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Wall Street steadies itself a day after its steep tumble

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks steadied on Wall Street Wednesday and closed with a mixed finish, a day after worries about interest rates sent them to one of their worst tumbles of the year. The S&P 500 rose 5.64 points, or 0.1%, to 3,992.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 58.06, or 0.2%, to 32,798.40, while the Nasdaq composite added 45.67, or 0.4%, to 11,576.00.They were coming off a sharp drop the prior day after the head of the Federal Reserve warned it could speed up its hikes to interest rates if pressure on inflation stays high. Such hikes can ease inflation by slowing the economy, but they also hit prices for stocks and other investments and raise the risk of a recession in the future.The Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, said again Wednesday that pressure on inflation appears to be running higher than earlier expected. But he also stressed much more strenuously than he did on Tuesday that the Fed hasn’t made a decision yet on the size of its future hikes. He said policy ...

US judge: California can’t ban alligator imports, sales

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — California cannot ban the importation and sale of crocodile and alligator products, a federal judge has ruled, in a victory for the state of Louisiana, which challenged the ban along with businesses in multiple states. Federal law controls trade in those products and preempts California from barring trade in them, Chief U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller in Sacramento, California, wrote in a ruling dated Tuesday. Mueller had already blocked enforcement of the law while lawsuits challenging it played out in her court. Plaintiffs included businesses based in California, Louisiana, Texas, Florida, Montana and Wyoming.The California ban had covered products made from alligators and two species of crocodile — Nile and Saltwater. All can be sold legally under international treaty and U.S. federal law. Mueller rejected arguments that California was only seeking to regulate activity within the state. “California is not regulating crocodile takings with its borders,” she...

Mayor: Community grieving after Mexico kidnappings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

(NewsNation) — Four Americans who were kidnapped in Mexico over the weekend were natives of South Carolina's Lake City, the mayor has confirmed. Lake City Mayor Yamekia Robinson, in a news conference Tuesday, offered condolences to the family of the two people who were killed after they were caught in the crossfire of rival cartel groups in Matamoros, Mexico."It's been a very tough few days," Robinson said Tuesday during an appearance on "NewsNation: Rush Hour." "We have been trying to keep the family, the community close with prayer." Kidnapped Americans: Sen. Graham proposes military action The other two Americans who survived the kidnapping are back in the United States receiving medical care, the Justice Department said Tuesday.The FBI had reported Sunday it was searching with Mexican authorities for the missing Americans, who had been kidnapped Friday. A relative of one of them said Monday they had traveled together from South Carolina so one of them could get a tu...

'Shrimp scampi' doesn't mean what you think it means

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — What do you think of when you think of shrimp scampi? Depending who you ask, that term can mean many different things — or even sound like complete gibberish.While the dish is seemingly a staple of Italian-American cuisine, you're unlikely to see "shrimp scampi" listed on dinner menus in Italy. And one of the main reasons is because of its name.It's widely believed the "scampi" refers to the style of cooking the shrimp — and this usage is typically accepted — though it's not totally technically accurate. The word "scampi" is Italian for a type of small crustacean akin to a mini lobster. They're similar to shrimp, but scampi — also known as Dublin Bay Prawn, langoustines, or Norway Lobster — aren't typically found in oceans near the U.S. There’s a hidden image on Toblerone chocolate bars: Can you spot it? "If you consider the name 'shrimp scampi' literally, it doesn’t make much sense; it’s like saying “shrimp lobster," Faye Levy wrote in the Los Angeles Times back in 19...

What it's like to live — and even thrive — with stiff-person syndrome

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

(WGN-TV) You probably hadn’t heard of stiff-person syndrome until superstar singer Celine Dion announced her battle with the rare and often misdiagnosed ailment in December.The disease “is characterized by fluctuating muscle rigidity in the trunk and limbs and a heightened sensitivity to stimuli such as noise, touch, and emotional distress, which can set off muscle spasms,” according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).In a message to her fans, Dion gave voice to the 1-in-1-million people struggling with the same disorder she had been battling offstage."I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time, and it’s been really difficult for me to face these challenges and to talk about everything that I’ve been going through,” the Canadian singer said before revealing her diagnosis. “We now know this is what’s been causing all of the spasms that I’ve been having.”“My mind was, ‘Oh my goodness, I feel so bad for her,’” said Moira...

Texas' Rodney Terry named the Sporting News national basketball coach of the year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — He wasn't named the Big 12 Conference coach of the year, but one national publication thinks Longhorns interim head coach Rodney Terry is the best in the country.The Sporting News named Terry its men's college basketball coach of the year Wednesday after Terry led the Longhorns to a top-10 ranking and No. 2 seed in the Big 12 Conference tournament. In the first draft of the top 16 seeded teams for the NCAA Tournament, the Longhorns were slotted at No. 5 by the selection committee. Given the circumstances under that Terry took the team over, it's remarkable what he's been able to accomplish.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newslettersTerry took over as acting head coach when Chris Beard was arrested and charged with third-degree felony assault on Dec. 12 (which has since been dropped), leading to his suspension by the University of Texas and eventually his firing on...

Warming climate leading to allergy seasons starting sooner

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN)-- Central Texas has its fair share of allergy seasons. Most local denizens are, at one time of the year or another, adversely affected by either the mold, the grass, the weeds, or especially the trees. There are even some who can be affected by multiple seasons of the tree pollens. For example, they're sneezing from oak or elm in the spring, get a few months of relief, then have to deal with one of the worst pollens imaginable, cedar.A new study released by Climate Central offers a perspective on these allergens that many will find disheartening. Some parts of the country, including the south, are seeing their allergy seasons start earlier, last longer, and, as a result, recognizing pollen seasons that get worse from year to year.Courtesy: Climate CentralTheir bottom line? Our changing climate is making these prolonged allergy seasons worse from our warming planet and, just as important, periods of drought such as what Central Texas has been experiencing since 2019.The...

More districts are moving to four-day school weeks: Here's how they work

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A rural East Texas school district just became at least the 60th in the state to move to a four-day school week. Overton ISD, a rural district east of Tyler that serves about 475 students, approved the change in a school board meeting Monday."If you were for it or against it, let’s put that behind us," said Superintendent Larry Calhoun. "We’ve made the decision, adopt a can-do attitude and let’s figure it out. I think it’s always a great day to be a Mustang." MAP: Which Texas school districts have switched to four-day weeks? The four-day week was made possible after a 2015 law, passed by the Texas Legislature, changed how classroom instruction was timed. Districts no longer had to provide 180 days of classes, but instead a minimum of 75,600 minutes.But how does the four-day schedule work? That depends on the district.Most that have adopted the four-day schedule give students Friday off. That's how Overton ISD plans to operate in the new school year.Other districts ...

Vishal Gupta: Worried that ChatGPT is coming for your job? An old assessment tool may have the answer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

“AI passes U.S. medical licensing exam.” “ChatGPT passes law school exams despite ‘mediocre’ performance.” “Would ChatGPT get a Wharton MBA?”Headlines such as these have recently touted (and often exaggerated) the successes of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence tool capable of writing sophisticated text responses to human prompts. These successes follow a long tradition of comparing an AI’s ability to that of human experts, such as Deep Blue’s chess victory over Gary Kasparov in 1997, IBM Watson’s “Jeopardy!” victory over Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter in 2011, and AlphaGo’s victory in the game Go over Lee Sedol in 2016.The implied subtext of these recent headlines is more alarmist: AI is coming for your job. It’s as smart as your doctor, your lawyer and that consultant you hired. It heralds an imminent, pervasive disruption to our lives.But sensationalism aside, does comparison of AI with human...

John Holden: Russia’s totalitarian march in Ukraine has crushed many Russian lives as well

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

As Russia’s war against Ukraine grinds into its second ghastly year, I have gotten an upfront view on its impact on the lives of numerous ordinary people from both countries.My fascination with Russia dates to my teen years when I became an ardent fan great Russian novelists including Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Ivan Turgenev and Mikhail Bulgakov. Though I began traveling in Eastern Europe in the 1980s, it seemed an impossible dream I would ever get into Russia or other parts of the Soviet Union. Following the collapse of the Soviet empire in 1991, that dream quickly became a reality in 1992 when my job at Chicago’s City Hall netted me an invitation from Moscow city government to visit as part of an exchange program for municipal government finance officials.My trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg was a potent eye-opener plainly showing what 68-plus years of communist rule had wrought in these imposing but bedraggled cities. A year into Russia’s abrupt shift to capitalism, pr...