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Delaware committee approves state pay raises, adds funds for marijuana industry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:28 GMT

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Members of the Delaware legislature’s budget-writing committee began marking up Gov. John Carney’s spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year on Tuesday by approving across-the-board pay raises of up to 9% for state employees.The Joint Finance Committee approved Carney’s plan to give state workers pay raises ranging from 3% to 9%, depending on their pay grades. Employees making less than $50,000 a year would see their pay increase between 7% and 9%, with the lowest pay grades receiving the highest percentage increases. Employees making roughly $100,000 or more annually would see a 3% pay raise.Public school employees also would receive a 3% raise, with teachers getting an additional 6% pay hike for a total salary increase of 9%.The average state employee salary of $52,033 per year would increase 6%.The pay increases approved Tuesday follow pay hikes ranging from 2% to 9% that government workers received this year. The new fiscal year begins July 1.“As we responsib...

Software engineer who photographed US landmarks for possible attacks gets 12 years in prison

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:28 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A New Jersey software developer who prosecutors say once photographed landmarks in New York, Boston and Washington, D.C., for possible terrorist attacks was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in prison by a federal judge who said it seemed he no longer was a danger.In fact, Judge Paul G. Gardephe noted, Alexei Saab, 46, has become a model prisoner since his 2019 arrest, helping others incarcerated at New York City’s federal jails to get high school equivalency certificates, learn English and find relief from psychological problems.Gardephe called Saab’s 2005 exit from his relationship with the Lebanon-based Hezbollah Islamic Jihad Organization and the “peaceful and productive” life he lived in the New York City area afterward among “inconvenient facts” that made it impossible to grant the government’s request that Saab be incarcerated for 20 years.A jury at a trial last year heard prosecutors portray Saab as a highly trained terrorist who scoped out land...

Walmart to pay California $500,000 in settlement over sale of brass knuckles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:28 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Walmart will pay half a million dollars to settle allegations from California’s Department of Justice that it was selling brass knuckles on its website, state Attorney General Rob Bonta said Tuesday.Brass knuckles are classified as deadly and illegal weapons in a number of states, including California, which punishes their sale with up to a year in prison. The investigation into the retail giant first started in 2018, when the Merced County district attorney found Walmart was selling and allowing third-party vendors to sell brass knuckles on its website, officials said at a news conference. The Department of Justice conducted the yearslong investigation and negotiation in partnership with the district attorney’s offices of Merced, Ventura, and Yolo Counties.Brass knuckles, typically made of metal or hard plastic, could be used to break bones, cut people or cause even fatal injuries, Bonta said, calling the settlement “a tremendous win” for consumers i...

Saints’ Moreau gratefully returns to the football field after cancer scare

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:28 GMT

METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Saints newly acquired tight end Foster Moreau refers to his recent cancer diagnosis as “a life sentence.”He will always have to monitor it, he said. But at the moment, he no longer requires treatment, and is returning to football “full steam ahead.”“I’ll continue to fight this as long as I need to,” Moreau said after participating fully in a voluntary offseason practice on Tuesday. “As many times as I need to fight this and go back into remission, I will.” Moreau also stressed that his struggle has so far been “more mental than anything. So, the real heroes are the kids in the children’s hospitals that are really fighting with real chemo therapy, real radiation. Those are the strong ones.”Moreau’s signing with the Saints would have come with considerable fanfare even without the unusual and compelling circumstances surrounding his health. He grew up in New Orleans and played for LSU before the Las Vegas Raiders made him a four...

Bears, Fields seeking payoff after offseason investments

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:28 GMT

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Justin Fields donned his cap and gown and walked in Ohio State’s graduation ceremony two weeks ago, another big moment for him in a stadium where he produced so many.The former Heisman Trophy finalist earned a degree in consumer and family financial services.“I think at the age of 11 or 12 I made a promise to my dad, we were in the car on the way to baseball practice, baseball game or something like that,” Fields said. “And he made me promise him that. It was a great moment for my family. My sister graduated a week after that. It was a great two weeks for my family and everybody was excited.”It’s been a big offseason for Fields.The Bears went all in on their quarterback, acquiring receiver DJ Moore in a trade and adding to their offensive line. They’re counting on Fields to graduate to another level as a passer and lift an offense that ranked among the NFL’s worst.“It’s a great feeling,” Fields said Tuesday. “Like I said b...

Target removes some LGBTQ merchandise from stores ahead of June Pride month after threats to workers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:28 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Target is removing certain items from its stores and making other changes to its LGBTQ merchandise nationwide ahead of Pride month, after an intense backlash from some customers including violent confrontations with its workers.“Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and well-being while at work,” Target said in a statement Tuesday. ”Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior.”Target declined to say which items it was removing but among the ones that garnered the most attention were “tuck friendly” women’s swimsuits that allow trans women who have not had gender-affirming operations to conceal their private parts. Designs by Abprallen, a London-based company that designs and sells occult- and satanic-themed LGBTQ clothing and accessories, have also c...

South Carolina Senate passes ban on most abortions after around 6 weeks of pregnancy; governor has said he will sign it

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:28 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina Senate passes ban on most abortions after around 6 weeks of pregnancy; governor has said he will sign it.Source

Colorado Amazon drivers claim 'dehumanizing and unlawful' labor violations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:28 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Three delivery drivers in Colorado filed a class action complaint against Amazon on Monday, citing violations of labor laws and discriminatory practices in not providing bathroom breaks.The complaint alleges that delivery drivers are forced to urinate and defecate in bags and bottles in the back of delivery vans, "all so Amazon can maintain its breakneck delivery schedules and record-breaking profits," according to a release from Towards Justice law firm. New Amazon palm readers to verify age, pay at Coors Field "I fought for this country in Iraq, but I had an easier time going to the bathroom in a combat zone than I did while working for Amazon," Ryan Schilling, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in a release from the law firm.According to the lawsuit, he has had to use dog waste bags in the back of delivery vans to defecate on the job twice."I knew that if I tried to stop to go to a gas station, I'd get yelled at and maybe lose my job," Schilling said.The violatio...

Courtside Nuggets tickets for the NBA Finals on sale for over $20K

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:28 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The Denver Nuggets swept the Los Angeles Lakers to win the Western Conference championship, sending the team to its first-ever NBA Finals in franchise history. Nuggets in the NBA Finals: Days and times for all games The finals are set to begin on June 1. So how should fans plan to buy tickets to the championship series?Are NBA Finals tickets on sale?Yes, sort of.Because the conference finals aren't over, there isn't a set opponent yet. However, they will play against either the Miami Heat or the Boston Celtics.But with the way the NBA Finals are structured, it is guaranteed that at least two finals games will be played in the Mile High City. 11 teams have never won the NBA Finals: Could that change this year? As of Monday afternoon, a vast majority of the tickets available for Game 1 were resale.That means that someone else bought the tickets and was reselling them through Ticketmaster, the official ticket platform for the NBA.However, given that the opponent ha...

Yelp names unlikely Boulder restaurant among top 25 burger spots

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:28 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – In what’s sure to come as upsetting news for cows everywhere, Yelp is currently hyping up some of the best burger restaurants in the U.S., and an unlikely Boulder restaurant made the top 25.Ahead of National Hamburger Day on Sunday, the analysts at Yelp have — unfortunately for cows — decided to rank 100 of the top spots for beefy burgers, based largely on the ratings and reviews contributed by Yelp’s online community.Coming in at No. 1 is the Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q in Atlanta, where their signature “burger” isn’t really a burger, but rather a chopped brisket sandwich with onion, tomato, bacon, pickles, melted pimento cheese and jalapeno mayo on a brioche bun.“It was heaven,” one Yelp user wrote in an online review that cows everywhere would likely hate, had they the ability to read. Big Burger Bracket: This is where you can get the best burger in Colorado As Yelp itself notes on its blog, several of the other top-rated burger joints don’t serve traditional beef burgers at ...