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Wyndham rejects $8 billion unsolicited buyout offer after Choice Hotels goes public with its bid

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:25 GMT

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts rejected an unsolicited $8 billion buyout offer from Choice Hotels, a smaller chain that went public Tuesday with its bid after negotiations broke down. Wyndham, which runs Days Inn, La Quinta, Ramada and a host of other brands, on Tuesday called the proposal “opportunistic” and said that it undervalues its growth potential. The offer was rejected unanimously by its board, the company said. “Choice’s offer is underwhelming, highly conditional and subject to significant business, regulatory and execution risk,” Wyndham Chairman Stephen Holmes said in a prepared statement. “Choice has been unwilling or unable to address our concerns.” Wyndham has engaged Choice and its advisors multiple times to explore the risks of a potential deal, Holmes said, but decided it would likely take more than a year to determine what would be required to clear antitrust review. Choice Hotels International said it went public with its bid after six months of n...

Stretch of I-25 to remain closed for days as debris from train derailment is cleared

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:25 GMT

The main north-south highway in Colorado is expected to remain closed for several more days as crews clear piles of coal and other debris after a weekend train derailment and bridge collapse, authorities said Tuesday.Federal investigators approved cleanup work after largely completing their evidence collection where the BNSF coal train derailed onto Interstate 25 north of Pueblo, Colorado, killing a truck driver.There is no reason believe the derailment was sabotage, said Sarah Taylor Sulick, of the National Transportation Safety Board.The bridge, built in 1958, collapsed when 30 cars from the train derailed Sunday afternoon, the NTSB said. The 60-year-old driver of a semitrailer truck that was passing beneath the bridge was killed.Officials said the derailment caused the bridge collapse but have not said what caused the derailment.A preliminary report from investigators is due in several weeks.“They will be pulling maintenance records. They’ll be interviewing people involved. They’...

Want to buy a house in Denver? Here's how much you need earn to afford one

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:25 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA/NEXSTAR) — Buying a house in the U.S. isn't cheap, and according to a report from Redfin, it is now harder than ever to afford one — even in Denver.Sky-high mortgage rates and rising home prices have made it more difficult than ever, especially for first-time home buyers, Redfin said in the report, which was released Tuesday.The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 7.57% from 7.49% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said earlier this month. It's the highest level in more than two decades.To afford a median-priced U.S. home now, Redfin said buyers must earn $114,627, up 15% ($15,285) from a year ago and up more than 50% since the start of the pandemic. The real estate website said a typical household earns about $40,000 less than that. This is the wealthiest person in Colorado, new Forbes report shows "Hourly wages have risen in 2023, but not nearly as fast as the income necessary to afford a home is rising: The average U.S. hourly wage has i...

Colorado woman lands in Israel after first attack, Projects Dynamo helps get her home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:25 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Tuesday marks the 10th day since the Hamas attacks on Israel, and Americans are still working to get out of the region.Some U.S. citizens are getting help from Project Dynamo to return home.Corrine Mille, a Sedalia resident, has been to Israel four times and wanted to take a friend who had never been. But this time was different.“We got there on October 7, three hours after the first missile hit. Tel Aviv we landed. The airport was a ghost town. There were shelter signs everywhere,” said Miller. They made their way to the north to hopefully escape the conflict.“[We thought] let's just wait it out and see what happens. We didn't want to abort the trip immediately,” said Miller.After all, she had planned this two-week trip for 10 months.“Three hours before we landed the spreadsheet was annihilated.”However, they were not immune to the sirens and missile attacks. Soon enough she got a Gome Front Command notification on her phone telling her there was "rocket and missil...

Georgia deputy shoots, kills man who spent 16 years in a South Florida prison on wrongful conviction

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:25 GMT

KINGSLAND, Ga. (AP) — A Black man who spent more than 16 years imprisoned in Florida on a wrongful conviction was fatally shot Monday by a sheriff’s deputy in Georgia during a traffic stop, authorities said.The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is reviewing the shooting, identified the man as Leonard Allen Cure, 53.Cure had been represented in his exoneration case by the Innocence Project of Florida. The group’s executive director, Seth Miller, said he was devastated by news of the death, which he heard from Cure’s family.“I can only imagine what it’s like to know your son is innocent and watch him be sentenced to life in prison, to be exonerated and … then be told that once he’s been freed, he’s been shot dead,” Miller said.The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said a Camden County deputy pulled over Cure as he drove along Interstate 95 near the Georgia-Florida line. He got out of the car at the deputy’s request and cooperated at first but became violent after he was told ...

Prosecutors seeking to recharge Actor Alec Baldwin in fatal shooting on movie set

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:25 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Special prosecutors said Tuesday they are seeking to recharge actor Alec Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie in New Mexico two years ago.New Mexico-based prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis said they’ll present evidence grand jury within the next two months, noting that “additional facts” have come to light in the October 2021 fatal shooting on the set of “Rust” during filming on the outskirts of Santa Fe.Baldwin, a coproducer of the film, was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on the film’s set outside Santa Fe when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the gun fired.Special prosecutors in April initially dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin, saying at the time that they were informed the gun might have been modified before the ...

Hamas-run Health Ministry says Israeli airstrike on hospital kills hundreds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:25 GMT

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Health Ministry run by Hamas said an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday hit a Gaza City hospital packed with wounded and other Palestinians seeking shelter, killing hundreds. If confirmed, the attack would be by far the deadliest Israeli airstrike in five wars fought since 2008.The health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said at least 500 people had been killed. Photos purportedly from al-Ahli Hospital shared widely on social video showed fire engulfing the building, widespread damage and bodies scattered in the wreckage. The photos could not be independently verified.Several hospitals in Gaza City have become refuges for hundreds of people, hoping they would be spared bombardment after Israel ordered all residents of the city and surrounding areas to evacuate to the southern Gaza Strip.Hamas, which sparked the latest war with an attack last week that killed more than 1,400 Israelis, called Tuesday’s hospital strike “a horrific massacre.” It said i...

Disney attorneys want to question former administrator in lawsuit with DeSantis appointees

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:25 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Disney attorneys want to question a previous administrator of the governing district that provides municipal services to Walt Disney World as part of its defense against a state lawsuit brought by a board made up of appointees of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.Disney attorneys said in court papers Monday that they have subpoenaed John Classe, the former administrator of what was previously called the Reedy Creek Improvement District for 55 years until it was renamed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District earlier this year during a takeover by DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature. The takeover of the district, which was previously controlled by Disney allies, came after the company publicly opposed a state law banning classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades.Following the takeover, Classe was replaced by DeSantis ally, Glen Gilzean.Classe was in charge of the district when the governing body signed agree...

Guinness World Records declares Pepper X as world’s new hottest chili pepper

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:25 GMT

(CNN) — The Carolina Reaper has met its match.Chili Pepper X has captured the spicy record as the world’s hottest, Guinness World Records announced on Monday.The new pepper rates an average of 2.69 million Scoville Heat Units (SHU), according to tests performed by Winthrop University in South Carolina, beating the previous record holder, Carolina Reaper, which averages 1.64 million SHU, according to Guinness World Records.The SHU scale to measure chili pepper heat was developed by American chemist Wilbur Scoville in 1912.By comparison, the average jalapeño pepper scores between 3,000 to 8,000 SHU, according to Guinness.Pepper X is grown by Ed Currie, founder of Puckerbutt Pepper Company in South Carolina. He also created the Carolina Reaper, which took the record in 2013.“Ed cultivated Pepper X on his farm for over 10 years, cross breeding it with some of his hottest peppers to increase its capsaicin content,” Guinness said on its website.Currie first presented Pepper X to...

‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ review: Uneven but engrossing drama from Scorsese

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:25 GMT

Getting your arms all the way around “Killers of the Flower Moon” is a tricky endeavor.That isn’t only because of the film’s length — nearly three-and-a-half hours — although that’s certainly part of it.An epic Western crime drama based on real and entirely stomach-turning events from roughly a century ago, the latest film from acclaimed director Martin Scorsese could be seen as so many things. Among them: a treatise on greed and exploitation and a character study of the extremely flawed man at the center of the story, Ernest Burkhart.And while it excels at being neither of those, Scorsese’s chronicling of the so-called “Reign of Terror” experienced by the Osage nation — during which many of its members were systematically killed by those wishing to obtain the Native American group’s oil-related wealth — it nonetheless is a largely compelling and engaging cinematic experience.In theaters this week and bound for Apple TV+ at some point down the line, “Flower Moon” moves more fluidly ...