UNPLUGGED.NEWS

Bias-free daily short news briefs.

Sunday, October 1, 2023

The Senate approved a stopgap bill to fund the government until November 17, which includes emergency disaster relief and extends FAA authorization, but excludes additional aid for Ukraine despite bipartisan support.

On Saturday, a plane from the president's military fleet brought the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a trailblazing figure in California politics, to San Francisco, accompanied by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the first female speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

California has passed a law raising the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour starting next year, with provisions for annual increases up to 2029, as a response to the industry's role in supporting many low-income households.

Investigators are examining the cause of a Maui wildfire that killed 97 people, with a focus on a gully with overgrown vegetation beneath power lines as a potential site where embers from a previously extinguished fire might have smoldered before reigniting; Hawaiian Electric Co., whose downed lines sparked the initial fire, faces scrutiny regarding its vegetation management practices and its role in the disaster.

California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have provided unemployment checks to striking workers, citing concerns about the state's unemployment fund's nearly $20 billion debt.