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Candy prices are up. Here’s why, and how to save on Halloween

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

By Cara Smith | NerdWalletForget the ghouls and ghosts — inflation is spooky enough. And it’s coming for your Halloween candies.Candy and gum prices rose 7.5% between September 2022 and September 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For context, the broader category of grocery prices increased 3.7% over that time frame.Why is candy so expensive?Beyond overall inflation, which rose 3.7% year over year since September 2023, there are a few more reasons why candy is so expensive right now. The cost of raw sugar reached an 11-year high in April, per CNBC, due to the effects of extreme weather on the crop, as well as rising demand.And a U.S. agricultural policy that requires 85% of sugar purchases to come from domestic processors is further tightening an already strained supply, according to The Wall Street Journal.Consumers are taking notice. In a survey of 1,000 U.S. households that celebrate Halloween, 41% of respondents said that inflation has impacted how much they pla...

Medical exceptions to abortion bans often exclude mental health conditions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

Nada Hassanein | (TNS) Stateline.orgIf you are in need of support, call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262) for free, confidential and 24/7 support, or dial 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.____More than a dozen states now have near-total abortion bans following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, with limited medical exceptions meant to protect the patient’s health or life.But among those states, only Alabama explicitly includes “serious mental illness” as an allowable exception. Meanwhile, 10 states with near-total abortion bans (Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wyoming) explicitly exclude mental health conditions as legal exceptions, according to an analysis from KFF, a health policy research organization.Abortion rights advocates and mental health experts say those laws could put women’s lives at risk. A report released last year by the federal Centers for Disease Contro...

Tiny, rural hospitals feel the pinch as Medicare Advantage plans grow

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

Sarah Jane Tribble | (TNS) KFF Health NewsWhen several representatives from private health insurance companies called on him a few years ago to offer Medicare Advantage plan contracts so their enrollees could use his hospital, Bleak sent them away.“Come back to the table with a better offer,” the chief executive recalled telling them. The representatives haven’t returned.Battle Mountain is in north-central Nevada about a three-hour drive from Reno, and four hours from Salt Lake City. Bleak suspects insurance companies simply haven’t enrolled enough of the area’s seniors to need his hospital in their network.Medicare Advantage insurers are private companies that contract with the federal government to provide Medicare benefits to seniors in place of traditional Medicare. The plans have become dubious payers for many large and small hospitals, which report the insurers are often slow to pay or don’t pay.Private plans now cover more than half of all those eligible for Medicare. And whi...

The Chicago Bulls want to take more 3-pointers this season — but did they overcorrect in the opener?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

After their first game of the season, the Chicago Bulls faced a foreign question: Did they take too many 3-pointers?The Bulls took 42 3s in Wednesday’s 124-104 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. That’s higher than last season’s average attempts of all but two teams — the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors.For a team that finished last in 3-point shooting volume for two consecutive seasons, that might feel like a welcome change. But the Bulls also couldn’t make those attempts, finishing 12-for-42 (29.3%) in the loss.The stale shooting night forced the Bulls to consider whether they overcorrected.“It’s an interesting question, because I’ve been dealing with for the last two years. ‘We don’t take enough 3s. We need to take 40 3s.’ Now it’s about makes,” coach Billy Donovan said with a laugh after the loss. “For us, we’ve got to play through the paint and generally those 3s will come through ...

Israeli army says ground forces are ‘expanding’ activities in Gaza, where internet has collapsed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

By WAFAA SHURAFA, JOSEF FEDERMAN and BASSEM MROUE (Associated Press)DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Internet and phone services collapsed in the Gaza Strip under intensified bombardment Friday night, largely cutting off its 2.3 million people from the outside world and each other, as Israel’s military said it was “expanding” its ground operations in the besieged territory.The military’s announcement signaled it was moving closer to an all-out invasion of Gaza, where it has vowed to crush the ruling Hamas group after its bloody incursion in southern Israel three weeks ago. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.Frequent explosions from airstrikes lit up the sky over Gaza City after nightfall Friday, when the black-out in internet, cellular and landline services hit. The Red Crescent said it lost all contact with its operations room and medical teams. It said it feared people would no longer be able to contact ambulan...

Authorities scour woods, water and homes on Day 2 of search for suspect in Maine mass shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

By DAVID SHARP, PATRICK WHITTLE, HOLLY RAMER and MICHELLE R. SMITH (Associated Press)LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Authorities scoured the woods and hundreds of acres of family-owned property, sent dive teams with sonar to the bottom of a river and scrutinized a possible suicide note Friday in the second day of their intensive search for an Army reservist accused of fatally shooting 18 people and wounding 13 at a bowling alley and a bar in Maine.Nearly two days after the shooting, law enforcement officials gave no indication that they have any leads on Robert Card’s whereabouts. During a lengthy news conference absent of any major developments, Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck would only say that authorities are leaving all their options open.“We’re going to be all over the place,” Sauschuck said. “That’s not saying that we know that the individual is in this house, you know, in that house or they’re in that sw...

1 shot near Dufferin and Davenport, suspect sought

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

Toronto paramedics say a man was taken to hospital with serious, but non life-threatening injuries after he was shot on Friday afternoon near Dufferin Street and Davenport Road.Police responded to a call for a shooting at around 1:06 p.m.The suspect fled westbound on Davenport. He’s described a Black, around 25 years old with a thin build. He was wearing a black du-rag, a green black camoflague sweater and a scarf over his face.More to come

Alberta government dismisses board at Banff Centre, replaces with administrator

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

BANFF, Alta. — The Alberta government has dismissed the entire board of the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and replaced it with a temporary administrator.The centre in the mountain town of Banff, west of Calgary, develops and promotes creative work in the arts, sciences, business and the environment.The government says in a statement late Thursday that it’s supporting the centre as it focuses on its mandate while “strengthening its future competitiveness and sustainability.”It says the temporary administrator, Paul Baay, will review the internal processes and policies at the Banff Centre over the next six to nine months, and take on the responsibilities of the board of governors until a new chair and board can be appointed.Baay, who’s president and chief executive officer of Touchstone Exploration Inc., has worked for various oil and gas companies in the past 25 years.He has also served on numerous boards and is the current chairman of the Alberta Found...

Four Gulf of Mexico federal tracts designated for wind power development by Biden administration

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Four tracts of federal Gulf of Mexico waters of the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, ranging in size from nearly 57,000 acres (23,100 hectares) to over 495,000 acres (200,230 hectares), were designated Thursday for development of wind energy by the Biden administration. Friday’s announcement follows the first Gulf sale of leases for wind development earlier this year. That sale drew a $5.6 million bid from one company for one Gulf tract, a modest start for wind energy in the Gulf, which lags behind the Northeast in offshore wind power development.The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announcement said its next step will be to issue a formal notice for a proposed lease sale, which will be followed by a 60-day comment period.The areas designated on Friday: — 495,567 acres (200,549 hectares) about 47 miles (76 kilometers) off the coast of Texas that could support wind power generation for 2.1 million homes.— 119,635 acres (48,415 hectares) about 61 miles (98 kilometers...

Spain’s report on Catholic Church sex abuse estimates victims could number in hundreds of thousands

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:57:24 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s first official probe of sex abuse by clergy members or other people connected to the Catholic Church in the country included a survey that indicated that the number of victims could run into hundreds of thousands.The survey was part of a damning report by the office of Spain’s ombudsman, or “defensor del pueblo,” following an 18-month independent investigation of 487 cases involving alleged victims who spoke with the ombudsman’s team.Ombudsman Ángel Gabilondo criticized the church’s response to sex abuse scandals, saying it had often been to minimize if not deny the problem. He presented the nearly 800-page report to the speaker of the Spanish parliament’s lower house Friday and then to reporters.“This is a necessary report to respond to a situation of suffering and loneliness that for years has remained, in one way or another, covered by an unfair silence,” Gabilondo said in a statement, He acknowledged that the church had taken steps to address both abuse by ...