Hubbardston garage fire sets campers, boats ablaze

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:27:24 GMT

Hubbardston garage fire sets campers, boats ablaze Multiple campers, boats and vehicles were aflame Friday afternoon in Hubbardston, leaving four people, including two firefighters, with minor injuries, the Hubbardston Fire Department announced.At around 2:30 p.m., firefighters responded to a large commercial garage at 248 Gardner Street and quickly determined the fire to be active. The crews battled the two-alarm fire for three hours.The cause of the fire was a camper parked behind the garage, and all four injuries were treated on the scene.

Venice police investigate bright green liquid in Grand Canal

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:27:24 GMT

Venice police investigate bright green liquid in Grand Canal MILAN (AP) — Police in Venice are investigating the source of a phosphorescent green liquid patch that appeared Sunday in the city’s famed Grand Canal.The governor of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, posted a photo of the green liquid that spread through the water near the arched Rialto Bridge. The patch was reported by residents.Images on social media show a bright patch of green in the canal along an embankment lined with restaurants.Zaia said that officials had requested that the police investigate to determine who was responsible. Environmental authorities were also testing the water.The Associated Press

Jewish groups and city officials plan protest against Roger Waters concert in Frankfurt

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:27:24 GMT

Jewish groups and city officials plan protest against Roger Waters concert in Frankfurt BERLIN (AP) — Several Jewish groups, politicians and an alliance of civil society groups are planning a memorial ceremony and a protest rally against a concert by Roger Waters in Frankfurt on Sunday evening. They accuse the Pink Floyd co-founder of antisemitism – an allegation he denies. Waters has also drawn their ire for his support of the BDS movement, which calls for boycotts and sanctions against Israel.Frankfurt authorities had initially tried to prevent the concert, but Waters challenged that move successfully in a local court.The concert is taking place in the city’s Festhalle, where in November 1938 more than 2,700 Jews were rounded up by the Nazis, beaten and abused, and later deported to concentration camps.“It’s very frustrating” that the concert is going ahead as scheduled even though Frankfurt officials and many others tried to prevent it, said Elio Adler, the head of the Jewish group WerteInitiative which supports the protest.“His words and ima...

Jan. 6 rioters are raking in thousands in donations. Now the US is coming after their haul

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:27:24 GMT

Jan. 6 rioters are raking in thousands in donations. Now the US is coming after their haul Less than two months after he pleaded guilty to storming the U.S. Capitol, Texas resident Daniel Goodwyn appeared on Tucker Carlson’s then-Fox News show and promoted a website where supporters could donate money to Goodwyn and other rioters whom the site called “political prisoners.”The Justice Department now wants Goodwyn to give up more than $25,000 he raised — a clawback that is part of a growing effort by the government to prevent rioters from being able to personally profit from participating in the attack that shook the foundations of American democracy.An Associated Press review of court records shows that prosecutors in the more than 1,000 criminal cases from Jan. 6, 2021, are increasingly asking judges to impose fines on top of prison sentences to offset donations from supporters of the Capitol rioters.Dozens of defendants have set up online fundraising appeals for help with legal fees, and prosecutors acknowledge there’s nothing wrong with asking for help for a...

Army Air Force pilot from Pennsylvania killed during WWII accounted for, authorities say

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:27:24 GMT

Army Air Force pilot from Pennsylvania killed during WWII accounted for, authorities say An Army Air Force pilot from Pennsylvania killed during World War II has been accounted for almost eight decades later, military authorities said.The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said last week that 2nd Lt. James Litherland, 25, of South Williamsport was accounted for in March.In February 1944, Litherland was co-piloting a B-17F Flying Fortress that was struck by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German V-2 rocket site in Bois-Coquerel, France. Three airmen parachuted to safety but Litherland and six other crew members were still on board when the plane crashed near Le Translay, France, authorities said.Six sets of remains were recovered near the crash site but only five were identified. In 2018, more material was recovered from the crash site and the unknown remains were exhumed from a cemetery in France. Dental and anthropological analysis and DNA evidence was used to identify the remains as those of Litherland, officials said.Litherland’s daughter, Suzanne W...

Celebrating National Burger Day with STK Steakhouse

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:27:24 GMT

Celebrating National Burger Day with STK Steakhouse Sunday is National Burger Day and joining the WGN Weekend Morning News to celebrate is chef William Rodgers from STK Steakhouse.

Five high-profile Trump supporters who’ve switched to Ron DeSantis

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:27:24 GMT

Five high-profile Trump supporters who’ve switched to Ron DeSantis (The Hill) – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has picked up support for his presidential campaign from what might at first appear an unlikely place: people who had worked for former President Trump's campaign or administration or supported him. Multiple former Trump supporters are backing DeSantis's challenge to Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. Here are the most notable former Trumpers currently on Team DeSantis: Ken Cuccinelli Cuccinelli, a former senior Trump administration official who served as Homeland Security acting deputy secretary, has been among the most vocal and upfront former Trump supporters who have shifted to DeSantis. He launched the "Never Back Down" super PAC in March to urge DeSantis to run for president. He said at the time that he had been speaking to “many grassroots conservative activists” who wanted DeSantis to run. “Ron DeSantis doesn’t just talk, he acts, but most of all he never backs down,” Cuccin...

Sunday Brunch: Avocado Toast from Le Sud

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:27:24 GMT

Sunday Brunch: Avocado Toast from Le Sud Executive Sous Chef from Chicago's Le Sud Mediterranean Kitchen William Lara joined the WGN Weekend Morning News to share his recipe for avocado toast.

Your Money: How should you define risk?

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:27:24 GMT

Your Money: How should you define risk? Bruce Helmer and Peg WebbWe’re all bombarded daily with warnings about the risk of investing. Buying yesterday’s hot stock. Losing your money in crypto. Crazy Uncle Harry’s can’t miss, ground-floor opportunity.A more technical definition of risk is the chance that an outcome or investment result will differ from an expected outcome or return. If you are one of the few people to study fund fact sheets, standard deviation is often used as a risk metric. It looks at volatility in comparison to historical averages in a given time frame, say one, three, five or 10 years. Said another way, it’s how much a given investment goes up or down over time, which can be a useful way to track investment risk. Other investors think risk is their fund or adviser falling short of an arbitrary index of securities, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Index or S&P 500 Index.We would challenge both of these definitions of risk. Risk is not falling short of an index; it’s falling short of your goals. Does...

Working Strategies: Summer job search for new graduates

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:27:24 GMT

Working Strategies: Summer job search for new graduates Amy LindgrenCongratulations graduate! You finished school — got a job yet?(Wince). Those may not be the exact words people say to new graduates, but they’re pretty close. Even when the question is better-phrased, it’s still wince-worthy to be asked about future plans within seconds of being congratulated.That doesn’t change the value of the question: What are your plans, exactly? If the answer is something vague like, “I’m going to hang out for a while and then probably look for a job,” you should expect follow-on questions. For the empathetic listener, the answer sounds too similar to, “I don’t know what the heck I’m doing and it scares me to death.”Try this answer instead: “I’m going to take the month of June to be with my friends before everyone starts working. Then I’ll start my job search using this 12-step plan I read about in the paper.”Another wince might be called for here, based on that answer sounding so pat. Even so, just knowing you have a plan is enough for most ...