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As port workers strike prompts disruptions, study points finger at shipping companies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

As the ongoing port workers strike in Vancouver prompts business disruptions and concerns over delayed shipments, a new report supports the argument put forth by workers that labour is not the source of rising costs in the industry.The study by economist Jim Stanford, director of Vancouver’s Centre for Future Work, said hourly wages for longshore workers are similar to wages for other skilled industrial jobs. But under the current dispatch system, longshore workers have insecure working schedules and must wait several years to qualify for benefits.Stanford said that in recent years, wages in the sector lagged behind B.C.’s rising cost of living, with the real purchasing power of longshore wages falling 2.5 per cent since 2017.“Clearly, labour is not the source of rising costs in marine shipping, and the resulting inflation,” said Stanford, whose study was commissioned by ILWU Canada, the union representing the striking workers.About 7,400 members of the International Lon...

'When he comes to vote I'm gonna look the other way:' Cicero president 'mad' at governor over flooding response

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

CICERO, Ill. — Residents in Cicero are fed up over recent flooding and are demanding solutions to the water problems.Several dozen residents attempted to get into Tuesday's board meeting to ask for help and demand answers from Cicero President Larry Dominick and trustees. Cicero was one of the hardest hit suburbs in the flooding more than a week ago. Many of those residents are still cleaning up their homes. They point to nearby communities that did not have the flooding issues, and say that Cicero needs to invest in better sewer infrastructure and green spaces to house that water when there’s extremely heavy rain. Cicero officials say that they’ve been working overtime trying to get things cleaned up and put back in order. They’re wondering why their emergency has not been moved up the food chain to the state and federal levels. Flash Flooding causes havoc as torrential rains hit Chicago When Dominick was asked by the media if he's heard from Governor JB Pritzker, he says no."We'...

Mosquitoes test positive for West Nile virus in DuPage County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

DUPAGE COUNTY, Ill. — The DuPage County Department of Public Health has confirmed the first mosquitoes to test positive for West Nile virus in the area for 2023. Health officials said Tuesday that the first West Nile virus-positive pools of mosquitoes were collected on July 5 in Medinah, Wheaton, and Wood Dale. Last year, the first mosquitoes to test positive for West Nile virus were collected on May 24 in Roselle.Thus far, no reported human cases of West Nile virus in DuPage County have been reported. READ MORE: Cook County’s newly unveiled Narcan mobile unit a lifesaver on wheels The news comes a little over a month after the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) confirmed the first batches of mosquitoes to test positive for West Nile virus in Illinois in 2023. The positive batch of mosquitoes was collected in Evanston on May 30 and Park Ridge on May 31. “This summer, take action to protect yourself and your family from West Nile virus by preventing mosquito bites,” sai...

Arrest warrant issued for friend of NBA star Ja Morant over fight at player's home in 2022

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — An arrest warrant has been issued for a close friend of Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant stemming from a fight during a pickup basketball game at the player's home last year, authorities said.Davonte Pack, whom Morant has referred to as “my brother," has been charged with simple assault stemming from the July 2022 altercation in which a teenager says in a lawsuit that the All-Star guard and Pack punched him, the Shelby County district attorney's office said in a statement.Online records show the warrant for Pack, 24, was issued Monday, the same day Morant's lawyers argued in civil court that the teen's lawsuit against Morant should be dismissed because he acted in self-defense after the teen threw a basketball at Morant and it hit Morant in the chin.Morant's accuser was 17 when the lawsuit was filed. It accuses Morant and Pack of assault, reckless endangerment, abuse or neglect, and infliction of emotional distress. An amended complaint identified the plaintiff...

Photo shows makeshift rope used in Burham prison escape

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

WARREN, Pa. (NewsNation) — An exclusive photo obtained by NewsNation shows the bedsheet rope Pennsylvania inmate Michael Burham used to escape dangling from the roof of the prison next to a stairwell.Burham escaped from Warren County Prison last Thursday by climbing up on exercise equipment and using tied-up bedsheets to escape from a window. Police said that once he made it to the ground, Burham took off into the nearby woods.Exclusive: NewsNation obtains and law enforcement official confirms this photo (zoom to left of lit stairwell) shows the bed sheets authorities say fugitive Michael Burham used to climb down from the roof of the jail to escape Thursday. He remains at large. (Credit: Evan Lambert/NewsNation via Twitter)Search teams believe Burham is still in the area and have been hunting for him day and night.The Pennsylvania State Police colonel leading the manhunt said he's absolutely confident they will find the escaped prisoner. Police describe Burham, 34, a...

Britney Spears memoir 'The Woman in Me' to hit shelves in October

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

(The Hill) -- Britney Spears’s memoir now has a release date, with the pop star’s publisher calling “The Woman in Me” a “groundbreaking book.”The “Toxic” singer’s book will hit shelves on Oct. 24, Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books announced Tuesday. The news was first reported by People magazine.The cover art for the memoir showed a black-and-white image of Spears embracing herself as she poses topless. Maxwell Frost, Robert Garcia jump on the ‘Barbie’ train, float congressional screening The book is poised to be published nearly two years after a Los Angeles court ended her conservatorship. The 41-year-old Grammy Award winner had blasted the 13-year legal arrangement as “abusive” in scathing court testimony, drawing national attention to conservatorships and leading to congressional hearings on the topic.“In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court,” a promotional page from Gallery Books said. “The impact of...

Trump slips behind Biden in hypothetical matchup: poll

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

(The Hill) – Former President Trump slipped behind President Biden in a hypothetical 2024 matchup, according to a new Morning Consult poll.While 43 percent of registered voters in the poll said they would support the sitting president in a 2024 rematch, 42 percent said they would back the former president. Another 10 percent said they would support someone else, while 5 percent remained unsure, the poll found.Biden is also leading Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is considered Trump’s biggest competition for the Republican nomination, by 5 points in the hypothetical matchup. While the president maintained 43 percent support among registered voters, DeSantis garnered 38 percent support, according to the poll.Trump remains the clear frontrunner in the race for the Republican nomination, with 56 percent of potential GOP primary voters saying they would back the former president. DeSantis sits in a distant second, with 17 percent support, the poll found.Conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ram...

City of Austin holding event to honor organizations that work with homeless population

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austinites will get the chance Tuesday evening to meet some of the nonprofit organizations working with the City of Austin to address homelessness. The city's Homeless Strategy Division and Innovation Office, along with Blue Sky Partners, will host an event from 4-6 p.m. at City Hall to honor the work of organizations that support the homeless population in the city. The event is being put on through the Homeless Services Organizational Capacity Building Initiative, which, the city said in a release, "aims to deepen and scale the impact of programs and services that assist people experiencing homelessness, especially organizations led by Black, Indigenous, and people of color, or who employ people with lived experience of homelessness."Through the initiative, a group of 21 nonprofit service providers were selected to receive technical assistance and grants of up to $45,000. According to the releas...

More clouds today provide some shade

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- There is one positive to this afternoon's weather. Clouds have been steadily increasing in some of the area off of overnight showers and thunderstorms well to our northwest. It's not areawide, however.Clouds for some provide some welcomed shadeThe Heat Advisory continues today through tomorrow evening at 9 p.m. Heat Index readings, which Monday topped out at 111° at both La Grange and San Marcos, will rise again to numbers that we felt Monday. Most of these heat indices will peak between 107° and 111°. Oppressive heat index readings forecast todayIn other words, the hot and muggy air will remain.The upper-level ridge of high pressure has moved to between El Paso and Albuquerque. It will migrate out to the west, landing near Las Vegas this weekend. From there the center of the high heads back to the east so that the heatwave continues into next week.The high will grip our weather for at least the next eight days NEW BLOG: How this summer’s heat compares to last yea...

Downtown Alliance, St. Paul mayor want 20,000 more residents downtown — and 20,000 more jobs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:02 GMT

Downtown St. Paul already has some 10,000 residents, many of them living in buildings that once hosted legal offices, bank offices and even the newsroom of a daily newspaper. A business coalition that works closely with City Hall has unveiled an ambitious new goal to triple that number, adding 20,000 more residents and 20,000 more workers over the long term, while increasing annual visitors by 20 percent.A total of 30,000 residents downtown? Can it be done? At at a time when many cities, St. Paul included, appear to have lost some population coming out of the pandemic and remote work is the new normal, growth strategies will require finesse.“We had a little (population) dip, but things have recovered and we still have new housing units coming online,” said Joe Spencer, president of the St. Paul Downtown Alliance.Growing downtown so that it spans some 10 percent of the city population won’t happen overnight, but the Downtown Alliance has already hired some key partners to help ...