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Israel strikes Gaza after Palestinians in besieged strip launch incendiary balloons toward Israel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:17 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel carried out a series of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip late on Friday after Palestinian activists launched incendiary balloons into Israel as a week of violence along the volatile frontier intensified.The rising tensions along Israel’s front with Gaza came as fighting in the occupied West Bank surged — to levels unseen in two decades. In the latest bloodshed Friday, the Israeli army killed a Palestinian militant in the northern West Bank.Palestinian activists have been protesting for the past week next to the fence separating Gaza and Israel. The protests have turned violent, with demonstrators hurling explosives toward Israeli troops, and soldiers responding with tear gas and live fire. For the first time in the current round of unrest, Palestinian protesters on Friday launched balloons into Israel, blackening large patches of vegetation on the other side of the border. Palestinian health officials said Israeli fire wounded 28 Palestinians during protest...

Statistics Canada reports retail sales up 0.3 per cent at $66.1 billion in July

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:17 GMT

OTTAWA — Retail sales edged higher in July, driven by sales at supermarkets and grocery stores, but Statistics Canada said Friday its early estimate for August pointed to a decline. The agency said retail sales jumped 0.3 per cent to $66.1 billion in July as sales at food and beverage retailers surged 1.3 per cent for the month. CIBC senior economist Katherine Judge said the increased spending at grocery stores could be a sign that households opted to dine out less, as higher interest rates and prices weighed. “That casts doubt on the notion of services consumption providing an offset to weak goods consumption at the start of the third quarter,” she added. Statistics Canada said its early estimate for August suggested retail sales dropped 0.3 per cent for that month, though it cautioned the figure would be revised.Judge said the advanced August reading could have been impacted by wildfires.“But even when allowing for a rebound in September, real retail sales look t...

GOP candidate challenging election loss in race to lead Texas’ most populous county drops lawsuit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:17 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — The highest profile Republican candidate who had sued seeking to overturn election results in the nation’s third-most populous county, a Democratic stronghold in deeply red Texas, has dropped her lawsuit.Alexandra del Moral Mealer was one of 21 GOP candidates who had filed lawsuits challenging their losses in November’s election in Harris County, where Houston is located. Most of the lawsuits were filed by candidates who lost judicial races. The first trial related to the lawsuits — in which a candidate blamed her defeat on ballot shortages and allegations that illegal votes were cast — took place in August. A ruling in that lawsuit is pending. Mealer had lost her bid to become Harris County judge, the county’s top elected official who deals with spending and is in charge of local emergency response. She lost by more than 18,000 votes to Lina Hidalgo, the Democratic incumbent.In a statement on Thursday, Mealer said she dropped her lawsuit because the county pushed bac...

Both parties rally supporters as voting begins in Virginia’s closely watched legislative elections

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:17 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Early voting started Friday in Virginia’s costly, high-stakes and closely watched legislative elections after a week in which elected officials and candidates rallied their supporters across the state.All 140 General Assembly seats are on the ballot, with candidates running for the first time in an environment shaken up by maps overhauled in the most recent once-a-decade redistricting process. With the Legislature narrowly divided, both parties say they see a path to a full statehouse majority running through a little more than a dozen battleground districts centered in central Virginia, Hampton Roads and the outer Washington suburbs. “At the heart of this is holding our House and flipping our Senate,” Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin told supporters in Petersburg on Thursday afternoon, urging the crowd to vote early, donate and volunteer.A GOP trifecta would clear the way for Youngkin to move swiftly on what he calls his “commonsense” conservati...

Interim CPD supt. takes blame for White Sox game not being stopped after shooting: report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:17 GMT

CHICAGO — Interim Chicago Police Supt. Fred Waller is taking the blame for the White Sox game not being stopped completely after two women were shot at the stadium on Aug. 25.According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Waller said the game was allowed to continue without interruption due to “miscommunication” on the Major League Baseball protocol, and that issue has been addressed and will not happen again.“We did not know exactly what we had on our hands. We didn’t think it was an active shooter. But we didn’t know,” Waller told the Sun-Times.A 42-year-old woman was shot in the leg and a 26-year-old woman suffered a graze wound to her stomach during the White Sox game against the Athletics at Guaranteed Rate Field. It is still unclear if the bullets came from inside or outside the stadium.The women who were shot have been interviewed, but no suspects have been identified. Jerry Reinsdorf: ‘Virtually no possibility’ shot came from inside Sox park “We’re still using technology to show us i...

Wrigley Field concession workers authorize strike ahead of final homestand

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:17 GMT

CHICAGO — In another effort to get a new contract, a number of workers at Wrigley Field could walk off the job this weekend.UNITE HERE Local 1, which represents a number of concessions employees in the ballpark who work for Levy Restaurants, announced that their membership voted by "an overwhelming majority" to authorize a strike ahead of the team's final regular season series against the Colorado Rockies.That begins on Friday and runs through Sunday, and thanks to the vote, the union could call for a strike at any moment. This comes as UNITE HERE Local 1 and Levy haven't been able to come to terms on a new contract since their old one expired on Oct. 31, 2020.Over 700 bartenders, cashiers, cooks, dishwashers, suite runners and warehouse workers at Wrigley Field are represented by the union.“Workers of Compass Levy at Wrigley Field welcome visitors to one of the most iconic venues in Chicago and serve baseball fans with dedication," said UNITE HERE Local 1 president Karen Kent in a ...

Amazon Prime Video viewers will have to pay to keep movies, shows ad-free

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:17 GMT

(AP) – Amazon Prime Video will include advertising during shows and movies starting early next year, joining other streaming services that have added different tiers of subscriptions.Members of Amazon Prime can pay $2.99 per month in the U.S. to keep their service ad-free, the company said Friday.Streaming services are in a heated tug-of-war over viewers and users are growing more adept at jumping in and out of those services, often depending on price. The platforms risk losing customers with price hikes, but they could lose them if they don't generate new content that wins over users.Disney will begin charging $13.99 a month in the U.S. for ad-free Disney+ in mid-October, 75% more than the ad-supported service. Netflix already charges $15.49 per month for its ad-free plan, more than twice the monthly subscription for Netflix with ads. Could a government shutdown impact student loan payments resuming? Amazon said limited advertisements will be aired during shows and movies startin...

Silver Alert for 64-year-old last seen in New Braunfels Friday morning

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:17 GMT

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas (KXAN) -- A Silver Alert was issued Friday afternoon for a woman who was last seen in New Braunfels Friday morning. The New Braunfels Police Department said it was searching for Cindy Williams Feathers, 64. She has a diagnosed cognitive impairment.Cindy Feathers (Photo: Texas Department of Public Safety) Feathers is a white female, 5'4" and 130 lbs, with blonde/gray shoulder-length hair and hazel eyes and was last seen wearing brown glasses and a brown floral top. She was last seen around 9 a.m. Friday in the 1900 block of Kalli Jo Lane in New Braunfels in a silver 2012 Honda Pilot with Texas license plate BJN1999. The vehicle was described to have black running boards, a visible car seat in the rear passenger seats with the passenger side window rolled down.Law enforcement officials believe Feathers' disappearance poses a credible threat to her health and safety.If you have any information regarding this mi...

Man gets life sentence in 2022 Burnet murder

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:17 GMT

BURNET COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — A jury convicted a man and he received a life sentence in state prison Aug. 9 in connection with a 2022 murder in Burnet County.In addition to the sentence, court documents showed 58-year-old Daniel Keith Smith, Sr. must also pay $10,000 in fines and $795 in restitution. PAST COVERAGE: Man stabbed multiple times after fight in Burnet Smith was charged in the May 8, 2022, death of 55-year-old John Hawkins, who was stabbed multiple times during a fight in the 600 block of Buchanan Drive.A charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon was also dismissed the day of his conviction and sentencing, according to court documents.Prior to his sentencing, Smith remained in the Burnet County jail on bonds of nearly $2 million.

Concordia University expands outreach to low-income students, covering gap between Pell Grant, tuition

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:17 GMT

As a new enrollee at Concordia University in St. Paul, first-year student Arleth Pacheco Ramirez has already taken in a football game, signed up for a series of science classes and checked out the psychology club on campus — all opportunities made possible by her tuition-free enrollment.Concordia’s growing efforts to recruit low-income young people from the Twin Cities, including those who are the first in their family to go to college, include an expanded financial aid program for Pell Grant-eligible students, one that took Pacheco Ramirez entirely by surprise.In fact, in her final days at Irondale High School in New Brighton, Pacheco Ramirez had given up on the idea of immediately matriculating into a four-year college, given the cost. Her mother, who suffers from a permanent disability, can’t work and her father holds two jobs to make ends meet as a device assembler and restaurant cook. Neither her parents nor her older sibling attended college.But Pacheco Ramir...