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Ticker: Price at the pump continues to climb; IRS: Customer service improving 

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:12:24 GMT

The average gas price jumped 5 cents in the past week, landing at $3.39 a gallon, according to AAA.  The price of gas is now 11 cents higher than it was a month ago, though 68 cents lower than a year ago when it averaged $4.07.The main factor driving the higher price in recent weeks is an increase in the price of crude, according to the auto club.“When the cost of crude oil crosses the $80 a barrel mark, that puts a lot of upward pressure on what we pay at the pump,” said Mary Maguire, AAA Northeast Vice President of Public and Government Affairs, “and as long as oil costs remain at the current level, drivers will likely see incremental price increases for now.”Still, the price of gas in Massachusetts is running below the national average, according to the latest price survey. The national average climbed 7 cents in the last week and now sits at $3.67 per gallon, according to AAA.IRS: Customer service improvingThe IRS says it has answered 2 million more calls this tax fi...

FBI: Guardsman applied to be hitman, but job ad was a joke

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:12:24 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee Air National Guardsman was arrested after federal agents said he responded to an online ad for a hitman through a parody website that he thought was real. Josiah Garcia told an undercover FBI agent that he needed money and thought he would be good at killing people because of his military experience and because he was an excellent marksman, according to an affidavit filed in federal court Thursday. Messages left with the office of the federal public defender in Nashville, which was appointed to represent Garcia, and with Garcia’s phone were not immediately returned Monday morning. Garcia said he came across the website RentAHitman.com while searching the internet for contract mercenary jobs at the suggestion of a guard coworker. The site was originally created in 2005 to advertise a cybersecurity company that never took off. However, it received many inquiries over the years about murder-for-hire services, according to the affidavit. Eventua...

Sudan’s generals battle for 3rd day; death toll soars to 185

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:12:24 GMT

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — As explosions and gunfire thundered outside, Sudanese in the capital Khartoum and other cities huddled in their homes for a third day Monday, while the army and a powerful rival force battled in the streets for control of the country. At least 185 people have been killed and over 1,800 wounded since the fighting erupted, U.N. envoy Volker Perthes told reporters. The two sides are using tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons in densely populated areas. Fighter jets swooped overhead and anti-aircraft fire lit up the skies as darkness fell.The toll could be much higher because there are many bodies in the streets around central Khartoum that no one can reach because of the clashes. There has been no official word on how many civilians or combatants have been killed. The doctors’ syndicate earlier put the number of civilian deaths at 97.The sudden outbreak of violence over the weekend between the nation’s two top generals, each backed by tens of thou...

Secret Chinese police station in New York leads to arrests

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:12:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Two men were arrested Monday on charges that they helped establish a secret police station in New York City on behalf of the Chinese government, and about three dozen officers with China’s national police force were charged with using social media to harass dissidents inside the United States, authorities said Monday.The cases, taken together, are part of a series of Justice Department prosecutions in recent years aimed at disrupting Chinese government efforts to locate in America pro-democracy activists and others who are openly critical of Beijing’s policies and to suppress their speech.One of three cases announced Monday concerns a local branch of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security that had operated inside an office building in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood before closing last fall amid an FBI investigation. The two men who were arrested were acting under the direction and control of a Chinese government official and deleted communicati...

Tribal colleges tap US energy funds to build ‘living labs’

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:12:24 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Tribal colleges and universities around the U.S. will be able to tap nearly $15 million in grant funding to boost clean energy development as part of the federal government’s latest investment in creating more reliable and sustainable electricity generation for Native American communities.The U.S. Department of Energy announced the new funding opportunity last week. It comes on the heels of another $50 million round of grants for deploying clean energy technology across Indian Country, where many communities have long been without basic services such as running water, electricity and broadband internet.“We know that there is a huge need for energy reliability but also for energy access in Indian Country,” said Wahleah Johns, director of the agency’s Office of Indian Energy.Johns, who is from the Navajo Nation, described it as an energy crisis in which families — and tribal governments — often have to be creative when finding ways to operate on th...

S&P/TSX composite posts small gain Monday, U.S. markets also rise

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:12:24 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index posted a small gain to start the week while U.S. markets also rose in the latter half of the afternoon after sagging for most of the day. Monday was a benign trading day with investors in “wait and see” mode, said Kevin Headland, chief investment strategist at Manulife Investment Management.“We’re kind of still digesting the information from last week,” he said.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 62.06 points at 20,641.97.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 100.71 points at 33,987.18. The S&P 500 index was up 13.68 points at 4,151.32, while the Nasdaq composite was up 34.26 points at 12,157.72.In Canada, investors are waiting for fresh inflation data to be released Tuesday, Headland said. After last week’s rate decision by the Bank of Canada saw the central bank hold its key interest rate at 4.5 per cent, all eyes will be on key economic figures to see whether any more hikes could be in the cards, he said. The Bank of...

Defendant charged with kidnapping mother, child testifies

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:12:24 GMT

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — The Vermont man on trial for kidnapping a New Hampshire woman and her 4-year-old child more than four years ago testified Monday in his federal court trial that he took the two vehicles he is accused of stealing and taking across state lines, but he denied kidnapping the woman or her son.Everett Simpson, who is representing himself in the trial, wrote the questions that were asked by his standby attorney. U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions told the jury that Simpson had provided the questions that were being asked of him.After the day’s testimony, Sessions said closing arguments would be held on Tuesday, after which the case would be given to the jury. If convicted of the kidnapping charges, Simpson could be sentenced to life in prison. Simpson answered “I do,” several times after Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Lasher asked questions, including whether he had taken the alleged victim and her son from New Hampshire to Vermont and whether...

Convicted serial rapist sentenced to more than 150 years

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:12:24 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana judge has sentenced a convicted serial rapist to more than 150 years in prison, authorities said Monday.Darrell Goodlow was charged in 2021 with 57 counts, including rape, burglary and criminal confinement. He pleaded guilty in March to nine counts, including eight felony counts of rape and one felony count of killing a domestic animal, as part of a plea agreement.Marion Superior Judge Mark Stoner sentenced him to 156 1/2 years behind bars on Friday, prosecutors said in a news release. “With this resolution, the defendant will spend the rest of his life in prison without putting the survivors in a position to relive the trauma they have experienced throughout the duration of a trial,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said.Telephone messages were left with defense attorneys listed in online court records as representing Goodlow.Prosecutors alleged that Goodlow targeted women in their 60s and 70s on the east side of Indianapolis and in the suburb of L...

Protestors force play to be stopped at world snooker champs

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:12:24 GMT

The Crucible Theatre’s famous green baize turned orange at the world snooker championship on Monday when a protestor interrupted a match by jumping on the table and releasing a packet of powder, causing play to be suspended.Two “Just Stop Oil” protesters invaded snooker’s most famous arena shortly after play began in two matches in the evening session.On one table, where Robert Milkins and Joe Perry were playing, a man leapt onto the table — scattering the balls — and threw orange dye over one half of the baize as boos and jeers came from the audience.On the other table, featuring a match between Mark Allen and Fan Zhengyi, a woman was stopped from getting onto the table by the quick-thinking response of referee Olivier Marteel.Both protestors were taken away by security, but the incident forced a stoppage in play while the mess was cleaned up.Play resumed in the Allen-Zhengyi match about 45 minutes later but the affected table in the Milkins-Perry match was covered and ...

Man arrested just minutes after allegedly attacking CTA worker

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 16:12:24 GMT

CHICAGO — A Chicago man is accused of attacking a Chicago Transit System employee while riding a train in the city's Garfield Park neighborhood. Police said 44-year-old Damion Fisher was taken into custody Sunday in the 2800 block of W. Lake St. around 8:20 a.m., minutes after allegedly striking the CTA worker. Police charged Fisher with felony aggravated battery of a transit employee.Read more: Latest Chicago news headlinesNo booking photo of Fisher was made available by police.