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Stocks gain ground on Wall Street as inflation slows further

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:54 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is gaining ground Thursday following the latest sign that inflation continues to cool.The S&P 500 was 1.3% higher in afternoon trading after a report showed inflation at the wholesale level slowed last month by more than expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 340 points, or 1%, at 33,986, as of 2:27 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 2% higher.Thursday’s report showed that prices paid to producers last month were 2.7% higher than a year earlier, the lowest inflation level there in more than two years. The hope on Wall Street is that easier inflation on the wholesale level will not only support profits for companies but also flow through to cooler inflation for consumers. A day earlier, a separate report said inflation for consumers slowed to 5%. Inflation and how high the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates to tame it have been at the center of Wall Street’s struggles for more than a year. The Fed has hiked rates at such...

Dairy farm explosion injures 1 person kills 18,000 cattle

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:54 GMT

DIMMITT, Texas (AP) — An explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle that critically injured one person and killed an estimated 18,000 head of cattle was the deadliest barn fire recorded since the Animal Welfare Institute began tracking the fires.Castro County Sheriff Salvador Rivera has said the Monday fire and explosion at Southfork Dairy Farm near Dimmitt was likely due to overheated equipment and would be investigated by state fire marshals.“This would be the most deadly fire involving cattle in the past decade, since we started tracking that in 2013,” institute spokesperson Marjorie Fishman said Thursday.The institute also tracks barn fires that kill other livestock, including poultry, pigs, goats and sheep.“The deadliest barn fire overall since we began tracking in 2013… was a fire… at Hi-Grade Egg Producers North, Manchester, Indiana, which killed 1 million chickens,” according to Fishman.A 2022 report by the institute noted “several instances in which 100,00...

71 units severely damaged in major Vaughan fire: deputy chief

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:54 GMT

Vaughan’s Deputy Fire Chief confirmed on Thursday that 71 units were damaged in the significant fire that rapidly spread in the York Region city yesterday.Firefighters and other emergency crews were called to a scene at Heathcote Road and Kinburn Crescent near Teston Road and Pine Valley Drive just after 1 p.m. on Wednesday.Initial reports at the scene established that over 30 units were destroyed, most under construction and uninhabited. Except for minor burns, no serious injuries were reported in the aftermath.Vaughan Deputy Fire Chief Grant Moffatt told CityNews on Thursday that 71 total units were damaged in the fire.“[They] range from single homes, detached homes to multi-units — residential townhouses, that style of complex,” Moffatt said. “Also, a basement was set with a first floor only.”A City of Vaughan spokesperson tells CityNews that the 71 units included 32 single detached homes, 21 townhomes, and 16 units that were classed as fire br...

4 Penobscot Indians accuse Maine priests of sexual abuse

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:54 GMT

BANGOR, Maine (AP) — Four Native Americans who say they were abused by three Roman Catholic priests on their reservation in Maine are the latest to bring lawsuits since the state fully lifted the statute of limitations for child sex crimes.The Penobscot Nation members contend the abuse started when they were 7 to 16 years old at St. Ann Parish on Indian Island, just north of Bangor. The oldest abuse dates to 1972, while the most recent happened in 1987, according to the lawsuits.Michael Bigos, a lawyer representing the members, filed the lawsuits in Penobscot County Superior Court, despite potential legal roadblocks by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland. More than two dozen lawsuits brought by Bigos’ law firm are currently on hold while the diocese challenges the 2021 law that repealed the statute of limitations.“Let us find out what the diocese knew and when they knew it, so they can be held fully accountable, and we can keep our communities safe for survivors,” Bigos told repo...

UN, others cite new displacement from Ethiopia’s Tigray

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:54 GMT

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Forces from Ethiopia’s Amhara region have displaced tens of thousands of ethnic Tigrayans from disputed territory in the north of the country in recent weeks despite a peace deal agreed late last year, according to aid workers and internal agency documents seen by the AP.The Mai Tsebri area in northwestern Tigray is close to the regional border with Amhara. It changed hands several times during the war, which erupted in 2020 and ended with a ceasefire in November. The Amhara people claim the area as their own.Since early March, some 47,000 people uprooted from Mai Tsebri have gone to Endabaguna, a town roughly 55 kilometers (34 miles) further north, according to United Nations figures seen by the AP on Thursday.Another report, prepared by a humanitarian agency, says residents fled Mai Tsebri because of “harassment, ethnic profiling and direct threats” from irregular Amhara forces that also carried out “evictions.”That report adds that there have been no ...

AP source: Dan Snyder agrees to $6B sale of NFL’s Commanders

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:54 GMT

A group led by Josh Harris and Mitchell Rales that includes Magic Johnson has an agreement in principle to buy the NFL’s Washington Commanders from longtime owner Dan Snyder for a North American professional sports team record $6 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday because the deal hasn’t been finalized. Another person told the AP a deal hasn’t been sent to the league for approval yet.A Commanders spokesperson said the team was not in position to comment. The league declined to comment.Once the deal is approved, Harris would own controlling stakes in teams in three of the four major North American pro sports leagues. He and David Blitzer have owned the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers since 2011 and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils since 2013.Harris has owned a piece of the Pittsburgh Steelers, which he needs to sell before getting the Commanders.The news was first...

Biden in Ireland encourages nations to “dream together”

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:54 GMT

DUBLIN (AP) — Holding up his own family history as an example, President Joe Biden on Thursday told lawmakers in a packed parliament building that the story of Irish immigrants setting sail for the U.S. is at the very heart of “what binds Ireland and America together.”“Like so many countries around the world, though perhaps more than most, the United States was shaped by Ireland,” Biden said in address to a joint sitting of the Oireachtas in Leinster House. “And the values we share remain to this day the core of the historic partnership between our people and our governments.” In his address, Biden stressed the importance of economic ties, a united front on the war in Ukraine and a shared urgency to manage climate change. Biden addressed the parliament as part of his four-day trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland, where he also met with political leaders and took a whirlwind tour of his ancestral homeland.Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaí l, speaker of the Dail, parliament’s lowe...

3 men charged after allegedly stealing $6,000 worth of jewelry from Naperville home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:54 GMT

WHEATON, Ill. — Three men have been charged for burglary for allegedly stealing over $6,000 worth of jewelry from an elderly Naperville couple's home. Lawrence Miller, 29, Sam Mason, 26, and Christopher Nicholas, 36 were all charged with one count of residential burglary.Miller and Nicholas are charged with an extra misdemeanor. According to police reports, the couple was in the driveway of their Naperville home when they were approached by a man wearing a yellow vest, who was later identified as Miller. It is alleged that Miller told the couple that there was a problem with their water and that he was there to resolve the issue. It is further alleged that Miller convinced the man to let him into the house and show him where the utility boxes were. Update on 1-year-old girl found dead in 2017 house fire in Markham Police reported that when Miller took the man away from his residence, Miller's accomplices entered the home and stole $6,000 worth of jewelry then fled the scene.Polic...

Millennium Park's summer concert, film season announced

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:54 GMT

CHICAGO — The annual lineup for Millennium Park's summer concert and film series was released on Thursday.Taking place most Mondays and Thursdays, the music series kicks off Thursday, June 22 and runs through Aug. 216/22 — Tribute to Ramsey Lewis: A Gentleman of Jazz, with special surprise guests6/26 — Eddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra, El Laberinto del Coco7/13 — Big Freedia, "The Femmergy" feat. Mister Wallace & Friends + VITIGRRL7/17 — Yemi Alade, Son Palenque + DJ's TopDonn & Dee Money7/20 — Stephen Marley, Skanking Lizard & Jump Up Records' 30th anniversary with DJ Chuck Wren7/24 — Kurt Vile and the Violators, Finom7/31 — Shemekia Copeland, Martha Redbone Roots Project8/10 — Vieux Farka Touré & Cedric Burnside8/17 — PJ Morton, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio8/21 — Carla Morrison, Girl Ultra + DJ Roxyo SoundsThe Millennium Park Summer Film Series will take place every Tuesday from July 11 through Aug. 29. Films are shown on a 40-foot LED screen from the Pritzker stage with...

Mother charged after 1-year-old girl found dead in 2017 house fire in Markham

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:54 GMT

MARKHAM, Ill. — Markham police announced an arrest Thursday in the yearslong investigation into the death of one-year-old Ana Marie Townsend.Melody Townsend, the mother of the murdered toddler, was arrested for felony child endangerment and concealing and aiding a fugitive. More charges could be forthcoming.Authorities located Townsend in California and she arrived in the state of Illinois on Tuesday. She is set to go before a judge on Thursday.Melody TownsendAna Marie Townsend's body was found July 3, 2017 at the scene of a house fire at 155th and Hamlin. She was located inside a plastic bag on the upstairs floor of the abandoned home. Her identity was initially unknown. Man, 18, charged with killing CPD Officer Andres Vásquez Lasso faces arraignment Wednesday Two years later the Cook County Medical Examiner's office announced her identity through the use of DNA and officially ruled her death as a homicide, noting physical trauma had occurred unrelated to the fire.Community activ...