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Ticker: Housing affordability at record low; Fran Drescher reelected SAG-AFTRA president

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:53 GMT

U.S. housing affordability remained at a record low in July as high mortgage rates and prices kept home ownership out of reach for many Americans.The National Association of Realtors housing affordability index was unchanged at 87.8 in July, matching the lowest level in data back to 1989. A level of 100 means a family with the median income has enough income to qualify for a mortgage at the median home price.The typical family spent 28.5% of their income on the principal and interest of their mortgage payment each month, also matching an all-time high, according to the report released Friday.Qualifying income for a mortgage, based on a 20% down payment, was a record $104,496 in July.“Higher mortgage rates continued to harm affordability despite modestly lower median home prices,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in an email.Fran Drescher reelected SAG-AFTRA presidentFran Drescher was easily reelected as president of SAG-AFTRA on Friday, a strong show of support as the actor...

Springfield Central too much for Central Catholic

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:53 GMT

SPRINGFIELD – The first game of the John Sexton regime didn’t go as planned for the Central Catholic football team Sunday afternoon, as perennial power Springfield Central rolled out a reloaded offense the Raiders couldn’t keep up with in a 44-26 loss.Freshman Jareth Staine starred under center for the Golden Eagles (1-0), filling former star Pop Watson’s shoes by passing for 256 yards and four touchdowns. Dwayne Early (5 catches, 94 yards) and Mattias Barbour (5 catches, 74 yards) each caught a pair of scores in an effort that saw four players find the end zone.Central Catholic star quarterback Blake Hebert helped the team nearly storm back from an early deficit with two touchdown runs, but the offense couldn’t deliver on three different possessions that it had the chance to tie the game on. That includes two to start the second half.Hebert got hurt on a turnover-on-downs on the second of those drives in the third quarter, and Springfield Central blew the game open after he exited ...

Arrest made in fatal Oceanside shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:53 GMT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- A suspect was arrested in connection to a shooting in an Oceanside parking lot Saturday evening that left one person dead, authorities confirmed.The incident was reported around 4:36 p.m. after an altercation between three juvenile suspects and 29-year-old man in a parking lot on N Redondo Drive near Vandegrift Boulevard, according to Jennifer Atenza with the Oceanside Police Department.Multiple shots were reportedly fired by one of the juveniles as the altercation escalated. According to OPD, the suspect chased the victim and fired again, striking the victim in the upper torso area. All three suspects then fled north from the parking lot.The victim, a resident of Oceanside, sustained fatal injuries and was declared dead on scene. His identity has not been released.The motive and circumstances that led up to the shooting are still under investigation. The San Diego County Sheriff's Office ASTREA helicopter assisted officers in searching for the suspects through...

Suspended Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales resigns after kiss scandal at World Cup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:53 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Suspended Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales has resigned from his post after a kiss scandal which tarnished Spain’s victory at the Women’s World Cup.Rubiales announced his resignation Sunday in a message posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.“After my swift suspension by FIFA, and the rest of the cases building against me, it is clear that I cannot return to the post,” Rubiales said in his statement.Rubiales kissed star player Jenni Hermoso on the lips without her consent during the awards ceremony after Spain beat England to win the title on Aug. 20 in Sydney, Australia. Spanish state prosecutors accused Rubiales of sexual assault and coercion after the unwanted kiss, the country’s prosecutors’ office said Friday, two days after Hermoso formally accused him of sexual assault.He had already been suspended from his job by FIFA for his conduct at the final.Rubiales said he also resigned as UEFA vice president.Rubiales said that he had told in...

Tributes pour in for Monique Bégin, ‘trailblazer’ and former federal cabinet minister

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:53 GMT

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is mourning the loss of Monique Bégin, a former cabinet minister and academic who died Friday at the age of 87. Trudeau says Bégin’s was a “trailblazer for Canadian women,” whose election to Parliament in 1972 made her one of the first of three women from Quebec to serve in the House of Commons.He said in a statement that Bégin made her mark on the country by introducing the Canada Health Act and a child tax credit before leaving politics and returning to academia after more than a decade in public life. Former NDP leader Ed Broadbent says Bégin was a much-loved leader who leaves an important legacy, and he noted that she served on the first board of the Broadbent Institute, a progressive thank tank he founded in 2011.The University of Ottawa, where Bégin landed after leaving politics, says she played a significant role in shaping the institution where she served as chair of women’s studies and was later named de...

Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev playing for US Open men’s title in a rematch from 2 years ago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:53 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev have begun their match to determine the U.S. Open men’s champion.Their meeting Sunday is a rematch of the 2021 final in Flushing Meadows. Medvedev won that day for his lone Grand Slam title, denying Djokovic what would have been the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men’s tennis since 1969.Djokovic, a 36-year-old from Serbia, has gone on to win two more major titles this year, at the Australian Open and French Open, to raise his career total to 23. That is the most Grand Slam singles titles in men’s tennis history and ties Serena Williams for the most in the professional era, dating to 1968.The match is being played with the roof closed at Arthur Ashe Stadium because of the potential for more bad weather.___AP tennis coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/tennisThe Associated Press

TIFF’23: Seven Veils twists and turns into one of the year’s best films

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:53 GMT

Atom Egoyan (the director of the Sweet Hereafter and Ararat) has become known as one of the defining artists of Canada. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1999, he’s been nominated for a couple Academy Awards, and he’s created some of the films that have come to define Canadian cinema. He’s still working, creating some of his best work nearly 40 years into his career.One of my favourite films I've seen at #TIFF23 this year is the latest work from Atom Egoyan, in which he re-unites with Amanda Seyfried from Chloe. Seven Veils is an amazing piece about how our lives shape art, and vice versa.— James Mackin @ TIFF 23 (@JamesMackin10) September 10, 2023His latest film is one of his richest. It’s called Seven Veils, and he re-unites with Amanda Seyfried (from Chloe and the Dropout). She plays Jeanine, a Toronto-based opera director tackling a new version of the classic German piece Salome. It was previously directed by her mentor who recent...

Multistate search for murder suspect ends with hostage situation and fatal standoff at gas station

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:53 GMT

CEREDO, W.V. (AP) — A man suspected of murder in Ohio and multiple carjackings in Kentucky was killed by West Virginia police in a standoff outside a gas station where he was holding three hostages.The multistate search for David Maynard, 54, ended late Saturday evening at a Speedway in a West Virginia town bordering the Ohio River. That is where a sergeant stopped and recognized the man standing behind the counter as the suspect who had eluded troopers up to that point, according to a West Virginia State Police release.Maynard pointed his pistol at the sergeant, and a State Police Special Response Team responded with local law enforcement, according to the release. Police say a negotiator successfully got two hostages released before Maynard requested that a blanket be placed at the door for the third hostage.Officers fired shots after Maynard “exited the door and engaged” members of the State Police Special Response Team, according to the release. West Virginia State Police told T...

Escaped murderer still at large slips out of search area, steals van, tries to contact ex-co-workers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:53 GMT

PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say an escaped murderer who has eluded capture since breaking out of a southeastern Pennsylvania prison a week and a half ago slipped out of the search area, changed his appearance, stole a dairy delivery van, abandoning it miles away and remained at large.Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said Sunday that Danelo Souza Cavalcante stole the unlocked van which had the keys inside sometime Saturday night about three-quarters of a mile from the northern perimeter of the search area where hundreds of law enforcement officers had been searching for him.Baily’s Dairy said on its Facebook page that the delivery van was stolen between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Saturday “while we were still here working.”The theft wasn’t noticed for hours, and in the meantime Cavalcante, 34, traveled more than 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast to East Pikeland Township and Phoenixville. Shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday he went to an East Pikeland Towns...

Lil Nas X documentary premiere delayed by bomb threat at Toronto International Film Festival

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:53 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — The premiere of the documentary “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero” was delayed after a bomb threat was called in at the Toronto International Film Festival. The Saturday night premiere of the film at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall was delayed by about 20 minutes while authorities verified that the threat wasn’t credible. Lil Nas X was kept off the red carpet during that time. Judy Lung, vice president of public affairs and communications for TIFF, said in a statement that Toronto police investigated the vicinity of the red carpet ahead of the screening. “Our standard security measures remained in place during this time and the screening commenced with a slight delay,” Lung said. “To our knowledge, this was a general threat and not directed at the film or the artist.”“Long Live Montero,” directed by Carlos López Estrada and Zac Manuel, documents the pop superstar’s eight-month tour beginning in September 2022 for his full-length debut album “Montero.” The Ass...