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Loretto Hospital workers 'poised' to strike on Monday

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 05:11:05 GMT

CHICAGO — Hundreds of workers at a West Side hospital say they're ready to walk off the job. SEIU Healthcare Illinois, the union representing employees at Loretto Hospital, said Thursday that contract talks have stalled.PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Loretto Hospital workers announce strike notice"We are poised to strike on Monday, despite our best attempts to negotiate and get through to Loretto management, they walked away from the table yesterday," said Erica Bland, executive vice president for SEIU.The July 26 negotiations without an agreement. Three bargaining sessions were scheduled for late July in hopes that a strike could be avoided.The union representing the hospital's frontline service, care, and technical workers accuses Loretto administrators of stonewalling at the bargaining table. The hospital has offered pay raises and more personal days, but they argue the union's demands are unsustainable. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlinesIf a deal isn’t reached...

Trump charged with trying to delete Mar-a-Lago surveillance footage in new indictment

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 05:11:05 GMT

(The Hill) — The Justice Department is accusing former President Trump of attempting to delete surveillance footage at his Mar-a-Lago property in a new superseding indictment filed in the classified records case on Thursday. DOJ says Trump acted with a new co-conspirator to try to delete the footage, and also charged him with an additional Espionage Act charge.  READ: Superseding indictment says Trump team tried to delete Mar-a-Lago surveillance footage The superseding indictment brings to 42 the total number of counts facing the former president.It accuses Trump of acting with Carlos de Oliveira, the property manager of the hotel, and Trump’s other co-defendant Walt Nauta, with trying to delete the footage.This is a developing story.

How scammers are using 'Barbie' craze to steal personal information

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 05:11:05 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – After a massive opening weekend, the buzz around "Barbie" is seemingly everywhere – but experts say scammers are also enjoying the blockbuster's popularity."Cybercriminals are always on the lookout for opportunities to make phishing and other scams more attractive and believable,” said Steve Grobman, CTO of McAfee, in a news release a week ago. “They often leverage popular and well-publicized events such as movie premieres, concerts, or sporting events to trick users into clicking on malicious links." Map shows which areas of the US will be underwater in 2050 McAfee has detected dozens of malware files with Barbie-related names this month, with 37 percent in the U.S. Some phishing attempts are disguised as a "Barbie"-related video that contains a link directing potential victims to a Discord server or another website. There, they are promised fake tickets or otherwise convinced to download a file that turns out to be malware. In some cases, McAfee says, that malware is...

Oregon mom breaks world record for largest breast milk donation, helps others

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 05:11:05 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – An Oregon mother who recently broke the Guinness World Record for the largest breast milk donation is being hailed a hero for helping hundreds of families around the world.Elisabeth Anderson-Sierra, of Aloha, said she never expected to break the record, noting, "It used to be kind of a running joke, but then I went through with it and here it is.”Anderson-Sierra has a rare medical condition, hyper-lactation syndrome, which she explains, causes her body to produce a surplus of milk - producing breast milk for nine years and averaging 200 ounces a day.“It started in 2014, and I wasn’t sure what was going on at first and my medical team did a lot of testing to identify and diagnose and then it was a large learning process from there, just learning how to handle and manage this condition," Anderson-Sierra said.She added, "My body does whatever it takes to make this amount of breast milk, and it’s very taxing. And any pumping or nursing problems that any mom can e...

No Trump Jan. 6 indictment expected Thursday: court official

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 05:11:05 GMT

Former President Trump is not expected to be indicted Thursday in connection with the federal investigation probing his efforts to block the transition of power following the 2020 election, according to a court official.The official said no indictments were returned and none were expected for the remainder of the day in D.C.’s federal district court, where the grand jury has been meeting to review evidence in special counsel Jack Smith’s probe.The grand jury met Thursday, and jurors appear to still be inside the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse in Washington behind closed doors.It remains unclear when the grand jury would convene again. It has tended to meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays.Earlier in the day, Trump’s attorneys met with members of Smith’s office to discuss the investigation. A similar meeting occurred just days before when Trump was indicted in Florida in connection with his handling of classified documents.“My attorneys had a productive meeting with the DOJ ...

Austin council member wants to make zoos, aquariums safer following recent incidents

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 05:11:05 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) –  After hearing from several concerned constituents regarding the Austin Aquarium, Council Member Mackenzie Kelly – who represents District 6 where the business is located – said she is working on a resolution to potentially change relevant city code to make things safer at facilities with wild animals. In the last couple of years, there have been at least a couple of incidents where people were reportedly injured while interacting with lemurs. The Austin Aquarium touts on its website that “the Austin and San Antonio Aquariums are the only facilities in the United States where guests can interact and pet lemurs.” MORE: Woman says lemur attacked her at Austin Aquarium Further, Kelly said constituents have expressed concerns about how animals are treated at the facility. Charmaine Dickerson said a lemur attacked her during an interactive experience at the Austin Aquarium. (KXAN)“[The Austin Aquarium] is in my district. I need to be responsive to people ...

San Antonio mayor brings local control fight to White House as Biden announces heat protections

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 05:11:05 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg joined President Biden during a White House announcement of extreme protections Thursday, stressing his advocacy for local regulations as his city sues the state of Texas over local control."Texas cities are in a battle with the state for local control," the mayor told the president. San Antonio joined Houston this week in suing the state over a new law that will preempt a wide range of local ordinances in favor of uniform standards in Texas law. Cities sue Texas over ‘Death Star’ preemption law in latest power struggle "We're going to do everything possible to protect our most vulnerable workers, especially those outdoor workers, for basic things like being able to access water breaks," Nirenberg said.House Bill 2127 asserts the state's dominance across sweeping areas of law including labor, employment, and environmental codes, preventing local governments from regulating those areas in ways that may conflict with state law. It ...

City department says it's working to fix AFD vehicle AC issues

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 05:11:05 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The city says it will undertake several initiatives to reduce the number of Austin Fire Department vehicles without air conditioning in the future. In a social media post Monday, Council Member Mackenzie Kelly said there were 20 fire trucks in Austin without air conditioning “putting our brave firefighters at risk in scorching Texas heat,” she said.  MORE: Council member pushes for prompt response from city manager over no AC in AFD vehicles Kelly sent a memo to Austin City Manager Jesus Garza saying it was “crucial to address these issues promptly to ensure the health and safety of our firefighters, especially during the hot summer months,” the memo read. Jennifer Walls, the Director of the Fleet Mobility Services Department, submitted a memo Wednesday to the Mayor and City Council Wednesday saying Fleet Services is coordinating with AFD to repair the malfunctioning fleet while ensuring enough of the fleet remains available for community needs. ...

Osceola Landing boat launch reopens after improvements

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 05:11:05 GMT

A new motorized boat launch on the St. Croix River will open this weekend, according to the National Park Service.The Park Service recently undertook a project to create two separate landings for motorized and non-motorized vehicles at Osceola Landing on the St. Croix. Previously, motorized and non-motorized watercraft used the same landing, raising safety concerns and creating pedestrian traffic.The new landing arrangement has increased parking, a paved walking path with informational signage, a new orientation and waiting area, and new restrooms.“We are excited to welcome visitors back to Osceola Landing Day Use Area,” Craig Hansen, superintendent of the St. Croix National Scenic Waterway said in a press release, “This project was a significant undertaking, and we appreciate everyone’s patience during the construction process and flood delays.”Record flooding in the spring of 2023 delayed the project.Future plans for Osceola Landing include improvemen...

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter vetoes 2024 ballot question for childcare initiative

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 05:11:05 GMT

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter on Thursday vetoed a city council measure to put funding of early childhood initiatives on the 2024 ballot.Carter expressed concern that the dedicated property tax levy would increase by $2 million annually in 10 years, creating a budget equal to that of the city’s library system — but likely with less oversight — to fund private childcare providers.“While the underlying goal behind this effort — to provide quality early childhood care for every child and family in our city — is laudable, our excitement for this bold proposal must not preclude a temperate examination of its details,” according to his veto letter to the council.The letter questioned whether the proposal would actually meet the needs of St. Paul children. While the resolution cites a need for $39 million per year to reach children up to 2 years old living at 185% of the federal poverty level, the proposed tax would only raise $20 million.Further, t...