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Biden announces new actions slashing junk fees

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:36:41 GMT

(CNN) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday unveiled new efforts to crack down on junk fees while announcing $2 billion in savings and $140 million in consumer refunds from previous crackdowns on junk fees from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.“Folks are tired of being taken advantage of and played for suckers,” Biden said during remarks in the Rose Garden.“Unfair fees known as junk fees – those hidden charges that companies sneak into your bill to make you pay more because they can. Simply because they can. Charges that are taking real money out of the pockets of American families. These junk fees can add hundreds of dollars weighing down family budgets, making it harder to pay family bills. These junk fees may not matter to the wealthy, but they sure matter to working folks in homes like the one I grew up in,” he added, arguing that the moves will give Americans “breathing room.”The Federal Trade Commission unveiled a proposed rule that the Biden administr...

MBTA clears slow zones on Green Line Extension but root cause of narrow tracks still unclear

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:36:41 GMT

The MBTA announced Wednesday that it had lifted a series of slow zones on the Green Line Extension that had brought trains to walking speeds but it is still unclear how exactly the brand new tracks that cost billions to build became defective so soon after opening.Regularly scheduled service on the Union Station and Medford-Tufts branches started earlier in the day following weeks of speed restrictions that were put in place when the agency discovered tracks were too narrow to safely operate trains, an anomaly MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng described last month as “certainly unusual.”In a statement provided by the Department of Transportation, Eng said a “successful operation of test trains” on the Union Station branch led officials to bring back regular service. All speed restrictions on both the Union Station and the Medford-Tufts Station branches were removed, Eng said.“Green Line trains today are traveling at regular line speeds on both branches. I wish to thank our riders for...

Nearly $1.5 million worth of liquid meth seized at border

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:36:41 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers last week found a total of 30 five-gallon buckets of liquid methamphetamine inside a commercial tractor, authorities said.The drug bust occurred on Oct. 3 at the Otay Mesa cargo facility, CBP officials said in a news release Tuesday. Around 12:30 p.m., CBP officers referred the tractor driver, a 49-year-old woman who was applying for entry to the U.S., to a secondary inspection.During the search, a CBP officer found 942.12 pounds of liquid methamphetamine hidden in 30 five-gallon buckets inside the tractor's fuel tanks, according to law enforcement. California campsite reservation bill signed by governor. Here’s what changes it makes CBP officers seized the tractor and $1,413,180 worth of liquid methamphetamine, while the driver was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for further processing."Our officers are 100% committed to safeguarding our borders and are dedicated to disruptingdrug trafficking organizat...

Scalise is the GOP’s pick to be the House speaker but he faces an uncertain path. What happens next?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:36:41 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Now that House Republicans have chosen Majority Leader Steve Scalise as their nominee for speaker, the race is on to secure the 217 votes he will need on the House floor to win the gavel and officially take the place of the ousted Kevin McCarthy.The GOP conference picked Scalise as their nominee on Wednesday in a secret ballot. Lawmakers exiting the room said Scalise won 113 votes, while Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, took 99. A handful of Republicans declined to vote for either.With Scalise falling well short of 217 in the conference vote, the Louisiana congressman’s path to the speakership is uncertain. He was holding meetings to try and unite Republicans behind him, but some lawmakers said they were still supporting Jordan. McCarthy, R-Calif., was suddenly and unexpectedly removed as speaker last week after just nine months on the job, leaving the House essentially leaderless with North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry in a c...

Entrance to Baltimore Washington International Airport closed due to law enforcement investigation

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:36:41 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — Law enforcement has blocked traffic from entering the Baltimore Washington International Airport terminal, citing an investigation Wednesday afternoon.People already inside the terminal should remain in place for the time being, airport officials said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, a little after 3 p.m. “The terminal roadway is temporarily shut down,” the post said. “Vehicular traffic approaching the airport is currently being held.”The Maryland Department of Emergency Management said Interstate 195 is closed at the Airport Boulevard exit.In replies to the post from airport officials, people said police were blocking foot traffic as well. They posted photos of gridlocked cars approaching the airport entrance.No additional information about the investigation was immediately available.The Associated Press

California law banning large-capacity gun magazines likely to survive lawsuit, court says

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:36:41 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In a setback to California gun rights advocates, a federal appeals court has temporarily blocked a lower court’s ruling that the state cannot ban gun owners from having detachable magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.The ban on higher-capacity magazines remains in effect while the case is still pending.The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal on Tuesday granted state Attorney General Rob Bonta’s motion for a stay of last month’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez.The appeals court wrote that the attorney general’s defense of the law is likely to succeed.The September ruling came in a legal action filed by five individuals and the California Rifle & Pistol Association challenging the law’s constitutionality under the Second Amendment. It was the second time Benitez struck down the law. The first time he struck it down was in 2017 and an appeals court ended up reversing his decision.Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court set a ...

13-year-old Texas boy convicted of murder in fatal shooting at a Sonic Drive-In, authorities say

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:36:41 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — A 13-year-old Texas boy has been convicted on a murder charge stemming from the fatal shooting of a Sonic Drive-In employee who had a fight with the boy’s uncle, authorities said.A jury found Oct. 5 that the boy engaged in delinquent conduct, the juvenile equivalent of a guilty verdict, in the murder case over the May shooting of Matthew Davis, 32, according to the Johnson County sheriff’s and county attorney’s offices.An attorney for the boy, whom authorities have not identified by name, did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment. His uncle, Angel Gomez, was also arrested after the shooting, and a separate case against him is pending.Police have said the boy, then 12, shot Davis several times with an AR-style rifle in the parking lot of the restaurant in Keene, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Dallas. He got the gun out of his uncle’s vehicle and opened fire after Davis confronted Gomez about his “disorderly conduct”...

A Black medic wounded on D-Day honored for treating dozens of troops under enemy fire

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:36:41 GMT

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — An African American combat medic who was wounded while landing on Omaha Beach during the D-Day invasion in northern France but went on to tend to dozens of troops was posthumously honored Wednesday in a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. His family and supporters continue to push for an even higher recognition they believe his heroism is owed.Family and members of his former unit gathered next to Waverly B. Woodson Jr.’s gravesite to present his widow with two medals honoring his service. A band played Taps and his family laid a wreath at his grave.“Imagine the unforgiving crucible of ground combat. The explosions, the hail of bullets, machine gun fire, artillery rounds, the smoke, the blood, the sweat. And then you hear that familiar cry: “Medic! Medic!’” said retired Lt. Gen. Thomas James during the service. “From the explosions, smoke and hail of bullets runs a young corporal. Corporal Waverly Woodson with an aid bag.”Woodson was a 21...

Former Blue Jay Anthony Bass says release last June ‘was not a baseball decision’

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:36:41 GMT

Former Toronto pitcher Anthony Bass said he reached out to the MLB Players Association after the Blue Jays released him last June and disagreed with general manager Ross Atkins’ assertion that the move was a “baseball decision.”The team designated Bass for assignment on June 9, nearly two weeks after he shared a social media post that supported anti-LGBTQ boycotts.Bass, in his first public comments since the mid-season imbroglio, said he was told by the MLBPA that there wasn’t a grievance opportunity because he was guaranteed the remainder of his US$3 million salary.“If this causes future issues, I think there is a strong case to be had,” Bass told The Canadian Press via direct message.Bass, a 35-year-old free agent, has been training ahead of a potential return to the big leagues in 2024 and said: “There has already been early interest.”“I have more left in the tank,” he said.—̵...

Southern California jury delivers $135M verdict in molestation case involving middle school teacher

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:36:41 GMT

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A jury has delivered a $135 million verdict in a molestation case involving a middle school teacher, determining that negligence by a Southern California school district allowed the abuse of two students during the 1990s. Jurors in Riverside County Superior Court decided Tuesday that the Moreno Valley Unified School District is 90% responsible for the damages, while former teacher Thomas Lee West is 10% responsible, according to plaintiffs’ lawyers. The ruling means the district will pay $121.5 million in damages.District officials didn’t immediately respond to an email Wednesday seeking comment on the verdict. During a criminal trial, West was convicted of committing lewd or lascivious acts with minors. He is currently serving a 52 years-to-life sentence in Mule Creek State Prison.The two former students said in their civil lawsuit that they were repeatedly abused by West during 1996 and 1997 when they were sixth graders at Vista Heights Middle ...