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Can a business charge sales tax based on an item’s original price instead of sales price?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

He found a TV on sale and decided to go ahead and order it. He thought it was a great deal … until he saw how much they were charging in taxes. It’s why he called Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.If you were told what Michael does, you might not believe it until you see it.Amazon and Best Buy send Michael their merchandise to review. From kitchen appliances to a curved computer screen, a wine cooler, and the day we were there, he was asked to write about these ear buds.Michael Meislik: “Review it, test it, play with it, see what it does, what it doesn’t do.”After writing his review, Michael gets to keep the product. But one thing he has not been offered is a TV like this.And when he decided to buy one, he turned to people like himself.Michael Meislik: “And then I researched comments, reviews, what people thought, and decided on a particular TV.”It was this 85-inch model.Michael Meislik: “One of the best places to get a TV with an ext...

Maynard police seek public’s help finding suspects after crash involving stolen car

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

Maynard police have asked for the public’s help in efforts to find a group of people accused in connection with an apparent car theft ring and a crash involving a stolen car early Wednesday morning.Police said officers responded around 3:30 a.m. after receiving reports of people breaking into and stealing cars at a used car dealership on Acton Street. Once on scene, police said, officers found several cars blocking the road as vehicles left the area. Police said officers later activated their emergency lights and tried to stop one apparently stolen vehicle after they saw it driving down Route 27 and turning the wrong way onto Main Street in Maynard. Instead of stopping, police said the driver sped away before crashing in the area of 217 Main Street and running from the crash site on foot. Maynard police said other area law enforcement agencies as well as state police joined in a search for the driver but were unable to find them. Police separately shared video of the ...

‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ singer talks politics, porn in podcast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

Oliver Anthony, the viral musician whose hit song still sits atop the Billboard Hot 100, sat down with Joe Rogan for an hours-long interview that covered politics, porn, mental health and much more.Many assumed the lyrics in Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” — which discuss “minors on an island” and people abusing welfare — denoted a Republican mindset, but Anthony has since tried to separate himself from any political affiliation.During his interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the overnight sensation similarly took a measured approach to discussing his political stance. However, he admitted that most of his friends in Virginia “vote red” and support Donald Trump. He also at one point took a shot at Barack Obama.“I love freedom of speech and I love the Second Amendment,” Anthony shared, although he said he knew both issues have been used as “triggers” by the right to drum up support from their base.At many points in the conversation, Rogan seemed to try to get Anthony to di...

Mets calling up top prospect Ronny Mauricio: source

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

The Mets are giving Ronny Mauricio a shot at some September bombs.A source confirmed to the Daily News that the club intends to call up a top prospect from Triple-A Syracuse on Friday when rosters expand.Mauricio is having a standout season for the Syracuse Mets, slashing .295/.349/.511 with an .860 OPS and 23 home runs, which is tied for the eighth-most in Triple-A. The 22-year-old Dominican has hit 23 doubles, three triples, driven in 71 runs and stolen 24 bases.A switch-hitter, Mauricio is a big figure in the box at 6-3 and makes a lot of hard contact. Power has long been his calling card and now the Mets can get a chance to see if he’s ready to hit for power against big-league pitchers. Mauricio will need to shrink the strike zone and learn how to take more walks, but the next month will provide a good challenge for a key part of the Mets’ future.He was signed as a shortstop and developed as a shortstop, but with Francisco Lindor locked up long-term, the Mets moved h...

A divided Malaysia celebrates National Day with Prime Minister Anwar rallying for unity

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) — Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim urged Malaysians to unite and reject racial and religious bigotry, as the country marked its 66th year of freedom from British rule on Thursday with fireworks and a street parade.Fireworks were set off in various locations at midnight to usher in National Day. Tens of thousands of people thronged the government administrative capital of Putrajaya early Thursday for the main procession, waving national flags and cheering as bands. dancers and convoys of vehicles went past. Anwar, along with the nation’s King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, were among the dignitaries at the parade. In a televised speech on the eve of National Day, Anwar appealed to Malaysians not to let their differences ruin the nation. He warned that powerful nations have collapsed not just due to mismanagement or corruption but because they “played with fires of ethnic and religious fanaticism.”“Don’t take this lightly … our differences ca...

Marijuana recommendation by US health agency hailed as first step to easing weed restrictions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has delivered a recommendation to the Drug Enforcement Administration on marijuana policy, and Senate leaders hailed it Wednesday as a first step toward easing federal restrictions on the drug.HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said Wednesday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the agency has responded to President Joe Biden’s request “to provide a scheduling recommendation for marijuana to the DEA.”“We’ve worked to ensure that a scientific evaluation be completed and shared expeditiously,” he added.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that HHS had recommended that marijuana be moved from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance.“HHS has done the right thing,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “DEA should now follow through on this important step to greatly reduce the harm caused by draconian marijuana laws.”Rescheduling the drug would reduce or potentially eliminate criminal penalt...

176 world leaders and Nobel laureates urge Bangladesh to halt legal cases against Peace Prize winner

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — More than 170 global leaders and Nobel laureates have urged Bangladesh’s prime minister to suspend legal proceedings against Muhammad Yunus, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for pioneering the use of microcredit to help impoverished people.In an open letter, the leaders, including former U.S. President Barack Obama, former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and more than 100 Nobel laureates, said they were deeply concerned by recent threats to democracy and human rights in Bangladesh.“One of the threats to human rights that concerns us in the present context is the case of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus. We are alarmed that he has recently been targeted by what we believe to be continuous judicial harassment,” said the letter, dated Tuesday. “We are confident that any thorough review of the anti-corruption and labor law cases against him will result in his acquittal,” it said.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina responded by...

Forecasters warn of increased fire risk in Hawaii amid gusty winds, low humidity

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — The National Weather Service on Wednesday warned gusty winds and low humidity have increased the risk that fires could spread rapidly in the western parts of each Hawaiian island, three weeks after a deadly blaze tore through a coastal Maui town during a similar alert. But the agency said winds would not be as powerful compared to Aug. 8 when flames burned down much of Lahaina, killing at least 115 people and destroying more than 2,000 structures. The fire was the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century.Lahaina’s flames were fanned by wind gusts topping 60 mph (97 kph). This time, winds are forecast to be 15 to 30 mph (24 to 48 kph) with gusts up to 50 mph (80 kph), said Maureen Ballard, meteorologist at the agency’s Honolulu office.“There is a magnitude of difference between the wind speeds in this event versus August 8th,” Ballard said.The agency issued a Red Flag Warning for the leeward sides of the Hawaiian Islands through Thursday afternoon. It said g...

Alice Cooper loses cosmetics deal after remarks about trans people

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

(The Hill) - Rock singer Alice Cooper has lost his deal with an LGBTQ-owned cosmetics company after he called "cases of transgender" people a "fad." Cooper’s comments were published last week in an interview with Stereogum in which the singer was asked his opinion on gender-affirming care. The interviewer brought up Cooper’s 1974 interview with SPEC in which the singer said “everyone in the future will be bisexual.” “I’m understanding that there are cases of transgender, but I’m afraid that it’s also a fad and I’m afraid there’s a lot of people claiming to be this just because they want to be that,” Cooper said.  “I find it wrong when you’ve got a six-year-old kid who has no idea. He just wants to play, and you’re confusing him telling him, ‘Yeah, you’re a boy, but you could be a girl if you want to be.’” Cooper argued people should “at least become sexually aware” before they start considering their gender and claimed genitals are the “logical way...

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport breaks ground on West Gate Expansion project

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:27 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Austin-Bergstrom International Airport broke ground on the West Gate Expansion project Wednesday. The project is led by Journey With AUS, which will increase terminal space beyond current gates 33 and 34, adding 84,500 gross square feet over three levels of space, according to a news release from AUS.Central Texas and Austin leaders gathered at the airport Wednesday for the groundbreaking. “This is just the start of a series of transformative airport projects that will modernize the AUS experience for everyone,” Mayor Kirk Watson said. “The Journey With AUS will bring unique changes to the traveler experience as we navigate turning this 24/7 facility into an active constructive site.” The expansion will add amenities for all travelers to enjoy such as new food and retail spaces, art through the City of Austin Arts in Public Places Program, more seating areas, the largest restrooms in the terminal, quiet places and private rooms for nursing or pumping an...