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Local lawmakers file bill to create 4-day workweek pilot program

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

A pair of state lawmakers are looking into the impacts of slashing office time from five days to four, and are hoping their new bill will help get the ball rolling in Massachusetts via a pilot program.Filed by Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Plymouth, and Rep. Dylan A. Fernandes, D-Falmouth, “An Act relative to a four-day workweek pilot program” aims to help those who might be barely getting by at work, and possibly replicate the positive results seen in similar trials, one of which involved researchers from Boston College.“I think momentum is definitely growing to get more creative in the way we look at our workplace and the nature of work,” Cutler told 7NEWS. “And having a four-day workweek is a natural component of that.”The legislator said the pilot program would be voluntary for businesses. Participants would qualify for a tax credit and, in turn, the businesses would reduce employee hours without reducing pay.“Everyone’s talking about tight ...

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg sues Rep. Jim Jordan over Trump indictment inquiry

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and FARNOUSH AMIRI (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg sued Rep. Jim Jordan on Tuesday, an extraordinary move as he seeks to halt a House Judiciary Committee inquiry that the prosecutor contends is a “transparent campaign to intimidate and attack” him over his indictment of former President Donald Trump.Bragg, a Democrat, is asking a judge to invalidate subpoenas that Jordan, the committee’s Republican chair, has issued or plans to issue as part of an investigation of Bragg’s handling of the case, the first criminal prosecution of a former U.S. president.U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, a Trump appointee who previously served as a federal bankruptcy court judge, declined Tuesday to take immediate action on the lawsuit and scheduled an initial hearing for April 19 in Manhattan.Bragg’s lawsuit, a forceful escalation after weeks of sparring with Jordan and other Republican lawmakers in l...

Magic’s Paolo Banchero becomes Rookie of the Month for 4th month in a row

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero accomplished a feat on Tuesday that’s been attained by only one other player in franchise history.Banchero was named the NBA Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for games played in March and April, the league announced.He joined Shaquille O’Neal as the only Magic players to be named Rookie of the Month four consecutive times. O’Neal did it from November 1992-February 1993.The No. 1 pick in the draft, Banchero led rookies in scoring with 20.3 points per game for March/April to go along with 6.6 rebounds (sixth) and 4.2 assists (sixth). He also shot 38.7% (24 of 62) on 3-pointers.Banchero, O’Neal, Penny Hardaway, Mike Miller and Victor Oladipo are the only Magic players to be named Rookie of the Month more than once.The nine Magic players who won Rookie of the Month:Dennis Scott (March 1991);O’Neal (four times — November 1992-February 1993);Hardaway (twice — January and April 1994);Miller (twice ...

Boston Marathon weather forecast: Thankfully not hot like this week, helpful wind, spotty showers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

With less than a week out from the Boston Marathon, this is the part of the marathon training experience when anxious runners constantly hit refresh on the weather forecast for Hopkinton and the seven other communities that make up the 26.2-mile course.According to the National Weather Service’s initial forecast for Marathon Monday, it appears to be a better day for runners than spectators.Thankfully for the runners, they won’t have to worry about 70-degree sunny days like this week. Temps in Hopkinton at the start of the race should be in the upper 50s, and temps in Boston shouldn’t top 60 degrees in the afternoon. The normal high for Boston on April 17 is 57 degrees.Runners may have to deal with some scattered rain showers, but there’s a chance for a helpful wind at their backs.“Monday seems like a very seasonable April day with some spotty showers during the morning,” Torry Gaucher, meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Boston o...

To fight cancer, EPA wants sterilizer companies to emit less

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed Tuesday to limit the use of the chemical ethylene oxide after finding higher than expected cancer risk at facilities that use it to sterilize billions of medical devices each year.The EPA says its proposal will reduce ethylene oxide emissions by roughly 80% by targeting 86 medical sterilization facilities across the United States. The companies will also have to test for the antimicrobial chemical in the air and make sure their pollution controls are working properly.“EPA’s number one priority is protecting people’s health and safety,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. “Together they would significantly reduce worker and community exposure to harmful levels of ethylene oxide.”Darya Minovi, a senior research analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists, called the action overdue by “almost a decade” and said it should have gone further to require monitoring at facility fence lines so people know what is entering their ...

Puerto Rico declares state of emergency on coastal erosion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s governor declared a state of emergency on Tuesday to fight worsening coastal erosion across the U.S. territory that officials blame on climate change.The government is setting aside $105 million in federal funds to implement nearly two dozen measures to offset the ongoing loss of land and minimize its effects. The measures include relocating homes, creating artificial reefs, planting mangrove trees and adding sand to beaches.“This is an ambitious agenda,” Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said at a press conference.Puerto Rico has nearly 700 miles (1,200 kilometers) of coastline, and two-thirds of the island’s 3.2 million resident live along coastal areas. Of that population, more than 20% live in areas at high risk for flooding.A study by the University of Puerto Rico found that more than 60 miles (99 kilometers) of shoreline have migrated inland in previous years. Much of the erosion is blamed on storms including Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm th...

Alaska illustrator faces charge for anti-trans threat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A court hearing is set for Tuesday for an Alaska children’s book illustrator charged with terroristic threatening after authorities said he posted transphobic notes in public places around the capital city that referenced shooting children.Mitchell Thomas Watley, 47, is scheduled for a late-afternoon preliminary hearing. The state’s online court records system does not yet show an attorney who can speak on his behalf.Watley is accused of leaving business card-size notes in places like a grocery store and state office building with an image of an assault rifle, the colors of the transgender flag and the text “Feeling Cute Might Shoot Some Children,” according to the complaint filed in the case. He was arrested on April 2, after several notes were found at a Costco store and officers reviewed security footage that showed a man, later identified as Watley, leaving a note in the store, the complaint alleged.The first notes were found on March 31, ...

Hydro-Québec says restoring power to last customers hit by ice storm ‘complex’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

MONTREAL — Quebec’s power utility said Tuesday it was working to fix the most complicated damage after last week’s devastating ice storm but couldn’t put a timetable on when everyone would have power back.On Tuesday morning, about 16,000 customers were off the grid, and by early afternoon the number had dropped below 12,000, though there were some fluctuations. About half of those still in the dark were in Montreal.Hydro-Québec spokesman Francis Labbé said the remaining work is particularly complex. The common issue is that power lines have been damaged by mature trees, and branches need to be cleared before crews can conduct repairs, he said.Much of the damage is in private backyards, and sometimes the extent of the damage isn’t always apparent even after the repair, which is why the numbers are in flux. The total number of incidents causing outages dropped from 500 earlier Tuesday to less than 300 by the afternoon.“There’s a complexity to all th...

Suit: Chocolate maker ignored natural gas alert before blast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

A Pennsylvania candy-maker ignored warnings of a natural gas leak at its chocolate factory and bears responsibility for a subsequent explosion that killed seven workers and injured several others, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.The family of Judith “Judy” Lopez-Moran, a 55-year-old mother of three, filed what their lawyers called the first wrongful-death suit against R.M. Palmer Co. after the March 24 blast in West Reading.Workers smelled natural gas that day and notified Palmer, but the 75-year-old, family-owned company “did nothing,” the lawsuit said.“The gas leak at the factory and the horrific explosion it caused was foreseeable, predictable, and preventable,” the suit said. “Tragically, Judith Lopez-Moran’s death and suffering were preventable.”The lawsuit, filed in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, also names gas utility UGI, which declined comment. A message was sent to Palmer seeking comment.Authorities are still investigating the cause of the explosion, which levele...

N.B. tourism approaching pre-pandemic levels as rental car industry still struggling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

FREDERICTON — Tourism in New Brunswick last year approached pre-pandemic levels, but the province’s rental car industry struggled, a new study by Statistics Canada says.The study released Tuesday said tourism activity in the province “turned around rapidly” but was still 20 per cent lower than in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.“Despite a rebound in the number of visitors to New Brunswick, several macroeconomic factors impacted the pace and the extent of the recovery for tourism service providers, including the passenger car rental industry.”While inflation led to significant price increases for hotel rooms and restaurants, the study said some of the steepest increases in the province in the past two years were in the rental car industry.“Nationally, prices for rental of passenger vehicles have risen by nearly 50 per cent since 2019,” it noted. “The cost pressures associated with the maintenance and repair of existing vehicles and t...