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Microsoft adds AI tools to office apps like Outlook, Word

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Microsoft is infusing artificial intelligence tools into its suite of office software, including Word, Excel and Outlook emails. The company said Thursday the new feature, named Copilot, is a processing engine that will allow users to do things like summarize long emails, draft stories in Word and animate slides in PowerPoint. Microsoft 365 General Manager Colette Stallbaumer said the new features are currently only available for 20 enterprise customers. It will roll it out for more enterprise customers over the coming months.Microsoft is marketing the feature as a tool that will allow workers to be more productive by freeing up time they usually spend in their inbox, or allowing them to more easily analyze trends in Excel. The tech giant based in Redmond, Washington, will also add a chat function called Business Chat, which resembles the popular ChatGPT. It takes commands and carries out actions — like summarizing an email about a particular project to co-workers — ...

Are taxpayers on the hook for bank bailouts?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:51 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NewsNation) — While the White House says taxpayers will not be on the hook following two recent bank collapses, Republicans says these financial failures could impact every American with a bank account.Republicans at Capitol Hill on Thursday were warning that Americans won’t be immune to the second-largest bank collapse in U.S. history.The bank failures are sparking a wave of uncertainty, and in some cases, anger. The Ohio Retired Teachers Association spoke out this week after the teachers’ retirement system lost tens of millions of dollars in the Silicon Valley Bank collapse. First Republic getting bailed out by large banks in $30B plan “Our position is we ought not be in hedge funds in private equity. We ought to have our money invested in safe indexes, instead,” said Dr. Robin Rayfield, an executive director of the Ohio Retired Teachers Association. “Our pension system pays people to gamble with our money and they always lose.”According to the Federal Deposit ...

AG: Illinois lottery employee accused of stealing, redeeming winning tickets

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:51 GMT

CHICAGO (WGN-TV) — An Illinois lottery employee is accused of stealing and redeeming winning lottery tickets.According to the Illinois Attorney General's Office, 57 year-old Dean Derrick, of Springfield, is accused of stealing books of instant lottery tickets from retailers while working as a Lottery sales representative for the Illinois Lottery. Can I call the police if my neighbors are smoking weed? Derrick reportedly removed certain books, which he then took to separate retailers to redeem for prize money. His actions are believed to occur between March 23 and April 13, 2022.Derrick was charged Wednesday with four counts of theft of governmental property greater than $500 but less than $10,000, class 2 felonies punishable by three to seven years in prison; seven counts of official misconduct, class 3 felonies punishable by two to five years in prison; and three counts of wire fraud, class 3 felonies punishable by two to five years in prison.The Attorney General's Office alleges...

Severe thunderstorms moving through the area

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:51 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A late-evening cold front is plowing through the area bringing the risk of strong to severe thunderstorms with hail, wind damage or even an isolated tornado.A Tornado Watch is in effect for Williamson, Lee and Milam counties until 1 a.m.Along and ahead of the strong cold front, we expect a window of potentially strong to severe thunderstorms between now and 1 a.m. Storms are expected to move into the Austin area between 8 p.m. and midnight, then southeastern areas beginning between 12-1 a.m.Line of storms moves through late tonight into early Friday morningMost of Central Texas remains in at a level 2 out of 5 (slight) severe weather risk this evening through Friday morning. Isolated to scattered severe storms are possible with hail and wind damage the main concerns. We do not expect a widespread, damaging severe weather event.Updated severe weather risk (SPC)Rain totals generally add up to 1/4"-1/2", with lighter amounts in the Hill Country. Download our KXAN Weath...

March Madness: No. 2 Texas launches 3-point barrage to beat No. 15 Colgate in 1st round

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:51 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (KXAN) — The Texas Longhorns beat the Colgate Raiders at their own game.The second-seeded Longhorns started the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament 8-for-10 from 3-point range and held off the pesky Patriot League champs 81-61 Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena. Longhorns’ Rodney Terry isn’t the typical interim head coach heading into March Madness The 15th-seeded Raiders came into the game as the country's best 3-point shooting team, hitting more than 40% of their long-range shots, but it was Texas who made it rain. The Longhorns finished the game 13-for-23 from 3-point range to run away with the win.Jabari Rice led Texas off the bench once again with 23 points, including a 7-for-10 performance from 3-point range. Marcus Carr and Dylan Disu each scored 17 points and Tyrese Hunter had 10 points. Disu also pulled down nine rebounds and Timmy Allen had five assists.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More...

Class 3A girls basketball state semifinals: Stewartville edges top-ranked Becker

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:51 GMT

Stewartville knocked off the No.1-ranked team in the state, using an impressive second-half performance to edge Becker, 60-59.Ella Theobald and Savannah Hedin each scored 15 points, and Haylie Strum added 13 points, a team-high seven rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Tigers, who trailed by 11 at halftime.But Becker (26-4), which was looking to advance to its fifth straight state championship game, had difficulty after Stewartville switched to a zone defense — something the Tigers rarely do — for the second half.“We got some easy tipped balls out of it and cut (their deficit) in half,” Liffrig said. “I am just so proud of the kids for that.”Hannah Martinson’s 3-pointer pulled the Tigers (28-2) to within 50-47 to start a 10-run that Keeley Steele put an exclamation point with a long 3-pointer for a 55-50 lead with 3:46 left. The Tiger held off the Bulldogs with a driving basket by Hedin and free throw from Jayci Rath.The Tigers advanced to play No. 2 seed Benilde-St. Mar...

Rensselaer County holds State of the County meeting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:51 GMT

TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Rensselaer County held its State of the County meeting Thursday night. County Executive Steve McLaughlin pointed out many of the achievements the county has enjoyed. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Among them, he claimed county taxes have been lowered by 27 percent over the past five years as well as updating facilities that haven't been touched in over five decades. He also announced an historic tax exemption for volunteer fire and ambulance companies.McLaughlin also announced that the county is leading the state in sales tax growth, clearing the $100 million mark for the first time since 2021.

March Madness at Ball Arena: Grand Canyon’s Bryce Drew gets by with a little help from his brother

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:51 GMT

One of the first big assists of the 2023 NCAA men’s basketball tournament came from a school nobody had in their bracket: the Regis Rangers.Grand Canyon coach Bryce Drew recalled Thursday that his team was forced to work out Wednesday evening in gear borrowed from Regis, where the 14th-seeded Antelopes practiced. Some players wore gear donated by Baylor coach Scott Drew, his older brother, whose team is also at the Ball Arena site, or items purchased from local sporting goods stores.The bags containing the team’s equipment didn’t arrive from Phoenix until after 11 Wednesday night.𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: bags secured. pic.twitter.com/tfb60hgqzF— Grand Canyon Men’s Basketball (@GCU_MBB) March 16, 2023“We had Regis, we had GCU t-shirts and we had Baylor scout jerseys,” the younger Drew recalled. “We improvised and the guys made a good time of it, so it actually turned out as a positive.”The ‘Lopes are the largest underdogs at the Denver site, 15.5 point dogs to Gonzaga.Seasoned Creighton. Over ...

Nuggets snap season-long four-game losing streak with convincing win over Pistons

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:51 GMT

DETROIT – Christian Braun, a national champion last season at Kansas, loves playing in March.The Nuggets’ rookie has swung in and out of the rotation like a yo-yo, but he was there Thursday night, when Denver badly needed to seize momentum and, later, a win. The Nuggets snapped their season-long four-game losing streak, knocking off the Pistons, 119-100.It wasn’t until the fourth quarter, when a bench unit featuring Braun and Jamal Murray, wrested control of the game. Braun made a couple baskets off looks from Murray, setting the table for Nikola Jokic to return to action and dominate. Once Jokic exited the game with 30 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, he was greeted by a hearty cheer from the away crowd, which was dotted with Serbian flags.Murray ended the game with 19 points, and Braun tallied nine points and two steals. Former Piston Kentavious Caldwell-Pope buried four 3-pointers en route to 20 points.What had been the worst defense in the NBA over their four-game dip held ...

Weld County grand jury clears former Greeley officer in fatal police shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:51 GMT

A former Greeley police officer has been cleared of criminal charges and was justified in the use of deadly force, according to the Weld County District Attorney’s Office.The shooting happened on Nov. 8 in the Meadow Village Mobile Home Park, 100 block of East 20th Street, according to a review of the police shooting and court documents.“The Weld County Statutory Grand Jury has concluded its investigation and determined that the former officer’s actions were justified and issued a no true bill, meaning there was not probable cause to believe a crime was committed,” the DA’s office said in a Thursday news release.Officer Seth Luedtke shot Benjamin Weise, who was armed with a knife, according to the grand jury report.Weise, who was wanted on an arrest warrant, had crawled under a trailer and refused to come out, the report said. Police were on scene for about three hours and deployed pepper balls in an attempt to get Weise to come out from under the trailer. Wh...