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Stock market today: Wall Street drifts higher ahead of Fed, inflation data

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:52 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting higher on Wall Street Monday ahead of a big week for central banks and interest rates around the world.The S&P 500 was 0.4% higher in afternoon trading, coming off its fourth straight winning week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 61 points, or 0.2%, at 33,938, as of 12:27 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.8% higher.The S&P 500 had slightly more stocks gaining ground than slipping. Cruise operator Carnival rode a 14.7% upswell as analysts upgraded its stock on signs demand remains steady for the industry and that pricing is holding up. Nasdaq, the exchange company that’s pushing more into technology, fell 13.1% after saying it would buy Adenza, a risk management and regulatory software provider, for $10.5 billion in cash and stock.The U.S. stock market is near its highest level since April 2022 on hopes the economy may avoid a recession and the Federal Reserve may soon take it easier on its hikes to interest rates....

Drought monitoring triggered on Potomac River, drinking water backups could be tapped

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:52 GMT

With the ongoing lack of substantial rain, the streamflow of the Potomac River is so low that hourly drought monitoring has been triggered for the area’s prime drinking water supply.Starting Monday morning, the flow of the Potomac River dropped below 2,000 cubic feet per second at Point of Rocks, Maryland. Dropping below that threshold triggers hourly drought monitoring by the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin.The U.S. Geological Survey gauge is near the bridge connecting Maryland’s Frederick County with Loudoun County, Virginia, and is located upstream from the Potomac River intakes for the Washington Aqueduct, WSSC Water and Fairfax Water.ICPRB, the agency that implements coordination plans between the three local water supplies that rely upon the Potomac River, says there is a higher-than-normal chance that water will have to be released into the Potomac from upstream reservoirs later this year to meet drinking water demands.“Currently, the water flow i...

Colorado gas prices a dollar cheaper than last year this time

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:52 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Housing and food prices haven't eased up, but at least summer road trips will be cheaper for Coloradans. The U.S. Energy Information Administration tracks weekly gas prices by state and metro area. The most recent update shows the Centennial State in a much-needed break from gas prices skyrocketing since the beginning of the global COVID pandemic. Inflation cutting into Coloradans’ vacation plans Colorado and the Denver metro area saw the most expensive gasoline prices in history last June. For all grades of gasoline, the average price per gallon in June 2022 was $4.927 - nearly 150% higher than the previous June and nearly a dollar higher than the next-highest record in the summer of 2008. As of the week ending June 5, Denver's average price per gallon of gas was $3.523, down $1.22 per gallon from the same week last year. Denver's price per gallon is slightly higher than the Colorado average price, which was $3.38 in the same week. Gas prices should be a relief ...

Auon'tai Anderson to run for state legislature

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:52 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Denver School Board Vice President Auon'tai Anderson announced that he will be running for state representative and dropping his re-election for the school board. On Monday, Anderson said he is running to represent House District 8 in the Colorado Legislature. Currently, Leslie Herod represents the district, but she is term-limited and cannot run again. Protesters call for resignation of DPS board "As the son of a single mother and grandson of a public school educator, I am intimately familiar with the struggles and triumphs that many in our community face," Anderson said in an emailed release. “Despite the adversities I encountered, including homelessness and navigating a complex system as a child, I remained committed to education, fighting for my community and workers' rights across the state."Anderson said he would focus on affordable housing, living conditions, fair wages for workers and challenging the NRA. Anderson was elected to the DPS Board of Education ...

In Miami, Trump’s ardent backers are a sign of the city’s rightward shift

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:52 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Florida’s shift to the right is perhaps nowhere more notable than in this vibrant swath of the state’s southeast coast where the latest Donald Trump drama is unfolding.Republicans have made steady inroads in this former Democratic stronghold in recent years, culminating in the GOP carrying Miami-Dade County in last year’s midterm elections. The party’s broader future could now hinge on what happens in south Florida -– but for a very different reason.Trump, the former president who is again the front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination, will make his first appearance in federal court Tuesday in Miami, where he faces 37 felony counts related to charges of illegal stealing of classified information.The charges have propelled Miami into the center of a storyline that, until recently, was largely thought to be unfolding in a grand jury room in Washington. And it has brought to the forefront Trump’s rising popularity among Florida’s La...

Heat upgrade Tyler Herro to questionable for Game 5 of NBA Finals

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:52 GMT

Miami guard Tyler Herro has been upgraded to questionable for Game 5 of the NBA Finals, a strong indication that the Heat plan on having him available to play against the Denver Nuggets on Monday night as they try to extend their season.Herro has not played since breaking his right hand in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against Milwaukee. He has recovered from surgery to repair the fractures and has been doing on-court work for several days in an effort to get back on the court.He was listed as out for Game 5 when the initial Heat injury report for the game was released Sunday. The Heat upgraded him on Monday morning in Denver.“You have to go through stages,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said last week when discussing Herro’s return. “First part of it was just shooting, then movement, then contact versus coaches and then the next level of contact in practice.”Miami trails the finals 3-1. The Nuggets are seeking their first NBA title and need only one win to get it...

Bulgarian judicial authority votes to fire controversial prosecutor Ivan Geshev

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:52 GMT

Sofia’s Supreme Judicial Council on Monday voted to dismiss highly controversial Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev, seen by many Bulgarians as a leading defender of the country’s mafia kingpins and a key impediment to the establishment of rule of law.   The council, which is Bulgaria’s top judicial authority, said it voted by a margin of 16-4 to remove him.The decision now has to be approved by President Rumen Radev.Bulgaria’s new government, which took power earlier this month, has vowed to set the NATO member of 7 million people on a trajectory toward democratic EU norms. For many years, Bulgaria has been a “captured state,” where oligarchs and their political protectors have effectively operated with impunity in league with organized crime groups.  The role of Geshev — nicknamed “The Cap” because of his trademark headwear — is particularly sensitive as he was identified in massive anti-mafia street protests over 2020 as the all-important central figure in the judiciary,...

You’re up, Joe: Europe awaits Biden’s nod on next NATO chief

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:52 GMT

Europe is waiting for white smoke from Washington. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will visit the White House on Tuesday, part of a trip that could determine whether he stays on at the helm of the Western military alliance or if the U.S. will back a new candidate. For months now, Europe has been locked in an endless parlor game over who might replace Stoltenberg, who is slated to leave his already-extended term in September after nearly 10 years at the helm.Candidates have risen, fallen and risen again, while some desired successors have repeatedly proclaimed themselves not interested. Diplomats at NATO headquarters in Brussels will put forth one theory, only to offer a different one in the next sentence.Throughout it all, the U.S. has stayed noticeably mum on the subject, merely indicating President Joe Biden hasn’t settled on a candidate and effusively praising Stoltenberg’s work. Yet Biden can’t sit on the fence forever. While the NATO chief is technically chose...

Obesity changes the brain, with ‘no sign of reversibility,’ expert says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:52 GMT

(CNN) — Obesity may damage the brain’s ability to recognize the sensation of fullness and be satisfied after eating fats and sugars, a new study found.Further, those brain changes may last even after people considered medically obese lose a significant amount of weight — possibly explaining why many people often regain the pounds they lose.“There was no sign of reversibility — the brains of people with obesity continued to lack the chemical responses that tell the body, ‘OK, you ate enough,’” said Dr. Caroline Apovian, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and codirector of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.As defined medically, people with obesity have a body mass index, or BMI, of over 30, while normal weight is a BMI of between 18 and 25.“This study captures why obesity is a disease — there are actual changes to the brain,” said Apovian, who was not involved in...

Financial tips for new college grads

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:52 GMT

For new college graduates, receiving that first post-degree paycheck can be almost as exciting as getting the diploma itself. But it also presents a challenge: Given the many demands on a young person’s budget, how should those funds be managed?We asked five money experts to share their best personal finance strategies to help this year’s college grads successfully launch their financial lives. Here’s what they said.Find your budgeting styleTo figure out how to allocate your money toward needs, wants and everything else, Erin Lowry, author of the “Broke Millennial Workbook,” says that instead of following the latest budgeting trend on TikTok, it’s helpful to just sit down with a pen and paper. “Write down what your big expenses are,” she says.After accounting for large items like rent, car payments and food, you can then see what nonessentials also fit. “You might want to go out to dinner with friends, build up new work attire or adopt a dog,” Lowry says. Writing out the budget help...