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Employees at 2 Fort Lauderdale restaurants claim they keep getting bad checks from their employer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

For South Floridians living paycheck to paycheck, every dollar counts. But one group of restaurant workers say their boss is serving up a bunch of bad checks. 7’s Karen Hensel investigates.Creating the perfect cocktail is a bartender’s dream.Sierra Ryerson/former employee: “And I was very excited because it was my first like real craft cocktail bartender job.”Sierra Ryerson started at Ya Mas in Fort Lauderdale back in January. But six months into the job, things took a turn.Sierra Ryerson: “The first check that bounced was at the beginning of June when I came back from vacation.”And nearly all of her paychecks after that also bounced.Sierra Ryerson: I go to Wells Fargo and they tell me that they cannot cash it. Then they put a little sticker on the back and I need to get a new check.”Sierra was eventually paid by her boss for most of her work hours but says she is still owed for two checks from July, one for her wages, the other for tips.Sie...

How Biden’s SAVE student loan repayment plan can lower your bill

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

Washington (CNN) — While the Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program in late June, a separate and significant change to the federal student loan system is moving ahead.Eligible borrowers can now enroll in a new income-driven repayment plan that could lower their monthly bills and reduce the amount they pay back over the lifetime of their loans.If borrowers apply this summer, the changes to their bills are expected take effect before payments resume in October after the yearslong pandemic pause ends. But the Biden administration is encouraging borrowers to apply as soon as possible to make sure the changes happen on time.Once the plan, which Biden is calling SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education), is fully phased in next year, some people will see their monthly bills cut in half and remaining debt canceled after making at least 10 years of payments.Unlike Biden’s blocked one-time forgiveness program, the new repayment plan will provide benefits...

Celebrate National Cuban Sandwich Day at these South Florida restaurants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

As the calendar turns to August 23, South Florida is ready to honor a culinary icon close to its heart – the Cuban sandwich. A flavorful tribute to the sandwich that originated in Cuba and blossomed in Florida, National Cuban Sandwich Day celebrates the cultural fusion and delectable flavors that define this pressed delicacy. Originating from the vibrant culture of Cuba, the Cuban sandwich has found a beloved home in South Florida. While its traditional makeup includes ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard, local eateries are putting their unique spin on this classic favorite. Here’s a guide to where you can savor the best Cuban sandwiches in South Florida:1. Burlock Coast: Nestled by Fort Lauderdale Beach, Burlock Coast, located at The Ritz-Carlton, offers a memorable Cuban Sandwich experience for $26. With Tasso ham, pulled pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, and honey dijon, this culinary delight is a must-try.2. The Commodore: The Commodore, situated within The Ritz...

Column: Jerry Reinsdorf finally fires Ken Williams and Rick Hahn, but there are still more Chicago White Sox moves to make

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

Chicago White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf made the second-most-popular decision he could make Tuesday in firing executive vice president Ken WIlliams and general manager Rick Hahn.The only thing better, in the eyes of most White Sox fans, would’ve been for Reinsdorf to announce he was selling the team.But you can’t have everything in life, and at least, for one moment, Sox fans could rejoice.It was their victory, after all.There’s no chance Reinsdorf would’ve fired two of the three men most responsible for the downfall of the franchise (the other being himself) without the nonstop protests of Sox fans who had enough of the losing, the lack of accountability and the series of public relations blunders, from hiring Tony La Russa (Reindorf’s fault) to canceling SoxFest to trading popular third baseman Jake Burger.But don’t stop now, Jerry. There are more moves to be made.The marketing department led by Brooks Boyer has been a nightmare as well. Chec...

Witness in Trump’s classified documents case retracted false testimony, prosecutors say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

WASHINGTON — A witness in the criminal case against Donald Trump over the hoarding of classified documents retracted “prior false testimony” after switching lawyers last month and provided new information that implicated the former president, the Justice Department said Tuesday.The statements from the witness, a Trump staffer identified in court papers as the director of information technology at Mar-a-Lago, was presented to prosecutors weeks before special counsel Jack Smith secured an updated indictment accusing Trump and two others in a plot to delete surveillance video at the Florida property.Prosecutors said in a court filing Tuesday that the witness told a grand jury in Washington in March that he could not recall any conversations about the security footageBut in July, after being warned by prosecutors that he was a target of the investigation and after being advised that his lawyer might have a conflict of interest because of his representation of others in the probe, the wi...

A top Russian general linked to the head of a rebellious mercenary group is reportedly dismissed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

Gen. Sergei Surovikin, a former commander of Russia’s forces in Ukraine who was linked to the leader of a brief armed rebellion, has been dismissed as chief of the air force, Russian state media reported Wednesday after weeks of uncertainty about his fate.Surovikin has not been seen in public since June 23-24, when Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, sent his men to march toward Moscow. In a video released during the uprising, Surovikin — who was believed to have close ties to Prigozhin — had urged him to pull the mercenaries back.The Wagner uprising posed the most serious challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s 23-year rule and reports circulated that Surovikin had known about it in advance. Prigozhin called off the rebellion short of reaching Moscow after he said he wanted to avoid bloodshed.Surovikin’s absence has been one of several enduring mysteries surrounding the rebellion. During his absence, Russian media have speculated about Surovikin’s whe...

India becomes the fourth country to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India on Wednesday landed a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole, an uncharted territory that scientists believe could hold vital reserves of frozen water and precious elements, as the country cements its growing prowess in space and technology.A lander with a rover inside touched down on the lunar surface at 6:04 ocal time, sparking cheers and applause among the space scientists watching in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru. After a failed attempt nearly four years ago, India made history by becoming the first country to touch down near the little-explored south pole region and joins the United States, the Soviet Union and China in achieving a moon landing.India’s successful landing comes just days after Russia’s Luna-25, which was aiming for the same lunar region, spun into an uncontrolled orbit and crashed. It would have been the first successful Russian lunar landing after a gap of 47 years. Russia’s head of the state-controlled space corporation Roscosmos ...

How sure is insurance in the climate era?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

In today’s Big Story Podcast, even before this summer of unprecedented weather, there were already a significant number of homes in Canada that are uninsurable for flood damage. And as the impact of the climate crisis creates more extreme and unpredictable weather, that number is likely to climb sharply. The insurance companies are in the risk-reward business, and if there’s too much risk, they’ll simply say, “Nope.”Kathryn Bakos is the director of Climate Finance and Science at the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo.“Currently 10 per cent of the Canadian housing market is uninsurable for flood risk, my assumption is that will continue to grow as precipitation, major precipitation events, major flood events continue to increase in severity,” said Bakos.So what makes a home uninsurable? How rapidly is the risk-reward equation changing? How can we adapt our homes and buildings to mitigate the worst impacts of extreme weather...

Five high school students, from all over the country, have been named National Student Poets

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Five high school students from Florida to Utah have been selected as this year’s National Student Poets, a program founded more than a decade ago. Each winner represents a different region in the country, and brings their own distinctive background and perspective. The student poets, each of whom receive $5,000, will help oversee workshops, readings and other activities. Previous poets have appeared at the White House and Lincoln Center among other venues.Kallan McKinney is a queer and trans poet from Norman, Oklahoma, who uses writing to explore identity and communication. Gabriella Miranda, a rising high school senior in Salt Lake City, credits her passion for words to her visits to the library and the bedtime stories her family read to her. The high school student representing the Midwest, Shangri-La Houn of St. Louis, has a strong affinity for the natural world.Brooklyn resident Miles Hardingwood has read poetry throughout New York City and hopes his work w...

Stock market today: Wall Street quietly inches higher ahead of Fed Chair Powell’s speech

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:00 GMT

TOKYO — Wall Street inched higher Wednesday ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s highly anticipated speech later in the week. Futures for the Dow and S&P 500 each gained 0.2% before the bell. Powell is set to speak Friday at an event in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the site of several major policy announcements by the Fed. “With the Jackson Hole event just around the corner, markets are understandably lacking some conviction given the interest rate implications which could stem from this eagerly awaited get-together of central bankers,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade. The Fed has already hiked its main interest rate to the highest level since 2001 in hopes of grinding high inflation down to a 2% target. High rates work by slowing the entire economy bluntly and hurting prices for investments.Inflation has come down considerably from its peak above 9% in the summer of 2022, but economists say getting the last percentage point of improvement may be th...