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Ticker: Bay State gas prices drop a penny; Farmers Insurance cutting 2,400 jobs 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

Gas prices in Massachusetts dropped a penny last week driven largely by lower prices for crude amid growing demand. But, economists warn the building peak of the Atlantic storm season could be a factor in the weeks ahead.“Although the national average did a U-turn this week, the road ahead could lead to higher prices,” said Mark Schieldrop, AAA Northeast Senior Spokesperson. “Ongoing concerns regarding potential storm activity could hinder falling pump prices this fall.”A gallon of gas was running  $3.76 a gallon Monday, 13 cents higher than a month ago and a full 31 cents lower than a year ago. The price at the pum is 5 cents lower in Massachusetts than the national average.Farmers Insurance cutting 2,400 jobsFarmers Insurance said Monday it will lay off 11% of its workforce — about 2,400 employees — as part of a corporate restructuring aimed at increasing its efficiency and long-term profitability.The California-based insurer owned by Swiss giant Zurich Insurance Group said the jo...

Battenfeld: First major shake-up of Healey administration shrouded in mystery

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

Transportation Secretary Gina Fiandaca’s departure was an open secret days ago but the reasons for her quick exit remain shrouded in mystery thanks to the non-responsive Healey administration.Fiandaca was clearly forced out after just eight months on the job — the first major shakeup of the first-term governor’s tenure — yet Healey attempted to praise the MassDot boss on the way out the door.The governor “wishes her well in all of her future endeavors” – a statement that usually means someone has just been pushed out. But the statement says nothing about why she’s leaving. No explanation whatsoever.“She hit the ground running and has delivered on many of our key transportation priorities,” Healey said in her statement.In reality, Fiandaca never delivered on the most important priority – improving the T and holding the agency accountable.Healey spokeswoman Karissa Hand refused to even respond to repeated inquiries by the Herald about Fiandaca on Friday evening when ...

3M agrees to pay more than $5.5 billion over combat earplugs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

3M Co. has tentatively agreed to pay more than $5.5 billion to resolve over 300,000 lawsuits claiming it sold the US military defective combat earplugs, people familiar with the deal said. The settlement would avert a potentially much larger liability that 3M sought to curb through a controversial bankruptcy case that ultimately collapsed. The sum is about half the roughly $10 billion some financial analysts predicted 3M could end up paying over allegations that the earplugs didn’t adequately protect the hearing of service members.Traders welcomed the resolution. 3M shares gained $5.17 Monday, closing at $104.12 on the news.“Sounds like 3M negotiated a pretty good deal for itself, given this litigation has been weighing on them for the better part of a decade,” said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor who teaches about product liability cases.A 3M representative said the company doesn’t comment on rumor or speculation.Analysts at Barclays had estimated that the ...

Heat wave to close out August before Labor Day weekend cooldown

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- It's a hot start to the week with rising temperatures expected to heat up anywhere east of the beaches through Wednesday. By Thursday, some relief is in sight temperature-wise with more cloud coverage and a deepening marine layer on tap as we head into Labor Day weekend. Monday and Tuesday will continue to be toasty with a shallow marine layer along the coast. Expect hot and dry conditions with daytime highs landing most inland areas five to 10 degrees above average. For the low deserts, highs are reaching up to 12 degrees above the 30-year average. Could excessive heat mean more snakes indoors? Snakes need shade, too By mid-week, we could see the heat take a back seat and simmer down. Low pressure over the Pacific Ocean could soon influence the weather pattern pushing the current ridge of high pressure more east over Arizona and New Mexico. Until then, we'll continue to see temperatures well above-average. As of Monday morning, the valleys and the deserts are under ...

Faculty member fatally shot in University of North Carolina building

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — A shooter killed a faculty member in a science building at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Monday, police said after a lockdown paralyzed the campus community as authorities searched for a suspect.Police arrested the suspect about an hour and a half after the initial reports of shots fired came in from Caudill Labs, officials said at a news conference. Charges were pending, and the suspect was not immediately identified.University officials also did not immediately identify the staffer who was killed and said it was too soon to offer a possible motive.“This loss is devastating, and the shooting damages the trust and safety that we so often take for granted in our campus community,” Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said.Emergency sirens sounded about two minutes after a 911 caller reported gunfire at the laboratory in the heart of the flagship campus, UNC Police Chief Brian James said.Students and faculty barricaded themselves in dorm rooms, off...

Powerful earthquakes rock Indonesia’s Bali and Java islands, no casualties reported

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — A powerful earthquake and an aftershock rocked Indonesia’s resort island of Bali and other parts of the country on Tuesday, causing panic but no immediate reports of damage or casualties.The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 7.1 earthquake was centered 181 kilometers (112 miles) northeast of Gili Air, a tiny island near the coast of Lombok Island, next to Bali, at a depth of 513.5 kilometers (319 miles).Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency said there was no danger of a tsunami but warned of possible aftershocks. The agency put a preliminary magnitude at 7.4. Variations in early measurements are common.A 5.4 magnitude aftershock hit the same area a few minutes later just before dawn.Many residents and tourists rushed out of their homes and hotels toward higher ground after reporting powerful shockwaves, but the situation returned to normal after they received text messages saying the quake had no potential to trigger a tsunami...

Joe the Plumber, who questioned Obama’s tax proposals during the 2008 campaign, has died at 49

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Samuel “Joe” Wurzelbacher, who was thrust into the political spotlight as “Joe the Plumber” after questioning Barack Obama about his economic proposals during the 2008 presidential campaign, and who later forayed into politics himself, has died, his son said Monday. He was 49.His oldest son, Joey Wurzelbacher, said his father died Sunday in Wisconsin after a long illness. His family announced this year on an online fundraising site that he had pancreatic cancer.“The only thing I have to say is that he was a true patriot,” Joey Wurzelbacher — whose father had the middle name Joseph and went by Joe — said in a telephone interview. “His big thing is that everyone comes to God. That’s what he taught me, and that’s a message I hope is heard by a lot of people.”He went from toiling as a plumber in suburban Toledo, Ohio, to life as a media sensation when he asked Obama about his tax plan during a campaign stop. Their exchange and Obama’s response that he wanted to “spre...

Quebec kids killed: Domestic homicide often follows many warning signs, experts say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

MONTREAL — The death of a Quebec man and his two children is a reminder for Canadians to be aware of the warning signs that someone may harm members of their own family, domestic violence researchers say.Police allege that Ian Lamontagne, 46, killed his two three-year-old children, Antoine and Tristan Lamontagne, before killing himself in Notre-Dame-des-Prairies, Que., northeast of Montreal, on Saturday.Katreena Scott, with the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children at Western University, says cases of domestic homicide usually follow multiple warning signs.“Domestic homicides are among the most predictable and the most preventable of all homicides,” she said Monday in a phone interview. “If we look back, we know that there are things that are going wrong and it’s a matter of being able to put the pieces together and act on those concerns.”A recent separation, escalation of abuse, expressions of fear from a victim, or a...

FEMA changes wildfire compensation rules for New Mexicans impacted by last year’s historic blaze

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced changes Monday to its wildfire compensation rules after last year’s planned burn by the U.S. Forest Service exploded into the largest and most destructive blaze in New Mexico’s recorded history.FEMA officials said they are expanding coverage for those impacted by the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire for mental health treatment and reduced long-term property values, and removing the 25% cap on reforestation, revegetation costs and risk reduction practices.The changes stem from the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act, which U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan and other members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation helped get passed last year.The legislation also established a claims office within FEMA that Lujan said has secured $3.95 billion for New Mexico families and businesses impacted by the wildfire.“The federal government started these fires and now it has a moral obligation to help New ...

Wisconsin Supreme Court chief justice accuses liberal majority of staging a ‘coup’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The conservative chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Monday told the new liberal majority in a scathing email that they had staged a “coup” and conducted an “illegal experiment” when they voted to weaken her powers and fire the director of state courts.Chief Justice Annette Ziegler, in two emails obtained by The Associated Press, said that firing and hiring a new state court director was illegal and ordered interim state court director Audrey Skwierawski to stop signing orders without her knowledge or approval.“You are making a mess of the judiciary, the court and the institution for years to come,” Ziegler wrote to her fellow justices and Skwierawski. “This must stop. … I have no confidence in the recent hostile takeover and the chaotic effect it has had on the court, staff, and the overall stable functioning of the courts.”Liberals gained a 4-3 majority on Aug. 1 when Justice Janet Protasiewicz began her 10-year term after winning elect...