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New California law raises minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour, among nation's highest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:09 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A new law in California will raise the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour next year, an acknowledgment from the state's Democratic leaders that most of the often overlooked workforce are the primary earners for their low-income households.When it takes effect on April 1, fast food workers in California will have the highest guaranteed base salary in the industry. The state’s minimum wage for all other workers — $15.50 per hour — is already among the highest in the United States. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law Thursday amid a throng of cheering workers and labor leaders at an event in Los Angeles. Newsom dismissed the popular view that fast food jobs are meant for teenagers to have their first experience in the workforce.“That's a romanticized version of a world that doesn't exist,” Newsom said. “We have the opportunity to reward that contribution, reward that sacrifice and stabilize an industry.”Newsom’s signature reflects the p...

Suspects sought in deadly shooting near US-Mexico border fence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:09 GMT

OTAY MESA, Calif. -- Authorities are asking for the public's help in locating four suspects in connection to a deadly shooting in Otay Mesa.According to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, Cal Fire San Diego firefighters located a man who had been shot near the base of the U.S.-Mexico border fence around 1:30 p.m. on Friday, July 28.Sheriff's deputies were called in to investigate the shooting. Top 8 San Diego area suburbs for first-time homeowners: study The victim's location was reported to be about three miles east of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. He told deputies that he and his friend had crossed into the U.S. through a gap in the border fence the night before, authorities explained.After crossing, the man says they were contacted by a group of four Hispanic men. The suspects reportedly asked the victim and his friend who they had paid to cross the border, SDSO explained further.When the victim informed the suspects they had not paid, he and his friend were alleged...

A man is shot and wounded as tempers flare in New Mexico over the statue of a Spanish conquistador

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:09 GMT

ESPANOLA, N.M. (AP) — Chaos erupted Thursday as a gunshot rang out during a protest in northern New Mexico where officials had planned to install a statue of Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate, an event that county officials had already postponed anticipating that tempers would flare.One man was struck by the gunfire and rushed to the hospital as Rio Arriba County sheriff’s officials took the suspected shooter, 23-year-old Ryan Martinez, into custody. Authorities said they were not currently seeking any other suspects in connection with the shooting.Oñate has been a controversial figure in New Mexico’s history for generations, with activists targeting the statue and other likenesses of the Spaniard for his oppressive and sometimes brutal treatment of Native Americans during his country’s conquest of what is now the Southwestern United States. Some Hispanics have pointed to the statue as a symbol of their heritage. Although the county had postponed the installation of the...

B.C. issues certificate for contentious Roberts Bank terminal expansion project

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:09 GMT

VICTORIA — The British Columbia government has issued an environmental assessment certificate for the contentious container port expansion project at Roberts Bank, saying the province “could not prohibit the project from going forward.”In a written statement, the government says the three-berth marine container terminal in Delta, B.C., south of Vancouver, rests almost entirely on federal land.With the project gaining approval from the federal government in April, the province says it has decided to issue the certificate with requirements to safeguard provincial interests.The government has set out 16 conditions to offset adverse effects the expansion will have on the area, including a wetland management plan, a wildlife management plan and a greenhouse-gas reduction plan for emissions. The province says it is aware that two parties are asking for a judicial review of the federal decision to approve the expansion, but B.C.’s ministers decided to issue the certificat...

Seattle cop who made callous remarks after Indian woman’s death has been administratively reassigned

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:09 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle police officer and union leader under investigation for laughing and making callous remarks about the death of a woman from India who was struck by a police SUV has been taken off patrol duty, police said.The Seattle Police Department confirmed Thursday that traffic Officer Daniel Auderer “has been administratively reassigned to a non-operational position,” The Seattle Times reported. The reassignment information comes a week after one police watchdog group called for Auderer to be suspended without pay. It wasn’t immediately clear when Auderer was taken off traffic duty and reassigned. Auderer, who is vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, has been under investigation since a recording from his body camera was released that depicts him laughing and joking during a phone call with union President Mike Solan. The call happened in the hours after another officer, Kevin Dave, in his police SUV struck and killed 23-year-old student Jaah...

Jury acquits delivery driver of main charge in shooting of YouTube prankster

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:09 GMT

LEESBURG, Va. (AP) — A jury on Thursday found a delivery driver not guilty in the shooting of a YouTube prankster who followed him around a mall food court earlier this year.Alan Colie, 31, was acquitted of aggravated malicious wounding in the shooting of Tanner Cook, 21, who runs the “Classified Goons” YouTube channel.The jury was split though on two lesser firearms counts, and decided to convict him on one and acquit him on the other. The April 2 shooting at the food court in Dulles Town Center, about 45 minutes west of the nation’s capital, set off panic as shoppers fled what they feared to be a mass shooting. Colie pleaded not guilty and said he was acting in self defense. The verdict came Thursday after about five hours of deliberation. Three hours in, the jury sent out a note saying it was “divided in terms of whether the defendant acted in self defense.”Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Snow called the jury back into the courtroom around 3:30 p.m. and urged them to c...

Louisiana citrus farmers are seeing a mass influx of salt water that could threaten seedlings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:09 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Commercial citrus growers have dwindled over the past few decades in south Louisiana, where farmers have had to battle hurricanes, flooding, invasive insects, freezes and drought to keep their groves alive. The latest hurdle comes from a slow-moving threat — a mass influx of salt water from the Gulf of Mexico that is creeping up the drought-stricken Mississippi River. Not only is the saltwater intrusion threatening drinking water supplies for communities, but it can also kill citrus seedlings. The issue is forcing farmers to brainstorm other ways to irrigate their crops with fresh water — including storing the little rain water they’ve gotten this summer, hauling in fresh water and establishing makeshift salination treatment facilities. Some are looking into whether they can afford, let alone get their hands on, an expensive reverse-osmosis machine. “They’re going to have something up their sleeve. They know how to survive, but there’s no getting around how d...

As migration surges in Americas, ‘funds simply aren’t there’ for humanitarian response, UN says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:09 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Countries in the Americas are reeling as the flow of migrants reaches historic levels, but international “funds simply aren’t there” for humanitarian needs, a United Nations official said.Ugochi Daniels, deputy director of operations for the International Organization for Migration, said a larger and coordinated regional effort is necessary for a longer term solution to the steady movement of vulnerable people toward the United States. But other global crises — among them the war in Ukraine, conflict in Sudan, Morocco’s earthquake — have pulled global funds away, Daniels said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press.The U.N. estimated that this year through August, it needed $55.2 billion to take on compounding global crises, but it received funds for only 71% of that.A growing number of countries like Panama and Costa Rica are pleading for international aid in handling the flood of migrants, though Daniels would not say who should pay the tab.“Obviousl...

B.C. mayor sounds alarm over ‘rampant’ crime at local port, as expansion looms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:09 GMT

The federal government’s failure to fund a police force dedicated to Canada’s ports is a threat to national security that needs to be dealt with immediately, says Delta, B.C., Mayor George Harvie. Delta is home to the Roberts Bank Terminal, and expansion plans over the coming years will see millions more containers move through the Port of Vancouver annually.Harvie says Canada’s ports are the federal government’s responsibility, but the “total absence” of uniformed police at the facilities makes them obvious targets for criminal elements to set up shop, from Mexican drug cartels to biker gangs.“We’re witnessing a relentless flow of illegal drugs, weapons and contraband into Canada through our ports and that threatens our national security,” Harvie said in an interview Thursday. “They need to recognize this. We have a fentanyl crisis going through our community here in Delta, through Metro Vancouver, through the province, ac...

State of emergency lifted in West Kelowna, B.C., after McDougall Creek wildfire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:09 GMT

WEST KELOWNA, B.C. — Central Okanagan Emergency Operations has lifted the state of local emergency in West Kelowna, B.C., more than a month after the McDougall Creek wildfire devastated the area.It says it has also rescinded all remaining evacuation orders stemming from the blaze.West Kelowna was put under the state of emergency on Aug. 16 as the 139-square-kilometre McDougall Creek fire destroyed or damaged nearly 190 properties.The wildfire forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 properties and put another 10,000 homes on alert, with about 50,000 residents impacted by various orders and advisories.In a statement, the operations centre says the blaze “affected every community” in the region ranging from the Westbank First Nation and the City of Kelowna to the districts of Peachland and Lake Country.About half of the 400 structures or homes destroyed in B.C.’s record-breaking fire season so far have been lost in the Kelowna area.This report by The Canadian Press ...