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Chicago area’s abysmal lack of rain to continue; “REX” block aloft deflecting rain; Tropics grow active as Tropical Storm “Bret” forms far out in the Atlantic

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:38 GMT

Chicago area’s abysmal lack of rain to continue; “REX” block aloft deflecting rain; Tropics grow active as Tropical Storm “Bret” forms far out in the AtlanticA dome of warm, rain-deflecting air aloft trapped in a blocking pattern aloft, will continue to limit rainfall this week. There is only a modest chance for isolated showers Friday—and only a slightly improved chance of some scattered showers or t-storms Sunday and Monday.Chicago’s 4.20” rain tally since April is 39% normal and more than a half foot (6.57”) below normal.TROPICAL ATLANTIC COMES ALIVE WITH THE CHRISTENING MONDAY MORNING OF “TROPICAL DEPRESSION 3” (NOW KNOWN AS TROPICAL STORM "BRET") BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER—A SYSTEM PREDICTED TO REACH HURRICANE STATUS IN COMING DAYS, POSSIBLY AS EARLY AS MID-WEEKTropical Storm "Bret" formed over the Atlantic just before 10am CDT Monday—a storm predicted to reach hurricane strength in coming days as it churns westward at close to 20 mph. As morning breaks in Chicago Tuesday...

Valentina's Tex Mex BBQ permanently closes Austin location with Buda opening

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:38 GMT

BUDA, Texas (KXAN)-- "If Valentina's goes to a brick and mortar, it has to maintain its same flavor," said Miguel Vidal, head chef, pit master, and co-owner of Valentina's Tex Mex BBQ. Vidal doesn't just mean the food, he's also talking about the flair. "All these panels down here, they're from our barbecue pits," he said as he pointed to his bar. Standing in the middle of his new storefront in downtown Buda, he points out a wall that will be dedicated to Chicano art. "It was never about being the best barbecue, or being the best Mexican restaurant, or being the best restaurant," he said. "It was about being able to do something for the right reason and represent what I felt wasn't here... represent for a culture that I thought didn't have really a true voice in the restaurant industry... what Chicanos... are doing in the backyard is not really represented anywhere. And I wanted to kind of showcase that."Vidal said they initially wanted to build at their south Austin food truck loca...

Never dead: Mike Yastrzemski’s walk-off splash hits gives SF Giants another improbable win

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:38 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — By now, you should know not to count out these San Francisco Giants until the 27th and final out.Because — look! — they did it again.Silenced for six innings Monday night by longtime nemesis Michael Wacha, trailing the Padres by two runs entering the ninth inning, the Giants manufactured yet another come-from-behind win, extending their season-best winning streak to eight games, walking off their division rivals in improbable fashion.Mike Yastrzemski, who homered once already in the sixth and scored the tying run in the bottom of the ninth, launched a walk-off splash hit in the bottom of the 10th to beat the Padres, 7-4.Camilo Doval pitched a scoreless top of the 10th, stranding the automatic runner, to set up the game-winning rally in the bottom half.The Giants, who had mustered two runs on a pair of solo home runs through the first eight innings, rallied for two runs to tie the game in the ninth. Yastrzemski raced home to score the tying run, his outstretched hand ...

Bay Area home sales at lowest level in 20 years

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:38 GMT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) – Home sales in the Bay Area are at their lowest level in 20 years. KRON4 spoke to a realtor about why there are so few homes on the market.Michelle Elliot, a realtor with Coldwell Banker in the South Bay, was in the top 3% of sales for 2022 in Santa Clara County, but this year, things are different.“I’m in the top 1% in my county, and I’ve done about 40% less, and I’m still in the top 1% for my county,” she said.Elliot says COVID and the federal reserve interest rate hikes have led to fewer home sales. Group of bicyclists rides onto 580 freeway, prompting CHP warning “First is that, because the interest rate kind of popped up, it means that sellers that previously had a low-interest rate really don’t have that much incentive to sell their property and get into a larger property or change their interest rate,” she said. A report released earlier this month said Bay Area real estate prices have also dropped the fastest in the country.Jeff Tucker, a seni...

La autora acusada de matar a su marido presenta una demanda contra su patrimonio

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:38 GMT

(CNN) — Kouri Richins, la autora de Utah acusada de envenenar a su difunto marido con una dosis mortal de fentanilo, demandó a la herederos de su marido con la esperanza de obtener ingresos de su negocio y de la casa familiar, según muestra una nueva demanda judicial.La demanda se produce en medio de varias acusaciones en el caso de asesinato que se centran en las finanzas de la pareja, aludiendo a un posible motivo. En el expediente penal se incluye la creencia de un experto de que algunos de los documentos de Eric Richins relacionados con el seguro de vida y el poder notarial duradero pueden haber sido falsificados. La demanda civil no menciona los cargos contra Kouri.Según los documentos presentados en la causa penal contra Kouri, Eric se reunió con un planificador patrimonial y ordenó intencionadamente que su patrimonio fuera gestionado por su hermana en lugar de por su esposa. Estableció un fideicomiso para “mantener tanto a mi esposa como a nuestros hijos durante c...

New Zealand abandons Qatar friendly at halftime over alleged racist comment

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:38 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand abandoned its football friendly against Qatar at halftime in Austria on Monday after accusing a Qatari player of making a racist comment to defender Michael Boxall.In a statement issued on Tuesday, Football New Zealand said the team refused to play the second half when the referee declined to take action.New Zealand was leading 1-0 in Ritzing.The incident happened after Qatar was awarded a free kick. The New Zealanders complained Qatar’s Yousuf Abdurisag made a racist comment to Boxall, who is of Samoan heritage.After a melee between the teams in the 40th minute, New Zealand captain Joe Bell complained to referee Manuel Schuttengruber, who shook his head, indicating he would not take action against the Qatar player.“We fully support the action of our players, who agreed collectively this course of action,” New Zealand Football CEO Andrew Pragnell said in a statement. “We never want to see a match abandoned but some issues are bigger t...

Stock market today: Asian shares mostly slip after US markets were closed for a national holiday

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:38 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly declined Tuesday as some investors took a wait-and-see attitude after U.S. markets were closed for a national holiday. Some investors were also disappointed after a meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Secretary of State Antony Blinken yielded no signs of progress from either side on Taiwan, human rights, technology and other issues of contention. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 0.6% to 33,161.94. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.9% to 7,362.90. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.3% to 2,601.07. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dipped 1.4% to 19,627.86, while the Shanghai Composite edged down 0.2% to 3,248.53. The Chinese government said the meeting between Xi and the top U.S. diplomat produced “candid and in-depth” talks. Bilateral relations are at their lowest point in decades. Both sides indicated a willingness to cooperate.“There is no doubt China and the U.S.A. need each other, and their relationship to be back on a more secur...

Virginia voters picking nominees in hotly contested legislative races

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:38 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia legislative primary season marked by hard-fought campaigns in both parties will come to a close Tuesday, as voters pick their party’s nominee for dozens of seats, including some swing districts that will help determine the balance of power in the General Assembly. Both parties and both chambers have competitive contests on the ballot in the primary election. An unusually high number of sitting officeholders are also facing serious challenges in an election season upended by new political maps. This year marks the first cycle in which legislative candidates are running in districts created during the redistricting process that ended in late 2021. The new maps were drawn by outside experts without regard to incumbent protection. That’s contributed to a wave of retirements by many of the General Assembly’s veteran lawmakers and diminished the name-recognition advantage for incumbents, some of whom are running in almost entirely new dist...

POLITICO Pro Central Banker: BOE super supervision — Digital euro delay — R* expectations

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:38 GMT

Our one-stop source for central banking & monetary policy news.View in your browser or listen to audioBy GEOFFREY SMITHwith JOHANNA TREECK, BEN MUNSTER, HANNAH BRENTON, GIORGIO LEALI and IZABELLA KAMINSKASNEAK PEEK— “All systems go” at the BoE as the Old Lady probes into the deepest and darkest crevices of the financial system to better detect risks.— The European Commission’s long awaited proposals for a legal framework for a digital euro are delayed once again.— Bank of Finland’s Olli Rehn outlines why he thinks the financial system is still prone to lower rather than higher rates.POLICY TICKERECB 3.50% ⇡ — BOE 4.5% ⇡ — FED 5.25% ⇡— SNB 1.5% ⇡— BOJ -0.10% ⇣— RBA 4.10% ⇡— PBOC 3.65%⇣— CBR 7.5% ⇣ — BOC 4.75 ⇡— SARB 8.25% ⇡Good morning.  It’s the day of the Great Exception: by the time you open this, the People’s Bank of China will probably have cut its benchmark one- and five-year lending rates, in line with the 0.10 percent adjustment to its shorter...

San Diego researcher who helped discover Titanic wreckage mystified by missing submersible

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:38 GMT

SAN DIEGO - The search is on for a missing submersible that was on its way to the bottom of the ocean to see the Titanic wreckage. Crews lost contact with the deep-sea craft that was holding five people on board just over an hour and a half after it submerged. We know one of these people is a UK businessman and billionaire, Hamish Harding, who tweeted his excitement just hours before the departure. Officials say there is only enough oxygen on board for up to a 96-hour dive. The U.S. Coast Guard Boston sector is continuing their aerial search, exploring great depth of the Atlantic Ocean in search of a vessel that's about the size of a minivan to put things into perspective. The missing Canadian watercraft is now leaving Scripps Institute of Oceanography researcher Jules Jaffe along with the world mystified. Jaffe played a monumental role in the discovery of the infamous Titanic back in 1985. “Most people think, well how did they find the ship? Well, there was this mile and a half deb...