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Oakland phases out pandemic-related eviction moratoriums

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:26 GMT

(BCN) -- Oakland's City Council has voted to phase out the city's pandemic-related moratorium on evictions and rent increases over the next 15 months.After more than four hours of discussion at its meeting Tuesday night, the council voted to wind down its restrictions on evictions and late fees for renters on July 15, 2023.The council also voted to end the city's moratorium on rent increases above the consumer price index on July 1, 2024.The council adopted its restrictions on eviction in March 2020 in an effort to prevent homelessness, ensure residents could comply with the shelter-in-place orders in effect at that time and avoid punishing residents who lost income due to the pandemic.While some cities and counties in the Bay Area tied their phase outs of pandemic-related eviction protections to the end of the state's COVID-19 state of emergency, the policy as proposed by Council members Nikki Fortunato Bas and Dan Kalb will allow the city to help tenants and property owners transi...

3.1-magnitude quake shakes hill east of San Jose

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:26 GMT

(BCN) -- An earthquake of 3.1 magnitude early Wednesday was centered in the hills west of San Jose, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake hit at about 12:34 a.m. and was measured at a depth of about 3.9 miles, roughly one mile south of the southern edge of Joseph D. Grant County Park in the San Felipe Hills. No injuries were reported. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, people typically report feeling earthquakes larger than about magnitude 2.5. Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

Wild, Red Wings, Maple Leafs and Senators going to Sweden

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:26 GMT

The NHL is sending four teams to Sweden next season, with the Minnesota Wild, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators taking part in Global Series games there in November.The league on Wednesday announced its second and final venture outside North America in 2023: a game each day in Stockholm from Nov. 16-19. The Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes are set to play two exhibition games in Melbourne, Australia, in September.The NHL is trying to significantly expand hockey interest Down Under while also cultivating and growing an already fervent fanbase in Scandinavia and across Europe. David Proper, the league’s senior executive VP of media and international strategy, knows they present different dynamics.“A lot of the people that may go to this for the first time in Australia are going because it’s an event — a North American professional sport is playing in Australia — and what we need to do is convince them that this is a sport worth following, that it’s fun, i...

German government doubles 2023 growth forecast to 0.4%

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:26 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The German government on Wednesday doubled its growth forecast this year for Europe’s largest economy after the country made it through the winter without major energy problems.It said it now expects gross domestic product to grow by 0.4% — up from the 0.2% expansion it forecast in late January, which in turn was a big improvement on the 0.4% contraction predicted in October. The government expects growth to accelerate to 1.6% next year.The new government outlook for 2023 is a bit more optimistic than that of a group of four leading German economic research institutes, which earlier this month forecast growth of 0.3%. The International Monetary Fund recently predicted that German GDP will decline by 0.1% this year.Economy Minister Robert Habeck said the economy has proven to be “adaptable and resilient” in the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia — once Germany’s biggest natural gas supplier — halted gas deliveries to the co...

M/I Homes: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:26 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — M/I Homes Inc. (MHO) on Wednesday reported net income of $103.1 million in its first quarter.The Columbus, Ohio-based company said it had net income of $3.64 per share.The homebuilder posted revenue of $1 billion in the period._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on MHO at https://www.zacks.com/ap/MHOSource

Humana hikes 2023 forecast after better-than-expected 1Q

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:26 GMT

Growing enrollment and declining hospital use by COVID-19 patients helped push the health insurer Humana past first-quarter expectations. The Medicare Advantage coverage provider also hiked its 2023 forecast well beyond Wall Street forecasts Wednesday. Its shares rose in early trading.Humana said Medicare Advantage enrollment jumped 11% to more than 5.6 million people in the quarter. Medicare Advantage plans are privately run versions of the government’s Medicare program for people who are age 65 and older or those who have certain disabilities.Overall, Humana’s profit rose 33% to $1.24 billion in the quarter. Earnings adjusted for one-time gains and costs totaled $9.38 per share. Revenue grew more than 11% to $26.74 billion. Analysts had forecast earnings of $9.25 per share on $26.32 billion in revenue, according to Zacks Investment Research.Humana Inc. said Wednesday that it now expects adjusted earnings for 2023 to be at least $28.25 per share. That’s up from a previous forecast ...

Ukraine launches tech cluster to boost military capability

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:26 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Ukrainian government on Wednesday launched a new initiative meant to streamline and promote innovation in the development of drones and other technologies that have been critical in the war with Russia. As part of the initiative dubbed BRAVE1, the government hopes to bring state, military, and private sector developers working on defense issues together into a tech cluster that would give Ukraine a battlefield advantage.“Considering the enemy that is right next to us and its scale, we definitely need to develop the military tech so that we can defend ourselves,” Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation, said. Fedorov told The Associated Press ahead of Wednesday’s official announcement that the government had earmarked more than 100 million hryvnias (about $2.7 million) to fund projects that have the potential to help Ukraine win the 14-month conflict. “There are many people on the battlefield now of the young generation that can w...

Multiple 18-year-olds arrested in deadly rock-throwing crime spree

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:26 GMT

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — Three 18-year-olds have been arrested in connection to the rock-throwing crime spree in Jefferson and Boulder County that killed a 20-year-old woman. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office has announced the arrest of three suspects in a case that has grabbed the attention of many in the metro area. Overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning, JCSO said they arrested Joseph Koenig, Nicholas “Mitch” Karol-Chik, and Zachary Kwak. The three men are all 18 years old and were taken into custody at their homes in Arvada. Out-of-town couple watches armed home burglary through surveillance camera All three are suspected of throwing rocks, and all are facing charges of first-degree murder - extreme indifference. Additional charges are expected to be filed at a later date. JCSO said it is unclear which suspect was driving during the crime spree, but they can confirm they were driving a black 2016 Chevy Silverado.The three suspects were arrested in connection to ...

Democratic elected officials in Jackson, Mississippi, call 2 controversial new laws a ‘slap in the face of our city’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:26 GMT

(CNN) — A pair of new laws in Mississippi is leaving Jackson divided, with some hoping they will save a capital city wracked by a rise in homicides while others see an echo of a racist past.As part of the laws, the state of Mississippi will expand its law enforcement reach over the entire city of Jackson and implement major changes to its judicial system.Democratic elected officials in Jackson call the laws a “slap in the face of our city” and a regression toward the state’s painful Civil Rights era past. On the other hand, those that pushed for the laws say it is a necessary public safety move for a city that has seen a sharp rise in homicides.Jackson’s homicides per year have doubled over the last decade, peaking in 2021, when the city’s murder rate more than 12 times the national average, making Jackson one of the deadliest cities in the United States.“The fact is that Jackson has so much potential. It is our capital city and the heart of...

Rock legend Freddie Mercury’s personal possessions are going up for auction

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:26 GMT

(CNN) — Around 1,500 items that once belonged to the late British rock star Freddie Mercury are going up for auction, including never-before-seen handwritten draft lyrics to “We Are the Champions,” one of the band Queen’s most famous songs.The objects are being offered for sale by Mary Austin, a close friend of Mercury, who inherited his estate.In addition to draft song lyrics. the items in the sale will include: pink, star-shaped glasses similar to the dark pair Mercury wore in the music video for his band’s 1977 hit “We Will Rock You”; his tiny Tiffany & Co. mustache comb; his guitar, believed to have been used to write and record “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”; the waistcoat Mercury wore in his final music video, “These Are the Days of Our Lives,” in 1991; and a Pablo Picasso linocut titled “Jacqueline au chapeau noir.”Mercury’s famous crown — thought to be loosely modeled on the crown...