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Towson pitcher Ethan Pecko drafted by Astros after whirlwind three years: ‘He had his eye on the prize’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:14:26 GMT

Having grown up in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, Ethan Pecko is a fan of all things Philadelphia, especially the city’s professional sports franchises. And as a baseball player, he once attended a Phillies game in full uniform.“Baseball was a sport that always just kind of stuck with me,” he said. “I was a fan from 4 years old until now. As a kid, I moved up in age and other kids were there picking flowers. So that was definitely something I always wanted.”Pecko’s dream is now reality after the Houston Astros used the last pick of the sixth round (194th overall) of the Major League Baseball draft on Monday to select the Towson pitcher. He is the fourth-highest draftee in Tigers history, trailing pitchers Chris Nabholz (49th in second round by the Montreal Expos in 1988) and Chris Russ (94th in third round by the New York Yankees in 2000) and shortstop Richie Palacios (103rd in third round by Cleveland in 2018).Pecko, who doesn’t turn 21 until n...

2023 BMW X1 improves greatly

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:14:26 GMT

As BMW tries to take a bite into Mercedes Benz’s piece of the review pie, it shows out in strides. In 2023, BMW takes the X1 into new levels with an all new design, look and upgrades. First, the color, San Remo Green Metallic, what a color; It’s absolutely gorgeous to say the least.As a 2023 updated model, the X1 is a really great vehicle and for the price, owning a BMW has never been so affordable. Paired with a potent 2.0 liter BMW TwinPower Turbo inline 4-cylinder and 7-speed dual clutch transmission ,the BMW X1 has phenomenal power and great gear ratios, making it easy to get out of the way, or make a pass when historically the X1 couldn’t. Unlike most 4-cylinders, get up and go is hard to find, or the lag is so bad that it takes too long to get going.With great space both in the front and for rear seat passengers, it’s the storage space that was so great, I thought I was driving an X3. A larger than ever kidney-shape grille shows the way on the X1 with its mul...

Fire breaks out on Red Line train; Disabled train on Green Line

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:14:26 GMT

Either smoke or a small fire on a Red Line train this morning at Charles MGH interrupted service, forcing passengers to evacuate while firefighters put out the blaze.The fire broke out on the underside of a train at about 5:45 a.m. according to Deputy Chief James Greene who described it as a “small fire.”The MBTA, however said the driver stopped the train because of smoke.“There was no confirmed report of flames nor fire,” said MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo.Greene said firefighters first secured the power and then “got water up on the fire.”All passengers were able to self-evacuate at the platform, Greene said and there were not injuries to report.Pesaturo said the smoke came from an air compressor control box on the train.Firefighters actually manually brought “cans” of water to the train to put out the fire, Greene said.Shuttle buses are providing service between Harvard and Broadway while the T moved the train out of the way. Service resumed at 7...

US applications for jobless benefits fall again as labor market continues to defy the Fed actions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:14:26 GMT

The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits fell again last week as the labor market continues defy the Federal Reserve’s attempt to cool it through higher interest rates.U.S. applications for jobless claims fell by 12,000 to 237,000 for the week ending July 8, from 249,000 previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out some of the week-to-week ups and downs, fell by 6,750 to 246,750.Jobless claim applications are seen as a proxy for the number of layoffs in a given week.Overall, 1.73 million people were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended July 1, 11,000 fewer than the previous week.For three weeks in late May and early June, jobless claims had appeared to reach a sustained, higher level, above 260,000. Even so, that increase may not have been enough for Fed officials to pivot from raising its main rate at its next meeting.The U.S. economy has added jobs at a frenetic pace since more than 20...

US wholesale prices for June point to further easing of inflation pressures

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:14:26 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices in the United States decelerated again last month, the latest sign that inflationary pressures are easing in the face of the Federal Reserve’s streak of interest rate hikes.The government’s producer price index — which measures inflation before it reaches consumers — rose just 0.1% last month from June 2022, the smallest such increase since August 2020. And from May to June, prices rose an identical 0.1% after having fallen 0.4% from April to May.The index that the Labor Department issued Thursday reflects prices charged by manufacturers, farmers and wholesalers. It can provide an early sign of how fast consumer inflation will rise.On Wednesday, the government reported that consumer prices in June rose just 3% over the previous 12 months — the mildest such pace since early 2021. The slowdown was driven by easing prices for gasoline, airline fares, used cars and groceries. Year-over-year consumer price inflation has steadily dropped sinc...

First over-the-counter birth control pill gets FDA approval

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:14:26 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials have approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, which will let American women and girls buy contraceptive medication from the same aisle as aspirin and eyedrops.The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it cleared Perrigo’s once-a-day Opill to be sold without a prescription, making it the first such medication to be moved out from behind the pharmacy counter. The company won’t start shipping the pill until early next year, and there will be no age restrictions on sales.Hormone-based pills have long been the most common form of birth control in the U.S., used by tens of millions of women since the 1960s. Until now, all of them required a prescription.Medical societies and women’s health groups have pushed for wider access, noting that an estimated 45% of the 6 million annual pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended. Teens and girls, women of color and those with low incomes report greater hurdles in getting prescriptions and picking th...

Biden is showcasing new NATO member Finland as he closes out his Europe trip

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:14:26 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — President Joe Biden stood alongside Nordic leaders Thursday on the turf of NATO’s newest member, Finland, in a powerful demonstration of the military alliance’s expanding power and influence against Russia. “I’ve been doing this a long time,” Biden said, opening a meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö at the Presidential Palace. “I don’t think NATO has ever been stronger.” Biden also met with the leaders of other Nordic nations including Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. Sweden is poised to be admitted as NATO’s 32nd member country after it pledged more cooperation with Turkey on counterterrorism efforts while backing Ankara’s bid to join the European Union. Finland gained NATO membership earlier this year.Both Finland and Sweden abandoned a history of military nonalignment and sought to join NATO alliance after Russia invaded Ukraine last year. Biden’s brief stop in the shoreline Finnish capital is the coda to a tour that was carefully s...

Sudan’s neighbors meet in Cairo for summit as Egypt unveils new initiative to end raging conflict

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:14:26 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Leaders from Sudan’s six neighboring countries met in Cairo on Thursday for the most high-profile peace talks since conflict erupted across the northeastern African country in mid-April.The meeting, hosted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, was attended by the leaders of Ethiopia, South Sudan, Chad, Eritrea, the Central African Republic and Libya.Sudan has been rocked by violence since April 15, when tensions between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces burst into open fighting.The conflict has killed more than 3,000 people and wounded more than 6,000 others, Health Minister Haitham Mohammed Ibrahim said last month. The actual death toll is likely much higher, doctors and activists say.El-Sissi in his opening speech proposed a lasting cease-fire agreement, the establishment of safe humanitarian corridors and a dialogue framework that would include all of Sudan’s political parties and players.The summit comes weeks after talks in the Saudi Ara...

France’s parliament approves big boost in military spending, spurred by Ukraine war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:14:26 GMT

PARIS (AP) — France’s parliament on Thursday approved a multi-billion-euro boost to military spending through the rest of this decade, spurred by Russia’s war in Ukraine and fast-growing global threats.President Emmanuel Macron pushed for the bigger budget, which would spend 413 billion euros ($450 billion), the most significant spending hike in half a century. The money would modernize France’s nuclear arsenal, augment intelligence spending and develop more remote-controlled weapons.He has argued the boost was needed to ensure “our freedom, our security, our prosperity, our place in the world.” The defense minister has compared it to France’s push in the 1960s to develop nuclear weapons, making the country one of the world’s bigger military powers.The new military plan includes doubling the number of military reservists and reinforcing cyberdefense, as well as increasing weapons production capacity both to help Ukraine and to keep the French military adequately supplied.The new bud...

Helen Mirren visits Jerusalem for new film ‘Golda,’ says she is inspired by anti-government protests

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:14:26 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Helen Mirren, who plays Israel’s first female prime minister in her latest film, says she has been inspired by the widespread protests against the country’s current prime minister.Mirren, who portrays the late Golda Meir during the 1973 war between Israel and a coalition of Arab states in “Golda,” is visiting an Israel similarly beset by crisis as mass demonstrations take place against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the country’s judicial system.Mirren told a news conference before the opening of the Jerusalem Film Festival that she is inspired by the protests.“I’m personally very moved and excited when you see these huge demonstrations,” she said. “I think it’s a pivotal moment in Israeli history.”Netanyahu’s coalition government, which took office in December, is the most hard-line ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox in Israel’s 75-year history. For over six months, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to t...