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SBA offers aid to business owners hit hard by historic flooding in Broward County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:37 GMT

Aid is available for business owners who were hit hard by historic flooding.Record rainfall damaged or destroyed countless shops and stores in Broward County in April.Fort Lauderdale’s mayor and representatives of the Small Business Administration are meeting with those who were affected.The SBA is offering loans to help in the effort to rebuild and recover.“They are low interest loans payable over 30 years, so when you need cash flow to get your recovery process started, it’s absolutely critical,” said Francisco Sanchez.Business owners, as well as other storm victims, can get help at the disaster recovery center just opened by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).It’s at Hortt Park in Fort Lauderdale along 1700 Southwest 14th Court.The center is open Monday’s through Saturday’s from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and it’s staffed with people who can answer questions about any type of federal aid.You can also apply online for assistance by cli...

Anti-Semitic graffiti discovered in Cooper City High School bathroom

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:37 GMT

Students at Cooper City High School are speaking out against anti-Semitic graffiti that was discovered in a boys’ bathroom. Two separate pictures sent to 7News by concerned parents showed swastikas on the walls and another graphic image. A second photo shows another swastika on the floor.“I feel like it’s normalized not for people making stupid racist jokes. It’s sad,” said one student. “No, it’s not funny. Not funny at all,” added another student. Parents said the images were discovered last week. “I think that it’s just boys being stupid. I don’t think they mean to be hateful or anything. They’re just being dumb, said one student. Despite some students downplaying the incident, others are taking it more seriously. “I saw a bunch in the bathroom and like all over the stalls and stuff. It’s rude and weird and not right,” said one student. “I guess it’s people trying to offend other people,” said one studen...

Crews work to put out house fire in Miami

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:37 GMT

Miami Fire Rescue units reported to the scene of a house fire in the Shenandoah neighborhood of Miami.Officials said the original call came in as a car on fire in the alley, Monday afternoon. Upon arrival, they found a home located at 2347 SW 17th Terrace engulfed in flames.A car in the driveway seemed to be at a total loss. It is unknown if anyone was inside the home.

Demolition expected to begin soon at site of Newburyport chemical plant explosion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:37 GMT

Crews are expected to soon demolish part of a chemical plant in Newburyport that exploded last week, killing one person, officials said on Monday. Emergency crews were first called to the Seqens plant on Opportunity Way around 12:45 a.m. Thursday, where officials said firefighters spent roughly one hour battling heavy fire conditions after the initial blast. Five workers were in the building at the time of the explosion. Of them, four were taken to a local hospital and released after treatment, according to local officials. The body of the fifth worker, identified as 62-year-old Jack O’Keefe, was found hours later.Surveillance video from nearby cameras captured the explosion, showing a massive, bright fireball that launched flames and debris high into the air. SKY7-HD later flew over the scene, revealing a torn apart complex with pieces of roof materiel, pipes and metal scraps piled on one another.RELATED: OSHA cited company for violations before Newburyport explosion, off...

Jamaica Plain man accused of holding man at gunpoint during a test drive in Winthrop

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:37 GMT

A Jamaica Plain man is accused of holding a man at gunpoint during a test drive in Winthrop, and then driving off with the vehicle that the alleged victim had listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace, according to police.Youssouf Mboukoh, 20, has been charged with larceny of a motor vehicle, carjacking by firearm, and assault with a dangerous weapon, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.On April 29, Mboukoh — using the Facebook name “GrindTime” — arranged to meet with the alleged victim to buy a 2010 black Ford Fusion.When Mboukoh met up with the alleged victim, Mboukoh and the victim went for a short test drive before stopping on Perkins Street in Winthrop.When the vehicle stopped, another man opened the rear driver’s side door, allegedly pointing a gun at the victim and said, “Go away or I will shoot you.” The victim immediately got out and called for help while Mboukoh and the other man drove off, police said.In...

Ticker: Feds to expand passenger rights rules on airlines; Twitter to purge inactive accounts 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:37 GMT

President Biden says his administration will write new rules to expand the rights of airline passengers.Biden said Monday that the rules will require airlines to compensate passengers and cover their meals and hotel rooms if they are stranded for reasons within the airline’s control.It’s the administration’s latest salvo at the airlines, and it comes just weeks before the busy summer travel season.Airlines for America, which represents the biggest carriers, says that airlines have no incentive to delay or cancel flights. The trade group blames weather and air traffic control outages for most delays.As outlined at the White House by Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the rules would focus on cancellations and long delays caused by things such as mechanical issues with the plane or lack of a crew.Twitter to purge inactive accountsTwitter Inc. will purge accounts that haven’t been active for several years, and this could lead to a drop in follower coun...

Writers Guild of America blasts Boston University for picking Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav as commencement speaker

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:37 GMT

The Writers Guild of America is ripping into Boston University after BU picked the leader of Warner Bros. Discovery to be this month’s commencement speaker amid the Hollywood writers’ strike.Following BU’s “poor decision” to have Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav as commencement speaker on May 21, the Writers Guild of America is warning that picketers could descend upon the ceremony at Nickerson Field.“Boston University should not give voice to someone who wants to destroy their students’ ability to build a career in the film and television industry,” a Writers Guild of America, East, spokesperson said in a statement to the Herald.“The University should expect students, Writers Guild members, as well as other unions and community groups to picket Zaslav’s commencement address,” the spokesperson added.BU has been facing heat since the university last week announced that Zaslav, a BU Law alum from 1985, would ...

School bus strike ‘isn’t a great situation’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:37 GMT

School bus drivers took to picket lines in Marlboro Monday morning, after negotiators failed to agree on a contract through the weekend.“Many students walking,” big road signs read throughout the town Monday. “Drive with caution.”Kids took to the sidewalks in packs around bell time Monday afternoon, as volunteers and police guided traffic around Marlboro High School and groups of drivers picketing elicited mixed reactions on the corners.The strike comes about four months of negotiations between the transportation company for the schools, North Reading Transportation, and Teamsters Local 170 union representing the drivers.“Some parents are angry because it’s a disruption,” said Ken Bergen, a Teamsters business agent on the picket line. “We understand, and we did the best we could. Teamsters Local 170 has been negotiating with this company, with the various contracts, for over 50 sessions. That’s ridiculous.”Similar strikes w...

Biden uses humor to try to defuse concerns about his age

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:37 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden served in the Senate for 270 years. He used to be three years older than his sister Valerie, but now has 20 years on her. And the fourth U.S. president — whom Biden affectionally calls “Jimmy” Madison — is a good friend.All kidding aside, the 80-year-old Biden will tell you, he is at the end of his career, not the beginning. He’s been doing this for a long time. And he’s gotten a “hell of a lot of wisdom” over those years, making him deserving of a second term.As Biden, the oldest president in U.S. history, embarks on his reelection campaign, he is increasingly musing aloud about his advanced age, cracking self-deprecating jokes and framing his decades in public life as a plus, hoping to convince voters his age is an asset rather than a vulnerability.In short, he’s trying to own it. “I stand here humbled being the first sitting president of the United States to have an opportunity to speak at Ebenezer Sunday service,” Biden said in January at ...

Stalled gun bill advances in Texas after new mass shootings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:37 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Facing new pressure over gun violence in Texas after two more mass shootings, Republicans on Monday unexpectedly allowed a bill that would raise the purchase age for semiautomatic rifles from 18 to 21 to advance out of a House committee — even though the proposal has almost no chance of becoming law.The surprise move revealed faint momentum for gun control advocates after a weekend mass shooting at an outdoor mall near Dallas, but at the same time underscored how Texas Republicans are so resistant to gun restrictions that even clearing a small legislative hurdle caused supporters to celebrate.Two Republicans joined Democrats in an 8-5 vote on the House Select Committee on Community Safety to advance the bill, which Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has previously spoken against. It is unclear when or if the proposal would get a full vote in the Texas House with just a few weeks left to pass any new laws. “It doesn’t have the support of the Legislature,R...