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Dwyane Wade looks to bring creative thinking as a member of Chicago Sky ownership: ‘It just feels like the time’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:51:01 GMT

In his first appearance at Wintrust Arena since the Chicago Sky announced he joined the team’s ownership group, Dwyane Wade sat with Mayor Brandon Johnson and other Sky owners in a suite Tuesday night, then moved courtside where he posed for photos and signed autographs.A three-time NBA champion and 13-time All-Star, Wade is the second former NBA player to invest in a WNBA team. Magic Johnson was part of the ownership group that took control of the Los Angeles Sparks in 2014.“Why the Sky? Because I’m a fan of basketball,” Wade told the Tribune before the team’s 107-95 loss to the Las Vegas Aces. “I love it to my core. It’s changed my life. It’s changed my family’s life. And I understand the need for support. I know what that looks like.“We’ve got some of the best players in the world playing in the ‘W’ and we’ve got some of the most generational players coming real soon. And it just feels like the ti...

Bankrate: How to negotiate a car lease

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:51:01 GMT

Allison Martin | Bankrate.com (TNS)Are you considering a car lease to ride in style for a fraction of what you would pay to purchase a new vehicle? Learning about the car lease process, including brushing up on the industry terminology and the ins and outs of lease agreements, is an important part of landing a good deal.Shopping around and exploring the specials and offers from multiple dealers is another valuable step to help you negotiate a car lease confidence, ensuring that you get the best possible lease agreement for your needs.When you walk into a dealership to buy a new car, the car salesperson expects you to offer below the asking price. This isn’t always the case with lease deals, but you can follow this step-by-step approach to negotiate a car lease.1. Learn the jargonIt is easy to get overwhelmed with the language of lease agreements, especially if you don’t work in the automotive industry. However, you can give yourself a slight advantage by learning the jargon dealers ...

Alleged North End shooter Patrick Mendoza ordered detained

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:51:01 GMT

The man accused of shooting at a man in front of Modern Pastry earlier this month is being held without bail after being found dangerous.Alleged shooter Patrick Mendoza, 54, faces charges including assault to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, intimidating a witness, and three charges related to unlawful possession of a gun.Boston Municipal Judge Paul Treseler found Mendoza dangerous following a detention hearing Wednesday morning.Police arrested Mendoza on July 21 — nine days after he allegedly fired three shots in front of Hanover Street’s Modern Pastry at a man he had a long-simmering relationship with. That history includes Mendoza previously striking the man on his head with a glass bottle in February 2019, for which he received six months probation.While Mendoza was able to hide away in the detention room next to for his arraignment on Friday, he appeared Wednesday in Boston Municipal Court wearing a lightly checkered gray suit — extensive hand tattoos visible, which inc...

Niger’s presidential guard surrounds leader’s home in what African organizations call a coup attempt

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:51:01 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Members of Niger’s presidential guard surrounded the presidential palace Wednesday in what African organizations called an attempted coup against the country’s democratically elected leader. The U.S. said the rebelling soldiers had detained President Mohamed Bazoum.A tweet from the account of Niger’s presidency reported that members of the elite guard unit engaged in an “anti-Republican demonstration” and unsuccessfully tried to obtain support from other security forces. It said Bazoum and his family were doing well but that Niger’s army and national guard “are ready to attack” if those involved in the action did not back down. However, the commissions of the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States described the events in Niger’s capital as an effort to unseat Bazoum, who was elected president two years ago in the nation’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since its independence from France in 1960...

‘Huge kettle of fish’ faces new transport minister Pablo Rodriguez

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:51:01 GMT

Pablo Rodriguez has been sworn in as Canada’s new transport minister, taking the baton on a raft of turbulent issues as the aviation sector emerges from a period of crisis.Leaving his spot atop the Heritage Department, Rodriguez takes over from Omar Alghabra, who assumed the cabinet post in January 2021 while the pandemic pummelled the travel industry.Alghabra steered the government through negotiations with airlines on financial aid, COVID-19 testing at airports and a new passenger rights charter.But with the traveller complaint backlog at a record high topping 52,000, both advocates and airlines continue to find fault with parts of the overhauled regime, even as other issues demand ministerial attention.Rodriguez will take over on top-line items including nascent plans for a high-frequency railway between Toronto and Quebec City, ongoing supply chain hitches and infrastructure vulnerable to natural disasters amid increasingly extreme weather.Alghabra announced his decision T...

Congressional Budget Office predicts slower economic growth and 4.7% unemployment into 2024

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:51:01 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Congressional Budget Office reported Wednesday that economic and job growth so far this year has been stronger than forecast in February, but an updated outlook sees parts of the economy as weakening through 2024.The latest 10-year budget and economic outlook from the nonpartisan office shows how difficult it is to figure out where the United States is going in the wake of the pandemic. Many economists and investors were caught off guard as Federal Reserve interest rate increases, intended to combat high inflation, have not led to mass layoffs and a recession. Rather, growth and hiring have stayed relatively solid.The CBO said it expects rates to continue to rise, as well as slower growth in the gross domestic product for the rest of this year and unemployment reaching 4.7% by the end of 2024.In February, the agency projected that the unemployment rate would jump to 5.1%. It currently stands at 3.6%. The CBO now estimates that rate will end the year at roughly ...

Senate GOP leader McConnell briefly leaves news conference after freezing up mid-sentence

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:51:01 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell briefly left his own press conference on Tuesday after stopping his remarks mid-sentence and staring off into space for several seconds. The Republican leader approached the podium for his weekly press conference and began speaking about the annual defense bill on the floor, which he said was proceeding with “good bipartisan cooperation.” But he then appeared to lose his train of thought, trailing off with a drawn-out “uh…” He then appeared to freeze up and stared vacantly for around 20 seconds before his colleagues in Republican leadership, who were standing behind him and could not see his face, grabbed his elbows and asked if he wanted to go back to his office.He did not answer, but slowly walked back to his office with an aide and Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, a former orthopedic surgeon who is the No. 3 Republican in the Senate. McConnell later returned to the press conference and answered questions from the press.Ask...

Belarusian journalist sentenced to 6 years in prison for reporting on the opposition

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:51:01 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A prominent journalist in Belarus was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison, the latest step in a years-long crackdown on opposition figures, independent journalists and human rights activists.On trial in the city of Grodno in western Belarus, Pavel Mazheika, 45, was found guilty of “complicity in extremist activity” for covering the activities of the political opposition. He was accused of working for news outlets including Belsat TV, which broadcasts in Belarusian from its base in neighboring Poland. The Belarusian authorities have labeled Belsat as “extremist.”Lawyer Yuliya Yurhilevich also was sentenced to six years in prison after she was accused of giving Mazheika information on Belarus’ political prisoners, notably on dissident artist Ales Pushkin who died in a Belarusian prison earlier this month.Yurhilevich, 42, who practiced law for almost 18 years and defended human rights activists, was stripped of her license in February 2022.“This is not a ...

Clean energy push in New Jersey, elsewhere met with warnings the government is coming for your stove

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:51:01 GMT

BRICK, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey is pushing an ambitious agenda to move its more than 9 million residents away from natural gas and gasoline to heat their homes and power their cars, in favor of electricity to do the job of both. But like many other places in the country, the moves, designed to lessen the harmful impact of burning fossil fuels on the planet’s climate, are garnering significant opposition from foes who warn that the government is coming to take away your stove and your car.New Jersey utility regulators on Wednesday approved a series of “decarbonization” measures designed to incentivize buildings to switch from natural gas heat to electric. Participation in the programs is strictly voluntary, according to the chairman of the state Board of Public Utilities, who lashed out against “misinformation and lies” being circulated by opponents.Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has said he wants only “zero-emissions” vehicles to be available in the state by 2035.Taken together, they rep...

Hunter Biden’s plea deal on hold after federal judge raises concerns over the terms of the agreement

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:51:01 GMT

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The plea deal in Hunter Biden’s criminal case unraveled during a court hearing Wednesday after a federal judge raised concerns about the terms of an agreement that has infuriated Republicans who believe the president’s son is getting preferential treatment.Hunter Biden was charged last month with two misdemeanor crimes of failure to pay more than $100,000 in taxes from over $1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018 and had been expected to plead guilty Wednesday after he made an agreement with prosecutors, who were planning to recommend two years of probation. But U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, raised multiple concerns about the specifics of the deal and her role in the proceedings. The plan also included an agreement on a separate gun charge — Biden has been accused of possessing a firearm in 2018 as a drug user. As long as he adhered to the terms of his agreement, the gun case was to be be wiped ...