Jan
12

City Room: Cuomo Declares Public Health Emergency Over Flu Outbreak

With the nation in the grip of a severe influenza outbreak that has seen deaths reach epidemic levels, New York State declared a public health emergency on Saturday, making access to vaccines more easily available.There have been nearly 20,000 cases of flu reported across the state so far this season, officials said. Last season, 4,400 positive laboratory tests were reported.“We are experiencing...
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Treasury Will Not Mint $1 Trillion Coin to Raise Debt Ceiling

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department said Saturday that it will not mint a trillion-dollar platinum coin to head off an imminent battle with Congress over raising the government’s borrowing limit. “Neither the Treasury Department nor the Federal Reserve believes that the law can or should be used to facilitate the production of platinum coins for the purpose of avoiding an increase in...
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Jan
11

James' spending in mayor's race far outpaces fundraising

Kevin James, the sole Republican among the main contenders in the Los Angeles mayor's race, raised a little more than $42,000...
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A sense of dread shrouds Nintendo’s Wii U

The latest Wii U sales numbers are out from Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom — and unease is deepening. In Japan, Famitsu Magazine reported Wii U weekly sales slipping to 70,000 units from 76,000 units during the important period ending in January 6. This is the week many Japanese teenagers spend their New Year’s money and sales of consoles tend to bounce. During the week, the portable...
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“Gangster Squad” takes $650K in midnight showings, battle with “Zero Dark Thirty” awaits

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – Warner Bros.’ “Gangster Squad” grossed $ 650,000 in midnight showings Thursday night, a strong start to what should be a weekend-long fight for the box-office crown.Ruben Fleischer’s tale of cops and organized crime in mid-20th century Los Angeles will duke it out with Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty,” the Oscar contender that expands to almost 3,000 screens this weekend.Box...
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No Jail Time for Doctor, 85, Convicted of Drug Charge

The former doctor sat in courton Friday waiting to be sentenced for a crime that breached every tenet of his professional code. He had run his house in Staten Island like a drug mill, selling the prescription painkiller oxycodone to all comers — including undercover federal agents. The guideline sentence for his crimes was up to six years. But just by the look of the defendant, Felix Lanting,...
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DealBook: Wells Fargo's Mortgage Gains May Be Unsustainable

8:40 p.m. | Updated Wells Fargo has turned its mortgage business into an enormous profit machine. The San Francisco-based bank posted earnings of $5.1 billion in the fourth quarter, a 24 percent increase from the previous year.But its strong gains may not be sustainable, unless interest rates drop significantly or the housing market recovers substantially. Both are long shots.“Rates really don’t have...
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Jan
10

Irvine City Council overhauls oversight, spending on Great Park

Capping a raucous eight-hour-plus meeting, the Irvine City Council early Wednesday voted to overhaul the oversight and spending...
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Baby Bones Found Scattered in Ancient Italian Village

SEATTLE — The death of an infant may not have been an occasion for mourning in ancient Italy, according to archaeologists who have found baby bones scattered on the floor of a workshop dating to the seventh century B.C.The grisly finds consist of bone fragments uncovered over years of excavation at Poggio Civitate, a settlement about 15 miles (25 kilometers) from the city of Siena in what is now Tuscany....
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ABC Chief Says Network Needs Hits, Will Abandon “All-Star” Format for “Dancing”

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – ABC entertainment president Paul Lee summed up his fall season by saying his network has “a lot to shout about, and we also have a lot to do.”Lee’s network finished the fall in fourth place in the key 18-49 demographic and third place in total viewers. He lamented the fall’s lack of any “big breakout hits on broadcast on any of the networks and on ABC in particular.”NBC, which...
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