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City of Fort Lauderdale falls victim to $1.2 million fraud scheme

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:57 GMT

The Fort Lauderdale Police Department is investigating a financial fraud incident involving the City of Fort Lauderdale and more than $1 million.Authorities revealed on Thursday that the city mistakenly paid $1.2 million, believing it was a legitimate invoice from Moss Construction.The incident occurred last week when the city authorized the payment, thinking it was a genuine bill from Moss Construction. The discovery of the fraud emerged after the payment had been processed.The Fort Lauderdale Police Department, in collaboration with other relevant authorities, is investigating.In response to the incident, city officials have issued a community reminder, urging individuals and organizations to exercise extreme caution when fulfilling payment requests.

Lolita the orca’s ashes arrive in Washington State

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:57 GMT

WASHINGTON STATE. (WSVN)- Lolita the orca’s ashes arrived in Washington State on Wednesday. The beloved orca from Miami Seaquarium finally made it home for a traditional water burial in the Pacific northwest.Lolita was captured in 1970 and lived out her life for 53 years at the Miami Seaquarium.She was about 57 when she died Aug. 18.A public ceremony to memorialize her life will be held at a later date.

Rupert Murdoch to step down as chair of Fox and News Corp, hand reins to son

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:57 GMT

Fox News executive chair Rupert Murdoch will transition from his role overseeing from the company’s boards, he announced Thursday morning.Lachlan Murdoch, Rupert’s eldest son, will serve as the sole executive at the helm of the media empire, he wrote in a note to the company’s staff. The 92-year-old businessman will stay on as chair emeritus at Fox and News, he said.Murdoch will make the official transition in November.“For my entire professional life, I have been engaged with news and ideas, and that will not change,” Murdoch wrote. “But the time is right for me to take on different roles, knowing that we have truly talented teams and a passionate, principled leader in Lachlan.”Murdoch didn’t further specify the reasons for stepping down, but noted that he’s in good health.“I am truly proud of what we have achieved collectively through the decades, and I owe much to my colleagues, whose contributions to our success have sometimes been unseen outside the company but are deeply appre...

Suspect ordered held on $250,000 bail, arraigned on new charges in 12-year-old brother’s shooting death in Mattapan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:57 GMT

A 22-year-old man already charged in connection with the shooting death of his 12-year-old brother in Mattapan was back in court on Thursday where he faced new charges.Walter Hendrick appeared in Suffolk Superior Court where a judge ordered he be held on $250,000 cash bail, months after the shooting death of Savion Ellis.Ellis was found shot in an apartment on Fessenden Street in Mattapan on July 13. Hendrick was taken into custody and arraigned on multiple firearms-related charges soon afterwards, but was arrested again on Wednesday, Sept. 20, on a warrant for charges that included manslaughter and witness intimidation, according to Boston police.In court the following day, prosecutors reiterated that not only did Hendrick own the gun that killed his younger brother, but that his fingerprint was found on the trigger.“The evidence against this defendant, though, is very strong,” the prosecution said in court. “The defendant’s print is on the trigger. The fire...

George R. R. Martin, Jodi Picoult and other famous writers join Authors Guild in class action lawsuit against OpenAI

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:57 GMT

New York (CNN) — A group of famous fiction writers joined the Authors Guild in filing a class action suit against OpenAI on Wednesday, alleging the company’s technology is illegally using their copyrighted work.The complaint claims that OpenAI, the company behind viral chatbot ChatGPT, is copying famous works in acts of “flagrant and harmful” copyright infringement and feeding manuscripts into algorithms to help train systems on how to create more human-like text responses.George R.R. Martin, Jodi Picoult, John Grisham and Jonathan Franzen are among the 17 prominent authors who joined the suit led by the Authors Guild, a professional organization that protects writers’ rights. Filed in the Southern District of New York, the suit alleges that OpenAI’s models directly harm writers’ abilities to make a living wage, as the technology generates texts that writers could be paid to pen, as well as uses copyrighted material to create copycat work.“Generative AI threatens...

Patriots have ideas on how to fix ineffective running game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:57 GMT

FOXBORO — The Patriots know how to fix their run game in theory. But now they must prove they have the pieces in place to actually do it in practice.A strength of the team in 2022, the Patriots’ ground game averaged 4.3 yards per carry on the back of starting running back Rhamondre Stevenson’s 210-carry, 1,040-yard, five-touchdown season. Two games into the 2023 season, the Patriots are averaging just 3.5 yards per carry. Stevenson has just 75 yards on 27 carries with a touchdown, and his backfield-mate, Ezekiel Elliott, has only been slightly more efficient with 42 yards on 12 carries with a fumble.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots: 6 reasons to still be optimistic about 2023 season New England Patriots | Callahan: Bill Belichick hamstrung Bill O’Brien, but O’Brien must deliver anyway at the Jets New England Patriots | Patriots captain: Defense off to ‘hell of a start’ preparing for Jets ...

Researchers discover possible new cause for Alzheimer’s disease

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:57 GMT

Arielle Robinson | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (TNS)Scientists at Oregon Health and Science University have made a development that could lead to a greater understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.They discovered a new cause for the diseases that impact cognitive functioning.“We’ve missed a major form of cell death in Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia,” senior author of the study Dr. Stephen Back told OHSU in a news release. “We hadn’t been giving much attention to microglia as vulnerable cells, and white matter injury in the brain has received relatively little attention.”The researchers found that ferroptosis, a type of cell death that results from a buildup of iron in cells, destroys a form of cell involved in the brain’s immune response called microglia cells. This occurs in Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia cases.Essentially, the degeneration of the microglia may be a factor in furthering cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s and vascular demen...

How much hardwood flooring costs, and how to save

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:57 GMT

Jackie Lam | Bankrate (TNS)Hardwood flooring provides one of the best returns on investment. The National Realtor Association’s 2022 Remodeling Impact Report states that homeowners who install new wood flooring before selling their homes recoup 118 percent of the cost at resale. That means hardwood floors essentially pay for themselves.But before deciding to take on this home improvement project, consider the cost of installation and materials. Hardwood is expensive, especially if you opt for a more rare wood. There are some steps you can take to save money along the way, but budgeting will be crucial if you want a good ROI.How much does hardwood flooring cost?The average cost to install hardwood flooring is between $6 to $25 per square foot, according to Angi. Where the cost goes up is when you include materials. And the cost may be higher — up to $45 per square foot — depending on the material and labor involved in installation.MaterialsAlong with your preferences, your home plays...

McCarthy gives in to right flank on spending cuts, but they still deliver a defeat as shutdown looms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:57 GMT

By LISA MASCARO and STEPHEN GROVES (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy emerged with a spending cut plan to prevent a federal government shutdown by appeasing his hard-right flank, only to see it quickly collapse Thursday in a crushing defeat.His latest attempt to move ahead with a traditionally popular defense funding bill was shattered by a core group of Republican colleagues who refused to vote for the endangered speaker’s plans.A test vote to advance the bill failed, 212-216, as a handful of Republicans joined with Democrats to stop it. Once again, the House then came to a sudden standstill and declared itself in recess.A federal shutdown is looming Sept. 30, the end of the current budget year, if Congress cannot pass the bills needed to fund the government.McCarthy’s strategy of repeatedly giving in to the hard-right conservatives is seemingly only emboldening them as a handful of GOP lawmakers, urged on by Donald Trump, the party&#...

An end in sight? Striking writers and Hollywood studios resume negotiations for second day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:57 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood studios and striking screenwriters are resuming negotiations for the second consecutive day Thursday. The talks could potentially put an end to the nearly five-month dispute that has brought many film and television productions to a halt.In a rare joint statement issued Wednesday night, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the industry’s studios, streaming services and production companies in union negotiations, and the Writers Guild of America, said that they’d met for bargaining Wednesday and would continue Thursday. Present at the meeting were a group of top entertainment CEOs including Disney’s Bob Iger, Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, Universal’s Donna Langley and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos. The four are likely to be present at the talks Thursday as well. CNBC reporter David Faber wrote on X, previously Twitter, Wednesday that the writers and AMPTP were “nearR...