by Mary Yang | Dec 14, 2021 | Living
Madison resident and farmer Mylia Vang didn’t apply for some of the $100 million in COVID-19 relief grants for Wisconsin farmers because she didn’t know the money existed. Vang, 44, who makes between $20,000 and $30,000 per year selling asparagus, zucchini and other...
by Mary Yang | Dec 8, 2021 | Living
WASHINGTON – Although the Department of Veterans Affairs backed a record 1.44 million homes loans for veterans and service members in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, members of Congress and veterans’ advocates said Wednesday that sellers remain leery of VA-backed loans...
by Mary Yang | Dec 5, 2021 | Featured, Politics
WASHINGTON — Christmas season is officially in full swing in the nation’s capital as the 99th annual National Christmas tree lighting ceremony drew crowds on Thursday evening. Marylanders got in on the festive celebration both in person and from afar. His first...
by Mary Yang | Nov 17, 2021 | Living
WASHINGTON — Expanding public access to national parks by increasing transportation options will be a top priority in discretionary federal spending, said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday. Buttigieg and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on...
by Mary Yang | Nov 17, 2021 | Living
WASHINGTON — More than 80% of nearly 9,000 low-income areas named “Opportunity Zones” as part of a 2017 tax break program received no money in 2019, federal records show. The reason: There’s no incentive for wealthy taxpayers, who receive generous tax breaks for...
by Mary Yang | Nov 9, 2021 | Living
WASHINGTON — Making public transit more accessible, cleaning up pollution in low-income neighborhoods and reuniting communities split by highways built through them are among the first priorities of the Biden administration’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill,...
by Mary Yang | Nov 3, 2021 | Politics
Virginia voters on Tuesday will make history by electing the commonwealth’s first woman of color lieutenant governor: Democrat Hala Ayala, who is Afro-Latina, or Republican Winsome Sears, who is Black. But for many Black women voters – who have arguably the most to...
by Mary Yang | Oct 27, 2021 | Health & Science, Living
WASHINGTON — High coronavirus infection and death rates among workers in the U.S. meatpacking industry went unreported because of a “political decision” to not track cases, according to the report released Wednesday of an investigation by the House Select...
by Mary Yang | Oct 20, 2021 | National Security
WASHINGTON — Crypto currencies pose a threat to U.S. sanctions and the dollar’s dominant role in the global economy, the Treasury said this week, and the U.S. has to adopt more safeguards to protect national security. One of the biggest threats arising from new forms...
by Mary Yang | Oct 12, 2021 | Featured, Politics
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Tuesday indicated that she is leaning toward cutting the length of programs in President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan to pare down the $3.5 trillion price tag. The spending package, which was originally slated to dole out...
by Mary Yang | Oct 7, 2021 | Featured, Living
WASHINGTON — Fair prices, supply chain backlogs and vaccines for pigs were hot topics Thursday at a House committee hearing on the United States livestock industry. Inventories of beef, pork and poultry are down for a variety of reasons such as drought, disease...
by Mary Yang | Sep 30, 2021 | Featured, Politics
WASHINGTON — Progressive and moderate House Democrats continued their weeks-long brawl Thursday on the $1 trillion infrastructure act and the $3.5 trillion social spending bill — the Build Back Better Act. Both part of President Joe Biden’s agenda, the two...
