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Raising minimum wage benefits health of poor mothers and their babies, study finds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:59 GMT

Isabel Webb Carey | (TNS) Bloomberg NewsRaising the hourly minimum wage holds unexpected benefits for low-income pregnant women and their children, with increases as small as $1 helping to fend off events linked to poor health, researchers found.Pregnant women in U.S. states that increased the minimum wage were less likely to encounter high-stress incidents — like being unable to pay bills — in the year before delivery, according to research published Tuesday in the JAMA Network Open medical journal. Other disruptive occurrences linked to poor maternal health, such the incarceration of a partner, were also less likely, according to the study of nearly 200,000 women across 39 states who gave birth between January 2004 and December 2015.U.S. rates of pregnancy-related death more than doubled in the last 20 years, especially among minorities, according to a separate study published this month in JAMA that found Black women are more than twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related cau...

Study: Extreme heat increases summer health care costs by $1 billion in ‘ominous trajectory’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:59 GMT

Hunter Boyce | (TNS) The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionA new study from Virginia Commonwealth University published by the Center for American Progress has reported that the heat wave running rampant across the U.S. is significantly inflating health care costs. The authors of the study — an interdisciplinary group of faculty, staff and students from the university — estimated that heat events each summer are responsible for nearly 235,000 emergency department visits and over 56,000 hospital admissions for heat-related or heat-adjacent illnesses. In total, this is believed to add approximately $1 billion in health care costs across the country each summer.To combat the hazardous effects of summer heat waves on U.S. health care, the study made a series of policy recommendations, including the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the raising of public awareness about the risks of extreme heat.“The growing threat of extreme heat requires all levels of government and the private sector...

Firms with flex-work policies are hiring faster than those fully in office

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:59 GMT

Mia Gindis | (TNS) Bloomberg NewsCompanies with flexible in-office policies are hiring faster than those that have fully returned to pre-pandemic attendance rules. But landing a flexible job still comes with challenges.New research from Scoop Technologies Inc., which advises organizations on how to coordinate hybrid staffing, compared headcount growth at roughly 3,600 fully-flexible, hybrid and entirely in-office companies. It found that flexible outfits — those with hybrid, fully-remote or electively-remote staffs — added headcount at more than two times the rate of fully in-office counterparts during the March-through-May period.“Companies grow faster when they offer flexibility because people are more excited to join,” said Rob Sadow, co-founder and chief executive officer of Scoop. Prospective employees rank flexibility second only to compensation when it comes to workplace satisfaction, meaning that consistent headcount growth might be explained in part by talent flocking to fl...

Source: Patriots hosting RB Leonard Fournette for free-agent workout

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:59 GMT

The Patriots are hosting free-agent running back Leonoard Fournette for a workout Wednesday, a source told the Herald’s Doug Kyed.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots training camp countdown No. 7: Can Mac Jones return to form? New England Patriots | Doug Kyed joins Boston Herald’s Patriots coverage New England Patriots | DeAndre Hopkins picks Titans over Patriots, so what’s next in New England? New England Patriots | Patriots reportedly sign defensive captain to 2-year contract extension New England Patriots | Source: Patriots, WR DeVante Parker agree to reworked 3-year deal Fournette started nine of 16 games last season for the Buccaneers, rushing for 668 yards and three touchdowns. The six-year veteran previously visited New England as a free agent in March 2022. He left Foxboro without a deal and eventually re-signed with Tampa Bay.Over the past two seasons, Fournette rus...

Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara pleads not guilty to charges from June crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:59 GMT

Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara pleaded not guilty Wednesday to traffic charges stemming from a June crash that left her son injured, a home in Jamaica Plain wrecked, and the homeowner accusing the elected official of not caring about the damage she caused.Lara appeared in court Wednesday where an assistant clerk magistrate found enough evidence to move forward with an arraignment later in the day on six charges.Her lawyer, Attorney Carl Williams, entered a not-guilty plea on her behalf after police said she was speeding down Centre Street, crashed into a house, and endangered her son by not putting him in a car seat.Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara ,with her attorney Carl Williams, is arraigned in West Roxbury District Court in West Roxbury. Staff Photo by Nancy Lane/Boston Herald (Wednesday,July 19, 2023).Lara said she is “committed to seeing” the legal process through.“I have faith and trust in the court process and I will continue to go through it as is required of me,” Lara ...

Powerful storm sweeps Croatia and Slovenia after days of heat, killing at least 3 people

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:59 GMT

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — A powerful storm with strong winds and heavy rain hit Croatia and Slovenia on Wednesday, killing at least three people and injuring several others, police and local media outlets said. The storm was the second in two days to sweep over the two countries following a string of extremely hot and dry days. Elsewhere in Europe, a heat wave caused wildfires and public health warnings. Two men died in Croatia’s capital, Zagreb, after they were hit by falling trees, Croatian police said. A 50-year-old man was struck while outside in the street, and a 48-year-old man was in his car, a police statement said.Earlier, emergency doctor Ljupka Hitrova told the official Hina news agency that the two victims had multiple head injuries. Elsewhere in Zagreb, a 36-year-old man was severely injured when a construction crane collapsed, the police statement said. The storm suddenly darkened the sky and brought blinding rain, flash floods and winds across Zagreb starting at ab...

Falling telecom prices a positive sign, but phone bills still too expensive: experts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:59 GMT

TORONTO — A price drop for Canadian phone and internet services last month has some observers optimistic about the downward trend, but industry watchers say there is still a long way to go when it comes to telecom affordability.Consumers paid 14.7 per cent less for cellular services in June compared with the same month last year, following an 8.2 per cent decline in May, according to Statistics Canada’s latest inflation report released Tuesday.Overall, the cost of telephone services dropped 11.1 per cent in June from a year ago. Statistics Canada attributed more affordable phone bills to both lower prices for cellular data plans and promotional pricing.The data aligns with trends that show the costs of telecommunication services in Canada have been declining in recent years, said Gerry Wall, whose company Wall Communications Inc. publishes an annual report comparing Canadian phone and internet prices with those of other countries.“Technology is allowing improvements in t...

Stanford University president to resign following concerns about his research

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:59 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The president of Stanford University said Wednesday he would resign, citing an independent review that cleared him of research misconduct but found flaws in other papers authored by his lab.Marc Tessier-Lavigne said in a statement to students and staff that he would step down August 31.The resignation comes after the board of trustee’s launched a review in December following allegations he engaged in fraud and other unethical conduct related to his research and papers.He says he “never submitted a scientific paper without firmly believing that the data were correct and accurately presented.” But he says he should have been more diligent in seeking corrections regarding his work.The review assessed 12 papers that Tessier-Lavigne worked on, and he is the principal author on five of them. He said he was aware of issues with four of the five papers but acknowledged taking “insufficient” steps to deal with the issues.He said he’ll retract three of the papers and corr...

Former executive gets 5 years in prison for bribing officials in Atlanta and neighboring county

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:59 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — A former executive for a longtime city of Atlanta vendor was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison for paying bribes in exchange for millions of dollars in city contracts and to paying bribes to an official in a neighboring county in an attempt to get business there.Lohrasb “Jeff” Jafari, 72, pleaded guilty in April to paying bribes to Atlanta and DeKalb County officials and failing to pay more than $1.5 million in taxes. The charges against him stemmed from a federal investigation into corruption during former Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration that led to the indictment of several former city officials and contractors. Reed himself was never charged.“The public paid a heavy price from every project unfairly awarded to Jafari’s companies through corruption, and he then compounded his harm by never paying any tax on his substantial personal income,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said in a news release. “His greed delivered a hard blow to public trust in...

Belarus Red Cross sparks outcry after its chief says it brought Ukrainian children to Belarus

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:59 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The Belarus Red Cross has sparked international outrage after its chief told Belarusian state television that the organization is actively involved in bringing Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied areas to Belarus. Both Ukraine and the Belarusian opposition have decried the transfer as unlawful deportations, and there have been calls for international war crimes charges for the authoritarian Belarus leader, similar to the charges against Russian President Vladimir Putin. The actions of the Belarus Red Cross drew stern criticism from the International Federation of Red and Red Crescent Societies.Belarus has been Moscow’s closest ally since Russia’s invasion started in February 2022, with its leader Alexander Lukashenko allowing the Kremlin to use Belarusian territory to send troops and weapons into Ukraine. Lukashenko has also welcomed a Russian military presence in Belarus and the deployment of Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons there.Belarusian oppo...