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Federal Reserve minutes: Officials signal cautious approach to rates amid heightened uncertainty

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:44:03 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve officials regarded the U.S. economy’s outlook as particularly uncertain last month, according to minutes released Wednesday, and said they would “proceed carefully” in deciding whether to further raise their benchmark interest rate.Such cautious comments are generally seen as evidence that the Fed isn’t inclined to raise rates in the near future. Economic data from the past several months “generally suggested that inflation was slowing,” the minutes of the Sept. 19-20 meeting said. The policymakers added that further evidence of declining inflation was needed to be sure it would slow to the Fed’s 2% target.Several of the 19 Fed policymakers said that with the Fed’s key rate “likely at or near its peak, the focus” of their policy decisions should “shift from how high to raise the policy rate to how long” to keep it at restrictive levels.And the officials generally acknowledged that the risks to Fed’s policies were becoming more balanced between...

Oklahoma Supreme Court chief justice recommends removing judge for texting during a murder trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:44:03 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court is recommending the removal of a lower court judge who was caught on camera scrolling through social media and texting during a murder trial.An investigation by the Oklahoma Supreme Court Council on Judicial Complaints found District Judge Traci Soderstrom exchanged more than 500 texts with her courtroom bailiff during the trial. Texts included in a court filing showed the judge mocked prosecutors, laughed at the bailiff’s comment about a prosecutor’s genitals, praised the defense attorney and called the key prosecution witness a liar, according to the petition filed Tuesday by Chief Justice John Kane IV.Soderstrom, who was sworn in on Jan. 9 after being elected in November, was suspended with pay pending the outcome of a hearing by the Court on the Judiciary, which will determine whether to remove her from the bench.“The pattern of conduct demonstrates Respondent’s (Soderstrom’s) gross neglect of duty, gross...

Fact or fiction: Is rent cheaper in fall and winter months? 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:44:03 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- It's not a secret, everyone and their wallets know that there is a housing crisis in Colorado. Rent prices are up, demand is high and supply is down.The housing market isn't all about location location location. As renters are pinching pennies, it may be useful to know that the odds of finding lower rent prices are better in the fall and winter months. Polis signs executive order on housing But how can a rental unit be worth less in the fall and winter? It's not so much that it's worth less, rather, rental units are more valuable in the spring and summer.It's a trend that Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist at Zillow, told FOX31 he sees year after year."That's how the housing market works, people tend to move in the spring, and in the fall and winter it gets quieter and rent slows down," Divounguy said.Divounguy said that when the rent increases slow down, you can even find some rent declines."There is less competition in the market at that time because fewer peop...

No threat at Margate Middle School after officers find BB gun in students backpack

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:44:03 GMT

A South Florida school was cleared after a scare on campus.According to police, a student at Margate Middle School reported seeing a gun on a fellow classmate’s waist, Thursday. Officers investigated and found a BB gun in that student’s backpack.There were no known threats and the school returned to normal operations.It is unclear if the student will face any disciplinary action.

US death toll in Israel-Hamas war rises to 22 as Blinken heads to Israel and US makes military moves

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:44:03 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of U.S. citizens confirmed to have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war has risen to at least 22 with at least 17 more Americans unaccounted for, the State Department said Wednesday. That’s an increase in the death toll from 14 the day before, in a war that has already claimed more than 2,200 lives on both sides.A “handful” of U.S. citizens are among the estimated 150 hostages captured by Hamas militants during their shocking weekend assault on Israel, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday.In a further sign of U.S. support for Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken left for meetings with officials there. And the U.S. military is moving a second aircraft carrier toward the Mediterranean Sea as part of efforts to prevent the war from spilling over into a more dangerous regional conflict.Kirby said the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and its ships would be an “available asset” if necessary. The USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy’s mos...

Renew proposes MEP Martin Hójsik as new Parliament vice president

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:44:03 GMT

BRUSSELS — Liberal Slovak MEP Martin Hojsík is in the running to become one of the European Parliament’s 14 vice presidents, after a spot opened up in the wake of September’s election in Slovakia.Chaired by Parliament President Roberta Metsola, the bureau of vice-presidents makes decisions on how the €2-billion-a-year Parliament runs, including appointments of top civil servants, acquisition of properties, and agreeing rules for MEPs.A current vice president, Michal Šimečka, is set to resign as he prepares to take up a seat in the national parliament, having led his Progressive Slovakia to the second-placed spot in the election. Hojsík also represents Progressive Slovakia, which looks set to be the main opposition party in Slovakia, after populist Robert Fico struck a tentative coalition deal with the social democrats and a far-right party Wednesday.“For me it’s humbling and I will try to do my best in order to get the confidence of the colleagues in the Parl...

Authorities investigating deadly industrial accident in Abington

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:44:03 GMT

An investigation is underway after an industrial accident in Abington killed a 67-year-old Braintree man Tuesday, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office announced. The DA’s office said Abington police first responded to Troupe Waste and Recycling on Bedford Street around 1:40 p.m. after receiving a 911 call from an employee who said another employee had fallen off a forklift. The DA’s office said first responders soon found the injured employee and began life saving measures. The employee was ultimately taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The Plymouth County DA’s office on Wednesday identified the man who died as Donald Schaefer. In its statement, the DA’s office said Schaefer appeared to have been working with two other men to offload several steel container bottoms using a tractor with a forklift attachment. The DA’s office said Schaefer “was standing on top of one of the loads to provide counterweight.” When the load shifted, officials sa...

State police add 17-year-old suspect in fatal Brockton shooting to ‘Most Wanted List’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:44:03 GMT

Massachusetts State Police have added a 17 year old wanted for a fatal shooting in Brockton to the department’s Most Wanted List.According to authorities, an arrest warrant for Kahmari Price was issued after state and local police identified the teenager as a suspect in the shooting death of Mark Boyd.Boyd, 33, was found by Brockton police the night of Feb. 26, 2023, after officers were called to North Main Street for reports of a shooting.First responders arrived to find Boyd unresponsive and suffering from a gunshot wound the head, officials said.Price was later identified as a suspect following a homicide investigation by state and local police and the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.The teen is now wanted for murder and, due to a firearm never being recovered, should be considered armed and dangerous.In a news release, MSP officials described Price as having a height of 5’10” and weight of 140 pounds, along with black ha...

Biden announces new actions slashing junk fees

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:44:03 GMT

(CNN) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday unveiled new efforts to crack down on junk fees while announcing $2 billion in savings and $140 million in consumer refunds from previous crackdowns on junk fees from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.“Folks are tired of being taken advantage of and played for suckers,” Biden said during remarks in the Rose Garden.“Unfair fees known as junk fees – those hidden charges that companies sneak into your bill to make you pay more because they can. Simply because they can. Charges that are taking real money out of the pockets of American families. These junk fees can add hundreds of dollars weighing down family budgets, making it harder to pay family bills. These junk fees may not matter to the wealthy, but they sure matter to working folks in homes like the one I grew up in,” he added, arguing that the moves will give Americans “breathing room.”The Federal Trade Commission unveiled a proposed rule that the Biden administr...

MBTA clears slow zones on Green Line Extension but root cause of narrow tracks still unclear

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:44:03 GMT

The MBTA announced Wednesday that it had lifted a series of slow zones on the Green Line Extension that had brought trains to walking speeds but it is still unclear how exactly the brand new tracks that cost billions to build became defective so soon after opening.Regularly scheduled service on the Union Station and Medford-Tufts branches started earlier in the day following weeks of speed restrictions that were put in place when the agency discovered tracks were too narrow to safely operate trains, an anomaly MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng described last month as “certainly unusual.”In a statement provided by the Department of Transportation, Eng said a “successful operation of test trains” on the Union Station branch led officials to bring back regular service. All speed restrictions on both the Union Station and the Medford-Tufts Station branches were removed, Eng said.“Green Line trains today are traveling at regular line speeds on both branches. I wish to thank our riders for...