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Planned ‘unprecedented’ changes to mortgage fees already impacting borrowers

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:06 GMT

If you’ve gotten a mortgage in the last few weeks, you probably noticed some changes to the fees for getting that loan, depending on your income level and credit worthiness.Planned changes to the Loan Level Price Adjustments used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, due to be in place by May 1, are already altering the amount of upfront fees borrowers are asked to fork over when they buy a home, officials say.According to a spokesperson the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie and Freddie, those price adjustments are reviewed and tweaked frequently, but this year’s changes are admittedly broader than most single year adjustments.David Stevens, who served as a Federal Housing Administration commissioner under former President Barack Obama, told the New York Post that the Biden Administration’s decision to change the Loan Level Price Adjustments to the degree the FHFA has is “unprecedented.”“This was a blatant and significant cut of fees for their highest-risk borrowers and...

McKinley schools renamed Melvin H. King South End Academy in honor of late Boston icon

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:06 GMT

Boston came together again in Mel King’s South End neighborhood to extend his legacy, renaming the McKinley South End Academy the Melvin H. King South End Academy and promising a renewed commitment to the institution.“Today we’re very excited to reaffirm that the William McKinley schools will become the Melvin H. King South End Academy,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “The names we choose to elevate matter — whose stories we tell, whose legacies inspire our young people.”City leadership and the school community held a renaming ceremony in the auditorium of the now-Melvin H. King South End Academy — a collection of four schools serving students with disabilities — on Wednesday morning, announcing the change and remembering King’s legacy and work. The South End-native activist, politician, educator and artist died in late March at the age of 94.The ceremony reflected on Mel’s commitment to education — among many other ac...

Here’s what you need to know about the Miami Dolphins and 2023 NFL draft

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:06 GMT

The Miami Dolphins enter the 2023 NFL draft without a first-round pick for the second consecutive year, and will make their first selection this year during Friday’s second round — unless they trade back up into the first.Miami once had two first-round selections in this draft, but its own was stripped from the organization by the NFL due to findings of tampering with quarterback Tom Brady and coach Sean Payton. Another first-round pick they owned, from San Francisco, was sent to Denver for edge defender Bradley Chubb at the trade deadline last season.The Dolphins have done a solid job of addressing their needs this offseason and are in position to take a best-player-available approach in the draft. Still, they could select one of the highly sought tight ends, bring in a young offensive lineman who can push for a starting job and provide depth, or add a running back if the right fit falls to them in the second or third round.Draft scheduleTHURSDAYFirst round (teams ...

Angelina Jolie helps glam up Biden state dinner for SKorea

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:06 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Actor Angelina Jolie, home improvement duo Chip and Joanna Gaines and Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim headlined the list of big names from politics, business, sports and entertainment glamming up a fancy black-tie dinner that President Joe Biden hosted Wednesday night for South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.Also among the nearly 200 guests were Arthur Blank, a co-founder of Home Depot; “Pachinko” author Min Jin Lee; and former Major League Baseball pitcher Chan Ho Park. A smattering of lawmakers also made the cut, including Democratic Rep. Judy Chu of California and Sens. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois. Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah also was attending, as were the governors of Delaware, New Jersey and Vermont.On a perfect spring day, guests entered the White House by strolling through the Jacqueline Kennedy garden in the East Wing and being directed to a cocktail reception before dinner in the East Room, where tables were topped with to...

Feds wrote $128M in duplicate checks to docs, report finds

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:06 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government wrote duplicate checks to doctors who provided care for veterans, costing taxpayers as much as $128 million in extra payments, according to a new watchdog report out this week. In nearly 300,000 cases, private doctors were paid twice – once by the Veterans Health Administration and another time by Medicare – for the same care provided to veterans from 2017 to 2021, the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General found in its report. There’s been a spike in those duplicate payments since 2020, when the program that allows veterans to seek care from private doctors was expanded. “These duplicate payments occurred because CMS did not implement controls to address duplicate payments for services,” the HHS OIG said in its report. Roughly 1.9 million veterans every year now receive health care, paid for by the federal government, from private doctors when a VA medical facility is too far away or has long wait times. The number of veterans...

Liberals changing sex offender registry in response to Supreme Court decision

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:06 GMT

OTTAWA — The government moved Wednesday to change the criteria for who gets added to the national sex offenders database but repeat offenders and those convicted of serious sexual crimes against children will still be automatically required to register in the database.A bill introduced by the government’s representative in the Senate responds to a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada last year that ruled it was unconstitutional to add everyone convicted of a sexual offence to the registry.The bill amends the Criminal Code to limit automatic registration to repeat sexual offenders, and serious child sexual offenders. Others convicted of one of the crimes listed in the law can avoid being added if they can demonstrate they do not pose a risk to the community.It also expands the crimes covered by the registry to include the non-consensual sharing of intimate images and extortion, and will require registered sex offenders to provide 14 days’ notice before travelling.Justi...

California Democrats propose tax changes for businesses

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:06 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Democrats in the California Senate on Wednesday said they want to raise taxes on some of the largest corporations so they can cut taxes for nearly every other business.All California businesses pay a state tax rate of 8.84% on income, a figure that has not changed since 1997. This new proposal would create two tax rates for businesses in California. Companies would pay 6.63% on the first $1.5 million they make. Any money made above that would be taxed at 10.99%.The higher tax rate would only apply to about 2,500 companies and would bring in an extra $7.2 billion in revenue for the state. Meanwhile, about 1.6 million businesses would benefit from the smaller tax rate, reducing state revenue by about $2.2 billion.The money that is left over — about $5 billion — would go to poor people who claim tax credits and would boost state programs for public education, child care and combatting homelessness.The proposal is still a long way from becoming law. Tax increas...

North Dakota governor vetoes 1 library bill, signs another

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:06 GMT

North Dakota’s governor vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have required librarians under threat of criminal penalty to screen sexually explicit materials from children, but signed another barring explicit materials from the children’s sections of local and school libraries. The Senate voted 33-14 to override Republican Gov. Doug Burgum’s veto hours later, though a similar House vote would be needed to make a veto override successful. The House had passed the bill on a 54-38 vote last week, several votes shy of a veto-proof majority.“Protecting children from explicit sexual material is common sense,” Burgum said in a statement explaining why he signed one of the bills into law.But he said the bill he vetoed would have created “an enormous burden” on hundreds of public libraries by imposing — under the threat of criminal prosecution — an expensive requirement that libraries review materials that have already been screened for age appropriateness. His statement said ...

Toronto man charged with murder in shooting death of Tola Paul

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:06 GMT

Police have charged a 22-year-old in connection with the shooting death of a Kitchener man earlier this month. Tola Paul was found suffering from a gunshot wound at an apartment building on Clearview Heights, near Eglinton Avenue West and Black Creek Drive, on April 15. He was taken to a trauma centre in critical condition, where he was pronounced dead.On Wednesday, homicide investigators arrested Earlan Clovis of Toronto and charged him with second degree murder.

Mississippi jail escapee believed dead after armed standoff

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:06 GMT

CONWAY, Miss. (AP) — A man who escaped from a Mississippi jail and is a suspect in a Monday night killing is believed to have died after barricading himself in a home and setting it on fire during an armed standoff with deputies, a police official said Wednesday. Plumes of smoke emanated from the charred remains of the home in Conway, Mississippi, on Wednesday. Investigators believe 22-year-old Dylan Arrington perished inside the home, setting it ablaze after shooting a deputy in the leg, Leake County Sheriff Randy Atkinson told The Associated Press. “He inflicted that kind of terror after escaping from jail, killing people and shooting law enforcement. But that guy won’t be killing anyone else,” Atkinson said.Authorities have been pursuing Arrington and three other inmates who broke out over the weekend from a Mississippi jail that was under federal scrutiny. Arrington is suspected of killing a man and stealing his pickup truck after the escape. Atkinson said a medical examiner had...