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Small biz owners are both hopeful and anxious about the holidays, taking a cue from their customers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:41 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — All signs point to a relatively solid holiday season for America’s small businesses. Yet, owners of these businesses appear to have a collective anxiety about the months ahead.They have their customers to thank on both counts.American kept up their spending over the summer, witness the government’s estimate that the economy grew by 4.9% in the third quarter. Yet even as they open their wallets, consumers seem pessimistic about their finances. A recent AP-NORC poll found that many Americans are concerned about their financial future.In turn, after two years of a COVID-fueled sales boost, owners fear consumers have run through their pandemic savings and might cut back this holiday season or shop online again after getting out and supporting local businesses. Inflation is still a concern and interest rates are higher. And there’s no predicting the weather.“When we talk to retailers there’s a lot of uncertainty,” said Max Rhodes, CEO of Faire, an online wholesale marketp...

Haley and Ramaswamy show the rising political power of Indian Americans even as they feud in debates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:41 GMT

The tension between Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy was hard to miss when they last met on a debate stage.“Every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber for what you say,” Haley told Ramaswamy.Responding to the broadside, Ramaswamy argued “we will be better served as a Republican Party if we’re not sitting here hurling personal insults.” He later told reporters he would “use smaller words next time to make it easier” for Haley.The two are poised to meet again on Wednesday for the third presidential debate, one of their final chances to make a case in front of a large audience before voting begins in the GOP primary next year. Though they are polling far behind former President Donald Trump in the race for the 2024 nomination, Haley and Ramaswamy represent the growing political influence of Americans of Indian descent and are a reminder of the nuanced views within the Indian diaspora.“It is a growing, heterogeneous community,” said Milan Vaishnav, the director of the South Asia P...

Vast digital trove of recordings by Canadian literature greats nears completion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:41 GMT

EDMONTON — Jason Camlot was chatting with his new boss in the English department of what was then Montreal’s Sir George Williams University in 1999, when he spotted a dusty cardboard box of 80 reel-to-reel tapes in a corner of the department head’s office.He asked about it. Oh, he was told, it’s just a bunch of old poetry readings from the ’60s and ’70s that nobody’s ever heard.He never forgot that dusty box. About seven years ago, he tracked it down, found an old reel-to-reel machine, and started to listen. “It was this incredible reading series,” said Camlot. “All the biggest names in North American poetry were there, all recorded in beautiful sound.”As it turned out, a lot of other universities had similar dusty boxes. And now, Camlot’s discovery has grown into SpokenWeb, a digitized  bonanza of thousands of hours of readings and off-the-cuff remarks from Canada’s greatest writers during the time when the nat...

GOP Rep. Ken Buck plans to challenge his party’s direction under Trump as he leaves the House

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:41 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Ken Buck has had enough.When the Colorado Republican announced this past week that he would not seek reelection, he began with the type of criticism of Democratic policies that is standard fare for a hard-line conservative. But then Buck turned his ire to fellow Republicans, spending most of the three-minute announcement video accusing them of being “obsessively fixated on retribution and vengeance for contrived injustices of the past.”Buck’s scorched-earth approach caught few on Capitol Hill by surprise.With a deadpan demeanor, an independent streak and a background as a federal prosecutor, Buck has gained national prominence as a House Republican fed up with Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 presidential election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden and the Trump allies in Congress who amplify them. It’s a stand few others in the GOP are taking and is a remarkable turn that shows just how deeply Trump’s once-fringe lies about that race have settl...

During strike talks, Biden worked to build ties to the UAW’s leader. They have yet to fully pay off

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:41 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden called the head of the United Auto Workers union to congratulate him this past week on getting a new contract with General Motors and to wish him a happy 55th birthday — a sign of how the relationship had evolved since their first get-to-know-you meeting in the Oval Office on July 19.UAW President Shawn Fain launched the strike against GM, Ford and Chrysler-owner Stellantis with a willingness to force political leaders to choose between backing unions or corporations. Biden had long straddled this line. He proclaimed in speeches that unions built the middle class, but he also heralded his credentials as a former senator from the “corporate capital of the world,” also known as Delaware.The White House was determined to build trust with Fain and look past his occasional slights of Biden. That approach, which included Biden meeting with workers on the picket line in Michigan, helped to resolve the nearly 45-day set of strikes and produc...

5 dog breeds this veterinarian says he'd never own — and why

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:41 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — No matter how experienced you are with pet care, getting a new dog can be intimidating. And depending which canine organization you ask, there are several hundreds of dog breeds in the world — how do you know which is the right one for you?It's not an easy question. In fact, it might be easier to narrow down dogs you don't want first.So we asked one of TikTok's premier veterinarians, Ben Simpson-Vernon, also known as Ben the Vet, to elaborate on some of the dog breeds he wouldn't own or recommend. While the U.K.-based vet underlines that these are only his opinions, the reasons why these breeds were singled out generally has to do with the animal's welfare and not personal grievances. Who is ‘Dollarita Steve’? SF software engineer goes viral after earthquake These are the breeds he discussed.Chow Chow"I'm sure there are some nice ones but I just find they often don't have a very nice temperament. They can be really aloof," says Simpson-Vernon. "And they're often very ...

'A House in Austin' to hold first Authors Around the House event

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:41 GMT

'A House in Austin' is to hold first Authors Around the House event and co-executive director Lynette Kelly and author Markedia Alson join WGN Weekend Morning News to share more.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

Henry Winkler celebrates 50 years in Hollywood on Weekend Morning News

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:41 GMT

Henry Winkler joins WGN Weekend Morning News to celebrate his 50 years in Hollywood and share more about his new book.

Paws Chicago Pet of the Week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:41 GMT

Paws Chicago Pet of the Week.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

Sunshine by this afternoon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:41 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Fog had visibility reduced to less than a mile at many locations in Central Texas before sunrise. The fog should be gone between 10:00 and 11:00.Dense fog from I-35 eastward Southeast to south winds continue to bring in moisture from the Gulf. The low clouds and fog will give way to a partly cloudy sky early this afternoon. A mostly sunny sky will be forecast during the late-afternoon on this final day of Central Daylight Time.Look for a repeat of the morning clouds and fog Sunday with clearing to a partly cloudy afternoon sky.Highs both days will warm above normal to the upper 70s to low 80s.Today's normal high is 75°The Horns entertain Kansas State at 11 a.m. at DKR Texas Memorial Stadium. The game will start with a mostly to partly cloudy sky with continued clearing into the afternoon. Kickoff temperature will be around 70° to 72°.Big one for Texas as both teams are 4 and 1 in the Big XIIAre you ready for that extra hour of sleep? This is the weekend clocks are s...