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Looking Glass: What on earth could they be talking about?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

Two 20-year-old men returned their rental car to an agency in Izumo, Japan, but inadvertently left lots of drugs in the vehicle. They soon called in with an urgent message they had “forgotten something” and were coming back “to pick it up, so don’t you dare look at what’s inside.” Employees called the cops.YOU’LL NEVER GET ME, COPPER! … CRASH!: Detectives seeking to arrest a man on two felony warrants, who was hiding in the attic of his home in Cape Coral, Fla., spoke to him through an open hatch, and asked him to surrender. He refused, but soon crashed through the ceiling onto the floor below.DRAT! FOILED BY TECHNOLOGY!: An employee of a restaurant and sports bar in New Rochelle, N.Y., did not wish to go to work, so she sent Google Voice text messages threatening to “shoot up” the place and stating that there would be a “massacre.” The cops traced the phone number back to her apartment in the Bronx.YOU GOTTA’ LOVE TEXAS: Four armed men wearing masks stormed into a gas station conve...

Overnight car crash on Route 24 in Avon kills one, injures another

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

A 30-year-old Randolph man died early Saturday morning after the Toyota Camry he had been driving on Route 24 in Avon rear-ended a tractor-trailer, according to Massachusetts State Police.Richard Maurice, who had been driving the Camry, was traveling in the middle lane on Route 24 southbound when the vehicle collided into the back of a 2018 Freightliner, results from the preliminary investigation indicate.The rear-ending led Maurice to veer off the road into a median, causing the Camry to catch on fire. The tractor-trailer also went off the road, striking a guardrail.State troopers, Avon firefighters and paramedics attempted “life-saving measures” on Maurice at the scene after he was extricated from the car, before it became engulfed in flames, according to authorities.Maurice later died from injuries at Good Samaritan Medical Center. The driver of the tractor-trailer, identified as a 44-year-old man from New Bedford, is receiving treatment for what authorities describe as minor inj...

Israelis protest legal changes before nation’s 75th birthday

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Tens of thousands of protesters flocked to Tel Aviv and cities across Israel on Saturday to vent their opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government and its divisive plan to overhaul the country’s judicial system. The mass protest — which has raged weekly since the start of the year — comes just ahead of Israel’s landmark 75th anniversary celebration. The holiday honoring Israel’s founding in 1948, typically meant to be a display of national unity, has been marred by one of Israel’s gravest crises in its history. Plans by Netanyahu’s government to weaken the Supreme Court have outraged Israelis who see it as an assault on their country’s system of checks and balances and a threat to its very democracy.“This is not about so-called judicial reform, it’s about democracy,” said Sheila Katz, head of the National Council of Jewish Women, from the rally in central Tel Aviv — a sea of blue-and-white n...

DeSantis seeks federal aid for Fort Lauderdale flood victims

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asked the Biden administration on Saturday to declare Broward County a disaster area due to flooding earlier this month after record rainfall.If granted, the declaration would make Broward residents who incurred damage to their homes and other property eligible for a wide range of loans and other assistance. Local governments would also be eligible. More than 2 feet (0.6 meters) of rain fell in some parts of the county April 12. The 1-in-a-1,000-year deluge left some parts of the county with up to 3 feet (0.9 meters) of water. About 1,000 homes were severely damaged, according to the state. The flooding also closed the airport for almost two days. Gas deliveries to the port were also slowed, causing long lines at the pump.The Republican governor is expected to soon announce that he will seek his party’s nomination to challenge President Joe Biden in next year’s election. While frequently sniping at each other, the De...

‘Totally unacceptable’: PSAC ‘fed up’ with pace of talks, asks Trudeau for help

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

The head of the union representing thousands of striking public-service workers says he is fed up with the pace of bargaining and is calling on the Prime Minister to get involved in the ongoing talks.Chris Aylward, national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, says the union presented a package of proposals to the federal negotiators on Thursday, but the union had yet to receive a response by Saturday afternoon. “We have not heard back yet from Treasury Board on a package that we gave them Thursday night and this is Saturday afternoon,” said Aylward. “This screams of the incompetence of Mona Fortier, president of Treasury Board and her team.”More than 100,000 union members walked off the job Wednesday as contract talks broke down.The union says almost a third of all federal public servants are involved in the job action. “Our members are fed up. Our bargaining teams are fed up while waiting for the employer for days.”The workers are...

1-year-old dead after being found unconscious on West Side

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

CHICAGO — A one-year-old boy who died after being found unconscious in a residence in North Lawndale has been identified. The medical examiner's office identified the boy as Zaiden Collins of Chicago. Police said that Collins was found Thursday afternoon in a residence at the 1300 block of South Kedzie Street unconscious. He was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital with trauma to the body and was pronounced dead. Teen, 17, shot in moving vehicle on South Side overnight There is currently no one in custody and police are investigating the incident.

Will the cost of a vacation ever go down?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Along with eggs and breakfast cereal, the cost of a vacation has skyrocketed in recent years – but will it ever go back to pre-pandemic prices?Experts say don't bet on it."Some categories might see price decreases, but we should also be focusing on whether prices will continue to rise in the future," John Horn, professor of practice in economics at Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, told Nexstar. "The price level may not fall, but if it stops rising further, then over time we'd want to see if wage growth caught up so that the buying power when traveling returns to prior levels."According to the U.S. Travel Association, the Travel Price Index for March was 21.5% higher than it was for the same month in 2019. The index tracks the cost of airline fares, motor fuel, transportation within and between cities, recreation, lodging and restaurant costs.In the past year, the greatest single increases were for plane tickets (17.7%), food away from home (8.8...

What to do when bank-run panic sweeps social media

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

(NerdWallet) - After the collapse of two different banks in less than a week in early March, it was clear to see how financial panic can quickly spread through word of mouth."No matter how strong bank capital and liquidity supervision are, if a bank has an overwhelming run that’s spurred by social media or whatever so that it’s seeing deposits flee at that pace, a bank can be put in danger of failing,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said recently about the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California, and Signature Bank in New York.In this case, the “whatever” was private group messages and chats among SVB's customers. Chatter and warnings about SVB’s stability started in these forums and spread to Twitter; after the run on SVB, Signature Bank’s customers did a run on their bank, as well.What can we learn from the bank runs, and how we can handle widespread financial panic in the future? Here are five things to do when bank-run panic — or any other drastic financ...

Motion for new trial filed days after man sentenced to 99 years for 2021 murder

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Motions for a new trial and an appeal were filed days after a man was sentenced to 99 years in prison following his conviction of a 2021 murder.John Paul Rangel was convicted by a jury April 3 on a December 2021 murder charge.On April 6, a motion for a new trial was filed, and on April 18, a notice of appeal was also filed, according to records.Williamson County court records showed he was sentenced to serve 99 years in state prison. Toward his sentence, Rangel received a jail credit of 398 days. PAST COVERAGE: 23-year-old man arrested in connection to deadly December shooting According to records, Rangel entered a plea of not guilty before his trail began.According to a previous KXAN report, Rangel was charged with the murder of 36-year-old Joseph Neal. The Travis County Sheriff’s Office said Neal was found dead on Dec. 8 at an apartment complex in the 1800 block of Cheddar Loop.Taylor police, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshals Lone Sta...

Man's charge lessened from capital murder after guilty plea

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:40:40 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A man was convicted and sentenced in February after pleading guilty to a murder charge out of Williamson County related to a January 2021 fatal shooting in Round Rock.According to Williamson County records, Gage Christian Johnston pleaded guilty Feb. 17 to murder, a lesser charge than the capital murder charge he previously faced.On the same day of his guilty plea, Johnston was sentenced to serve 40 years in state prison for the death of 27-year-old Jerrionn Burleson. PAST COVERAGE: Suspect charged with capital murder after man was found dead in Round Rock At the time of his sentencing, records showed Johnston had a jail credit of 760 days, roughly two years and a month.According to past KXAN reports, on Jan. 9, 2021, Round Rock police responded to the 1600 block of Peachtree Valley Drive at around 5:10 a.m. after a report of a gunshot and a person, later identified as Burleson, on the ground.