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Looking for a house? High mortgages, few homes lead to biggest annual price drop in 11 years

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:39 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A persistently low inventory of homes on the market held back U.S. home sales again in April, even as the national median sale price posted its biggest annual drop in 11 years. Existing home sales fell 3.4% in April from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.28 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That’s slightly below what economists were expecting, according to FactSet.Sales sank 23.2% compared with April last year. The annual drop was steepest in markets across the Western part of the country, where sales plunged more than 30% from a year earlier.The national median home price slipped 1.7% from April last year to $388,800, the NAR said. While modest, the year-over-year decline is the biggest since January 2012, the tail end of a a multiyear slide in home prices after the mid-2000s housing bubble burst.The latest housing market figures are more evidence that even with prices easing back after rising for more than a decade many w...

Mexico finds 49 migrants who had been kidnapped from bus

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:39 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s army said Thursday that troops have found 49 migrants, including 11 children, who were kidnapped from a bus earlier this week.Defense Secretary Gen. Luis Cresencio Sandoval said 650 police and army troops were involved in the search for the migrants, who disappeared Tuesday.The last 33 of the migrants were found early Thursday in an area where another mass kidnapping of migrants occurred in April. Sandoval said none of the abductors had been arrested, nor were two bus drivers found yet.The migrants said a drug cartel abducted them when their bus stopped at a gas station in northern Mexico.Sandoval did not identify the cartel responsible for the kidnapping, but acknowledged the Gulf cartel and others gangs operate in the area, where the northern states of San Luis Potosi and Nuevo Leon meet.He also did not rule out the possibility that more migrants may be found, because there wasn’t a clear accounting of how many were on the bus to start with.Sandov...

Medvedev making more progress on clay with Italian Open semifinal appearance

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:39 GMT

ROME (AP) — Daniil Medvedev’s clay-court game keeps improving.First came a run to the French Open quarterfinals in 2021. Then an appearance in the fourth round at Roland Garros a year ago.Now, the third-ranked Russian is making big strides at the Italian Open.Medvedev beat German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann 6-2, 6-2 on Thursday to reach the semifinals in Rome after losing his opener in his three previous appearances at the Foro Italico.“I said before the tournament that I was feeling really great in practice,” Medvedev said. “It’s always a danger to say this, because when you lose the first round you’re going to be, ‘Why did I say this?’ But I’m proving it. I feel great.”On an overcast day, Medvedev controlled play with his flat groundstrokes and big first serve to the end the run of Hanfmann, who upset Monte Carlo Masters champion Andrey Rublev in the previous round after also taking out ninth-seeded Taylor Fritz.Medvedev has dropped only one set in four matches.His semifinal oppone...

Sam Zell, billionaire real estate investor, dies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:39 GMT

Sam Zell, a Chicago real estate magnate who earned a multibillion-dollar fortune and a reputation as “the grave dancer” for his ability to revive moribund properties has died due to complications from a recent illness. He was 81. Bearded and blunt-spoken, Zell reveled in bucking traditional wisdom. He had a golden touch with real estate, and got his start managing apartment buildings as a college student. By the time he reached his 70s, he had amassed a fortune estimated at $3.8 billion.Zell sold Equity Office, the office-tower company he spent three decades building, to Blackstone Group for $39 billion in 2007. It was the largest private equity transaction in history, and Zell personally netted $1 billion.A month later, he made another deal that ultimately tarnished his image: the acquisition of the ailing Tribune Co. for $13 billion. The media giant filed for bankruptcy the following year.Real estate was his trademark, but as he noted in an interview shortly before mak...

ABC News crew spends year in Uvalde, documents journey of survivors, families of shooting victims

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:39 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — After most mass shootings that capture the public’s attention, national news organizations will send reporters for a few days, a week maybe, before moving on. There’s always another community, another tragedy.ABC News tried something different after 19 elementary school students and two teachers were shot and killed in Uvalde, Texas, last May.The journalists stayed.For a year, ABC News kept a team in Uvalde. The result is a nuanced portrait of what happens over time to a suffering community, as seen in the two-hour documentary, “It Happened Here — A Year in Uvalde,” that airs Friday on ABC and Saturday on Hulu.“What we discovered has been profoundly moving and inspiring and, we hope, useful,” said ABC News President Kim Godwin.The story’s richness is in the details: There are the children’s rooms left undisturbed since May 24, 2022, the brush a parent can’t give up because it contains a dead girl’s hair, the survivor made upset by ...

Police investigating Chase Bank in SW Miami-Dade after ATM theft attempt

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:39 GMT

An investigation is underway after, police said, thieves attempted to steal an ATM machine outside a bank in Southwest Miami-Dade.According to Miami-Dade Police, the call came in around 3 a.m. Thursday after two individuals in a white truck attempted to remove the machine.Police could be seen at the Chase Bank at 12610 S.W. 120th St. around 10 a.m. while crews cleaned up the damage.While the bank’s interior remained accessible to customers, drive-up services were unavailable as yellow tape cordoned off the area where the ATM sustained damage during the robbery.It is currently unconfirmed whether any money or property was taken.Authorities have not made any arrests in connection with this incident.If you have any information on this crime, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.

Clean-up begins after banner plane crash kills experienced pilot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:39 GMT

Investigators and cleaning crews were on the scene Thursday after a banner-towing plane crashed on a road adjacent to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood and burst into flames, killing an experienced pilot. Crews were seen towing the remainder of the frame of the Piper PA-25 which was completely scorched.7News learned that the pilot had taken off just shortly before the accident. He had only been on the job for two weeks. People nearby watched in disbelief as the plane made landfall. It was headed towards the beach from North Perry Airport.“He had approximately 325 total hours of flight experience, he was a recent hire, been with the company two weeks and he had a total of estimated 13-15 hours of experience in this aircraft, make and model,” said a man from the National Transportation Safety Board. Witness Karen Schiff said she could tell the pilot was doing all he could not to hit anyone on the ground.The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportat...

Dr Pepper Float ice cream is here

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:39 GMT

New York (CNN) — Two iconic Texas brands have come together to create a Dr Pepper Float ice cream.The soda company is partnering with Blue Bell Creameries to create the flavor, which mixes together vanilla ice cream and a Dr Pepper-flavored sherbet. It’s available beginning Thursday in pint and half-gallon sizes at stores where Blue Bell is sold, the company announced.“The best ice cream floats are made with Dr Pepper poured over a few scoops of Blue Bell,” said Jimmy Lawhorn, Blue Bell vice president of sales and marketing, said in a release.Both Dr Pepper and Blue Bell have Texas roots.Founded in 1885 in Waco, Texas, Dr Pepper was the first in a wave of 19th-century upstart soda companies. (It dropped the period after Dr. in the 1950s for design reasons.) The little brand rose to prominence in the latter half of the 20th century and helped shape the soda industry, all while cultivating its reputation as an outsider.Over the years Dr Pepper has found success as a quirky alternative...

Remains of Georgia woman killed 46 years ago identified, confirmed serial killer victim

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:39 GMT

MACON, Ga. (AP) — The remains of a Georgia woman killed 46 years ago were identified and confirmed as a victim of Samuel Little, known as the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history, authorities said Thursday.Yvonne Pless was about 20 when Little killed her in 1977, according to a news release from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office and the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. She had been dubbed “Macon Jane Doe” by The Telegraph newspaper in the city.Little, who died in December 2020, confessed in 2018 to killing two Macon women, prompting Georgia investigators to travel to Texas in 2019 to interview him. They were able to confirm that his confessions matched the unsolved Macon cold case. They were able to notify a remaining family member of the other woman, Fredonia Smith, who was killed in 1982.But Pless’ remains hadn’t been identified, so her family was not known. Last year, investigators used forensic genetic genealogy to identify Pless’ remains and ...

Fire hydrant ruptures while crews extinguish blaze in Palmetto Bay home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:39 GMT

A fire hydrant was hit while crews put out nearby flames, but the impact caused a big mess.Firefighters worked to put out a blaze at a home on Southwest 148th Street and 80th Avenue in Palmetto Bay. When the truck hit a hydrant it caused water to gush out.Although there was no water main breakage, Miami-Dade Water and Sewer crews responded to shut off the water from the hydrant to contain the spill.Officials with the Miami-Dade Fire Department said everyone inside the house evacuated safely.Now, officials investigating what caused the fire.