Spring break

The wind-driven 125 fire that forced the evacuation of the town of Simla southeast of metro Denver on Thursday afternoon has been mostly contained, authorities announced Friday morning. Breaking out in grass Thursday afternoon, this fire burned across about 1,000 acres — until Elbert County crews used road graders to clear vegetation. Simla, with a population of about 600, sits 48 miles northeast of Colorado Springs. The Elizabeth Fire Department in a Twitter posting declared the fire 96% contained. The fire is currently 96% contained. Crews will remain on scene to put out hotspots until morning. This is the final update. #125fire — Elizabeth Fire (@Elizabeth_Fire) March 31, 2023 … [Read more...] about Elbert County wildfire that forced evacuation of Simla largely contained

Democratic Michigan Rep. Dan Kildee has been diagnosed with skin cancer, he announced Friday. “A few weeks ago, after consulting with doctors, I scheduled what I thought was a preventative scan for a swollen lymph node. The results, it turned out, were much more serious. After additional testing, I’ve been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, a serious but curable form of cancer. Thankfully, I caught it very early. With early detection and great doctors, they found a very small tumor in one of my tonsils,” he said in a statement. Michigan @RepDanKildee shares he’s been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma. He says he’ll have surgery in a few weeks. Full statement: pic.twitter.com/M2UzTN8uQ5 — Mica Soellner (@MicaSoellnerDC) March 31, 2023 Kildee added that he will undergo surgery and take “a few weeks” to recover. His office will remain open to serve constituents, he said. (RELATED: Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin Reveals ‘Serious But Curable’ Cancer … [Read more...] about Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee Reveals Cancer Diagnosis

Democratic California Rep. Nancy Pelosi was fact checked on Twitter after falsely claiming that former President Donald Trump will have to prove his innocence. A Manhattan Grand Jury voted Thursday to indict Trump , nearly two weeks after Trump announced on Truth Social that he expected to be arrested. Pelosi weighed in on the breaking news. “The Grand Jury has acted upon the facts and the law. No one is above the law, and everyone has the right to a trial to prove innocence. Hopefully, the former President will peacefully respect the system, which grants him that right.” (RELATED: CNN Analyst Claims Trump Being Indicted On More Than 30 Counts) The Grand Jury has acted upon the facts and the law. No one is above the law, and everyone has the right to a trial to prove innocence. Hopefully, the former President will peacefully respect the system, which grants him that right. — Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) March 31, 2023 A Twitter Community Note below … [Read more...] about Pelosi Gets One Key Point Horribly Wrong On Trump Indictment

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline The national average price for a gallon of gas hit a two-month high Thursday, as gas demand continues to increase heading into the summer while inventories drop, though experts doubt prices will return to their $5 record high recorded last summer. Key Facts The national average for a gallon of gas shot up to $3.46 Thursday, an increase of 5 cents on the week, bringing it to its highest point since the end of January, according to data from GasBuddy . Gas prices have now rebounded more than 40 cents since reaching a low of $3.05 per gallon on December 26. Analysts attribute the rising prices to a combination of high demand and low supplies: Gas demand increased narrowly from 8.81 million barrels per day to 8.82 million barrels over the week ending March 24, while gas reserves dropped from 229.6 million barrels to 226.7 million barrels over the same time, according to Energy Information Agency … [Read more...] about Gas Prices Hit Two-Month High, Though Experts Doubt They Will Rebound To $5—Here’s Where They’re Most Expensive

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin In a way, tomorrow afternoon’s $1-million Florida Derby matters less to its heavy favorite Forte and to his storied Texan trainer Todd Pletcher than it does to the rest of the surprisingly beefy 12-horse field and their connections, some of whom are straining so hard to get up and over the points fence to gain an invite to the Kentucky Derby that we can almost hear their tack snapping apart. A signature, but nevertheless shocking, stat: With 90 Derby points going into tomorrow’s feature at Gulfstream, Forte carries almost double the number of points held by the rest of the field combined. His nearest competitor in this race in Derby points — Cyclone Mischief, currently the fourth-favorite at 8-1 in the morning line — has just fifteen. True, Derby points can be deceptive — as can be all curlicues of past performance, pedigree and current training status in handicapping — but as a general metric for the maturity and appetite of … [Read more...] about The 2023 Florida Derby: Nobody Can Take ‘Sure Thing’ Forte Down — Can They?

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin A new rule under SECURE 2.0 creates a great opportunity for IRA owners 70 ½ or older with charitable inclinations to get a prospective valuable tax benefit and keep cash flow. The current law allows a charitable distribution from an IRA for individuals age 70 ½ or older (irrespective of the new Required Minimum Distribution of age 73) to make a distribution of up to $100,000 a year directly to a qualified charity. This is called a Qualified Charitable Distribution, or QCD, and they are fantastic opportunities on their own. Now, SECURE 2.0 has introduced a provision that allows a ‘split-interest’ gift, which gives the IRA owner a tax break and provides continuing cash flow. Why a QCD is a great idea. QCDs have a lot of advantages over a conventional charitable deduction. 1. A QCD is eliminated from income, and not treated as an itemized deduction. Thus, a donor can use the standard deduction or other itemized … [Read more...] about SECURE 2.0’s New Rule On IRAs And Charity Can Really Pay Off

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin If you live in the United States and are of a certain age, you're probably feeling pretty good about yourself when you separate out your recyclables. But, as much as it was drilled into us as kids that recycled plastic, glass, and cardboard would save the planet, it's pretty apparent that we need to do more. Based on this 2010 study from the USDA Americans generate, on average, 219 pounds of food waste per person, per year. That number hasn't improved in the 13 years since, with some reports tipping the scales at 242 pounds. That's over 200 lbs. of uneaten, expired, and leftover food per person that ends up in landfills, generating methane. Not to mention all the trash bags that you end up tossing. How many times a month do you end up tossing a half-full trash bag out because food scraps generate a toxic cloud that escapes from the can whenever you open the lid? Composting is one of the easiest options to do … [Read more...] about One Month With Lomi—Turn Food Waste Into Something Useful

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin What do individual therapy retreats look like? originally appeared on Quora : the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Ron N. Gad, PhD, LMFT, Founder & CEO at Beverly Hills Therapy Group, on Quora : Therapy retreats allow for the client to indulge in a focused and streamlined fashion towards their personal and internal goals. Retreats and intensives can look very different based on the needs of the individual client through a catered approach designed by the therapists and clinicians. Many people seek out individual therapy retreats to isolate emotional experiences that have affected their quality of life. For instance, many individuals who are working through trauma, grief, loss, or depression may benefit from a weekend to separate themselves from their responsibilities outside of their mental health. … [Read more...] about What To Expect On An Individual Therapy Retreat

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin President Biden’s fiscal year 2024 budget would revive 2021’s enhanced child tax credit (CTC) with some new twists that seek to make the credit work better for families. But in doing so, the plan would likely deliver extra benefits to some very well-off families. It could also increase complexity – pushing against a key argument for operating benefit programs through the tax system . First, the good stuff. The proposal would extend full refundability permanently, allowing even very low-income families to receive the full benefit of the CTC. Full refundability is critical to reducing child poverty , especially among Black and Hispanic children. Under current law, about 19 million children in low-income families fail to get the maximum credit because their parents don’t earn enough money. As in 2021, younger children would qualify for larger benefits than older children – an idea backed by research . This … [Read more...] about Biden’s Child Tax Proposal Would Help Many But Presents Administrative Challenges

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Calls for the immediate scaling back and even discontinuation of fossil fuel use have grown strident again recently, on the heels of this month’s release of the final installment of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report. It spawned urgent rhetoric like that from United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres , who said, “…it is possible to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees [Celsius] with rapid and deep emissions reductions across all sectors of the global economy.” His comments were accompanied by yet another round of demands for an immediate halt to funding of any further hydrocarbon investments . That comes in the wake of last year’s anti-fossil fuel mania, when the news was dominated for weeks by the actions of activists from groups like Just Stop Oil . They made headlines by trying to destroy precious works of art and gluing themselves to roadways, all in the name of fighting climate change through their demand … [Read more...] about Want Clean Energy? We’ll Need More Fossil Fuels