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Would a Texas law take away workers’ water breaks? A closer look at House Bill 2127

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:54 GMT

As unrelenting heat set in across Texas this summer, opponents of a sweeping new law targeting local regulations took to the airwaves and internet with an alarming message: outdoor workers would be banned from taking water breaks.Workers would die, experts and advocates said, with high temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) and staying there for much of the past two months.But a closer look at the law, and the local ordinances requiring water breaks, reveals a more complicated picture.At least one political analyst said the dispute is less about worker protection and more about politics, as conservative Republicans and progressive Democrats battle for control of local governments. House Bill 2127, passed by the Republican-dominated Legislature in April and set to take effect Sept. 1, blocks local governments from enforcing legislation clashing with existing state law. Cities and counties would be required to demonstrate that their policies are in compliance...

Georgia Medicaid program with work requirement off to slow start even as thousands lose coverage

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:54 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed paperwork creating a new state health plan for low-income residents to much fanfare at the state Capitol three years ago. But public health experts and advocates say since it launched on July 1, state officials appear to be doing little to promote or enroll people in the nation’s only Medicaid program that makes recipients meet a work requirement. The Georgia Department of Community Health, which has projected up to 100,000 people could eventually benefit from Georgia Pathways to Coverage, had approved just 265 applications by early August.“If we’re talking about directed outreach to the population that would most likely be eligible and interested, I haven’t seen anything,” said Harry Heiman, a health policy professor at Georgia State University.Heiman and other experts say the program’s slow start reflects fundamental flaws missing from Medicaid expansions in other states, including the extra burden of submitting and verifying work hour...

Emerging economies are pushing to end the dollar’s dominance. But what’s the alternative?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:54 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Business has vanished at Kingsley Odafe’s clothing shop in Nigeria’s capital, forcing him to lay off three employees.One culprit for his troubles stands out: The U.S. dollar’s strength against the Nigerian currency, the naira, has pushed the price of garments and other foreign goods beyond the reach of local consumers. A bag of imported clothes costs three times what it did two years ago. The price these days is running around 350,000 naira, or $450. “There are no sales anymore because people have to eat first before thinking of buying clothes,” Odafe said.Across the developing world, many countries are fed up with America’s dominance of the global financial system — especially the power of the dollar. They will air their grievances next week as the BRICS bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa meet with other emerging market countries in Johannesburg, South Africa.But griping about King Dollar is easier than actually deposing the de facto w...

Not so hot July: Low inventory, interest rates keep Colorado housing market calm

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:54 GMT

Colorado’s housing market remained relatively stable in July due to higher interest rates and limited available homes.The latest Market Trends Housing Report from the Colorado Association of Realtors shows the single-family home inventory in the seven-county Denver metro area dropped 3% between June and July and is 28% lower than in July 2022.“Denver continues to perplex and bewilder as July’s real estate market numbers roll in. Last month marked the seventh straight month where the median price was lower than the month/year before — a trend generally mirrored by metro and state data. What doesn’t mirror it is the parallel drop in demand,” said Matthew Leprino with Remingo.New listings dropStatewide, active listings dropped by 1% month-over-month but declined 19% from July 2022.“July is another example of our market being unpredictable. We were on a trend of fewer sales than the previous year, but July saw a one-year change in sold listings that w...

Tropical storm warning issued in Southern California for the first time

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:54 GMT

A tropical storm warning was issued in Southern California for the very first time on Friday night as Hurricane Hilary is set to make landfall this weekend.Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass spoke on Friday to discuss the city’s preparation for the incoming storm alongside general managers of city departments.“The city of L.A. is mobilizing in advance of the landfall of Hurricane Hilary,” Bass said Friday. “This is potentially an unprecedented, extreme weather event for Los Angeles, Southern California and the rest of the West Coast. The city is prepared. We're not waiting for the storm to hit. We've already begun working 24/7 to be ahead of the curve and to be ready as soon as the storm reaches our shores."Currently a Category 4 hurricane, Hilary is forecast to head north through Baja California before making its way into the Southland. Southern Californians should start feeling the remnants of Hilary on Saturday as cloud coverage increases and light rain starts to fall. Stronger sh...

Store clerk thwarts armed robber in Fountain Valley

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:54 GMT

Security cameras captured the moment a store clerk was able to thwart an attempted armed robbery in Fountain Valley.The attempted robbery happened at Cousins Liquor & Deli in Fountain Valley on Wednesday night just after 9 p.m.Security cameras captured the suspect’s white Nissan Altima sedan pulling up to the store. A masked man wearing a hoodie stepped out of the passenger side and store clerk Jacko Sadek said he saw the man approaching and prepared himself.“Something's going to happen,” Sadek recalled thinking. “Either he's going to be a shoplifter or somebody’s going to rob me.”Security cameras captured the moment a store clerk thwarted an attempted armed robbery in Fountain Valley on August 16, 2023. (Cousins Liquor & Deli)Security cameras captured the moment a store clerk thwarted an attempted armed robbery in Fountain Valley on August 16, 2023. (Cousins Liquor & Deli)Security cameras captured the moment a store clerk thwarted an attempted armed robbery in Fountain Valley o...

Few bright spots for Oakland A’s in lopsided loss to Baltimore Orioles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:54 GMT

OAKLAND — The Oakland A’s had 12 hits Friday night but still could not keep up with the Baltimore Orioles.The A’s allowed five runs in the first two innings and never fully recovered in a 9-4 loss to the Orioles before an announced crowd of 8,942 at the Coliseum.Pitchers Francisco Perez, Luis Medina, and Kyle Muller combined to allow eight earned runs in the first 7 1/3 innings as the A’s gave up 16 hits and lost for the sixth time in their last seven games.Medina entered the game in the second inning with the A’s down 3-1 but his velocity started to tail off for the start of the third inning, as A’s manager Mark Kotsay said he started to develop a blister.For the Orioles, Gunnar Henderson hit a two-run homer in the second and added an RBI single to back Kyle Gibson’s winning start.Gibson (12-7) struck out six and didn’t walk a batter, allowing four runs on nine hits over five innings coming off his first loss in seven starts. He’...

Antioch man pleads guilty to involvement in 100+ lottery ticket thefts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:54 GMT

(KRON) – An Antioch man admitted to being the ringleader of a group that stole lottery tickets from 65 different stores across Northern California, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office said Friday. Ryan Anderson, 32, led a group that committed more than 100 thefts from convenience and grocery stores authorized to sell California Lottery Scratchers. The crimes happened in these counties: Contra Costa, Alameda, Marin, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano, and Stanislaus.The total value of tickets stolen by the group is $95,565 with an additional $59,105 in prize money, per the DA’s office. The thefts happened between March 27, 2022, and Oct. 25, 2022.  This Bay Area city has the highest car theft rate in the nation Once Anderson was taken into custody, the crimes stopped, the DA’s office said. “Organized retail crime is serious a crime that will not be tolerated in our communities,” said District Attorney Diana Becton. “We will continue to work with our retailers ...

Thousands flee raging wildfire, turning capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories into ghost town

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:54 GMT

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories was virtually deserted after nearly all the residents of the city of just over 20,000 fled as a huge wildfire burned nearby.To the south, in British Columbia, thousands more people were told to leave their homes while firefighters battled a growing fire that set homes ablaze.Officials in Northwest Territories said Friday evening that about 19,000 people had left Yellowknife in less than 48 hours, with about 15,000 driving out in convoys and 3,800 leaving on emergency flights. “I described today as another marathon sprint,” Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty said. “It’s draining and, unfortunately, it’s not letting up yet.”About 2,600 people were still in the city — 1,000 of them essential workers, authorities said.Shane Thompson, the territory’s minister of environment and climate change, said the wildfire situation remained critical and the non-emergency personnel who stayed were endangering themselv...

Fernando Tatis Jr. hits 2-run homer as San Diego Padres beat Arizona Diamondbacks 4-0

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:54 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Fernando Tatis Jr. capped San Diego’s four-run eighth inning with a two-run homer, and the Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-0 on Friday night.“Man, about time one of those goes out,” Tatis said of his homer, which included an emphatic bat-flip after he hit it. “These days, I don’t know if they are going out or not.”San Diego won for the third time in four games, improving to 3-2 on a 10-game homestand. The Padres (59-64) need a strong finish and some help to rally to an NL wild-card spot.Robert Suarez (2-2) got three outs for the win, and Josh Hader struck out the side in the ninth.Diamondbacks rookie Brandon Pfaadt pitched seven crisp innings. He struck out five and walked three.“The starter today was making good pitches,” Tatis said of Pfaadt. “I feel like we also put some good swings out there but we just didn’t get the end results….We stayed it in, we kept battling.”Pfaadt was working on a no-hitter before Juan Soto doub...