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Risk company says Hawaii fires caused $3.2 billion in insured property losses. Follow live updates

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:00:57 GMT

By The Associated PressFollow live updates about wildfires that have devastated parts of Maui in Hawaii, killing dozens of people and destroying the historic town of Lahaina. The wildfires are the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century. The cause was under investigation. Even where the fires have retreated, authorities have warned that toxic byproducts may remain, including in drinking water, after the flames spewed poisonous fumes.The Lahaina fire caused about $3.2 billion in insured property losses, calculated Karen Clark & Company, a prominent disaster and risk modeling company. That doesn’t count damage to property not insured.The risk firm said more than 2,200 buildings were damaged or destroyed by fire with a total of more than 3,000 buildings damaged by fire or smoke or both. Because so many of the buildings were wood frame and older, the damage rates were higher than other fires, the firm said.— What spurred the fires? Right now, it’s unclear; au...

Ticker: Retail sales top forecasts; Buffett adds homebuilders, cuts GM

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:00:57 GMT

U.S. retail sales rose in July by more than forecast, suggesting consumers still have the wherewithal to sustain the economic expansion.The value of retail purchases increased 0.7% in July after upward revisions in the prior two months, Commerce Department data showed Tuesday. The upbeat figure reflected increases in a variety of sales categories, including sporting goods stores, clothing outlets and restaurants and bars.The latest data illustrate how American households — supported by a strong labor market and rising wages — are so far buttressing the economy against recession in the face of high interest rates.“This will boost optimism that because of the resilience of the consumer we can achieve that soft landing,” Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Stifel Financial Corp., said on Bloomberg Television. At the same time, “this simply means the Fed will have to be more aggressive raising rates higher and keeping rates higher for longer,” she said.Buffett adds homebuilders, cuts GMW...

Rudy Giuliani, under RICO indictment in Georgia election case, once lobbied NY to strengthen the law

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:00:57 GMT

Molly Crane-Newman | New York Daily NewsNEW YORK — Almost 40 years ago, one of the most effective crusaders against organized crime in New York City urged state legislators to arm local prosecutors with laws to take down double-dealing politicians and the mob.“New York State is not a bad place to be, if you want to break the law,” then-U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Rudy Giuliani told attendees at an April 1986 luncheon, the Daily News reported.Calling for a package of reforms in the Empire State targeting corrupt power brokers in the criminal underworld and elected office, Giuliani lauded the possibilities of little-used RICO laws — Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act — available to federal prosecutors and enacted in states like California, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.Now, in a steep fall from grace, Giuliani is on the other side of the coin, charged in a sweeping RICO case involving alleged efforts by former President Trump to overturn the 2020 e...

Boston families should get vaccinated ahead of school year amid COVID uptick, health officials say

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:00:57 GMT

With the school year quickly approaching, Boston families are being urged to get up-to-date on vaccinations amid a nationwide uptick in COVID-19 cases.After COVID cases had plummeted, the local virus wastewater data is showing a bit of a jump. The average level of COVID particles in Boston’s wastewater has climbed over the past few weeks — 557 RNA copies per milliliter, a 60% jump in the past two weeks.The Boston Public Health Commission noted that the recent increases in COVID cases and wastewater are not alarming. However, it’s important for families to get protected with back-to-school season, cooler temperatures, and cold and flu season all approaching, BPHC added.“Preparation is key when planning for a new school year and the changing of the seasons,” said Bisola Ojikutu, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission. “Cold and flu season always poses a risk, but there are several steps we can all take to protect ourselves and oth...

With 10 of Boston’s 18 city-run public pools closed, Michelle Wu addresses high rate of closures

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:00:57 GMT

Mayor Michelle Wu emphasized city efforts to make swimming safe and accessible Tuesday, speaking to the high rate of pool closures frustrating residents and announcing funding to expand the Swim Safe initiative into the school year.“This has been a big area of focus for the city,” Wu said on WGBH Tuesday afternoon. “We want every young person growing up in Boston to know how to swim, to have access to swim lessons and that means we need our pools to be open.”Due to renovations and deferred maintenance, 10 of Boston’s 18 city-run public pools have been closed this summer, including all six pools in Mattapan and Dorchester.The closures come as the city has redoubled water safety and accessibility efforts around the city. These include the Swim Safe initiative announced in July — which includes investments in free swimming lessons, free life jackets at open water locations and lifeguarding staffing efforts — and $34.3 million budgeted over the ...

Maui police chief pleads for patience, recalls pain of victim IDs after deadly Vegas mass shooting

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:00:57 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Maui Police Chief John Pelletier repeatedly urges “patience, prayers and perseverance” as teams painstakingly search the ashes in the seaside community of Lahaina for the remains of scores of victims from the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than 100 years. It’s the kind of message he has used before, in the aftermath of another American tragedy: the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting that left 58 dead and hundreds injured.Pelletier was a Las Vegas police captain when a gunman with military-style rifles opened fire from the windows of a Las Vegas Strip high-rise hotel into a crowd of 22,000 attending an outdoor country music festival. The violence shook the city to its core, like the wildfire has done in Maui. Identifying victims and notifying relatives was emotionally draining in Las Vegas, just as it will be as names are put to remains in the aftermath of a wind-whipped fire that destroyed nearly all of the historic town of Lahaina. At daily media briefings, Pellet...

Georgia case against Trump presents problems from the start: from jury selection to a big courtroom

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:00:57 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Putting 19 people on trial at the same time is a difficult assignment for any prosecutor — whether or not one of those defendants is a former president of the United States running to reclaim his old office.The sprawling racketeering indictment returned this week by a grand jury in Atlanta presents a wide range of challenges. A big one is political: Finding jurors who don’t have unshakeable opinions about Donald Trump and others in his orbit.Beyond that, with so many defendants, prosecutors and defense lawyers will labor to keep the names and conflicting stories straight for those jurors over weeks or months. There will be countless legal details and basic logistics to argue or work out — even down to finding a courtroom big enough to fit everyone.In an early example of the lengthy litigation ahead, lawyers for former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows filed a quick motion Tuesday to transfer the case from state to federal court. They said all the actions he took were ...

PRESTO machine read credit card from my bag leading to double charge, woman claims

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:00:57 GMT

A Toronto woman is feeling tapped out after claiming the TTC’s updated payment system double charged her during a recent streetcar ride, dinging her credit card after she had already paid with her PRESTO card.The upgraded system that allows riders to pay by tapping their credit or debit cards, including those on a smartphone or smartwatch, was celebrated as “a transformative step” by TTC CEO Rick Leary.But a weary Heather Milne is urging the public to be wary when using the PRESTO card readers after claiming the machine was able to read and charge her credit card even though it was inside her waist bag and was never pulled out for use.Milne told CityNews she hopped on the Queen streetcar at Kingston Road on Saturday morning to run some errands in The Beaches, tapping her PRESTO card to pay for the ride.Later that day after returning home via public transit, she received a notification from her credit card.“As I’m walking up the street, I get an alert fr...

Georgia tribunal rejects recommendation to fire teacher over controversial book

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:00:57 GMT

MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — A trio of retired educators has rejected a suburban Atlanta school district’s recommendation to fire a teacher who was removed from the classroom after she was accused of improperly reading a book on gender fluidity to her fifth-grade class.Monday’s move paves the way for Due West Elementary teacher Katie Rinderle to keep her job. But the Cobb County School Board has the final decision, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.The panel reached a decision after a two-day hearing last week about whether Rinderle should be fired for reading the picture book “My Shadow is Purple” by Scott Stuart. The case has drawn wide attention as a test of what public school teachers can teach in class, how much a school system can control teachers and whether parents can veto instruction they dislike. It comes amid a nationwide conservative backlash to books and teaching about LGBTQ+ subjects in school.Officials in Cobb County, Georgia’s second-largest school distr...

Death toll rises to 11 in powerful explosion near the Dominican Republic’s capital; 11 still missing

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:00:57 GMT

SAN CRISTOBAL, Dominican Republic (AP) — The death toll from a powerful explosion near the Dominican Republic’s capital rose to 11 on Tuesday, with dozens injured. Firefighters were searching through smoldering rubble as people gathered outside hospitals, looking for missing loved ones.President Luis Abinader visited San Cristobal, located just west of Sango Domingo, to meet with those affected, saying an additional 11 people were missing and that authorities were still trying to extinguish the fire amid collapsed buildings and charred vehicles.“We’re doing everything humanly possible … to investigate the situation of the 11 missing,” he said. “The search for survivors has been very difficult.”Monday’s explosion also left more than 50 people injured as the blast tore through a bustling commercial center in San Cristobal, authorities said. At least 36 of the injured remained hospitalized, said Joel Santos, minister of the presidency. Health Minister Daniel Rivera sa...