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Watch Out: A financial aid error could result in students receiving less money

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:33 GMT

If you plan to apply for Federal Student Aid this year, better known as FAFSA, make sure to know about an accounting error on their part because it might leave you feeling ripped off. A new revised version of the application is set to launch by the end of this month but there is one problem: it is using old data from 2020 and it is not accounting for inflation. A federal law requires the Department of Education to update those numbers annually, but if left unchanged — millions of students may receive less aid.

Man wins $10 million lottery jackpot – for the second time

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:33 GMT

(CNN) — Wayne Murray clinched the $10 million prize this month in the New York Lottery’s 200X scratch-off game – just 16 months after he won the same amount in its Black Titanium scratch-off game, the state agency that runs the games said.For his latest jackpot – as with his first – Murray opted to take home a single lump payment of $6,122,400, it said. Both tickets were bought at the same H & A Gas & Convenience store in Brooklyn, the lottery said.“It feels very humbling and liberating,” Murray told lottery officials last year after his win.The odds of winning the 200X scratch-off game are 1 in 3.5 million, while the odds of winning the Black Titanium are 1 in 3.6 million, according to the agency.The New York Lottery’s scratch-off games raked in over $4.4 billion in sales this past fiscal year, during which school districts across New York City boroughs got over $1 billion in aid, it said.

Crews respond to sunken vessel near Government cut

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:33 GMT

A vessel that took on water off Government Cut Friday morning prompted a swift response by rescue crews. U.S. Coast Guard boats responded at the scene three miles off of Government Cut where crews rescued two boaters from the sunken vessel. 7Skyforce hovered over the scene where the vessel was submerged in the water. Good Samaritans also assisted in the rescue effort. No injuries were reported. Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.

Vestager is back — with little to lose

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:33 GMT

BRUSSELS — Whether it’s the European Commission or the European Investment Bank, “President Margrethe Vestager” just hasn’t happened. The feisty Dane is a Eurocrat superstar in charge of powerful digital and antitrust portfolios who has squeezed billions of euros in antitrust penalties out of Google. But she failed to get the political consensus she needed from European Union governments to nab the top job at the EU’s state-backed lender, losing out to Spain’s Nadia Calviño.“I will resume my duties at the European Commission,” Vestager said on X, saying she had withdrawn after ministers finally agreed on Calviño. Vestager now has very little to lose and a lot she could do to make the rest of her term count. “She has another 11 months; it is very short,” said Antoine Winckler, a partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. “She has a lot of very important state aid cases … merger control, the Alitalia thing.&...

Harvard president apologizes for remarks on campus antisemitism

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:33 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The president of Harvard University has apologized for her remarks at a congressional hearing on antisemitism, saying she got caught up in a heated exchange and failed to properly denounce threats of violence against Jewish students.In an interview Thursday with The Crimson student newspaper, President Claudine Gay clarified her response to a line of questioning that asked whether calling for the genocide of Jews would violate Harvard’s code of conduct. At the Tuesday hearing, Gay said it depended on the context, adding that when “speech crosses into conduct, that violates our policies.”Gay’s response has drawn intense national backlash, as have similar responses from the presidents of MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, who joined Gay in testifying before the Republican-led House Education and Workforce Committee. Wealthy donors and some members of Congress in both parties have called for their resignations.Gay told The Crimson she w...

Report urges Harvard to tighten security procedures after investigation into stolen body parts

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:33 GMT

A recently released independent report urges Harvard Medical School to tighten its security procedures after the school’s morgue manager was charged with stealing and selling body parts earlier this year. The 23-page review was written by a panel and released on Thursday. The report came just under six months after morgue manager Cedric Lodge was named in an indictment as one of several people initially accused in connection with what prosecutors said was a multi-year, multi-state operation to move, sell or purchase organs, skin and other parts from bodies that were donated for educational purposes.Federal officials discussed allegations, at the time, with US Attorney for the Middle District of Pennslvenia Gerard M. Karam, saying in a statement “Some crimes defy understanding.” Harvard appointed its three-person panel to study its anatomical gifts program after learning of the indictment in this case.Among numerous recommendations in its subsequent report, the panel urged ...

Boxford Fire comes to the rescue of furry friend stuck on thin ice

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:33 GMT

Boxford Fire Department officials were called to Cleveland State Forest Thursday to save a resident’s furry friend.Charlie, a small dog, was able to wander out about 30 feet onto ice before getting stuck. With the ice too thin for any human to walk and retrieve the pup, firefighters donned their ice resceu suits to swim out to her.Firefighters brought the dog back to shore safely and returned her to her family. The Boxford Fire Department is advising residents and dog owners to be cautious around ice, as it has not been cold long enough for area ponds and water sources to be walkable.

Biden administration announces $8.2 billion boost to rail projects, including Las Vegas to Los Angeles connection

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:33 GMT

Washington (CNN) — The Biden administration announced a multi-billion dollar boost to railway construction and improvements across the country on Friday – including what could become the nation’s first true high-speed rail line.The rail grants, amounting to $8.2 billion, will be allocated toward 10 projects and are funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law by Biden in November 2021. Biden has touted the law, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, as a key accomplishment from his term – and one his campaign hopes voters will keep top of mind with less than a year to go until the 2024 election.Following passage of the law, Biden – known for being an avid train rider during his time in the Senate – described it as the “most important investment in public transit in American history.”Included in Friday’s announcement is $3 billion to fund the Brightline West project to connect Las Vegas, where Biden makes the Friday announcement, to Los Angeles ...

Chicago Bears Week 14 storylines: Kevin Warren’s influence, the downfield passing attack and a College Football Playoff firestorm

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:33 GMT

Three weeks after suffering one of their most crushing losses of the season in Detroit, the Chicago Bears will welcome the Lions to Soldier Field for a rematch. The Lions rallied from 12 points down in the final four minutes at Ford Field in Week 11 and stole a 31-26 victory. The Bears haven’t forgotten.Still seeking their first two-game winning streak since late in the 2021 season and eyeing a potential signature win against a first-place team, the Bears feel ready to compete with the Lions and have designs on an upset. With kickoff of Sunday’s game approaching, here’s the inside slant on three notable storylines.‘I found my work partner’Kevin Warren was gushing. He couldn’t help himself. It was the last day of June and Warren was readying to head out on a short vacation before training camp. Still, he could not have been more enthused about his opportunity to continue working with general manager Ryan Poles, eager to embark on a yearslong journe...

Around the Southland: Bears surprise Stagg coach with Super Bowl tickets, new restaurant in Tinley, more

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:33 GMT

Bears surprise Stagg coach with Super Bowl ticketsAs 56 high school athletes gathered at Halas Hall in Lake Forest late in November to be honored for their on-field exploits in the first official girls’ flag football season, one of their coaches was blindsided by Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren, who presented her with two tickets to the Super Bowl in February.The the All-State Dinner hosted by the Bears was a way to recognize some of the best girls’ flag football players in Illinois after the sport’s inaugural season, including Hala Othman of Stagg High School in Palos Hills and Nola Oben of Sandburg High School in Orland Park. But Stagg coach Saja Alnajjar was singled out at the event as a Community Difference Maker, according to a news release from the school district.Alnajjar, whose only previous football experience was participating in Powder Puff football games as part of Homecoming festivities when she was a student at Stagg, put together a team ...