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New federal rule may help boost competition for railroad shipments at companies with few options

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Companies that have plants and facilities only served by one railroad may soon be able to get a bid from another railroad if their current service is bad enough under a new rule that was proposed Thursday to help boost competition.Railroad shippers with plants that are only served by one railroad may soon be able to get a bid from another railroad if their current service is bad enough under a new rule that was proposed Thursday to help boost competition.The U.S. Surface Transportation Board announced the long-awaited rule that has been under consideration in some form at least since 2010 to provide some relief to so called “captive shippers” that only have a connection to one of the six giant freight railroads that deliver the vast majority of goods across North America.Many companies have complained about poor railroad service over the past couple years as the industry worked to recover from the depths of the pandemic. The railroads have acknowledged they cut th...

Former British police officers admit sending racist messages about Meghan and others

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Five retired British police officers on Thursday admitted sending offensive and racist social media messages about Prince Harry’s wife, the Duchess of Sussex, and others.The men, all in their 60s, were arrested after a BBC investigation last year sparked an internal police inquiry.The charges say messages posted in a closed WhatsApp group referred to Harry and wife Meghan, as well as Prince William and his wife, Kate, and the late Queen Elizabeth II and her late husband, Prince Philip. Some also mentioned U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, former Home Secretary Priti Patel and former Health Secretary Sajid Javid.Robert Lewis, Peter Booth, Anthony Elsom, Alan Hall and Trevor Lewton pleaded guilty at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court to sending by public communication grossly offensive racist messages. All are former members of London’s Metropolitan Police department and spent time with the force’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection branch, which gua...

La “desinflación inmaculada” es la nueva palabra de moda en economía. Pero, ¿qué significa?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

(CNN) — En los últimos meses, los economistas han añadido otro término a su léxico: desinflación inmaculada. Aunque no existe una definición oficial para ese concepto, la expresión se utiliza para describir un escenario en el que la inflación se enfría sin provocar un repunte del desempleo.Históricamente, esto ha sido difícil de conseguir, si no imposible, debido a un fenómeno bien estudiado conocido como la relación de sacrificio. La teoría que subyace a la ecuación del coeficiente es que toda reducción de la inflación inflige un cierto grado de dolor a una economía. Ese dolor tiende a venir en forma de una mayor tasa de desempleo, que obstaculiza el crecimiento económico.En Estados Unidos, la inflación se enfrió desde un máximo del 9,1% en junio de 2022 al 3,2% en julio de este año, según el último Índice de Precios al Consumo. Sin embargo, la tasa de desempleo del país bajó del 3,6% en junio de 2022 al 3,5% en julio de 2023. La tasa actual es del 3,8%.Eso está llevando a al...

Investigation update: Officials review findings in Champlain Towers South collapse

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

Over two years have passed since the tragic collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside and the officials overseeing the investigation provided an update on their findings. On Thursday, investigators reviewed the progress of their inquiry into the devastating incident, emphasizing that this review is focused on “fact-finding” rather than assigning blame. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) hosted a meeting to shed more light on the factors that led to the fatal collapse. During this meeting, officials examineed the current status of the investigation into the partial collapse of the condominium building in Surfside. Importantly, NIST clarified that their goal is to gather factual information and their findings are not intended to apportion fault.“Our team has made significant progress since the last time we met,” said a spokesperson for NIST. “Our team at NIST is resolute in identifying the technical cause or causes of this coll...

Unoccupied boat sinks off of Margaret Pace Park in Miami

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

A boat took on water near Biscayne Bay.The incident happened off of Margaret Pace Park, located at 745 N. Bayshore Drive, Thursday. According to police, the boat was unoccupied when it began to sink. Now, they are trying to figure out who the boat belongs to.

Broward County commissioners to discuss $15 million allocation to buy new helicopter following fatal BSFR crash in Pompano Beach

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

The Broward County Sheriff is hoping for the rapid replacement of a helicopter after a tragic crash that killed two. The plan to buy a new state-of-the-art helicopter will be discussed during Thursday’s commission meeting. 7News spoke with Broward County Mayor Lamar Fisher who outlined where the money to purchase the helicopter will come from. The proposed figure is $15 million, but the county knows it has to work swiftly to get the money over to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.During Thursday evening’s budget meeting, the commission will discuss the allocation of millions of dollars for the new chopper. The fatal incident happened on Aug. 28 when a Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue helicopter crashed into an apartment complex in Pompano Beach. A resident at the complex, 65-year-old Lurean Wheaton, was killed, while 50-year-old Capt. Terryson Jackson, who was on board the chopper, died in the crash. Jackson was posthumous promoted to the rank of Battalion ChiefThe money wi...

Bus driver wins $100K on Powerball, immediately retires

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WLKY) — A Jefferson County Public Schools bus driver is retiring after winning big on the Powerball.Kentucky Lottery officials said James Keown won $100,000 recently, and immediately told his boss, “I hit the lottery, and I’m not coming back.”Keown told officials that he worked as a school bus driver for JCPS for 11 years.“I loved my job, but I’d been thinking about retiring for a while,” he told lottery officials.Keown purchased the winning Powerball ticket from Circle K on Galene Drive in Louisville for the Aug. 19 drawing.The ticket matched four white ball numbers and the Powerball to win the game’s $50,000 prize. He chose to add the Power Play feature, multiplying his winnings by the Power Play number drawn — two.The next morning, he checked the numbers on his phone and he saw all but one number matched.“I looked at it four times… that number’s got to change, but it didn’t,” Keown said.Keown was excited to share the...

More than 800 rescued after extreme flooding in Greece turns villages into lakes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

(CNN) — More than 800 people have been rescued over the past two days from severe floods in Greece, local officials said, after extreme rainfall turned streets into deadly rivers, tore down buildings and bridges and left whole villages submerged.The rainstorms also hit neighboring Bulgaria and Turkey, killing at least 14 people across the three countries, including four in Greece.The Greek region of Thessaly, the country’s agricultural hub, has been hit hardest by what government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis called “the biggest flood phenomenon that our country has ever experienced.”The port city of Volos, the surrounding mountainous Pelion area and the cities of Karditsa and Trikala were among the worst affected areas.The downpour has lasted days, but is expected to weaken from Thursday afternoon, according to Greece’s meteorological service. Rescue operations are now underway to try to reach those left stranded by the floodwaters, which have exceeded two ...

Hurricane Lee forecast to become a Category 5; forecast for US impact next week still uncertain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

(CNN) — Hurricane Lee strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane Thursday morning and will only further intensify into a Category 5 storm, days before a precarious and uncertain northward track that much of the US East Coast will have to watch closely.The Category 2 storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 105 mph as of early Thursday, located about 870 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands, according to the National Hurricane Center.Even more rapid intensification is expected because the forecast track takes the hurricane across some of the warmest waters in the Atlantic Ocean and through relatively calm upper-level winds. Lee is now forecast to reach 160 mph Category 5-strength Friday night as it approaches the eastern Caribbean and is still expected to be a dangerous hurricane over the southwestern Atlantic early next week.There is increasing confidence that the center of Lee will pass to the north of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin I...

Man charged with fatally stabbing woman on Mass and Cass

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:32 GMT

A man has been charged with stabbing a woman, who would later die from her wounds, in the troubled Mass and Cass area.Michael Bellanti, 33, a homeless man in Boston, appeared in municipal court in Roxbury Thursday morning to face a charge of assault to murder with a knife, stemming from an alleged Aug. 18 incident in which he stabbed a woman he and his girlfriend were fighting with on Atkinson Street near its intersection with Southampton Street — right in the heart of Boston’s opioid epidemic named after the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard.A not guilty plea was entered on Bellanti’s behalf and Judge Shelly Joseph set a $100,000 bail.Should Bellanti be able to post this bail, Joseph set release conditions that he stay away from the location of the stabbing and to stay away from the victim, the family of the victim and any witnesses.Police pulled up the the scene at around 12:15 a.m. on Aug. 19 and were directed by a security guard to a red ...