding that the American people rely on in their daily lives.”

    Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said one problem he sees with the bill is that there was too much compromise, and that led to too much spending.

    “A lot of people don’t understand this,” he said. “They think there is no cooperation in Washington and the opposite is true. There is compromise every day on every spending bill.”

    “It’s compromise between big-government Democrats and big-government Republicans,” he added.

    Still, with a divided Congress and a Democratic-led White House, any bill that doesn’t have buy-in from members of both political parties stands no chance of passage.

    The bill also includes more than 6,600 projects requested by individual lawmakers with a price tag of about $12.7 billion. The projects attracted criticism from some Republican members, though members from both parties broadly participated in requesting them on behalf of their states and congressional districts. Paul called the spending “sort of the grease that eases in billions and trillions of other dollars, because you get people to buy into the total package by giving them a little bit of pork for their town, a little bit of pork for their donors.”

    But an effort by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla, to strip out the projects mustered only 32 votes with 64 against. Murray said Scott’s effort would overrule “all the hard work, all the input we asked everyone to provide us about projects that would help their constituents.”

    Even though lawmakers find themselves passing spending bills five months into the budget year, Republicans are framing the process as improved nonetheless because they broke the cycle of passing all the spending bills in one massive package that lawmakers have little time to study before being asked to vote on it or risk a government shutdown. Still, others said that breaking up funding into two chunks of legislation war hardly a breakthrough.

    The first package covers the departments of Justice, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Interior and Transportation, among others.

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  • A short history of daylight saving time

    A short history of daylight saving time

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    Twice a year, most of the U.S. adjusts to time moving forward in the spring and back again in the fall. But where did the crazy idea of “shifting time” come from?

    What You Need To Know

    • Daylight saving was first put to use during World War I

    • The U.S. was once in daylight saving time for over three years during World War II

    • Some want to go to daylight saving time year-round

    Benjamin Franklin gets some credit for the idea of daylight saving time, though his recommendation was a joke.

    In a letter to the editor of the “Journal of Paris,” Franklin jokingly recommended the people get out of bed earlier in the morning to minimize the use of candles and lamp oil. He never mentioned setting clocks back or forth.

    (Erica Roman)

    In 1895, George Hudson, an entomologist from New Zealand, came up with the modern concept of daylight saving time. He proposed a two-hour time shift so he could have more after-work hours of sunshine to go bug hunting in the summer.

    Hudson suggested moving clocks ahead two hours in October and then a two-hour shift back in March.

    In 1905, William Willett, a British builder, suggested moving clocks ahead 20 minutes every Sunday in April and then setting them back every Sunday in September. That’s eight time changes every year!

    First use of daylight saving time

    It was during World War I that daylight saving time was first practically used.

    In 1916, locations within the German Empire set clocks ahead one hour to use less power for lighting and to save fuel for the war effort.

    Many other countries soon followed and after the war ended, they all went back to standard time.

    Daylight saving time in the U.S.

    In the United States, daylight saving time was first used in 1918, when a bill introduced the idea of a seasonal time shift. It lasted seven months before the bill was repealed.

    During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt re-established the idea of daylight saving time. It was called “War Time.”

    War Time began in Feb. 1942 and lasted until the end of Sept. 1945.

    In 1966, the Uniform Time Act of 1966 established the idea of regulating a yearly time change. Daylight saving time would begin the last Sunday in April and end the last Sunday in October.

    (Pexels)

    During the 1973 oil embargo, the United States Congress ordered a year-round period of daylight saving time to save energy. The period ran from Jan. 1974 to April 1975. The plan did little to save energy and lost popularity. In Oct. 1974, the U.S. switched back to standard time.

    From 1987 through 2006, daylight saving time started the first weekend in April, running through the last weekend in October.

    In 2007, the start and end of daylight saving time shifted again. That year, it began on the second Sunday in March and it ended on the first Sunday in November, which has been the case ever since.

    The future of daylight saving time

    In recent years, some have pushed to make daylight saving time last year-round. Several states have passed legislation to make this law.

    I guess “time” will tell if we see year-round daylight saving time in the future.

    (iStock)

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Chief Meteorologist Gary Stephenson

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  • School shootings prompt more states to fund digital maps for first responders

    School shootings prompt more states to fund digital maps for first responders

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    When a motion detector went off overnight at Kromrey Middle School, a police dispatcher called up a digital map of the building, pinpointed the detector, clicked on a live feed from the nearest camera and relayed the intruder’s location to responding police.

    What You Need To Know

    • Spurred by mass shootings, thousands of school districts have hired companies to produce detailed digital maps that can help police, firefighters and medical professionals respond more quickly in emergencies

    • More than 20 states have enacted or proposed digital school mapping measures in the past few years, according to an Associated Press analysis aided by the bill-tracking software Plural

    • Critical Response Group, run by an Army special operations veteran, has been driving the trend. The company’s CEO, Mike Rodgers, recently told lawmakers in Maryland how he used gridded digital maps during deployments and was surprised the school where his wife taught had nothing similar. So he mapped her school, then expanded — to 12,000 schools and counting, nationwide

    • Many schools have long provided floor plans to local emergency responders. But they haven’t always been digital. As with Uvalde, some plans have lacked important details or become outdated as schools are renovated and expanded

    Within moments, they captured the culprit: a teenager, dressed in dark clothes and a ski mask but carrying no weapon.

    The map and cameras “let the dispatcher keep things from becoming super-escalated,” said the school’s security director, Jim Blodgett. “The dispatcher could see that it looked like a student … just kind of goofing around in the building.”

    Spurred by mass shootings, thousands of school districts have hired companies to produce detailed digital maps that can help police, firefighters and medical professionals respond more quickly in emergencies.

    The Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District, where the teenage trespasser entered from a roof hatch, was an early adopter in Wisconsin, which has since provided mapping grants to about 200 districts.

    More than 20 states have enacted or proposed digital school mapping measures in the past few years, according to an Associated Press analysis aided by the bill-tracking software Plural. Florida approved $14 million in grants last year. Michigan allotted $12.5 million. New Jersey allocated $12.3 million in federal pandemic relief funds to complete digital maps of every school in the state.

    Critical Response Group, run by an Army special operations veteran, has been driving the trend. The New Jersey-based company’s CEO, Mike Rodgers, recently told lawmakers in Maryland how he used gridded digital maps during deployments and was surprised the school where his wife taught had nothing similar. So he mapped her school, then expanded — to 12,000 schools and counting, nationwide.

    “When an emergency happens at a school or a place of worship, most likely it’s the first time those responders have ever gone there,” Rodgers told the AP. “They’re under a tremendous amount of stress and they’re working with people they’re not familiar with, which is exactly the same problem that the military is faced with overseas, and ultimately that’s why this technique was born.”

    Lobbying and competition

    Many of the state laws and bills contain nearly identical wording championed by Rodgers’ company. They require verification by a walk-through of each campus and free compatibility with any software already used by local schools and public safety agencies. They must be overlaid with aerial imagery and gridded coordinates, “oriented true north” and “contain site-specific labeling” for rooms, doors, hallways, stairwells, utility locations, hazards, key boxes, trauma kits and automated external defibrillators.

    The standards create “a competitive, fair environment” for all vendors, Rodgers said. But when New Jersey sought a mapping contractor, the Critical Response Group had “the only product that was available in the state that answered the legislative criteria,” State Police mapping coordinator Lt. Brendan Liston said.

    The New Jersey law required “critical incident mapping data,” a phrase that Critical Response Group tried to trademark.

    Critical Response Group has hired lobbyists in more than 20 states to advocate for specific standards, according to an AP review of state lobbying records. Competitors also have engaged lobbyists to wrangle over the precise wording. In some states, lawmakers have gone with a more generic label of “school mapping data.”

    Four companies offering digital mapping among their services — Critical Response Group, Centegix, GeoComm and Navigate360 — have together spent more than $1.4 million on lobbyists in 15 states, according to an AP analysis. Their costs are unknown in some states where lobbyist payments aren’t publicly reported.

    Delaware and Virginia also chose the Critical Response Group program. Iowa has contracted with GeoComm. Other states are leaving vendor decisions to local schools.

    A response to tragedy

    A U.S. Department of Justice review of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, noted police had only “a basic map” that didn’t show windows or doors connecting classrooms as they waited to confront the gunman.

    The Texas Education Agency responded last year with new standards requiring an “accurate site layout” and door designations to be provided to 911 agencies. The Legislature reinforced this by requiring silent panic buttons and armed security officers as part of a more than $1 billion school safety initiative.

    Creating each map can cost several thousand dollars, and costs can escalate as maps are linked to other security systems, such as wearable panic buttons. But integrations also add value.

    “If it’s not integrated with a crisis response system that can be pushed electronically to the dispatch center and police, then it’s probably not going to mean anything to them in the first minutes,” said Jeremy Gulley, the school system superintendent of Jay County, Indiana, which uses a Centegix mapping and alert system.

    Because of their detailed information, digital school maps are exempt from public disclosure under legislation in some states. That’s critical to school safety, said Chuck Wilson, chair of the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools, a nonprofit coalition of education groups, law enforcement and security businesses.

    “If bad people had access to the drawings, that would be almost worse than not knowing” a school’s layout, Wilson said. He added, “We’ve got to be really, really mindful of protecting this information.”

    Maps need updating

    Many schools have long provided floor plans to local emergency responders. But they haven’t always been digital. As with Uvalde, some plans have lacked important details or become outdated as schools are renovated and expanded.

    Washington began digitally mapping every school in the state 20 years ago, after the deadly Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, and provided annual funding to the Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs to operate the map repository.

    But over time, schools quit updating the information and the maps grew stale. The state funding proved insufficient and legislators ended the program in 2021, just as more states launched similar initiatives.

    Security consultant David Corr ran the program and wishes it could have continued, but he said that for emergency responders, “wrong information is even worse than lack of information.”

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  • Biden set to deliver high-stakes State of the Union address

    Biden set to deliver high-stakes State of the Union address

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    On Thursday night, President Joe Biden will leave the White House grounds to make the trip to the other end of Pennsylvania Ave. to deliver the annual State of the Union address – with plenty on his plate, and even more at stake.

    What You Need To Know

    • On Thursday night, President Joe Biden will deliver the annual State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol 
    • It comes as Biden in the thick of a reelection campaign that looks increasingly likely to be a rematch between him and former President Donald Trump
    • Reproductive rights, the economy, immigration and foreign policy could be key topics for his address
    • Biden will outline an ambitious budget proposal to reduce the federal deficit $3 trillion over 10 years, the White House said Thursday, fueled in large part by raising taxes on wealthy corporations and billionaires
    • Spectrum News will open to viewers President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address and the Republican rebuttal; here’s how to watch live

    The president — in the thick of a reelection campaign that looks increasingly likely to be a rematch between him and former President Donald Trump — is attempting to broker a peace deal in Gaza, while convincing a thus far seemingly unmoved GOP House Speaker to put billions in aid to Ukraine up for a vote, fending off persistent questions about age and struggling to persuade the American public the economy is thriving and he deserves credit. 

    In short, as Todd Belt, Professor and Director of Political Management at George Washington, puts it, Thursday night for the president is “pretty high-stakes.” 

    “I wouldn’t call it make-or-break, but I would put the emphasis on ‘break’ more than ‘make,’” Belt said, adding: “There’s going to be a ton of scrutiny on the president.”

    Biden – as he did before last year’s speech, according to Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre – spent the weekend huddled with top advisors tucked away at Camp David, the historic presidential retreat in Maryland, preparing for Thursday’s address. 

    “This is something that he is personally involved in,” Jean-Pierre said of the president’s role in the preparation at Wednesday’s White House press briefing. “This is something that comes straight from having conversations with the American people.” 

    The president, she added, will continue to “fine-tune” the speech Wednesday and Thursday before he hits TVs in prime time. Biden had no public events on Wednesday. 

    Belt noted State of the Union addresses during election years in which the president is seeking another four years in the White House take on a different tone.

    While there may be no campaign banners or walk-up songs and the reason for the speech may stem from a constitutional requirement for the president to from “time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union,” Belt said such addresses offer incumbent president’s the chance to “take a victory lap” and make a direct appeal to voters. 

    “The State of the Union during an election year is a chance for the President to remind the public of the successes from the prior three years,” he said. “But it’s also a way for the president to say, ‘the job isn’t done, you need to send me back to complete the job.’” 

    And the White House has made clear Biden is preparing to do just that. 

    Jean-Pierre on Wednesday laid out the key goals Biden plans to focus on Thursday night: lowering costs for Americans and “giving people more breathing room;” preserving democracy; protecting reproductive health; and progress on the “unity agenda” he laid out in his first State of the Union, such as addressing cancer, delivering for veterans and beating the opioid epidemic. 

    “Fundamentally, the president will outline an agenda that is about continuing to build on the progress that we’ve made over the last three years,” she said. 

    Here are some key topics expected to play center roles in Biden’s Thursday address:

    Reproductive rights

    Demonstrators march and gather near the state capitol following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Friday, June 24, 2022, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

    Since the Supreme Court overturned of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Democrats have sought to put the issue of abortion front and center. As Belt notes, the issue has proven to be electorally fruitful for Democrats, who have credited the topic for helping blue candidates secure victories since the high court’s decision.

    “Democrats know that this is their kryptonite for Republicans,” Belt said. ”This is what they can use against Republicans that has helped them in the last two elections in 2022, as well as in the off-years in 2023.” 

    Biden – whose first campaign rally alongside Vice President Kamala Harris of the election year centered on “Restoring Roe” – is making clear he will continue to a spotlight on the issue by inviting Kate Cox as a guest to Thursday’s address. Cox’s story of having to leave her home state of Texas to get an abortion when her health was in danger due to the state’s restrictive abortion laws garnered national attention. 

    Recently, Democrats received fresh material to work with on the topic when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos could be considered children, leading experts to warn of potential major implications for in vitro fertilization. 

    Immigration — and the dead Senate border deal

    President Joe Biden talks with the U.S. Border Patrol, as he looks over the southern border, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas, along the Rio Grande. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

    After Republicans in Congress killed a sweeping border policy deal that a bipartisan group of senators and the White House spent weeks negotiating, Biden has been hounding lawmakers to revisit the legislation. 

    The GOP had originally requested border changes be included in a package to provide Biden’s request for aid to Ukraine, Israel, allies in the Indo-Pacific and more. The president has blamed his predecessor former President Donald Trump – who vocally came out against the deal – for its downfall. 

    And just last week, as Jean-Pierre noted on a call with reporters on Wednesday – the president made a closely watched visit to the border in Brownsville, Texas, where he highlighted what was at stake without action from Congress. 

    “He’s tried to take that issue away from Republicans and to some degree, there’s been some success in that,” Belt said. “We’ll see more of that tomorrow.”

    “It’s a lie, everybody knows it’s a lie,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Spectrum News on Wednesday when asked about his response to the likelihood the president will criticize Republicans for killing the Senate border deal in his address Thursday. 

    “Anybody with a brain who looks at the Senate bill knows it was a purposeful effort to give them an excuse for why they could blame Republicans when it is they who have left the borders wide open,” he continued. 

    The economy

    A generator and its blades are prepared to head to the open ocean for the South Fork Wind farm from State Pier in New London, Conn., Dec. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

    Despite consumer sentiment rising and numerous signs people are feeling better about the economy, polls show Biden has struggled to convince the American public he and his policies deserve the credit. 

    A poll conducted in January by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research put his economic approval rating at just 35%, despite his administration having now embarked on four “Investing in America” tours in which top officials hit the road to sell his economic agenda.

    “Biden has tried to message on jobs … and other aspects of the economy, but inflation remains the big sticking one,” Belt said. “And it’s difficult for Democrats, because when you ask people which party is better in handling inflation, they usually say Republicans. So this is not a good issue for him.” 

    To that end, Biden will outline an ambitious budget proposal to reduce the federal deficit $3 trillion over 10 years, the White House said Thursday, fueled in large part by raising taxes on wealthy corporations and billionaires. Biden’s proposal would call for billionaires to pay a minimum of 25% on their income, raise the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%, and bar corporations from being able to deduct employee pay if they pay over $1 million to any employee. 

    He will also outline proposals to cut taxes for the middle class and use revenues from his proposals to pay for expansions of programs that aid lower-income families, like the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit. Biden is also set to outline a plan to implement higher Medicare taxes on Americans making more than $400,000 annually to help the program remain financially solvent.

    Lael Brainard, director of the White House National Economic Council, said that Biden will contrast his proposals to Republicans’ plans of extending the 2017 Trump-era tax cuts while slashing corporate tax rates.

    In a briefing with reporters on Tuesday, White House domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden said Biden will seek to highlight his work to lower costs for American families while making sure they know the administration is aware some are feeling a “middle-class squeeze.” 

    “Americans want more breathing room,” Tanden said said, “and as the president has been focused on throughout his term, we will see the State of the Union as an opportunity to drive a robust policy agenda to address a range of costs.” 

    Tanden noted Biden will highlight his work to lower health care costs, such as securing the ability for Medicare to negotiate drug prices and capping insulin at $35 a month for seniors and other Medicare enrollees. 

    “The president will build on that agenda in the State of the Union with more action to take on big Pharma to reduce drug costs for more and more Americans,” Tanden said. 

    She also said Biden will address housing. She noted the administration recognizes “that housing is a real challenge in the country both in terms of affording a first home or being able to pay rent.” 

    “The president will speak to these issues and he has specific proposals that he will speak to in terms of housing affordability and ensuring we are addressing rent,” she said. 

    National Economic Council on Lowering Costs Deputy Director Jon Donenberg and Rohit Chopra, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of the United States on Junk Fees, also noted Biden will call out companies over his belief that some are continuing to keep prices high despite declining costs as well as his self-proclaimed war on hidden or surprise fees at the end of purchases.  

    “Unfortunately it is going to be a lot of a spin on how Bidenomics has actually been a success,” Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., told Spectrum News on Wednesday when asked what he expects to hear from the president on Thursday.

    “You have people who can’t afford the American dream anymore, to own their own homes,” he added. 

    Foreign policy

    Palestinians visit their destroyed homes after Israeli forces left Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)

    Thursday’s high-profile address also comes as Biden is navigating two wars overseas as his request to Congress for additional foreign aid still hangs in the balance.

    Biden has implored House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. to put the Senate-passed $95 package providing aid to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion, Israel as it battles Hamas, the Indo-Pacific as China grows its influence in the region and more up for a vote – thus far to no avail. 

    Jean-Pierre on Wednesday confirmed that Biden invited Ukraine’s first lady as well as the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died last month in a Russian prison, to Thursday’s address. Both are not able to make it, she said. 

    Meanwhile, when it comes to the war in Gaza, Belt said, Biden may have to walk a finer line. 

    “This is something where he has to walk a delicate dance,” he said. 

    “There’s a big faction of the party that is not happy with support for Israel, given what’s going on in Gaza,” Belt added. “So that’s going to have to be something he’s going to have to diplomatically address.” 

    Biden has faced criticism from some in his party over his support for Israel amid the war in Gaza as the Palestinian death toll has risen and the humanitarian crisis has worsened. 

    Questions about Biden’s age

    While not a policy issue per se, Belt notes the 81-year-old president’s age could be a focus Thursday night. 

    Biden has faced mounting questions on the topic that were only heightened when a special counsel report recommending against charging Biden for his handling of classified information referred to him as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” 

    “People are waiting for him to have that ‘oops’ moment in terms of his memory, or his physical, stamina, posture what have you,” Belt said. “And so there’s gonna be a lot of people waiting to play the gotcha game with him if he does something wrong.”

    Belt, however, also noted Thursday is an opportunity for Biden to “reenergize those voters who have become a little bit disaffected.”

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    Maddie Gannon

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  • Weather Explained: Lightning safety

    Weather Explained: Lightning safety

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    By

    Spectrum News Weather Staff

    Nationwide


    PUBLISHED 10:00 AM ET Mar. 01, 2024
    PUBLISHED 10:00 AM EST Mar. 01, 2024

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    Spectrum News Weather Staff

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  • Warren Washington: Climate adviser to 6 presidents

    Warren Washington: Climate adviser to 6 presidents

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    Jimmy Carter. Ronald Reagan. George H. W. Bush. Bill Clinton. George W. Bush. Barack Obama.

    You’ve heard of each of those presidents, but you probably haven’t heard of Warren Washington, the scientist who advised all of them on Earth’s climate. It’s no wonder; he also helped develop one of the first climate models.

    What You Need To Know

    • Warren Washington was the second African American to get a PhD in meteorology

    • He helped develop the earliest global climate models

    • The U.S. government awarded Washington the National Medal of Science in 2010

    Washington was a pioneer in more than just weather and climate. He was just the second African American to get a doctorate in meteorology, earning his PhD from Penn State in 1964.

    Warren Washington standing next to a CRAY supercomputer in 1980. (UCAR)

    To put that in perspective, a report from the American Institute of Physics says that only 14 out of the 740 students to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in atmospheric science as recently as 2015 were African American.

    From the 1960s onward, Washington studied the Earth’s climate system, building simulations that got more detailed as computers became more powerful. Early climate models were crude and slow.

    “We weren’t able to go faster than the actual weather. We actually plowed on because what happened was computers got faster and faster,” he told NASA in a 2016 interview.

    But, as computers got faster, Washington and his colleagues added more detail into the climate models.

    Output from an early climate model in the late 1960s. (UCAR)

    Washington used those computer models to experiment with various scenarios, tweaking the amount of carbon dioxide and other gasses to see what the different outcomes would be.

    This is routine today. Scientists want to know what to expect if we do nothing to limit greenhouse gas emissions or suddenly stop all of it or something in between.

    Washington earned many accolades and awards for his decades of work. In 2010, the country awarded him the National Medal of Science, the U.S. government’s highest scientific honor. He’s also been recognized for his efforts to increase diversity in atmospheric sciences.

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Meteorologist Justin Gehrts

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