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Coastal North Carolina hit by flooding as Tropical Storm Ophelia moves inland

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:07 GMT

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Residents in parts of coastal North Carolina and Virginia experienced flooding Saturday after Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall near a North Carolina barrier island, bringing rain, damaging winds and dangerous surges.The storm came ashore near Emerald Isle with near-hurricane-strength winds of 70 mph (113 kph) at around 6:15 a.m. but was expected to weaken as it moves north Saturday and then shifts northeast on Sunday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, noting that the maximum sustained winds had dropped to 45 mph (80 kph) by the afternoon.Videos from social media showed riverfront communities in North Carolina such as New Bern, Belhaven and Washington experiencing significant flooding.Even before it made landfall, the storm proved treacherous enough that five people had to be rescued by the Coast Guard on Friday night from a boat anchored down near the North Carolina coastline.Ophelia promises a weekend of windy conditions and heavy rain as it churns ...

United Auto Workers strike: Negotiations continue after walkouts expand to other plants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:07 GMT

YPSILANTI, Mich. — Negotiations between the Detroit Three and the United Auto Workers continue on day nine of a targeted plant strike — one day after the union sent all workers at General Motors Co. and Stellantis NV parts plants nationwide to picket lines.UAW President Shawn Fain on Friday expanded the union’s strike, adding 38 GM and Stellantis parts distribution centers. The move added 5,600 workers at those facilities, which span 20 states, to the 12,700 other Detroit Three workers who remain on strike at three assembly plants run by GM, Stellantis and Ford Motor Co. The union spared Ford in adding more plants to the strike since it made more progress in talks with the Dearborn automaker.The union is pushing for significant wage increases, an end to a tiered-wage scale, cost-of-living increases and other demands.One of the plants added to the target list is GM’s processing center in Ypsilanti, where 161 people work. On Saturday, a handful of employees from first shif...

Amazon’s Prime Video to incorporate commercials next year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:07 GMT

Amazon will be adding advertisements to shows and movies streamed on its Prime Video platform early next year, the tech and e-commerce giant said Friday morning.Amazon said Prime Video will have “meaningfully fewer ads than” traditional TV channels and other streaming services. U.S. subscribers will be able to opt out of commercials for an additional charge of $2.99 a month, with pricing for other countries to come later.The ads will launch in early 2024 in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada; as well as, later that year, Mexico, Australia and certain other European countries.The change reflects a larger shift in the entertainment industry, which has grown gradually disenchanted with the model of online content popularized by Netflix: unlimited ad-free streaming for a fixed monthly rate.In August, the Walt Disney Co.’s quarterly earnings report came alongside the announcement that the media conglomerate would be raising the price of ad-free Disney+ — t...

Marc McLaughlin, Oskar Steen throw their hats into crowded Bruin ring

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:07 GMT

The good news for some young Bruin hopefuls is that there are jobs available, especially in the bottom six forward slots.The more, shall we say, challenging news is that the B’s brass has not handed what could be the next Black and Gold generation anything, signing young veterans like Patrick Brown and Jesper Boqvist and bringing in established vets Alex Chiasson and Danton Heinen on PTOs, both of whom have looked more than capable so far in camp of earning contracts.So while opportunity is there, players like Oskar Steen and Marc McLaughlin will have to seize it with both hands, much like AJ Greer and Jakub Lauko did last season.It won’t be easy making this roster, despite the turnover.But both Steen and McLaughlin bring some tools to the table that could give them an advantage. Let’s start with Steen. At 5-foot-10, 195 pounds he brings a physicality that the B’s are looking for this year in front of both nets. When he first came up two years ago, he brought...

Catholic Memorial starts new win streak vs. St. Francis (NY)

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:07 GMT

WEST ROXBURY — When star running back Mekhi Dodd was injured in Catholic Memorial’s loss to Cardinal Newman of Florida last weekend, the Knights knew they would be missing one of the best playmakers in the state.But there were still games to be played, and CM had strong players ready to step in.Behind the running of Chris Sanchez and Lesean Sharp, CM rolled to a 50-36 victory Saturday against St. Francis of New York.With the win, CM improves to 2-1, while St. Francis drops to 0-4.“We have very limited depth,” CM coach John DiBiaso said. “We go from seniors and juniors down to sophomores and freshmen real fast. We’re very fortunate. We had three guys at the beginning of the year. We lost one. We still have two.”“The Florida game, it was obviously very humbling,” Sanchez said. “We came off good, but we had too many injuries. (Against St. Francis), we just played CM football, really.”Sanchez rushed for four touchdowns — all in...

Red Sox notebook: Closer back from Covid

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:07 GMT

It’s too late for his team, but Kenley Jansen is back in time to try and finish his season strong.The Red Sox reinstated their veteran closer from the Covid-related injured list on Saturday morning.Jansen last pitched for the Red Sox on September 12, when he left the game after facing two batters. Over 51 appearances this season, the team’s lone All-Star owns a 3.63 ERA with 52 strikeouts across 44 ⅔ innings.Though Jansen has 42 games finished and 29 saves in 33 opportunities, he hasn’t looked like himself recently. He’s been dealing with a lingering hamstring ailment, and though he avoided a stint on the injured list in that regard, it’s impacted his work. After racking up six saves and only allowing one run in nine August games, the 35-year-old right-hander allowed five earned runs in his four September outings and blew his one save opportunity.In order to reopen a spot on the roster for Jansen, the club optioned Zack Weiss back to Triple-A Worcester.The Red Sox claimed Weiss off ...

Meet Lachlan Murdoch, the new head honcho of Fox News and the Murdoch empire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:07 GMT

For Lachlan Murdoch, this moment has been a long time coming. Assuming, of course, that his moment has actually arrived.On Thursday, his father Rupert Murdoch announced that in November he’ll step down as the head of his two media companies: News Corp. and Fox Corp. Lachlan will become the chair of News Corp. while remaining chief executive and chair at Fox Corp., the parent of Fox News Channel.The changes make Rupert’s eldest son the undisputed leader of the media empire his father built over decades. There’s no real sign that his siblings and former rivals James and Elisabeth contested him for the top job; James in particular has distanced himself from the company and his father’s politics for several years. But Rupert, now 92, has long had a penchant for building up his oldest children only to later undermine them — and sometimes to set them against one another — often flipping the table without notice.Given Rupert Murdoch’s advanced age, this might ...

An Iowa man who failed to show up for the guilty verdict at his murder trial has been arrested

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:07 GMT

OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man who failed to show up for the guilty verdict at his murder trial has been found and taken into custody, state officials announced Saturday.In a brief statement, the Iowa Department of Public Safety thanked everyone who provided information that led to the arrest of Gregory Showalter Sr. of Ottumwa and said more details would be released later. The statement did not provide any additional information about Showalter’s arrest or how or where authorities found him.A judge issued an arrest warrant for Showalter after he missed the reading of the jury verdict on Friday, according to the Ottumwa Courier. He was convicted of killing his wife, 60-year-old Helen Showalter.Showalter, 63, had been out on bail since August 2021, when a judge allowed him to post 10% of his $250,000 bond as long as he attended court hearings and wore a GPS monitor.Prosecutors argued that Showalter strangled his wife on July 31, 2021, then dumped her body along the Des Moines...

California governor vetoes bill requiring custody courts to weigh affirmation of gender identity

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:07 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that would have required judges to consider whether a parent affirms their child’s gender identity when making custody and visitation decisions.In announcing his veto Friday night, Newsom released a statement saying he has “a deep commitment to advancing the rights of transgender Californians” that has guided his decisions while in office. “That said, I urge caution when the Executive and Legislative branches of state government attempt to dictate — in prescriptive terms that single out one characteristic — legal standards for the Judicial branch to apply. Other-minded elected officials, in California and other states, could very well use this strategy to diminish the civil rights of vulnerable communities,” the governor’s statement said. The bill would have made gender affirmation one factor among many that courts already have to consider in custody proceedings, including whether a parent has been ...

Death of B.C. Mountie casts pall over law enforcement across Canada

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:07 GMT

The death of a Metro Vancouver RCMP officer who was shot dead while executing a search warrant is reverberating with law enforcement officials across the country.The National Police Federation, which represents RCMP members across Canada, says it has launched a GoFundMe fundraising campaign for the family of Const. Rick O’Brien, 51, who died yesterday in Coquitlam, B.C.Kevin Halwa, chair of the federation’s Benevolent Foundation, says calling the mood in the law enforcement community sombre “would be an understatement.”Halwa says the tragedy is a powerful reminder of the risks police officers take on in their daily work once they “step up to serve.”Police say two other officers were injured in the incident, and a suspect in his 20s was also shot and is in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Condolences from a number of law enforcement officials and agencies have poured in on social media, including federal Justice Minister Arif Virani, th...