Spadea Example

Biden’s plan

Miracle League ball field

and wo rk and raise she said. “With the City of Tyle r, we ly excited to give community by crea acle Lea gue field hance the live sofh fa mi li es every ye ar Pa rk .”

to playi na Miracle Lea gue in other areas wh en they decided to star to ne here.

“Smith County is ac ommunity in wh ichweare prou dt ol ive

Th ec ity is prov iding to build the field, adjac other baseballfi el Lea gue is raising str uct the field and

Trash to Trea

BY JENNIFER SCOTT jscott @tylerpaper.com

Most peopled on’t think muchabo ut wh eret heir pets’ food ba gg oes after emptying it out, bu tfor Conn ie Fl eming, shes ees an oppor tunity to create and give back.

After observingh er sewing groups on Fa ce book repurp osing the ba gs,F leming says she hadn’ts een anyone else in thea re ad oing it, “So, It ho ught I’d give it atry,” she said.

Star ting with her ow n do gs ’5 0- po und Alpo ba g, Fl eming mana ge dt omakea larg es ho pping ba g.

“It didn’tl ook too bad, so Iwanted to do more, ”s he said.

First, she wa shes th eb ag s in at ub with soapa nd water then uses Clorox wipes to sanitiz ea nd ma ke ss ureeverything is completelyclean and dry befores he star ts cutting ands ew ing.

“Aft er it’s cl ean and dry, and Id osome cutting, it can takem eabout an hour to sewt hings to ge ther fo ro ne

ba g,” Fl eming said.

Th ough she be ga nt hi s endeavornot too long ag o, she wa sa lreadya prow ith an eedle and thread, as she has made quilts,chi ld re n’ s cl othing, memory stuf fed animals and even masks

“Oh, gosh,Im us thave ma de 5, 000 masks during the pandemic,” she re called .“ It wa sc razy.

Using a1984 sewing machine she bought ga ra ge sale,F leming anyfoo do rf eedbag transfor ms them into shoppingb ag s.

“It can be ac at or ba g, ah orse or ch icke ba g… I’vec ome across feed ba gs thatwerer cute,” she said. She added thatt he

Jennifer Scott/Tyler Morning Animal feed bags aretransformed intoshopping bags

With her rescue catGracie supervising, Connie Fleming repurposes one of many feed bags that she local animal rescues.

FIELD >> PA

BY JENNIFER SCOTT jscott @tylerpaper.com

Th eS mith County Commissioners Cour to nT uesdayapproved using $264,654 of its coronavir us-relief funds to help build as pecial baseball field for th en ew Mi ra cl eL ea gue of Tyler Th en onprofit org anization promotes recreational and deve lopmental activities fo rchildren with mental and phys ical disabilities.S mi th County’s American Re scue Plan Act

funding will help payfor as pecial rubberiz ed turf baseball field thata ccommodates wh eelch airs and other assistive devi ce swhi le helping to prevent injuries in case of af all.

Shannon Glenney,f un dd evelopment vice president for Miracle Lea gue of Tyler,s aid fa milies were dr iv ing up to an hour away fo rt heir ch ildren to playi na Miracle Lea gue in other areas wh en they decided to star to ne here.

“Smith County is ac ommunity in wh ichweare prou dt ol ive

and wo rk and raise af amily,” she said. “With the help of the City of Tyle r, we aree xtremely excited to give back to our community by creating aM iracle Lea gue field thatw ill enhance the live sofh un dreds of fa mi li es every ye ar at Fa ulkner Pa rk .”

Th ec ity is prov iding the land to build the field, adjacent to its other baseballfi el ds.M iracle Lea gue is raising funds to constr uct the field and the city will

BY JENNIFER SCOTT jscott @tylerpaper.com

Most peopled on’t think muchabo ut wh eret heir pets’ food ba gg oes after emptying it out, bu tfor Conn ie Fl eming, shes ees an oppor tunity to create and give back.

After observingh er sewing groups on Fa ce book repurp osing the ba gs,F leming says she hadn’ts een anyone else in thea re ad oing it, “So, It ho ught I’d give it atry,” she said.

Star ting with her ow n do gs ’5 0- po und Alpo ba g, Fl eming mana ge dt omakea larg es ho pping ba g.

“It didn’tl ook too bad, so Iwanted to do more, ”s he said.

First, she wa shes th eb ag s in at ub with soapa nd water then uses Clorox wipes to sanitiz ea nd ma ke ss ureeverything is completelyclean and dry befores he star ts cutting ands ew ing.

“Aft er it’s cl ean and dry, and Id osome cutting, it can takem eabout an hour to sewt hings to ge ther fo ro ne

ba g,” Fl eming said. Th ough she be ga nt hi s endeavornot too long ag o, she wa sa lreadya prow ith an eedle and thread, as she has made quilts,chi ld re n’ s cl othing, memory stuf fed animals and even masks

“Oh, gosh,Im us thave ma de 5, 000 masks during the pandemic,” she re called .“ It wa sc razy.

Using a1984 sewing machine she bought from a ga ra ge sale,F leming takes anyfoo do rf eedbag and transfor ms them into handy shoppingb ag s.

“It can be ac at or do gfoo d ba g, ah orse or ch icke nf eed ba g… I’vec ome across goat feed ba gs thatwerereally cute,” she said. She added thatt he animal

food ba gs are“ ve ry durabl e” to use as arecycled ba gt o car ry groc eries,clothes, crafts or other supplies Th ey arealso easilycleaned. Since she has show nh er wo rk on social media, people have be en givi ng he rbag s to use bu ts he does ch eck out the sid eo ft he ro ad fo r potential projects as we ll.

“I’veh ad some thatwere al ittle fa de df romb eing out in the sunbut it still wo rk s because it give st he ba gs ome ch aracter,” Fl em in gs ai d. She has alreadys old quite af ew ba gs since she started.

Under her business,S ew Craftie,s he sells larg eb ag s for$15, medium ba gs fo r$ 10 and small ba gs for$ 5, giving her profits to local animal ch a r i t i e s

“I prov id ep roof of the donations so thatmyc ustomers knowwheret he ir mo ney is going,” Fl emings ai d. But she doe sn ’t do all of it alone,a ss he

BY JENNIFER SCOTT jscott@tylerpaper.com

Plans continue to move forwardfor construction of anew Smith County Cour thouse in downtown Tyler

Adding movement to the anticipated project, the Smith County Commissioners Cour tonTuesday approved theadver tising foraConstruction Manager-At-Risk forthe newcour thouse and parking facility

According to Jaye Latch, purchasingdirector forSmith County,there isatwo-ste pprocess whichwill be conducted by an evaluation committee to oversee the process of the project.

“Wewill request forqualifications first, submissions will be evaluated then based on published criteria, based on qualificationsonly,”she said.

Ste p2 involves requesting forproposalswith interviews,and then evaluating based on cost, as well as thequalifications.

“Wewill rescore themost qualified and best value forSmith County and bring it backtocour tfor avote,” said Latch.

“I reallylikethe two-ste pprocess it’s very transparent,” said County JudgeNealFranklin.

According to Thomas Wilson, assistant district attor ney forSmith County,the role of aManager-At-Risk is to makesureeachpar tofthe process does not exceed its set amount.

“In essence,itisageneral contractor forthe county butthereare specific statutory requirements that they must meet, cer tain things they have to do,” said Thomas

Thomas mentioned there are three phases to this process: parking lot, demolition, and cour thouse phases

Eachofthe three phases will have aprice thatisset and the Manager-At-Risk will not exceed, as well as not exceeding the total construction

local

rescues.

Supreme Court casts more doubt on Biden’s plan to forgive student loans

BY DAVID G. SAVAGE

Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s conservatives gave a shar ply critical hearing Tuesday to President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive more than $400 billion in student loans, arguing that only Cong ress could approve such a large amount of federal spending “We are talking about half-trillion dollars and 43 million Americans,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr told Solicitor Gen Elizabeth G. Prelogar at the outset of Tuesday’s argument.

“We take very seriously the idea of the separation of powers and that power should be divided to prevent its abuse,” he said.

“Your view is that the president can act unilaterally, that there was no role for Cong ress to play in this. And there’s no role for us to play in this matter ”

The chief justice’s comments set the tone for three hours of argument. His views were echoed by other conservatives who suggested the president had overstepped his authority

It remains possible the president’s plan of student debt relief will survive if the justices decide the challengers do not have legal standing to sue

Taxpayers do not have standing to sue to stop the government from spending money, and it’s not clear if anyone could show they will be hurt if the government forgives another person’s loan.

But the conservative justices did not sound as though they were thinking of tossing out either of the two related cases before them

In December, the justices voted to keep in place lower court orders that blocked Biden’s plan from taking ef fect. But they ag reed to hear the administration’s argument in support of the student debt relief plan

In the first of two cases heard on Tuesday, lawyers for Nebraska, Missouri and four other Republican-led states contended the COVID-19 pandemic did not give the president the power to cancel student loans They said instead that Biden was seeking to fulfill a campaign promise.

Missouri argued its state higher-education agency will lose money if it has fewer student loans to process Several other Republican-led states said they may lose tax revenue if loans were wiped out. And two Texas residents who did not qualify for relief under Biden’s plan say they lost the procedural right to file an objection with the Education Department

In defense of the administration, the solicitor general said the pandemic had caused “enormous disruption” and left millions struggling to pay their bills And Congress in the past had authorized the Education secretary to “modify or waive” provisions of the federal student aid prog ram during a national emergency.

But Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas said the word “modify” does not describe a policy to forgive loans that would amount to more than $400 billion. Instead, they said this was a major change that should be decided by Cong ress

It sounded as though the court’s conservatives would apply the same standard to student debt relief that they used in a re-

cent climate change case.

Last year, the six conservative justices blocked a proposed climate change policy being considered by the Environmental Protection Agency The chief justice said Cong ress has not authorized a rule that would force the states to transform their systems of generating electric power by closing down coal fired plants and switching to wind or solar power. While Congress could adopt such a policy, Roberts said in the earlier case, the re gulators at EPA could not do so on their own.

At several points, Roberts and Justices Samuel A Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh questioned the fairness of Biden’s plan. They said other students, cur rent and past, chose not take out loans or paid back their debts

The chief justice posed an example of two high school friends: one who takes out a loan for colle ge and a second who takes out a loan to start a lawn care service How is it fair, he asked, for the government to forgive the loan of one of them who is a college graduate, but not the other?

NYC records its first significant snowfall of winter; flights canceled

BY PETER SBLENDORIO New York Daily News

— New York

NEW YORK

City recorded its first significant snowfall of the winter with 1.8 inches accumulating in Central Park by Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service said.

The city had only recorded 0.4 inches of snowfall this season before the storm that began Monday night.

Hundreds of flights into and out of New York were canceled Tuesday, including 150 at LaGuardia Airport, according to the tracking website Flight Aware More than two dozen flights were also delayed at LaGuardia, where 2.7 inches of snow accumulated.

“Weather conditions have caused LGA Airport flight disruptions,” LaGuardia tweeted Tuesday. “Check with your airline to determine the status of your flight.”

Nearly 100 flights into or out of JFK Airport were canceled Tuesday, and more than 70 were canceled. NWS recorded 1.5 inches of snow there Newark Liberty had nearly 50 cancellations and nearly 40 delays.

The Bronx experienced the largest amount of accumulated snow among the

Biden taps

Julie Su as next labor secretary

BY COURTNEY SUBRAMANIAN

Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Tuesday nominated Julie Su to be his next labor secretary, setting up the Californian to become the first Asian American he has appointed to run a Cabinet-level department.

Su, who has served as deputy labor secretary since 2021, would replace Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, who plans to leave the administration in March to lead the National Hockey League Players’ Association.

The president called Su a “tested and experienced leader” and “critical partner” who played a key role in recent ne gotiations between railroad operators and unionized workers He urged the Senate to quickly confirm her to the position.

Kavanaugh said he was troubled that the president or agency of ficials would create a “massive new prog ram” based on an old and vaguely worded law, or a claim of national emergency

“Some of the biggest mistakes in the court’s history were defer ring to assertions of executive emergency power,” he said. Some of the finest moments in the court’s history were pushing back against presidential assertions of emergency power, he added.

Kavanaugh was referring to a 2003 law adopted during the Iraq war that authorized the Education secretary to “modify” the student aid program “in connection with a war or other military operation or national emergency.” At the time, lawmakers said they were concerned about those who were called up to serve abroad The measure was used to waive monthly repayments for some, but it did not lead to the cancellation of loans.

Two years ago, Congress briefly considered the issue of student loan forgiveness but took no action.

Before joining Biden’s Labor Department, Su served as secretary of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency. In that role she oversaw the California Employment Development Department, which is responsible for doling out unemployment benefits but struggled to manage a backlog of claims and to combat widespread fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic

The state agency was overwhelmed with unemployment benefit applications at the start of the pandemic The of fice received at least 26.4 million claims and paid out $180 billion in benefits, but about $20 billion of those payments went to scammers according to state of ficials The state has recovered at least $1.1 billion in the insurance funds, most of which will be turned over to the federal government.

Su’s supporters say she inherited a broken, understaf fed unemployment system that was not prepared to handle the onslaught of COVID-related claims.

Her critics say she mismanaged the agency.

Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., a former California Assembly member who ran against Gavin Newsom for governor, called Su’s nomination a “clear example of failing up.”

“It’s appalling that President Biden would even consider Julie Su, who oversaw this whole mess, to be his next secretary of labor,” Kiley said. “I can’t think of anyone who’s less qualified for that position, given what happened to California on her watch.”

BY NICK WADHAMS Bloomberg

News

WASHINGTON — The top U.S and Chinese defense officials haven’t spoken since November, the Pentagon said Tuesday, a sign of how recent strains over Taiwan and an alleged spy balloon have fractured communications between the world’s two most powerful armed forces.

five boroughs, with NWS reporting 5.6 inches there.

Many schools in New York and New Jersey announced delayed starts or canceled classes altogether New York prepared for the snowstorm Monday by pre-treating the roads with brine according to the sanitation department, which said it had more than 700 million pounds of salt, more than 700 salt spreaders and more than 2,000 plowable vehicles available. The rest of the snowfall recorded in the city this year came on Feb 1, setting a new record for the latest day of

winter with the first traceable snow It ended the city’s near-record snowless streak at 328 consecutive days.

“With this being a snowless winter, we’re not accustomed to the snow,” Tom Kines, a senior meteorologist for AccuWeather told the Daily News ahead of the storm Monday “That first time out when you’re traveling on the snow, it catches people off-guard. It’s probably more of a nuisance storm for us than anything else.”

The U.S. recorded more than 450 flight cancellations and more than 700 delays overall Tuesday

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin last spoke to his Chinese counterpart, General Wei Fenghe, on the margins of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations event in Cambodia on Nov. 22, according to Brigadier General Pat Ryder a Defense Department spokesman.

The Pentagon “maintains regular contact with the PRC at numerous levels,” Ryder said. That acknowledgment highlights just how much of a chilling effect that recent disputes — over the balloon, the issue of Taiwan and numerous other flashpoints have strained ties and led to a communications breakdown

In early February, China rebuffed a U.S. effort to arrange a call Austin had sought with Wei to address the balloon episode

“Lines between our militaries are particularly important in moments like this,” Ryder said at the time Last week, President Joe Biden expressed concern over the lack of communication, telling ABC News that it was important for “the two most powerful nations in the world to be able to resolve anything quickly so there is not a mistake made.”

The longtime labor official, who has been considered the front-runner for the post since Walsh announced his exit, was confirmed by the Senate to her cur rent role in a 50-47 vote Media reports mentioned her as a possible pick to lead the department before Walsh was named. Unions including the Service Employees International Union and the National Education Association have endorsed her nomination.

The former California labor commissioner and civil rights attorney earned a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant for her le gal work seeking better working conditions for immig rants in 2001.

Jemal Countess/Getty Images for People’s Rally to Cancel Student Debt/TNS

Kiara Palmer speaks as student loan borrowers and advocates gather for the “People’s Rally to Cancel Student Debt” as the Supreme Court heard arguments on the cancellation of student debt on Tuesday in Washington, D.C

Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images/TNS

A person runs through Riverside Park on the West Side of New York City on Tuesday as the city records its first significant snowfall in over a year.

Top U.S ., China defense officials haven’t spoken in 3 months

Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for One Fair Wage/TNS File Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su speaks during a Learn About Worker Experiences event at the Skal restaurant in Brooklyn on April 11, 2022, in New York City.