Fed head talks about rate hikeWASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Friday that the case for raising interest rates has strengthened in light of a solid job market and an improved outlook for the U.S. economy and inflation. But she stopped short of offering any timetable.Yellen sketched a generally upbeat assessment of the economy in a speech to an annual conference of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyo. She pointed to steady gains in employment and strength in consumer spending.She also noted that while inflation is still running below the Fed’s 2 percent target, it is being depressed mainly by temporary factors.Yellen declined to hint at whether the Fed might raise rates at its next policy meeting, Sept, 20-21, or at its subsequent meetings in early November and mid-December.

$3M found during bust at the borderESCONDIDO, Calif. — The Border Patrol says it has arrested two men they believe tried to smuggle $3 million in cash into Mexico from California.The agency says its agents tracked and stopped a Kia Forte in Escondido on Tuesday and found nearly $34,000 stashed in the car’s center console.Authorities say another car sped off as the first vehicle was stopped but it was later found abandoned nearby. That car, a Volkswagen Passat, had more than $3 million packed in boxes in the trunk.The driver was found hiding in some brush.Both men — one a U.S. citizen and the other from Mexico — were arrested on suspicion of currency smuggling.

Cousin of NBA star shot to deathCHICAGO — NBA star Dwyane Wade’s cousin was shot and killed in Chicago while pushing her baby in a stroller near a school where she intended to register her children.Her family said Nykea Aldridge, 32, had recently relocated to the area on the city’s South Side.Chicago police said she was killed Friday when two males walked up and fired shots at a third man but hit Aldridge in the head and arm. She wasn’t the intended target, police said.