Partial Shutdown of F.A.A. Continues, United States Credit Rating Watch, and More in Chad’s Steaming Pil

Here are just a few things in Chad’s Pile that you will hear on Lubbock’s First News this morning. Give Chad your feedback on the steaming topics.

1. F.A.A. still shutdown (link)

Air traffic controllers aren't affected, but many others are. The Senate on Tuesday couldn't come to an agreement over funding for the F.A.A. According to the New York Times:

After dealing with the debt crisis, Senate negotiators tried and failed Tuesday to end a stalemate over temporary funding for the Federal Aviation Administration, leaving 4,000 F.A.A. employees out of work and relying on airport safety inspectors to continue working without pay.

The partial F.A.A. shutdown, which began July 23 and is likely to continue at least through Labor Day, has also idled tens of thousands of construction workers on airport projects around the country. Dozens of airport inspectors have been asked by the F.A.A. to work without pay and to charge their government travel expenses to their personal credit cards to keep airports operating safely.

Not sure how long this will last, but rumor has it that ticket prices are a little cheaper since funding ran out.

2. Credit Watch 2011 (link)

If you were hoping that the debt deal would save the United States credit rating, don't celebrate just yet. According to Reuters, we still aren't out of the woods.

Though the bill removes the threat of imminent default by raising the national debt limit enough to last until 2013, its cuts are only about half the $4 trillion in savings that ratings agencies Standard & Poor's and Moody's have said would be enough to confirm the country's triple-A rating with a stable outlook.

Adding a sense of immediacy to downgrade anxieties, S&P said in mid-July there was a 50-50 chance it would cut U.S. ratings in the next three months if lawmakers failed to craft a meaningful plan to cut the nation's deficit.

S&P could downgrade U.S. ratings soon after the bill is signed by President Barack Obama, given that the agency will have all the information it needs to make a decision.

Such a move would likely cause both U.S. Treasury and stock prices to fall.

Credit Watch 2011 continues. What do you think will happen?

3. Spiderman looks different (link)

Peter Parker is still alive and well on the big screen, but Marvel Comics has killed off Peter Parker for a new Spiderman, and diversity might be a reason. According to CBS in New York;

The Ultimate series is different from Marvel’s standard line, in which Peter Parker is still happily toiling away as everybody’s favorite hard-luck hero.

No, in the Ultimates series, Peter Parker gets killed at the hands of his nemesis the Green Goblin. But, being a comic book series, no hero stays dead for long. While Peter Parker may be gone, a new kid is stepping into the tights: Miles Morales.

Miles Morales is a half-black, half-Hispanic super-powered teen who gets into the hero game after being inspired by Parker’s death.

“He’s younger than Peter Parker, he’s coming from a completely different background, a completely different world view,” writer Brian Michael Bendis told the Associated Press.

Hmm. Interesting.

These and many more topics coming up on Wednesday’s edition of Lubbock’s First News with Chad Hasty. Tune in mornings 6-9am on News/Talk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App.