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US home sales fell in March in tepid homebuying season start

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:50:32 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in March and prices edged lower for the second month in a row, a tepid start to the spring homebuying season as buyers contend with sharply higher mortgage rates and a near record-low number of properties on the market.Existing home sales fell 2.4% last month from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.44 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That’s below the 4.5 million home sales economists were expecting, according to FactSet. Sales were down 22% compared with March last year.The national median home price slipped 0.9% from March last year to $375,700, the NAR said. That’s the biggest annual median home price drop since January 2012.The inventory of homes on the market rose 1% from February, with some 980,000 properties on the market by the end of March. That’s a 5.4% increase from March last year and amounts to a 2.6-month supply at the current sales pace. In a more bal...

Criminal probe begins after campfire-sparked blaze threatened homes in Kamloops, B.C.

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:50:32 GMT

KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Electricity has been restored to nearly 4,000 homes and businesses in Kamloops, B.C., after a rapidly spreading grass fire swept through an area not far from the city centre.A statement from Kamloops RCMP says the blaze was sparked Wednesday by a campfire in Strathcona Park and a criminal investigation has begun as police search for the person who lit it.Flames came within metres of homes and structures but RCMP Supt. Jeff Pelley says in the statement that Kamloops firefighters and the BC Wildfire Service “did an amazing job” controlling and dousing the fire.The BC Hydro website shows power in the area on either side of the Thompson River, overlooking the Overlanders Bridge, was cut just before 3 p.m. Wednesday, but had been restored about seven hours later.The fire was fanned by gusty winds and spread quickly through the grass and sagebrush in the park but officials say it was controlled before any homes or structures were damaged.The wildfire service r...

CPS to take over 2 Urban Prep campuses after charter school's appeal denied

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:50:32 GMT

CHICAGO — Two Urban Prep Academy schools have lost their appeal to have their charter status renewed.According to Chalkbeat Chicago, the charter school network however has filed a lawsuit to stop both the Bronzeville and Englewood campuses being controlled by Chicago Public Schools.The schools were both nationally recognized for their graduations rates with African American boys, but CPS said they were financially mismanaged and moved last fall to take control of the charters.There were also allegations of sexual misconduct by the schools founder who left the charter school network.CPS said it will do what it can to ease the transition for students and try and keep staff members who qualify at the schools. Man stabbed several times during business robbery in Loop Chicago Board of Education moved to take control of the schools last fall. Urban Prep then appealed that decision to the state board of education, which denied Urban Prep's request over the objection of some state lawmake...

Man, 27, seriously injured in drive-by shooting on South Side

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:50:32 GMT

CHICAGO — A 27-year-old man was seriously injured in a drive-by shooting on the city's South Side.Police said the shooting happened around 5:20 a.m. Thursday in the 2300 block of West 75th Street. The man told officers he was outside when a silver SUV approached and the passenger inside fired shots. The SUV then fled the scene.The man was shot in the hip and self-transported himself to South Shore Hospital in serious-but-stable condition.No other injuries were reported.No one is in custody. Area One detectives are investigating.

Where recreational marijuana is - and isn't - legal in 2023

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:50:32 GMT

(NEXSTAR) - Nearly half of the U.S. has legalized recreational marijuana use, with states throughout the Northeast becoming the latest to expand regulated cannabis use. Despite efforts by multiple other states to do the same, marijuana use still isn't widely legalized. Voters across several states approved recreational marijuana use in 2022, and a few more states were hoping to be added to the list. Can you bring marijuana on a plane? Oklahoma voters rejected the legalization of recreational marijuana in March. A proposal to legalize marijuana in Indiana was voted down in early April. Thousands of supporters have signed a petition to have a proposed constitutional amendment regarding marijuana legalization added to Florida ballots in 2024.Though they haven't legalized marijuana for medicinal or recreational use, nine states have authorized the use of CBD and products low in THC. Previously among those states was Kentucky, which has since legalized medical marijuana.The map below ...

Video shows correctional officer beating inmate 'more than 30 times' in Illinois

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:50:32 GMT

Note: Viewer discretion is advised in the video above.CHICAGO (WGN) — Surveillance footage shows an inmate being beaten for nearly a minute at Illinois' Cook County Jail last year. The correctional officer accused of the beating has been charged.Richard Smith, 44, was charged with official misconduct and aggravated battery following the incident at the jail on Sept. 20, 2022.In the video, a 24-year-old inmate is seen speaking with two guards for about 40 seconds in the jail's residential treatment unit. Previous: Cook County correctional officer charged; accused of beating inmate ‘more than 30 times’ Video shows the confrontation turn violent with a correctional officer seeming to throw the first punch. After a few seconds of the man defending himself with some punches back, Smith allegedly started to knee him while throwing uppercuts as the other correctional officer, who has not been identified, held him.The inmate then falls to the ground as Smith is shown continuing to beat th...

Will TSA stop you for marijuana in your luggage?

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:50:32 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – While many states have legalized marijuana, things may be looking up for cannabis users nationwide. But not too high up, especially for those planning to fly anytime soon.There are many items you're allowed to bring aboard an airplane but when it comes to marijuana, the rules become a bit more complicated.Marijuana itself remains illegal on the federal level, TSA reminds. That includes certain cannabis-infused products as well, like CBD oil.However, cannabis products containing no more than 0.3 percent THC on a dry weight basis or those approved by the FDA are the exceptions. These items are permitted in both carry-on bags and checked bags, according to TSA. How the TSA determines what is and isn’t a ‘liquid’ These rules apply regardless of the departure or arrival airports.“TSA’s response to the discovery of marijuana is the same in every state and at every airport – regardless of whether marijuana has been or is going to be legalized at the state level...

Austin-based company wants to control the rain over Lake Travis

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:50:32 GMT

AUSTIN, TX (KXAN) - After one of the hottest years on record, Rainwater Tech, an Austin-based company, is hoping to bring weather controlling technology to the United States. The company has been using the tech in the Middle East and Australia for 10 years."We have a real imbalance of where the water is falling, it's falling in areas that already have enough water, we need it to redistribute to the areas that need water most," said Rainwater Tech CEO Mike Nefkins.The company produces rain by using large antenna or towers. "What we do is basically produce an ion plume that goes up into the atmosphere attaches to the cloud nuclei, and enhances rain."The theory is that by having the added ion, the rain drops in the cloud can grow larger, fall and survive the trip to the ground. According to Nefkins, the towers "turbocharge" the water cycle.According to Nefkins, their technology can enhance rain by 10% to 20%."I wish we had a technology that would generate rain from blue skies but that...

Hwy 29 reopens after cement truck rollover

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:50:32 GMT

LIBERTY HILL, Texas (KXAN) -- Traffic in Liberty Hill was affected Thursday morning after a cement truck rolled over on Highway 29. The road was shut down in the 17000 block of West Hwy. 29 -- west of Liberty Hill -- around 6:30 a.m., according to the Williamson County Sheriff's Office. The road has since reopened, WCSO said in an update. Real time traffic map Liberty Hill Independent School District also alerted parents, students and staff to expected delays on the way to school and work.

Jace Frederick: Karl-Anthony Towns needs to step up to give Timberwolves a chance

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:50:32 GMT

DENVER — Karl-Anthony Towns was excellent during Minnesota’s third quarter surge in its Game 2 defeat in Denver. The all-star big man recorded eight points, five rebounds, two assists and a massive blocked shot in transition to help spark a 40-point frame that catapulted the Timberwolves from a 15-point halftime deficit to a two-point advantage heading into the final frame.Finally, it looked as if Towns had found his footing in the first-round series.Then came the final frame. Towns went 0 for 4 from the field, didn’t grab a single rebound nor tally an assist, turned the ball over and was beat for an alley-oop lob on the defensive end as Denver pulled away from Minnesota to go up 2-0 in the best-of-7 series.That fourth quarter was emblematic of Towns’ playoff performances. While Anthony Edwards was electric in numerous facets Wednesday in Denver, Towns was too easily relegated to irrelevance. He finished with 10 points on 3-for-12 shooting. As the series moves to M...