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Miami-Dade commissioners approve safeguards for residents who finance home improvement through PACE program

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:10 GMT

Miami-Dade leaders have taken action to try and ensure homeowners who use a popular lender to finance home improvement work through one county program are better protected, months after a Help Me Howard trouble profiled a homeowner who found herself in dire financial straits.The new law, passed unanimously on Tuesday, aims to help Miami-Dade residents be more protected if they choose to finance home improvement through the county’s Property Assessed Clean Energy program, or PACE.The commission’s vote comes months after homeowner’s Elli Fink’s story was highlighted on Help Me Howard, back in November.“You can go and find it on WSVN, the Help Me Howard video, of plenty of people that this happened to,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner Kevin Cabrera. “They were told, ‘We have pulled out of Florida. You have to find alternate financing. That’s not OK.”“I think it’s a disaster. I know that I’m not the only one,” Fi...

Boston city councilor takes aim at South Bay mobs after teen violence

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:10 GMT

City Councilor Brian Worrell is demanding that the mayor immediately obtain and deliver police data that sheds more light on last month’s violent clash at the South Bay shopping center, where a swarm of teens caused mayhem.Councilor Brian WorrellWorrell filed a “17F request,” approved by the City Council on Wednesday, that directs Mayor Michelle Wu to gather intel from the Boston Police Department on whether proactive strategies were in place to prevent this particular skirmish, given the “recent uptick” in violence and shootings in the area.Upon receipt of the request, the mayor has a week to present the information to the City Council.“I’m trying to be proactive in preventing some of the violent incidents,” Worrell said at the meeting. “Some of these incidents, our neighbors have called 911 for years, so I just want to hear, proactively, how we’re addressing these issues.”Worrell is also seeking information on deployment at the police department and what external agencies were inv...

Walpole too powerful for Needham in field hockey clash, 4-1

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:10 GMT

NEEDHAM – Coming off consecutive seasons of falling in the Div. 1 final, the No. 2 Walpole field hockey team provided another early example of how strong of a candidate it is to get over the hump this year by downing fellow Bay State Conference power No. 12 Needham, 4-1, on Wednesday.Three of the Porkers’ (5-0) goals came in the second half, using four different scorers to pull away from a defensive battle against one of the most athletic teams on their schedule. The Rockets’ (3-1) elite speed up front wasn’t enough to match that scoring pace, as Walpole’s defense had an answer for every breakaway and held them scoreless before building a four-goal lead early in the fourth quarter.Kerin Birch, Elena Govoni, Kate Schneider and Izzy Adams scored for the Porkers in a game much closer than the final suggests.“We struggle against them every year because they’re just so physical, and they’re fast – they’re athletic,” said Walpole head coach Jen Quinn. “I think this is a good win because t...

Road repairs are beginning in these San Diego neighborhoods

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:10 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Major road repairs are coming soon to neighborhoods across San Diego.Crews began resurfacing streets Wednesday in Clairemont, Bay Ho, City Heights, Ridgeview and Emerald Hills as part of a new slurry seal project, city officials said in a news release."Preventing the deterioration of streets is vital to improving the overall condition of San Diego’s network of roads. It reduces the need for a more costly asphalt overlay and reconstruction for badly deteriorated streets," the city said. Slurry seal, a cost-effective pavement preservation method that consists of asphalt emulsion, sand and rock, is applied to the street surface at an average thickness of a quarter inch and extends the life of already in-good-condition streets, according to the city.  The timeline for the repairs, weather permitting, will be complete over the next three weeks. San Diego becomes most competitive rental market in SoCal for first time in years Here are the following roads that...

Under pressure over border, Biden admin grants protection to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:10 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Wednesday that it was granting temporary legal status to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who are already in the country as it grapples with growing numbers of people fleeing the South American country and elsewhere to arrive at the U.S. border with Mexico.The move — along with promises to accelerate work permits for many migrants — may appease Democratic leaders who have pressured the White House to do more to aid asylum-seekers, while also providing grist for Republicans who say the president has been too lax on immigration.The Homeland Security Department plans to grant Temporary Protected Status to an estimated 472,000 Venezuelans who arrived in the country as of July 31, 2023, making it easier for them to get authorization to work in the U.S., a key demand of Democratic mayors and governors who are struggling to care for an increased number of migrants in their care.That’s in addition to about 242,700 Venezuelans who alr...

Ukraine, Russia and the tense UN encounter that almost happened – but didn’t

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:10 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — It was a moment the diplomatic world was watching for — but didn’t get. In the end, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov avoided staring each other down Wednesday across the U.N. Security Council’s famous horseshoe-shaped table. Zelenskyy left before Lavrov arrived.The near-miss was somewhat to be expected. Yet the moment still spoke to the U.N.’s role as a venue where warring nations can unleash their ire through words instead of weapons. The choreography also underscored the world body’s reputation as a place where adversaries sometimes literally talk past each other. Zelenskyy denounced Russia as “a terrorist state” while Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia sat facing him near the other end of the table’s arc. As Zelenskyy launched into his remarks, the Russian looked at his phone, then tucked the device away. Zelenskyy left before Lavrov’s arrival, which came as U.S. Secretary...

MGM Resorts computers back up after 10 days as analysts eye effects of casino cyberattacks

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:10 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — MGM Resorts brought to an end a 10-day computer shutdown prompted by efforts to shield from a cyberattack data including hotel reservations and credit card processing, the casino giant said Wednesday, as analysts and academics measured the effects of the event.“We are pleased that all of our hotels and casinos are operating normally,” the Las Vegas-based company posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. It reported last week that the attack was detected Sept. 10.Rival casino owner Caesars Entertainment also disclosed last week to federal regulators that it was hit by a cyberattack Sept. 7. It said that its casino and online operations were not disrupted but it could not guarantee that personal information about tens of millions of customers, including driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers of loyalty rewards members, had not been compromised. Caesars, based in Reno, is widely reported to have paid $15 million of a $30 million ransom sought by a gro...

As writers and studios resume negotiations, here are the key players in the Hollywood strikes

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:10 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Negotiations between striking screenwriters and Hollywood studios have resumed and will continue Thursday, the latest attempt to bring an end to pickets that have brought film and television productions to a halt.The two sides have been divided on issues of pay, the size of writing staffs on shows and the use of artificial intelligence in how scripts are created. Actors, who joined the writers on strike in July, have their own issues but there have been no discussions about resuming negotiations with their union yet.The key players in the two strikes that have brought Hollywood to a halt include little-known leaders, labor lawyers, entertainment tycoons and the actor who played “The Nanny.”Here’s a look at the figures who brought on the walk-off of actors and screenwriters, and who have the power to send them back to work:CAROL LOMBARDINIHer name is little known outside the industry, and she nearly never speaks to the media, but as head of the opposition in ...

Jimmy Lai’s son fears Hong Kong media mogul may die in detention while awaiting trial

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:10 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The son of jailed Hong Kong media mogul and prominent pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai said Wednesday he did not want to see his father die in detention, as his lawyers raised the prospect that his long-delayed trial may be pushed back indefinitely.Sebastien Lai also slammed the U.K. government for its “shameful” lack of action in helping his father, who is a British national.Jimmy Lai, the 75-year-old founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has been in detention since he was arrested in 2020 under a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing. The Hong Kong businessman faces up to life in prison if convicted. He has already been sentenced to five years and nine months in a separate case.His trial was originally set to begin last December, but it has been delayed several times by judges. It is now due to start on Dec. 18.His son Sebastien Lai, 28, and his lawyers have described the case as a “show trial.” They suggested that Hong Kong auth...

Bill for preserving site of Wounded Knee massacre in South Dakota passes U.S. House

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:11:10 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill to preserve the site of the Wounded Knee massacre — one of the deadliest massacres in U.S. history — cleared the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday. The Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act, introduced by Republican U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota in May, passed the House by voice vote. The Senate is considering companion legislation.More than 200 Native Americans — including children and elderly people — were killed at Wounded Knee in 1890. The bloodshed marked a seminal moment in the frontier battles the U.S. Army waged against tribes. The Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes joined together last year to purchase about 40 acres around the Wounded Knee National Historic Landmark in South Dakota to ensure the area was preserved as a sacred site. Leaders of both tribes testified in support of the House bill, which would put federal protections on the land on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.Oglala Sioux Tribe President F...