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Some states’ economies cool even as the nation’s sizzles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:50 GMT

Tim Henderson | Stateline.org (TNS)A still-roaring national economy grew at an unexpectedly robust 5.2% annual rate in the third quarter of this year, but early indicators show a more mixed picture for many states heading into the holidays.The preliminary unemployment rate rose in 38 states and economic output slowed in 32 states in October, according to a Stateline analysis of preliminary federal economic data. Yet states where the economy is still humming — such as Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia — have added hundreds of thousands of jobs since 2020 and are helping to keep national output strong.Economists note that the uptick in the jobless rate may be the result of long-inactive workers seeking jobs; those job-searchers are included in the unemployment rate.Most economists surveyed by Stateline said the states with elevated unemployment rates and lagging production were experiencing growing pains as they continue to recover from the pandemic. A modest slowdo...

30-year mortgage rates keep falling, creep back toward 7%

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:50 GMT

Jeff Ostrowski | (TNS) Bankrate.comMortgage rates dropped again this week, according to Bankrate’s national survey.The average rate on 30-year fixed mortgages retreated to 7.23% this week, down from 7.41% the previous week, according to Bankrate’s weekly national survey of large lenders.The recent reprieve could signal a prolonged drop in mortgage rates, housing economists say. The average rate on 30-year home loans in October topped 8%, but that’s changing because of a number of factors, including a slowing job market and signs that the Federal Reserve’s ongoing war on inflation is working.“Part of it is the Federal Reserve is pausing on interest rate hikes,” says Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS, a real estate listing service in the Mid-Atlantic region. “Of course, mortgage rates are affected by things other than what the Fed does. For example, mortgage applications are down, and lenders are competing for a shrinking pool of applicants.”Meanwhile, yields on 10-...

After listless effort against Buffalo, Bruins need more from everyone

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:50 GMT

The good news is the injury suffered by top defenseman Charlie McAvoy on Thursday night at the Garden does not appear to be serious and is not a head injury, said Bruins coach Jim Montgomery.Montgomery, in fact, did not rule out McAvoy for Saturday’s matinee against the upstart Arizona Coyotes. He’s “hopeful,” in fact, McAvoy can play.That is a very promising development after McAvoy left the game after appearing dazed from J.J. Peterka’s reverse hit.But what remained unsettling is that the B’s were well on their way to delivering the stinker before McAvoy got hut, and it appeared to be a direct carryover from the previous day’s lethargic practice.It is no coincidence that practice was one missing captain Brad Marchand, who was home in Nova Scotia to attend the funeral of his grandmother. Marchand has long been a catalyst to ignite the B’s, whether it was in a game or in a lifeless practice. That was true long before the ‘C’ was put on...

U.S. and UAE-backed initiative announces $9 billion more for agricultural innovation projects

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:50 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An additional $9 billion of funding to tackle agriculture’s role in the climate crisis was announced on the sidelines of the United Nations climate talks on Friday.The Agriculture Innovation Mission (AIM) for Climate, a joint initiative led by the United States and the United Arab Emirates that debuted at the climate talks in Glasgow two years ago, now has $17 billion to invest in agriculture and food systems innovation. Food systems — all the processes involved in making, shipping and disposing of food — account for about a third of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.Countries have been convening at the annual Conference of the Parties to discuss and negotiate what to do about climate change that has Earth bumping up against the Paris agreement target of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since industrial times. With difficult negotiations still underway on how aggressively countries might agree to cut foss...

Fox snatcher: Footage shows furry intruder swiped cameras from Arizona backyard

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:50 GMT

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — An Arizona woman got a huge shock when surveillance footage showed the thief who stole her backyard cameras was four-legged and fluffy-tailed. Esmeralda Egurrola, of Tucson, noticed on Monday that her three motion-activated cameras appeared off-line. So, she checked the most recent recording in each camera from an app on her cellphone. Three videos had documented an entire heist carried out by a gray fox.“I saw him sniffing and messing with camera one. I went to the second video, which was camera two. It caught him with camera one in his mouth.,” Egurrola told The Associated Press on Friday. “That’s when I knew, ‘Omigosh I think he took all of them.’ ”Egurrola shared video and photos of the intruder fox-trotting away on Facebook. It didn’t take long for reactions to snowball. It was first reported by the Arizona Daily Star.She tried to search for the cameras, which were a gift and cost around $200, but saw no sign of them. She belie...

Prosecutors in Guatemala ask court to lift president-elect’s immunity before inauguration

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:50 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Prosecutors in Guatemala on Friday asked a court to strip President-elect Bernardo Arévalo of his immunity, the third time they have done so since he won the election in August.Arévalo is scheduled to take office on Jan. 14, and it was unclear whether the prosecutors’ continued targeting of him and his party could interfere with the inauguration.The most recent request from prosecutors cites alleged irregularities in the way Arévalo’s Seed Movement party gathered signatures to register years earlier.Authorities arrested a number of Seed Movement members in recent weeks. They also previously requested stripping Arévalo of immunity over alleged mishandling of party funds, and requested that he and his vice president-elect also lose their immunity for allegedly making supportive comments on social media about the takeover of a public university last year.Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned by the U.S. government, has faced months of ...

In a reversal, Starbucks proposes restarting union talks and reaching contract agreements in 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:50 GMT

Starbucks said Friday it’s committed to bargaining with its unionized workers and reaching labor agreements next year, a major reversal for the coffee chain after two years fighting the unionization of its U.S. stores.In a letter to Lynne Fox, the president of the Workers United union, Starbucks Chief Partner Officer Sara Kelly said the current bargaining impasse between the two sides “should not be acceptable to either of us.” Kelly asked to restart bargaining in January.“We will set as an ambition and hopeful goal the completion of bargaining and the ratification of contracts in 2024,” Kelly wrote in the letter.In a statement distributed by Workers United, Fox said she is reviewing the letter and will respond.“We’ve never said no to meeting with Starbucks. Anything that moves bargaining forward in a positive way is most welcome,” Fox said.Workers United said the last bargaining session between the two sides was May 23.Saturday marks the two-year anniversary of a Starbucks store in...

Jonathan Majors begged accuser to avoid hospital, warning of possible ‘investigation,’ messages show

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The actor Jonathan Majors begged his former girlfriend not to seek medical attention after an incident that left her with a head injury last year, warning she had “no perspective of what could happen” if the truth got out, according to previously undisclosed text messages read at the actor’s criminal trial on Friday.“They will ask you questions, and as I don’t think you actually protect us, it could lead to an investigation even if you do lie and they suspect something,” Majors wrote to his girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, on Sept. 22, 2022.Jabbari replied that she would tell doctors she bumped her head, assuring Majors: “Why would I tell them what really happened when it’s clear I want to be with you?” The messages were read on the fifth day of the Manhattan trial against Jonathan Majors, a rising Hollywood star who is fighting to salvage his reputation after his arrest for allegedly assaulting Jabbari in a separate incident, months later, in New York City. Addition...

Wisconsin university system reaches deal with Republicans that would scale back diversity positions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:50 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Faced with a demand from Republican lawmakers to axe diversity initiatives or go without raises and other funding, Universities of Wisconsin officials announced Friday that they’ve agreed to freeze hiring for diversity positions, drop an affirmative action faculty hiring program at UW-Madison and create a position at the flagship campus focused on conservative thought. Conservatives have long criticized the UW system as a bastion of liberalism. Democrats have accused Republicans of holding employees hostage by blocking pay raises. They argue that diversity initiatives enhance the collegiate experience and play a crucial role in identifying promising students who grew up with fewer resources. The fight in Wisconsin reflects a broader cultural battle playing out across the nation over college diversity initiatives.“In recent years we’ve seen a growing emphasis on concepts that amplify ideas of division, exclusion and indoctrination on our campuses,” Assembly...

Ex Black Panther who maintained innocence in bombing that killed an officer died in Nebraska prison

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:50 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The second of two former Black Panthers who always maintained their innocence in the 1970 bombing death of a white Omaha police officer has died in prison.A spokesman for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services said Friday that Ed Poindexter had died a day earlier at the age of 79. David Rice, the other man convicted in the death of Omaha Police Officer Larry Minard, died in prison in 2016.The pair argued that they were targeted because of their membership in the Black Panthers by an FBI program that undermined radical political groups, and they questioned the legitimacy of crucial testimony that helped convict them.Poindexter and Rice both doubted the key witness in the case who implicated them in the bombing plot, but they were unsuccessful in numerous appeals. A recording of the phone call that lured Minard to a vacant house before a homemade explosive detonated appeared to have been made by an adult man even though a teen testified he made the call. A...