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Mortgage rates drop for 5th straight week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate inched down for the fifth straight week, positive news for potential home buyers and a real estate market that’s been chilled by the Federal Reserve’s series of interest rate hikes the past year.Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the benchmark 30-year rate ticked down to 6.27% from 6.28% the previous week. The average rate last year at this time was 5%.The average long-term mortgage rate hit 7.08% in the fall — a two-decade high.The recent decline in mortgage rates is good news for prospective homebuyers, many of whom were pushed to the sidelines during the past year as the Federal Reserve raised its main lending rate nine straight times in a bid to beat back stubborn, four-decade high inflation.Though supply remains low, home prices are retreating slightly, another development that could lure buyers back into the market. The national median home price slipped 0.2% from February last year to $363,000,...

Celtics’ Marcus Smart relishing playoff matchup against Hawks’ Trae Young

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

The last time Marcus Smart saw Trae Young, tempers flared.Late in the Celtics’ victory over the Hawks on March 11 in Atlanta, Smart got angry at Young. The Hawks guard was making a drive past Smart and put up a shot when he inadvertently kicked the Celtics guard in the groin. Smart confronted Young and a skirmish ensued that resulted in the two falling to the ground.Smart was ejected, ruled that he grabbed Young and slammed him to the ground. The Hawks guard wasn’t disciplined.Fast forward one month, and the two will face off in a playoff series as the Celtics meet the Hawks in the first round. There doesn’t seem to be any animosity between the two guards, but they represent the most intriguing matchup of the series as Smart, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, battles one of the most offensive gifted players in the league in Young.“I’m looking forward to it,” Smart said after Thursday’s practice. “Any player that I go up against, especially one of the greatest players in thi...

How to turn negative dating profile statements into positive outlooks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

Erika Ettin | Tribune News ServiceAs a dating coach, I’ve read a lot of online dating profiles … which also means I’ve read a lot of bad dating profiles. From bad grammar to lack of photos and rants about politics, many things can turn me (and my clients) off to a person’s bio, but perhaps the worst perpetrator is general negativity.More often than I wish to see (which is ever), profiles are filled with what a person is not looking for in a partner, what they don’t like to do, or what they won’t tolerate in a relationship.If I asked the authors of these bios what they are trying to achieve with these statements, they might argue they are trying to rule out anyone who doesn’t align with their values or interests. While they think they are saving time by being frank about their beliefs, they’re actually cutting out not just those who don’t perfectly match with them but also those who might, but are left with a bad taste in their mouth by the profile’s pessimism.Instead of focusing on ...

Reggie Miller explains why Knicks-Cavs series is too close to call

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

It’s the most compelling playoff series in the Eastern Conference, and Reggie Miller isn’t buying the betting odds that show the Knicks as a healthy underdog against Cleveland.“It’s a pick-em series,” Miller, the former Knicks nemesis and now an analyst on TNT, said Thursday in a conference call.Still, Miller acknowledged that the health of Julius Randle — who remained a limited participant in practice Tuesday because of a sprained ankle — can easily swing the pendulum.“Either way, one of these teams are going to be disappointed if they lose,” said Miller, who is calling Game 2 of the series on Tuesday for TNT. “The health of Julius Randle, to me — I want to see how he’s moving in Game 1 [on Saturday in Cleveland] and throughout this series. Because before this injury, he was playing at an All-Pro level. He puts so much pressure on the opposing team’s defense.“So if that’s taken away, sure it l...

‘The Last Thing He Told Me’ review: Jennifer Garner turns amateur detective seeking clues about her missing husband

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

Nina Metz | Chicago TribuneWhen a man disappears after his workplace is raided by the FBI, his wife is bluntly informed: “People don’t run for no reason.” That’s exactly what he’s done: The man has dropped out of sight. Starring Jennifer Garner and “Game of Thrones” alum Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, “The Last Thing He Told Me” on Apple TV+ is adapted from the 2021 novel by Laura Dave, and if there ever was a candidate for “shoulda been a movie,” this series is it.Instead, it clocks in at seven episodes. The good news: It gets better as it goes.Garner plays Hannah, an artist who makes wooden bowls, which is a character trait that is both specific yet tells us almost nothing about her. She’s a jeans-and-clogs kind of gal, that’s all I got. She’s recently married to a software ace named Owen (Coster-Waldau) and they live on a charming, idyllic houseboat in Sausalito, California, along with Owen’s 16-year-old daughter Bailey (Angourie Rice). Unhappy to have a stepmother foisted on her, Bailey...

Major Indiana plastics fire nearly out but residents worry

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) — A major industrial fire fueled by tons of scrap plastics in an Indiana city was close to being extinguished Thursday after burning for more than 48 hours, though an evacuation order for people living near the disaster remained in place, authorities said.Richmond officials also disclosed more details about the city’s dealings with a man who was operating the business where the fire occured. They said Seth Smith was barred from accepting more plastics for resale, following a 2020 cleanup order, but he was allowed to keep selling a vast collection still on hand. “Unfortunately with the pandemic, it became a down market,” city attorney Andrew Sickmann told reporters.“It was hard to specify a deadline because this was a massive undertaking. There’s a lot of material there,” Sickmann said. “Our deadline was just as fast as possible.”The fire at the 14-acre former factory site in Richmond, population 35,000, began Tuesday afternoon. Clouds of black s...

Quebec provincial police officer killed on duty remembered as mother, wife, protector

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

TROIS-RIVIÈRES, Que. — A Quebec provincial police officer who was killed while on duty was remembered Thursday as a mother, a daughter, a friend and as a policewoman who dedicated her career to keeping others safe.Thousands of officers and first responders from across North America gathered in Trois-Rivières, Que., for the funeral of Sgt. Maureen Breau. The 20-year veteran of the force was fatally stabbed while serving an arrest warrant on March 27 in Louiseville, Que., about 100 kilometres northeast of Montreal.As her casket, draped in the Quebec flag, was carried into the church by eight officers, others watched with tears streaming down their faces. Along with her husband, Daniel Sanscartier, and two children, Khéraly and Emrick, three officers who were present the night she died accompanied the casket.During the funeral, speakers paid tribute to Breau’s long career but also to her devotion to her family. They noted that the 42-year-old was not just an officer but also a mo...

Dairy farm explosion injures 1 person, kills 18,000 cattle

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

DIMMITT, Texas (AP) — An explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle that critically injured one person and killed an estimated 18,000 head of cattle is the deadliest barn fire recorded since the Animal Welfare Institute began tracking the fires.Castro County Sheriff Salvador Rivera has said the Monday fire and explosion at Southfork Dairy Farm near Dimmitt was likely caused by overheated equipment and would be investigated by state fire marshals.“This would be the most deadly fire involving cattle in the past decade, since we started tracking that in 2013,” institute spokesperson Marjorie Fishman said Thursday.The institute also tracks barn fires that kill other livestock, including poultry, pigs, goats and sheep.“The deadliest barn fire overall since we began tracking in 2013 … was a fire … at Hi-Grade Egg Producers North, Manchester, Indiana, which killed 1 million chickens,” according to Fishman.A 2022 report by the institute noted “several instances in which 10...

Biden celebrates new bridges as campaign season nears

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is awarding nearly $300 million to help repair or replace more than a dozen bridges across the country, closing out a three-week tour to highlight the benefits of infrastructure investments in local communities.Events in four states on Thursday marked the end of the beginning phase of an increasingly expansive White House effort to remind voters of his President Joe Biden’s accomplishments heading into his expected 2024 reelection race.During the administration’s “Investing in America” tour, Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and other officials held more than 50 events across 25 states at projects benefiting from the landmark infrastructure, climate and high-tech manufacturing laws passed during the Democratic president’s first two years in office.There will be much more talk to come about Biden’s record.“This is the focus of the next year-plus,” White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, who got the job in February w...

Hamilton declares state of emergency over opioids, homelessness, mental health

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

Hamilton’s city council declared a state of emergency on Thursday over homelessness, opioid addiction and mental health issues in the city.A motion approving the emergency call does not immediately compel the southern Ontario city to launch new programs to redress the widening crises.But it will see Mayor Andrea Horwath ask the provincial government to act on recommendations from a local group of public health agencies.Those include expanding services and harm reduction programs for people suffering from addiction, after a January report showed opioid-related deaths and overdoses in Hamilton had “increased exponentially.”The report said there were 26 opioid-related deaths in 2005 compared to 166 in 2021, noting that over 65 per cent of them were among males between 25 and 65 years old.Horwath will also call on the province to correct a funding model for homelessness, after a 2021 auditor general report found the province was not allocating enough resources to the i...