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Ocean City hotel tax effort stalls after debate in Maryland Senate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:54 GMT

This content was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.A bill that would allow counties on the Eastern Shore to hike their hotel tax rates by 1% faces an uncertain future after a debate in the Maryland Senate on Wednesday.The bill would have amounted to a nearly $5 million tax on Maryland residents who vacation in Ocean City, Montgomery County Sen. Benjamin F. Kramer (D-Montgomery) said, as he questioned the policy on the Senate floor.“This is a $5 million tax hit on every one of your constituents who saved all year long to take the opportunity to join with their families and have a little vacation time in Ocean City, Maryland,” Kramer told senators, before launching into other arguments against the bill, including talking points typically employed by Republican lawmakers. ” … I am concerned that Ocean City borders other jurisdictions. Those very tax dollars could easil...

Zebra on the loose gives zookeepers the runaround in Seoul

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:54 GMT

(CNN) — A male zebra broke loose in South Korea’s capital on Thursday, trotting down busy roads and back alleys for hours before being tranquilized and returned to a zoo.Videos on social media showed 3-year-old Sero galloping through the Gwangjin district of Seoul amid heavy traffic, strolling down narrow alleys in residential neighborhoods, and passing zebra crossings as it scuttled around the city.Firefighters dispatched to the scene later herded the mammal to an alley, where it was tranquilized and brought back to the Children’s Grand Park, its home in the east of Seoul.According to the Gwangjin-gu fire station, officers received the first report at 3:43 p.m. about a zebra roaming free around the precinct.As a team of fire officers drove to the reported location, they spotted the zebra running in the opposite direction, prompting them to give chase, an official from the station told CNN.The officers blocked its escape route from a back alley with safety fences, ...

China says it ‘firmly opposes’ a potential forced sale of TikTok

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:54 GMT

(CNN) — China said it would “firmly oppose” any forced sale of TikTok, in its first direct response to demands by the Biden administration that the app’s Chinese owners sell their share of the company or face a ban in its most important market.The comments came as TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified in front of US lawmakers amid mounting scrutiny over the app’s ties to Beijing.China’s commerce ministry said Thursday that a forced sale of TikTok would “seriously damage” global investors’ confidence in the United States.“If the news [about a forced sale] is true, China will firmly oppose it,” Shu Jueting, a spokeswoman for the ministry, told a Thursday news conference in Beijing, adding that any potential deal would need approval from the Chinese government.“The sale or divestiture of TikTok involves technology export, and administrative licensing procedures must be performed in accordance with Chinese l...

Quiet Friday, Raw Saturday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:54 GMT

View PostDespite the clouds and a few passing showers yesterday, the temperatures did not disappoint as highs cracked 60 degrees for many. Although it won’t be as mild today, it’ll be dry with highs in the low to mid 50s, still a few degrees above average for the time of year. The breeze gusts 20-25mph with filtered sunshine amid the mid to high level clouds.Tomorrow, it’ll turn cold and raw as highs head for the low 40s, and then slip back into the mid to upper 30s as a mix of snow/sleet and rain break out. Even if we see sleet or some wet snow flakes mixed in near and inside 495, it won’t amount to much thanks to temps well above freezing at the surface. In the northern Worcester Hills, some minor accumulations are possible. A cold rain/mix continues into the evening before tapering off overnight. Sunday we dry out as highs head for the mid 50s, but it’ll be windy with gusts 30-40mph.

US and Canada reach a deal on decades-old asylum agreement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:54 GMT

(CNN) — The US and Canada have struck a deal on changes to a decades-old asylum agreement that would restrict certain migrants from seeking protections in Canada, two Canadian officials told CNN, marking a significant change in how Canada accepts asylum seekers.While discussions have been ongoing for years, the sharp increase of people crossing into Canada from the US — some of whom are believed to have initially crossed the US southern border — had recently placed added urgency on talks.US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are expected to announce the modifications to the agreement before Biden concludes his visit and travels back to the US, according to one Canadian official.Ahead of Biden’s visit to Canada, Trudeau faced blowback domestically over hundreds of migrants crossing Roxham Road, a remote street that connects Champlain, New York, with Hemmingford, Quebec.The so-called Safe Third Country Agreement, signed in ...

Trump attorney set to testify before grand jury in Mar-a-Lago classified documents probe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:54 GMT

(CNN) — Donald Trump’s primary defense attorney is expected to testify Friday to a federal grand jury, answering questions in the documents probe that the former president unsuccessfully fought to hold back.The attorney’s appearance before the grand jury this week has the potential to make or break the special counsel’s investigation into the handling of classified records at Mar-a-Lago and possible obstruction of justice when the federal government tried to get the documents back.Evan Corcoran, the attorney, has been told by the federal court he cannot withhold information any longer about communications he had with Trump, his client, leading up to the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago last summer. He was also ordered earlier this week to turn over notes he had considered to be his written work as an attorney in the probe. Corcoran would have had a window into many of the moments where Trump and his team were responding to the federal government&#...

Red Sox are trying to trademark ‘Boston’ for clothes, entertainment services: ‘These are absurd filings’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:54 GMT

Two trademark applications for the word “Boston” were filed this month under the Red Sox name — an aggressive proposal that trademark law experts laughed at and stressed has an “extremely low” chance of getting approved by the federal government.The filings, which can be found on the United States Patent and Trademark Office website, aim to trademark the city’s name for all manner of clothing and entertainment services, including radio, podcasts, and television.New York copyright law attorney Maryann E. Licciardi — of Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman — filed the applications for Boston Red Sox Baseball Club Limited Partnership New England Sports Ventures, LLC, which has a Fenway Park address. When reached for comment on Thursday, she deferred to Major League Baseball.Sources tell the Herald that the Red Sox weren’t aware of the endeavor, which was initiated by the league. MLB reportedly applied on the team’s behalf, and were a...

Howie Carr’s Hub radio war survival guide

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:54 GMT

It is not enough to succeed, others must fail.Which is why I am so reveling in the agony of the wretched bust-out sports talk station WEEI and the company that owns it, Audacy.I’m not wringing my hands about the national woke overreaction. I just relish watching the entire company, especially in Boston, suffer through the agony of a programming death spiral, on top of the ongoing collapse of their stock price.You see, not many people know this, but I was valedictorian of the first-ever WEEI Diversity University graduating class of 2005.I was working for another radio station in the same cluster, WRKO, and had absolutely nothing to do with the “METCO gorilla” scandal. But I was rounded up as one of the usual suspects and ordered to attend some lectures about, well, you know.Within 30 minutes, I had “graduated” – been thrown out, just as I had planned. My phone kept going off and I would keep leaving the room with great fanfare, much to the increasing anger of the race hustler in the ...

For Grayson Rodriguez to grow from bad innings, Orioles have catcher James McCann as a teacher

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:54 GMT

Once he thought about it, James McCann was actually glad Grayson Rodriguez struggled near the end of his fourth start this spring.McCann, the 32-year-old catcher the Orioles brought in to back up Adley Rutschman, knows what it takes for a pitcher of Rodriguez’s talent to make it in the big leagues. The experienced backstop has caught five pitchers who won the Cy Young Award in their careers, and no matter how talented any pitcher is, McCann said dealing with “adversity” is a guarantee.“I like the fact that he had to face that adversity,” McCann said a few days after Rodriguez couldn’t make it out of the fourth inning against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday. “That’s something he’ll be able to draw on early in his career, and it’ll make him better later in his career because he had to face that adversity.”That’s one of several messages McCann imparted on Rodriguez when they met the following morning in the Orioles&...

Hong Kong traffic accident leaves 87 people injured

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:54 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Four passenger buses and a truck collided near a Hong Kong road tunnel Friday and 87 people were injured, including children. Most of the injuries were minor.The accident occurred after midday near a tunnel entrance on Tseung Kwan O Road in Lam Tin, a residential area in Kowloon. A taxi carried out a “careless lane change” and the other vehicles could not stop in time, causing the collision, senior police inspector Lee Pok-kit said. Scores of firefighters, paramedics and police rushed to the scene. Several people lay on stretchers and at least one passenger was seen being helped out of a vehicle. A window on the side of a bus was shattered. Some of the injured, including elderly people, were treated by paramedics at the scene. A group of primary school students was seen sitting on the road and some of them sustained hand injuries.Lam Tin fire station commander Shen Chuen said his team had to help some 240 people leave the vehicles and the operation was challenging b...