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Ticker: Gas prices drop in Bay State; CCC names acting executive director

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:31 GMT

Gas prices have dropped a nickel in the last week, hitting $3.64 in Massachusetts despite the war in Israel and the decision by OPEC countries earlier this year to ratchet down production. The price at the pump is a full 13 cents lower than just a month ago.“Domestic gasoline prices have continued their daily decline despite uncertainty and volatility gripping oil markets last week after the outbreak of war in Israel …” said AAA Northeast Senior Spokesperson Mark Schieldrop. “Meanwhile, domestic oil production reached an all-time high last week and demand remains tepid, which suggest further price drops at the pump in the weeks ahead.”Gas in Massachusetts is running about 4 cents higher than the national average, which came in at $3.60 per gallon in the most recent survey.CCC names acting directorCannabis regulators decided Monday to appoint their head of human resources as acting executive director of the Cannabis Control Commission while its administrative head is out on leave and...

Belgian authorities raise terror alert after 2 Swedes are fatally shot in Brussels

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:31 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian authorities raised the terror alert to its highest level in the capital late Monday after the fatal shooting of two Swedes in Brussels that Prime Minister Alexander De Croo linked to terrorism. The gunman remained at large.The killings happened some 3 miles (5 kilometers) from a stadium where over 35,000 fans were watching a Belgium-Sweden soccer match, Belgium’s anti-terror center said. The match was abandoned half way through.“The population needs to be actively vigilant and avoid any unnecessary travel,” anti-terror center spokeswoman Laura Demullier said, adding that the top priority for authorities was to get the thousands of fans safely out of the King Baudouin Stadium.The center also said that the terror alert for the rest of the country was raised to its second-highest level. Raising the terror level in the capital to the top 4 rating means that a “threat is extremely serious.” It previously stood at 2, which means the threat was average.“I have...

Feds, Atlantic premiers meeting in Ottawa as Atlantic Loop project teeters

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:31 GMT

OTTAWA — Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson is meeting in Ottawa today with the premiers of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, seeking an agreement to help the two provinces get off coal power by the end of the decade.Wilkinson invited Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston and New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs to Ottawa in August after publishing a draft of federal clean electricity regulations.The regulations require all electricity produced in Canada be free of greenhouse gas emissions by 2035.Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan are the only provinces that still rely heavily on burning coal for electricity.The meeting comes less than a week after Nova Scotia pulled back on the idea of building new electricity connections with New Brunswick and Quebec, citing ballooning costs and a lack of commitment from Quebec to share more power.The Atlantic Loop was intended to build new electricity links to share hydro power from Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.This report by The Canadian ...

Former Navajo Nation president announces his candidacy for Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:31 GMT

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez announced Monday that he’s running for Congress.Nez, a 48-year-old Democrat, will vie for the seat occupied by incumbent Eli Crane, a Republican who has represented Arizona’s redrawn 2nd Congressional District since last year.The district covers a large portion of northern and eastern Arizona and includes 14 of the 22 federally recognized tribes within the state.“I grew up in a rural, low-income home, in a long-overlooked community where my family lived paycheck-to-paycheck, worried about how we’d make ends meet. I understand the struggles that many Arizona families are facing right now,” Nez said in a statement Monday.Nez was born in Tuba City and grew up in Shonto, both located on the vast Navajo reservation.He was the Navajo Nation’s president from 2019-23 after serving four years as the tribe’s vice president.Nez lost in his presidential reelection bid last year and now hopes to become the first Native American ...

Unifor set to begin Stellantis negotiations after successful GM vote

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:31 GMT

TORONTO — Unifor is set to begin negotiations with Stellantis after union members at General Motors voted 80.5 per cent in favour of a tentative deal over the weekend.While the union has yet to announce a specific start date, Dave Cassidy, president of Local 444 that covers the Stellantis plant in Windsor, Ont., said Monday that he’s hoping to begin meetings with the Unifor national committee and the company as soon as Tuesday.Unifor will be looking to repeat the terms it set at Ford Motor Co. and that it got GM to agree to as well, but Cassidy said he’ll be looking for more from Stellantis.“In our membership meeting, members weren’t happy with the pattern agreement that was in place,” he said.“Our members decide whether it’s a good deal or not, so we have some work to do for sure.”Cassidy declined to name specific areas that he’ll be looking to make inroads, and also noted the important gains made in the contracts already agreed...

TSX gains more than 150 points as markets start week on positive note

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:31 GMT

TORONTO — Strength in base metal, financial and technology stocks helped lead a broad-based rally Monday, with Canada’s main stock index rising more than 150 points while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.Markets began the week on an optimistic note, said Danick Dutrisac, vice-president and portfolio manager at Fiduciary Trust Canada. “It’s been pretty much a risk-on day … there’s really not a lot of negative in the markets on both sides of the border,” he said. The S&P/TSX composite index was up 157.94 points at 19,620.80.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 314.25 points at 33,984.54. The S&P 500 index was up 45.85 points at 4,373.63,while the Nasdaq composite was up 160.75 points at 13,567.98.The start to earnings season, which kicked off with major U.S. banks on Friday, has gone “relatively well,” said Dutrisac, likely contributing to the optimism.Even rate-sensitive sectors were up Monday, he said, but added that doesn’t denote a longer-...

NDP claims evidence is mounting that process for Ontario Place redevelopment was ‘rigged’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:31 GMT

Another rally has been held to oppose the province’s plans for Ontario Place at Queen’s Park on Monday, just hours after the NDP said it has “mounting evidence that suggests the Ford’s government’s process for this redevelopment was rigged.”“A rigged process that ultimately saw this public parkland handed over to a very particular private luxury spa company,” NDP leader Marit Stiles said.The NDP says a Freedom of Information Act request from Infrastructure Ontario shows that the government had plans to build a parking garage for the Therme Spa at Ontario Place two years before the public knew of the structure. The document is dated January 28, 2021, six months before it announced on July 30, 2021, that Therme and Live Nation were among the successful bidders for this project.“It suggests that Mr. Ford gifted a publicly funded half-billion-dollar parking garage to Therme and hid it from the public for two years,” S...

Northwestern St-SE Louisiana game moved up for Caldwell’s funeral

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:31 GMT

NATCHITOCHES, La. (AP) — Northwestern State’s home game against Southeastern has been moved to this Thursday night so that the contest won’t conflict with a wake and funeral services for recently slain Demons defensive back Ronnie Caldwell.Officials from both schools agreed to change the game time from Saturday after learning services for Caldwell were scheduled on Friday and Saturday in Austin, Texas. The new game time allows Northwestern State coaches and players to attend.Caldwell was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds by Natchitoches police officers who responded shortly after 1 a.m. last Thursday to a report of a shooting at an apartment complex near campus. The coroner’s office pronounced Caldwell dead at the scene.Police Cpl. John Greely has said no arrests have been made in connection with the case.The university had canceled last Saturday’s football game at Nicholls State.Caldwell played safety for the Demons after transferring from Tyler Junior College following...

Mayor Johnson reverses course on plans for southern border trip

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:31 GMT

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson announced Monday that he will not visit the country's southern border and will instead send a small delegation of city officials, reversing course on earlier plans. According to a statement released by the mayor's office on Monday morning, Johnson, as well as senior aides and key operations personnel, will stay in Chicago to "address the immediate urgency of adding shelter space to house thousands of new arrivals currently sleeping in police stations, airports or outside." Despite promises of plans, Chicago migrant crisis gets worse Johnson announced plans for a southern border trip earlier in the month, but in the statement sent out on Monday morning, the mayor reversed course, saying the delegation would be traveling to Texas without him beginning Tuesday.According to the statement, the mayor's administration is coordinating a delegation that will consist of city, state, faith and philanthropic leaders which will be led by Beatriz Ponce de Le...

What the Rite Aid bankruptcy filing means for customers, prescriptions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:31 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – The Rite Aid Corporation has filed for bankruptcy protection in order to reduce the company’s sizable debt and restructure. The move, announced Sunday, comes amid Rite Aid’s ongoing financial challenges, including those posed by opioid-related lawsuits.Rite Aid, however, has assured customers that it is not going out of business, and will continue to serve customers in-store and online.“We recognize the important role we play in serving you and meeting your healthcare needs, so we want to make sure you understand what this means for you,” Jeffrey S. Stein, the newly appointed CEO of Rite Aid, wrote in a letter addressed to Rite Aid customers on Sunday. LinkedIn laying off more than 660 workers In addition, Stein said customers would still be able to pick up prescriptions, get them delivered, or even accrue or use Rite Aid Rewards points.Rite Aid’s return policy will remain the same, and the stores are expected to “generally” offer the same products and selections, acco...