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Ticker: Gas prices jump; Stocks end mixed after holiday 

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:05 GMT

Gas prices in Massachusetts jumped seven cents a gallon higher over the past week, according to AAA.The average gas price is $3.34 per gallon, which is 4 cents higher than a month ago and 78 cents lower than this time last year.“OPEC’s announcement that it will cut production by over a million barrels per day took the oil market by surprise,” AAA said in a statement. “In response, crude immediately surged well above $80 a barrel, although it has since struggled to stay above that mark.”High prices for gas and goods and services have been keeping pressure on household and business budgets, leading the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in an attempt to slow inflation. Efforts to reduce the Massachusetts gas tax faltered last year on Beacon Hill, where legislative leaders are contemplating a new run at tax relief this spring.Stocks end mixed after holidayStocks were mixed on Wall Street Monday in their first trading after a report heightened speculat...

1 dead, 3 injured in Oshawa crash

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:05 GMT

Durham regional police say one person has died and three others are injured in a two-vehicle crash in Oshawa on Monday night.Police have closed Simcoe Street between Howden and Raglan roads for the investigation.Among the injured, a woman in her 50s has been taken to a Toronto-area trauma centre with serious injures.The other two injured people were taken to an Oshawa-area hospital and are reportedly in stable condition. There’s no word on their ages or genders.No further details were immediately available.

Post-COVID woe: Atlantic City casino earns fell 4.6% in ’22

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:05 GMT

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Three years after the coronavirus pandemic erupted, Atlantic City’s casinos are collectively struggling to get back to where they were before COVID-19 in terms of profitability.Figures released Monday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show that the city’s nine casinos collectively had a gross operating profit of $731.2 million in 2022. That was down 4.6% from the $766.8 million profit they made in 2021.And only four had an operating profit that was higher than what they reported in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic broke out.Gross operating profit reflects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and other expenses, and is a widely-accepted measure of profitability in the Atlantic City casino industry.Mark Giannantonio, president of Resorts Casino and the Casino Association of New Jersey, said inflationary pressures took a toll on the casinos’ finances last year.“You have revenue that’s not growing fa...

No April Fool: Retired Iowa mechanic wins $40M lotto jackpot

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:05 GMT

CLIVE, Iowa (AP) — At first, the recent winner of a $40 million jackpot says he couldn’t believe he won the lottery — after all, he bought the ticket on April Fools’ Day.“I thought it was a joke,” said Earl Lape, a 61-year-old retired mechanic from Dubuque, Iowa. Only after confirming his Lotto America ticket with a convenience store clerk was he convinced he won the big prize, according to the Iowa Lottery.“I laughed. I thought it was April Fools,” Earl Lape said after claiming his prize at the Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. Lape opted to take his winnings in cash, which for the drawing was $21.28 million. The $40 million prize was for those who take their winnings in an annuity, paid over 29 years.Lotto America is played in 13 states and offers smaller prizes than the games Powerball and Mega Millions. But it also has much better odds — 1 in 26 million — of winning the jackpot.Lape said he intends to use the money to help his family and will also make donations to...

Vancouver’s homeless shelters are overwhelmed following heavy rainfall and decampment

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:05 GMT

VANCOUVER — The president of the Union Gospel Mission says Vancouver’s forced shutdown of an encampment has added another layer of stress to its staff as they put mats in hallways for the overflow of those needing shelter. Dean Kurpjuweit said Monday their shelter has been at capacity for the last few months, but they had to go over the limit the last few nights to accommodate everyone.“We have got a number of rooms where we put people in bunk beds and then we have kind of a common space where we put down mats and then in the hallways that lead to the rooms, we put some mats down there,” said Kurpjuweit. Vancouver police and city staff moved into the Downtown Eastside encampment last Wednesday to dismantle and throw away belongings, tents and other structures that lined the sidewalks on Hastings Street. Mayor Ken Sim, along with the fire and police chiefs, said the fire danger and increased crime meant the encampment had to be dismantled. Kurpjuweit said they did all they coul...

2 children killed in latest NYC e-bike fire; 4 survive blaze

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:05 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — An electric bicycle powered by a lithium ion battery is being blamed for a fatal fire on Monday in New York City that killed two children, marking the latest in a string of e-bike-related fires in the city.FDNY Chief of Department John Hodgens said it took his firefighters only three minutes to arrive at the Astoria, Queens home. However, with the fast-moving nature of e-bike fires and the fact the bike was being charged near the front entrance of the multi-family building, the victims “didn’t have a chance to get out of the building” given the intense fire that quickly traveled up the stairs to a second-floor apartment.“So we got here very quickly. And if this was not a bike fire, most likely we would have been able to put this fire out without incident. But the way these fires occur, it’s like an explosion of fire,” he told reporters outside the burned home. “It’s an ongoing problem. We implore everybody to please be very careful and aware of the ...

Poll: Chicagoans support polices to address the root causes of crime

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:05 GMT

CHICAGO -- Many pundits framed the mayor runoff election as a choice between a candidate who promised to bolster law enforcement verses someone who is the past supported defunding the police. But Chicagoans voters looked deeper.In a city plagued by fears of crime, the progressive triumphed over the tough-on-crime candidate.Brandon Johnson’s win over Paul Vallas defied conventional wisdom but a closer examination of voters’ views offers clues about the upset election. Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson details plan heading into inauguration A survey conducted by GQR and Vera Action on the eve of the election found that Chicagoans overwhelming support polices to address the root causes of crime. Six in 10 voters chose prevention compared to four in 10 who back a tough on crime strategy."Voters have a very nuanced perception about public safety and about what gets us to public safety in every community across a city as complex as Chicago," ACLU of Illinois’ Communications Chief Ed Yohn...

Biden signs bill ending national COVID-19 emergency

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:05 GMT

(The Hill) - President Biden on Monday signed a GOP-led resolution bringing an end to the national emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic, the White House said.The resolution passed the House despite almost 200 House Democrats voting against it after the White House said it strongly opposed the measure, though it did not threaten to veto it if the bill passed.The bill later passed the Senate in a bipartisan 68-23 vote. Hair suddenly falling out in the shower? This might be why The White House had said it was already planning to wind down the national emergency and public health emergency around COVID-19 on May 11, giving states the go-ahead to begin winding down the measures enacted under the emergencies.Experts have said the end of the emergency will have a “limited impact,” despite the White House warning earlier this year it “would create wide-ranging chaos and uncertainty throughout the health care system.” Does your state allow teachers to carry a gun? The resolution will end...

Ousted Tennessee lawmaker reappointed to state House days after expulsion

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:05 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — He may have been expelled Thursday evening, but Justin Jones is back in the Tennessee House of Representatives.The ousted legislator was reappointed to his former seat in the 52nd District in Nashville by the Metro Council Monday afternoon, just a few days after he was officially expelled for breaking decorum rules on the House floor on March 30.Reps. Jones and Justin Pearson had approached the front of the House chamber with a bullhorn and participated in a chant after joining protesters calling for passage of gun-control measures in the wake of the mass shooting at the Covenant School.The Metro Council voted 36-0 Monday to appoint Jones as the interim representative for the district. Can Nashville and Memphis legally reappoint Justin Jones and Justin Pearson? Jones, a member of the so-called "Tennessee Three," faced expulsion along with fellow Democrats Gloria Johnson of Knoxville and Justin Pearson of Memphis. Johnson survived the expulsion vote by one...

Tom Skilling's explainer

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:05 GMT

Steady warming over recent days and in the days ahead is to deliver Chicago its warmest weather to date in 2023. April 2023’s opening 10 days are running an impressive 7-degrees warmer than the same period a year ago.Chicago high temperatures have gone from 49 Friday to 62 Saturday, 68 Easter Sunday and may reach 71 today in the remaining hours of the afternoon. That’s a 22-degree increase in just 3 days.The week as a whole is likely to come in 14-degrees warmer than last week and an eye-catching 18-degrees above normal.Significantly, a tightening pressure gradient will lead to a well developed “SW” flow which will overcome lake cooling. "SW" winds will pick up each late morning and afternoon gusting at times as high as 31 mph Tuesday, 36 mph Wednesday and 25 mph Thursday according to current modeling.The sun will filter through some mixed clouds Tuesday. But, cloud coverage is to decrease Wednesday and Thursday, allowing the full intensity of the April sun to go to work on the air ...