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No more free coffee on your birthday? Companies rein in customer rewards programs — here’s why

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reward programs, including birthday freebies and discounts, have long been a way for brands to build loyalty and incentivize spending. But now some companies are becoming a bit more stingy — and customers are taking notice.Last fall, for example, many balked at Dunkin’s decision to stop offering a free drink on their birthday and instead give them triple loyalty points on their purchase. On June 1, Sephora started requiring a $25 minimum purchase for online customers looking to claim a free gift and 250 loyalty points during their birthday month. And Red Robin added a dine-in only and $4.99 minimum purchase requirement for customers to get their free birthday burger.Changes to birthday rewards or redemption requirements aren’t new. Starbucks, which gives its rewards members a free drink or food item for their birthdays, progressively limited the timeframe for redeeming that gift over the years — from 30 days, to one week, to four days and, finally, to just th...

Emergency crews block off 2 right lanes on I-395 causing traffic delays

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

A crash on Interstate 395 (MacArthur Causeway) caused significant traffic in Miami, Thursday morning. Just before 6 a.m., emergency crews, beyond Watson Island, have blocked off two right lanes on the eastbound lanes of the causeway as they examine the wreckage. Travelers heading east on the causeway are forced to pass through one left lane, where congestion will be evident. Morning commuters may take Interstate 195 as an alternate route.

A big change is coming to Subway restaurants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

New York (CNN) — To undercut its fast-growing rivals, Subway is making a big change to its meats.The chain’s roughly 20,000 US locations will freshly slice their deli meat beginning Wednesday, marking Subway’s biggest change since two years ago, when it began refreshing its menu offerings, ingredients and restaurant appearances to boost once-sagging sales and make itself an attractive acquisition target.Subway has struggled in recent years as competition in the industry has ramped up, and the staid brand has fallen out of favor with customers. As part of its turnaround effort, the company added customization to its menu – a feature many rivals have popularized – which helped lift sales nearly 8% at American stores last year. Subway doubled down on pushing orders to its app, which helped digital sales. Fresh-sliced meat is another step in that direction, although the payoff remains to be seen.Around 80% of stores will display the $6,000 slicers prominently (space permitting) near the...

EU’s disability card needs to go beyond good intentions, say activists

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

An EU scheme to make urban life easier for people with disabilities promised to do away with bureaucracy and help them access key services — but cities and regions aren’t all on the same page, frustrating rights groups.The European Disability Card was intended to extend mutual recognition of disability status across eight EU countries — Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Malta, Romania and Slovenia — and give holders access to a variety of benefits like public transport passes, free tickets to cultural venues and discounts for gyms and swimming pools.Touting the success of the pilot program, which was launched in 2016, the European Commission has pledged to present a proposal for an EU-wide disability card by the end of 2023. But people with disabilities and activist groups say the scheme needs urgent fixes before it can be expanded across the bloc.“The pilot projects did not go far enough, did not cover important areas and services, and many places and provi...

French senators want a wider TikTok ban

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

PARIS — French senators want Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok to be banned for the staff of strategic companies, according to a 183-page long report released Thursday. “ByteDance and TikTok are dependent on China on every level: technical, capital, political and legal,” the rapporteur, Senator Claude Malhuret, told reporters. In March, the French Senate launched an inquiry committee into the popular platform, in a bid to look at “the use of the social network TikTok, its exploitation of data, its strategy of influence, propaganda and disinformation.”After weeks of hearings — including with Digital Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, regulators, TikTok France lobbyists and researchers — the lawmakers have listed 21 recommendations. Among them is an extension of the TikTok ban on civil servants’ phones to the staff of so-called operators of vital importance. For security reasons, the list of such operators is not public, but includes organizations in the military, ...

2 NJ firefighters die while battling cargo ship blaze

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

(WHDH) — Two New Jersey firefighters were killed and several others injured while battling a multi-alarm blaze on a cargo ship, officials said.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Border Patrol weapon among items stolen from Maine home where 4 were killed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

BOWDOIN, Maine (AP) — Two people are being held in the theft of items including a federal officer’s gun from a home where four people were killed in April, a sheriff said Wednesday.Several guns that were stolen June 19 included a service weapon belonging to a U.S. Border Patrol agent whose parents — Robert Eger, 72, and Patti Eger, 62 — were killed in the attack two months earlier, Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry said.The agent was staying in his parents’ home when the items were taken, Merry said.The Egers, along with their longtime friends Cynthia Eaton, 62, and David Eaton, 66, had been killed in the home. The Eatons’ son, Joseph Eaton, 34, has been charged in the killings and is awaiting trial.It’s not known if the people under investigation for the burglary, Michael J. Hall, 40, of Brunswick, and Jeanne I. Doughty, 43, of Bowdoin, knew about what had happened in the home, Merry said.Hall and Doughty were being held without bail on Wednesday, nearly a week ...

Grant Williams going to Mavs from Celtics in a 3-team trade that includes Spurs, AP source says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

The Dallas Mavericks are acquiring Grant Williams from Boston in a sign-and-trade deal that includes the San Antonio Spurs, a person with knowledge of the agreement said Wednesday night.Dallas is sending guard Reggie Bullock and a 2030 pick swap to the Spurs, while the Mavericks and Celtics will receive multiple second-round picks, according to a person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no trades can be finalized before Thursday.Williams’ contract is for $54 million over four years.The Mavericks made it clear they thought their roster needed work after missing the playoffs when the pairing of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving faltered in the two months after the blockbuster deal that brought Irving from Brooklyn in February.Irving and the Mavs have agreed on a $126 million, three-year contract that should become official when free agent deals can be signed, starting Thursday. Center Dwight Powell also is set to return.The 6-foot-6 Williams will cha...

‘Super vibrant’ Colton Cowser brings Orioles much-needed spark in his first major league game

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

With Triple-A Norfolk, Colton Cowser went into each game with an overarching goal, one he once mentioned to left-hander Bruce Zimmermann.“Doesn’t matter how it happens, but twice a day, get on base,” Zimmermann recalled. “I watched him [get] two hits and a walk, two walks and a hit. Sometimes, it was three walks. He had a very mature approach.”In Triple-A, Cowser succeeded in that effort more often than he came short. He’s one-for-one in the majors.In his major league debut Wednesday night, the Orioles’ No. 2 prospect achieved his goal by reaching twice, singling in Baltimore’s first run of a 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees and walking later in the game. After posting a .459 on-base percentage this year for the Tides — getting on base multiple times in 37 of his 56 games — he quickly applied those skills in the majors.But as much as that aspect of Cowser’s game could prove beneficial for an Orioles team that had...

Spending bill targets Kerry’s office, global climate spending

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:52 GMT

WASHINGTON — House Republican appropriators want to eliminate funding for John Kerry’s position as President Joe Biden’s special envoy and for other international climate efforts.The House State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee advanced its fiscal 2024 spending bill on June 23, including a prohibition on funding for envoys not authorized by Congress or confirmed by the Senate.“Over the last several years, we have witnessed a boondoggle of climate change spending, and our bill provides a much-needed course correction in several key areas,” said Subcommittee Chairman Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla.Kerry, a former Massachusetts senator, Democratic nominee for president and secretary of State, serves as special presidential envoy for climate issues and represents the U.S. at international climate summits. His office was established by Biden on Jan. 20, 2021. He is one of 33 special envoys or representatives the State-Foreign Operations bill would eliminate.The Herald has an open...