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More than $200 billion may have been stolen from two large COVID-19 pandemic-relief programs, new watchdog report says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than $200 billion may have been stolen from two large COVID-19 pandemic-relief programs, new watchdog report says.Source

‘Like watching a whole movie’: Bacharach & David songs celebrated at Birchmere

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:42 GMT

In the early 1960s, pop radio and music charts were dominated by the British Invasion and Motown.“But every now and then, these great, catchy songs would sneak in there, and invariably, they were written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David,” said Ron Newmyer, who will host a concert paying tribute to two of America’s greatest songwriters this Friday.“Burt Bacharach and Hal David were songsmiths that worked out of the Brill Building — essentially a songwriting factory in New York City — alongside other great songwriters like Carole King and Gerry Goffin,” said Newmyer.His concert production company is presenting “The Songs of Burt Bacharach & Hal David,” Friday, at The Birchmere, in Alexandria, Virginia.With Bacharach’s music and David’s lyrics, “They managed to write these two-and-a-half or three-minute songs that felt like you’d watched a whole movie, with the emotion that coursed through every one of their songs,...

15 highest-rated museums in Colorado, according to Tripadvisor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:42 GMT

DENVER (Stacker) -- The first public museum was founded in 1684 at the University of Oxford. The Ashmolean Museum was founded when Elias Ashmole donated his private collection to the university in 1677. Much of that original collection is still on display, including a crystal ball, several kidney stones, and preserved, exotic animals. By creating the museum, Ashmole sought to do what all museum curators have worked for since: to create a space where people could be inspired and educated by artifacts and art from around the world. Denver museum closing ‘problematic’ North American Indian exhibit Stacker compiled a list of the highest-rated museums in Colorado on Tripadvisor. Tripadvisor rankings factor in the average rating and number of reviews. Keep reading to see what museums are in your own home state.15. South Park City MuseumRating: 5.0 / 5 (307 reviews)Address: 100 4th St, Fairplay, CO 80440-9903Read more on Tripadvisor14. Museum of the Mountain WestRating: 4.5 / 5 (389 revi...

Man arraigned on charges in connection with Newton triple homicide

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:42 GMT

A 41-year-old Newton man charged in connection with the deaths of three elderly people in Newton over the weekend appeared in court via Zoom Tuesday.Christopher Ferguson was ordered held without bail and a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf. Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan previously announced Monday afternoon that police had arrested Ferguson in connection with the apparently random triple homicide at a home on Broadway Street.Ferguson has been charged with at least one count of murder, among other charges.Gilda D’Amore and her husband Bruno D’Amore had been scheduled to renew their wedding vows on Sunday as part of celebrations for their 50th wedding anniversary. Ryan said a friend then found the D’Amores in their home with Lucia Arpino, Gilda’s mother, after the couple did not arrive at their church as planned. Inside the D’Amores’ home, Ryan said investigators found “obvious signs of struggle” and apparent knife injuries and blunt forc...

Healey Reflects On Irish Roots In Dublin Address

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:42 GMT

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Tuesday was welcomed as a “hero and a trailblazer” to Ireland, on her first foreign trip in her new role.An emotional Healey addressed the Irish Senate, almost exactly 60 years to the day since President John F. Kennedy did the same.The chair of the Irish Senate, Jerry Buttimer, welcomed the governor and hailed Healey as “a person of firsts,” noting her position in history as the first woman elected governor of Massachusetts, the first member of the LGBTQI+ community elected as governor, and the first governor of Massachusetts to address the Irish Senate.Buttimer, himself a member of the LGBTQI+ community, noted that legislation decriminalizing homosexuality was passed in Ireland 30 years ago this week.“I’m personally delighted that Governor Healey is here today to mark that historic occasion in our civil rights journey,” Buttimer said. “Your presence reminds us all and should remind every boy and gir...

Ask the Pediatrician: What is the best first sport for kids?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:42 GMT

Dr. W. Steen James | (TNS) American Academy of PediatricsI always tell parents that, for many reasons, swimming should be the first sport a child learns.Swimming is a fun, relaxing activity that fuels brain health and builds strong bodies. It’s great for growing children, since learning to move in the water improves coordination and flexibility. With indoor pools, swim clubs and water fun parks in many communities, families often enjoy swimming year-round.But a more important reason I urge parents to enroll their kids in swim lessons — well before other sports like T-ball, basketball and soccer — is that beyond the fun and fitness it provides, swimming is an essential life skill that can help protect your child from drowning.Drowning is the No. 1 cause of death among children aged 1 to 4. But research shows that teaching them to swim early in life is a key layer of prevention that can help prevent tragedies.Drowning can happen in seconds, and it’s often silent. My family...

A heat wave in Texas is forecast to spread scorching temperatures to the north and east

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:42 GMT

By JAKE BLEIBERG, KEN MILLER and ISABELLA O’MALLEY (Associated Press)DALLAS (AP) — Scorching temperatures brought on by a “heat dome” have taxed the Texas power grid and threaten to bring record highs to the state before they are expected to expand to other parts of the U.S. during the coming week, putting even more people at risk. “Going forward, that heat is going to expand … north to Kansas City and the entire state of Oklahoma, into the Mississippi Valley … to the far western Florida Panhandle and parts of western Alabama,” while remaining over Texas, said Bob Oravec, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service.Record high temperatures around 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) are forecast in parts of western Texas on Monday, and relief is not expected before the Fourth of July holiday, Oravec said.Cori Iadonisi, of Dallas, summed up the weather simply: “It’s just too hot here.” Iadonisi, 40, said s...

US home prices recover further as buyers battle for tight supply of listings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:42 GMT

Patrick Clark | (TNS) Bloomberg NewsHome prices in the U.S. rose for a third straight month, pushed up by growing buyer demand for a tight supply of listings.A national gauge of prices increased 0.5% in April from March, according to seasonally adjusted data from S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller.The U.S. is in what’s traditionally its busiest homebuying season, with only about half the properties that were listed for sale in spring 2019. The inventory shortage is keeping a lid on transactions, but shoppers determined to seal a deal are often forced to pay more than the asking price in many areas of the country.“The ongoing recovery in home prices is broadly based,” Craig Lazzara, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement Tuesday.On a year-over-year basis, prices slipped 0.2%, compared with a 0.7% increase in March. Miami, Chicago and Atlanta reported the highest annual gains among the 20 largest cities.The housing market is still adjusting to mortgage rates t...

DeSantis says he’ll ‘actually’ build border wall, swipes at Trump as both campaign in New Hampshire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:42 GMT

By MICHELLE L. PRICE, HOLLY RAMER and WILL WEISSERT (Associated Press)HOLLIS, N.H. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis promised Tuesday to tear down Washington’s traditional political power centers and secure the country’s southern border, pledging to succeed where former President Donald Trump failed as the two held dueling campaign events in the critical early primary voting state of New Hampshire. Addressing a town hall in Hollis, DeSantis talked extensively about the new immigration policy proposal he released Monday in South Texas. He’s betting that the issue can energize GOP voters, even those who are 2,000 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Offering some of his sharpest contrasts yet with Trump, the GOP primary’s early front-runner, DeSantis suggested that he’d wall off the entire border and not come up short like the former president did.“We’re actually going to build the wall,” DeSantis said. “A lot of politicians...

Prigozhin has moved to Belarus, and Russia won’t press charges for mutiny

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:17:42 GMT

By The Associated PressYevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the private army of prison recruits and other mercenaries who have fought some of the deadliest battles in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, escaped prosecution for his abortive armed rebellion against the Kremlin and is in Belarus, that country’s president said Tuesday.The exile of the 62-year-old owner of the Wagner Group was part of a deal that ended the short-lived mutiny in Russia. President Alexander Lukashenko said Prigozhin and some of his troops are welcome to stay in Belarus “for some time” at their own expense.Prigozhin has not been seen since Saturday, when he waved to well-wishers from a vehicle in the southern city of Rostov. He issued a defiant audio statement on Monday. And on Tuesday morning, a private jet believed to belong to him flew from Rostov to an air base southwest of the Belarusian capital of Minsk, according to data from FlightRadar24.Meanwhile, preparations were underway for WagnerR...