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Encore, union workers reach ‘tentative’ contract agreement, potentially averting strike

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:31 GMT

Unionized workers at Encore Boston Harbor struck a “tentative agreement” Wednesday with casino management on a new contract, likely averting a strike scheduled to begin Friday where more than 1,000 workers could have walked off the job.UNITE HERE Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25 reached an agreement with Wynn Resorts after an “hours-long” bargaining session, according to a statement released Thursday morning. The unions said they were suspending their strike deadline of Friday at midnight, which they approved last week after more than 1,000 workers cast ballots.UNITE HERE Local 26 President Carlos Aramayo said management at Encore showed “leadership in the hospitality industry” for bargaining a contract that “guarantees workers at the resort will have excellent wages and benefits.”“We are glad that a strike will be avoided and that a spirit of partnership has prevailed. Our members are excited to continue providing five-star service to the resort’s guests with a five-star contract,” ...

Stolen van suspect arrested in Carlsbad after chase from LA

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:31 GMT

CARLSBAD, Calif. — A pursuit that began Thursday in Los Angeles ended in North County after the driver led authorities through multiple counties.Authorities pursued the driver of a stolen van from Los Angeles through Orange County before it ended in Carlsbad near Cannon Road and Frost Ave, the California Highway Patrol said.According to CHP, a suspect was taken into custody after the pursuit and officials with the Los Angeles Police Department were called to the scene to take the suspect, since the pursuit began in their jurisdiction.The van was stolen from a repair shop in Los Angeles, according to FOX 5's sister station KTLA.No further information was immediately available regarding the incident.

Big Bay Boom: How to watch the fireworks show

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:31 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The countdown is on to the biggest Fourth of July fireworks show on the West Coast: the Big Bay Boom!On July 4th, starting at 9 p.m., fireworks will launch from four barges across the San Diego Bay. Up to half a million people are expected to take in the show, gathering at popular vantage points like Shelter Island, Harbor Island, the Embarcadero, Seaport Village and the Coronado Ferry Landing. The show will be choreographed to music broadcast on 101.5 KGB. Where to watch July 4th fireworks in San Diego For those at home, FOX 5 will have cameras around the bay -- on the ground and in the sky -- to give you the best view. Coverage will start at 8 p.m. on FOX 5 and on fox5sandiego.com.Viewers outside of San Diego County can watch the show live on KTLA 5 in Los Angeles or FOX40 in Sacramento starting at 8:30 p.m. The show will be broadcast on KSEE24 and CBS47 in Fresno and KGET TV 17 in Bakersfield from 10 to 11 p.m.

Fire aboard USS Abraham Lincoln prompts evacuations

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:31 GMT

SAN DIEGO — A fire aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln Wednesday prompted sailors to be evacuated from the aircraft carrier.Around 2 p.m., the in-port emergency team responded to an electrical fire in the forward emergency diesel generator compartment, a spokesperson for Commander, Naval Air Forces confirmed to FOX 5.Responding crews were able to secure power in the impacted area and extinguish the flames in approximately 10 minutes. Navy listens to local residents’ input on potential issues of 3 aircraft carriers There were no reported injuries due to the fire, but non-essential sailors were evacuated from the aircraft carrier for a short period of time.An assessment is underway to determine the extent of the damage to the ship, the spokesperson said. Foul play is not suspected.Abraham Lincoln is currently at Naval Air Station North Island for planned maintenance.

Blue Jays’ Guerrero Jr. to compete in Home Run Derby for second time

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:31 GMT

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will compete in the Home Run Derby at the MLB All-Star Game for the second time in his career on July 10 in Seattle, the team announced Thursday.PLÁKATA! PLÁKATA!Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the 2nd participant in the @TMobile #HRDerby. pic.twitter.com/GrSG00fhjJ— MLB (@MLB) June 29, 2023Guerrero set a single-round record with 40 homers in the 2019 Derby as a rookie. He finished with a record 91 total home runs but lost in the final to Pete Alonso of the New York Mets.Seattle Mariners star Julio Rodriguez, the runner-up last year, is the only other confirmed participant for this year’s Derby.Guerrero’s power numbers are down this year as he has just 11 home runs on the season. He didn’t hit his first home run at Rogers Centre in 2023 until last Friday against the Oakland A’s.Guerrero hit an MLB season-high 48 homers in 2021 and had 32 last year.While he has played in the last two All-Star Games, Guerrero...

Protesters briefly storm the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad in protest over Quran burning

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:31 GMT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Hundreds of followers of the influential Iraqi Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada Sadr briefly stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad on Thursday in protest of the burning of a Quran in Sweden.An Iraqi security official said the Swedish Embassy was evacuated by security forces after the protesters breached the building, raising pictures of Sadr and flags of his militia, the Mahdi Army. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media.Some of the protesters also burned rainbow flags, a symbol of LGBTQ+ pride.Iraqi officials didn’t make any public statement on the storming of the embassy.On Wednesday, a man who identified himself in Swedish media as a refugee from Iraq burned a Quran outside a mosque in central Stockholm.The Iraqi security official said the man was an Iraqi Christian who had previously fought in a Christian unit of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a collection of mostly Shiite militias that were i...

Number of homeless residents in Los Angeles County jumps by 9% in annual count

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:31 GMT

The number of homeless residents counted in Los Angeles County has spiked again, increasing by 9% since last year in the latest marker of how deep the crisis is of people sleeping in cars, encampments or shelters in California. Results released Thursday from a federally required tally conducted in January found 75,518 people were homeless on any given night across the county, compared with 69,144 in 2022. About 46,260 were within the city of Los Angeles, where public frustration has grown as tents have proliferated on sidewalks and in parks. The increase was made up entirely of residents living on the streets, as opposed to those in shelters. The countywide unsheltered population increased 14% to more than 55,000, while the number of people in shelters declined slightly to just over 20,000.Since 2015, homelessness has increased by 70% in the county and 80% in the city.Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a homelessness state of emergency on her first day in office last December. Sh...

Political consultant gets 24 years for paying hitmen to kill a colleague

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:31 GMT

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey political consultant who had two hitmen kill a colleague for $15,000 was sentenced to 24 years in federal prison on Thursday.Sean Caddle, a 45-year-old former Democratic campaign consultant, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit murder-for-hire in the killing of Michael Galdieri, whose apartment was set on fire after he was fatally stabbed in 2014. U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez sounded skeptical of Caddle’s acceptance of any responsibility, saying it sounded as if he was trying to “save his own skin” by cooperating with prosecutors in a separate tax and wire fraud case that led to a guilty plea from a former top aide to the state Senate president. “This is one of the most unusual and certainly one of the most heinous crimes I’ve encountered as a judge,” Vazquez said. Caddle, who had been out of prison on house arrest, was led away by U.S. Marshals after the hearing. He appeared before the judge in an untucked button-down shirt and k...

With Muslim members away for Eid, Minneapolis City Council kills rent control measure

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:31 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — While three Muslim council members were away to observe the Eid al-Adha holiday, the Minneapolis City Council narrowly voted to kill a measure that would have put a rent control question on the ballot this fall. A majority of the council supports a 3% annual residential rent cap. But with Aisha Chughtai, Jeremiah Ellison and Jamal Osman out on Wednesday, the council voted not to move the measure forward, Minnesota Public Radio reported.“Islamophobia!” one person in the audience blurted out during the meeting, the Star Tribune reported. Such accusations raged on Twitter, while at the same time, rent control opponents expressed relief the issue was off the table.The Wednesday meeting was scheduled more than a year ago to accommodate Eid, which at the time had been predicted to fall on Thursday, Minnesota Public Radio reported. But the date is subject to change depending on lunar observations.According to City Clerk Casey Carl, the first time anyone raised a concern ...

Italian researchers reach the edge of space flying aboard Virgin Galactic’s rocket-powered plane

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:31 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A team of Italian researchers reached the edge of space Thursday morning, flying aboard a rocket-powered plane piloted by Virgin Galactic as the space tourism company prepares for monthly commercial flights.The flight launched from Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert, with two Italian Air Force officers and an engineer with the National Research Council of Italy focusing on a series of microgravity experiments during their few minutes of weightlessness. One wore a special suit that measured biometric data and physiological responses while another conducted tests using sensors to track heart rate, brain function and other metrics while in microgravity. The third studied how certain liquids and solids mix in that very weak gravity.Virgin Galactic livestreamed the flight on its website, showing the moment when the ship released from its carrier plane and the rocket was ignited. The entire trip — from lifting off at Spaceport America to gliding back down ...