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Ticker: Encore slots workers join union; Subscription fee at X to fight bots and spam 

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:50 GMT

UNITE HERE Local 26 announced  that 57 slot machine attendants will join a casino union workforce that also includes about 1,200 members of UNITE HERE Local 26 and 200 members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 25. The union said the slot attendants will be rolled into what they called a “five-star contract.”Members from both unions, including restaurant workers, drivers and cocktail servers, have bargained together and are governed by the same contract since Encore Boston Harbor opened in 2019, the union said.The slot attendants voted to join the union last Friday, according to a spokeswoman. The union said wage, benefits, and job security measures in a contract that casino workers ratified over the summer, just before a strike deadline, will “automatically apply” to the slot attendants.Subscription fee at X to fight bots and spamIn an effort to combat bots, Elon Musk’s X says it will begin charging new accounts $1 a year to post, like...

Starbucks, Workers United union sue each other in standoff over pro-Palestinian social media post

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:50 GMT

By DEE-ANN DURBIN (AP Business Writer)Starbucks and the union organizing its workers sued each other Wednesday in a standoff sparked by a social media post over the Israel-Hamas war.Starbucks sued Workers United in federal court in Iowa Wednesday, saying a pro-Palestinian social media post from a union account early in the Israel-Hamas war angered hundreds of customers and damaged its reputation.Starbucks is suing for trademark infringement, demanding that Workers United stop using the name “Starbucks Workers United” for the group that is organizing the coffee company’s workers. Starbucks also wants the group to stop using a circular green logo that resembles Starbucks’ logo.Workers United responded with its own filing, asking a federal court in Pennsylvania to rule that it can continue to use Starbucks’ name and a similar logo. Workers United also said Starbucks defamed the union by implying that it supports terrorism and violence.On Oct. 9, two day...

Georgia sheriff releases video showing a violent struggle before deputy shoots exonerated man

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:50 GMT

By RUSS BYNUM (Associated Press)WOODBINE, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia deputy fatally shot a Black man at point-blank range during a traffic stop after the man, who had been wrongfully imprisoned years ago, grabbed the officer by the neck and was forcing his head backward, according to video released by a sheriff Wednesday.The family of Leonard Cure, 53, viewed the dash and body camera video before Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor’s office posted it online. Relatives said they suspect Cure resisted being arrested because of psychological trauma from spending 16 years imprisoned in Florida in an armed robbery he didn’t commit.“I believe there were possibly some issues going on, some mental issues with my brother,” Michael Cure said of his slain brother. “I know him quite well. The officer just triggered him, undoubtedly triggered him. It was excitement met with excitement.”The sheriff released the video two days after one of his deputies, who is ...

Chula Vista leaders vote to add more license plate readers in unanimous vote

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:50 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- In a unanimous vote, Chula Vista city leaders are joining cities like El Cajon in adding automated license plate reading cameras at intersections across the city. The vote Tuesday night authorized the purchase of more than 150 cameras to be installed throughout San Diego County's second largest city. While some say it would keep the community safer, others are pushing back while touting privacy concerns. “I do not want my community to be victimized," shared Chula Vista Chief of Police Roxana Kennedy. Rite Aid to close four stores in San Diego County after bankruptcy filing Emotional and familiar testimonies were shared before council chambers Tuesday, one surrounding a well-known name in Chula Vista -- Maya Millete. “I hope and pray that no other family suffers this long in locating their loved ones like we have," shared Maricris Drouaillet who happens to be Millete's sister. “It's been two years and nine months since we've last seen her. As of today, we ha...

Warrant: Drug task force suspected couple of selling meth before raid that left 5 officers injured

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:50 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Drug task force officers suspected a Minnesota couple of selling methamphetamine when they raided their house in an operation that left five officers and one resident wounded last week, according to a search warrant released Wednesday.Gunfire broke out last Thursday when Sherburne County Drug Task Force officers attempted to execute the search warrant at the home of Karl Thomas Holmberg, 64. He was charged the next day with six counts of attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer and six counts of first-degree assault of a peace officer.It wasn’t immediately clear from the documents available Wednesday whether investigators found any drugs at the home, but at least one more warrant had not been released as of Wednesday evening. A second warrant released showed that police also looked for flammable and electrical materials and fire damage after the raid after seeing black smoke inside the residence as Holmberg exited, look back, then went back inside. H...

A sweeping gun bill aimed at tightening firearm laws passes in the Massachusetts House

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:50 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts House approved a sweeping gun bill Wednesday aimed at tightening firearm laws, cracking down on unregistered “ghost guns” and strengthening the state’s assault-style weapons ban.The bill, which passed on a 120-38 vote, would also prohibit individuals from carrying a gun into a person’s home without their permission and require key gun components to be serialized and registered with the state.The 125-page bill — a priority for Democratic Massachusetts House Speaker Ronald Mariano — is in part a response to a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that U.S. citizens have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense.The proposal would create new laws that bar firing guns at or near homes and outlaw carrying firearms while intoxicated. It would also prohibit carrying firearms in schools, polling places and government buildings.The bill expands the state’s ban on assault weapons by prohibiting new purchases of AR-15-style weapons. It would also ban s...

North Carolina Republicans pitch Congress maps that could help them pick up 3 or 4 seats next year

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:50 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Republicans on Wednesday pitched new maps for the state’s congressional districts starting in 2024 that appear to threaten the reelection of at least three current Democratic U.S. House members. Senate redistricting committee leaders introduced two proposals that would rework the boundary lines for the state’s 14 U.S. House seats. The House and Senate want to enact a final plan by the end of the month. Candidate filing for the 2024 election is set to begin in early December.North Carolina’s delegation is currently split between seven Democrats and seven Republicans following the 2022 elections conducted using a map that was drawn by a panel of trial judges. Supporters of that plan said it reflected North Carolina’s usually close races for statewide elected office.But statewide election data attached to Wednesday’s proposals — results designed to determine partisan performance — indicate one of the Senate’s propo...

Movie Review: In ‘Nyad,’ Jodie Foster swims away with a showcase for Annette Bening

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:50 GMT

In “Nyad,” there are two feats of perseverance on display. First, there is the ceaseless determination of Diane Nyad (Annette Bening) to accomplish a marathon swim from Cuba to Florida across 103 miles of open, shark-infested waters. Then there is the mettle of Nyad’s support team to tolerate the singularly self-absorbed and stubborn Nyad. Both, in the film, are an endurance sport.“Nyad,” which opens in limited theaters Friday and streams Nov. 3 on Netflix, is in many ways a conventional sports drama, defined by long odds and personal triumph. But there is enough here to help the film, directed by the intrepid filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, if not swim against the tide of sports-biopic convention then at least ride a swift current to the finish line.First and foremost there’s the fact that this is a sports drama led by two actresses in their 60s: Bening and Jodie Foster, who plays Diana’s best friend and personal trainer Bonnie Stoll. When “Ny...

X tests $1 fee for new users in Philippines, New Zealand in bid to target spam

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:50 GMT

Elon Musk’s social media platform X has begun charging a $1 fee to new users in the Philippines and New Zealand in a test designed to cut down on the spam and fake accounts flourishing on the site formerly known as Twitter.The company said late Tuesday that it has started trying out the annual subscription method for new and unverified accounts. The program, dubbed Not a Bot, won’t apply to existing users.It’s not clear why it only applies to New Zealand and the Philippines or why those countries were chosen.“This new test was developed to bolster our already successful efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount,” the X support account tweeted. “It is not a profit driver.”Some experts said charging a fee might not do much to stop fake accounts and could even amplify the problem.If X decides to roll out the $1 fee worldwide, it could be ̶...

Hamas’s attack on Israel: Two victims with Canadian ties laid to rest

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:50 GMT

Two victims with ties to Canada who were killed in Hamas’s attacks on Israel were remembered fondly by relatives on Wednesday, who called for the world to recognize the brutality of what happened. Tiferet Lapidot, 22, was formally identified by authorities on Monday, more than a week after she died at a music festival near the Gaza Strip border, where Hamas’s attack began on Oct. 7. Her family had thought she was among those being held hostage.“She was like a daughter for me,” said Harel Lapidot, her uncle. “And the funeral was horrible, the taking (of) a happy girl, helping, loving.”Tiferet Lapidot was an Israeli citizen whose father has roots in Saskatchewan. In an interview Wednesday, a Montreal-based relative described Lapidot as charismatic and compassionate.Oran Zlotnik said Lapidot had taught in Africa and had lived in Australia. Zlotnik said she had returned to Israel for the holidays and was a few days shy of her 23rd birthday.“She ...