Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein died last night at her home in Washington, D.C. Feinstein, a centrist Democrat from California who was elected to the Senate in 1992 in the “Year of the Woman,” broke gender barriers throughout her long career in local and national politics. She was 90 years old.  

President Joe Biden called Feinstein “a pioneering American,” a “true trailblazer,” and a “cherished friend” for him and first lady Jill Biden.  

Feinstein, the oldest sitting U.S. senator, was a passionate advocate for liberal priorities important to her state.  

Congress is starkly divided over very different paths to prevent a federal shutdown. Speaker Kevin McCarthy has pushed the Republican conference to embrace a short-term funding plan, but a small group of hardline conservatives has defied the speaker. 

Today, St. Paul will experience its warmest day all week, with partial to mostly sunny skies returning after a few morning showers and thunderstorms end. An even bigger warm up is on the way starting tomorrow as temperatures will slowly rise into the lower to middle-80’s this upcoming weekend.  

The record high for Sunday is 87 degrees, set in 1897. We may tie that record.  

Errol Mickelson can be reached at mick9345@stthomas.edu.