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Column: F1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix shaping up to be both a spectacle and an expensive headache

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:11:27 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — It was a pretty typical weekend in Las Vegas, with Adele performing at Caesars Palace, U2 at the newly opened largest spherical structure in the world, NASCAR in town and the Raiders hosting the Patriots. An exhaustive set of entertainment options. With it came the traffic snarls — on foot or car — from every road closure, redirection or new fencing erected along the Las Vegas Strip as part of construction preparations for a Formula One race that is still a month away. The inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, if nothing else, will be a sensory overload of neon bright lights, roaring race cars and some of the wealthiest F1 fans in the world in attendance. But the daily disruptions have created a vibe that the ballyhooed event might also be an expensive, logistical headache. American fans of the global racing series have grumbled since tickets went on sale that they’ve been priced out of this year’s third F1 stop in the United States. The race is being promoted...

CDC Director urges winter vaccinations in South Florida

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:11:27 GMT

With the arrival of the winter season on the horizon, public health experts are sounding the alarm about the potential risks for the unvaccinated population. Dr. Mandy Cohen, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, was in South Florida on Monday leading a proactive effort to bolster vaccination rates and safeguard the community.“At any age, you need to be thinking about protecting yourself for the winter,” said Cohen. Cohen visited a CVS Pharmacy in Southwest Miami-Dade where COVID-19 and flu vaccinations were available, emphasizing the importance of getting vaccinated as winter approaches. The urgency is underlined by recent federal data revealing that Florida has reported approximately 1,300 COVID-19 deaths in the past three months.So far, more than 8 million Americans have received the vaccine. According to Cohen, the elderly and those with higher risks should consider getting the vaccine. “This virus has changed and the updated CO...

Ex-NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown arrested in Broward County for allegedly failing to pay child support

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:11:27 GMT

Former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown was arrested on Sunday for failure to pay child support, following a warrant issued by a Miami-Dade judge in August, according to officials. According to the arrest report, Brown, whose legal issues have been in the spotlight, was taken into custody outside of his Broward County home.SEE ALSO: Dashcam video captures altercation between Antonio Brown, moving truck driver outside Hollywood homeAntonio Brown faces arrest warrant for domestic incident in TampaAttorney: Antonio Brown trashed Sunny Isles Beach condo, threw furniture to pool areaAntonio Brown accused of raping trainer in South Florida federal lawsuitThe warrant stemmed from Brown’s alleged failure to meet child support obligations to Wiltrice Jackson, the mother of his daughter Antanyiah, born in 2008. In an interview with TMZ, Jackson said Brown owes her more than $30,000.The arrest unfolded when a deputy pulled over a taxi in which Brown was riding during a routine traffic st...

BSO: Oakland Park grandmother arrested in death of 11-month-old

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:11:27 GMT

Broward Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit detectives have arrested 53-year-old Tibina Louissant for the aggravated manslaughter of her 11-month-old grandson, Josiah Fenelus, who died while in her care, officials said on Monday. The arrest comes after an investigation into the child’s death revealed a lethal concentration of the prescription antihistamine cyproheptadine in his system, BSO said in a news release.According to officials, on Aug. 21, 2022, at around 9:30 a.m., Broward County Regional Communications received a call reporting an unresponsive child in the 124 N.W. 40th Court in Oakland Park. BSO Oakland Park District deputies and Oakland Park Fire Rescue responded, transporting Josiah Fenelus to Broward Health Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased.Officials said detectives discovered that the family had left Josiah in the care of Louissant, his paternal grandmother, over the weekend. While at Louissant’s home, Josiah, who had no known medical issues, became u...

2 shot dead in Brussels ‘terrorist attack’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:11:27 GMT

A shooter killed two people near the center of Brussels on Monday evening, in what Belgium’s foreign minister has condemned as a “terrorist attack.”Police said gunshots were fired near Place Sainctelette and Boulevard du Neuvième de Ligne shortly after 7 p.m. and patrols were immediately dispatched to the scene.Two people were confirmed dead, said Brussels police spokesperson Ilse Van de Keere, but more details were not immediately available. “The investigation is ongoing,” she said.Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said: “My deepest condolences to the relatives of this cowardly attack in Brussels. We are monitoring the situation and ask the people of Brussels to be vigilant.”He added that he had passed on his condolences to Sweden’s prime minister “following tonight’s harrowing attack on Swedish citizens.” Sweden is playing Belgium in an international football match at the national stadium in northern Brussels. Belgia...

Clashes at Lebanon-Israel border raise fears of wider war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:11:27 GMT

Southern Lebanon (CNN) — On the face of it, the crossfire on Lebanon’s border with Israel appears marginal, dwarfed by the scale and intensity of the Hamas-Israel war further south.The fighting has stayed within a roughly 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) radius of either side of the demarcation line, with at least 13 people killed since last Saturday.Yet this barely populated swathe of mountainous terrain could be the launching pad of a regional war, drawing in a myriad of actors, including Iran and the United States.Hezbollah – an Iran-backed armed group that is also a regional force in its own right – dominates south Lebanon. It also operates alongside Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria, where the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights separates Israel from Tehran-aligned fighters.Iran’s Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian on Monday raised the specter of expanded fighting after talking to counterparts in Tunisia, Malaysia and Pakistan.“Underlined the need to immediate...

CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid are closing thousands of stores. Here’s why

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:11:27 GMT

New York (CNN) — Drug store chains for decades saturated US cities, suburbs and small towns with new stores.Now, they are closing thousands of stores, leaving gaps in communities for medicines and essentials. Researchers find pharmacy closures lead to health risks such as older adults failing to take medication.Rite Aid, the third largest standalone pharmacy chain, filed for bankruptcy Sunday and will reportedly close roughly 400 to 500 of its approximately 2,200 stores.Rite Aid was undone by competition from larger rivals, its $3.3 billion debt load, and expensive legal battles for its alleged role in fueling the opioid crisis.It comes amid walkouts by Walgreens pharmacists and technicians around the country and at CVS stores in Kansas City over low pay and understaffed stores.Drug store strugglesRite Aid’s bankruptcy reflects long-term struggles in the retail pharmacy industry.The majority of drug stores’ sales comes from filling prescriptio...

These are the cities where hotel rates are rising fastest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:11:27 GMT

Lebawit Lily Girma | (TNS) Bloomberg NewsHotel room rates in major cities from Boston to Mumbai are expected to jump by double digits, even after predictions that prices were finally hitting a ceiling, according to a new report.Buenos Aires takes this year’s crown, with rates that are set to jump by 17% year over year, according to the Hotel Monitor 2024 report from American Express Global Business Travel. It examines how hotel prices are fluctuating in more than 80 cities around the world, with forecasts based on criteria such as currently listed prices, broader macroeconomic trends, hotel pipelines and historic data.Hotel prices reflect much more than a destination’s current popularity with travelers. In the Argentina capital, rates are largely being driven by the country’s ongoing hyperinflation crisis, which in September reached its worst levels since 1991. (Notably, the Amex study calculates rate hikes in the local currency.) In other words, the rising prices in Buenos Aires ar...

Proud Boys member pleads guilty to obstruction charge in Jan. 6 attack on Capitol

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:11:27 GMT

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — A Proud Boys member who joined others from the far-right group in attacking the U.S. Capitol pleaded guilty on Monday to obstructing the joint session of Congress for certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.William Chrestman, 49, of Kansas, also pleaded guilty to threatening to assault a federal officer during the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2023.U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly is scheduled to sentence Chrestman for his two felony convictions on Jan. 12. Estimated sentencing guidelines for his case recommended a prison term ranging from four years and three months to five years and three months.Chrestman brought an axe handle, gas mask, helmet and other tactical gear when he traveled to Washington, D.C., with other Proud Boys members from the Kansas City, Kansas, area, On Jan. 6, he marched to the Capitol grounds with dozens of other Proud Boys leaders, members and associates.Chrestman and other Proud Boys moved pas...

Ayanna Pressley joins Squad members in calling for ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Israel and Gaza

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:11:27 GMT

A week after U.S. Sen. Ed Markey was booed for his de-escalation remarks, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley has joined her fellow Squad members in calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in Israel and Gaza following the Hamas terrorist attacks and deadly fallout.Pressley on Monday signed on to a progressive Congressional resolution that urges the President Biden administration to support an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Israel and Gaza. Hamas is still holding nearly 200 hostages in Gaza, according to the Israeli military.The Boston congresswoman joined Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, Jamaal Bowman and other members of Congress in backing the “Ceasefire Now Resolution.” Thirteen representatives are named in the resolution.“The loss of every Palestinian, Israeli, and American life we have seen in the past week is absolutely devastating and the grief and trauma in our communities is palpable,” Pressley...