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As SpaceX prepares to send up its 19th Dragon spacecraft with humans on board, the Boeing Starliner — which has only completed half of a crewed mission to date — remains in fix-it mode.

Its next launch is scheduled for no earlier than 2026, and then maybe not even one with crew, according to NASA.

In a press conference for the SpaceX Crew-11 launch earlier this month, NASA Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich updated progress on getting Starliner back up and running as the second of NASA’s two commercial launch providers that are supposed to share duties of ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

“We really are working toward a flight as soon as early next year for Starliner,” he said. “And then ultimately, our goal is to get into crew rotation flights with Starliner, and those would start no earlier than the second rotation slot at the end of next year.”

At issue was that when Starliner launched on the Crew Flight Test (CFT) on June 5, 2024 from Cape Canaveral, it developed several helium leaks and thruster failures in the propulsion system before docking with the space station the following day. What was supposed to be an eight-day stay on board stretched into the summer with NASA ultimately electing to fly Starliner home without crew in September. read more

LOS ANGELES (AP) — As California’s much-loved hamburger chain In-N-Out Burger expands across the country into Tennessee, billionaire owner and CEO Lynsi Snyder has announced she and her family are going with it and heading east, too.

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“There are a lot of great things about California, but raising a family is not easy here,” Snyder announced last week on the “Relatable” podcast, hosted by conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey. “Doing business is not easy here.”

Snyder said the corporate headquarters will remain in California. The company announced in 2023 that it planned to open a corporate office in Tennessee, along with restaurants in and around Nashville. read more

By CORA LEWIS

NEW YORK (AP) — Amid a federal overhaul of student loan plans, many borrowers have been left wondering what it means for their hopes of loan forgiveness. In particular, those who are enrolled in a repayment plan known as income-based repayment, or IBR, have wondered if forgiveness will still be available to them.

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A recent update from the Education Department said forgiveness through the IBR plan is paused while systems are updated. “IBR forgiveness will resume once those updates are completed,” the agency said.

IBR is not affected by a federal court’s injunction blocking former President Joe Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, plan. The IBR plan was created by Congress separately from other existing repayment plans, including those known as PAYE and ICR. It’s also exempt from some changes coming from President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill. read more

Commissioners in Seminole County, where elected leaders have long prided themselves on keeping taxes low, voted Tuesday to hike property taxes for the first time in nearly two decades.

Under the higher rate, the owner of a home with a taxable value of $300,000 would see a $144 property tax jump.

But it’s not a done deal. Commissioners will vote on the final tax rate Sept. 23, before Seminole’s new fiscal plan goes into effect on Oct. 1.

Acknowledging their decision was not easy, commissioners said Seminole — like nearly every other local government across the state — is struggling with soaring insurance costs, persistent inflation, state financial mandates and expanding mass transit services. Seminole also is grappling with an increasing number of sheriff’s deputies seeking better pay at other law enforcement agencies.

Commissioners — all Republicans — admitted they’ve waited too many years to either raise taxes or look for other revenue sources to pay for the increasing amount of services that a growing number of citizens have expected. read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned the financial industry of a “significant impending fraud crisis” because of the ability of artificial intelligence tools to impersonate a person’s voice to bypass security checks and move money.

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Altman spoke at a Federal Reserve conference Tuesday in Washington.

“A thing that terrifies me is apparently there are still some financial institutions that will accept the voiceprint as authentication,” Altman said. “That is a crazy thing to still be doing. AI has fully defeated that.” read more