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Record travel season approaching with gas and airfare costs down, AAA says

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:07:07 GMT

This holiday travel season could be one of the busiest on record but, thankfully, not the most expensive.According to AAA, 115.2 million Americans will travel 50-plus miles from home during the 10 days between December 23 and New Years Day, 104 million of whom will drive to their holiday destinations. That’s the most travelers seen since 2019 and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.“The number of travelers is a 2.2% increase over last year and the second highest since 2000 when AAA began tracking holiday travel, behind only 2019,” the travel agency said in a Monday release.Drivers will see the price of travel reduced slightly, with fuel prices down to $3.15 per gallon on average nationally, a decrease of 12 cents per gallon over 2022 and 22 cents per gallon in the last month. Massachusetts drivers are paying somewhat more than that, averaging $3.32 per gallon, down 15 cents over last month and 22 cents from a year ago.Andrew Gross, a AAA spokesperson, said about half of gas sta...

Youth football teams from Dixmoor, Robbins fall short of championship wins in Florida playoffs

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:07:07 GMT

Youth football teams from Dixmoor and Robbins fell short of goals of bringing national playoff trophies home to the south suburbs, although the Dixmoor Vikings captured second place in Division 1 of the 11-U championship.Dixmoor played for the second straight year at the Pop Warner Super Bowl in Orlando, while the Robbins Eagles made its first trip in the team’s 40-year history to the American Youth Football League championship in Naples, Florida.The Vikings won their opening round game Dec. 3, beating the Santa Barbara Seahawks from California 28-14, then advanced in the semifinals, besting another California team, the Saddleback Valley Bears, 27-16.The 11-U squad, however, was held scoreless in the championship game, falling 26-0 to the Avalon Wolves of Florida.Avalon had advanced in the semifinals to face Dixmoor by defeating a North Carolina team, the Capital City Steelers, 46-0.Many of the same Dixmoor players had been part of a team that went to the Pop Warner playoffs l...

Hunter Biden pushes for dismissal of gun case, saying law violates the Second Amendment

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:07:07 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunter Biden pushed back Monday against gun charges filed against him, challenging the case on multiple fronts as unconstitutional and politically motivated days after he was hit with new tax charges. His defense attorney argued the gun case should be tossed out because an appeals court has found the law violates the Second Amendment under new standards set by the Supreme Court. Abbe Lowell also contended the charges against Hunter Biden violated immunity provisions that prosecutors agreed to in a plea deal they abandoned after Republicans slammed it as a “sweetheart deal.” “These charges are unprecedented, unconstitutional and violate the agreement the U.S. Attorney made with Mr. Biden,” Lowell said in a statement. “This is not how an independent investigation is supposed to work, and these charges should be dismissed.”The flurry of court documents comes as Hunter Biden faces charges in two states headed toward trial while his father, President Joe Bid...

Reports: Ohtani to defer $680 million in contract with Dodgers, will earn $2 million per season

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:07:07 GMT

Shohei Ohtani will defer over 97 per cent of his $700-million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers until the end of the deal, according to multiple reports.ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that the reigning AL MVP will earn $2 million each season in his record-breaking 10-year deal, with $680 million being deferred to 2034-2043.He will earn $68 million per year over that span.Passan reported that the Competitive Balance Tax (CBT) hit will come in at around $46 million for the Dodgers. In MLB’s collective bargaining agreement, the CBT threshold will be $237 million in 2024.For anyone wondering if MLB will challenge or cancel Ohtani's contract: The answer is unequivocally no. There is a specific article in the collective-bargaining agreement that addresses this. And it's very clear: Deferred money is limitless — even $680 million of $700 million. pic.twitter.com/DGNK0JulED— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 11, 2023Per MLB, “A club that exceeds the Co...

Judge closes Flint water case against former Michigan governor

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:07:07 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — A judge on Monday formally dismissed misdemeanor charges against former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in the Flint water scandal and ordered that police records and his booking photo be destroyed.The dismissal was expected, weeks after the Michigan Supreme Court turned down a last-gasp appeal from state prosecutors and ended criminal cases against him and many others.Snyder, a Republican who left office in 2019, was charged with willful neglect of duty. He was the first person in state history to be charged for alleged crimes related to service as governor.The dismissal order, signed by Judge William Crawford, tells authorities to destroy records related to Snyder’s initial processing by police in 2021, including fingerprints and booking photo. Assistant Attorney General Chris Kessel also signed the court filing.Criminal cases against Snyder and eight others collapsed when the state Supreme Court in 2022 said a one-judge grand jury was improperly used by the attorne...

Texas prosecutors drop murder charges against 2 of 3 people in fatal stabbing of Seattle woman

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:07:07 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — Texas prosecutors have dropped murder charges against two people in the fatal stabbing of a 23-year-old Seattle woman as a trial continues with the third defendant.The 2020 killing of Marisela Botello-Valadez drew international attention last year when two of the people arrested in her killing cut off their ankle monitors and left the country while free on bond. The dismissal of charges comes only days after a Texas man who cut of his ankle monitor went on a shooting rampage, drawing renewed attention to questions about the use of technology in freeing people ahead of their trials. The trial of Lisa Dykes, who still faces murder charges, began last week and continued Monday. But newly public court records show that a judge approved prosecutors’ Friday motions to dismiss the murder charges against the other woman and a man also charged in Botello-Valadez’s killing “in the interest of justice.”A spokesperson Dallas County District Attorney’s Office did ...

Palestinian flag lodged in public Hanukkah menorah in Connecticut sparks outcry

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:07:07 GMT

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A person briefly hung a Palestinian flag from a Hanukkah menorah in a public area, prompting widespread condemnation and a police investigation.The unidentified person scaled the menorah at a public green near the Yale University campus during a nearby pro-Palestinian rally Saturday and lodged a Palestinian flag between the candles. Police said the menorah was not vandalized and they were not sure if the incident will be categorized as a hate crime.But the placement of the flag touched a nerve at a time of rising fears of antisemitism since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. In particular, universities across the U.S. have been accused of failing to protect Jewish students.Public officials denounced the act at a news conference on Monday.“I’m proud of the group that has come here today to say enough is enough. Not in America, not anywhere, as long as we speak out and stand up,” Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said at the news conference.Yale President P...

Suspect in Montana vehicle assault said religious group she targeted was being racist, witness says

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:07:07 GMT

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A woman who police said repeatedly drove through a group of religious demonstrators, wounding one person in Montana’s largest city, allegedly told a clerk at a nearby convenience store that she was upset members of the group were expressing racist views against white people, the clerk said.The demonstrators targeted in the weekend assault in Billings are members of Israel United in Christ, according to police. The group has been described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as “an extreme and antisemitic sect of Black Hebrew Israelites” based in the Bronx, New York. Members of the group were standing on a sidewalk, holding signs and speaking through an amplifier when the woman drove at or through them several times, said Billings police spokesperson Lt. Matt Lennick. A 45-year-old man who was struck suffered minor injuries, police said.Genevienne Rancuret, 55, was arrested a few hours later and jailed on suspicion of eight counts of felony assault with a ...

Man shoots woman and 3 children, then himself, at Las Vegas apartment complex, police say

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:07:07 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A man shot and killed a woman and two children and critically wounded a third child Monday before fatally shooting himself at a Las Vegas apartment complex, authorities said. What police described as a murder-suicide took place just five days after three professors were fatally shot by a lone gunman at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.“It does not have to end like this,” police homicide Lt. Robert Price told reporters outside the sprawling apartment complex where he said the man, woman and children were discovered about 10 a.m. by the man’s brother.Price did not immediately identify the man, who he said had been under house arrest in an unspecified court case. He said police also don’t yet know if the shooter and his victims were related.The shootings happened at an apartment complex about a 40-minute drive northwest of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where a lone gunman walked onto campus last week and opened fire in a building housing the busin...

Missing Gary woman found dead in Little Calumet River

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:07:07 GMT

GARY, Ind. — The search for a missing Gary woman has come to a tragic end after her body was found in a river in northwest Indiana over the weekend, according to the Lake County Coroner’s Office.Authorities say the body of 36-year-old Brittni Campbell was found in an area near 3000 Chase Street in the Little Calumet River around noon on Saturday. Missing Carpentersville teen’s car pulled from pond in Vernon Hills Campbell, who had been reported missing on Sept. 12, was identified by family members on Monday.According to authorities, an autopsy was performed at the Lake County Forensic Science Center in Lake Point, but details on the cause and manner of death are pending.Currently, it is unclear what led to Campbell's disappearance.