It was a scene nearly every hockey parent has experienced at one time or another: Quinn Hughes showed up to his game, and realized he’d forgotten his hockey bag.

In his first meeting with the Minnesota media, Hughes sheepishly declined to get into the details, but it seems when one of his younger brothers delivered Quinn to a New Jersey airport for his private jet trek to the Twin Cities, his hockey bag was inadvertently left in the car.

The Wild’s crack staff was able to make the necessary moves to get Hughes’ gear to Grand Casino Arena in time for the 5 p.m. Sunday meeting with Boston, where Quinn scored his first goal in a Minnesota sweater.

With that drama out of the way, and one of the NHL’s best defensemen wearing green and red for at least the rest of this season and all of 2026-27, the next agenda item on the minds of fretful and cynical Minnesota sports fans is whether Hughes will sign a contract extension with the Wild, or is he essentially an 18-month rental?

An unavoidable part of this narrative is that Hughes’ two younger brothers, Luke and Jack, play for the New Jersey Devils. There has been much speculation of an on-ice family reunion someday, even before the blockbuster trade that brought Quinn to the Wild. Inevitably, Hughes was asked following the win over Boston how open-minded he would be about potentially staying in Minnesota beyond the spring of 2027.

“Extremely open-minded,” he said, heaping praise on his new co-workers and Wild fans. “They’ve got an amazing core. Just obviously I’ve only been here four hours, but getting to know some of the guys and how energetic and positive guys are and then Minnesota being so close to Michigan and just the State of Hockey and the passion here.”

He also admitted Wild general manager Bill Guerin being willing to part with four first-round draft picks to get Hughes in Minnesota shows a great deal about the belief they have in Hughes as a potential key to a deep playoff run.

“There are other teams that probably could have thrown in certain packages like that, too, but at the end of the day, they didn’t want to do that or they didn’t want to trade two or three assets from their team,” Hughes said. “Billy did, so I’ll remember that and that means a lot to me that Billy did that.”

For the record, Jack Hughes’ contract in New Jersey runs through 2030, while the Devils have Luke signed through 2032.

Guerin, who until this season has not been able to do much in the way of free agency and trades due to salary cap constraints, is clearly enjoying his new fiscal freedom. After swinging the biggest trade in the 25-year history of this franchise, he was already thinking about Hughes’ future in Minnesota, and selling him on life and work in the State of Hockey.

“I love Minnesota. Our players love Minnesota,” Guerin said. “This is a great place to play.”

Just a few months ago, Guerin signed Kirill Kaprizov to the biggest deal in NHL history, bucking the narrative that teams like Vegas, Florida and Dallas are where every free agent wants to go because they have warmer weather and lower taxes than here. The general manager believes that the hockey, and the realistic chance to see your name engraved on the Stanley Cup, are the biggest draws on this team that is suddenly skyrocketing in the NHL power rankings.

“No matter what, whether you have good weather, good taxes, good – I don’t know, whatever – the hockey has to be good,” Guerin said. “You can live in the sun. You can live in these great places, or make a little more money, but if the hockey is not good, you won’t be happy. So that’s what really matters. If the hockey is good, if your job is good, you will be happy. And I think he’ll be really happy.”

It’s a small sample size, for sure. But after one game, one goal, one win and more than one extended ovation from the fans in St. Paul, there’s at least a chance Quinn Hughes has a longer-term future in Minnesota.

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City Limits rounds up the latest housing and land use-related events, public hearings and affordable housing lotteries that are ending soon.

The City Council will hold its last stated meeting of the year on Thursday, where officials are expected to vote on the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act. (Gerardo Romo / NYC Council Media Unit)

Welcome to City Limits’ NYC Housing Calendar, a weekly feature where we round up the latest housing and land use-related events and hearings, as well as affordable housing lotteries that are ending soon.

Know of an event we should include in next week’s calendar? Email us.

Upcoming housing and land use-related events:

Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 9:30 a.m.: The Landmarks Preservation Commission will meet. More here.

Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 9:30 a.m.: The offices of New York State Sen. Stephen Chan and Assemblymember William Colton will hold a town hall meeting about redevelopment plans for the New Utrecht Public Library and the adjacent municipal parking lot in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. More here.

Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 6 p.m.: Neighbors Helping Neighbors will hold a community conversation, “Building a Flood-Resilient Brooklyn” for homeowners and residents. More here.

Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 10 a.m.: The City Planning Commission will vote on the following land use applications: 14-10 Beach Channel Drive Rezoning, 78-08 Linden Boulevard Rezoning, 217-14 24th Avenue Rezoning, 63-12 Broadway Rezoning, 247-56 90th Ave Rezoning, Prospect Farm Acquisition, 1000 & 1040 Dean Street, Constellation CB 17, Constellation CB 16, Constellation CB 3, Constellation CB 5 and 395 Flatbush Avenue Ext. Redevelopment. More here.

Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 10 a.m.: The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) will hold its monthly board meeting. More here.

Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 10:45 a.m.: The NYC Council’s Committee on Veterans will vote on several bills, including legislation requiring the city to submit reports on veteran preference in Mitchell-Lama developments. Another bill would create a rental assistance program for veterans. More here.

Thursday, Dec. 18 at 10:30 a.m.: The NYC Council’s Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Sitings and Dispositions will meet. More here.

Thursday, Dec. 18 at 10:45 a.m.: The NYC Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises will meet. More here.

Thursday, Dec. 18 at 11 a.m.: The NYC Council’s Committee on Land Use will meet. More here.

Thursday, Dec. 18 at 11:15 a.m.: The NYC Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings will meet regarding on several bills, including one to study the feasibility of building affordable housing on Wards Island. More here.

Thursday, Dec. 18 at 11:30 a.m.: The NYC Council’s Committee on Finance will meet regarding several bills to reform the city’s tax lien sale, as well as legislation that would create a city land bank. More here.

Thursday, Dec. 18 at 1:30 p.m.: The City Council will hold its last stated meeting of the year, where officials are expected to vote on a number of proposals, including the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act. More here.

NYC Affordable Housing Lotteries: The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) are closing lotteries on the following subsidized buildings over the next week.

The East, Manhattan, for households earning between $68,023 – $227,500 (last day to apply is 12/16)

1353 Castle Hill Avenue Senior Apartments, Bronx, for households earning between $72,995 – $227,500 (last day to apply is 12/18)

227 Clarkson Avenue Apartments, Brooklyn, for households earning between $131,760 – $189,540 (last day to apply is 12/18)

Stevenson Senior Residences, Bronx, for households earning up to $64,800 (last day to apply is 12/18)

The post NYC Housing Calendar, Dec. 15-22 appeared first on City Limits.

SEATTLE (AP) — Officials ordered immediate evacuations in three south Seattle suburbs Monday after a levee failed following a week of heavy rains.

The evacuation order from King County in Washington state covered homes and businesses east of the Green River in parts of Kent, Auburn and Tukwila.

The National Weather Service, meanwhile, issued a flash flood warning covering nearly 47,000 people.

“Conditions are dangerous and access routes may be lost at any time,” the weather service said in a post on X.

The levee breach followed days of heavy rain and flooding that inundated communities, forced the evacuations of tens of thousands of people and prompted scores of rescues throughout western Washington state.

By Caitlin Reilly, Bloomberg News

President Donald Trump promised Americans big tax refunds next year. Many filers — particularly those who could most use the financial boost — may soon be disappointed.

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“Your sort of typical W-2 worker with no kids will see very little change year-over-year,” said Adam Michel, director of tax policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute. He estimates slightly more than half of taxpayers fall into that group.

That disconnect between Trump’s public promises and the reality for many Americans threatens to create a political liability for congressional Republicans ahead of midterm elections focused squarely on voters’ concerns about affordability. Trump has called affordability concerns a “hoax,” but economic data suggests otherwise.

Consumer sentiment is hovering near its lowest level on record, and Americans’ views of their personal finances are the worst since 2009. Meantime, wage gains have slowed to a crawl and job prospects have dimmed thanks to a slowdown in the labor market.

Wealthy taxpayers in high-tax states like California, New York and New Jersey are the biggest winners, as are workers who collect tips or overtime, and seniors. But most taxpayers will likely see only a modest boost that will do little to assuage their pocketbook concerns.

About a quarter of taxpayers will claim a boosted child tax credit, which will amount to at most an extra $200 per child, Michel estimated.

Fewer taxpayers fall into special categories due to receive larger breaks. About 13% will qualify for the new senior deduction for taxpayers aged 65 and older, and a combined 12% will deduct either tips or overtime wages, he said.

Uneven distribution

Forecasts of a bump in the average tax refund coming in the new year mask the uneven distribution of new tax breaks in Trump’s signature legislation, Michel said.

On average, taxpayers will see refunds just shy of $1,000 higher than previous years, Michel said. The average tax refund has hovered around $3,000 the last few years.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt touted the average numbers at a briefing just last week.

“Refunds could be about one-third larger than usual,” she declared. “So remember that the next time Democrats try to talk about affordability.”

A higher standard deduction will mean tax savings that are anywhere from less than $100 to a few hundred dollars higher than in past years, depending on a taxpayer’s income, said Andrew Lautz, director of tax policy for the Bipartisan Policy Center. The higher standard deduction is available to all taxpayers who don’t take itemized deductions.

But those who qualify for a handful of new and enhanced tax breaks are the big winners and their savings are driving up estimates of average savings. Those who can, for instance, take full advantage of the new $40,000 cap on state and local tax deductions — up from a prior limit of $10,000 — could shave thousands of dollars off a taxpayer’s bill.

“There will be substantially larger refunds for taxpayers who can enjoy those benefits — the tips, overtime, SALT deduction, auto loan interest deduction,” Lautz said. “We expect that to be a smaller slice of the population.”

Extensions

Much of the new tax law’s $3.4 trillion price tag was devoted to extending expiring tax breaks enacted in 2017.

Because many of the new tax breaks are deductions, which lower taxable income, and not credits, which lower tax liability directly, higher-income Americans stand to gain more. A deduction stretches further for wealthier taxpayers in higher tax brackets facing higher tax rates.

“One dollar of deduction is more valuable to someone who is richer than someone who is not making as much money,” said Brendan Novak, a senior policy analyst with the Penn Wharton Budget Model.

Trump’s campaign promises of no tax on tips, overtime and auto-loan interest were achieved by establishing new deductions. That means the new tax breaks will translate into bigger savings for higher income earners — up to a point, since they also include income restrictions.

As a result, those in line to benefit the most from new tax savings next year tend to be wealthier. Analysis by the Penn Wharton Budget Model found that people making in the top fifth by income are likely to realize the biggest tax savings.

Those making between $376,000 and just below $960,000 a year are in line to get the biggest average tax cut, at $2,585. Comparatively, someone in the middle fifth of annual income, making between $49,000 and $90,000, would see their after-tax income rise by $650 on average, thanks to the new tax cuts, according to group’s analysis.

Taxpayers are more likely to collect their tax savings through a refund next year than usual though, thanks to a decision by the administration to leave outdated payroll withholding guidance in place, Lautz said.

Many of the new Trump tax cuts were retroactive to the start of this year, but rather than tell employers to withhold less from paychecks to account for lower tax bills, the IRS left older, higher withholding guidance in place. As a result, most workers will realize their tax savings through a refund when they file early next year, months before the midterm congressional elections.

Tax cuts would normally be spread out over a worker’s paychecks throughout the year through lower tax withholding.

“But because IRS has not updated withholding tables for 2025, people will get that as a lump sum when they file their taxes,” Lautz said.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.