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Editorial: Crypto still a mess – a crackdown can only help

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:00:44 GMT

US regulators appear to be on a collision course with crypto. Sometime soon, many issuers and intermediaries could be forced out of business or at least out of the country.It could be the best thing that ever happened to the industry.There’s plenty to dislike in the crypto realm. Celebrity touts and the promise of riches have lured people into buying myriad tokens with no intrinsic value; of more than 40,000 issued last year, an estimated one in four were outright pump-and-dump scams. Investor protections are lacking at even the most established intermediaries, as the demise of the FTX trading platform demonstrated. Blockchain-enabled payments have facilitated all sorts of criminal behavior, from aiding human trafficking to funding North Korea’s nuclear program. If the market hadn’t imploded last year, it might have become big enough to threaten the entire financial system.Now Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler is poised to deliver the coup de grâce. He has said t...

Dear Abby: Old column helped reader see clearly

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:00:44 GMT

Dear Abby: I want to thank you for a letter you published in 2007. It came from a woman saying her daughter had “convergence insufficiency disorder,” in which the eye drifts and causes double vision. I was 61 and had that problem, but I never knew what it was.I would get headaches from reading and did poorly in school. A teacher once suggested my mother have my eyes checked. The doctor gave me the standard eye chart test, which showed nothing. He recommended more tests, but Mom reasoned they would find nothing and be a waste of money. She insisted I was lazy, and believed corporal punishment would make me study harder.In 1980, after I had a family, I started night school. It was difficult, but I taught myself to focus on each word before moving to the next one. After you printed that letter, I went to an eye doctor who prescribed “prism” glasses, which made reading much easier. Many people have been diagnosed with this problem, but I’m sure a lot more h...

MTV Movie & TV Awards ditches live event due to strike

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:00:44 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The first big live awards show to air during the current screenwriters’ strike has retreated to a pre-taped event as the MTV Movie & TV Awards tries to chart a celebratory course through a turbulent Hollywood. The Sunday show already had lost its host, Drew Barrymore, who dropped out in solidarity with the writers and the show’s red carpet was rolled up. The Writers Guild still promised to picket, meaning stars and presenters would have to walk past demonstrating writers to get into the venue. Late Saturday, MTV scrapped the live event entirely. “We’re pivoting away from a live event that still enables us to produce a memorable night full of exclusive sneak peaks, irreverent categories our audience has come to expect, and countless moments that will both surprise and delight,” said Bruce Gillmer, an MTV executive producer, in a statement.The best movie category pits “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Elvis,” “Nope,” “Scream...

‘We had to be here’: Fans gather at hometown concert celebrating Gordon Lightfoot

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:00:44 GMT

ORILLIA, ONT. — A generation of old friends, longtime couples and families raised on Gordon Lightfoot gathered Saturday night in the singer-songwriter’s Orillia, Ont., hometown to mark the passing of the Canadian musician.By sheer coincidence — or as some suggested, a case of mournful serendipity — a concert planned months ago as a tribute to Lightfoot as a living legend wound up being a celebration of a life well-lived.The musician died Monday at age 84.For Chicago residents Jan Goldsmith and her son Rick Goldsmith, saying goodbye was essential. The two flew into Canada earlier Saturday and travelled to Orillia for the concert with plans to attend Lightfoot’s public visitation on Sunday.“I’ve been listening to Gordon since (my mom) introduced me as a kid … and he’s been a part of my life almost on a daily basis since,” said Rick.“We had to be here.”The Goldsmiths described a mixture of sadness and joy that ran throughout “...

'Highly misled and misguided.' Capitol leaders react to TxTag viewer tips

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:00:44 GMT

Investigative Summary: This story is part of KXAN’s “TxTag Troubles” investigative project launched May 7, 2023. Following related reports in recent years, our team rededicated its resources to this major consumer issue, after hundreds of viewers complained to us about resurfaced billing and customer service problems with the state’s tollway operator and its contracted vendors. During our reporting, the Texas Department of Transportation began reaching out to viewers who had contacted KXAN to resolve their issues, and state lawmakers renewed their approach to fixing future TxTag problems.AUSTIN (KXAN) — “No explanation, no communication, no transparency,” wrote one KXAN viewer in March 2021, pleading for an investigation into TxTag to bring TxTag's issues to the public’s attention.The viewer, who wished to remain anonymous, told KXAN his troubles with TxTag, Texas' largest tollway operator, started over two years earlier when he said he realized multiple transactions totaling $1,60...

Latest TxTag contractor penalized millions, but driver complaints persist

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:00:44 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Auto-payment issues, double billing, incorrect statements and customer service runaround — those are just some of the complaints KXAN has received, by the hundreds, from Texas Department of Transportation toll road and TxTag users.KXAN has uncovered TxDOT toll system problems for nearly a decade. During that time, the state agency has repeatedly vowed improvement.In this latest investigative effort, KXAN dedicated more than two dozen journalists to hold TxDOT officials accountable, fight for public records, catalog hundreds of tips and complaints, and sift through thousands of pages of vendor contracts. When TxDOT wouldn’t schedule an interview, we attended public meetings to question the agency’s top brass. One regional toll authority finds success in focusing on its customers. Explore» -->Despite years dealing with vendor hiccups and software glitches, TxDOT officials now say they’re seeing big improvements to TxTag and their toll road system — a system that imp...

Minnesota United’s defense falters in 3-2 loss to Vancouver

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:00:44 GMT

Minnesota United’s winless skid hit a different chord Saturday.Lack of goal scoring had been the previous orimary culprit, but it was the Loons shoddy defense that led to  a 3-2 loss to Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night at BC Place. They gave up a season-high goal total and their winless streak reached five matches.MNUFC is completely out of tune.Giveaways from Wil Trapp and Robin Lod directly led to Whitecaps goals. While Lod and Micky Tapias didn’t assert themselves for a header and it led to another ‘Caps goal.In a role reversal, the Loons were able to manufacture two goals — Michael Boxall off a corner kick and Sang Bin Jeong’s first MLS tally.But MNUFC’s attack still had its issues. Luis Amarilla was subbed out in the 29th minute and Mender Garcia had two quality scoring chances in the final 20 minutes.The Loons said earlier Saturday that all-star midfielder Emanuel Reynoso has ended his holdout after nearly four months. With Minnesota’s offense still not humming, Reynoso’s...

Orange County woman fighting for life after vehicle crashes into apartment

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:00:44 GMT

A woman is fighting for her life on Saturday after being struck by a hit-and-run driver who crashed through an apartment building in Santa Ana.The woman was identified as 32-year-old Ayoleone Bufkin, a Fullerton resident. Bufkin has undergone multiple surgeries since the devastating crash.“It’s so hard to even put into words,” said Roland Gonzalez, Bufkin’s father. “It’s just unfathomable. She’s such a good girl. She’s with her family and her partner just minding her own business and something like this happens.”On Monday, officers responded to an apartment complex on the 1600 block of Memory Lane around 10:20 p.m., according to the Santa Ana Police Department.When police arrived, they discovered a minivan driver had slammed into the first-floor apartment while Bufkin was relaxing on the couch. The impact left the woman pinned underneath the vehicle.Paramedics extricated Bufkin and rushed her to the UC Irvine Medical Center where she remains on Saturday night, fighting for her life....

Video captures two vehicles slamming into Santa Clarita deputy

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:00:44 GMT

Security video captured the moment two cars slammed into a deputy vehicle in Santa Clarita on Saturday.The crash happened near the intersection of Sierra Highway and Whispering Leaves Drive around 3:35 p.m., according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.In the video, a patrol car is seen making a U-turn when a sedan crashes into the passenger side. Within seconds, another car traveling in the same direction also strikes the patrol car.The impact pushed the second vehicle into a nearby wall, authorities said.Security video captured the moment two cars slammed into a deputy vehicle in Santa Clarita on May 6, 2023. (KeyNews)Security video captured the moment two cars slammed into a deputy vehicle in Santa Clarita on May 6, 2023. (KeyNews)Security video captured the moment two cars slammed into a deputy vehicle in Santa Clarita on May 6, 2023. (KeyNews)Security video captured the moment two cars slammed into a deputy vehicle in Santa Clarita on May 6, 2023. (KeyNews)Security ...

Kurtenbach: After an embarrassing Game 3 loss to the Lakers, it’s time for the Warriors to let Jonathan Kuminga out of the doghouse

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:00:44 GMT

Lakers center Anthony Davis is lazily nicknamed AD, but that moniker has picked up a new meaning this postseason.It stands for “alternating days.”As in, you only get the big man’s best every-other game this postseason.Saturday was one of those good days. That was bad news for the Warriors.Yes, LeBron James had a few turn-back-the-clock moments and the Lakers’ role players made 3-pointers, but Davis was the catalyst for the Los Angeles win and the reason for the Lakers’ 2-1 series advantage over the Dubs.As if it wasn’t obvious enough before the series began, the formula for success in this series for the Warriors is simple: if you stop Davis, you stop the Lakers. So far, not so good for Golden State.Hey, perhaps Davis will stop himself in Game 4. The pattern says he will.But hoping for bad games isn’t a strategy, and the Warriors need a better one for defending the Lakers’ All-Star center.So far in this series, the Warriors have used t...