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US consumer confidence ticks up in March

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer confidence inched up in March after two straight monthly declines, even as persistent inflation, bank collapses and anxiety over a possible recession weighed on American households.The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 104.2 in March from 103.4 in February. Optimism about current conditions fell, though consumers grew slightly more positive about the short-term future. That’s a reversal from recent surveys.The board said that despite the uptick in confidence, the index remains below 2022’s average level of 104.5.The business research group’s present situation index — which measures consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions — inched down to 151.1 from 153 last month.The board’s expectations index — a measure of consumers’ six-month outlook for income, business and labor conditions — rose in March to 73 from 70.4 in February. A reading under 80 often signals a recession in the...

Brueghel work found in dim French TV room sells for $845,000

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

PARIS (AP) — One of Flemish painter Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s largest known works, whose discovery behind the television room door of a house in northern France amazed the art world, fetched 780,000 euros ($845,000) at auction in Paris Tuesday.The 17th century oil painting — which experts call “exceptional” and was long considered a fake by its owners — was discovered by chance in December collecting dust. An expert conducting an estimation request spotted something poking out past a door of the dim family house.“I arrived in a small television room which was not very well lit. I started making my estimates in the living room and turning around behind the door, there were two thirds of the painting visible,” Malo de Lussac of the auctioneers Daguerre Val de Loire, told The Associated Press. “And that’s when in fact I discovered the painting. It was a bit of a surprise.”The family of the owners, who wished to remain anonymous, acquired the work in 1900, and had always calle...

Residents of historically Black town sue to stop land sale

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — One of the first historically Black towns in the U.S. is suing the local school board to stop the sale of land that is tied up with Florida’s legacy of racial segregation decades ago and the state’s fast-paced growth nowadays.An association dedicated to the preservation of the town of Eatonville’s cultural history last Friday sued the Orange County School Board in an effort to stop the sale of the 100-acre property where the Robert Hungerford Preparatory High School once stood.The proposed $14.6 million sale of the school property to a developer with plans to build 350 new new homes, along with and business spaces, threatens the cultural heritage of the town, the Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community said in its lawsuit. The sale is set to close on Friday.With a population of around 2,350 people residents, of whom almost three-quarters are Black, the town located outside of Orlando is perhaps best known through the writings of Harlem...

Brazil has a new biggest favela, and not in Rio de Janeiro

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

SOL NASCENTE, Brazil (AP) — The buzzing main avenue of this poor Brazilian neighborhood is filled with people popping off buses after work or grabbing a bite. Teens attend an open-air rap battle and gymnastics class. Hymns and prayers from tiny church services spill into the night.It’s an ordinary Wednesday in Brazil’s biggest favela, or low-income neighborhood. And for the first time since poverty, lack of opportunity and economic inequality caused favelas to mushroom across many of the nation’s cities, that superlative doesn’t belong to a favela in Rio de Janeiro.Sol Nascente (Rising Sun, in English) is just 21 miles (34 kilometers) from capital Brasilia in the Federal District, whose GDP per capita is by far higher than any Brazilian state, underscoring the inequality between affluent public servants’ neighborhoods and the district’s outskirts.The number of households in Sol Nascente has swelled 31% since 2010 to more than 32,000, surpassing Rio’s hillside Rocinha fav...

Some Flair customers say they’re owed more after plane seizures, flight cancellations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

Flair Airlines says it has reimbursed virtually all 1,900 passengers whose flights were cancelled after the seizure of four of the carrier’s planes earlier this month, but some customers say they are owed more money. Bailiffs repossessed the Boeing 737 jets, on which the discount airline had overdue payments, at airports in Toronto, Edmonton and Waterloo, Ont., on March 11.The seizures meant multiple flights that day had to be cancelled, sending customers scrambling to rebook on other airlines.Kelly Butt was scheduled to take a Flair flight with her family from Toronto to Palm Springs, Calif. on the Saturday afternoon, but arrived roughly 30 hours later than planned due to the cancellation.She says Flair has pledged to reimburse her for the fares, but not the cost of a lost Airbnb reservation and a car rental, and won’t fully compensate her for the last-minute cancellation.Flair says in an emailed statement that virtually all refund requests have now been addressed, and ...

Boat carrying 32 capsizes in eastern Caribbean; 16 missing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — One person died and 16 are missing after a boat capsized near the eastern Caribbean island of St. Kitts early Tuesday, authorities said.The boat was carrying 32 passengers, 16 of which were rescued, according to the government’s Antigua and Barbuda Broadcasting Services.Officials in Antigua are leading the search and said the majority of those rescued are from unidentified countries in Africa. It was not immediately clear where the person who died was from.The boat sank about 40 miles (60 kilometers) northwest of Antigua. It was not immediately clear where it was headed, Col. Telbert Benjamin, chief of defense for Antigua and Barbuda’s Defense Force, told the government’s media outlet.An official with the Antigua and Barbuda Coast Guard told The Associated Press said the search for possible survivors was continuing. The Associated Press

Minnesota youth vaping trial of e-cigarette maker Juul opens

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison will personally open his state’s case against Juul Labs on Tuesday, the first of thousands of cases against the e-cigarette maker to reach trial.Minnesota is seeking more than $100 million in damages, Ellison said, accusing San Francisco-based Juul of unlawfully targeting young people to get a new generation addicted to nicotine.Juul has faced thousands of lawsuits nationwide but most have settled, including 39 with other states and U.S. territories. Not Minnesota, which won a landmark $7.1 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998. Minnesota added tobacco industry giant Altria, which formerly owned a minority stake in Juul, as a co-defendant in 2020. Altria completed its divestiture this month and says it effectively lost its $12.8 billion investment. But it didn’t abandon e-cigarettes: Just a few days later, Altria announced a $2.75 billion investment in Juul’s rival, the startup NJOY.“We will...

Beef shipped to 9 states — including Illinois and Indiana — recalled over E. coli concerns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

(WKBN) – Thousands of pounds of boneless beef chuck are being recalled, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. About 3,436 pounds of Elkhorn Valley Packing boneless beef chuck product has been recalled over possible E. coli contamination, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said Friday. The USDA said the recalled items — which may be contaminated with by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) O103 — were shipped to nine states, including Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The affected beef, which was packed on Feb. 16, went to distributors, retailers and wholesalers, as well as hotels, restaurants, and other "institutions," the USDA said. Gluten-free Reese’s Pieces Brownie Brittle recalled over undeclared wheat The issue came to light during routine FSIS testing of ground beef derived from the meat. The USDA said that, so far, there have been no confirmed reports of illness or...

Billy Porter Tour Coming to Chicago

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

Grammy, Emmy and Tony award winner Billy Porter is on his way to Chicago.He brings with his first-ever career-spanning pop music concert tour: THE BLACK MONA LISA TOUR: VOLUME 1 to town, May 26. Fans can expect a full band, multi media experience, of course featuring the amazing voice and story telling of Billy Porter. Tickets are on sale now HERE.BLACK MONA LISA TOUR: VOLUME ONE DATES4/29 Seattle, WA Paramount Theatre5/1 Salt Lake City, UT Eccles Theater5/2 Denver, CO Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre5/4 San Jose, CA San Jose Center For The Performing Arts5/5 San Francisco, CA Golden Gate Theatre5/6 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Pantages Theatre5/7 Tempe, AZ ASU Gammage5/9 Austin, TX The Paramount Theatre5/10 Dallas, TX AT&T Performing Arts Center5/12 San Antonio, TX HEB Performing Hall - Tobin Center for the Performing Arts5/13 Houston, TX Bayou Music Center5/14 New Orleans, LA Saenger Theatre5/16 Indianapolis, IN Murat Theatre at Old National Centre5/18 Detroit, MI Fisher Theatre5/20 M...

Hundreds of deer carcasses dumped in Memphis lot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:37 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) - A few feet from the banks of Kilowatt Lake in North Memphis, Tennessee, sits the small neighborhood of New Chelsea. In six years living there, neighbors have gotten used to one thing.“Smells horrible,” one woman told Nexstar's WREG.She never thought much of it and didn't think she could do anything about it. She also never goes past the end of her block into the small industrial district between her neighborhood and the lake. People in the industrial area can smell it too.“Like rotting disgustingness. It’s just awful," another woman said. Both have smelled the stench for years.In the industrial area, they figured it came from Dino’s Meats, a wild game processing facility. But they never suspected much more, until someone noticed hundreds of deer carcasses piled up and left to rot in a lot behind Dino’s. Bodycam video shows moments police killed active shooter at Nashville school “You’ll literally see dogs running by with bones in their mouths and they're li...