Senate advances shutdown deal; Travelers brace for more flight disruptions
The Senate passes the government funding deal, marking the biggest step yet toward ending the six-week shutdown. Now the pressure is on the House to get federal workers paid and critical services back online.
Plus, thousands of flights have been canceled nationwide as the shortage of air traffic controllers worsens. Airlines warn Tuesday could be one of the toughest travel days yet.
And winter comes early. From Chicago’s first snow to freeze alerts stretching from Atlanta to the Gulf Coast, more than 90 million Americans are waking up to a bitter blast of cold.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.
Senate passes shutdown deal, House prepares next vote
Overnight, a small group of Senate Democrats crossed the aisle to help Republicans pass a short-term bill to reopen the government and keep it funded through January.
The bill passed 60 to 40, with eight Democrats voting yes and one Republican, Rand Paul of Kentucky, breaking ranks to vote no.
The measure now heads back to the House, which could vote as soon as Wednesday.
“I have already put the House on notice that all members are to be headed back to the hill right now. I would like for us to be voting on this as early as Wednesday, which would be the quickest we could process it if the Senate does their work,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. “And I think we’ll get it passed off the House floor, get it to the president’s desk. He is anxious to have it, as you know. He is very anxious, happy to get the government reopened.”
The bill would fund federal agencies through January, restore pay and jobs to workers laid off during the shutdown and fully fund SNAP benefits through September 2026.
But the bill does not extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which are set to expire on Jan. 1.
That’s a key issue for Democrats and something Sen. Bernie Sanders made very clear Monday night.
“Over 20 million Americans are going to see at least a doubling in their premiums in the Affordable Care Act. In my state of Vermont and throughout this country, for certain groups of people, it will be a tripling and a quadrupling of their premiums. There are people who will now be paying 50% of their limited incomes for healthcare,” Sanders said.
Even so, enough Democrats support the bill after Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune promised a separate vote on those tax credits before the end of the year.
But some Democrats said they’ll wait to see if that promise holds before calling this deal a true end to the stalemate.
Trump warns traffic controllers to return or face penalties as flight cancellations climb
Even with the Senate voting to end the shutdown, the fallout continues.
Airlines are still canceling flights, leaving frustrated travelers stranded as the ripple effects continue to spread.
The airlines cancelled more than 2,000 flights on Monday, with nearly 9,000 flights delayed.
The hardest-hit hubs were Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth, where the FAA has ordered airlines to scale back flights due to staffing shortages among air traffic controllers.
Controllers have now been without pay for more than six weeks, missing two paychecks, while working mandatory overtime just to keep flights moving.
But President Donald Trump turned up the pressure on them Monday, posting on Truth Social that “all air traffic controllers must get back to work, now!!! Anyone who doesn’t will be substantially docked.”
He praised those still on the job as “great patriots,” promising $10,000 bonuses.
Many passengers, though, said they put the blame squarely on the government, not the air traffic controllers.
When asked who she blames. Detroit resident Annie Pollack said, “The government. I definitely don’t blame the employees, like, they should be getting paid, so it’s definitely the government’s fault, and it’s like, pay your employees so that this doesn’t happen to us, you know?”
Airlines brace for more turbulence Tuesday, with another round of flight reductions set to kick in.
In fact, carriers are required to reduce operations by at least 6% Tuesday morning at dozens of airports, according to an emergency order issued by the transportation department last week.
That number is supposed to reach 10% by the end of the week, unless the government is reopened.
Families sue Camp Mystic, blaming deadly flood on negligence
Flash flooding on the Fourth of July at Camp Mystic along Texas’s Guadalupe River killed 25 girls, two counselors and the camp’s co-owner, who died trying to save them.
Now, the families of those victims are suing the camp’s operators, seeking at least $1 million in damages, alleging negligence and a complete failure to protect the children.
The suit claims camp staff had no evacuation plan and even told some girls to stay in their cabins as floodwaters swept through the property. Meanwhile, a groundskeeper reportedly spent time moving equipment.
It also accuses camp leaders of prioritizing profits over safety in a region known for its hazardous flash floods.
Adding to the controversy, parents are outraged that Camp Mystic plans to partially reopen next summer for its 100th anniversary, inviting girls to swim in the same river where others died.
An attorney for Camp Mystic told the Associated Press they disagree with “several accusations and misinformation” in the lawsuit.
Polar plunge sweeps the nation: Snow, ice and record chill spread south
It’s beginning to look — and feel — a lot like winter.
A surge of Arctic air is spilling south, dropping temperatures across two-thirds of the country and bringing a deep freeze from the plains to the Gulf.
People are waking up to record lows this morning, stretching from the Carolinas to the Gulf Coast.
Montgomery and Mobile, Alabama, and even Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, are all waking up either at or below freezing.
Chicago’s already feeling it.
The city’s first winter storm warning in almost two years brought several inches of snow and icy streets across Cook County, with lake-effect bands still accumulating through Tuesday.
Just southeast of there, heavy snow covered parts of Indiana, including Highland, where nearly a foot fell.
The same cold front now pushes east, bringing icy mornings to the south and record low temperatures through the southeast — even Florida dropping into the 30s and 40s.
Forecasters predicted this polar plunge will last through mid-week, before temperatures gradually climb back to normal.
Measles resurfaces in Canada, health agency revokes elimination status
The measles outbreak impacting parts of the U.S. is also spreading into Canada, and now, the northern country has lost its measles elimination status.
It’s a rare and serious setback — a move that public health experts view as a warning sign for other counties.
The outbreak started last fall in New Brunswick and has now spread across the country, with over 5,000 cases reported.
Among the most tragic events, two premature infants did not survive after their mothers were infected.
“We have highly effective tools to prevent measles. Measles is not only a deadly disease, but it’s a very, very costly disease. And so it’s in every country’s best interest to eliminate measles. And to have this indication of a clear loss of progress, a clear decision to go back by decades worth of progress is just deeply disheartening.”
— Jennifer Nuzzo, professor of epidemiology at Brown University
Canada’s health agency has since implemented a plan to increase vaccination rates and enhance national surveillance to monitor new cases.
The country first eliminated measles in 1998. However, similar to the U.S. and Mexico, the virus is making a comeback.
Lava spews 1,100 ft. above Kīlauea volcano, lasting nearly five hours straight
Fire and fury on full display in Hawai’i.
The Kīlauea volcano erupted a massive lava fountain over 1,000 feet into the air for nearly five straight hours Sunday morning.
The U.S. Geological Survey said it emitted so much lava that flows covered up to 80% of the crater floor, which is over 3,000 feet wide.
This was the 36th episode in its current eruption series, which began on Dec. 23, 2024.
More from Straight Arrow News:
For veterans with PTSD, music is scientifically proven to heal
OMAHA, Neb. — Under the soft glow of stage lights, a circle of veterans gripped their guitars, faces set with focus. The melody of “Blue Christmas” drifted through the room — some notes faltered, others rang clear — but every sound carried something deeper than music. At the center, a woman sang, her voice steady and warm as she guided the guitarists through the song. Each chord drew the group closer together.
When veterans return from service, the battle doesn’t always end on the battlefield. Many carry invisible wounds — among them post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which affects 7% of all veterans, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Veterans grappling with PTSD can experience intrusive memories, anxiety, depression, difficulty sleeping and a sense of emotional numbness. This can lead to sobering realities: In 2022, the suicide rate among veterans was 34.7 per 100,000, roughly double that of non-veteran adults. Among those veterans who died by suicide, 40% had a mental-health or substance-use diagnosis, and 40% of those also had PTSD.
Traditional treatments — therapy, medication and counseling — are essential. However, there’s a growing movement to explore different paths to healing. One of the most promising approaches? Music therapy. Read the full story now>
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
