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Mass. House advancing bill requiring employers to give time off on Election Day

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:21 GMT

Employers would be required to provide their workers “sufficient time” off to vote in person on Election Day in a state or municipal election under legislation the House started advancing Thursday morning.In a rare December movement, the House’s budget-writing committee opened a poll of its members on the legislation originally sponsored by Rep. John Lawn, a Democrat, and Sen. Brendan Crighton, a Lynn Democrat.If a voter does not have sufficient time outside of working hours to vote in person during an election or designated earlier voting period, the person may use paid time off to vote on Election Day, the bill said. The employee must give their employer at least three business day’s notice.An employer is barred from requiring workers to vote by mail or during an early voting period. A company that violates the proposed law by not giving “sufficient time off to vote” must pay an employee a “full day’s pay,” the bill said.Employee time off for voting must be at the beginning ...

Circle K is offering San Diego drivers 40 cents off fuel for three hours only

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:21 GMT

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KSWB) -- Just ahead of the holidays, convenience store chain Circle K is giving back by offering a limited time discount on fuel for California drivers at select locations.Customers across the Golden State can get 40 cents off per gallon of gas from 4-7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 14. The price on the pump will reflect the discounted price during that timeframe.Circle K is calling it a "Fuel Day Pop-up." The discount event is also offering 50% off on car washes for the entire day. Here’s where to find California’s oldest general store "In the spirit of the holiday season, we’re very pleased to have a 'Fuel Day Pop-up’ to make it a little easier to navigate through festivities, shopping and travel,” said George Wilkins, Vice President of Operations for the Circle K West Coast Business Unit. “With these exclusive savings and our commitment to adding great value, we hope to make this season extra special and joyous for our customers.” California drivers can fi...

Gang detectives called in after gunfire rings out in Golden Hill, two shot

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:21 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Gang detectives with the San Diego Police Department responded to reports of gunfire in the area of Golden Hill Park after dark Wednesday. Police officers first arrived on scene at 2600 Russ Blvd. around 8:33 p.m. after multiple parties called in about shots fired. SDPD said shell casings were located in the parking lot of the park near a picnic table. CBP officer agrees to resign after admitting to using ‘unreasonable force’ A white sedan, similar to a Nissan Altima, reportedly pulled up near the north curb line of 2600 Russ Blvd. and fired multiple rounds at a group of men sitting at the bench, SDPD explained. Two or three of the men in the park returned fire, according to witness accounts.Police confirmed 20 shell casings of three different calibers were located in the area. Two of the men in the park were shot in the leg and were transported to a local hospital. The extent of their injuries in unknown at this time.SDPD gangs detectives will be handling the investi...

Promising new gene therapies for sickle cell are out of reach in countries where they’re needed most

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:21 GMT

Gautam Dongre’s two children in India and Pascazia Mazeze’s son in Tanzania live with an inherited blood disorder that turns blood cells into instruments of pain.Now that new gene therapies promise a cure for their sickle cell disease, Dongre says he’s “praying the treatment should come to us.”But experts say the one-time treatment is out of reach in India and Africa — places where the disease is most common. Vast inequities cut much of the world off from gene therapy in general.While access to all sorts of medicine is limited in developing countries, the problem is especially acute with these therapies, which are among the most expensive treatments in the world. Beyond their sky-high prices, these therapies are extremely complex to give patients because they require long hospitalizations, sophisticated medical equipment and specially trained doctors and scientists. So far, the two gene therapies for sickle cell have only been approved in wealthier countries: both of the...

14-year-old charged with attempted murder in stabbing at Don Mills TTC station

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:21 GMT

A teenage boy is facing an attempted murder charge after a stabbing at Don Mills subway station last weekend.Toronto police were called to the TTC station near Don Mills Road and Sheppard Avenue around 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 9.Police allege a fight broke out between two groups of youths when a 17-year-old boy was stabbed. He was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries where he remains in critical but stable condition.Officers say the suspect attempted to flee on a bus but was tracked down by officers and arrested.A 14-year-old boy is facing four charges including attempted murder and aggravated assault.A second 14-year-old boy was also arrested at the scene. He is facing a charge of possession of a weapon.Both appeared in a Toronto courtroom on Sunday. The suspects cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Men charged with illegal killing of 3,600 birds, including bald and golden eagles to sell

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:21 GMT

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A federal grand jury in Montana has indicted two men accused of killing about 3,600 birds, including bald eagles and golden eagles, and selling them on the black market.The indictment returned in U.S. District Court last week charges Simon Paul and Travis John Branson with 13 counts of unlawful trafficking of bald and golden eagles and one count each of conspiracy and violating the Lacey Act, which prohibits trafficking of illegally taken wildlife.“The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act was enacted in 1940 to protect the bald eagle, recognizing that the bald eagle is not merely a bird of biological interest, but this country’s national symbol which reflects America’s ideals of freedom,” the indictment states. The act was extended in 1962 to include golden eagles.Branson, Paul and others hunted and killed thousands of birds, including eagles, on the Flathead Indian Reservation and elsewhere, then illegally sold them for significant sums of cash across the Uni...

CP NewsAlert: Quebec hikes tuition for McGill, Concordia, imposes French requirement

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:21 GMT

MONTREAL — The Quebec government is hiking tuition to $12,000 a year and imposing a French-language requirement for out-of-province students at McGill and Concordia universities.Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry announced the new measures today, saying the government wants Canadian and foreign graduates to better integrate in Quebec society.Quebec had initially proposed to raise tuition for out-of-province students to around $17,000 from $8,992, but today’s announcement reduces that amount.However, the government has introduced a new requirement — that 80 per cent of out-of-province students in English universities have an intermediate level of spoken French before they can graduate.The new French-language standards will be in effect for the 2025-26 academic year, and the tuition raise starts in the fall.The other English-language university in Quebec, Bishop’s, is spared the tuition hike but will have to meet the language requirements.This report by The Canadian Pr...

5 Toronto teens between ages of 14 and 16 busted in Markham carjacking probe

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:21 GMT

Five Toronto teenagers between the ages of 14 and 16 are facing charges in a carjacking investigation after police allege they purposely crashed into another vehicle in an attempt to steal it.Officers were called to 16th Avenue and Markham Road area on Dec. 6, after reports of a vehicle collision.“While on scene, officers learned that a white Audi SUV, operated by the suspects, had intentionally collided with a grey Toyota RAV4 in an attempt to steal the vehicle,” a Peel Regional Police release stated.The teens tried to run but were quickly rounded up and arrested by responding officers.Police further allege the teens were all wearing masks at the time and had an imitation firearm in their possession.They’re all facing charges of robbery with a firearm, possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, disguise with intent and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.Three of the youths are also facing additional charges of failure to comply with release ...

From New York to Tokyo, stock markets around the world have rallied in 2023

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:21 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s been a great year for stock markets around the world.Wall Street’s rally has been front and center, with the U.S. stock market the world’s largest and its clear leader in performance in recent years. The S&P 500 is on track to return more than 20% for the third time in the last five years, and its gangbusters performance has brought it back within 2% of its record set at the start of 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high Wednesday.Even in Japan, which has been home to some of the world’s most disappointing stocks for decades, the market marched upward to touch its highest level since shortly after its bubble burst in 1989. Across developed and emerging economies, stocks have powered ahead in 2023 as inflation has regressed, even with wars raging in hotspots around the world. Globally, inflation is likely to ease to 6.9% this year from 8.7% in 2022, according to the International Monetary Fund. The expectation ...

University of Arizona announces financial recovery plan to address its $240M budget shortfall

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:52:21 GMT

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — The University of Arizona has unveiled an extensive financial recovery plan to address its $240 million budget shortfall.In a virtual meeting Wednesday night with the Arizona Board of Regents, university President Robert Robbins announced the resignation of the school’s chief financial officer and other steps to address cash flow issues.“We will implement an immediate hiring freeze,” Robbins said. “We will freeze international travel. We will place restrictions on purchasing. We will defer nonessential capital projects and we will pause strategic investments.”Lisa Rulney, the UofA’s chief financial officer since April 2019, resigned Wednesday from the job that paid her nearly $500,000 annually.Rulney and Robbins told the regents last month that the university had just 97 days worth of cash on hand and not the 156 they previously predicted. The school’s senior administrators blamed a failure of their prediction model that caused the multimillion-dollar miscalcula...