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What's next on the debt ceiling: Selling the plan and making a deal into a law

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — After weeks of negotiations, President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have announced an “ agreement in principle ” to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and avoid a potentially catastrophic default.The agreement includes spending cuts demanded by Republicans, but it is short of the reductions in the sweeping legislation passed by the Republican-led House last month.To reduce spending, as Republicans had insisted, the package includes a two-year budget deal that would hold spending flat for 2024 and impose limits for 2025. That's in exchange for raising the debt limit for two years, until after the next election.It also expands some work requirements for food-stamp recipients and tweaks an environmental law to try to streamline reviews to build new energy projects.Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the United States could default on its debt obligations by June 5 if lawmakers do not act in time to raise the federal debt ceiling.A look at what’s next a...

Chewing Your Cannabidiol — The Latest Details On CBD Chewing Gum

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Chewing minty fresh gum is refreshing on its own, but what if you added CBD to the mix? Yes, there are already hemp vendors that offer CBD-infused sticks of gum. According to manufacturers, CBD gum offers many impressive benefits to customers who want a discreet way to microdose CBD. Some people even claim CBD gum has one of the highest absorption rates for a hemp-derived edible.Although hemp-infused gum is new, plenty of customers are curious about giving CBD gum a try. If you’re in the mood to add CBD to your next gum break, you should consider the latest details on this product line.Chomping On Cannabidiol — How Does CBD Gum Work?Most CBD gum companies claim their products deliver CBD directly to your tongue’s sublingual glands. As the CBD gets released, it circulates in your saliva and gets absorbed under the tongue. This is the same theory behind taking CBD oils and tinctures sublingually for enhanced absorption.While our sublingual glands can absorb compounds into the bloodstr...

Milpitas resident, nonprofit recognized during Asian American Heritage Month

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

State Assemblymember Alex Lee, whose District 24 has the highest Asian population in the state, celebrated Asian American Heritage Month on May 19 by recognizing four community members and two organizations from his district, including one Milpitas resident and one nonprofit based in the city.Loreto Dimaandal was honored for her advocacy work for unhoused individuals and families. She has been serving the unhoused community members in Milpitas for over 10 years through her grassroots organization LoretoQD’s Brigade–Silicon Valley. The brigade provides food to unhoused residents and families in need, and advocates for them by hosting donation drives.Through the efforts of Dimaandal and her group of volunteers, unhoused people have found jobs, housing and transportation, and have received medical help and social services support.“One community member told me she has literally saved many lives single-handedly,” Lee said.She is also an active member of Agape Silicon Valley and the...

Campbell student named Coke Scholar for academics, community service

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Campbell resident Anna Yang, a senior at Notre Dame High School in San Jose, has been selected as one of 150 Coke Scholars by Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, which will contribute $20,000 to her education at Stanford University. The only honoree from Santa Clara County, Anna was chosen from among more than 91,000 applicants.As part of her application, Anna selected Notre Dame physics teacher Olena Petrova as her Educator of Distinction. The school honored Anna and Petrova at its annual Senior Recognition Night on Thursday, May 25.The Coke Scholars Award honors students who combine academic achievement with community service. The honor caps an array of achievements for Anna throughout her high school career in both science and literature. “I feel like everyone is born to love humanities and science, and it’s really just the world that pushes them to choose,” Anna said in a statement.Anna is the current Youth Poet Laureate for Santa Clara County.  She was a Top 10 finisher in the New Y...

Youth rock and jazz bands to perform in Saratoga

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

A natural performanceYouth rock and jazz bands from Be Natural Music are performing June 11 in Saratoga to celebrate the Cupertino music school’s first anniversary.The concert is set from noon-3 p.m. at the Tamra Mediterranean Grill, 12019 Saratoga Sunnyvale Road, Saratoga. Admission is free, but Be Natural will be accepting donations for its scholarship program, which awards over $1,400 per month to 33 students.For more information, visit www.benaturalmusic.live/donate.‘Find Your Voice’ at libraryThe Santa Clara County Library District invites patrons to “Find Your Voice” during the district’s free summer reading program.Throughout the months of June and July, district libraries will be hosting a lineup of programs for children, teens and adults featuring performers, arts and crafts, book clubs and speakers.The program is designed for patrons to discovering different ways to express themselves.“According to the California State Library, summer reading programs can help children dev...

Willow Glen preschool acquires neighboring campus

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Neighborhood NotesWILLOW GLEN>>Regard Preschool of Willow Glen has been acquired by Action Day Schools. Both schools have campuses on Lincoln Avenue. Established in 1991, Regard enrolls students ages 2-6, while Action Day, which opened in 1975, enrolls children from infancy to age 5.“We are thrilled to add the Regard Preschool campus to the Action Day Schools family,” Action Day Schools president Cathy Jelic, a longtime Willow Glen resident, said in a statement. “We look forward to working with the Regard team to create a seamless transition for families and provide even more opportunities for children to learn and grow.”“The decision to close Regard was not an easy one. However, I do recognize that this is the right time to begin my retirement,” said Julie Rymer, the preschool’s founder and director. “It has been an honor and a privilege to work with so many wonderful Willow Glen families.”This acquisition is part of Action Day Schools’ ongoing growth strategy. For enrollment...

Latest line: A good week for Applied Materials, a bad week for Ron DeSantis

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Applied MaterialsJoined by Vice President Kamala Harris, leading semiconductor equipment maker announces it will spend $4 billion to build a new research center in Sunnyvale with 2,000 new jobs by 2026.    Ron DeSantisFlorida governor teams with Elon Musk to announce his presidential candidacy on San Francisco’s Twitter. But the event was marred by technical glitches and became the butt of jokes nationwide.   Eleni KounalakisCalifornia’s low-profile lieutenant governor gets a big endorsement from Hillary Clinton in her run for governor in 2026, which will help with fundraising. But she’s still an unknown to most voters. 

They said it: Steering the narrative

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

“We are going to try to leak it tomorrow to take the wind out of Gillmor’s sails.”— San Francisco 49ers Communications Director Ellie Caple, in an Oct. 6 text message to team researcher Tim Hoekstra on leaking a Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury report that echoed Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor’s criticism of team influence over officials in the city where the NFL team plays. 

In Alameda County’s Cherryland, environmental injustices come in many forms

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Claudia Canchola’s apartment in Cherryland should have been a place of comfort. She envisioned it as a space where she could cook meals for her husband and three young children, spend time together as a family and create a home.But the shiny promise of Cherryland’s name was lost in the details. This 1.2-square-mile pocket of Alameda County, bordered by three interstates and bisected by a railroad track, has a population of 15,808 and some of the county’s most worrisome health indicators. Asthma rates are high: in the 89th percentile. It’s an area defined in part by its geography, situated amid the toxic emissions from major thoroughfares.The area also has other challenges: more than 1 in 10 residents live in poverty, 47% have no education beyond high school, and only about a quarter of them live within walking distance of a supermarket.Claudia Canchola says there are some issues that need to be repaired like the electric stove, sink and loud noises coming from a wa...

Berkeley awarded $5.1 million to study plan for revitalizing its pier with ferry service

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

The Berkeley Marina’s historic pier has remained abandoned, crumbling and fenced off for the nearly eight years since it closed amid deteriorating concrete and corroded rebar from years of weathering by San Francisco Bay’s breaking salt water waves.Now a $5.1 million grant from local transit officials will help the city take another step to reopening and expanding the structure built directly across from the Golden Gate Bridge in the 1920s. The grant will fund critical state and federal environmental reviews of a $121 million restoration project.In addition to tackling desperately needed pier repairs, the project will also bring a large-scale passenger ferry service to the marina — nearly a century after plans to ferry commuters by boat never materialized.The new grant — which will fund the project’s design, environmental review and engineering work — was approved on Thursday by the 22-member Alameda County Transportation Commission that represents the ...