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California’s law aimed at fast food wages is on hold. Lawmakers may have found a way around it

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:51:37 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A new California law aimed in part at boosting salaries for fast food workers has been delayed for nearly two years following industry resistance. Now the Democrats who control the state Legislature might have figured out how to raise worker pay anyway.Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law last year. It created a 10-member council with the authority, among other things, to increase the state’s $15.50 minimum wage to a maximum of $22 per hour for some fast food workers. Some experts quickly hailed the law as one of the “most significant pieces of employment legislation passed in a generation.”But unlike in most states, California voters have the power to overturn some laws passed by the Legislature. Business groups who opposed the law gathered enough signatures to qualify a referendum in 2024. In the meantime, the law does not take effect.Business groups were confident the law would ultimately be blocked at the ballot box. But tucked inside California’s mor...

Kansas must undo gender changes for trans people in state records, attorney general says

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:51:37 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A new Kansas law requires the state to reverse any previous gender changes in its records for trans people’s birth certificates and driver’s licenses while also preventing such changes going forward, the state’s conservative Republican attorney general declared Monday.Attorney General Kris Kobach also said public schools’ records for students must list them as being the gender they were assigned at birth, whether or not teachers and staff recognize their gender identities.Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s office said she disagrees with Kobach’s views, though it did not say whether state agencies under the governor’s control would follow or defy them, setting up the possibility of a court fight. In 2019, a federal judge began requiring Kansas to allow transgender people to change their birth certificates to settle a lawsuit over a no-change policy. “The attorney general must be off his rocker,” said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, an att...

New York City drivers to pay extra tolls as part of first-in-the-nation effort to reduce congestion

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:51:37 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — New York will move forward with its first-in-the-nation plan to charge drivers extra in tolls to enter the core of New York City, part of an effort to reduce congestion, improve air quality, and raise funds for the city’s public transit system. The program is expected to begin in spring of 2024, bringing New York City, one of the most congested cities in the United States, in line with places like London, Singapore, and Stockholm that have implemented similar programs. Drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street will be charged a certain fee that still needs to be decided by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is overseeing the long-stalled plan. The congestion pricing plan cleared its final federal hurdle after getting approved by the Federal Highway Administration, a spokesperson for New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on Monday. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which also oversees the city’s trains, buses, and commuter railro...

Olivia Chow elected as the new mayor of Toronto

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:51:37 GMT

Olivia Chow will become the next mayor of Toronto. The former councillor and MP has won the Toronto mayoral byelection.She was successful in her second bid to become the 66th mayor of Canada’s largest city. Chow first ran in 2014 but finished third behind former Mayor John Tory and Doug Ford.She will become Toronto’s first female mayor since amalgamation and only the third woman in the city’s history.Early results showed a lead for Ana Bailão before Chow took the lead with over 37 per cent of the vote. So far, voter turnout has exceeded the 2022 election.From the start of this campaign – Chow was considered a frontrunner, appearing first in every opinion poll released.Building more affordable housing, with the city as the developer, along with helping better-protect renters from eviction quickly became key promises in Chow’s campaign.Chow hasn’t said how much property taxes will go up if elected – other than the increase would be “modest.” S...

Lincolnwood-native Jewell Loyd named WNBA All-Star Game starter for second time

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:51:37 GMT

CHICAGO -- A Chicagoland native continues to expand her professional basketball resume after being named a starter at the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game.Niles West graduate and two-time WNBA Champion Jewell Loyd, 29, of Lincolnwood, has been named a starter for the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game. She also was named a starter in the 2019 WNBA All-Star Game.The five-time WNBA All-Star currently leads the league in scoring with 25.4 points per game this season as well as four games with 30 points and ranks first in made threes (41).Loyd is on track to challenge Diana Taurasi’s season scoring record of 25.29 points per game set in 2006.The two-time All-WNBA Team selection has scored 305 points so far in the 2023 season, as she's tied with Diana Taurasi for the second-most through a player’s first 12 games of a season in WNBA history (former Chicago Sky player Elena Delle Donne, 323). RELATED: Jewell Loyd steps into more prominent role with rebuilding Seattle Storm After a successful high school and...

Could Salt Lake City host the Olympic Games again? US official says it may be likely

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:51:37 GMT

(The Hill) - A U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) official said there is a possibility that Salt Lake City will land another Winter Olympic Games in the near future.During a press briefing on Monday, USOPC chairman Gene Sykes told reporters that Salt Lake City organizers continue to meet the prospect and process of hosting the winter games in the city.He also noted that Utah state officials and most residents are all on board with the games returning to their city. “The Salt Lake City team continues to share the story of sport culture in Salt Lake City and across the state. It's a story that everyone who loves the games and winter sports should embrace,” Sykes told reporters. “It's truly legacy in action.”Sykes also told reporters that the process will include a “shift from continuous to targeted dialogue” with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), noting that the type of meeting could happen during an IOC session in October. “Salt Lake City stands ready to...

Couple celebrating 50th anniversary, family member stabbed to death in Massachusetts home

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:51:37 GMT

NEWTON, Mass. (WPRI) — A couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and a family member were fatally stabbed in a Massachusetts home Sunday in what authorities believe was a random attack. Police worry that the killer or killers may be still at large. Newton police were called to a home around 10:15 a.m. Sunday, according to the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office. Police said they were initially called after the couple failed to arrive at church earlier in the morning.Officers found three people who had been stabbed and beaten to death inside the home. The DA's office added there were signs of forced entry into the home.While the victims have not yet been identified, the DA's office said the third victim was the mother of one of the other victims. She also lived in the home. Death of Texas airport worker ‘ingested’ into plane engine ruled a suicide “Their 50th anniversary was to be celebrated in a blessing after communion at the 10 a.m. Mass,” the Rev. Dan Riley, ...

Texas border policies take center stage in Ron DeSantis' RGV rally

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:51:37 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hosted his first presidential rally on the Rio Grande River on Monday, he made a promise to deliver on an immigration policy the state's top Republicans sought all legislative session."The states should be permitted to send people back," the second-most-popular candidate for the Republican nomination told supporters. "As president, we are going to fully deputize all state and local governments to be able to enforce immigration law. You will be able to have that authority."In the audience was State Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, who carried major legislation that would have asserted Texas' powers to police the federal border. His House Bill 20 would have established the Border Protection Unit, deputizing state police to use force against unauthorized immigrants independent of the federal government. It failed late in the legislative session among concerns that it would amount to an unconstitutional insubordination of federal power.But th...

Longhorns men's hoops sign former Kansas signee Chris Johnson

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:51:37 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — After losing two prized recruits earlier in the year, the Texas Longhorns announced the signing of one Monday who previously committed to a Big 12 rival.Chris Johnson, a 4-star 2023 combo guard according to 247Sports, is now a Longhorn after being released from a National Letter of Intent with the Kansas Jayhawks. The Missouri City, Texas, native is the No. 11 combo guard in the country and the third-best recruit in Texas according to 247Sports.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newslettersJohnson graduated from one of the premier high school basketball programs in the country, Florida's Montverde Academy. It's the same high school Texas sophomore Dillon Mitchell played at. Johnson averaged 3.6 assists per game for Montverde and helped the squad get to the quarterfinals of the GEICO High School Nationals.During his freshman-junior seasons, he played for Fort Bend Elk...

Twins third baseman Royce Lewis adapts on the fly

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:51:37 GMT

Royce Lewis’s development path was anything but traditional.Lewis should’ve been heading back to Double-A Wichita, where he had played in 33 games to cap the 2019 season, when the pandemic hit. Instead, he was rerouted to the alternate site, where he spent the summer training at CHS Field.His entire 2021 season was wiped out by his first anterior cruciate ligament tear in his right knee. By the time he reached the majors last season, he had only played in 24 games at Triple-A. He ended up tearing his ACL once more in late May, requiring a second surgery and robbing him of another year.And so the former No. 1 overall pick has had to spend a lot of time learning on the fly, adjusting to the majors after spending very little time in the high minors. He’s handled that challenge well.Lewis, who hit a go-ahead single in Sunday’s win, entered Monday’s series opener with the Braves hitting .333 with a .357 on-base percentage, .506 slugging percentage and .863 on-base plus sluggi...