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Founder of student aid startup Frank shakes head as prosecutor describes case against her

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:37 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The founder of student aid startup Frank shook her head repeatedly Thursday as a prosecutor claimed that she tricked J.P. Morgan Chase into paying $175 million for her business by lying about its client base.Assistant U.S. Attorney Micah Fergenson described criminal charges against Frank founder Charlie Javice and codefendant Olivier Amar, the company’s chief growth officer, to a federal judge at a pretrial hearing during which each of them entered pleas of not guilty to an indictment unveiled Wednesday.Fergenson said the deal two years ago was consummated only after Javice and Amar “created a fake data set” in response to the bank’s data validation request to make it appear that Frank had over 4 million customers rather than the roughly 300,000 clients the company actually had.As Fergenson spoke, Javice, a Miami, Florida, resident, repeatedly shook her head.The prosecutor said Javice, 31, and Amar, 49, produced lots of data for J.P. Morgan Chase but that...

San Franciscans mourn closure of 127-year-old pioneering Anchor Brewing Co.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:37 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Beer lovers flocked to Anchor Brewing Co.’s tap room on Thursday to mourn the loss of the iconic San Francisco business — and buy some of its last beers — a day after learning it planned to shut down for good.“I’m a native San Franciscan and I’ve been drinking the beer as long as I can remember,” said Suzanne Greva, who visited the business Thursday. “It’s one of my favorites and its like losing an old friend.”The 127-year-old brewing company, known as a trailblazer of craft beers, said Wednesday it would close after years of declining sales and tough economic conditions. The tap room, which closed on the day of the announcement, reopened Thursday to patrons lined up down the street to purchase T-shirts and cases of beer. Anchor Public Taps will remain open to sell what inventory remains, including a small batch of the popular 2023 Anchor Christmas Ale. Anchor was a trailblazer in the U.S., brewing craft beers in the 1970s when most Americans were lo...

Oil and gas withdrawal around US park stirs debate over economic costs for Native American tribe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:37 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Some Republican members of Congress on Thursday denounced the Biden administration’s recent move to withdraw hundreds of square miles of federal land in New Mexico from oil and gas development, offering their support instead to legislation that would unravel the ban.U.S. Rep. Eli Crane was among those to speak out during a congressional subcommittee hearing on the legislation that he and fellow Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar recently introduced to nullify what they consider overreach by the federal government. Crane’s district includes part of the vast Navajo Nation, which spans portions of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. The eastern side of the reservation is part of a jurisdictional checkerboard that includes federal, state and private lands along with Chaco Cultural National Historical Park.He acknowledged that the park holds cultural significance for tribes throughout the Southwestern U.S. but that development surrounding Chaco should be determin...

Man convicted of setting up smuggling trip that killed 13 in California gets 15 years in prison

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:37 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a man to 15 years in prison for coordinating a smuggling trip in which two dozen migrants were stacked into a Ford Expedition that crashed into a tractor-trailer, killing 13 people outside a California desert town.Jose Cruz Noguez pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges stemming from the March 2, 2021, crash near Holtville, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) east of San Diego. It was one of the deadliest highway crashes involving migrants smuggled into the United States. Cruz Noguez also admitted to trying to still get payment for the smuggling trip from the survivors, prosecutors said. Neither Cruz Noguez nor his attorney could be reached for comment.“Cruz Noguez organized one of the most callous and inhumane smuggling attempts that law enforcement has responded to in this district,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said. “He and his co-conspirators treated these individuals like a worthless commodity.”Cruz Noguez arranged ...

Arizona Democrats file complaint against No Labels over donor secrecy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:37 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Democratic Party is looking to force new political party No Labels to disclose its donors or lose its status as a political party, an escalation of Democrats’ efforts to block a group they worry will boost Donald Trump’s chances of returning to the White House.Arizona Democrats filed a complaint Thursday with Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat who angered some in his party earlier this year when he formally recognized No Labels as a political party in the state. The complaint asks Fontes to suspend the nascent party until it discloses its donors.No Labels says it is seeking ballot access in many states and will run a bipartisan “unity ticket” for president “if the two parties select unreasonably divisive presidential nominees.” The party has also secured ballot access in Alaska, Colorado and Oregon. Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans worry a No Labels candidate couldn’t win but would tip the scales in favor of Trump or a Trump-like ...

One-third of Americans under heat alerts as blistering temps spread from Southwest to California

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:37 GMT

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — More than a third of Americans were under extreme heat advisories, watches and warnings Thursday as a blistering heat wave that’s been baking the nation spread further into California, forcing residents to seek out air conditioning or find other ways to stay cool in triple-digit temperatures. The sweltering conditions were expected to build Friday and through the weekend in Central and Southern California, where many residents should prepare for the hottest weather of the year, the National Weather Service warned. Highs in the inland desert areas could reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.8 degrees Celsius) during the day, and remain in the 80s (above 26.6 C) overnight, offering little relief.In the desert city of Palm Springs, many homeless people were left to contend with the heat on their own, with just 20 indoor beds at the lone overnight shelter. John Summers, a homeless resident, climbed through a dry riverbed Thursday to seek shade at an encampme...

The FTC reportedly opens an investigation of ChatGPT creator OpenAI over consumer protection issues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:37 GMT

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has launched an investigation into ChatGPT creator OpenAI and whether the artificial intelligence company violated consumer protection laws by scraping public data and publishing false information through its chatbot, according to reports in the Washington Post and the New York Times.The agency sent OpenAI a 20-page letter requesting detailed information on its AI technology, products, customers, privacy safeguards and data security arrangements, according to the reports. The FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The FTC’s move represents the most significant regulatory threat so far to the nascent but fast-growing AI industry, although it’s not the only challenge facing these companies. Comedian Sarah Silverman and two other authors have sued both OpenAI and Facebook parent Meta for copyright infringement, claiming that the companies’ AI systems were illegally “trained” by exposing them to datasets containing il...

Lisa Marie Presley’s cause of death revealed by coroner

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:37 GMT

Lisa Marie Presley died from complications from bariatric surgery she had several years ago, authorities said Thursday.The January 12 death at age 54 of the singer, songwriter and heir of Elvis Presley was ruled as being from natural causes due to the effects of a small bowel obstruction.Additional details about what caused Presley’s death were included in an autopsy report released Thursday afternoon by the office of the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner.The report says the complication that Presley experienced is a common complication from bariatric surgery, which is a weight loss procedure. The Mayo Clinic says it is often done when other weight loss methods haven’t worked or if a person has a serious medical condition.Presley died at a Los Angeles hospital, where she had been rushed by paramedics responding to a 911 call of a woman in cardiac arrest at her home. No indication was made public at the time of what may have caused the medical issue.RELATED: Lis...

CPD: Body found in Chicago River near The Salt Shed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:37 GMT

CHICAGO -- A body was recovered from the Chicago River near The Salt Shed concert venue Thursday evening.According to the Chicago Police Department, officers recovered a male's body from the Chicago River near the 1300 block of North Elston Ave just before 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 13. Suburban woman allegedly offering ‘too good to be true’ vacations, scamming customers out of thousands The male recovered from the Chicago River was pronounced dead at the scene.No further information has been made available at this time.On June 19, 26-year-old Noah Enos has been identified as the body recovered from the water near the 1300 block of North Elston Avenue near the Salt Shed.Stay with WGN as this story develops.

Suburban woman allegedly offering 'too good to be true' vacations, scamming customers out of thousands

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:35:37 GMT

Complaints about a suburban travel agent who charged for trips that, in some cases, were never booked.More than a dozen families have come forward warning others about deals that they say were too good to be true.Not only did some people not get their trips, but some of their credit cards were used to charge thousands of dollars in other things. Their warning, look out for anything that seems like the deal of a lifetime. For more WGN Investigates content, click here Beautiful images are now overshadowed by several investigations into M&M Events and Promotions. A string of police reports allege that people purchased vacation packages, but didn't get what they paid for.In one report, the person claims that "she also discovered an unauthorized charge of $8,990.57 on her credit card." Another found that their trips were never booked and their hotel rooms were never paid for.The Oak Lawn Police Department are following up on every case and say there is the potential for charges in ...