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Scratch tickets drive surge in Lottery sales

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:30 GMT

Instant ticket sales soared well into the black in March, further buoying the Lottery’s financial performance three-quarters of the way through the fiscal year.The Lottery sold $366.4 million in instant tickets last month, about $57.5 million more than in March 2022, Interim Executive Director Mark William Bracken told the Lottery Commission on Tuesday. He called it a “very strong increase.”That burst helped fuel total sales of $519 million in March and represented the majority of Lottery growth over the same stretch a year earlier. All other games besides Mega Millions andLucky for Life saw decreased sales in March compared to March 2022.Instant tickets are the most popular Lottery product and typically make up 65 to 70%  of all sales. For much of fiscal year 2023, instant tickets have sold more slowly than last year, but March’s performance pushed the year-to-date instant ticket haul to $51.3 million, or 1.7%  more than the same stretch in FY22.Through the ...

San Diego councilmember seeks Fletcher's District Four seat

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:30 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego City Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe will be running for the District Four seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, the politician said Tuesday.The announcement comes amid allegations of sexual assault and harassment against Nathan Fletcher, who is expected to resign from his District Four seat on May 15."I will continue to fight for my community to have a voice wherever it is needed," Montgomery Steppe wrote on Twitter. "And right now, that need is at the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. I ask that you stand with me to move the county forward."District Four is home to nearly 700,000 San Diegans living in areas such as Clairemont, La Mesa, Balboa Park, Hillcrest and Spring Valley. According to the county, it's the most ethnically diverse district. DUI suspected in I-15 crash that killed 2, including 4-year-old Another person who declared her candidacy for the District Four seat is Janessa Goldbeck, the CEO of Vet Voice Foundation and a...

Man accused of stabbing Cash App founder gets new court date

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:30 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The arraignment of the tech consultant charged with the killing of Cash App founder Bob Lee was delayed until next week after his defense attorney told a San Francisco judge Tuesday that prosecutors have not shared all their evidence with her. Nima Momeni, 38, was charged with murder with a sentencing enhancement of using a knife in the April 4 stabbing death of Lee. Momeni, who is being held without bail, was scheduled to return to court on May 2. Prosecutors say Momeni drove Lee to a secluded spot and stabbed him over a dispute related to the suspect’s sister.Paula Canny, Momeni’s defense attorney, said he will enter a plea of not guilty and deny the special allegation. She said she will ask the judge that Momeni be allowed to remain free during his trial. “My argument is going to be that Nima is not dangerous to society and Nima is not a flight risk. Under the law, if those two criteria are met, he should be released from custody,” Canny said. San Franc...

Feds working toward ‘clear, consistent’ definition of prohibited assault-style guns

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:30 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal government is eyeing a “clear, consistent” definition of assault-style firearms to be prohibited through legislation, as recently suggested by the Nova Scotia mass shooting commission, says Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino.The Liberals will abandon their approach of spelling out each make and variety of banned firearm in lengthy lists appended to the federal gun-control bill, Mendicino said after appearing at the House of Commons public safety committee Tuesday.Mendicino told MPs the government is committed to “getting this right.”His appearance came more than two months after the Liberals withdrew an amendment to the federal bill that would have spelled out in law the various models covered by a ban on assault-style guns.The Liberals had touted the definition as an evergreen measure that would cement in legislation a May 2020 regulatory ban of some 1,500 firearm models and variants, as well as several others flagged since then.MPs ...

German President Steinmeier’s B.C. visit a ‘rare’ opportunity to engage directly

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:30 GMT

VANCOUVER — The visit of Germany’s president to Metro Vancouver creates a “rare” opportunity for Canadian businesses to speak directly with a key trade partner’s leadership, says a top B.C. executive who hosted the foreign dignitary.Greater Vancouver Board of Trade CEO Bridgitte Anderson hosted a roundtable discussion headlined by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on the third day of his four-day trip to Canada.The discussion included about 20 delegates from both Germany and Canada.The conversation mainly focused on the topics of Indigenous reconciliation, the net-zero economy and reorganizing supply chains in the Indo-Pacific region.The media was not allowed to attribute quotes to delegates who spoke at the event, but the discussion touched on topics such as balancing the risks and opportunities of doing businesses with China, as well as whether India — which receives a large portion of its military supplies from Russia — is a suitable alternative i...

Quakes rattle New Zealand but no reports of major damage

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:30 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A series of moderately strong earthquakes rattled New Zealand’s North Island on Wednesday morning but there were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries.A preliminary magnitude 5.4 quake hit the rural Hawke’s Bay region near the town of Dannevirke about 10:15 a.m. and was followed soon after by a preliminary magnitude 5.2 quake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Several milder aftershocks followed. The quakes posed no threat of a tsunami, New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Agency said.Near the epicenter, residents reported feeling a severe shaking as items crashed from shelves. Some schools evacuated. The first quake was felt as a mild but long rumbling in the capital, Wellington, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) away. The nation’s earthquake monitoring agency, Geonet, received reports from more than 22,000 people who reported feeling the first quake.New Zealand, which is home to 5 million people, is sometimes...

McCarthy edges Republicans closer to House debt vote

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:30 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans pushed their debt ceiling package to a vote as soon as Wednesday as Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his leadership team huddled with key holdouts late into Tuesday evening, working to ensure they would have majority support for passage.Prospects for the sweeping package were buoyed by a nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysis showing the Republican plan would reduce federal deficits by $4.8 trillion over the decade if the proposed changes were enacted into law. The House Republican plan would lift the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion into 2024 in exchange for steep budget cuts Democrats and even some Republicans oppose. President Joe Biden has threatened to veto the bill. McCarthy declined to say late Tuesday whether he had the 218 votes needed from his slim majority in the face of Democratic opposition. The Republican speaker’s office at the U.S. Capitol became a revolving door of lawmakers coming and going, including a contingent of Iowa ...

Texas bill proposes up to $25K for armed school ‘sentinels’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:30 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas schools could offer stipends of up to $25,000 to staff members who add the role of armed campus “sentinels” to their regular duties under a proposal advanced Tuesday by state lawmakers in response to the Uvalde classroom attack last year.With U.S. mass shootings on a record pace so far in 2023, there have been new calls among some lawmakers for more armed personnel in schools. Also on Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida proposed an $80 million federal program to fund armed officers in all U.S. schools. Texas already lets teachers carry guns under a voluntary program that requires firearm lessons but has drawn relatively few takers. Under the new proposal, armed personnel must also train in identifying students with mental health issues. “What I want to pay them for is hopefully getting the training needed to spot the children before we have a problem,” said Republican state Rep. Ken King, who authored the bill.The legislation, which overwhelmingly pas...

'There was like a quarter in there:' Restaurant owners say they're lucky following break-in

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:30 GMT

CHICAGO — Osvaldo Nunez has been serving up birria, or goat meat, for almost two years in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood without being a target of a break-in.That streak came to an end Monday when Nunez's wife received a concerning call from a relative about their restaurant."He was like your glass was shattered at the business," said Alice Martinez, co-owner of Barca Birria Tatemada found on West Belmont Avenue. "I was like oh my god."According to Nunez, Surveillance cameras were unable to capture the people who broke in, but the incident happened sometime after they closed Sunday night, and before they opened up shop on Monday morning."I saw the window all crashed in and there's two big boulders," Nunez said. "And I'm like, 'wow.'"A boarded up window now fills the space where glass once stood before someone smashed into the restaurant. Despite the damages, Nunez said the thieves got away with very little—a phone charger and an almost empty cash register."I always take all the mo...

Police: Elderly man shot neighbor in head near Antioch

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:30 GMT

ANTIOCH TOWNSHIP, Ill. -- A 79-year-old man has been arrested after he reportedly shot his neighbor in the head after arguing over the use of a leaf blower.According to the Lake County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to the 40700 block of North Black Oak Avenue in unincorporated Antioch on reports of an unresponsive man lying in a driveway just after 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 12. Rosati’s Pizza franchisees to pay $250K in back wages, damages to employees Upon arrival, paramedics were on-scene attempting to save 59-year-old William Martys' life. He was transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville where he was later pronounced dead.Further investigation showed that while Martys was using a leaf blower in his yard, his neighbor, 79-year-old Ettore Lacchei, approached and started arguing with Martys. At that time, Lacchei allegedly shot Martys in the head.Lacchei was arrested almost two weeks after the incident on Tuesday, April 25.