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Stocks tick higher after another dizzying day on Wall Street

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:30 GMT

By STAN CHOE (AP Business Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose Thursday, but only after another dizzying day for Wall Street where a big show of strength from the morning vanished and worries rose about the banking industry. The S&P 500 added 0.3% for its third gain in four days, but it had been on track for a much healthier gain of 1.8% in the morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw an early gain of 481 points disappear, and it likewise dipped to a brief loss before closing with a rise of 75 points, or 0.2%. Strength for technology stocks helped the Nasdaq composite hold up better than the rest of the market, and it added 1%. Two big questions have been causing big swings for Wall Street this month, and investors still don’t have a final answer for either. On one, investors are worried about whether more banks will suffer a debilitating exodus of customers following the second- and third-largest U.S. bank failures in history. On the other, all the turmoil is cl...

‘Succession’ review: The billionaires are back for a final season on HBO, battle lines drawn

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:30 GMT

Nina Metz | (TNS) Chicago TribuneEveryone is expendable. Even top dogs, who have the benefit of consoling themselves with massive exit packages. Some CEOs hang on longer than most, but not forever — retirement or death comes for us all — which is why, when money and power and legacies are in play, you need a plan of succession. The rich comedic conceit of “Succession” has always been rooted in one irascible billionaire’s inability to do this simple task: Name your replacement.The fourth and final season of the HBO series opens by tacitly asking if any of that matters, now that patriarch Logan Roy is selling off his media empire. It seems like a done deal, but you never know with this crowd. Either way, when Logan broke the news of his intentions last season, it shattered the hopes and sweaty, incompetent dreams of his three youngest children, and the show picks back up in the aftermath, with battle lines drawn.On one side you have Logan (Brian Cox), his afterthought of a son Connor ...

Source: Patriots determine Joe Judge’s new coaching role for 2023 season

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:30 GMT

Despite a disastrous debut as the Patriots’ quarterbacks coach last year, Joe Judge was always expected to return to Bill Belichick’s staff in a new role.But it wasn’t until recently that Judge’s new position was finalized.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft release statements on Dont’a Hightower’s retirement New England Patriots | Ex-Patriots P Jake Bailey blames 2022 struggles on one change New England Patriots | Source: Patriots, DB Jalen Mills reach revised 1-year deal after expected release New England Patriots | Guregian: Patriots’ dynastic defense ends without McCourty, Hightower New England Patriots | Former Patriots LB Dont’a Hightower announces retirement According to a source, Judge will serve in an assistant head coach role and coach the special teams units alongside assistants Cam Achord and Joe Houston. Judge wi...

Weather-weary California hopes for sunny spring after storms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:30 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Californians are tired. Tired of the rain, tired of the snow, tired of stormy weather and the cold, relentlessly gray skies that have clouded the Golden State nearly nonstop since late December.With spring now underway, the state’s 39 million residents are hopeful for sunnier days ahead. But this week’s atmospheric river — the 12th such storm here since late December — had other plans.The powerful systems dump huge amounts of rain and snow as they bring massive plumes of Pacific moisture into California. They have already wreaked havoc across the state, with a death toll rising as communities dig out and floodwaters recede. High winds toppled trees, snowfall stranded mountain communities and storm surges inundated coastal towns with no end in sight.Californians initially welcomed the precipitation and chilly temperatures after a record-hot summer and yearslong drought that included the driest January through March on record in 2022. But the atmospheric r...

Massachusetts train derails, no hazardous cargo reported

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:30 GMT

AYER, Mass. (AP) — Five freight train cars derailed in Massachusetts on Thursday, but no hazardous materials were being hauled and there were no reports of injuries, according to authorities.The freight cars that toppled over at about 11:30 a.m. were carrying sealed containers of trash and recycling material, the Ayer Fire Department said in a social media post. Each car was carrying double stacked containers for a total of 10 containers, according to the state emergency management agency.A woman walking in the area first noticed the toppled railcars and called authorities, Fire Chief Tim Johnston said at the scene. “For an unknown cause the two double-stacked containers on one of the trains toppled over and it seems to have ended up pulling four others over,” he said.The fire department called railway operator CSX and utility National Grid to the scene and officials took precautions to protect a nearby waterway.The train was not moving at the time of the derailment, assistant...

Abortion-rights supporters prevail in New Hampshire House

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:30 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — In a victory for abortion-rights supporters, the Republican-led but closely divided New Hampshire House on Thursday rejected multiple bills to further restrict abortion access while also approving legislation to protect it.The eight abortion-related bills came up for a vote during what has been a hectic week for abortion policy nationwide. Nine months after the U.S. Supreme Court ended a nationwide right to an abortion, court fights are playing out on multiple fronts, states dominated by Democrats are seeking to protect access and Republicans are trying to tighten restrictions.In New Hampshire, Republicans hold a 201-198 majority in the House, with one seat vacant. That has made attendance on session days extra important, as evidenced by the vote on a measure Thursday that ended in a tie.The proposal in question, backed by virtually all Democrats, would have repealed the state’s ban on abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy. The bill was tabled after the 192-192 t...

Ontario budget 2023: No plans yet for TTC, GO Transit co-fares unlike elsewhere in GTA

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:30 GMT

As the Ontario government touts the ability for residents in the Greater Toronto Area to ride local transit and GO Transit at a discounted rate, that ability still hasn’t been extended to Canada’s largest city.During the presentation of the budget on Thursday, the Ford government promoted a program that aims to make transit more affordable as “Ontario families continue to look at managing costs.”For residents who take GO Transit and local transit services in Barrie, York Region, Bradford-West Gwillimbury, Durham Region, Milton, Guelph, Cambridge-Kitchener-Waterloo, Milton, Oakville, Mississauga, Brampton, Hamilton and Burlington, they receive a discount and don’t have to pay the local transit fare.However, in Toronto, passengers who begin or end their trip using the TTC have to pay the full fare ($3.20 as of March 23 if using a Presto card) plus the full GO Transit fare.Despite having the largest local ridership base, expansion of the program to Toronto...

NTSB: Crews failed to de-ice road before massive Texas crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:30 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — The company responsible for maintaining a Texas interstate where 130 vehicles crashed in icy conditions two years ago, killing six and injuring dozens, failed to address the deteriorating road conditions, federal officials said Thursday.That portion of Interstate 35 West in Fort Worth was not treated with salt the morning of the Feb. 11, 2021, crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said. The NTSB said that the failure of North Tarrant Express Mobility Partners Segment 3 to address the conditions contributed to the crash, as did drivers’ speeds.The NTSB said that because of the forecasted freezing rain and sleet, North Tarrant Express Mobility Partners Segment 3 had pretreated the southbound lanes of I-35W two days earlier with a liquid brine solution. But, the NTSB said, crews checking the road about 45 minutes before the crash didn’t recognize that the elevated portion of the interstate where the crash occurred needed additional de-icing treatment...

Netanyahu vows to unite Israel but opponents dismiss pledge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:30 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday vowed to “mend the rift” in a nation deeply divided over his proposed overhaul of the country’s judiciary. But he offered no details on how he intends to do so and gave no indication that he would slow down the plan.Netanyahu delivered his appeal in a nationally televised address after another day of mass protests across the country against the plan, and hours after his parliamentary coalition passed the first in a series of laws that make up the overhaul. His vague pledges were quickly rejected by the protest movement, which said it would continue to oppose “Netanyahu’s attempt to become a dictator.”Protesters blocked traffic on main highways and scuffled with police in unrest that shows no sign of abating. Police used water cannons to disperse crowds, and dozens of people — including leaders of the protest movement — were arrested.The government’s plan has plunged the nearly 75-year-old nation into one of its w...

Army: Decorated soldier killed in South Carolina shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:54:30 GMT

A decorated 20-year member of the U.S. Army has been identified as one of the five people killed in a shooting Tuesday night at a South Carolina home.Command Sgt. Maj. Carlos Evans, 38, was killed by a former soldier in an attack that officials say left three sleeping children dead while their surviving mother frantically sought help.The ex-soldier, Charles Slacks Jr., then killed himself. Slacks and the woman were divorced, but he used a key to enter the home in Sumter around 10 p.m. Tuesday, Sumter Police Chief Russell Roark said Wednesday.Slacks, 42, killed his own children, 5-year-old Aayden Holliday-Slacks and his 6-year-old Aason Holliday-Slacks, and also killed their half-sister, 11-year-old Ava Holliday, Sumter County Coroner Robbie Baker said. Before the divorce, Slacks had been Ava’s stepfather.Slacks had just begun working as a budget analyst with U.S. Army Central last month, according to Major Jason Welch. Slacks served as a tracked vehicle mechanic from June 1999 to Ju...