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Mortgage rates hit lowest rate since August

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:01 GMT

Mortgages rates dipped below 7% this week for the first time since August — and they could keep sliding further.After reaching their highest point in the last two decades in late October, mortgage rates have been dropping for the last seven weeks, falling to an average of 6.95% this week for a 30-year-fixed rate mortgage, according to data from Freddie Mac released on Thursday.“It’s great news for buyers and sellers,” said Oscar Wei, chief economist for the California Association of Realtors.There are signs, too, that the rate could keep dropping. At their meeting Wednesday, Federal Reserve officials announced they expect to cut interest rates next year even further than previously indicated.After that announcement, the site Mortgage News Daily — which tracks rates on a daily basis, rather than weekly like Freddie Mac — saw interest rates drop by 20 basis points from the prior day.Wei expects that next week’s Freddie Mac average, which will take into account ...

Attorney: Giuliani made it ‘dangerous’ for Ga. election workers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:01 GMT

By Devan Cole, Holmes Lybrand and Katelyn Polantz | CNNRudy Giuliani didn’t see two former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss as “human beings” when he spread conspiracy theories about them after the 2020 election, their attorney told a Washington, DC, jury Thursday during closing arguments in the defamation damages trial.“He thought they were ordinary and expendable. He didn’t see them as human beings,” the attorney, Mike Gottlieb, told the eight-person jury.“It’s dangerous for them to be Ruby Freeman or Shaye Moss because of Giuliani and his co-conspirators,” Gottlieb said.Freeman and Moss are seeking $24 million apiece in reputational damages, as well as punitive and emotional damages in the case.Gottlieb also said that there was a time in Giuliani’s life when, as mayor of New York, he understood and appreciated that civil servants were decent people.“He has no right to offer defenseless civil servants over to a digital mob,” Gottlieb said.Giuliani spent nearly ...

MRI machine causes woman’s concealed handgun to fire, shooting her in buttocks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:01 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (WCCO) — A newly filed report by the Food and Drug Administration describes an incident in a Wisconsin hospital where a woman was shot in the buttocks after bringing a gun into a room with an MRI machine.According to the FDA, the 57-year-old woman brought the concealed handgun into the room. The gun was attracted to the magnet of the MRI and fired a single round, which hit her in the right buttock.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Oakland man gets no additional jail time for biting off cousin’s earlobe during drive Crime and Public Safety | Russian man flies from Denmark to California with no ticket or passport Crime and Public Safety | Doritos Nacho Cheese-flavored booze has just become a reality Crime and Public Safety | Californian teen passes state bar exam and is sworn in as an attorney Crime and Public Safety | Bighorn sheep in Colorado was single, ready to min...

Jack Hanson dies at 91; broadcaster worked for many Bay Area TV stations

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:01 GMT

Longtime local television personality Jack Hanson has died following a long illness. He was 91.Hanson, a third generation San Franciscan, started his broadcast career in the KPIX mailroom after graduating from San Francisco State and serving in the U.S. Air Force.Throughout his more than 50-year career, Jack worked at KRON, KPIX, KTVU, KGO-TV and the Cable Health Network.“Jack was a gracious, beautiful, and charming human being. Beyond his accomplished career in television which spanned over five decades, he was a loving husband, father, and grandfather. He will be dearly missed,” his family wrote in a statement.Related ArticlesObituaries | Mike Grgich dies at 100; winemaker helped make Napa Valley world famous Obituaries | Former Disneyland boss Dick Nunis dies at 91 Obituaries | Andre Braugher, Emmy-winner who starred in ‘Homicide,’ dead at 61 Obituaries | Vic Davalillo dies; was part of Oakland A&#...

Oakland: DA dismisses double murder case after lawyer found second gun at crime scene

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:01 GMT

OAKLAND — In a move that was reportedly months in the making, the Alameda County District Attorney’s office has dismissed two murder charges against an Oakland man who was accused of killing his girlfriend and a man inside his apartment, court records show.The dismissal was aided in large part by the discovery of a firearm at the crime scene, made by a defense attorney and private investigator, which police investigators had apparently missed, according to the defendant’s lawyer.Franz Lucablue Gadient, 34, had been charged with murdering Mari Alice Shaw, 22, and Jesse Sky Willner, 44, in a November 2021 shooting inside the Oakland apartment where Shaw and Gadient lived. But the defense lobbied for months for prosecutors to dismiss the case, arguing that Gadient had killed an intruder, Willner, in self-defense after Willner opened fire into the home, killing Shaw.At a Dec. 12 court appearance in Oakland, the defense got its wish; prosecutors dismissed both murder co...

Etsy to cut 225 jobs

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:01 GMT

(KRON) -- Online marketplace Etsy is laying off 225 team members, about 11% of its total workforce, the company's CEO Josh Silverman announced Wednesday. The job cuts come as part of broader updates to the company's internal structure to position Etsy for growth and "better serve our customers," Silverman wrote in a post on the company website. "As I shared in my livestream a few moments ago, today we are announcing some very difficult yet necessary decisions to better position Etsy for future growth. After deep discussion and careful consideration, we are reorganizing our internal structure to more closely align our resources with our most important business priorities and better serve our customers," Silverman wrote. "As part of this, I’m sad to share that we must say goodbye to approximately 225 team members, reducing the Etsy workforce by ~11%. This decision was among the hardest we’ve ever made, and one that we have tried earnestly to avoid." GM’s Cruise robotaxi unit lays of...

Man arrested on suspicion of October attempted homicide in SF’s Richmond district

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:01 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) -- Police in San Francisco arrested a man suspected in an attempted homicide in October in the Richmond District, the department said Thursday. Cruise lays off 900 workers with investigation into San Francisco crash ongoing On Oct. 29 at around 2 a.m., officers were called to the 900 block of Geary Street regarding a shooting. A man was found suffering from a gunshot wound and was taken to the hospital, where he has so far survived.Bryan Pratt, 63, is suspected in the shooting. Arrest and search warrants were authorized for him, and on Tuesday at 10:20 a.m., police located Pratt in the 400 block of Fulton Street and served the warrants.Pratt was arrested and booked into jail on suspicion of attempted murder, intentional discharge of a firearm during a felony resulting in great bodily injury, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.KRON On is streaming live news.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-w...

Pentagon Taps “Tiger Team” to Rush Weapons to Israel

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:01 GMT

The Pentagon is working to expedite weapons exports to Israel by deploying a so-called Tiger Team of experts to facilitate the transfers, according to procurement records reviewed by The Intercept. Some of the arms sales will be carried out through a new Army initiative designed specifically for the provision of weapons to Israel.The Israel-specific program, called the Israel Significant Initiatives Group, is located within the Army’s Defense Exports and Cooperation office, which oversees policy for U.S. arms sales.The Tiger Team meets daily with the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency, or DSCA, which executes U.S. arms sales, to overcome barriers to arms sales to Israel. The “tiger team,” a crisis rapid response team involving a diverse set of experts, is supposed to examine potential bottlenecks and delays in weapons transfers and offer advice for alleviating the issues.The existence of both the Tiger Team and the Israel Significant Initiatives Group ha...

NFL continues to make incremental, widespread progress in diversity hiring, report says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:01 GMT

The National Football League continues to make incremental, widespread progress in its diversity hiring practices, according to an annual report.Thursday’s report card from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at Central Florida gave the NFL an overall grade of B-plus, which is the highest mark for the league since the study began in 1988. The league received a B-plus mark for racial hiring and a B for gender hiring.There are still a few areas of concern — particularly in the ownership ranks — but TIDES director Adrien Bouchet said Thursday that the report is largely good news.“It’s the most positive NFL report since we started doing them,” Bouchet said. “The league has made major strides over the past decade, and particularly the past few years.”Among the highlights: There were nine general managers who were people of color at the start of the 2023 season — 30% of the league. Also, the overall percentage of people of color who have an NFL assistant coaching positio...

Israeli military veteran tapped as GOP candidate in special election to replace George Santos

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:54:01 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Republicans have picked a little-known county lawmaker who once served in the Israeli military as their candidate in a special election to replace ousted congressman George Santos, party officials said Thursday. Nassau County legislator and former Israeli paratrooper Mazi Pilip will face off against Democratic former congressman Tom Suozzi in a Feb. 13 special election for the seat, which includes northern parts of Queens and Long Island. The selection pits Pilip, a relatively unknown local lawmaker from Ethiopia, against a political veteran in Suozzi, who previously represented the district for six years during a lengthy career in Long Island politics. In a statement, Republicans in Queens and Nassau County loosely outlined some of her potential policy positions and said she would bring a new perspective to the House. “Pilip is an effective tax fighter who will prioritize public safety, economic recovery, border security and tax relief in Congress,” the st...