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If time is money, time in Montgomery Co. is about to be worth a lot more

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:54 GMT

The cost of everything has gone up with the country’s current rate of inflation. Now, one Maryland county is doing something to lend workers a helping hand — raising the minimum wage.Starting July 1, anyone working for companies with 51 or more employees will make at least $16.70 per hour, which will be the new minimum wage for large companies in Montgomery County.Mid-sized companies, defined as those that employ between 11 and 50 people, will see the minimum wage rise from $14 to $15 per hour. Companies that employ 10 or fewer will have to pay $14.50 per hour.Starting on Jan. 1, 2024, all companies across the state of Maryland will have to start paying at least $15 per hour.For years, Montgomery County has tied its minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index, which measures the average change in prices paid by those in urban areas.The announcement comes as Gov. Wes Moore signed the minimum wage increase into law in April as part of his “Work, Wages and Wealth” legislative ...

Jose Siri drives in 4 runs and Zach Eflin earns his 9th win as Rays beat Royals 11-3

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:54 GMT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla (AP) — RaysJose Siri homered and drove in four runs, Zach Eflin won his ninth game and the MLB-leading Tampa Bay Rays beat the Kansas City Royals 11-3 on Friday night.Siri had a three-run homer in the second inning and gave the Rays a 4-3 led with an RBI single in the fourth.Eflin (9-3) improved to 8-0 in eight home starts, allowing three runs and seven hits over six innings.Nick Pratto and Salvador Perez homered for the Royals, who have the majors second-worst record at 21-55 . Perez was checked by a trainer in the fifth inning and was replaced by Freddy Fermin at catcher one inning later due to a right hamstring cramp.The Royals won the opener of a four-game series 6-5 on Thursday night. Tampa Bay, 53-26 overall, is 33-9 in home games.Harold Ramírez ended Greinke’s night with an RBI single to start a four-run fifth that made it 8-3. Reliever Jose Cuas entered and allowed all three batters he faced to reach base, including Taylor Walls’ two-run singl...

De La Cruz gets first cycle for Reds since 1989

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:54 GMT

CINCINNATI (AP) — Rookie sensation Elly De La Cruz became the first Cincinnati Reds player in 24 years to hit for the cycle when he accomplished the feat on Friday against the Atlanta Braves.De La Cruz doubled to open the second inning, had a two-run homer in the third, a run-scoring single to center in the fifth and tripled in the sixth for his fourth RBI of the night. The last hit increased the Reds’ lead to 11-7.The cycle is the franchise’s seventh overall — fifth since 1900 — and first since Eric Davis did it against San on June 2, 1989.Source

Pirates end a 10-game skid, rallying in the 9th to beat the Marlins 3-1

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:54 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Carlos Santana broke a ninth-inning tie with an RBI single and the Pittsburgh Pirates snapped a 10-game losing streak, rallying to beat the Miami Marlins 3-1 on Friday night.Down 1-0 after eight innings, the Pirates scored three runs against relievers A.J. Puk (3-2) and Dylan Floro.Josh Palacios had a pinch leadoff single and Andrew McCutchen reached on a one-out infield single. Palacios and McCutchen then successfully stole bases before Connor Joe tied it with an RBI groundout.Santana chased Puk with a line drive to center. Floro relieved and allowed consecutive singles to Henry Davis and pinch-hitter Tucupita Marcano. Santana raced home on Marcano’s single.Pittsburgh starter Luis Ortiz settled down after allowing a run in the first and shut out Miami the next seven frames. Ortiz (2-3) gave up seven hits, walked two and struck out five. David Bednar closed with a perfect ninth for his 15th save.Miami’s Luis Arraez had three hits to raise his major league-leading battin...

3rd person dies on Arkansas River in a week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:54 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- A rafter died while recreating on the Arkansas River east of Salida on Friday, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said. CPW said witnesses saw three people enter the Bear Creek Rapid around 3 p.m. on Friday. The rafters were thrown from the watercraft when it flipped in the Class III rapid, CPW said. One person got to shore on their own and another was rescued by a ranger with CPW’s Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area. CPW said the third rafter most likely got entangled with the upside-down raft, which was spotted about 2 miles downstream just above Wellsville. Canoer dies after falling into Colorado River CPW said the rafter, who was wearing a life jacket, got separated from the raft and ended up on an island above the Wellsville Bridge. Boaters on a private craft brought the victim to shore where CPR was performed, but the rafter was pronounced dead at the river. CPW said this is the 14th confirmed water-related death in Colorado in 2023 and the third in the Arkansas ...

Man arrested in Boulder stabbing on University Hill

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:54 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Police at the University of Colorado Boulder arrested a man connected to a stabbing early Friday morning that sent a heavy police presence to University Hill.According to the CU Boulder Police Department, officers assisted the Boulder Police Department with a stabbing near 13th and College. The area is near a heavily populated part of campus known as "The Hill." The stabbing occurred at 1:45 a.m.CUPD said one victim was located and taken to a local hospital. He was in stable condition as of Friday night. Tornado in Highlands Ranch damages buildings, downs trees According to CUPD, the suspect was last seen leaving the area on foot and heading eastbound on College Avenue. He was arrested later on Friday and police said the stabbing was not random and that the two knew each other.

Taste of the Caribbean Islands event in Miramar promises good food, good tunes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:54 GMT

Aruba, Jamaica, oooo I wanna take ya … to the Taste of the Caribbean Islands event happening this weekend in Miramar. Enjoy everything the Caribbean has to offer, like food, drinks and good tunes, and all without needing to buy a plane ticket.Wanna go island hopping this weekend? You won’t need a passport, but you will need a lot of time.Alexandra P. Davis: “The Taste of the Caribbean Islands is really exposing some of the cultures of the Caribbean, so all of these flavors, the artistry, the talent will be on display.”Get ready to immerse yourself in the sounds and tastes of the Caribbean.Alexandra P. Davis: “We have music, we have the food, we have art from the Caribbean. We also have a steel band ensemble where they use these pans, and they knock the pans, and it makes music, so once you come, you really see the vastness of the Caribbean. Bahamas is celebrating their 50th year of independence, so we’re going to have the Junkanoos out there. We’r...

Is Barack Obama ready to reassert himself?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:54 GMT

As President Biden’s approval rating has languished this year, seemingly impervious to external events, a group of congressional Democrats have gotten a taste of the sort of younger, more charismatic presence some of them crave to lead their ticket next year.Albeit a grayer version.Former President Barack Obama has hosted a handful of informal, but lengthy private meetings with groups of next-generation House Democrats this spring, I’m told by multiple attendees. The initial session featured the chamber’s new trio of leaders, but he then held subsequent conversations with a range of lawmakers.Included were progressive members, like Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), as well as more moderate lawmakers, such as Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) and Haley Stevens (D-Mich.).The gatherings were Obama’s idea, I’m told, and were designed for the now-61-year-old former president to keep current with his party’s rising stars, more than six years after he left...

Cannabis and a corruption probe: MEP Maria Arena is back in Qatargate spotlight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:54 GMT

BRUSSELS — In December 2019, MEP Maria Arena hosted an event about cannabis in the European Parliament.Her son, an executive in the cannabis trade association ACTIVE, organized the panel discussion. The group celebrated it as the “first major cannabis event at the EU Parliament.”It’s the latest revelation about how interest groups interact with the European Parliament — in ways legal and allegedly criminal — in the wake of the Qatargate corruption scandal. While the Qatargate accusations, involving alleged bribes going from Qatari and Moroccan interests to MEPs, would fall solidly in the criminal category if proven, the 2019 event fits into what watchdogs say is a more widespread category — legal, but ethically fraught.Arena, of the Socialists & Democrats group, has never been interrogated or charged in the Qatargate probe, but she had close professional ties with ex-MEP and alleged Qatargate ringleader Pier Antonio Panzeri. She stepped down as head of the Parli...

New winner crowned as Gloucester greasy pole competition returns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:54 GMT

A beloved annual tradition returned in Gloucester Friday in the form of the city’s annual greasy pole competition. Part of Gloucester’s St. Peter’s Fiesta, the competition each year involves people slipping and sliding across a greased up 45-foot telephone pole in Gloucester Harbor while trying to grab a flag mounted at the end of the pole. 7NEWS spoke with this year’s competition winner who said the accomplishment is meaningful to him and his family. “The week before, you can’t even sleep,” said winner Colin Sweet. “You’re thinking about it. You have dreams of it, and they came true.”The St. Peter’s feast in Gloucester started in 1927 and is sponsored by the city’s Italian-American fishing community. “It’s been a tradition for a long, long time. It brings the people of Gloucester together,” said Tom Rich, who participated in the greasy pole contest in 1974.Rich said he tried the contest on a dare.“They grease the w...