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Former ‘American Idol’ contestant’s backpack catches fire on FLL-bound JetBlue flight before takeoff from JFK

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:49 GMT

A former “American Idol” contestant is sharing his story following an incident on a JetBlue flight from New York to South Florida where his bag suddenly caught on fire as he waited for takeoff.Video from an Instagram video posted by singer Jimmy Levy on Wednesday captured the chaotic moments after crew members and passengers on board JetBlue Flight 1401 helped put out the flames.The caption reads, “My backpack just exploded on my flight, Thank God everyone is ok…”Speaking with 7News on Thursday, Levy said he was abruptly awakened by intense heat while on board JetBlue Flight 1401, moments before takeoff on Monday.His backpack, initially stowed beneath the seat in front of him, had become engulfed in flames.“I close my eyes, I go to sleep, I hear a big explosion,” he said, “and I opened my eyes, and my backpack that was under my seat shoots up in like a ball of fire coming toward my face, and I push it down.”Seconds later, Levy sa...

House passes $14.3 billion in Israel aid, setting up showdown with Senate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:49 GMT

(CNN) — The House passed a bill on Thursday to provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel as it fights a war against Hamas – a move that sets up a clash with the Democratic-led Senate in an early leadership test for Speaker Mike Johnson.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called the House GOP bill a “deeply flawed proposal” that the Senate will not take it up. Democrats are objecting to the fact that the bill does not include aid to Ukraine and would enact funding cuts to the Internal Revenue Service. The House vote was 226 to 196. Two Republicans opposed the bill and 12 Democrats supported it.Democrats have called for aid to Israel to be paired with additional security assistance for Ukraine in its war against Russia. In the Senate, there is bipartisan support for aid to Israel and further aid to Ukraine. But in the House, many Republicans are opposed to sending more aid to Ukraine, putting the two chambers at odds.In an attempt to offset the cost of...

Red Sox introduce Craig Breslow as new chief baseball officer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:49 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Craig Breslow got a taste of what baseball means to Boston during two stints as a left-hander in the Red Sox bullpen.But the experience that best prepared him for his new job may have come when he was working in the Cubs front office and he traded away his kid’s favorite player.“I’ve worn multiple hats, and I think I’ve got a unique perspective,” Breslow said Thursday in a Fenway Park news conference where he was introduced as the team’s chief baseball officer. “I also think I have the willingness and the conviction to make the tough decisions necessary to succeed in this role.”A journeyman who bounced around 10 different organizations during 16 years in professional baseball, Breslow takes over the Red Sox front office from fellow Yalie Chaim Bloom, who was fired with three weeks left in the season as the team stumbled to its third last-place finish in four years.Breslow had been working as an assistant general manager in Chicago. He was hired there and mentored...

E-cigarette rates drop for high schoolers, but tobacco use jumps for middle schoolers: ‘Our work is far from over’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:49 GMT

E-cigarette and tobacco rates have dropped among high school students, while tobacco use has jumped for middle schoolers across the U.S.That’s according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, which found that about 50% of students who ever tried e-cigarettes reported currently using them — a sign that many youth who try e-cigarettes remain e-cigarette users.The CDC and FDA study is based on the results from the 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey. Students in the survey were asked whether they’ve used tobacco products in the last month.Among high school students, past 30-day use of any tobacco product declined from last year to this year — from 16.5% to 12.6%. That drop was primarily driven by a decline in e-cigarette use (14.1% to 10.0%).But middle schooler tobacco use went up significantly, according to the report. Past 30-day use of at least one tobacco product jumped from 4.5% last year to n...

Former MSA Chair Thomas Kelso: A flock of unanswered questions in Orioles deal | READER COMMENTARY

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:49 GMT

In response to Hayes Gardner’s excellent article, “‘Essentially gifting the land’: Economists pan land deal with Orioles; state says it will ‘reinvigorate’ Camden Yards” (Oct. 27), there are still many unanswered questions about the development agreement included in the memorandum of understanding between Gov. Wes Moore and Orioles Chairman and CEO John Angelos. These include:Is the state receiving adequate value for this agreement? Under the MOU, the state will lease the property to Angelos for 99 years and receive $94 million in rent over that time. Based on a present value analysis of the rents to be received over the term of the lease, $94 million is worth somewhere between $13 million and $20 million in today’s dollars. So how much are the state-owned properties included in the development agreement worth?Without a procurement process whereby the Maryland Stadium Authority would solicit proposals from qualified developers and with...

Craig Breslow returns to Red Sox ready for a challenge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:49 GMT

“I’ve watched a lot of baseball games at Fenway Park. Some from the stands, some from the bleachers, but mostly from the bullpen. I know what it’s like to put on a Red Sox jersey, to jog through the bullpen gate across freshly-cut outfield grass. I know what it’s like to stand on the mound in front of tens of thousands of the most passionate fans in the game …“I know what it means to win in Boston.”That was how Craig Breslow began reintroducing himself on Thursday morning when the Red Sox officially welcomed him back to Fenway Park.The 43-year-old pitcher-turned-executive has officially come full circle, from underrated bullpen contributor to heading up Boston’s baseball operations. His return comes at a critical juncture for Boston’s baseball club, which has finished at the bottom of the standings in three of the last four seasons. He’s expected to right the ship, no small task for a first-time chief baseball officer.He sounds like the man for the job: a sterling reputation, a bril...

Haley’s Comet: Standing-room only in New Hampshire for Nikki

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:49 GMT

LONDONDERRY, N.H. — A quick stop for an early-afternoon lunch at Poor Boy’s Diner was simply not an option, nor was parking in their oversized lot or along the street leading into it, after the restaurant filled to capacity with Nikki Haley supporters.Yet more sat outside in the early-November cold, seated in an overflow area well before the former South Carolina governor made her way down Rockingham Road and into the double-parked lot. It was unclear if the large SUV she stepped out of would have room to leave.After entering through the eatery’s back door, the former U.N. Ambassador shook hands with diners for a few minutes Thursday before New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu took to a microphone and introduced her as “someone that fulfills on the commitment, that conservative agenda that we’ve all been talking about, but boy, we’ve been dying for for the last eight years.”“I just found that guy in the kitchen eating,” Haley joked after.Londonderry, NH - ...

FTX founder Sam-Bankman-Fried convicted of defrauding cryptocurrency customers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:49 GMT

By LARRY NEUMEISTER (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s spectacular rise and fall in the cryptocurrency industry — a journey that included his testimony before Congress, a Super Bowl advertisement and dreams of a future run for president — hit a new bottom Thursday when a New York jury convicted him of fraud in a scheme that cheated customers and investors of at least $10 billion.After the monthlong trial, jurors rejected Bankman-Fried’s claim during four days on the witness stand in Manhattan federal court that he never committed fraud or meant to cheat customers before FTX, once the world’s second-largest crypto exchange, collapsed into bankruptcy a year ago.“His crimes caught up to him. His crimes have been exposed,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon told the jury of the onetime billionaire just before they were read the law by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan and began deliberations. Sassoon said Bankman-F...

Man killed, 1-year-old boy suffers fatal injuries in Montana shooting, suspects identified

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:49 GMT

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A man was shot to death and a 1-year-old boy suffered fatal injuries after gunfire was sprayed into a residence in Montana’s largest city. Several suspects have been identified as the investigation continues, Billings Police said Thursday.Wednesday’s shooting, coming just four days after a Rocky Mountain College football player was shot and killed near campus, led police Chief Rich St. John and other officials to hold a news conference to talk about the city’s increasing gun violence and gang activity. They asked residents to do their part to help prevent crime — including securing their firearms.“We’re seeing 14- to 24-year-old young males who don’t know how to problem-solve without gun violence,” St. John said. On Wednesday, neighbors reported the occupants of a pickup truck fired multiple rounds into a residence before speeding away, St. John said. Responding officers found a 31-year-old man dead lying on top of the boy, who was unresponsi...

House GOP targets IRS in bill to provide emergency aid to Israel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:49 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans went after the IRS — long a GOP whipping child — when they decided that emergency aid for Israel should be coupled with cuts elsewhere in the budget.The aid bill that passed the House on Thursday — unlikely to be approved by the Democratic-controlled Senate — would cut $14 billion from the nation’s tax collector in exchange for providing assistance to Israel. President Joe Biden has said he would veto the bill if it reaches his desk.The IRS cutback would cost taxpayers billions of dollars, not save money, according to independent budget analysts.A Congressional Budget Office analysis released this week states that the move would decrease revenues by $26.8 billion over the 2024 to 2033 period, resulting in a net increase in the deficit of $12.5 billion. That’s because it would take away money that the agency dedicated to auditing the wealthy, which brings in far more than it costs. “All of those funds go to increased scrutiny on tax eva...