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SNAP Fraud Charges, Bruins vs Oilers, TikTok Ban Update · Sunny Mornings Boston

• 0:01
  Good morning and a warm welcome to your show,
• 0:05
  Sunny Mornings in Boston. I'm your host, Melissa,
• 0:09
  and it's Thursday, December 18th. You'll be interested
• 0:14
  to know. 69 years ago, today, in 1956, the United
• 0:21
  Nations admitted Japan to full membership, restoring
• 0:24
  Tokyo's standing in the global community after
• 0:27
  a difficult postwar recovery. This milestone
• 0:31
  marked a major step in reintegration, signaling
• 0:34
  international recognition of Japan's sovereignty
• 0:36
  and opening avenues for diplomatic collaboration
• 0:40
  and economic rebuilding. So now you know. And
• 0:45
  now, it's time for the weather report. This morning
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  it's sunny and it feels like 34 degrees, with
• 0:55
  2 mile per hour wind. The sunset will take place
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  at 413, and it will rise again tomorrow at 707.
• 1:05
  It looks like we're in for a sunny day with a
• 1:07
  high near 49 and a light south wind around 5.
• 1:12
  Tonight, expect patchy fog early with a slight
• 1:16
  chance of rain, mostly cloudy skies and a low
• 1:19
  of 40, while winds pick up to around 10 with
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  gusts up to 32. For all you beach runners out
• 1:26
  there, The first high tide Thursday will be just
• 1:29
  before 10, with a low tide at 415. The nearshore
• 1:34
  buoy at Cape Cod Bay reads 44 degrees for the
• 1:38
  water temperature. Looking ahead in the weather,
• 1:44
  Friday will be cloudy with rain likely and highs
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  near 59, with a southwest wind of about 15 to
• 1:50
  20 miles per hour and gusts as high as 45. producing
• 1:55
  up to about one inch of rain. Friday night into
• 1:59
  Saturday brings breezy conditions with a chance
• 2:02
  of showers early, lows falling to the upper 20s.
• 2:05
  Then Saturday will be mostly sunny, with highs
• 2:08
  near 40 and lighter west winds gusting into the
• 2:11
  mid -20s. Bonjour, food enthusiasts! This podcast
• 2:16
  is brought to you by Versailles Café and Pastries
• 2:19
  in Encinitas. Nestled on El Camino Real South,
• 2:24
  just north of Encinitas Boulevard, this cafe
• 2:27
  is a haven for culinary delights. Indulge in
• 2:31
  their amazing Eggs Benedict or their gluten -free
• 2:34
  crepes. You can grab a panini for lunch or just
• 2:38
  breeze on through to get your morning coffee.
• 2:41
  They are open every day from 8 to 5. So stop
• 2:45
  on by and don't forget to tell them. Sunny mornings
• 2:48
  send you. In local news, Boston convenience store
• 2:54
  owners are facing federal charges in connection
• 2:57
  with a scheme involving more than $7 million
• 3:00
  in fraudulent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
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  Program benefits. Solalism, owner of the Solmacho
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  Store, and Antonio Bontor, owner of the Gizola
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  Variety Store, are accused of exchanging SNAP
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  benefits for cash. U .S. Attorney for Massachusetts,
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  Leah Foley. stated that the businesses operated
• 3:22
  from a shared storefront in Mattapan and redeemed
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  far more SNAP benefits than their inventory supported.
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  Investigators found financial records lacking
• 3:32
  legitimate grocery operations, instead showing
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  cash transactions used to launder SNAP benefits.
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  Fully emphasized that these men abused taxpayer
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  money meant to prevent hunger. Now on to sports.
• 3:53
  The Bears are exploring moving out of Chicago
• 3:55
  and into Indiana. The team has been in Chicago
• 3:59
  for more than 100 years, having moved to the
• 4:02
  city in 1921 from Decatur, Illinois. Bears president
• 4:07
  Kevin Warren announced the team's latest stadium
• 4:10
  plans, stating the need to evaluate opportunities
• 4:13
  throughout the wider Chicagoland region, including
• 4:16
  northwest Indiana. Warren emphasized that this
• 4:20
  is not about leverage and that the team is committed
• 4:23
  to Chicago. The Bears face obstacles in their
• 4:26
  search for a new stadium, but moving to Indiana
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  is now Plan C. Houting a team play in a state
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  outside of its city is rare, but not unprecedented.
• 4:39
  Looking at tonight, Sam Darnold was far from
• 4:42
  his best when he faced the Seattle Seahawks,
• 4:44
  and he knows he must perform better after tossing
• 4:47
  four interceptions against the Los Angeles Rams
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  on November 16th. Darnold's rematch with the
• 4:53
  Rams carries significant implications for the
• 4:56
  NFC West title, as both teams are tied atop the
• 5:00
  division. Darnold stated, we are excited about
• 5:04
  this challenge, acknowledging his previous performance.
• 5:08
  The Rams defense ranks 13th in the NFL, creating
• 5:11
  issues for Darnold while the Seahawks offense
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  has struggled to score early. Rams coach Sean
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  McFay remarked, there is no weakness, highlighting
• 5:21
  both teams' strengths. If Devonte Adams is out,
• 5:25
  the Rams will miss their leading receiver. Kickoff
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  is at 8 .15 Eastern, tonight on Amazon Prime
• 5:33
  Video. In local sports, the Bruins will host
• 5:38
  the Edmonton Oilers tonight at 7. This matchup
• 5:42
  comes after Morgan GK's impressive two -goal
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  game helped the Bruins secure a 4 -1 victory
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  against the Utah Mammoth. Boston boasts a 12
• 5:52
  -win and five -loss record at home, and 20 wins
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  and 14 losses overall. In contrast, Edmonton
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  holds an 8 -wins, 9 -losses, and 3 -overtime
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  losses record on the road, with 16 wins, 12 losses,
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  and 6 -overtime losses overall. This will be
• 6:11
  the first meeting between these teams this season.
• 6:16
  In top news, yesterday, a United States judge
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  indicated she would block President Donald Trump's
• 6:23
  administration from laying off hundreds of federal
• 6:26
  employees, citing a shutdown law. The U .S. District
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  Judge, Susan Elston, stated that layoffs at four
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  agencies were likely invalid under a law passed
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  under recent government shutdown. She intends
• 6:40
  to block the U .S. State Department and Education
• 6:42
  Department from laying off about 250 and 150
• 6:47
  employees respectively. The judge plans to reinstate
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  roughly 300 employees who lost their jobs during
• 6:55
  the shutdown. Elston's ruling has been praised
• 6:58
  by unions involved in the case. In business news,
• 7:04
  Walmart has maintained its stance on avoiding
• 7:07
  near -field communication -based payments, such
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  as Apple Pay and Google Pay. Other major retailers
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  have increasingly accepted this technology as
• 7:17
  the norm. Walmart offers its own contactless
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  payment options, which provide key advantages.
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  The retail giant strategy has confused customers
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  over the years, as many expect to pay using their
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  phones. Analysts suggest that while accepting
• 7:35
  tap -to -pay does not incur extra fees, upgrading
• 7:39
  payment hardware can be costly. Walmart's preference
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  for its own payment tools allows it to collect
• 7:45
  valuable customer data. For now, the company
• 7:48
  seems to be doing just fine by bucking the trend.
• 7:52
  In crypto movement, Bitcoin is down 1 % to about
• 7:57
  $87 ,000. Ethereum is down 4%. to just over $2
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  ,800. And XRP is down 3 % to $1 .85. Moving on
• 8:12
  to a more local vibe. In our community spotlight
• 8:16
  on health and wellness, we are working with a
• 8:19
  national Pilates studio to bring you some free
• 8:22
  classes, so listen up. Check out Club Pilates
• 8:26
  with several locations in the Boston area. Pilates
• 8:29
  presents a comprehensive wellness approach. cultivating
• 8:33
  strength, reducing tension, and elevating mental
• 8:36
  well -being. Scientific research affirms its
• 8:40
  benefits. So now you can check out Club Pilates
• 8:44
  for a free class. With locations in Canton, Wellesley,
• 8:48
  Hingham, Brookline, and Framingham, just be sure
• 8:52
  to tell them Sunny Morning sent you by. And now,
• 8:57
  back to the show. Let's talk tech. The TikTok
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  ban was set for December 16, but it did not happen,
• 9:05
  and here is why. President Donald Trump has postponed
• 9:10
  the ban on TikTok five times this year. The deadline
• 9:13
  was extended after concerns regarding the app's
• 9:16
  Chinese ownership. Chinese tech company ByteDance
• 9:20
  owns TikTok, and in 2024, President Joe Biden
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  signed a law requiring its sale due to national
• 9:27
  security concerns. The band date was nullified
• 9:30
  on September 25th, extending the prohibition
• 9:34
  to January 23rd, 2026. Messages from Washington
• 9:39
  continue to label TikTok as a privacy threat,
• 9:43
  with the band now anticipated for January. And
• 9:49
  in entertainment news, the Rolling Stones have
• 9:53
  called off plans for a 2026 stadium tour of the
• 9:56
  United Kingdom and Europe. A source close to
• 9:59
  the band confirms to Variety, following reports
• 10:02
  that guitarist Keith Richards was unable to commit
• 10:05
  to it. While the band's touring pianist and a
• 10:09
  spokesperson mentioned they nearly completed
• 10:11
  a new album, Richards, who turns 82, is unable
• 10:15
  to handle the rakers of another tour. The band
• 10:19
  plans to return to the stage when they are ready.
• 10:23
  Well, alrighty folks, it's time for the quote
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  of the day. And today, our quote comes from the
• 10:30
  American historian and author, Henry Steele Comaker.
• 10:34
  And he said, And that's a wrap for this morning.
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  You can check out our Instagram, YouTube, and
• 10:50
  TikTok for some captivating aerial videos with
• 10:54
  local news and the weather reports. Had an amazing
• 10:58
  day, my good friends. We'll see you tomorrow
• 11:00
  with another episode of Sunny Mornings in Boston.