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Push for min wage increase continues, amid budget deals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) -- Some lawmakers have been pushing for a minimum wage increase to be included in the budget. One measure would raise it to $21.25 an hour by 2026.  The Governor's budget proposal did include indexing the minimum wage with inflation, but on Tuesday, she gestured support for a minimum wage increase to $17 an hour. Our Capitol Correspondent, Amal Tlaige spoke with lawmakers and has reaction from them. Hochul: Minimum wage should reflect inflation "I think that it’s outrageous, that she would think that we would be okay with a minimum wage that would essentially not cover the basic necessities for New Yorkers over the next few years," said Senator Jessica Ramos who is sponsoring the wage increase bill. She said $17 an hour still won’t cut it – some of her own constituents making $19 an hour are struggling to support their family. "It should well cover housing, groceries, and other basic necessities that every single New York State family has," she said. Ramos has...

Delivery driver dismembered in 'demonic' Florida murder

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

HOLIDAY, Fla. (WFLA) — A man affiliated with the MS-13 gang is accused of murdering an Uber Eats driver who was delivering to his house in Holiday, Florida. The driver "was a guy like everybody else, just trying to make a living for his family," said Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Oscar Adrian Solis, 30 (Pasco County Sheriff's Office)During a news conference on April 25, Nocco said the driver was reported missing on April 19 after he abruptly stopped answering his wife's texts. The driver, who has not been identified, was last heard from at around 6:30 p.m., according to the sheriff's office. He told his wife he had one last delivery to make before heading home, but he vanished.Uber Eats provided detectives with the driver's last known location, a house in the 3400 block of Moog Road. The sheriff's office said one of the occupants of the home was Oscar Adrian Solis, 30, a convicted fe...

Rangers hike to retrieve tagged moose corpse

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

ADIRONDACK PARK, N.Y. (NEWS10) - Some animals in the Adirondacks are fitted with GPS collars, for conservation and tracking purposes. When a tagged animal dies, its body is extracted so that Department of Environmental Conservation officials can understand what happened to it - for the better protection of the moose population at large. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Earlier this month, one such extraction took place. On April 6, a collar placed on a moose in 2022 gave off a signal indicating that the animal had died. DEC wildlife employees and state forest rangers embarked into a deeply-forested part of the Adirondacks to find the moose.The expedition to find the moose took place while there was still a large amount of snow on the mountains in the Adirondacks. The teams were able to get within 500 yards of the signal by snowmobile and UTV travel. From there, it was a trek through as much as three feet of snow. The decease...

Pope allows women to vote at upcoming bishops' meeting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis decided to give women the right to vote at an upcoming meeting of bishops. The historic reform reflects his hopes to give women greater decision-making responsibilities and laypeople more say in the life of the Catholic Church. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Francis approved changes to the norms governing the Synod of Bishops, a Vatican body that gathers the world’s bishops together for periodic meetings, following years of demands by women to have the right to vote. The Vatican on Wednesday published the modifications he approved, which emphasize his vision for the lay faithful taking on a greater role in church affairs that have long been left to clerics, bishops and cardinals.Catholic women’s groups that have long criticized the Vatican for treating women as second-class citizens immediately praised the move as historic in the 2,000-year life of the church. “This is a significant crack i...

Infant dies from head injuries in Belleville; mother charged with murder

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

BELLEVILLE, Ill. - A woman is behind bars after her child died from apparent head injuries earlier this month in Belleville. Prosecutors have charged the infant's mother, 25-year-old Peanina Porter, with first-degree murder, child endangerment and obstructing justice in the case. Top Story: Mushroom hunter describes discovering body in the woods According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, Porter's seven-month-old son died around April 21 due to "craniocerebral injuries." It's unclear what exactly led up to the child's death, but court documents state that Porter acted "without lawful justification" and "Created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm" to her son. Authorities arrested Porter without incident on April 24. She is jailed in St. Clair County on a $1 million bond. The case will also be prosecuted in St. Clair County.

'A hot mess': Mayor slams proposals for state control of St. Louis police

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Mayor Tishaura Jones hasn't changed her stance against state control of St. Louis police, and she made that clear during Tuesday's State of the City address. "We have been vocal about what we need to improve public safety, and a state takeover of [the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department] isn’t it," said Jones during Tuesday's address. "We have 99 problems, and the state stepping in and taking over our criminal justice system ain’t one." The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department has operated under the control of the mayor’s office for nearly a decade after approval from voters in 2012. For more than 150 years before that, the agency operated under a police board rather than local control. Top Story: Mushroom hunter describes discovering body in the woods With the end of Missouri's legislative session is drawing closer, it seems some lawmakers are still pressing hard for St. Louis City to return to its previous system. One bill from St. Louis County-based lawmake...

Ski area food truck to operate next to shuttered Echo Lake Lodge this summer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

The dining scene at Echo Lake Park will look a little different this summer.For decades, the Denver-owned park in Clear Creek County has been home to Echo Lake Lodge, a restaurant and gift shop operating in the summer, when tourists flock to the area to drive to the summit of Mount Evans.That restaurant will not be open this summer, however, because Denver last year opted not to renew the concessionaire contract with the family that had operated the business for 57 years.There will, however, be a food truck.On Monday, the Denver City Council without discussion approved a contract with nearby ski area Echo Mountain to operate the truck on the northwest side of the lodge.Echo Mountain will pay the city $125 a week, plus 11 percent of revenue, according to the contract. The truck is expected to operate at least 14 weeks. The city considers food and beverage service “important given the remote location of the Park and the absence of services in the area,” according to a document prepare...

Surge of Colorado River water reaches Lake Mead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

As of Wednesday morning, the surge of water released from the Glen Canyon Dam has reached Lake Mead, KTLA's sister station KLAS reports.Beginning Monday, the Bureau of Reclamation began releasing a large amount of water through Glen Canyon Dam at the base of Lake Powell.This is called a High Flow Experiment, or HFE. The increased release will continue through Thursday so the last of the water surge won't reach Lake Mead until Saturday. This part of the Colorado River flows south through Northern Arizona, into Marble Canyon and then the Grand Canyon before dropping into Lake Mead. Lake Mead water level rises, defies projections Because of the extra water, changes and closures are scheduled at Lake Mead.Changes include a five-day closure of the Pearce Ferry Launch Ramp. National Park Service (NPS) crews will also adjust boat ramps and facilities near beaches in preparation for this high-water event.High flow Routing and arrival times at critical monitoring sites in Grand Canyon and ...

California's downtown areas were emptied by COVID: Some areas are recovering

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

As the COVID-19 pandemic loosens its grip on California cities, many have wondered if popular destinations for residents and tourists alike, such as downtown areas, will ever rebound.Experts with the School of Cities at the University of Toronto compiled foot traffic data based on cellphone data from 62 North American cities from 2019 to November 2022 to see how quickly California's downtown areas are recovering from the stay-at-home orders.The report found that cities like Bakersfield, Fresno and San Diego are recovering or, at times, exceeded its pre-pandemic foot traffic numbers. In contrast, other cities like San Francisco and Oakland haven’t fully recovered. New census estimates show which California counties are losing residents This is how California cities ranked on the study’s downtown recovery analysis:2nd: Bakersfield: 118%, Exceeded pre-pandemic foot traffic levels3rd: Fresno: 115%, Exceeded pre-pandemic foot traffic levels8th: San Diego: 93% of pre-pandemic foot traff...

Meet Mike Diamond: an accomplished author, television personality, director, life coach, and interventionist.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

Mike Diamond is a transformational figure and a beacon of hope for many individuals struggling with addiction, mental illness, and other personal difficulties. Through his inspiring podcast, A Dose of Positivity, and his book of the same title, Mike is on a mission to impart his hard-earned wisdom and expertise to anyone who seeks to improve their lives and achieve their goals.Mike rose to prominence upon relocating from Australia to the United States to pursue an entertainment career. During his stay in South Beach, he landed a role in the CBS sitcom, The Grapevine. This led to additional projects in New York City, including Miami Ink and NY Ink. Notably, Mike now appears as an Interventionist on the latest season of the television program, Intervention. Viewers can catch his performance on A&E, Netflix, and Vice TV.As a seasoned addiction counselor and mental health advocate, Mike has dedicated his career to helping others overcome their demons and achieve lasting success and ...