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Stock market today: Asian shares trade mixed ahead of a key US jobs report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:41 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were trading mixed Friday as investors looked toward a United States jobs report being released later in the day. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.6% in morning trading to 32,820.80. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.4% to 7,278.30. South Korea’s Kospi was virtually unchanged, inching down less than 0.1% to 2,556.57. The Shanghai Composite added 0.4% to 3,131.93.Trading was halted in Hong Kong because of an approaching typhoon. Schools and businesses were shut as an official warning was issued about Super Typhoon Saola. Later Friday, the U.S. government will report employment data for August. The strong job market, along with consumer spending, has so far helped thwart a recession that analysts expected at some point in 2023. But they also made the Federal Reserve’s task of taming inflation more difficult by fueling wage and price increases.On Wall Street, the S&P 500 gave up an early gain to close 0.2% lower, falling to 4,507.6...

Hawaii investigates unsolicited land offers as the state tries to keep Lahaina in local hands

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:41 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said Thursday his administration has opened several investigations into people who have allegedly made unsolicited offers for property in the fire-stricken Maui town of Lahaina in violation of a new emergency order.Green prohibited such offers by signing an emergency proclamation earlier this week aimed at preventing land in the historic coastal community from flowing into the hands of outside buyers. The order aims to give residents some “breathing room” as they decide what to do next, Green said in an interview with The Associated Press.Even before the Aug. 8 fire, Lahaina was a rapidly gentrifying town and there’s been widespread concern since that Native Hawaiians and local-born residents who have owned properties in their families for generations might feel pressured to sell. The fear is they would leave Lahaina, or Maui or the state, take their culture and traditions with them and contribute to the ongoing exodus of Hawaii’s people to les...

One person seriously injured in Regent Park fire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:41 GMT

One person was taken to hospital with serious injuries following a one-alarm fire in Regent Park.Fire crews were called to a highrise in the area of Oak and River Streets, south of Gerrard Street East around 9:14 p.m. Thursday night. Firefighters were met with heavy, thick smoke coming from multiple floors of the building. The fire was quickly extinguished and no evacuation orders were issued. Police say one person was taken to a nearby hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries. There is no indication at this time of what may have caused the blaze.

September, 2023 opens with temperatures on the rise

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:41 GMT

Building weekend heat rises, strengthening “SW” winds into Chicago, defeating lake cooling. Humidities to “take off” Monday, Tuesday and WednesdayAugust, 2023’s final morning was the coolest in 75 days—2.5 monthsThursday with lows of 54 degrees at both of Chicago’s major city airports, O’Hare and Midway. Not since a 53-degree minimum the morning of June 17th has it been cooler.AND THERE WERE CHILLIER READINGS AWAY FROM THE CITY AND LAKE MICHIGANThursday morning lows dropped to 37 degrees as close by as Sparta, Wisconsin—215 miles to Chicago’s northwest.CHECK OUT THESE THURSDAY MORNING LOWS in and surrounding the Greater Chicago areaTHE WARMER THAN NORMAL OCEAN WATERSHurricane expert Dr. Jeff Masters is out with a fascinating article in Yale Climate Connections on the likely impact of the warmer than normal ocean waters over which Hurricane Idalia traveled on the storm's intensity.Masters notes the notion warmer ocean temps strengthen hurricanes’ winds dates back to at least 1987 whe...

2 dead, including shooter, and 1 injured in shooting at The Arboretum

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:41 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Two people are dead and one person was taken to the hospital in critical condition after a shooting at The Arboretum shopping center in northwest Austin, according to Austin police. One of the people who died at the scene is believed to be the shooter, APD said. They believe there is no threat to the general public. At 5 p.m., APD responded to a 911 call of shots fired in the 10000 block of Research Boulevard, APD Interim Chief of Police Robin Henderson said during the media briefing Thursday night. Police arrived seven minutes after the first call, the interim police chief said. Two people were found dead on the scene and one person was taken to the hospital in critical condition, APD said. Henderson would not say what the relationship between the shooter and the victims was. Henderson said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire and Explosives (ATF) and APD bomb squad responded to the scene because some people reported hearing what they believed to be an explosion. T...

No. 21 Weiss overwhelms LBJ with offense in 44-19 win

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:41 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Weiss' stable of playmakers was on full display in a 44-19 win over LBJ on Thursday at The Pfield.The Wolves, ranked No. 21 in this week's Dave Campbell's Texas Football/Associated Press 6A Top 25, built a 44-7 lead by halftime led by two scores by junior receiver Adrian Wilson and the play of quarterback Jax Brown.REPORT YOUR SCORE: We'd love to post your team's score on our website, but we need your help to do it. Email the score of your game to [email protected] and we'll get it on our websiteWilson hauled in scoring passes of 18 and 38 yards in the first quarter while Brown threw for four touchdowns in the game. The Wolves blocked a punt in the first quarter for a safety to take a 16-0 lead and then scored on the ensuing drive on Wilson's second touchdown catch. That made the score 23-0 Wolves with 5:33 left in the first quarter.After Weiss running back Braiden Wooley scored his second touchdown of the game, Weiss staked claim to a 37-0 lead with 3:50 left in the f...

Texas high school football scores for Thursday, August 31

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:41 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Bastrop Bears kept their record unblemished at 2-0 after edging Leander 41-40 on Thursday, stuffing the Lions' 2-point conversion with seven seconds left in the game.Weiss, ranked No. 21 in the Dave Campbell's Texas Football/Associated Press Class 6A rankings, built a 44-7 halftime lead to cruise past LBJ 44-19 and Westwood topped Austin High 49-14.REPORT YOUR SCORE: We'd love to post your team's score on our website, but we need your help to do it. Email the score of your game to [email protected] and we'll get it on our websiteKilleen outlasted Stony Point in a 48-40 shootout and the Austin Achieve Polar Bears roared in a 50-12 win over Eastside.Scores from around the KXAN viewing areaAustin Achieve 50, Eastside 12Bastrop 41, Leander 40Hendrickson 26, Killeen Ellison 21Killeen 48, Stony Point 40Weiss 44, LBJ 19Westwood 49, Austin High 14Scores from around Texas compiled with help from the Associated PressCLASS 6AAldine Nimitz 53, Cypress Ridge 0Alief Taylor 41, H...

High school football roundup: Obe Eyafe scores four times as Andover downs St. Thomas Academy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:41 GMT

Andover 55, St. Thomas Academy 29: Obe Eyafe scored four times for the Huskies on Thursday, three times on the ground and again on a 95-yard kickoff return taken to the house as Andover scored 45 first-half points to hand St. Thomas Academy its first regular-season loss since 2019.Savion Hart ran in all four of the Cadets’ touchdowns.Mounds View 17, Farmington 7: The Mustangs’ defense held Farmington to fewer than 120 yards of total offense, while the Mounds View offense was able to do just enough.Peter Nguyen caught a 3-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to put Mounds View up 10-0. Then, in a 10-7 game in the fourth, Jack Bongard essentially put the game on ice with a 2-yard scoring plunge.St. Agnes 51, Spectrum 6: Evanson Plamann ran just six times for the Aggies on Thursday, but he did plenty of damage. Plamann tallied 116 yards and two scores on the ground.Landen Mickelson was equally as efficient in the passing game, completing six of his seven attempts for 1...

In likely Twins harbinger, Louie Varland pitches out of bullpen for Saints

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:41 GMT

Twins officials floated the possibility a few weeks back of Saints starting pitcher Louie Varland rejoining the Twins in September as a member of their bullpen. On the last day of August the move all but became a reality.Varland was scratched from his scheduled start for the Saints on Thursday at CHS Field and instead pitched out of the bullpen in the Saints’ 10-inning, 8-7 win over Columbus.Varland entered the game in the top of the third inning with the Saints trailing 4-0. He pitched four innings, allowing one run on three hits while striking out four. Afterward, he said he has not heard anything from Twins management about his situation and at this point considers himself to be “starter depth” in case someone gets hurt.He did say, however, that he has known for about a week and a half that they wanted him to pitch out of the bullpen for the Saints this week. Asked why he thought they wanted to make that change, he said, “For bullpen experience. In case, maybe.”Varland said he ha...

High school football: Lakeville North uses experience to its advantage in 35-14 win over Stillwater

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:52:41 GMT

A year ago, Lakeville North junior Riley Grossman was the less experienced quarterback on the field when his team traveled to Stillwater High School and fell to current Minnesota Gopher Max Shikenjanski and the Ponies in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.Thursday night, though, the roles were reversed.This time, it was Grossman and the Panthers who had the veteran edge, and that proved the difference in a 35-14 season-opening win at Pony Stadium.“I’m trusting in my guys and I feel a lot more confident,” said Grossman, who finished 11 of 14 passing for 148 yards and three touchdown passes as he entered his third season as Lakeville North’s starting quarterback. “It just seemed like everything was clicking tonight.”It helped that the Panthers had a big game on the ground — led by senior Sawyer Wilkie, who finished with 145 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries.“Honestly, it’s been a while since we’ve had something like that going,” said Wilkie, whose team finished 4-6 i...