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Ticker: Officials signal pause in rate hikes; Mortgage rates tick up 3rd straight week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

Leading Federal Reserve officials are sending out stronger signals that they will forego an interest rate increase at the central bank’s next meeting in June, though they indicate hikes could resume later this year.“Skipping a rate hike at a coming meeting would allow (Fed policymakers) to see more data before making decisions” about whether to further increase rates, said Fed Governor Philip Jefferson in a speech Wednesday. Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker made similar comments.Jefferson has been nominated by President Joe Biden to be the Fed’s vice chair, though he has yet to be confirmed by the Senate. But his nomination places him close to the center of Fed policymaking.On May 19, Fed Chair Jerome Powell hinted that he also supported pausing rate hikes at the June meeting, to give the Fed time to evaluate the economic impact of its previous rate increases.Mortgage rates tick up 3rd straight weekThe average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed thi...

Preliminary hearing date set for man accused of shooting Ralph Yarl as supporters look on

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

By MARGARET STAFFORD (Associated Press)LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City man accused of shooting a Black teenager will face a preliminary hearing in three months, attorneys agreed during a brief hearing Thursday, days after a judge ruled that court documents in the case will be sealed and kept from the public. Attorneys agreed the preliminary hearing for Andrew Lester, 84, will be Aug. 31 to Sept. 1. Lester appeared in court, which was held in a small courtroom filled with supporters of Ralph Yarl.Many of the supporters wore T-shirts saying, “Ringing the wrong doorbell is not a crime.” Others were from a group of Liberian residents living in the Kansas City area. Yarl’s parents are Liberian immigrants. The teen’s father, Paul Yarl, said he was disappointed the preliminary hearing was delayed until late August. He said he hoped Lester eventually serves jail time.“The shooter was going to kill Ralph,” Paul Yarl said. “It’s obvious,...

Rare sighting of wolverine confirmed in Yosemite National Park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has confirmed multiple sightings of what is believed to be the same wolverine in several California counties.Officials say two sightings were in the Inyo National Forest and Mono counties and a third sighting occurred in Yosemite National Park.Photo courtesy of Yosemite National ParkImages and video of the wolverine, taken in May by separate individuals in different locations, were sent to CDFW for analysis, where they say scientists identified the animal as a wolverine by its size, body proportion, coloration, and movement patterns. “Wolverines can travel great distances, making it likely that the recent sightings are all of the same animal,” said CDFW Senior Environmental Scientist Daniel Gammons. “Because only two wolverines have been confirmed in California during the last 100 years, these latest detections are exciting.”Scientists say they documented a single wolverine in Cal...

Man pleads guilty to assaulting Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota in DC apartment building

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man pleaded guilty Thursday to assaulting Democratic Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota in the elevator of her Washington apartment building in February, according to court records. Kendrid Khalil Hamlin pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting a member of Congress and assaulting law enforcement officers, according to the court docket. Hamlin was also accused of assaulting two officers as they attempted to arrest him on the same day of Craig’s attack. Hamlin’s attorneys said in an emailed statement that he “accepted responsibility for his actions today with the earnest hope of moving towards rehabilitation and the mental health treatment he very much wants and needs.” “Unfortunately, we know that treatment and rehabilitation will not occur in prison. We are hopeful that all parties can work together to finally provide Mr. Hamlin with the opportunity to get mental health support and treatment, as well as stable housing upon his release,” said his feder...

Families sue to block Idaho law barring gender-affirming care for minors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The families of two transgender teenagers filed a lawsuit Thursday to block enforcement of Idaho’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors.The ban, which was signed into law in April and scheduled to take effect in January 2024, violates the federal constitutional guarantee of equal protection for the teens and due process for their parents, the families said in the filing in U.S. District Court.“Governor Brad Little signed the bill into law in the name of ‘protecting minors.’ But lawmakers and the Governor ignored the extensive legislative testimony that the Healthcare Ban harms children,” the court filing asserts.The plaintiffs, whose legal representation includes lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union, note that the law makes it a felony for doctors to provide puberty blockers, hormone treatment and surgery for minors only in cases in which it is to help align their bodies with their gender identities. The same treatments are allowed for...

Toronto police say renter impersonated home owner in mortgage fraud

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

Toronto police say a man who rented a home impersonated the owner, applying for a mortgage on the property that he allegedly cashed in on.Police say the suspect rented a home using an online home rental application in May 2021. While living in the home, police say the man obtained identity information on the homeowner, eventually using that information to apply for a mortgage. “The suspect then collected the proceeds of the mortgage,” police said in a release. On Thursday, May 25, officers arrested Jay Allen MacDougall, 42, of Toronto.He’s facing five counts of fraud over $5000 and one count of laundering proceeds of crime.

People with felony convictions can now vote in Minnesota; secretary of state celebrates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — At a celebration of Minnesota’s new law that restores voting rights to people who have left prison, Democratic Secretary of State Steve Simon registered newly eligible voters Thursday, when the law went into effect.“It is the largest single act of enfranchisement in over 50 years” for the state, Simon said at Arlington Hills Community Center in St. Paul, where dozens of people wearing purple T-shirts that said “Restore the Vote” clapped and cheered.The new law allows people with felony convictions to vote as long as they are not currently incarcerated. It expands voting rights to at least 55,000 people in Minnesota, said Simon, the state’s chief election official. Antonio Williams, a formerly incarcerated person and nonprofit director, spoke at the ceremony before registering himself to vote.“After spending years registering other people to vote, I will now be able to register myself!” Williams said to a round of spirited applause.In an inter...

Armie Hammer avoids charges after sex assault investigation, says ‘name has been cleared’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Actor Armie Hammer will not be charged after a long investigation of a woman’s allegation that he sexually assaulted her in 2017, Los Angeles prosecutors said. Hammer said on Instagram after a long public silence that “I look forward to beginning what will be a long, difficult process of putting my life back together now that my name has been cleared.” Police began investigating Hammer in 2021, and turned the results over to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office earlier this year. “In this case, those prosecutors conducted an extremely thorough review, but determined that at this time, there is insufficient evidence to charge Mr. Hammer with a crime,” Tiffiny Blacknell, director of communications for the district attorney, said in a statement Thursday. “Due to the complexity of the relationship and inability to prove a non-consensual, forcible sexual encounter we are unable to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”The 36-year-old ...

Top speller in English to be crowned at Scripps National Spelling Bee finals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — The Scripps National Spelling Bee is set to crown a champion, with 11 finalists gathering Thursday night in a convention center ballroom outside Washington to demonstrate their mastery of Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged dictionary.The bee has undergone many changes as a result of an eight-way tie in 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic, which wiped it out a year later. But one thing that hasn’t changed is the skill and dedication of the top spellers in the English language.The typical workload for a top-level speller: 3-4 hours of studying each weekday, and more on the weekends. And yet they still find time to excel in other disciplines — 14-year-old finalist Charlotte Walsh of Arlington, Virginia, just completed an Advanced Placement calculus course — as an eighth-grader.The bee began in 1925 and is open to students through the eighth grade. Spellers qualify by winning regional bees around the country. There were 229 kids onstage at the beginning of this ye...

Enforcing minor crimes returns ‘accountability’ to Baltimore, new top prosecutor says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:43 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore’s top prosecutor announced Thursday a new program that allows police to issue citations for minor crimes such as loitering, drug possession and public urination — a significant shift from the more progressive policies of his predecessor, who declined to prosecute such cases.The contrasting approaches exemplify an ongoing nationwide debate between supporters of criminal justice reform and those calling for a return to the country’s more traditional “law and order” approach.Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, who took office in January, held a news conference Thursday afternoon to announce the change, repeating a campaign promise to address so-called “quality of life” offenses. Bates said the program is a response to repeated complaints from residents who are “sick and tired” of seeing drug dealers on their blocks, among other problems. He said it will deliver a “return to accountability” in Baltimore and improve public safety. However, it’s not clear whe...