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Silicon Valley Proptech and Real Estate Trends Conference 2023: A Resounding Success

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:27 GMT

Sponsored ContentThe 2023 Silicon Valley Proptech and Real Estate Trends Conference (PRET 2023), hosted by AlphaX RE Capital, recently concluded in Santa Clara, drawing nearly 500 attendees and marking the first large-scale in-person real estate event in Silicon Valley since the pandemic. The conference featured an exceptional lineup of 35 speakers, including real estate professionals, government representatives, financial experts, and proptech pioneers, who discussed current trends and future predictions in the industry.The main panel addressed eight topics, featuring noteworthy panelists such as Lydia Kou, the mayor of Palo Alto; Greg Lin Tanaka, city council member; Melanie Griswold, former San Jose city real estate planning commissioner; and Andrew Pollock, CEO of Anchor Loan. The panelists engaged in discussions on the 2023 real estate market, current interest rates, inflation trends, California’s housing policies, and the state’s housing shortage. Additionally, the...

Dear Abby: We’re getting pressure about our wedding reception. What should we say?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:27 GMT

DEAR ABBY: My fiancee and I are about to get married in another state.I have lived in multiple states over the years and have friends and family in some of them. Some of these people aren’t able to attend the wedding. We understand their reasons and have offered a livestream as an alternative.We are now being asked to host additional wedding receptions in other states, and we’re getting a lot of pressure about it. We have no desire to have additional wedding receptions with all the planning and expense that goes along with them.What’s a polite way to respond to these friends and family members?NOT INTERESTED IN FLORIDADEAR NOT INTERESTED: Thank these friends and relatives for the suggestion and explain that although it’s a nice idea, it isn’t within your budget. That’s the truth. Then encourage them to come and visit when time permits.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: Should I let her know that my ex-husband will never marry her? ...

Local parks donate thousands of pounds of hunted venison to families in need

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:27 GMT

Seven national parks throughout the D.C. area have begun to wrap up hunting season and have donated thousands of pounds of hunted venison to local families in need.Over 12,000 pounds of venison from the region’s overpopulation of white-tailed deer will go toward feeding about 48,000 people in need through local food banks, according to the National Park Service.Separately, in Maryland hunters culled 76,687 deer and donated 7,000 pounds worth of meat during last winter’s hunting season, according to the state’s department of natural resources.A majority of the season’s hunters were biologists working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the direction of natural resource management specialists at the park service, though local hunters who took part in the season also received a state tax credit if they donated the deer carcass to charity.The culling season at National Parks will end on April 30 and is done yearly to help support resilient forests and pa...

Montgomery Co. patio contractor sues Baltimore Police Department over extortion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:27 GMT

A Montgomery County, Maryland, man is suing the Baltimore Police Department and the City of Baltimore, alleging that they didn’t do enough to stop its officers from violating his civil rights after one police sergeant was fired and three detectives suspended over his extortion.Luis Alfonso Torres Hernandez, who was hired by then-Sgt. James Lloyd to build a patio at Lloyd’s Baltimore home in 2020, is raising claims of false imprisonment, false arrest, and civil conspiracy in the new lawsuit.Lloyd was charged with extortion and sentenced to a year in prison after it was revealed he threatened to arrest, harm, and even kill Torres if he did not give back thousands of dollars Lloyd had paid him to complete the patio project.In text messages, Lloyd had previously praised Torres for the job he did, and for his professionalism, according to the complaint.The suit filed this week names three other detectives, Juan Diaz, Manuel Larbi and Troy Taylor, claiming those men also viola...

Estados Unidos promete un fondo de US$ 500 millones para frenar la deforestación del Amazonas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:27 GMT

(CNN) — El presidente de Estados Unidos, Joe Biden, prometió este jueves una inversión de US$ 500 millones al Fondo Amazonía, una suma que convertiría al país en uno de los mayores donantes del mundo al programa internacional de conservación para proteger la selva amazónica de la deforestación.“Hoy, me complace anunciar que solicitaré los fondos para que podamos contribuir con US$ 500 millones al Fondo Amazonía y otras actividades relacionadas con el clima durante los próximos cinco años para apoyar el esfuerzo renovado de Brasil para terminar con la deforestación para 2030″, dijo Biden durante una reunión virtual del Foro de las Grandes Economías sobre Energía y Clima.El Fondo Amazonía utiliza fondos extranjeros para proyectos que combaten la deforestación y preservan el medio ambiente en la Amazonía, y fue creado en Brasil durante el anterior mandato del presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Los principales donantes incluyen Noruega y Alemania.Gustavo Petro, presidente...

Mets bring 1-0 series advantage over Giants into game 2

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:27 GMT

New York Mets (12-7, second in the NL East) vs. San Francisco Giants (6-11, fourth in the NL West)San Francisco; Friday, 10:15 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Mets: Joey Lucchesi (0-0); Giants: Anthony DeSclafani (1-0, 1.42 ERA, .63 WHIP, 16 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Giants -111, Mets -109; over/under is 9 runsBOTTOM LINE: The New York Mets lead 1-0 in a four-game series against the San Francisco Giants.San Francisco has gone 2-5 in home games and 6-11 overall. The Giants have a 4-1 record in games when they did not give up a home run.New York is 12-7 overall and 9-5 in road games. Mets hitters have a collective .337 on-base percentage, the seventh-best percentage in MLB play.The teams meet Friday for the second time this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Thairo Estrada has four doubles and three home runs while hitting .324 for the Giants. Michael Conforto is 7-for-22 with three home runs over the last 10 games.Pete Alonso ranks second on the Mets with 10 extra base hits (a double a...

Man shot, hospitalized following shooting in Miramar

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:27 GMT

A shooting in Miramar has left one person injured as police search for the gunman.According to the Miramar Police Department, just before 12:30 a.m., officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert in the 3400 block of Southwest 62nd Avenue and discovered an adult victim at the scene.The victim, whose identity has not been disclosed, was immediately transported to the hospital. While his exact condition remains unknown, officials stated that the victim was conscious at the time of transport.A family member of the 18-year-old man said he came to his house to alert them of the situation.“He had knocked on the door,” said the male family member. “He knocked on the door and knocked hard. He came in and said he was shot.”It is important to note that the victim did not remain at the location where the shooting occurred. As of now, details about the shooting and the circumstances leading up to it remain scarce as the investigation remains ongoing. Authorities have yet to ...

Italian cops arrest 3 for alleged embezzlement of EU funds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:27 GMT

The Palermo police put three suspects under house arrest Friday morning on charges of “embezzlement and corruption” related to various EU-funded public school projects, including stealing food and technology from kids in a socially deprived area of the Italian city. Two suspects “falsely declared” the number of pupils at the school to justify EU-funded scholarship programs for public school students, which were “never, or only partially” implemented, according to a statement by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which has led the investigation between February 2022 and April 2023.The investigators found that two suspects also deprived children of “significant amounts of food supplies” as well as expensive computer and technological devices, which were stored in the principal’s office and “misappropriated” by the two suspects, the statement says.Supply of technological material was entrusted to a sing...

Dominic Raab’s gone — so who could replace him in the UK Cabinet?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:27 GMT

Dominic Raab’s gone — so who could replace him in the UK Cabinet?POLITICO runs through the contenders for justice secretary.Here’s a list of potential candidates to replace Dominic Raab as deputy prime minister | Photo illustration by Giulia Poloni for POLITICO/Source images from EPA and UK ParliamentLONDON — Dominic Raab has just resigned as U.K. justice secretary — and deputy prime minister — after a long-running inquiry into a string of claims that he bullied staff. So who could replace him in the crucial job overseeing the U.K.’s judicial system? POLITICO’s London Playbook ran through the contenders. Victoria Atkins, 47Victoria Atkins | UK ParliamentCuurrently, financial secretary to the Treasury, Atkins is said to be well-liked in No. 10 Downing Street. She prosecuted drug trafficking gangs as a barrister. She isn’t on Twitter. And she was once accused of being terribly rude about Boris Johnson’s wife, Carrie.Victoria...

Ukrainian troops to begin training on US-made tanks in next few weeks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:27 GMT

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — American-made Abrams tanks that Ukrainians will use for training will arrive in Germany in the next few weeks, allowing soldiers to begin learning to use the much-anticipated armor, according to two U.S. Defense Department officials. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected to announce the move at a Friday press conference after the 11th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a gathering of more than 40 nations dedicated to supporting Kyiv against Russia’s all-out assault, said one of the DoD officials, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive operations.The 31 M1A1 Abrams tanks — a Ukrainian battalion’s worth — will arrive at the Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany by mid-to-late May, according to the officials. The training will begin a week or two later, after the tanks go through a maintenance period. But the tanks the Ukrainian armed forces will train on in Germany are different from the ones that will eventually...