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Maine governor suggests making paid leave proposal easier on businesses

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:42 GMT

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine Gov. Janet Mills is pumping the brakes on a paid family and medical leave proposal promoted by her fellow Democrats, seeking compromises to reduce the burden on businesses in an effort to win broader support. Deputy Chief of Staff Elise Baldacci said the governor recommended changes to balance the “disparate needs of Maine families and businesses” as paid leave advocates rallied at the State House and a public hearing was held Thursday.Maine would join a growing number of states in adopting a paid family leave plan if the legislature approves the proposal, which allows up to 12 weeks a year of paid leave for qualifying conditions, such as the birth or adoption of a child, a worker’s serious illness, or care for a sick relative. Minnesota became the 12th state to require such benefits on Thursday.The bill being considered in Maine would fund the leaves through a payroll tax split between workers and employers and capped at 1% of wages. The exact contributi...

UK’s Treasury chief accepts that recession may be necessary to get inflation down

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:42 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Treasury chief said he would be prepared to see the U.K. economy slip back into recession if further interest rate hikes are necessary to bring down inflation.With the Bank of England expected to keep raising rates following higher-than-anticipated inflation figures this week, Jeremy Hunt said it was necessary to prioritize measures to slow the pace of price increases.In an interview with Sky News that aired Friday, Hunt said the “only path to sustainable growth” is to bring inflation under control.Asked if he was comfortable with further rate hikes even if it could precipitate a recession, Hunt said, “Yes, because in the end, inflation is a source of instability. … It is not a trade-off between tackling inflation and recession.” Like other central banks, the Bank of England has been raising interest rates aggressively over the past 18 months or so to a 15-year high of 4.5% after inflation spiked sharply, first because of bottlenecks caused ...

Prosecutor: Trio convicted of murder in fatal shooting of former Indiana U football player

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:42 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Three people have been convicted in the fatal shooting of a former Indiana University football player who was gunned down during unrest in Indianapolis following the death of George Floyd.Marcus Anderson, Alijah Jones and Nakeyah Shields were found guilty of murder and multiple counts of armed robbery, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced Friday.Businessman Chris Beaty, 38, was shot and killed May 30, 2020 as he walked through an alley near his apartment building during violence that followed protests over Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.Beaty played for three state championship-winning teams at Indianapolis Cathedral High School before going on to play for Indiana University. He was known to some as Mr. Indianapolis because of his unwavering support and enthusiasm for the city.“Chris tragically lost his life while caring for others and his city,” Mears said. “His death was felt by many throughout Indianapolis, Bloomington, and beyond. In a time of unrest a...

Protester involved in pulling down abolitionist’s statue in Wisconsin gets 6 months in jail

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:42 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A man who drove the car that helped pull down the statue of a Civil War hero and abolitionist outside of the Wisconsin state Capitol during a night of protests in 2020 has been sentenced to six months in jail.The statute of Hans Christian Heg was toppled and beheaded during a protest in downtown Madison in June 2020 against police brutality. Protests began a month earlier over the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and flared up again that June after Madison police arrested a Black activist.Kelsey D. Nelson, 33, was sentenced for his role in damaging the Heg statue and for looting a nearby jewelry store about a month earlier, t he Wisconsin State Journal reported Friday. Nelson apologized in court, saying he was “someone who was trying to make a difference.”“I was just a person who woke up and saw the injustice done to a man named George Floyd,” Nelson said. “Am I going to say what I did was right? I am not.”Nelson was also ordered to pay $5,000 to the...

Can’t afford Taylor Swift tickets? See all of Swift’s eras on display at this costume exhibit

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:42 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Taylor Swift has been breaking records and delighting fans on the U.S. leg of her Eras Tour, a splashy celebration of her career and new releases since the pandemic.It’s become a notoriously tough ticket to get.But on the second floor of the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York City, fans can catch glimpses of Swift’s “eras” for much cheaper. “Taylor Swift: Storyteller,” features dozens of costumes and objects spanning her music videos, tours and awards show performances — from the lace gown she wore when performing “All Too Well” on the Red Tour to the “key to the castle” featured in the video for “Bejeweled.”The goal, museum director Tim Rodgers said, was to explore how Swift uses clothing and props to tell stories — almost as much as she does lyrics. “It’s different than stars that use costumes or fashion in order to enhance themselves,” Rodgers said. “Taylor Swift is using costumes and props like a vocabulary.”Rodgers said Swift’s team came to MAD wi...

Damar Hamlin’s Buffalo Bills teammates take CPR training as safety returns to practice

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:42 GMT

(CNN) — Buffalo Bills players took CPR training at the team facility this week as safety Damar Hamlin continues to his recovery from a cardiac arrest.The Bills posted video on Wednesday showing the CPR training, alongside a caption reading: “Buffalo Black Nurses Association, UBMD, AMR, and the American Heart Association all teamed up to help the players and coaching staff learn CPR. They also learned how to use an AED [automated external defibrillator] to help save lives.”Hamlin went into cardiac arrest after making a tackle during the first quarter of the Bills’ Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals on January 2.CPR was performed on Hamlin when he lost his pulse and needed to be revived through resuscitation and defibrillation.He was cleared to resume football activities after it was determined his cardiac arrest was caused by commotio cordis, which can occur when severe trauma to the chest disrupts the heart’s electrical charge and causes dangerous fibrillation...

El papa Francisco cancela sus audiencias por fiebre, dice el Vaticano

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:42 GMT

(CNN) — El papa Francisco canceló todas sus audiencias de este viernes por la mañana debido a una fiebre, informó la oficina de prensa del Vaticano, que no dio más detalles.El papa Francisco, que tiene 86 años, fue visto con buen aspecto este jueves por la tarde en un evento transmitido en vivo desde el Vaticano para Scholas Occurrentes, una red internacional de educación que Francisco fundó, según el equipo de CNN sobre el terreno.¿Qué problemas de salud ha tenido el papa Francisco?Francisco fue hospitalizado brevemente en marzo por una bronquitis, pero fue dado de alta días antes de la Semana Santa, cuando apareció brevemente en algunos eventos de la semana mayor.Luego de ser dado de alta el pontífice participó en la misa de Viernes Santo en celebración de la Pasión del Señor en la Basílica de San Pedro, llegando al oficio en silla de ruedas y permaneciendo sentado durante la mayor parte del acto.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. ...

Who murdered this man in Arvada in 2011?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:42 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is working to solve the cold case of a man who was murdered nearly 12 years ago.The CBI said on July 18, 2011 around 9:44 p.m., the Arvada Police Department was called to 4804 W. 60th Ave. for a report of two men with guns. Unsolved murder: Who shot and killed this man in Aurora 11 years ago? Police were told by dispatchers that the suspects broke into the house and allegedly pointed their guns at a woman named Tina Walker.When APD got to the house, they found a man, identified as Michael Walker, on the ground and bleeding from his head.Walker was taken to the hospital where they discovered he had been shot on the left side of the head. Missing since 1996: Where is Katherine Allen? Walker was pronounced dead at the hospital.Suspect information has not been released. To this day, Walker's case remains unsolved.If you have information about this case, please contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867 or submit a tip on...

Debt ceiling talks making ‘progress’ McCarthy says, talks narrow on deal ahead of looming deadline

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Friday negotiators “made progress” on an agreement with the White House to raise the debt limit as they race to close out a deal ahead of a looming deadline to avert a potentially catastrophic default.McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol that there is still more work to do.The two sides are narrowing on a two-year agreement that would curb federal spending and lift the borrowing limit ahead of a deadline as soon as June 1 when Treasury could run out of money to pay the nation’s bills.President Joe Biden and the Republican speaker hope to strike a budget compromise this weekend. Any deal would need to be a political compromise, with support from both Democrats and Republicans to pass the divided Congress.A person familiar with the talks said the two sides are “dug in” on whether or not to agree to Republican demands to impose stiffer work requirements on people who receive government food stamps, cash assistance and he...

Homeless man rescued from garbage truck after nearly compressed to death in Pensacola

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:42 GMT

PENSACOLA, Fla. (CNN) — A near tragedy in Pensacola after a homeless man, who took shelter in a dumpster was accidentally dumped in a trash compactor and nearly compressed to death.When the garbage truck did its routine stops Wednesday morning, a man who was sleeping inside an apartment complex dumpster was put into the compactor along with bags of garbage. Fire Battalion Chief Kurt Isakson said someone from an apartment building nearby alerted police after hearing screams coming from inside the truck. “I heard the guy yelling from across the street. I don’t know if he needs medical attention or not. That’s why I’m calling,” said the woman. “The dispatch center contacted that trash company to let the driver know that they had picked up somebody that was in a trash truck. Otherwise, they would not have known,” said Isakson. The driver of that garbage truck stopped at a nearby gas station.“So he stopped right there [at the gas sta...