Home

Skipped bill payments in California hit record low

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:52 GMT

”Survey says” looks at various rankings and scorecards judging geographic locations while noting these grades are best seen as a mix of artful interpretation and data.Buzz: Californians are paying their bills on time at a record-setting pace.Source: My trusty spreadsheet reviewed the bill-paying habits of consumers as compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The report, using Equifax credit report data, tracks nationwide trends as well as 11 big states, including California, for borrowers with credit histories – or roughly 90% of the nation.ToplineDespite lots of talk about economic anxieties across the Golden State, only 0.95% of California debts were tardy in the second quarter. That delinquency rate is down a smidge from 0.96% in the first quarter and sharply below the 1.87% average of pre-pandemic 2018-19.Plus, California’s delinquency rate is the best of the 11 big states and well below the nation’s 1.48% pace. And as for California’s economic rivals, Texas had the wor...

1 dead in stabbing near San Jose State, person of interest in custody

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:52 GMT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) -- One man is dead after being stabbed near San Jose State University early Friday morning. A person of interest is now in custody, San Jose Police Department said.Police are currently at the scene of the stabbing that occurred around 4:17 a.m. in the area of South 4th and San Carlos streets, police said."No one affiliated with San José State University, including students, was involved in the stabbing on 4th and San Carlos Streets this morning," the university told KRON4.Road closures are currently in effect for South 4th and South 3rd streets between East San Fernando and San Carlos streets. The public is advised to avoid the area while officers investigate the incident. Traffic in the area is expected to be impacted. This is a developing story. Stick with us for updates.

Automaker CEO Elon Musk Strips UAW Twitter Verification as Union Strikes Against Big Three

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:52 GMT

After members of the United Auto Workers walked off the job at midnight, Twitter stripped the union of its account verification without notice, according to a UAW official. The account, as of publication time, lacked verification. The move by Elon Musk, owner of the microblogging platform he is attempting to rechristen from Twitter to X, followed the union’s decision to strike the Big Three automakers on Thursday night after the car companies refused to ink a new contract with their unionized workers. Class solidarity among the nation’s elite has long been a feature of the American political economy, and the move by Musk, the richest man on the planet, is in line with that sense of allegiance, even as he promotes himself as a populist friend of the working man. Musk is also the owner of a non-union automaker, Tesla. Wage increases won by union workers often trickle down, so to speak, to non-union workers, requiring even bosses like Musk to pay workers more from his share of pro...

Stock market today: Wall Street slips, but is still on track for weekly gains

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:52 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks slipped in morning trading on Wall Street Friday but not enough to erase the market’s gains for the week.The S&P 500 fell 0.7%. The benchmark index is on track for weekly gains that would help trim some of last week’s losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 103 points, or 0.3%, to 34,802 as of 10:49 a.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq fell 1.1%,Technology stocks were the biggest drag on the market. Microsoft fell 1.5% and chipmaker Nvidia fell 2.2%. U.S. automaker stocks were proving to be resilient after members of the United Auto Workers union walked off the job at several plants overnight. Ford fell 0.2%, General Motors rose 0.8% and Stellantis gained 1%.Bond yields gained ground. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.32% from 4.29% late Thursday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury rose to 5.03% from 5.02% late Thursday.Investors spent much of the week reviewing mostly healthy updates on the U.S. economy. The reports came ahead of next week’s...

Mississippi player sues coach Lane Kiffin, school for lack of support during mental health crisis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:52 GMT

A Mississippi football player is suing coach Lane Kiffin and the school for racial and sexual discrimination and negligence, saying he was kicked off the team during a mental health crisis.DeSanto Rollins, a defensive tackle from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, filed the lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Oxford, Mississippi, where the school is located.Rollins, who is Black, is seeking $10 million in compensatory damages and $30 million in punitive damages. He claims he was not supported through his depression the way white and female athletes have been at Ole Miss.“We have not received a lawsuit,” the school said Friday through spokesman Kyle Campbell. “DeSanto was never removed from the football team and remains on scholarship. In addition, he continues to have the opportunity to receive all of the resources and advantages that are afforded a student-athlete at the university.”Rollins was still listed on the Rebels’ roster as of Friday.A letter dated May 3 from the office of Rollins...

New Astro Beer Hall in Shirlington will feature big outdoor patio

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:52 GMT

D.C.’s Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken will open its second Astro Beer Hall on Tuesday in Arlington, Virginia’s Shirlington neighborhood.The new location, at 4001 Campbell Avenue, was previously occupied by Capital City Brewing Company, which closed in 2018. The new Astro Beer Hall is a follow-up to the original Astro Beer Hall that opened by Metro Center at 1306 G Street NW in 2019.Like the original, the Shirlington location is a collaboration between Astro Doughnuts owners Elliott Spaisman and Jeff Halpern, and Tin Shop, a bar and restaurant development group founded by Geoff Dawson and Peter Bayne. Their businesses include the Franklin Hall beer hall in D.C.’s Manhattan Laundry Building at 1348 Florida Avenue and restaurant and bar Tall Boy in D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood.The 14,000-square-foot, two-story Astro Beer Hall in Shirlington includes a 140-seat patio, the largest in the neighborhood, and vintage video games, like Pacman, Asteroids, Pop-A-Shot ba...

Kosovo receives $34.7 million US grant to fight corruption and strengthen democracy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:52 GMT

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — The U.S. Agency for International Development has given Kosovo another grant to help the country’s integration into the European Union and Euro-Atlantic institutions, promote its growth and to support the development of democratic institutions, the U.S. Embassy in Pristina said Friday.The U.S. has invested $2 billion (1.86 billion euros) in Kosovo since 1999, including investments of over $1 billion (934 million euros) from USAID. The $34.7 million (32.4 million euros) is the last Congress-approved installment of agency funds for Kosovo.“Our USAID programs in Kosovo are all intended to ensure that all Kosovans can access effective and accountable services from their institutions, are empowered to demand accountability for these services, and can thrive through strong economic and democratic opportunities,” U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey M. Hovenier said.Kosovo’s president, Vjosa Osmani, said the government’s agreement with USAID “will contribut...

Bangladesh is struggling to cope with a record dengue outbreak in which 778 people have died

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:52 GMT

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh is struggling with a record outbreak of dengue fever, with experts saying a lack of a coordinated response is causing more deaths from the mosquito-transmitted disease.The World Health Organization recently warned that diseases such as dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever caused by mosquito-borne viruses are spreading faster and further because of climate change.So far this year, 778 people in Bangladesh have died and 157,172 have been infected, according to the government’s Directorate General Health Services. The U.N. children’s agency says the actual numbers are higher because many cases are not reported.The previous highest number of deaths was in 2022, when 281 people are reported to have died during the entire year.Dengue is common in tropical areas and causes high fevers, headaches, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain and, in the most serious cases, internal bleeding that leads to death.Mohammed Niatuzzaman, director of the state-run Mugda ...

Iowa man is found guilty in death of 10-year-old girl whose disappearance prompted a huge search

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:52 GMT

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A judge found an Iowa man guilty Friday in the murder of a 10-year-old girl who was missing for eight months before her remains were found in a pond.Henry Earl Dinkins, 51, was found guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the death of Breasia Terrell, whose disappearance July 10, 2020, led to huge searches by dozens of volunteers and numerous law enforcement agencies. Fishermen found her body in March 2021 in a rural area north of Davenport.Sentencing was set for Oct. 11, at which he faces a mandatory term of life in prison.Prosecutors charged Dinkins with Breasia’s death in May 2021, alleging he kidnapped and then shot her to death. She had been staying the night with her half-brother and his father, Dinkins.Dinkins is a registered sex offender who was convicted of third-degree sexual abuse in 1990, when he was 17.During the two week trial, defense attorneys noted a lack of physical evidence, including no blood or semen linking Breasia and Dink...

Jury clears 3 men in the last trial connected to the 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:52 GMT

BELLAIRE, Mich. (AP) — Jury clears 3 men in the last trial connected to the 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.Source