Retail Sales Inch Up In December, But Holiday Spending Weak

Here are the top stories for today. Get the weather forecast for today here. SUBSCRIBE NOW: Get our free Morning Update email. Sign up here. Islamic State-inspired driver expressed desire to kill before deadly New Orleans rampage, Biden says Road ranger killed, two state troopers hurt in five-vehicle crash on I-95 in Hollywood What’s coming for 2025?

Q: Ira, Wednesday night was interesting, with Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo providing the Heat all they needed, Jimmy Butler wasn’t even a factor. – Bob. A: Which is all well and good if all you had to do was consistently play against the Zion Williamson-less Pelicans. It does not take much to beat New Orleans these days, with the Pelicans certainly with plenty on their minds on Wednesday even before tipoff.

As 2025 begins, it looks like it will be another interesting year in real estate. While it is difficult to predict the ebbs and flows of the market, I can say with certainty that some of you will have a problem concerning your home. Every problem is unique, but after decades of legal practice, I have developed some general guidelines to help deal with most of them. Document everything.

Great cities place value ahead of costs. Regardless of how pretty the renderings may look, a bridge across the New River will create inevitable degradation of the city. Consider the “under the bridge” environment. A gathering place for the homeless, it’s dark, damp, full of graffiti and litter and reeking of urine. Nothing good happens there.

Today is Thursday, Jan. 2, the second day of 2025. There are 363 days left in the year. Today in history: On Jan. 2, 2016, a heavily armed group led by brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, beginning a 41-day standoff to protest the imprisonment of two ranchers convicted of setting fires on public land and to demand the federal government turn over public lands to local control. Also on this date: In 1942, the Philippine capital of Manila was captured by Japanese forces during World War II. Related Articles National News | Rudy at the Bat: Giuliani fights to save his Yankees World Series rings from $148 million verdict National News | Biden is giving the second highest civilian award to the leaders of the Jan.

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER NEW YORK (AP) — Ruth. Gehrig. DiMaggio. Mantle. Giuliani? As Rudy Giuliani’s life gets stripped for parts to satisfy a $148 million defamation verdict, the former New York City mayor is fighting to keep one gleaming set of sports memorabilia in the family: Yankees World Series rings bestowed to him by the team’s late owner, George Steinbrenner. A lifelong Bronx Bombers fan, Giuliani contends that the rings — bejeweled behemoths commemorating the team’s four championships in five years while he was mayor — now belong to his son, Andrew, and shouldn’t be given up. In sworn testimony made public this week, ahead of a pair of key court dates, Giuliani described the 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 World Series rings as something of a family heirloom and Yankees good-luck charm. He recounted how he and Andrew would each put one on for “a special Yankee occasion,” like the team’s last World Series win in 2009. Giuliani testified that when Steinbrenner gave him the rings in 2002, he insisted on paying for them and told the owner, “These are for Andrew.” He said he then invited his son — a teenager at the time — to take one for himself while he held the others for safekeeping. Realizing he wasn’t wearing them as much as the Yankees’ fortunes ebbed, Giuliani testified, he decided to give the rest to Andrew at a birthday party in 2018.