News briefs

Tribune News Service on Feb 24, 2026

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Senate aviation safety bill rejected by House

WASHINGTON — The House narrowly rejected a bipartisan Senate aviation safety bill responding to the fatal 2025 crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Tuesday after the Defense Department raised national security concerns the previous day.

The bill, introduced by Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, would require all aircraft to be equipped with specific location transmission technology, known as ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) In, and repeal certain military exemptions from the technology requirements. The Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent.

The bill, known as the ROTOR Act, was introduced in response to the January 2025 mid-air collision between an American Airlines regional passenger jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport, killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft.

The House’s 264-133 tally fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for passage under suspension of the rules, a procedure usually used for legislation expected to easily pass. The House had put the legislation on the Monday suspension agenda, but deferred roll call votes to Tuesday.

—CQ-Roll Call

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to call for medical debt protections in final State of the State

LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is expected to advocate in her final State of the State address Wednesday night for protections against medical debt as the state braces for expected cuts to the Medicaid health insurance program for the poor.

During her final address to the Legislature as governor, the Democrat is expected to voice support for policy initiatives that would cap medical debt interest, prohibit medical debt from showing up on credit reports, ban medical debt from leading to home liens or foreclosures, and require hospitals to establish financial assistance programs for patients.

All of the policies have been introduced in bipartisan packages in the Senate and House, but have yet to receive full floor votes.

“Historic federal cuts to health care are destabilizing hospitals, raising premiums, and kicking Michiganders off their insurance," Whitmer's office said in a statement. "We’re taking action to protect core Medicaid services, ease the burden of medical debt, and ensure every Michigander can see a doctor. We believe that getting sick or hurt shouldn’t also mean going broke.”

—The Detroit News

NYPD commissioner calls it ‘criminal’ to pelt NYPD cops with snowballs in Washington Square Park

NEW YORK — NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch has launched an investigation into a caught-on-camera clash where a rowdy crowd pelted a group of uniformed cops with snowballs in Manhattan’s Washington Square Park.

“The NYPD is aware of certain videos taken earlier today in Washington Square Park showing individuals attacking cops,” Tisch wrote on X late Monday. “I want to be very clear: The behavior depicted is disgraceful, and it is criminal.”

“Our detectives are investigating this matter,” she added. Mayor Zohran Mamdani last month told school children they could throw snowballs at him for enacting mandatory remote learning on a snow day.

He took a lighter tone that Tisch when talking about the Washington Square Park incident.

—New York Daily News

4 years into Putin’s war, Ukraine peace push is stalling

President Donald Trump’s efforts to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are stalling with peace talks deadlocked and the fighting largely at a stalemate after four years of war.

Allies say the U.S. is pushing for a deal before Trump hosts the 250th anniversary celebrations of American independence on July 4. But there’s no indication that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is ready to reach an agreement that doesn’t grant his central demands, according to senior European and NATO officials.

The talks have already blown through several deadlines and even some U.S. officials admit privately that they see no signs Putin is willing to budge from his maximalist positions, the people said.

The White House didn’t respond to a Bloomberg News request for comment. Russia’s full-scale invasion that began on Feb. 24, 2022 reaches its four-year mark on Tuesday with no sign of ending any time soon. That’s a far cry from Putin’s initial plan for his special military operation to remove the leadership in Kyiv within days.

—Bloomberg News