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Ticker: Unemployment applications at 7-month low; UAW: GM wage offer ‘insulting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:14 GMT

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week fell to the lowest level in seven months with the labor market seemingly resistant to the higher interest rates put in place to cool hiring.U.S. applications for jobless claims fell by 13,000 to 216,000 for the week ending Sept. 2, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s the lowest level since February.The Federal Reserve, well into the second year of its battle against inflation, has raised interest rates 11 times to 5.4%, the highest level in 22 years.Last week, the government reported that U.S. employers added 187,000 jobs in August, another sign of a healthy labor market. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.8%, still low by historical measures.Overall, 1.68 million people were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended August 26, about 40,000 fewer than the previous week. That number hasn’t been lower since a stretch in early January.UAW calls GM wage offer ‘insultingGeneral Motors...

Fani Willis accuses Rep. Jim Jordan of ‘partisan misrepresentations’ over inquiry of election case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:14 GMT

By KATE BRUMBACK (Associated Press)ATLANTA (AP) — The district attorney who brought charges against former President Donald Trump and others over their efforts to overturn the results of Georgia’s 2020 election sent a scathing letter to U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan on Thursday, accusing him of interfering in a state case and pushing “outrageous partisan misrepresentations.”The letter from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to Jordan, the Republican chair of the House Judiciary Committee and a close ally of Trump’s, came in response to one he sent last month expressing concerns about the motivations behind her investigation and demanding that she provide certain documents by Thursday. Instead, Willis sent him a nine-page retort detailing the “inaccurate information and misleading statements” in his letter.“Its obvious purpose is to obstruct a Georgia criminal proceeding and to advance outrageous partisan misrepresentations,” Will...

Red Sox notebook: Zack Kelly eager to contribute to ‘gassed’ Boston bullpen

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:14 GMT

Major League Baseball’s regular season is winding down, but Zack Kelly is just getting started.“It’s September. These guys are gassed, and I feel like I’m going through spring training again,” he told the Herald by phone. “I’m so ready just to go, I’m fresh, I’m ready.”Kelly last pitched for the Red Sox on April 12. Walking off the mound in near tears that day capped a roller coaster three weeks during which the rookie right-hander went from making his first Opening Day roster (and pitching on the first day of the season) to the injured list. He underwent elbow surgery at the beginning of May and began a rehab assignment last week.“I feel great, everything feels good so far. I feel good throwing, I’m recovering well, everything so far has been great,” he said. “The velocity is where I want it. I had a good one on Friday in Greenville control-wise, and then, Tuesday was a little bit different. I couldn’t command the zone the way I wanted, but obviously, the more I get game reps, I th...

Company pulls spicy One Chip Challenge from store shelves as Massachusetts investigates teen’s death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:14 GMT

By MICHAEL CASEY and STEVE LeBLANC (Associated Press)WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — The maker of an extremely spicy tortilla chip sold as the One Chip Challenge and popularized as a dare on social media is pulling the product after the family of a Massachusetts teenager blamed the stunt for his death.The cause of Harris Wolobah’s death last Friday hasn’t been determined and an autopsy was still pending as of Thursday, but the 14-year-old’s family blames the challenge. Since his death, the Texas-based manufacturer, Paqui, has asked retailers to stop selling the individually wrapped chips — a step 7-Eleven has already taken.The One Chip Challenge chip sells for about $10 and comes wrapped in a sealed foil pouch that is enclosed in a coffin-shaped cardboard box. The package warns that the chip is made for the “vengeful pleasure of intense heat and pain,” is intended for adults and should be kept out of reach of children.Paqui, a subsidiary of The Hers...

NFL breaks silence on Patriots cornerback Jack Jones’ arrest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:14 GMT

Firearms charges were dropped against Patriots cornerback Jack Jones on Tuesday, but an NFL spokesperson told the Herald that the league has “been following developments in the matter which remains under review.”The NFL could still discipline Jones for the incident when he was arrested in June after police say they found two pistols in the 25-year-old’s carry-on luggage as he was going through security.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots’ JuJu Smith-Schuster addresses Twitter drama with Eagles New England Patriots | Patriots-Eagles injury report: OT Trent Brown upgraded, defensive starter sits Thursday New England Patriots | Matthew Judon wants every Patriots pass rusher to be a ‘threat’ New England Patriots | What Mac Jones learned from ‘good friend’ Jalen Hurts ahead of Patriots-Eagles matchup New England Patriots | Patriots’ Mac Jones’...

Patriots’ JuJu Smith-Schuster addresses Twitter drama with Eagles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:14 GMT

FOXBORO — As the Patriots get set for their season opener Sunday, they do have a player who knows the blueprint on how to beat the defending NFC-champion Eagles.Unfortunately, that involved having Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, which the Patriots don’t.But still, Patriots offseason signing JuJu Smith-Schuster, who played on that Chiefs team that beat the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII, said Thursday that he can definitely use his experience in that game as he prepares to play against cornerbacks Darius Slay, James Bradberry and Avonte Maddox again.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | NFL breaks silence on Patriots cornerback Jack Jones’ arrest New England Patriots | Patriots-Eagles injury report: OT Trent Brown upgraded, defensive starter sits Thursday New England Patriots | Matthew Judon wants every Patriots pass rusher to be a ‘threat’ New England Patriots | What Mac Jones learned from ‘go...

With strike looming, General Motors makes a wage offer, which auto union leader calls ‘insulting’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:14 GMT

By TOM KRISHER (AP Auto Writer)DETROIT (AP) — General Motors’ first wage-and-benefit offer to the United Auto Workers on Thursday fell far short of the union’s initial demands.The offer comes just a week before the UAW’s national contracts with GM, Stellantis and Ford expire, and even though both sides are far apart, it’s a sign of movement on economic issues. Still, union President Shawn Fain called the offer “insulting.” He is threatening to strike against any automaker that hasn’t reached a tentative agreement by the time contracts expire at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 14. A strike against one or more automakers by up to 146,000 auto workers is a real possibility.GM said in a letter to workers that it’s offering a 10% wage increase during a new four-year contract, plus two more 3% one-time payments. It’s also offering a $6,000 inflation payment, $5,000 more in lump sums to protect against inflation during the contract, and a $5,...

Western Canada a global hot spot over summer months: Climate Central study

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:14 GMT

Western Canada was a global hot spot in a summer that climate change made one of the warmest on record, according to a new analysis.“Canada, and especially the western provinces, have been unusually warm this summer,” said Andrew Pershing, science director of Climate Central, which released its study linking greenhouse gases to daily temperatures around the world.Climate Central took widely accepted peer-reviewed methods that calculate the contribution of climate change to extreme weather events and applied them to daily temperatures between June and August in 202 jurisdictions around the world.The study found 98 per cent of humanity sweltered under temperatures that were made at least twice as likely by atmospheric carbon dioxide in what the World Meteorological Organization has already called the warmest for that period in recorded history. “Nobody is safe from climate change,” Pershing said. Certainly not Canadians. “Very strong fingerprints of clima...

Regardless of immigration status, people in Minnesota can begin applying for driver’s licenses

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:14 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — People living in Minnesota without legal immigration status can now begin the process of getting their driver’s license by making an appointment for their written driver’s test, state officials announced at a news conference Thursday.Around 81,000 people are expected to be eligible under the state’s new law — dubbed “Driver’s License for All.” They can now make appointments to apply but won’t be able to actually get a license until the law goes into effect Oct. 1.“We’re incredibly proud to be a part of a handful of states that offer driver’s license for all,” said Pong Xiong, Driver and Vehicle Services Director at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, at the news conference. “And the first step to getting your driver’s license is to pass that written test.”The new law removes the requirements for applicants to show legal presence, said Jody-Kay Peterson, the department’s Driver Services Program Director.When asked about any risk for d...

A man charged with aiding Michigan Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot says the scheme didn’t seem serious

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:11:14 GMT

One of three men accused of assisting a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer testified in his own defense Thursday, portraying himself as a scared participant in a daytime ride to see her vacation home in northern Michigan.Eric Molitor and twin brothers William Null and Michael Null are charged with providing material support for terrorist acts.Molitor said Whitmer’s name didn’t come up when he was encouraged by the scheme’s leader, Adam Fox, to go to Antrim County to check out a “high-profile vacation house” in August 2020.But Molitor said he became anxious when he learned that it was the governor’s lakeside house in Elk Rapids. He was in a pickup truck with Fox and an FBI informant when they twice drove by the property.“What do I say? How do I act? What do I do? How do I get out of this situation?” Molitor told the jury. “I don’t have training. I don’t have backup. I got nothing.”Molitor’s decision to testify was a rar...