Latest news with #debate
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Congressional candidates in Virginia's 11th district debate issues ahead of special election
RESTON, Va. (DC News Now) — Monday night, the two candidates hoping to fill the late Gerry Connolly's congressional seat talked about a range of topics at a debate hosted by the Reston Citizens Association. It comes as early voting has already begun in the Virginia 11th Congressional District special election, scheduled for September 9. Rep. McClellan says ICE arrests at courthouses are making Virginia less safe Each candidate, Democrat James Walkinshaw and Republican Stewart Whitson, began with opening remarks about why they are running for Congress. 'I'm running for Congress to take on Trump and his allies,' Walkinshaw said. He also called Whitson a Trump ally. 'They want somebody who is going to come in and actually deliver results,' Whitson said. He also said the district, which has consistently voted blue in recent years, actually wants a candidate to provide change. Among the topics debated: immigration enforcement, Gaza, climate change, education, and federal workers. Walkinshaw said the first bill he would sponsor if elected would be one to eliminate DOGE. Meanwhile, Whiston said he would sponsor the REINS Act. Virginia Task Force 1 returns home after victim recovery efforts in Texas flood zone Before the debate, each candidate spoke with DC News Now about crucial issues in the district, which covers Fairfax County and City. On affordability: Whiston: 'One of the biggest drivers is inflation. And the biggest drivers of inflation are reckless spending at the executive branch level. And so we don't have a revenue problem in DC, what we have is a spending problem. And if we want to get that under control, we have to stop the wasteful spending. We don't need to raise taxes. We actually need to lower taxes, put that money into people's pockets so they can invest in the economy and grow the economy. But if we stop the reckless spending, that'll solve a lot of the problems. How do we do that? We do that through the REINS Act.' Walkinshaw: 'Well, the first thing we need to do to make life more affordable is repeal the so-called Big Beautiful Bill. And this is a difference between me and my opponent. He supports Trump's Big Beautiful Bill, which I call the Big BS Bill, and I don't… That bill is going to make life a lot less affordable for a lot of Virginians. We need to repeal it, and then we need to go to work bringing down the cost of health care, bringing down the cost of prescription drugs, building 3 to 5 million new homes in this country. On federal government workforce cuts: Walkinshaw: The first thing I'll do is stand up and speak out about the outrageous, disgusting treatment that federal workers are enduring, Federal workers who are our neighbors here in Northern Virginia are dedicated public servants, most of whom could have made a lot more money working in the private sector, but they enjoy and find passion in serving the American people. And that service should never be denigrated. It should be celebrated. And this administration is not just firing them, it's attacking them, attacking them in very personal ways. So I'm going to stand up and speak out about that, tell the stories of federal workers who have been viciously attacked by this administration, and support legislation to end DOGE, to defund DOGE, and restore Congress as the decision maker for federal spending. Whitson: 'I am a former federal worker. I spent a decade in the FBI. So I know… better than anyone that when a federal worker loses their job, it doesn't just impact that person. It impacts their entire family. And so the people I'm talking to, what they're interested in is, okay, where do we go from here? How do we fix the problem? And so I would fix it in a couple of ways… Number one, if there's good employees in the federal government that got pushed out of the federal government and they want to come back in, I want to find a way to bring them back in. The second thing I want to do is I want to create new opportunities in our economy where they can use the expertise and all the experience they had as a federal worker to launch a new career that's going to pay them more and still give them the same satisfaction they had.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CTV News
16 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Candidates vying for seat in Alberta byelection featuring Poilievre to debate tonight
A campaign sign for Independent candidate Bonnie Critchley next to signs for Pierre Poilievre and Darcy Spady in the riding of Battle River-Crowfoot in Camrose, Alta., on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Amber Bracken CAMROSE — Ten candidates vying to represent Battle River-Crowfoot in the House of Commons are to debate tonight in the riding's largest municipality. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's press secretary Sarah Fischer says he will be attending the event hosted by the Camrose & District Chamber of Commerce ahead of the Aug. 18 byelection. Poilievre is looking to win in the sprawling eastern Alberta riding after he lost his long-held Ottawa seat of Carleton in the April general election. The writ was dropped last month after Conservative Damien Kurek, who handily won the seat in the April vote, stepped down so Poilievre could run. About 210 candidates were registered to run as of Monday on Elections Canada's website, including Liberal candidate Darcy Spady, the NDP's Katherine Swampy, Independent Bonnie Critchley and dozens of others sponsored by the Longest Ballot Committee protest group. Elections Canada says adapted ballots requiring electors to write out the name of their preferred pick will be available at polls given the unusually long list of candidates. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2025.
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
In the news today: 10 candidates in Alberta byelection to debate
Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed... 10 candidates in Alberta byelection to debate Ten candidates vying to represent Battle River-Crowfoot in the House of Commons are to debate tonight in the riding's largest municipality. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's press secretary Sarah Fischer says he will be attending the event hosted by the Camrose & District Chamber of Commerce ahead of the Aug. 18 byelection. Poilievre is looking to win in the sprawling eastern Alberta riding after he lost his long-held Ottawa seat of Carleton in the April general election. The writ was dropped last month after Conservative Damien Kurek, who handily won the seat in the April vote, stepped down so Poilievre could run. About 210 candidates were registered to run as of Monday on Elections Canada's website, including Liberal candidate Darcy Spady, the NDP's Katherine Swampy, Independent Bonnie Critchley and dozens of others sponsored by the Longest Ballot Committee protest group. Here's what else we're watching... Businesses hoping for carveouts in potential deal Business leaders and academics say they hope to see Canada and the U.S. maintain free-trade protections for most goods once an agreement is reached, even if the negotiations can't stave off certain sectoral tariffs. It's unclear if the two countries will stick to the Aug. 1 deadline for wrapping up talks. Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday negotiations were in an "intense phase" but U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters last week that Canada wasn't a priority for his administration. Whether a deal is announced Friday or later, Canadian Federation of Independent Business president Dan Kelly says his organization's members feel "a good chunk" of trade must remain tariff-free in order for talks to be considered successful. He says it wouldn't be a win for Canada if the trade agreement ends up looking similar to the deal struck by the U.S. with the European Union on Sunday. That framework imposes a 15-per-cent tariff on most goods imported into the U.S., including European automobiles, and there are no carveouts for key products like pharmaceuticals and steel. Motion on B.C. injection site closure deferred City council in Nanaimo, B.C., has voted to defer a motion on asking the local health authority to close an overdose prevention site next to city hall. The vote to defer Coun. Ian Thorpe's motion passed with a 6-3 vote in favour of deferral during a special meeting of council on Monday night. Had the motion not been deferred and instead passed a council vote, it would have resulted in the city formally requesting that Island Health close the site on Albert Street. The motion came after a similar request this month by Victoria Coun. Marg Gardiner related to a safe consumption site that she says is plagued by crime, although councillors in that city delayed the motion until later this year. B.C.'s Health Ministry says while overdose prevention services are vital programs, they are expected to take action to mitigate "street disorder within the immediate vicinity of sites during operating hours." Ex-MLA Chen draws deep for tale of gender violence Former British Columbia legislator Katrina Chen sits on a couch in her Burnaby home, reading aloud from the children's book she's co-written. The mother and son in the story, "A Stronger Home," co-written with Elaine Su, turn their backs on a scene of domestic turmoil: a broken vase, furniture overturned, sofa cushions in disarray. "I wrote this book as a survivor of gender-based violence with personal experiences about how violence has touched and impacted my whole life," said Chen, B.C.'s former minister of state for child care. Chen, who also has a young son, sees the problem as an urgent one, pointing to a recent spate of alleged intimate partner violence in B.C. This month alone, there has been the killing of an 80-year-old Abbotsford woman and the death of her husband in what police consider a murder-suicide; the killing in a Richmond apartment of a 51-year-old woman whose partner has been charged with second-degree murder; and the death of Bailey McCourt, allegedly beaten to death in a Kelowna parking lot by her estranged husband, James Plover, also charged with second-degree murder. Chen said it was "totally heartbreaking and unacceptable" to hear of such tragedies, and society needed to see the violence as an emergency. She and other advocates want changes to the legal and social justice systems to prevent it from continuing. Artists reflect on colourful Toronto moose project As people around the world welcomed a new millennium, Torontonians in the year 2000 were welcoming something even bigger – a herd of hundreds of life-size moose statues. Twenty-five years ago, Toronto launched its Moose in the City campaign, a project featuring 326 colourful moose statues decorated by artists and placed all over the city in an effort to usher in the new year with a boost for local tourism and art sectors. The project came at no cost to the city, according to council minutes from April 2000, and the statues were sponsored by various companies. The public could stumble upon the hoofed, herbivore masterpieces at locations including the CN Tower, Pearson Airport and city hall. Some of the artists involved say the project was emblematic of the city's culture and shows how municipalities can step up to support the art scene — even as some of the famed sculpted creatures have disappeared in the years since. Moose in the City was a "great collaboration with the city" for artists, said Kelly Borgers, who was commissioned to do three of the statues. There was even a launch party for the project, with music and a sculpture parade. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2025. The Canadian Press
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Hubie Brown weighed in on the Kobe Bryant -LeBron James debate in 2009: "If you are starting a franchise, then you are taking LeBron"
Hubie Brown weighed in on the Kobe Bryant -LeBron James debate in 2009: "If you are starting a franchise, then you are taking LeBron" originally appeared on Basketball Network. LeBron James and Kobe Bryant were often pitted against each other in the mid-to-late 2000s. However, back in 2009, Hubie Brown thought "the best player in the NBA" debate was not as definitive as anyone may have thought. "First of all, one guy is 31 years old and the other guy is 24, so forget it. One guy is a guard and the other guy is a small forward who is a small forward/power forward," Brown explained in an interview with David Friedman. "So, they are not even in the same category, but if you are starting a franchise, then you are taking LeBron James." Kobe's advantage over LeBron Jerry West fanned the flames of this discussion when he said The King may have already surpassed the Black Mamba as a player. It was a wild statement, to say the least, given the Logo's close friendship with Bryant and the fact that James still had no rings to show at that point. West pointed to James' versatility and playmaking as the edge he'd consider if forced to choose between him and Bryant. LeBron also had size going for him and was seven years younger than Kobe. When all is said and done, West said, James had a chance to be the greatest of all time. Still, both West and Brown pointed out two areas where Bryant had the edge. Jerry cited his clutch gene, while Hubie favored his relentless defense. "Kobe Bryant is on the All-Defensive Team almost every year, Michael Jordan is one of the greatest defensive players ever, Oscar Robertson. The thing that separates them is not the points but whether they play both ends of the floor," stated Brown. However, Brown, a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, felt LeBron was closing in on that department. He finished second in the Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2009, behind Dwight Howard and started a string of five consecutive All-Defensive First Team selections. That said, 16 years later, Bryant (12) still had twice as many All-Defensive Team nods as James (6).Hubie downplayed the gap between Kobe and LeBron in the clutch As good as Kobe was defensively and in the clutch at this stage of his career, Brown believed it was closer than anyone thought. Factor in LeBron's athleticism and it may just be a coin toss. "He's probably the quickest guy with or without the ball from rim to rim," added Brown, referring to James. "He's definitely the best passer in traffic that we have in the league, in my opinion; if not, you might give me one or two other guys who can pass as well as he does. Plus, he sees over the traps and he will unselfishly make the correct pass every single time." As for clutch situations, Brown was not ready to give it to Bryant either, especially when James was catching up fast. "Now, you say 'Who is better in the fourth quarter?', you probably take Kobe Bryant, but I'm not so sure of that. Kobe can make the threes at a higher percentage over LeBron, but Kobe wasn't a great three-point shooter either for a while,"added the Hall of Fame coach. In 2009, Kobe was the more accomplished player. He had the titles, the playoff moments and the respect of nearly everyone when it came to delivering in the clutch. LeBron, on the other hand, was younger, bigger and more versatile. He didn't have the rings yet, but his impact on the game was already undeniable. Brown and West both recognized the value that each guy brought. Kobe had the edge in defense and late-game shot-making, but LeBron was the better all-around player and the one you'd build a team around. In hindsight, that debate was never as one-sided as people story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 27, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Is Your Team on Rich Eisen's List of Legit Super Bowl Contenders?
Rich Eisen debates which teams in the AFC and NFC have legitimate shots to win the Super Bowl this season.
