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Jill On Money: Will holiday spending pump up or peter out?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:28:00 GMT

The misleading headline, “2023 Holiday to Reach Record Spending Levels” from the National Retail Federation (NRF), might lead you to think that the 2023 holiday season will be a smash hit.Related ArticlesBusiness | How to give wisely and not get suckered this holiday season Business | One way to reduce holiday stress: reframe gift traditions Business | Jill On Money: The Fed’s last mile Business | 5 strategies for navigating today’s digital tipping culture Business | Adult children discuss the trials of caring for their aging parents Before anyone pops the early-holiday champagne corks, investment guru Barry Ritholtz has long noted how flawed the NRF survey has been. He says that there have always been problems with the annual NRF holiday projections, because “the trade group, full of biases, randomly surveys shoppers on what they plan to spend this holiday season, and what they spent last year … W...

SF Mission District street vendor ban in effect, vendors protest

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:28:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- The ban on street vendors in the Mission District began on Monday. Street vendors in San Francisco's Mission District will not be allowed to sell on the sidewalks for the next 90 days.San Francisco officials say safety and health risks are the leading factors of the ban. Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who is behind the ban, says many unpermitted vendors have come into the Mission District, selling stolen goods and terrorizing people."I recently learned that DPW workers who enforce the law have been assaulted and had their lives threatened by individuals selling stolen goods on the street," Ronen said in her newsletter this month. "I also found out that DPW workers are wearing bulletproof vests to work and that many workers filed grievances through their union so they no longer had to work in the Mission because they feared for their safety."  Coastal flood advisory issued for parts of Bay Area The city wants to move the permitted vendors to two designated l...

Caltrans office in San Rafael damaged by fire Monday

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:28:00 GMT

(BCN) -- A fire damaged a Caltrans office in San Rafael on Monday morning, police and fire officials said. The fire was reported shortly after 6 a.m. in the 700 block of Francisco Boulevard West, located near the junction of U.S. Highway 101 and Interstate Highway 580. Grandfather, granddaughter swept out to sea: 1 dead, 1 missing The fire was contained to the office in a double-wide mobile structure and was extinguished by shortly before 6:45 a.m., according to the San Rafael Fire Department. Police said no one was injured in the fire, which is under investigation.Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

Hyattsville residents arrested for $14K fraud throughout Maryland

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:28:00 GMT

Two people were arrested after allegedly committing at least $14,000 worth of felony fraud throughout Maryland before assaulting a sheriff’s deputy.The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were called to Fulton Bank in Frederick on Saturday after a man was identified “as committing fraudulent transactions throughout the state,” according to a statement from the department.Upon arrival, deputies tried to arrest 37-year-old DeWight Aaron Gilbert and 32-year-old Morgan Michelle Milligan, both residents of Hyattsville.Deputies tired to detain Gilbert in handcuffs and in the process of doing that, Milligan fled the scene, the sheriff’s office said, adding that Gilbert “assaulted the remaining deputy and then fled on foot.”The sheriff’s office also said deputies were able to arrest Milligan without incident, but the same was not true for Gilbert.He “ran toward a vehicle parked across the street, to elude deputies, and a depu...

2023 NCAA Women’s Div I Volleyball Tournament Glance

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:28:00 GMT

All Times ESTFirst RoundThursday, Nov. 30Auburn vs. W. Michigan, 4 p.m.Georgia Tech vs. S. Alabama, 4:30 p.m.James Madison vs. Baylor, 4:30 p.m.Marquette vs. E. Illinois, 4:30 p.m.SMU vs. Texas St., 5 p.m.Penn St. vs. Yale, 5:30 p.m.N. Iowa vs. Miami, 6 p.m.Florida vs. Florida Gulf Coast, 7 p.m.Iowa St. vs. Hawaii, 7 p.m.Louisville vs. Wright St., 7 p.m.Purdue vs. Fairfield, 7 p.m.Texas vs. Texas A&M, 7 p.m.Kentucky vs. Wofford, 7:30 p.m.Kansas vs. Omaha, 8 p.m.Wisconsin vs. Jackson St., 8:30 p.m.Oregon vs. SE Louisiana, 10 p.m.Friday, Dec. 1Southern Cal vs. UMBC, 4 p.m.W. Kentucky vs. Coastal Carolina, 4:30 p.m.Houston vs. UC Santa Barbara, 7:30 p.m.Utah vs. Minnesota, 5 p.m.Florida St. vs. TCU, 5:30 p.m.Missouri vs. Delaware, 5:30 p.m.Arizona St. vs. Georgia, 6:30 p.m.Tennessee vs. High Point, 6:30 p.m.Dayton vs. Pepperdine, 7 p.m.Pittsburgh vs. Coppin St., 7 p.m.Creighton vs. Colgate, 7:30 p.m.Arkansas vs. Stephen F. Austin, 8 p.m.Nebraska vs. LIU, 8 p.m.BYU vs. Webser St., 9...

Veev CEO sees modular homebuilding as key to tackling U.S. housing shortage

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:28:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Most traditional homebuilders in America follow a construction process that’s hardly changed in decades, and which typically takes about four to six months, if not longer, to deliver a completed single-family home.Modular homebuilders fabricate walls, roofing and other segments of a home in a factory and then deliver the finished sections to the homesite for assembly in a process that takes just a few weeks to complete.Veev, a modular homebuilder based in Hayward, California, has built more than 170 townhomes, single-family houses, condos and other types of dwellings around the Bay Area and has set its sights on building 300 more single-family houses in Northern California by the end of 2025.CEO Amit Haller, who co-founded Veev in 2008, recently spoke to The Associated Press about how more modular home construction could help tackle the nation’s chronic shortage of new homes. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.Q: What are some of the major ...

Rescuers are using hand-held drills to free 41 workers trapped in a tunnel for over 2 weeks

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:28:00 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Rescuers in India began digging manually Monday in hopes of reaching 41 construction workers who have been trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel in the country’s north for over two weeks. Kirti Panwar, a state government spokesperson, said a dozen men were taking turns burrowing into the debris with hand-held drilling tools for what was hoped would be the final stretch. They had dug nearly 1 meter (3.2 feet) and had up to 11 more meters (36 feet) to go, he said. Rescuers have also started to create a vertical channel with a newly replaced drilling machine, officials said. They drilled horizontally for a week but the mountainous terrain proved too much for the machine, which broke down repeatedly before it was damaged irreparably on Friday, officials said. The work being done now is designed to create a passageway for evacuating the trapped workers. Rescue teams have inserted pipes into dug-out areas and welded them together so the men can be brought out on wheeled ...

Live updates | Israel-Hamas truce will be extended for 2 more days, Qatar says

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:28:00 GMT

An agreement has been reached to extend the Israel-Hamas truce for another two days, the spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said Monday.Qatar, along with Egypt, has been the key mediator in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.The announcement comes on the final day of a four-day truce between the warring sides, as they were preparing for a fourth exchange of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.On Sunday, Hamas freed 17 more hostages — 14 Israelis and three Thais — in a third exchange under the four-day truce. In turn, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners.Of the roughly 240 hostages captured by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel that ignited the war, 62 have been released, one was freed by Israeli forces and two were found dead inside Gaza. Israel has said it would extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released. Hamas has also said it hopes to extend the truce.With the truce deal has come increased ship...

Poland’s president swears in a government expected to last no longer than 14 days

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:28:00 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s president on Monday swore in a government that is expected to last no longer than 14 days, a tactical maneuver that allows the conservative Law and Justice party to hang onto power a bit longer — and make more appointments to state bodies.Following a national election in October, President Andrzej Duda swore in Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who has held that position since late 2017. According to the constitution, Morawiecki and his Cabinet will have 14 days to face a vote of confidence in parliament.They’re almost certain to lose the vote because Morawiecki has no coalition partners after his nationalist and conservative Law and Justice party lost its parliamentary majority and no other parties want to join its government.Morawiecki says he is trying to find partners to govern with, but himself puts his chances at “10% or even less.” Other members of Morawiecki’s new Cabinet also took their oaths. Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak re...

No Christmas tree shortage, but with supply tight, shop early

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:28:00 GMT

In a season of traditions, with Thanksgiving completed, and many looking to buy a farm-grown Christmas tree, rumors of a tree shortage have become an annual thing.Jill Sidebottom, spokeswoman for the National Christmas Tree Association, told WTOP to not panic — there’s plenty of trees for everyone.“We don’t have an oversupply of real Christmas trees, certainly, but there is enough to meet consumer demands,” Sidebottom said in an email. “We have heard reports that some people wanting to buy Christmas trees wholesale to sell at tree lots or as fundraisers are having issues finding trees.”Sidebottom said for a Christmas tree grower — a tractor trailer holds around 600 trees — so if their customer only needs a few hundred, they will have to split the load with other retailers, making shipment difficult and costly.“Since most can sell their trees to larger retailers, the smaller retailer has found it harder to find what they want,” she said...