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DC’s record high office vacancy is far from universal

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:56:48 GMT

The office vacancy rate in the District is now a record high 18.9%, but a small share of office buildings account for a substantial portion of empty office space.Commercial real estate firm JLL repots 41% of the office vacancy rate in D.C. is concentrated in just 60 buildings, and overwhelmingly older buildings. Office buildings constructed before 2000 account for 75% of the city’s vacancy, and that is more than double a decade ago.“The pandemic has created a bifurcation in the office market of ‘haves and have-nots’ now, so if you’re an owner of an older building, you are facing challenges as tenants flock to new or recently-renovated space that offer more in the way of amenities and more of a commute-worthy experience for those employees. As a result, owners of older buildings are left with real critical investment decisions today,” said Michael Hartnett, Mid-Atlantic Research Lead at JLL.The District and developers are actively pursuing office-to-residential conversions of older b...

Jury selection underway in trial over Aretha Franklin’s handwritten wills

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:56:48 GMT

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan judge narrowed the issues Monday in a dispute over Aretha Franklin’s estate, saying the only task for jurors is whether a 2014 document handwritten by the Queen of Soul and found in couch cushions can be accepted as a valid will.The stipulation was made by attorneys for Franklin’s sons before jury selection began in Oakland County Probate Court.Franklin died in 2018 at age 76. But five years later, the music superstar’s estate remains unsettled. A son, Ted White II, believes a 2010 handwritten will should mainly control the estate, but two other sons, Kecalf Franklin and Edward Franklin, are in favor of a 2014 document.Both were found in 2019, months after Franklin died. The 2014 document was under cushions at Franklin’s home in suburban Detroit.The brothers sat shoulder to shoulder behind their lawyers in Judge Jennifer Callaghan’s courtroom. Another brother, Clarence Franklin, is under a guardianship and apparently is ...

Denverites are stressed about work

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:56:48 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Denverites aren't stressed about money, health, safety or family, but they're working themselves hard to avoid that stress.Researchers at WalletHub compared more than 180 cities across 39 key metrics to determine stress levels, considering everything from average weekly work hours to the unemployment rate to divorce and suicide rates. The final results were grouped into four broad categories of stress: work stress, financial stress, family stress and health and safety stress. 1 killed in early morning crash in Aurora It turns out Denverites are among the most stressed out by work nationwide. The city ranks fifth for work stress. This puts it among other workaholic strongholds. Washington, D.C. ranks first, followed by Chicago, New York City and Baltimore.Overall, however, Denver has an average ranking for total stress levels, 74th overall. The work stress seems to lead to more money to smooth over the rest of life's issues. Of 180 cities, Denver ranks 139 for fin...

Woman accused of helping ex-fiancé murder his baby’s mother in Texas in 2020 arrested in Miami

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:56:48 GMT

Holly Ann Elkins, the ex-fiancée of Andrew Charles Beard, who shot and stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death in 2020, has been apprehended in Miami and charged with orchestrating the brutal slaying, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton. The arrest follows an indictment last month, in which Elkins, 32, faces multiple charges related to the crime.Elkins made her initial appearance in Miami on Friday afternoon after being taken into custody on Thursday. The indictment against her includes charges of conspiracy to stalk, stalking using a dangerous weapon resulting in serious bodily injury and death, and brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.According to the indictment, Elkins allegedly played a key role in plotting the killing of Andrew Beard’s ex-girlfriend, 24-year-old Alyssa Ann Burkett, with whom Beard shared a child. Beard had already pleaded guilty to cyberstalking using a dangerous weapon resulting in death and dischargi...

EU Parliament hammers out long-awaited anti-harassment reforms

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:56:48 GMT

STRASBOURG — The European Parliament is thrashing out a revamp of its anti-harassment reforms in a closed-door meeting of top MEPs Monday evening, amid fears that many cases in the institution are flying under the radar because victims fear coming forward.At a meeting of the powerful Bureau of 20 top MEPs, including President Roberta Metsola and her 14 vice presidents, MEPs will chew over a slate of reforms that have been cooked up during seven months of talks. Already this year, two MEPs — Mónica Silvana González and Monica Semedo — were sanctioned for psychologically harassing staff.Looming over the deliberations is a recent survey carried out by an in-house campaign group called MeTooEP, which found that of the 1,001 respondents, just under half (484 people) had experienced psychological harassment, 16 percent (159) experienced sexual harassment, and 7 percent (67) faced physical violence. The majority of respondents were civil servants; MEPs’ assistants were the next bigges...

EU and US reach a deal to let data flow across the Atlantic

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:56:48 GMT

BRUSSELS — The European Union on Monday approved a new deal allowing companies to freely transfer data between the EU and the United States, potentially ending three years of legal limbo for tech giants such as Facebook and Google.The European Commission formally recognized the U.S. as a country with sufficient protection for Europeans’ personal data, adopting a so-called adequacy decision under its landmark privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation.The deal, known as EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, clears the way for lucrative transatlantic data exchanges after the EU’s top court in 2020 struck down the governments’ previous data agreement, known as Privacy Shield, over concerns that U.S. intelligence agencies had too much leeway to snoop on Europeans’ personal data.The stakes for success are high: According to the White House, transatlantic data flows underpin $7.1 trillion in economic activities, and thousands of companies do business on both continents.“Today we ...

Russian mercenary leader Prigozhin’s commanders pledge loyalty at Kremlin after short-lived mutiny

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:56:48 GMT

By The Associated PressMercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin ‘s commanders pledged loyalty to the Russian government in a Kremlin meeting with President Vladimir Putin five days after they staged a short-lived rebellion, a senior government spokesman said Monday, the latest twist in a baffling episode that has raised questions about the power and influence both men wield.The three-hour meeting took place June 29 and involved not only Prigozhin but commanders from his Wagner Group military contractor, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Putin gave an assessment of Wagner’s actions on the battlefield in Ukraine — where the mercenaries have fought alongside Russian troops — and of the revolt itself.“The commanders themselves presented their version of what happened. They underscored that they are staunch supporters and soldiers of the head of state and the commander-in-chief, and also said that they are ready to continue to fight for their homeland,” P...

What happens if UPS goes on strike?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:56:48 GMT

As a potential UPS workers strike becomes increasingly likely, you might be wondering what would happen to your packages as well as how a strike might affect businesses and the economy.A strike would slow the movement of goods, which means consumers could expect package delays, higher shipping costs and, potentially, higher prices for goods. Businesses may not get hit quite as hard unless they rely on UPS — as many small businesses do.These supply chain disruptions wouldn’t really be the same as the ones seen over the past few years during the height of the pandemic; the sooner UPS workers get a contract, the sooner packages would get moving again.How did we get here?Negotiations between UPS and the Teamsters union, which represents UPS workers, fell apart this week. A strike could come as early as Aug. 1, right after the union’s contract expires July 31, according to the Teamsters. If that happens, the strike would be one of the largest in U.S. history and would likely throw the U....

Enrique Bradfield Jr. on joining Orioles as No. 17 overall selection: ‘It was meant to be’

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:56:48 GMT

Enrique Bradfield Jr. knows professional baseball will be an adjustment. “The game is fast,” he said.But so is he.Bradfield, the speedy outfielder out of Vanderbilt who the Orioles selected No. 17 overall Sunday night in the first round of the MLB draft, said during his introductory press conference that he’s confident he’ll hit the ground running to begin his professional career in Baltimore’s minor league system.“I have no concerns about going up to the next level and not having success,” Bradfield said. “I’ve been able to adapt to every level I’ve ever been at and be able to produce, and I feel like this one’s going to be no different.”Bradfield, who Baseball America ranked as the 16th-best prospect in the draft, was surprised the Orioles selected him because he didn’t have much communication with the organization during the predraft process. While becoming an Oriole “definitely came as a shock,&#...

James Lewis, suspect in 1982 Tylenol poisonings that killed 7, dead

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:56:48 GMT

CAMBRIDGE  — The suspect in the 1982 Tylenol poisonings that killed seven people in the Chicago area and triggered a nationwide scare has died, police confirmed on Monday.Officers, firefighters and EMTs responding to a report of unresponsive person about 4 p.m. Sunday found James Lewis dead in his Cambridge, Massachusetts, home, Cambridge Police Superintendent Frederick Cabral said in a statement. He was 76, police said.“Following an investigation, Lewis’ death was determined to be not suspicious,” the statement said.No one was ever charged in the deaths of seven people who took drugs laced with cyanide. Lewis served more than 12 years in prison for sending an extortion note to Johnson & Johnson, demanding $1 million to “stop the killing.”When he was arrested in 1982 after a nationwide manhunt, he gave investigators a detailed account of how the killer might have operated. Lewis later admitted sending the letter and demanding the money, but he said ...