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Business applications still surging: What new owners should know

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:18 GMT

A sustained high number of new business applications from mid-2020 to now indicates an optimism not necessarily shared across the economy. That ambition may be tested in the coming months.From January to July 2020 — the six-month period with a very short and deep recession smack dab in its middle — the number of applications for employer identification numbers (EINs) from the IRS nearly doubled. That ambitious optimism amid great economic uncertainty persists: As of April 2023, filings of these new business applications were 55% higher than in that January three years earlier.But banks are being more cautious about lending, and consumers may begin pulling back on spending after a long campaign by the Federal Reserve to cool the economy. New businesses, by their nature often on already-vulnerable financial footing, should prepare for rocky times with the knowledge that all healthy businesses, young or old, can benefit from contingency planning.New businesses still elevated, three yea...

Adult woman fraudulently enrolled in multiple BPS high schools, under police investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:18 GMT

An adult woman enrolled in three BPS high school in the last school year in a scheme using multiple pseudonyms and transfers and is now being investigated by police, BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper said in a letter to families at the schools Tuesday morning.“I am deeply troubled that an adult would breach the trust of our school communities by posing as a student,” Skipper said in a statement. “This appears to be a case of extremely sophisticated fraud.”The individual attended Jeremiah E. Burke High School, Brighton High School and English High School during the 2022-23 year.A BPS staff member at one of the schools identified “irregularities” in the individual’s paperwork and immediately notified district leadership who then informed police, the letter said. The adult was immediately discharged and ordered to stay away from BPS facilities.“While the investigation is in its early stages and remains ongoing, school officials have not ide...

Hunter Biden will plead guilty in a deal that likely averts time behind bars in a tax and gun case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:18 GMT

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s son Hunter will plead guilty to federal tax offenses but avoid prosecution on a separate gun charge in a deal with the Justice Department that likely spares him time behind bars.Hunter Biden, 52, will plead guilty to the misdemeanor tax offenses as part of an agreement made public Tuesday. The agreement will also avoid prosecution on a felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user, as long as he adheres to conditions set by prosecutors. It’s somewhat unusual to resolve a federal criminal case at the same time charges are filed in court but not unheard of.The deal ends a long-running Justice Department investigation into Biden’s second son, who has acknowledged struggling with addiction following the 2015 death of his brother Beau Biden. It also averts a trial that would have generated days or weeks of distracting headlines for a White House that has strenuously so...

Paris 2024 Olympics HQ searched in third consecutive Summer Games scandal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:18 GMT

By ANGELA CHARLTON and GRAHAM DUNBAR (Associated Press)PARIS (AP) — French investigators searched the Paris Olympic organizers’ headquarters on Tuesday as part of corruption investigations into contracts linked to the Games, according to officials, the third straight time graft allegations have dogged a Summer Olympics.The Paris organizing committee said in a statement that a search was underway at their headquarters in the suburb of Saint-Denis, and said it was cooperating. It would not comment further.Tuesday’s search and other related raids were linked to two preliminary investigations of the Paris Olympics that had not previously been made public, according to an official with the financial prosecutor’s office, who was not authorized to be publicly named according to office policy. One probe was opened in 2017 — the year Paris was picked by the International Olympic Committee as the 2024 host — and the other began last year.Corruption allegati...

Raising Cane's opening in Chula Vista

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:18 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. — Lovers of chicken fingers will soon have a new option to feast at when Raising Cane's opens their newest location in San Diego County.On Tuesday, June 20, Raising Cane's will host a grand opening for their Chula Vista location, located at 512 H Street, the sixth location to open in the county.The new spot can be found at the entrance of the Chula Vista Center and will feature a double drive-thru and a large indoor dining space.“We are excited to continue our expansion in the San Diego market with the opening of our sixth Restaurant in the area and first in Chula Vista!” Restaurant Leader Ale Gonzalez said in a news release. “We look forward to serving our community and celebrating on Tuesday.”The grand opening event will begin at 7 a.m. with a "Lucky 20" drawing, where 20 chicken finger fanatics will have a chance to win free Cane's for a year. Customers must be at least 13 years of age and entries will be accepted from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., with the winners announ...

How a Mexican spiritual leader preserves the sacred knowledge of the volcano known as El Popo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:18 GMT

AMECAMECA, Mexico (AP) — Moisés Vega has a distinctive job: The 64-year-old Mexican says he can speak the sacred language of volcanoes to ask for good weather and a good crop.Mexico lowered the alert level on the Popocatépetl volcano by early June after its eruptions of gas and ash had drawn the attention of the international community. For Vega, though, the 17,797-foot (5,425-meter) mountain, known as El Popo, is a living being that never fades from his sight.“The Popocatépetl is our father and the Iztaccíhuatl is our mother,” he said, referring to a neighboring volcano. “They are providers of water and we are not afraid of them. On the contrary, their exhalations are blessings because they give us life.”There is no English translation for his profession, but among the inhabitants of the towns of central Mexico, men like him are called “graniceros.”“Their work is based on the pre-Hispanic notion of conciliation with nature,” said archaeologist Arturo Montero, from...

Singapore ride-hailing firm Grab slashes 1000 jobs in biggest layoff since pandemic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:18 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Singapore ride-hailing firm Grab Holdings said it is cutting over 1,000 jobs or 11% of its workforce to cut costs and keep the company competitive, in its biggest round of job cuts since the pandemic.Grab CEO Anthony Tan said in a letter sent to employees late Tuesday that the job cuts were not a “shortcut to profitability” but part of a fundamental restructuring of its operating model and costs.“The primary goal of this exercise is to strategically reorganize ourselves, so that we can move faster, work smarter, and rebalance our resources across our portfolio in line with our longer term strategies,” Tan said, describing the restructure as a “painful but necessary step” for the longer term.Grab’s shares on NASDAQ were up more than 5% in premarket trading, but declined nearly 1.5% midday.The Singapore-based company started out as a taxi-hailing service in Malaysia in 2012, before later expanding to ride-hailing, food delivery and financial services across eight coun...

7-year-old fatally shoots 5-year-old child in eastern Kentucky

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:18 GMT

MCKEE, Ky. (AP) — A 7-year-old child fatally shot a 5-year-old child inside a home in eastern Kentucky, police said.An initial investigation found that the shooting reported Monday evening at the home in McKee was accidental, Kentucky State Police said in a statement. Life-saving measures were attempted, but the child was pronounced dead at the scene by the Jackson County coroner, police said. An investigation continues, said police, who did not identify those involved. There have been more than 150 unintentional shootings by children in the U.S. so far this year, including three others in Kentucky, resulting in at least 58 deaths and 101 injuries, according to the Everytown for Gun Safety advocacy group.Kentucky does not have any laws that impose a penalty on those that fail to secure an unattended firearm, according to Giffords Law Center. However, the state prohibits anyone from “intentionally, knowingly or recklessly” providing a handgun to a minor unless the minor has legal per...

Jury rules Quebec man ran 20-year mail fraud scheme that stole US$175 million

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:18 GMT

MONTREAL — A United States federal jury has convicted a Quebec man of running a 20-year mail fraud scheme that stole more than US$175 million.Patrice Runner, 57, was convicted in a New York District Court last week on 14 charges, including conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. U.S. prosecutors say Runner and his co-conspirators mailed fraudulent letters supposedly from psychics to millions of Americans.The letters promised recipients that the psychic would help them achieve wealth and happiness for a fee.In reality, the letters were mass produced and payments would only lead to more letters asking for money.Four people have pleaded guilty to charges related to their involvement in the scheme, which was run through a Montreal-based company between 1994 and 2014.  This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2023.The Canadian Press

3 men convicted in US trial that scrutinized China’s ‘Operation Fox Hunt’ repatriation campaign

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:18 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Three men were convicted of various charges Tuesday in a trial showcasing U.S. claims that China has engineered pressure campaigns on American soil to bully expatriates into returning home, part of an effort called “Operation Fox Hunt.”American private investigator Michael McMahon and two Chinese citizens living in the U.S. — Zheng Congying and Zhu Yong — all were accused of taking part in scare tactics aimed at a former Chinese official. He was living quietly in New Jersey, and Beijing wanted him back. Zhu was convicted of acting as an illegal foreign agent, stalking, interstate stalking conspiracy and conspiring to act as an illegal foreign agent. Zheng was convicted of stalking and stalking conspiracy but acquitted of the other charges.McMahon was convicted of all except conspiracy to act as a foreign agent. The Brooklyn federal court trial was the first to result from a spate of U.S. prosecutions scrutinizing China’s Operation Fox Hunt, a nearly decade-old initia...