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Stock market today: Stocks drift on the final trading day of a surprisingly good year on Wall Street

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting on the final trading day of a year of surprisingly robust gains for Wall Street. The benchmark S&P 500 index is sitting just below the all-time high Friday and is up 24.6% for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit another record Thursday and is up more than 13% in 2023. The Nasdaq is up 44% for the year, driven by gains in big technology companies, including Nvidia, Amazon and Microsoft. Treasury yields edged higher and crude oil prices rose.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.U.S. stock futures are little changed Friday as the market puts the wraps on a year of surprisingly robust gains.The benchmark S&P 500 index is just 0.3% from an all-time high after a gain of 24.6% in 2023. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sits at a record 37,710.10. The Nasdaq shows a year-to-date gain of 44.2%, driven by gains in big technology companies.The so-called Magnificent 7 companies — Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon...

Federal Liberals will announce ‘renewed’ housing plan in 2024, minister says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

OTTAWA — Housing Minister Sean Fraser says Canadians can expect to see a full plan from the federal government in 2024 that lays out how it will tackle the housing crisis. “We’re working to develop a plan that will pull together the measures we’ve announced and the next measures we will announce into a single place for Canadians to see the full renewed approach,” Fraser said in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press.The plan would build on the housing policies recently announced by the Liberals, which include eliminating GST charges on rental developments, increasing the amount of low-cost financing available to developers and launching consultations for a catalogue of pre-approved home blueprints that would speed up approvals for projects. The housing minister has also been travelling the country to sign agreements with municipalities as part of the housing accelerator fund, a program that offers federal dollars in exchange for changes to bylaws and re...

Gov. Gen. Mary Simon asks Canadians to commit to kindness in year-end message

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

OTTAWA — Gov. Gen. Mary Simon is calling on Canadians to commit themselves to kindness in her annual year-end message. The Governor General says the year 2023 presented challenges brought on by climate change and global conflict. But she says Canada also took “important strides in reconciliation” and marked new chapters in history. Simon alternates between speaking English, her native Inuktitut and French — which she is still learning — in her address.She says people are adapting to change in different ways, including with kindness. And she says that over the past year, she honoured people who turned challenges into opportunities.Their stories should serve as an example of the “Inuktitut word ajuinnata,” she says, which means “never giving up.” It’s the same word Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ended his address to Parliament with back in September, saying Simon shared it with him when they met. Simon ends her new year’s addres...

Rescue mission underway at high-rise fire in Uptown

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

CHICAGO — A rescue mission is underway to help get residents out of a high-rise fire in Uptown.The two-alarm fire has a heavy blaze located on the sixth floor of a building in the 1000 block of West Foster.Residents are at windows looking to get out and ladders are being raised, CFD said.Crews are currently on the floor of the fire.WGN News has a crew headed to the scene and will update this story once more information becomes available.

Man conducts armed robbery at Bolingbrook Best Buy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

BOLINGBROOK, Ill. — A man conducted an armed robbery at a Best Buy in Bolingbrook Thursday.Officers responded to the store, located in the 300 block of North Weber Road, on the report of an armed robbery.Police learned the man presented several items to the cashier and then displayed a gun. The suspect, described as a Black man approximately 6' tall wearing all black and a face mask, fled with the items in a black sedan with no license plate.No injuries were reported and no one is in custody.Anyone with information can call police at 630-226-8620.

Early-morning crash on Dan Ryan Expressway involves several squad cars

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

CHICAGO — A crash on the Dan Ryan Expressway involving multiple squad cars early Friday morning resulted in two people, including a State Trooper, being transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.According to Illinois State Police, preliminary information indicates that an ISP squad car rear-ended a passenger vehicle in an Interstate 94 southbound lane near 95th St. in Cook County. Both vehicles became disabled in the lane of traffic.Another ISP squad car and a Chicago Police Department squad car activated their emergency lights and stopped behind the first crash to alert motorists. The trooper and the driver of the passenger vehicle were transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, reports ISP.However, shortly after, ISP says a passenger vehicle failed to move over for the initial crash and emergency vehicles and struck the rear of the CPD squad car, pushing it forward into the rear of the assisting ISP squad car. The squad cars were unoccup...

Israeli-American woman killed in Gaza

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – President Joe Biden confirms an American-Israeli woman who had been thought to be held hostage by Hamas was instead killed in the October attack that triggered the war.President Biden says he's devastated after learning of the death of Judih Weinstein, a 70-year-old American-Canadian-Israeli woman who had been thought to be held hostage by Hamas.Her kibbutz announced Thursday she was instead killed in the October 7th attack that triggered the war.Weinstein's husband was also pronounced dead last week."We would love all of our loved ones to come back and be with us,” said Liz Naftali, great aunt of a former hostage.Families of American hostages have been meeting with President Biden who issued a statement saying families "have been living through hell for weeks. No family should have to endure such an ordeal."Protesters across the world continue to call for a new ceasefire deal to release the remaining hostages.On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netan...

Pro golfer Harold Varner III arrested for DWI in North Carolina

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WJZY) — Professional golfer and North Carolina native Harold Varner III was arrested Thursday for driving while impaired, county records show. According to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, the 33-year-old Varner was arrested by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police at 7:24 p.m. in Charlotte. Winning isn’t everything Harold Varner III, LIV Golf’s latest victor Details regarding Varner's arrest were limited. Nexstar's WJZY has reached out to authorities for more information.Court records obtained by local outlets show Varner blew a 0.16 Blood Alcohol Content on a breath test, which is twice the legal limit of 0.08. Varner, who was born in Akron, Ohio, but raised in Gastonia, North Carolina, plays on the LIV Tour, where he finished seventh in the 2023 standings. He tied for 29th at last year’s Masters. He played collegiately for East Carolina and started his pro career in 2012. 

Missing teen found under trap door of Kentucky man's bedroom, deputy says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — A 16-year-old girl from Fayetteville, North Carolina, was found on Christmas Day by deputies after she was reportedly lured across state lines and taken to Kentucky. Zackary Jones, 34, had been in communication with the teen through Facebook, where he claimed he was 19 years old, according to Deputy Ron Luster of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office in Kentucky. She was reported missing on Dec. 8 to the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office.Deputies responded to Jones' home after receiving a call from his mother, Luster said. She called to report an altercation between her son, Zackary, and "his girlfriend." When deputies arrived at the home in the Kings Mountain area of Kentucky, they found Jones and his mother, but no one else.Jones lied to deputies, saying she was not there, Luster said. Luster said deputies deputies found cocaine while looking for the "girlfriend" in the house. Jones attempted to quickly dispose of the drugs in a wood stove in his bedroom...

Has a wetter end to 2023 helped Jacob's Well?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

WIMBERLEY, Texas (KXAN) -- Jacob's Well is a tourist destination that brings visitors from miles around. Unfortunately, prolonged drought closed the spot for swimming since summer 2022.Jacob's Well, in Wimberley, is the visible portion of the Middle Trinity Aquifer that supplies water to thousands of people in this rapidly growing part of Hays County.David Baker is the Executive Director of The Watershed Association that's trying to protect it."Groundwater... when it's under pressure, it's pushed up... from 130 feet down and as long as there's enough water in the aquifer to keep that pressurized, you'll see flow in these in these streams," said Baker.We checked in on Jacob's well in April… we thought it was dry then, but now Cypress Creek, fed by Jacob's Well, is completely dry in spots, and it's been dry for a record amount of time.According to Baker, "Since July we've not seen any flow at all. This is the longest period in history that we've seen no flow from Jacob's Well."The lev...