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Loretto Hospital workers announce strike notice

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:51:23 GMT

CHICAGO — Healthcare workers at Loretto Hospital delivered a strike notice Wednesday afternoon.Loretto Hospital workers were joined SEIU Healthcare Illinois President Greg Kelley to announce a 10-day strike notice on Wednesday.Workers are "taking a stand" after accusing hospital management of failing to address crucial issues around wages and the "urgent need" for staffing, according to a press release.SEIU Healthcare Illinois claims management has yet to address the issues and also failed to address workers' demand for a Juneteenth holiday.If a deal isn't reached, nearly 200 mental health workers, radiology technicians, inpatient transporters, housekeeping workers and emergency technicians plan to hit the pick line.A Loretto spokesperson stated they hope to reach a deal with the union soon.Three bargaining sessions are scheduled for late July in hopes that a strike could be avoided.

Is it legal to rescue a pet from a hot car in Illinois or Missouri?

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:51:23 GMT

ST. LOUIS - The dog days of summer are upon us, a time of year for people to not only protect themselves from heat risks, but their pets as well. What if you happen to find a pet stranded in a car? It can be an extreme danger for a dog, cat or any animal to wait inside a car for more than a few minutes on a hot day. Someone with good intentions might hope to get someone else's pets out of a hot car and rescue them from such situations, but is that legal to do? In the St. Louis area, that largely depends on if you're in Missouri or Illinois. According to the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Missouri does not have any "Right To Rescue" laws for those looking to remove an unattended pet from a hot car while Illinois only allows law enforcement to break into vehicles to rescue an animal. Even with intent to act in good faith to rescue a pet, you could potentially face a misdemeanor or felony based on damages done to the car, per Missouri statutes. A blogger for Spirit West Autobody suggests t...

Video captures plane slide as it plummeted toward Chicago backyard

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:51:23 GMT

CHICAGO (WGN) — A day after an emergency slide fell off a United Airlines flight, slamming down in the backyard of a Chicago home, new video has surfaced showing the moment the debris came flying out of the sky."We heard this loud boom,” said local resident Sam Deane Monday, recalling the moment the slide hit the ground in his backyard.According to the Chicago Police Department, officers were called to a home in the 4700 block of North Chester near the intersection of Lawrence Avenue and Cumberland Avenue around 12:15 p.m. Monday, where plane debris had fallen from the sky, causing slight damage to the home.After officers arrived on scene, the debris was removed from the backyard and loaded into a pickup truck before being taken away. “We heard this loud boom:” Plane debris falls into backyard of Far Northwest Side home According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), maintenance workers at O’Hare discovered an emergency evacuation slide was missing from a United Airlines B...

Noem 'shocked' over attempts to 'cancel' Jason Aldean, his song and beliefs 

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:51:23 GMT

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) said she was “shocked” over the backlash country music singer Jason Aldean received over the music video for his new single “Try that in a Small Town.”"I am shocked by what I'm seeing in this country, with people attempting to cancel the song and cancel Jason and his beliefs,” she said in a video posted to Twitter. “And him and Brittany [Aldean] are outspoken about their love for law and order and for their love of this country and I'm just grateful for them.”“I think a lot of times people that go out and fight every day on these important issues and have an opinion and remember the freedom and liberty that this country was founded on, get persecuted from it. And we're seeing that with the Aldeans right now and the songwriters that worked so hard on this,” she continued. “And I just want them to know that we support them. We love them. Thank you for writing a song that America can get behind.”Noem said she praised the song's release when it came out...

States look to boost economy, workforce with affordable childcare

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:51:23 GMT

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) – State officials from around the country gathered at the White House to discuss solutions for providing affordable childcare to families.Some say federal funds from the Biden administration and Congress have allowed them to create innovative new programs they hope will spread to other states as childcare expenses force some parents out of the workforce.“The system we have right now just does not work,” Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-MI) said.Democratic New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham says an influx of federal funds creates a huge opportunity. According to the governor, infrastructure money and pandemic relief mean states can spend less on previously planned projects and can use those funds to create childcare initiatives.“We've done nearly 40% raises in salaries, particularly for early childhood education,” Lujan Grisham said.In Colorado, lawmakers made universal pre-K a reality.“It opens up next month, so we are so excited we already have 30,000 fam...

What is the Wet Bulb Temperature?

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:51:23 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Nearly all of you know about how the temperature, the humidity, the wind direction and wind speed affect our everyday lives. During this second heat wave Central Texas is experiencing there is another statistic that is being used-- one that measures the heat stress in direct sunlight.It's the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature. In addition to its factoring in the temperature, the humidity and the wind speed is also looks at the sun's angle and whatever cloud cover there may be. "Ingredients" that make up the Wet Bulb Globe TemperatureIt is not the same as the heat index. The heat index only considers the temperature and the humidity taken in the shade. The Wet Bulb Globe Temperature is a better way to measure the effects of the heat for those who are required to work in the sun/heat. Agencies using the WBGT include the Occupational Safety and Health Administration as well as military agencies. More specifically, knowing this statistic allows for experts to know the expected...

City council holds first work session on proposed city budget

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:51:23 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- In its first work session since the release of the proposed city budget, Austin's city council asked questions of Interim City Manager Jesus Garza and Chief Financial Officer Ed Van Eenoo."The budget I'm proposing is really focused on three themes, getting back to basics in city government services, advancing Council priorities and shepherding critically important, once-in-a-generation projects for our community," Garza said.Council members received their copies of budget on Friday, roughly four days before the work session. During the meeting, Van Eenoo presented it to council."This is probably the most important document that council approves every year," Van Eenoo said. "It's a document that reflects your policy priorities. If we got it right, it truly will reflect the things that you have told us over the last year, in previous years, that these are the kinds of programs and policies you want to see implemented." Mayor Kirk Watson discusses new $5.5 billion ci...

Texas Parks and Wildlife adds 2 new fishing, paddling access sites

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:51:23 GMT

TEXAS (KXAN) -- The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department announced this week two new river access sites are now available for public use as part of the state agency's ongoing River Access and Conservation Area (RACA) program.The two sites are located along the Brazos and San Marcos rivers, available for those looking to fish or paddle on waterways.The Brazos River location is situated in Milam County near Calvert and includes two access areas downstream of FM 979, per the release. The newly created RACA site along the San Marcos River is at the Scull Road Bridge, located near Martindale.“Both rivers are just a short drive away from major urban areas like Houston, San Antonio and Austin,” said John Botros, TPWD river access coordinator, in the release. “Historically in Texas, recreation on rivers has been limited by a lack of public access points. These new sites are an important step in expanding the public’s options for safe, legal and high-quality fishing and paddling access on riv...

Other voices: Blocking military promotions is unpatriotic

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:51:23 GMT

Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville misses few chances to tout both his career as a college football coach and his love for the military. It’s all the more reprehensible, then, that Tuberville is single-handedly blocking the Pentagon from putting its best team on the field — and harming the country’s security in the process.Since February, Tuberville has placed a blanket hold on the promotion or reassignment of more than 250 U.S. generals and flag officers. He objects to a Pentagon policy, announced after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, that covers the travel costs of service members who cross state lines for abortions. Tuberville insists that because Congress hasn’t enshrined the travel policy into law, the Pentagon needs to scrap it. He’s vowed to block all top military promotions until that happens.Due to Tuberville’s intransigence, the Marine Corps lacks a Senate-confirmed commandant for the first time in 164 years. Two more service chi...

Conor Sen: Maine is the new Florida for climate migrants

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:51:23 GMT

Millions of Americans have moved to the Southeast over the past few years, bringing immense wealth and transforming real estate markets in places like the suburbs of Dallas and Atlanta. This Sun Belt migration has created a longer-term opportunity in parts of the north as well.It’s long been common for well-off residents of the Northeast and Midwest to vacation in warmer places such as Florida and Arizona during the winter. Thanks to growing wealth in the Sun Belt and the increasingly oppressive hot summers of the South, it’s going to get more attractive for southern residents to trek up north to escape the heat.There’s something intuitively obvious about this reverse snowbird migration. Look at the headlines. Phoenix is approaching its record for the number of consecutive days spent over 110 degrees. Florida is setting records of its own, raising the temperature of the water surrounding the state to alarming levels. As an Atlanta resident, I can attest that July a...