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Sales tax holiday returns this weekend – here’s how it works and what’s tax free

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

It’s nearly that special time of year again when, for a brief 48-hour window, Massachusetts becomes a little bit more like New Hampshire.This weekend and this weekend only the state will pause its 6.25% tax on qualifying purchases, bringing it temporarily more into line with its permanently tax free neighbor to the north.“As Citizens for Limited Taxation use to say, every tax cut is a pay raise. For one short weekend, Massachusetts taxpayers can take advantage of the benefit New Hampshire taxpayers enjoy every single day,” Paul Craney, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance told the Herald. “There is nothing gimmicky about Massachusetts taxpayers saving some more of their hard earned money. No one knows how to better spend their own money, than the taxpayers.”First tried for a single day in 2004, the practice became an annual full weekend holiday in 2018 with an aim toward boosting consumer spending, even if at the expense of millions in sales tax revenue.Accordi...

A shark along Cape Cod got hooked by a bass fisherman’s lure; shark washes up on Crane Beach

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

Fishing along Cape Cod these days? There’s a chance you could hook a large apex predator.After multiple fishermen reported great white sharks jumping out of the water to grab striped bass on fishing lines, the latest shark and fishermen encounter involved a great white getting hooked by a bass fisherman’s lure.Triton Sportfishing — based out of Rock Harbor, Orleans — recently caught a white shark when the apex predator took a bite on a bass lure.“Catch of the day right there,” a crew member said in a video of the hooked great white shark.“New England is swimming with sharks this year, and this crew got an up close look at this beautiful, wild creature,” Triton Sportfishing posted, later adding, “You never know what you’re going to get when you go fishing in Cape Cod!”The great white shark was let go after it was hooked. The sharks are federally protected, and fishermen must release them.“Lots of bass fishermen a...

Northern Yukon fly-in community of Old Crow is ordered evacuated due to wildfire risk

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

WHITEHORSE — The remote fly-in community of Old Crow in Yukon has been ordered evacuated due to a weather change that increases the risk of wildfires.The Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation government says it issued the order as a precaution due to winds from the north and northeast that are expected to “significantly increase” in the next two days.The community of approximately 250 people, located about 800 kilometres north of Whitehorse, has been under an evacuation alert since Aug. 3 because of several wildfires burning nearby.Diana Dryburgh with the territorial emergency measures organization, says Air North — an airline partially owned by the First Nation — will be flying residents to Inuvik in small aircraft before a larger plane can fly them on to Whitehorse.Old Crow is the second Yukon community to be recently placed under an evacuation order.Mayo, about 400 kilometres north of Whitehorse, was ordered evacuated on Sunday due to the nearby Talbot Creek fire.The Yukon gov...

Biden reelection campaign offering joint meeting with Obama as ex-president enters 2024 fray early

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is raising money for his reelection campaign by offering donors the chance to meet himself and Barack Obama, meaning the former president will be entering the 2024 political fray earlier than he did during last year’s midterms or the last presidential election. An email to supporters urged them to donate for a chance to “meet President Biden and President Obama” and featured a hypothetical text message chain where Biden writes “Hey pal, what do you say we band together to thank some grassroots supporters in person” and Obama replies “See you there” together with a smiling emoji wearing sunglasses.Biden also posted on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, “You and a guest could win a trip to meet @BarackObama and me” over a photo of the two posing for a selfie. Obama has frequently campaigned for his former vice president and Democratic leaders around the country, though usually not this early in the campaign cycle, given t...

2 still sought in connection with Alabama riverfront brawl that drew national attention

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Police in Alabama are still looking to arrest two boaters on misdemeanor assault charges in connection with a riverside brawl that drew national attention. Major Saba Coleman of the Montgomery Police Department said two of the three people facing charges are still being sought. The three are charged in connection with an attack on a riverboat captain and another dock worker that sparked a riverside brawl in Alabama’s capital city. “We have one assailant from the pontoon boat in custody. Two others did not honor their agreement to surrender to authorities so MPD will do what it takes to bring them to justice,” Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed wrote on social media. The two do not live in Montgomery, so police will need help from another law enforcement agency to pick them up.The melee, where sides broke down along racial lines, began Saturday evening when a moored pontoon boat blocked the Harriott II riverboat from docking in its designated space along the c...

6-vehicle crash in North York involves stolen car, driver arrested

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

Toronto police say multiple people are injured, and a driver has been arrested following a six-vehicle crash in North York that saw a stolen vehicle flipped over.Authorities were notified of a multi-vehicle crash in the Yonge Street and Empress Avenue area around 5 p.m. on Wednesday.Police said six vehicles were involved, and the driver of a stolen car, which flipped over due to the crash, was arrested at the scene.Three people were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.Police said Yonge Street is expected to be closed for some time, and drivers are being advised of delays in the area as the investigation continues.COLLISION: UPDATEYonge St + Empress Av– Police are on scene investigating– 6 vehicles involved– Flipped vehicle is stolen, driver has been arrested– 3 ppl taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries– Yonge St will be closed for a while^lb— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) August 9, 2023

Biden wants to compensate New Mexico residents sickened by radiation during 1945 nuclear testing

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

BELEN, N.M. (AP) — President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he’s open to granting assistance for people sickened by exposure to radiation during nuclear weapons testing, including in New Mexico, where the world’s first atomic bomb was tested in 1945.Biden brought up the issue while speaking Wednesday in Belen at a factory that produces wind towers.“I’m prepared to help in terms of making sure that those folks are taken care of,” he said. The state’s place in American history as a testing ground has gotten more attention recently with the release of “Oppenheimer,” a movie about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the top-secret Manhattan Project.Biden watched the film last week while on vacation in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico spoke of how the first bomb was tested on soil just south of where the event was. The senator also discussed getting an amendment into the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which gives payments to people become il...

Virginia prison officials won’t divulge complaints about facility where inmate died

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia Department of Corrections, under scrutiny over the death of an inmate that raised broader questions about conditions at a southwest Virginia prison, is refusing to release public records documenting inmate complaints about the facility.Allegations that multiple inmates were treated for hypothermia arose as part of a lawsuit over Charles Givens’ death last year at the Marion Correctional Treatment Center. The lawsuit alleges Givens was tortured and beaten by guards off-camera.The Department of Corrections said Wednesday that it isn’t required to turn over dozens of pages of documents because they involve incarcerated people and relate to their imprisonment. The agency refused to hand over the documents even with the names of prisoners’ and corrections officers redacted. The Associated Press had asked the department for two years’ worth of any inmate complaints related to topics such as uncomfortably cold temperatures at the prison, nonfunctioni...

Sudan fighting is driving country to collapse and millions face a ‘humanitarian calamity’, UN says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Nearly four months of brutal fighting is driving Sudan to collapse with millions of people trapped in a “humanitarian calamity” and the possibility of a new ethnic conflict spilling into the region, U.N. officials said Wednesday.The dire briefings to the U.N. Security Council by Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee and the U.N. humanitarian agency’s operations director, Edem Wosornu, painted a grim picture of escalating clashes and no sign of an end to the conflict, which the government said in June had killed more than 3,000 people. No figures have been released since then.Wosornu said the country’s descent into “a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe” has only deepened with more than 4 million people fleeing their homes and over 20 million — more than half the population — facing “high levels of food insecurity,” or serious hunger.The fighting pits forces loyal to top army Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan against the paramilitary forces commanded by his rival, Gen...

Hawaii officials prepare for thousands of people displaced by fires. Follow along for live updates

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

Follow along for live updates of wildfires that are racing across part of Maui in Hawaii, destroying sections of a historic town on the island and forcing some to flee to the relative safety of the ocean, where the Coast Guard rescued them. The fires forced evacuations in some areas, including the popular tourist spot of Lahaina Town. The National Weather Service says Hurricane Dora, which is passing south of the island chain at a safe distance, was partly to blame for strong winds driving the flames, knocking out power and grounding firefighting helicopters. OFFICIALS PREPARE FOR THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE DISPLACED BY FIRESOfficials are preparing the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu to accommodate up to 4,000 people displaced by the wildfires that swept across parts of Maui. James Tokioka, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, said the center is not just for tourists, but also for locals. “Local people have lost everything,” he said. “They’ve lost ...