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Biden administration forgives another $1.2 billion in student loans. Here’s who qualifies.

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Navigating student loan relief


Navigating student loan relief

04:16

The Biden administration on Thursday said it is forgiving $1.2 billion in student debt for 35,000 borrowers who work in public service, ranging from teachers to firefighters. The announcement marks the latest round in government loan relief after the Supreme Court last year blocked President Joe Biden’s plan for broad-based college loan forgiveness. 

With the latest student loan forgiveness, the Biden administration said it has waived $168.5 billion in debt for roughly 4.8 million Americans, according to a statement from the Department of Education. That represents about 1 in 10 student loan borrowers, it added. 

The people who qualify for forgiveness in the latest round of debt cancellation are part of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which is designed to help public servants such as teachers, nurses and law enforcement officers get their debt canceled after 10 years of repayments. While PSLF has been around since 2007, until recently very few borrowers were able to get debt relief due to its notoriously complex regulations and often misleading guidance from loan companies. 

But the Biden administration has overhauled the program’s rules, enabling more public servants to qualify for forgiveness. 

“The additional Americans approved for PSLF today are hardworking public servants who will finally receive the financial breathing room they were promised — and all PSLF recipients can easily track and manage the process through StudentAid.gov,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in the statement. 

Who qualifies for loan forgiveness? 

The Biden administration said borrowers receiving student loan relief in this latest round are people enrolled in the PSLF program through a limited waiver, as well as regulatory changes made by the administration. 

The “limited Public Service Loan Forgiveness waiver” was designed by the Biden administration to allow public-sector workers to apply to receive credit for past repayments that hadn’t previously qualified for loan relief. The deadline for signing up for the waiver was October 2022.

“These 35,000 borrowers approved for forgiveness today are public service workers — teachers, nurses, law enforcement officials and first responders who have dedicated their lives to strengthening their communities,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. [B]ecause of the fixes we made to Public Service Loan Forgiveness, they will now have more breathing room to support themselves and their families.”

Is the Biden administration planning more debt forgiveness? 

Yes, the Biden administration said it continues to work on a plan for broad-based student loan relief through the Higher Education Act. 


How higher interest rates affect student loans

01:50

Some parts of the Biden administration’s plans to provide more relief were thrown into turmoil last month when two courts issued temporary injunctions against the Biden administration’s flagship student loan repayment plan, called the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, plan, which currently has about 8 million enrollees.

Despite the injunctions, student borrowers can still continue to enroll in the program, according to the Education Department. 



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Trump levies more personal attacks on Harris in Wisconsin rally

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Former President Donald Trump meandered Saturday through a list of grievances against Vice President Kamala Harris and other issues during an event intended to link his Democratic opponent to illegal border crossings.

A day after Harris discussed immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump spoke to a crowd in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, about immigration. He blamed Harris for migrants committing crimes after entering the U.S. illegally, alleging she was responsible for “erasing our border.”

“I will liberate Wisconsin from the mass migrant invasion,” he said. “We’re going to liberate the country.”

The Republican nominee also intensified his personal attacks against Harris, insulting her as “mentally impaired” and a “disaster.”

“Joe Biden became mentally impaired,” Trump said. “Kamala was born that way. She was born that way. And if you think about it, only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen to our country. Anybody would know this.”

The personal attacks have been something of a trend for Trump since Harris entered the race. In July, Trump falsely questioned Harris’ racial identity during a panel with the National Association of Black Journalists.

“I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black,” Trump said at the time. “So I don’t know, is she Indian, or is she Black?”

When asked in an interview with CBS News last month if he believes the personal attacks will hurt him with voters, he responded, “No, I don’t think so.”

Trump, meanwhile, hopes frustration over illegal immigration will translate to votes in Wisconsin and other crucial swing states. The Republican nominee has denounced people who cross the U.S.-Mexico border as “poisoning the blood of the country” and vowed to stage the largest deportation operation in American history if elected. And polls show Americans believe Trump would do a better job than Harris on handling immigration.

Trump shifted from topic to topic so quickly that it was hard to keep track of what he meant at times. He talked about the two assassination attempts against him and blamed the U.S. Secret Service for not being able to hold a large outdoor rally instead of an event in a smaller indoor space. But he also offered asides about climate change, Harris’ father, how his beach body was better than President Biden’s, and a fly that was buzzing near him.

“I wonder where the fly came from,” he said. “Two years ago, I wouldn’t have had a fly up here. You’re changing rapidly. But we can’t take it any longer. We can’t take it any longer.”

Trump repeatedly brought up Harris’ Friday event in Douglas, Arizona, where she announced a push to further restrict asylum claims beyond Biden’s executive order announced earlier this year. Harris denounced Trump’s handling of the border while president and his opposing a bipartisan border package earlier this year, saying Trump “prefers to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.”

“I had to sit there and listen” to Harris last night Trump said, eliciting cheers. “And who puts it on? Fox News. They should not be allowed to put it on. It’s all lies. Everything she says is lies.”

Trump professed not to understand what Harris meant when she said he was responsible for taking children from their parents. Under his administration, border agents separated children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border in a policy that was condemned globally as inhumane and one that Trump himself ended under pressure from his own party.

Harris, at a rally in San Francisco, told supporters there were “two very different visions for our nation” and voters see it “every day on the campaign trail.”

“Donald Trump is the same old tired show,” she said. “The same tired playbook we have heard for years.”

She said Trump was “a very unserious man.”

“However the consequences of putting him back in the White House are extremely serious,” she said.

The Harris campaign Saturday again challenged Trump to a second debate, this time in the form of a football-themed television ad. Following his Wisconsin rally, Trump traveled to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to attend the Alabama-Georgia football game Saturday evening, and the Harris campaign premiered the ad during the game.

“Champions know its anytime, anyplace, but losers, they whine and waffle,” the ad’s narrator said.  



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How former Idaho state trooper Dan Howard was arrested for his wife’s murder

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Kendy Howard was found dead in her bathtub. While dispatched as a suicide, clues at the scene made Kootenai County authorities suspicious. Here’s a look at the case:

A 26-year marriage

Dan and Kendy Howard
Dan and Kendy Howard

Brian Wilkins


Dan and Kendy Howard had been married since 1994. By 2021, Dan Howard had gone from working as an Idaho State Trooper to working in the Alaskan oil fields for three weeks at a time.

Kendy seeks divorce

Kendy Howard
Kendy Howard

Brian Wilkins


On Jan. 28, 2021, just five days before she died, Kendy Howard picked Dan Howard up from the airport and told him she wanted a divorce. She described Dan’s reaction to a friend as having been “not good.” 

Dan Howard’s call to 911

Dan Howard
Dan Howard was once a Idaho State Police trooper.

Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney


On the night of Feb. 2, 2021, at 10:43 p.m., Dan Howard called 911, screaming Kendy had shot herself. “She’s in the bathtub dead …”

The call was dispatched as a suicide. 

Dan Howard at the scene

howard-bodycam.png
 Kootenai County Sheriff’s Deputy Miranda Thomas was one of the first responders to arrive at the Howards’ home.

Kootenai County District Court


Kootenai County Sheriff’s Deputy Miranda Thomas was one of the first officers to arrive. Thomas said she witnessed Dan Howard screaming, crying and gagging. 

Kendy Howard found in the bathtub

Howard bathroom
Kendy Howard was found dead in the bathtub with a gunshot wound to her head.

Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office


Caption: Kendy Howard was found dead, naked in the bathtub of her home, with a gunshot wound to her head. Kendy’s gun was submerged in the bathwater. 

A packed duffle bag

Duffle bag at Howard home
Deputy Thomas noticed a packed duffle bag filled with women’s clothing at the bottom of the stairs at the Howard home. 

Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office


Thomas noticed a duffle bag with what she said seemed to be women’s clothing packed inside. 

A clue on the dryer

Dryer at the home of Kendy and Dan Howard
When first responders arrived to the Howard home, the clothes dryer was running. It was full of clean bath towels and mats. 

Kootenai County District Court


Kootenai County Sheriff’s Detective Jerry Northrup said that in the dryer he observed “bathmats and towels … and they were still somewhat warm,” which he said led him to question when the cycle had been started.

How did Kendy Howard really die?

Kendy Howards's gun
Kendy Howard’s own pistol which was found at the bottom of the tub.

Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office


Kendy Howard’s gun was found in the bathtub. Investigators said they would have expected to see a lot more blood in the bathtub if she had been alive when she was shot.

Kendy’s daughter accuses Dan Howard

howard-brooke-wilkins.jpg
Kendy Howard’s daughter, Brooke Wilkins.

CBS News


When Dan Howard called his stepdaughter Brooke Wilkins with the news of Kendy’s death, investigators said they could overhear Wi accuse Dan of killing her mother. Despite their suspicions, detectives said there was not enough evidence at the scene to arrest Dan.

Dan Howard arrested

Dan Howard booking photo
In April 2023, Dan Howard was charged with murder. He was also charged with domestic battery from an incident seven months before Kendy’s death.

Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office


It took two years for prosecutors to build their case. In July, 2023, Dan Howard was arrested and charged with Kendy Howard’s murder. 

Dan Howard on trial

Dan Howard
Dan Howard at his trial for the murder ofn his wife Kendy.

Pool


On March 4, 2024, the trial of Dan Howard began. The prosecution claimed Dan had killed Kendy by putting her in a carotid restraint hold – a maneuver he had learned in his law enforcement training. The defense maintained that Kendy’s death was a suicide. After 10 days of testimony, 62 witnesses, and just over eight hours of deliberations, a verdict was reached.

Dan Howard found guilty

On March 19, 2024, the jury found Dan Howard guilty of second-degree murder and domestic battery.

Life in prison

Dan Howard sentencing hearing
Dan Howard make a plea for leniency at his sentencing.

Pool


At Dan Howard’s sentencing hearing in May 2024, Judge Lamont Berecz told him, “You killed a mother. You killed a grandmother. You killed a sister … You snuffed that out because of your own pride, greed, and anger.” Dan Howard was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole



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SpaceX launches capsule that will give Starliner crew a ride home

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SpaceX launches capsule that will give Starliner crew a ride home – CBS News


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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday with a NASA astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut aboard a Crew Dragon capsule that normally carries four. That is because the Crew Dragon’s two empty seats will be used to give two Boeing Starliner astronauts a ride back to Earth next February. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were part of Boeing’s first crewed test flight of its Starliner, and though it got them to the International Space Station back in June, problems with its propulsion system prompted NASA to look for another ride. Manuel Bojorquez reports.

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