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Coloradans need $15,000 more just to live like they did in 2021, analysis finds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:03:42 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – An economic analysis by a group of Congressional Republicans may have you feeling nostalgic for January 2021. There's not much to miss about that time – when many Americans were still out of a job or under stay-at-home orders because of the pandemic – but inflation hadn't yet exploded. Since then, the cost of just about everything, from groceries to gas to housing, has skyrocketed. An inflation tracker created by the members of Congress' Joint Economic Committee shows the impact of inflation on the average household in every state. (While the joint committee is chaired by a Democrat, the report and data was put out by the committees' Republican members.) The report uses January 2021 as a benchmark "because it was the last time inflation was within recent historical norms." Northern lights: More than 20 states have a chance at seeing the auroras Thursday Now, the report claims, most American household would need to spend an additional $10,000 or more just to afford...

Pueblo lottery player wins $5 million jackpot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:03:42 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado has a new millionaire. The Colorado Lottery announced that one lucky player in Pueblo won the Colorado Lotto+ jackpot worth $5,214,531. In order to win the big prize, players had to match all six numbers, and the ticketholder in Pueblo did just that. The winning ticket matched the numbers 10-24-27-35-37-38 on the Nov. 29 drawing. If you are looking for some lottery luck, you might want to purchase your ticket at the same shop as this winner. According to the Colorado Lottery, the ticket was purchased at the Loaf 'N Jug located at 3980 Ivywood Lane. Colorado man wins $5 million on lottery, wants to buy watermelon Aside from the big win, another big event happened in Pueblo on Nov. 29. President Joe Biden visited CS Wind in Pueblo to tout his economic policies and investments in clean energy.The Colorado Lottery even joked that Biden could possibly be the big winner. Currently, the jackpot winner is anonymous as no one has claimed their prize. Once the winn...

Vote: Neighborhoods with the best holiday lights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:03:42 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Driving around Denver, you might find one or two houses decorated with Christmas lights. The hard part is finding full neighborhoods that join in on the holiday spirit.Some Denver spots are known for their holiday lights. The Denver Botanic Gardens was just named one of the best light displays in the U.S. Meanwhile, most of the Denver metro area has Christmas tree lighting displays already up for the season.With less than a week into December, local houses are also getting ready for the dark days and holidays ahead.Decorated houses are easy to find. One family in Highlands Ranch even participated in a national competition for a prize of $50,000 for the best Christmas light display. But nearby neighbors with the same setups aren't as common. Highlands Ranch family competes for best Christmas light decorations in the country FOX31 is looking for neighborhoods that collectively participate in the fun. Houses side by side with lights glowing, streets covered in lights,...

Florida discontinues manatee winter feeding program after seagrass conditions improve

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:03:42 GMT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A two-year experimental feeding program for starving Florida manatees will not immediately resume this winter as conditions have improved for the threatened marine mammals and the seagrass on which they depend, wildlife officials said.Thousands of pounds of lettuce were fed to manatees that typically gather in winter months near the warm-water discharge of a power plant on Florida’s east coast. State and federal wildlife officials launched the program after pollution killed off vast seagrass beds, leading to a record of over 1,100 manatee deaths in 2021.This season, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined the seagrass has started to recover in key winter foraging areas on the east coast, and that there appear to be fewer manatees in poor physical condition going into the stressful colder months.“After careful consideration, the agencies are not providing manatees with a supplemental food so...

Young girl in Denver organizes pet drive to bring holiday joy to shelter animals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:03:42 GMT

DENVER, Colo. (WSVN) — In the spirit of the season, a young girl in Denver made a “paw-sitive” impact on shelter animals’ lives, inspired by the memory of her beloved best friend, a border collie mix named Bella.Meet Milly Kukuczka, the 9-year-old girl behind a pet drive initiative aimed at providing toys, treats, and beds for dogs residing in shelters. “I thought it was sad that pets didn’t have owners, especially around the holidays,” she said.Milly’s journey began when her family asked her for her Christmas list. Instead of traditional requests, she surprised her parents by presenting a flier outlining her plan for a pet drive donation. “We asked her for her Christmas list, and she went into her art room and came out with a flier and wanted to do a pet drive donation,” said Milly’s mother, Ashley.Determined to ensure that shelter animals experience the joy of the season, Milly has committed to personally delivering the c...

Miami and Shanghai to host F1 sprint races for the first time in 2024

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:03:42 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Miami and Shanghai will host their first Formula One sprint races next season as two of the six sprints on the calendar take place in the United States.The calendar published Tuesday includes the first sprint race of the season in April at the Chinese Grand Prix, which is back on the F1 schedule for the first time since 2019 after being canceled for four years running amid the coronavirus pandemic.There is also a sprint race scheduled for May at the Miami Grand Prix, which will be in its third year in F1.The United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, in October gets a sprint race for the second year running. Austria, Brazil and Qatar are also returning hosts for sprint races.Exactly where the sprint races will fit into each race weekend next season is unclear amid a push to change the arrangement used in 2023, after it prompted calls for a clearer split between sprint and Grand Prix sessions.This year’s schedules saw qualifying for the main Grand Prix race held o...

A Florida lottery winner has less than a week to claim a $44 million prize before they lose it

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:03:42 GMT

(CNN) — This summer, someone walked into a Central Florida gas station and purchased a winning Quick Pick lottery ticket. That person now has less than a week to claim their prize before they forfeit a whopping $44 million.The unclaimed ticket will expire Monday, December 11, unless the ticket holder comes forward, according to the Florida Lottery.The winning numbers from the June 14 drawing are 09-13-15-46-51-52.The ticket was purchased at a Sunoco Express gas station in Kissimmee, Florida.Prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing or the ticket will expire, according to the lottery.A portion of every Florida Lottery ticket purchased goes to the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund, which funnels into the state’s public education system.When a ticket expires, state law requires 80 percent of the unclaimed prize go to the education fund. The remaining 20 percent is returned to the prize pool for future prizes.

European Commission to pitch three-year delay to Brexit electric vehicle tariffs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:03:42 GMT

LONDON — The European Commission is to propose a three-year delay to new Brexit tariffs on electric vehicles, two people familiar with the plans told POLITICO.The proposal — which will be welcomed in London — is expected to be announced at a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday by Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič.The measure is expected to be approved by EU member state ambassadors in a meeting next week.A package of financial support for the European battery industry is also expected to be announced to head off concerns from some member states that the rule change could increase dependence on Chinese batteries.Without the change, 10 percent tariffs are due to hit EVs traded across the English Channel from January 1 2024 when existing grace periods in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement expire.Though the TCA provides for tariff-free trade between the U.K. and EU, it only applies to goods produced in either of those countries.The rules of origin for electric vehicles mea...

Northern Ireland gangs still cast shadow of terror amid Stormont’s Brexit power vacuum

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:03:42 GMT

DUBLIN — Outlawed paramilitary groups remain an ever-present danger in Northern Ireland — and the U.K. region’s chronic lack of local government at Stormont is a big part of the reason why, according to an expert panel.The Independent Reporting Commission said repeated breakdowns of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing administration since 1999 have “had the effect of prolonging instability and mitigating against the kind of sustained, cross-party policy interventions, strategic decision-making and approaches that are needed to address the range of factors involved in continued paramilitarism.”The commission was created in 2016 by the British and Irish governments and Northern Ireland’s administration — at a time when the cross-community coalition was still functioning — to analyze the paramilitary threat and identify the best ways to end it.But as its latest 154-page report highlights, the commission said the ongoing Brexit-driven political stalemate at Stormont is “inhibiting efforts ...

Brazil’s anger over EU carbon tax infiltrates COP28

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:03:42 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Brazil has taken its green trade row with the European Union to this year’s global climate summit. The Brazilian government has been among the most vocal opponents of the EU’s new carbon border tax on imported goods, describing the measure as “discriminatory” and warning it might hinder rather than help global efforts to reduce planet-warming emissions. A fight is now brewing at the COP28 conference in Dubai as Brazil — backed by China — seeks to inject its trade concerns into international talks on how to curb climate change. In the first iteration of a draft negotiating text published Tuesday, some countries are pushing for language that would see the nearly 200 countries represented at this year’s talks criticize measures such as the EU’s carbon border tax — essentially a levy on carbon-intensive products coming into the bloc. The proposal suggests that countries adopt a COP28 declaration that “expresses serious concern&...