Home

Jill On Money: Will 6% real estate commissions become extinct?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

Years ago, as disruption was forcing many in the financial services industry to come to terms with declining mutual fund and trading fees, one stockbroker said to me, “I’m going into real estate, because the 6 percent commission is sacred!”Related ArticlesBusiness | The busiest days to fly during the winter holidays Business | New IRS income tax brackets and higher standard deduction. What you need to know Business | Watch for these 3 Medigap shopping surprises to avoid overpaying Business | Medical debt is disappearing from Americans’ credit reports, lifting scores Business | Does a 401(k) employer match tempt you to cash out? I thought about his comment recently, after a federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri found that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and some big real estate brokerage companies conspired to artificially inflate commissions on home sales...

Monday Morning Lights: Early look at NCS, CCS Open Division championship games

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

Welcome back to Monday Morning Lights, our weekly feature that sheds more light on the high school football weekend and peeks ahead to the new week. If you haven’t already, please subscribe. Your contributions keep us going.SRV VS. DLS: TEAMS MEET FOR NCS OPEN TITLEWhen that game ended with a walk-off touchdown run by De La Salle’s Derrick Blanche in overtime, San Ramon Valley hoped to get another shot at the Concord powerhouse, another chance to become the first North Coast Section team in 32 years to defeat De La Salle.Friday night at Dublin High, SRV will get a second opportunity as the East Bay Athletic League teams meet for the NCS’s Open Division championship.The winner will advance to a NorCal regional. The runner-up will play Pittsburg or California for the section’s Division I championship in two weeks.Will this time be different for SRV?Can this game possibly match or come close to matching last month’s all-time classic?De La Salle has won nine in a row since opening the s...

Dog found alive alongside body of hiker missing two months

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

A Colorado hiker missing since August was found dead — but his dog had survived and remained by his side.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | ‘It’s not a possum, it’s a person’: Man missing for a month is found dead in chimney Crashes and Disasters | 8 children abducted from Arkansas foster homes rescued in Northern California Crashes and Disasters | Man charged after reporting child missing from supermarket parking lot whom he forgot at home Crashes and Disasters | Body found in Northern California forest; missing man last seen on gas station camera Crashes and Disasters | Missing hiker found dead on Mount Whitney The discovery was reported by Taos Search and Rescue, which had participated in the initial search for Rich Moore, a 71-year-old man from Pagosa Springs, in southern Colorado.Moore was reported missing on Aug. 19 after heading out with his Jack Russell terrier,...

Spider season: Here are a few things you may not know about them

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

Does whatever a spider canWhat was an itsy-bitsy spider spinning webs a few months ago is now a large, fully-grown exterminator helping keep the pest population under control.Is it peak spider season? Not necessarily, because there are usually more spiders in the spring after they hatch their eggs. By September to November they are fully grown, easier to find and make larger webs.Some spidey factsRelated ArticlesEnvironment | Photos: Stunning Bay Area wildlife Environment | How to make your outdoor space a refuge of biodiversity Environment | Walk on the Wild Side: Birding and wildlife watching in California’s coastal redwood forest Environment | Have Alameda brown pelicans lost their ability to fly in formation? Environment | A name nearly lost to time — Monterey resident discovered a new species, but he wasn’t credited The world is home to about 50,000 species of spiders.Almost all are venomous b...

California high school student suspended for saying ‘Free Palestine’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

A Corona del Mar Middle and High School student was suspended this week, allegedly for saying remarks deemed to be threatening, such as “Free Palestine,” to a classmate, according to social media posts circulating Friday.Newport-Mesa Unified Assistant Superintendent Kerrie Torres confirmed the student was suspended for three days from classroom instruction starting on Nov. 13.Torres and other district employees reached Friday evening said they could not go into further details about what caused the suspension.But a social media post that purports to be from the student’s aunt included a photo of a letter signed by Principal Jacob Haley that said: “(The student) said threatening remarks to a young lady in class. He said ‘Free Palestine.’” Those social media posts also detailed previous tensions that occurred between the student and others at school.Related ArticlesEducation | GOP hopeful Chris Christie visits Israel, says the US must show solidarity in war against Ha...

Northern California native among 5 US troops killed in a military helicopter crash over the Mediterranean

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

By TARA COPP | Associated PressWASHINGTON  — The Pentagon on Monday identified the five Army aviation special operations forces killed when their UH-60 helicopter crashed in the Eastern Mediterranean.The military’s European Command said the helicopter went down over the weekend during an air refueling mission as part of military training.The five service members who died were Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen R. Dwyer, 38, of Clarksville, Tennessee; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane M. Barnes, 34, of Sacramento, California; Staff Sgt. Tanner W. Grone, 26, of Gorham, New Hampshire; Sgt. Andrew P. Southard, 27, of Apache Junction, Arizona; and Sgt. Cade M. Wolfe, 24, of Mankato, Minnesota.The U.S. has built up its force presence in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. There are two carrier strike groups operating in the region, U.S. Air Force squadrons have received additional crews and warplanes, and U.S. special operations forces hav...

At least one dead after crash along state Route 4

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

(BCN) -- At least one person is dead after a two-vehicle crash along state Route 4 in Pittsburg early Monday morning, the California Highway Patrol said. Woman killed after shooting at Chili’s parking lot in San Leandro The accident was first reported at 2:57 a.m. on Monday, and resulted in the closure of eastbound state Route 4 at Bailey Road. Authorities have yet to reopen the roadway.The identity of the victim and other information regarding the circumstances of the crash were not immediately available.Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

‘March for Israel’ in DC expected to bring large crowds, parking and traffic restrictions

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

More than a month after the Oct. 7 attack by terrorist group Hamas on Israel, tens of thousands of people are expected on the National Mall in D.C. Tuesday for a “March for Israel.”The permit issued by the National Park Service, based upon information provided by the organizers, anticipates up to 60,000 people.Organized by the Jewish Federations of North America and Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, the groups said on its website the march “will be an opportunity to come together in solidarity with the people of Israel, to demonstrate our commitment to America’s most important ally in the Middle East, to condemn the rising trend of antisemitic violence and harassment, and to demand that every hostage be immediately and safely released.”According to the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, security gates on the National Mall will open at 10 a.m. The rally is scheduled to run from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.According to the District’s...

As Poland’s new parliament meets, the president wants the outgoing PM to try to form a government

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki offered his conservative government’s resignation on Monday as required as the newly elected parliament met for the first time in a protracted transition of power following last month’s election.The lower chamber, or Sejm, in its first vote overwhelmingly chose centrist Szymon Holownia, an opponent of Morawiecki, as its speaker.An alliance of pro-European Union parties vowing to restore democratic standards won a strong parliamentary majority in the Oct. 15 election and is expected to take power. Its candidate for prime minister is Donald Tusk, the centrist and pro-EU former prime minister.But the alliance will have to wait, perhaps for weeks. Conservative President Andrzej Duda, who is allied with Morawiecki’s right-wing Law and Justice party, is asking Morawiecki to try to build another government and will reappoint him as a prime minister candidate on Monday evening.Morawiecki in an address to parliament e...

Brady Hoke to retire as San Diego State coach at end of the season after 6 years with the school

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:50 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — San Diego State coach Brady Hoke announced Monday he will retire from leading the Aztecs after this season, having guided the program for six years over two stints that included three bowl appearances.Hoke, 65, is 39-31 (.557) at San Diego State, but just 3-7 this year. He is in the fourth season of his second term as Aztecs head coach.“I am proud of what we accomplished at San Diego State,” Hoke said. “I am grateful to all the great student-athletes I’ve had the chance to work with, molding them into men, husbands, fathers and pillars in the community. I will always cherish my time leading this program.”Hoke went 13-12, turning around a long struggling San Diego State program in 2009-10 before becoming head coach at Michigan.He went 31-21 in four years with the Wolverines. He was fired during the 2012 season.Hoke returned to San Diego State first as an assistant in 2019 under Rocky Long, then was promoted to head coach again in 2020. He led the Aztecs to a school r...