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Ticker: Sports betting numbers up in April; Gas prices down in Massachusetts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:48 GMT

Sports betting continued to push revenue into the state’s coffers, generating $11.8 million in taxes during  the month of April. Taken alongside casino games, the state hauled in $40.3 million in taxes from gaming operations last month.The bottom line figures from April were up from March, when the state collected $38.9 million in taxes, although though online sports wagering was only active in that month for 22 days.Total sports betting in Massachusetts, the so-called handle of live bets in casinos and online wagers from the six sites licensed to take mobile bets, totaled $579 million in April, a bump from the $568 million figure in March.In total, sports betting has generated $21.129 million in tax revenue after just 52 days of mobile betting. and two months plus one day of retail betting. Projections had the state making between $60-70 million in sports betting tax revenue per year, according to bookies.com which tracks gaming activity across the country.Gas prices down in Massac...

‘Disney’s Aladdin’ repeats its magic in national touring musical

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:48 GMT

The show’s called “Aladdin” — “Disney’s Aladdin,” to be precise — but everyone knows it’s all about the Genie.And fortunately the current touring production of the musical, which performed at Detroit’s Fisher Theatre through Sunday, May 14 — has a good one.Robin Williams, of course, established the Genie as an iconic character with his manically nuanced voice performance in the 1992 animated film. He set a high bar but at the same time established a template for the actors who would follow in the Tony Award-winning stage adaptation, which premiered 12 years ago in Seattle and stopped during January of 2018 at the Detroit Opera House. Energy and personality are the keys to a successful Genie, and Marcus M. Martin has both in abundance.Playing Genie as a kind of Oprah/Steve Harvey/Billy Porter hybrid, Martin hits the stage as the curtain lifts like a full blank of Klieg lights — and that’s just his smile. His performances leading ensemble pieces such as “Friend Like Me” and “Prince Al...

At least 4 dead, including suspect, after New Mexico shooting: police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:48 GMT

FARMINGTON, N.M. (KRQE) – At least four people are dead, including the suspect, and multiple others are injured after a shooting in Farmington, New Mexico Monday, according to the Farmington Police Department. While details about the shooting are limited, authorities say the incident happened shortly after 11 a.m. near Brookside Park. All city schools were placed on a "preventative lockdown;" three nearby schools remained on emergency lockdown early Monday afternoon.“There are multiple civilian victims,” Farmington police said in a Facebook post, adding that one suspect “was confronted and killed on scene.”The two officers that were shot, a Farmington police officer and a New Mexico State Police officer, are currently at the San Juan Regional Medical Center being treated for their injuries. They are both in stable condition. “The suspect’s identity is unknown and there are no other known threats at this time,” the police message said, adding that city, San Juan County and state poli...

Fire at New Zealand hostel kills at least 6 people, prime minister says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:48 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — An overnight fire at a four-story hostel in New Zealand’s capital has killed at least six people, the prime minister said Tuesday. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told the AM morning news program that he understands that six people have been confirmed dead in the fire in Wellington, and that there are likely to be more. Police said they don’t yet have an exact count of the number dead, although they believe it’s fewer than 10 people. Emergency services were called to the Loafers Lodge hostel about 12:30 a.m.Wellington Fire and Emergency District Manager Nick Pyatt said 52 people have been accounted for, but that a number still remained unaccounted for.“I can sadly report that this will be a multi-fatality incident. Our thoughts at this time are with the families of those who have perished and with our crews who valiantly rescued those (they could) and attempted to rescue those that they couldn’t,” Pyatt told reporters.“This is our worst nightmare,&#...

Woman sues Rudy Giuliani, saying he coerced her into sex, owes her $2 million in unpaid wages

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:48 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman who says she worked as an off-the-books employee for Rudy Giuliani during his stint as Donald Trump’s personal lawyer alleges in court papers that the former New York City mayor coerced her into sex and owes her nearly $2 million in unpaid wages.Noelle Dunphy said in the lawsuit that she was Giuliani’s business development director and public relations consultant from 2019 to 2021. She initially made her allegations public in January, but she detailed her claims further in a 70-page legal complaint filed Monday in New York.Messages seeking comment were left with Giuliani and a lawyer representing his companies.Giuliani’s attorney, Robert Costello, told The Daily Beast when Dunphy first filed her legal claim that she never worked for “any Giuliani entity” and that the allegations were “nonsense.” The new court filing portrays Giuliani, 78, as a hard-drinking, Viagra-popping womanizer who made satisfying his sexual demands “an absolute require...

1 lawsuit over appointment of Mississippi judges dismissed, another case still alive

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:48 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi judge has dismissed one lawsuit that challenges a new law dealing with appointment of judges in the majority-Black capital city of Jackson and the surrounding county, but a separate lawsuit remains alive in federal court.In the ruling Monday, Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas wrote that appointing judges does not violate the Mississippi Constitution.Three Jackson residents testified to Thomas last week that the new law tramples their rights because most Mississippi judges are elected.Thomas wrote that a 1989 state law allows appointment of judges in some circumstances and that “disappointment and frustration with the legislative process does not create a judicial right to relief.”“While the Court is sympathetic to the Plaintiffs’ feelings, it cannot find that the same constitutes irreparable harm,” Thomas wrote.Attorneys for the plaintiffs said they will appeal Thomas’ dismissal of the case and his decision last week to remove Missi...

Overhaul permitting process in Canada to keep up with U.S., TC Energy CEO urges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:48 GMT

WASHINGTON — Canada might be outmatched by the U.S. on raw spending power, but retooling the way Ottawa signs off on infrastructure projects could help it gain ground in the race to build North America’s green economy, industry leaders say.But the federal government had better hurry: lawmakers on Capitol Hill already have the same idea. Resource companies are less attracted to monetary incentives than they are to the decidedly less sexy idea of regulatory consistency and predictability, TC Energy president and CEO François Poirier said Monday.Given the choice of whether to deploy resources in Canada, the U.S. or Mexico, “the size of the incentives is not the determining factor in my decisions,” Poirier told a gathering of business executives in Washington, D.C.Factors like consistent timelines and permitting criteria for any given project are decidedly more attractive to stability-craving companies than the multibillion-dollar subsidies on offer in the U.S., he sai...

Suspected impaired driver crashes through Markham school playground, striking child

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:48 GMT

York regional police say a nine-year-old child was struck by an alleged impaired driver after he crashed through a schoolyard playground in Markham on Sunday.Police say it happened at around 8:35 p.m. at a playground on Becket Avenue.Investigators say a black Mitsubishi SUV crashed through a gate and drove onto the playground at a high speed, striking the child.“The suspect left the scene, driving around the property at a high rate of speed without making any attempt to stop, exchange information or help,” police said in a release.The child was taken to hospital, but luckily their injuries were not serious.About half an hour later, police were called after the same vehicle struck a tree on a residential lawn on Winston Castle Drive in Markham.“First responders found a male driver unconscious behind the wheel of the suspect vehicle with the engine revving,” police explained.“The vehicle had extensive damage and the suspect was extracted, taken into custo...

Constellation Software sees revenues rise in Q1, earns US$94 million

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:48 GMT

TORONTO — Constellation Software Inc. says its net income attributable to shareholders was US$94 million, down four per centfrom US$98 million a year earlier. The Toronto-based company says earnings per diluted share were US$4.44, down from US$4.63 a year earlier. Constellation, which reports in U.S. dollars, says revenue for the quarter ended March 31 was US$1.9 billion.That’s up 34 per cent from US$1.4 billion the same quarter a year ago. The company says the higher revenue was primarily attributable to growth from acquisitions.After adjusting for changes in foreign exchange rates, the company says its organic revenue growth was five per cent.This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:CSU)The Canadian Press

Cook Medical to cut 500 jobs globally under plan to refocus efforts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:48 GMT

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Cook Medical will cut 500 jobs under a plan to refocus efforts on product innovation, the Indiana-based maker of medical devices said Monday.The cuts affecting about 4% of its global workforce will include about 223 workers in the U.S., including about 123 in Indiana. Cook Medical said the layoffs will affect sales representatives and other workers dealing with customers. No hourly workers in manufacturing or distribution will be laid off, the Bloomington-based company said.Cook announced the layoffs to all of its more 10,000 employees in an email from company president Pete Yonkman on Monday afternoon. Employees who are laid off will receive severance packages ranging from 10 weeks to nine months, depending on their positions and length of service, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported.The Associated Press