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5 questions to ask before you buy now, pay later for the holidays

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:51 GMT

By Jackie Veling | NerdWalletShoppers gearing up for the 2023 holiday season won’t have to look hard for a convenient way to pay for all those presents.“Buy now, pay later,” a type of payment plan that divides the total cost of your purchase into smaller installments, is offered at most major retailers, including Walmart, Target and Amazon. It’s expected to fuel $17 billion in online holiday spending this year — up almost 17% from 2022 — according to forecast data from Adobe Analytics, an analytics and measurement tool from software company Adobe.The short application, immediate approval decision and no hard credit check can make buy now, pay later seem like a no-brainer financing option, but experts say it’s risky. Ask yourself these five questions before opting in.1. Does this plan charge interest?While most shoppers will encounter zero-interest, pay-in-four plans — which divide the cost of your purchase into four equal installments with the first due at checkout, and the remainin...

Masconomet football coach Gavin Monagle announces his retirement

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:51 GMT

Masconomet football coach Gavin Monagle announced his retirement early Monday afternoon. He met with his team to inform them of his decision.“I’ve been blessed to have had tremendous players, coaches and school support at Savio and Masconomet,” Monagle said in a brief text to the Boston Herald.Monagle began his coaching career at Savio Prep in 1993 and spent 11 years there. The highlight was the 2000 team which went 10-1-1 and won a Super Bowl title. He stepped down from Savio following the 2003 season.Monagle served as an assistant coach at Masconomet for seven years under Jim Pugh before taking over in 2015. He won seven games three times, most recently in 2022, ending his career with 104 wins.GAVIN MONAGLE THROUGH THE YEARSSAVIO PREP1993 – 1-8-11994 – 3-7-01995 – 4-6-01996 – 8-2-01997 – 9-2-01998 – 3-7-01999 – 8-3-02000 – 10-1-1 (SB-W)2001 – 6-5-02002 – 0-11-02003 – 7-4-0Totals – 59-56-2MASCONOMET2015 –...

Chicago Bears defensive tackle Gervon Dexter buys Vernon Hills mansion for $1.2M

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:51 GMT

Chicago Bears defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. on Oct. 10 paid $1.2 million for a five-bedroom, 7,399-square-foot mansion in Vernon Hills.A Florida native and standout at the University of Florida, Dexter, 22, was drafted by the Bears in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft.Built in 2011 and located in Vernon Hills’ Gregg’s Landing area, Dexter’s new house has 4½ bathrooms, a formal living room with a fireplace, a great room with a fireplace, a mudroom and a kitchen with Italian onyx countertops, Bosch built-in appliances and a wet bar. Other features include a fully finished third-floor office and a finished English lower level, a wine storage room, a family room and a workout room “fabulous enough for a pro athlete,” according to listing information.Outside on the 0.49-acre property are an outdoor fireplace, a gas fire pit, a two-level wraparound patio, a sprinkler system and professional high-end uplighting in the landscaping.The agent who r...

Boston woman accused of setting a fire at a Massachusetts police station

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:51 GMT

A Boston woman who was waiting for a ride at the Westboro police station is accused of starting a fire in the station’s lobby, according to police.Theresa Abichaker, of West Roxbury, has been arrested and charged in connection with setting a fire at the Westboro police station Sunday evening.Abichaker had been waiting in the station’s lobby for a ride after she was involved in a motor vehicle crash, police said.Following the fire in the station, police officers looked at surveillance video and saw that Abichaker had “intentionally set a clothing donation box and its contents on fire,” police said in a statement.After a search, which included police K-9 units and police drones, Abichaker was found and taken into custody. She has been charged with: burning of a public building (three counts); attempt to burn a public building (three counts); vandalize property; and fire negligence.Related ArticlesCrime & Public Safety | Westborough defends Div. 2...

Experience snow at these places within driving distance of San Diego

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:51 GMT

SAN DIEGO — While the weather outside in San Diego rarely gets frightful in the winter, one does not have to travel far to enjoy fresh snow.There are plenty of places within driving distance of the city that are perfect for those that want to experience the magic of the season as other parts of the country do — with blankets of snow on the ground.If you are looking to take a day trip with loved ones this holiday season, here are a few destinations in Southern California that will make you feel like you are in a legitimate winter wonderland. ‘I’ll be doing this as long as I can’: Why Knob Hill light display in San Marcos isn’t on this year JulianTrip Length: About 1.25 hoursLocated in the county, Julian is one of the easiest day-trip options for San Diegans looking to experience some fresh snow. There are plenty of small snow-play spots around the town, as well as on the journey east towards it. However, it may be a little early in the season to see a whole lot of powder on the gro...

Brazil’s Lula picks his justice minister for supreme court slot

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:51 GMT

SAO PAULO (AP) — President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil said Monday that he chose Justice Minister Flávio Dino to fill an empty seat on the country’s top court. Many allies of the leftist leader hoped he would pick another woman to replace Minister Rosa Maria Weber, who stepped down in September after turning 75, the age limit for the nation’s Supreme Federal Court justices. Weber’s departure as chief justice left one remaining female jurist on the 11-person court. The Brazilian Senate is expected to vote before the end of the year on Dino’s nomination, which requires a simple majority for confirmation. Dino, 55, governed the impoverished state of Maranhão between 2015 and 2023 before becoming Lula’s justice minister. He is a former federal judge and was seen for many years as one of the most vocal adversaries of former President Jair Bolsonaro.During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dino imposed curfews and movement restrictions that angered the far-right leader.As justice...

Woman’s decades-old mosaic of yard rocks and decorative art work may have to go

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:51 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Iris Logan was having a hard time growing grass in the front yard of her St. Paul, Minnesota, home, so she covered the space with stones, statues and decorative art. More than 30 years later, it’s something of a local landmark.But to a city inspector, it’s a nuisance. Logan, 70, has been given notice to clean up the “planters, wood, metal cans, large rocks and miscellaneous debris” cited after a recent inspection, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. The City Council will take up the matter Dec. 6.Logan says the city’s actions forced her to create the mosaic in the first place because workers on a road repair project dug so deep around one of her trees that its roots were exposed. She brought in bricks and dirt, planted flowers and added stones — and just kept adding.”I’m a rock lover,” said Logan, a former cotton sharecropper from Mississippi. “I’m not going to lie. If I see a rock I like, I try and roll it in my car on a two-by-four.”Logan ...

Food banks urge Ontario government to do more to help residents facing food insecurity

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:51 GMT

Food banks across Ontario are urging the provincial government to do more to ensure hundreds of thousands residents don’t go hungry, as food banks say they are on the verge of collapse.In a press conference at Queen’s Park, Carolyn Stewart, CEO of Feed Ontario, said their data shows there are three key drivers that can be addressed by the government.“These are the progressive growth in precarious work, the erosion of our social support programs and a failure to invest in affordable and supportive housing,” said Stewart.As food banks have been saying for months, employment does not guarantee a way out of poverty. More than one in six food bank visitors in Ontario say their primary source of income is employment, nearly 40 per cent more than last year.“Imagine that $100 to afford all your basic necessities, transportation, medication, food, utilities, even a winter coat for your child,” shared Stewart. “Poverty is a policy choice and our gover...

4 Chinese students killed in car crash near Toronto, Chinese consulate says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:51 GMT

The Chinese consulate in Toronto says four Chinese students died in what it called a “serious” car accident near Toronto over the weekend.The statement from the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Toronto comes after four teens and a woman were killed in a collision in Huntsville, Ont., late Saturday night.The consulate says the Chinese embassy in Canada verified the details of what happened with Ontario Provincial Police and contacted the families of the victims.OPP have said the crash took place on Highway 60 and involved a Mercedes SUV and Ford SUV.Police say the people in the Mercedes were four teens — aged 15 to 17 — from Toronto and nearby Richmond Hill, Ont. Their names were not immediately released.Police say three of the teens in the Mercedes died at the scene and the fourth died later in hospital, while a 42-year-old Huntsville woman driving the Ford died at the scene.

University of North Carolina shooting suspect found unfit for trial, sent to mental health facility

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:51 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The University of North Carolina graduate student charged with fatally shooting his faculty adviser has been found unfit for trial after two mental evaluations, a judge ruled Monday.Tailei Qi, 34, is accused of killing associate professor Zijie Yan in a science building at the state’s flagship public university on Aug. 28. He is being held without bond on charges of first-degree murder and misdemeanor possession of a firearm on educational property.Orange County Superior Court Judge Alyson Grine said Monday that two separate mental evaluations found Qi likely suffers from untreated schizophrenia.“Qi demonstrated delusional thinking, experienced auditory hallucinations, engaged in self-harm in the detention center, showed fragmented thought processes that impeded his communication,” she said.Severe mental illness has rendered him unable to comprehend his situation, assist in his legal defense and understand court proceedings, even with a Mandarin interprete...