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Extortion of small businesses pervades Tijuana, prompting pleas for police help

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:45 GMT

SAN DIEGO (Border Report) -- Small business owners in Tijuana are urging the city to allow them to link their security cameras to the police department's command center for police to provide them with panic buttons as a way to combat a rash of robberies and extortion attempts.Gina Villalobos, director of the Small Business Chamber of Commerce in Tijuana, said such crimes continue to rise and small business owners are forced to take matters into their own hands. Baja California Attorney General suddenly resigns amid crime wave in state "Businesses are also putting up security bars as a preventive measure. It's just a sign of the alarming security needs we're all experiencing," she said. "Organized crime asking small businesses to pay fees, as a way to remain in business, just keeps going and there's no environment of confidence to file formal complaints with authorities."Even though business owners seek better surveillance and quicker response times, Villalobos said there is a "cl...

Illinois governor signs ban on firearms advertising allegedly marketed to kids and militants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:45 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed a law banning firearms advertising that officials determine produces a public safety threat or appeals to children, militants or others who might later use the weapons illegally — opening the door for lawsuits against firearms manufacturers or distributors.Pritzker on Saturday signed the Firearm Industry Responsibility Act, making Illinois the eighth state to approve legislation that rolls back legal protections for firearms manufacturers or distributors. The legislation comes after the deadliest six months of mass killings recorded in the United States since at least 2006 — all but one of which involved guns.Pritzker signed the bill alongside lawmakers and gun control advocates at Gun Sense University, an annual training conference of more than 2,000 Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers and survivors, hosted by Everytown for Gun Safety.“We hold opioid manufacturers accountable. Vaping companies accountable. P...

Rally planned against Greenbelt development in Durham

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:45 GMT

A rally is planned for Sunday afternoon in Pickering calling on the Ford government to stop the development of farmland and other areas of the Greenbelt. Demonstrators are set to gather outside the office of provincial finance minister Peter Bethlenfalvy on Kingston Road at 1 p.m.‘Stop Sprawl Durham’ rally organizers say the province’s plan will bankrupt communities by building high-density housing where it doesn’t belong and single-family homes that don’t make the best use of the space. The rally comes days after a scathing report from auditor general Bonnie Lysyk which concluded the process favoured developers with ties to the housing minister’s chief of staff and that the selection of lands removed from the Greenbelt was “biased,” “seriously flawed,” and was “dismissive of effective land-use planning.”Following the report, Premier Doug Ford admitted that the process of selecting which lands would be removed from the Greenbelt for development was flaw...

Elderly woman dead after semi crash in Volo: Police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:45 GMT

VOLO, Ill. -- An elderly woman is dead after a semi-truck crash in Volo Saturday morning.According to police, the 84-year-old woman driving a Chevrolet exited a parking lot on the east side of Route 12 and travelled west towards southbound lanes as the driver of a semi-truck came northbound.Police said the woman made an abrupt U-turn and the semi-truck drove into the grassy media to avoid direct collision. 5-year-old pedestrian hospitalized after Irving Park car crash, driver in custody The Chevrolet struck the rear end of the semi-truck causing major damage. The 84-year-old woman sustained major injuries and was transported to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead. An autopsy is scheduled for the driver. The semi-truck driver was uninjured and cooperated with the investigation.

Pool have a 'chlorine smell'? Don't swim in it

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:45 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – If you thought those post-swim red eyes and that "chlorine" smell were due to pool chemicals, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has some nauseating news.The odor and those irritated eyes are instead due to chlorine mixing with the pee, poop, sweat, dirt, skin cells, makeup and deodorant that swimmers bring into the pool, according to the CDC. In fact, a health pool with chlorinated water doesn't have a strong chemical at all.In fact, a CDC study that tested public pools found that 58 percent of samples came back positive for E. coli, bacteria found in the human gut and feces. Experts warn about ‘bed rotting’ trend When combined with pool chemicals, those substances people carry into the pool with them can form chloramines, chemical irritants that can also cause skin irritation, nasal irritation, coughing, asthma attacks and wheezing.Pool chemicals effectively kill most germs, but some are more persistent. Chlorine also becomes less effective the more it ha...

Map: These counties are home to the most excessive drinkers, study finds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:45 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — You may have an idea of how much alcohol your community drinks. There may even be a certain sense of pride regarding how much or how little that is. But recently released data helps illustrate which areas in the U.S. are prone to excessive drinking and those that aren’t. Earlier this year, the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute released its 2023 County Health Rankings and Roadmaps report, which is meant to raise awareness about factors that can impact health outcomes and disparities nationwide.Researchers use numerous data points to determine the length and quality of life on a state-by-state basis. Among those factors is alcohol use, including reported excessive drinking. To determine the rates of excessive drinking per state, researchers used self-reported data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance system. For the 2023 report, the University of Wisconsin used data from 2020 — the first year ...

Illinois small businesses thrive in these counties

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:45 GMT

(Stacker) -- In 2021, the IRS received a whopping 5.4 million business applications—an all-time high since the U.S. government began tracking this data in 2004. The year with the second-highest number of new business applications? 2020. Today, small businesses employ nearly half of the nation's workers, according to a Chamber of Commerce report.It's fair to say that the past few years have been banner years for small businesses, but what about regional differences? The business climate in a small town in Texas is likely not the same as a small town in Connecticut. The Chamber of Commerce report found that the Midwest was the most business-friendly region, thanks to the relatively low cost of living, well-educated workforce, and regulations lowering taxes and easing zoning restrictions for businesses.Of course, the East and West coasts also have plenty to offer, from California's Silicon Valley and Hollywood studios to New York's financial hub to Massachusetts' prominence in the...

New hybrids and EVs fall below MSRP, despite ongoing new-car demand

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:45 GMT

(iSeeCars) --Macroeconomic factors, including inflation, interest rates and employment concerns, have had little impact on new car demand, with the average new vehicle priced between 8.4 and 8.7 percent above MSRP for the last five months.After analyzing over 13 million new cars, the latest iSeeCars.com study found manufacturer pricing for new cars has increased 7.4 percent in the past year, from an average MSRP of $39,712 in June 2022 to $42,645 in June 2023. Beyond this, the average dealer listing price – now $46,265, or $4,000 above MSRP – increased an additional 8.5 percent.Monthly Average Price vs. Average MSRP of New Cars – iSeeCars StudyYearAvg MSRPAvg Price% Above MSRPJun 2022$39,712$43,71710.1%Jul 2022$40,239$44,34710.2%Aug 2022$40,352$44,37510.0%Sep 2022$40,077$44,0209.8%Oct 2022$40,448$44,3469.6%Nov 2022$40,434$44,2639.5%Dec 2022$41,608$45,4289.2%Jan 2023$41,771$45,4668.8%Feb 2023$41,637$45,2768.7%Mar 2023$42,143$45,7068.5%Apr 2023$42,458$46,0418.4%May 2023$42,191$45,7428...

Gophers’ Mara Braun headed back out with USA 3-on-3 team

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:45 GMT

Gophers guard Mara Braun will be a member of a U.S. team at the 2023 FIBA 3×3 U23 Nations League Final next month in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.Team USA will have two teams participating in the Sept. 13-15 tournament.Braun, a sophomore this season, was a member of the U.S. team that won the U21 Nations League Asia-Pacific tournament in Handan, China, in June. She scored 66 points in 13 games, and the U.S. went 12-1 in the games in which she played.As a freshman, Braun averaged a team-best 15.6 points a game for the Gophers last season.

Highest-paying jobs in St. Louis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:17:45 GMT

The rich are getting richer, and have been for some time.Across the nation, wages have continued to rise this year despite the Federal Reserve's efforts to temper inflation. In June, average weekly earnings grew at a higher rate than the Consumer Price Index, the nation's primary inflation indicator.While pay is increasing across income levels, the historical growth for high-income jobs has been most profound. High-income jobs have grown 69% over the past 50 years—more than both middle- and lower-income jobs, a Pew Trusts analysis shows.The highest earners in the U.S. are what you'd expect: doctors and other medical professionals, engineers, tech workers, executives, and corporate leaders. Nationally, the 50 top-paying jobs all require at least a bachelor's degree, and many require a master's, doctorate, or another professional degree. Indeed, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that higher degree holders earn more in a typical week and face lower rates of unemployment.Still, the ...