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Workers strike at major Southern California hotels over pay and benefits

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

By DAMIAN DOVARGANES (Associated Press)LOS ANGELES (AP) — Workers picketed major Southern California hotels again Monday after walking off the job during the July Fourth weekend to demand better pay and benefits.The strike by bellhops, front desk agents, room attendants, cooks, servers and dishwashers began early Sunday in Los Angeles and Orange counties just as summer tourism ramps up. Employers accused the union of failing to negotiate.Members of Unite Here Local 11 voted last month in favor of authorizing the strike. In addition to higher wages, the union wants improved health care benefits, higher pension contributions and less strenuous workloads.Contracts expired at midnight Friday at more than 60 hotels, including properties owned by major chains such as Marriott and Hilton. The strike affects about half of the 32,000 hospitality workers the union represents across Southern California and Arizona. Osiris Gaona, a phone operator at InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown, ...

Traveling this summer: Is it time for a COVID booster?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

Sandy Klein looks forward to her European Cruise next month. At 78, she considers herself healthy. Still the Palm Beach resident wonders if she should get a COVID booster before her trip.“I don’t want to spend my vacation sick — or worse, in the hospital,” she said.This summer travel season has been forecasted to be one for the record books, and with so many people on the move, the risk of getting COVID-19 rises.COVID still is circulating and people do seem to be picking up the virus during travel. However, for most people who get COVID now, the symptoms are more like a bad cold or flu, doctors say. Still, those symptoms — fever, aches, sore throat and cough — are enough to ruin a trip or force you to miss a family reunion.Most people have some level of immunity, either from a shot or the virus itself. So is worth getting a COVID booster?How to decide whether to get boostedLet your activity over the summer months guide your strategy, along with your age and health, doctors say.“It’s...

Bruins’ hopeful Mason Lohrei aiming to be in Boston in October

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

With four left-shot NHL defensemen currently on the Bruins’ roster, there is no rush for the B’s to force Mason Lohrei into a big league lineup.Still, the B’s executives are fully expecting the former Ohio State Buckeye to them something to think about come training camp in September.Lohrei, who left Columbus after signing his entry level deal with the B’s after the OSU was bounced from the NCAA tournament last spring, is participating in this week’s Development Camp at Warrior Ice Arena with the fellow Bruin prospects. If any of the kids here have a shot at making the varsity, Lohrei is the leading candidate from a defense standpoint.Taken as a 19-year-old in the second round of the 2020 draft (58 overall), the 6-foot-4, 204-pound Lohrei was a standout offense-oriented defenseman in his two years at Ohio State, posting 8-53-61 in 71 games over his freshman and sophomore seasons. That was enough for both the Bruins and him to agree that it was time to l...

Knicks announce Summer League squad; Josh Hart boosts NY Wildcats World Cup presence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

The Summer League Knicks are set.With no first-round draft picks in the last two years, the roster for Vegas, which was announced Monday with two notable omissions, is short on players with a chance to make an impact on the senior roster. Jaylen Martin, an undrafted rookie, is probably the most intriguing prospect because of the unknown factor. The 19-year-old wing, who signed a two-way contract with the Knicks, played last season at Overtime Elite, a pay-for-play academy in Atlanta with top-shelf high-school aged competitors.Martin is joined on the roster by two players who were at the end of the Knicks bench last season: Trevor Keels, a 2022 second-round pick, and DaQuan Jeffries. Isaiah Roby is the most experienced player on the squad after logging 151 career NBA games with OKC and San Antonio.Roby is contracted with the Knicks through next season and is a darkhorse candidate to serve as Julius Randle’s backup.But the absences from the roster were more noteworthy.Rokas Joku...

What’s the big deal with Taylor Swift? Here’s why there’s no one else like her.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

It’s been a week now since Taylor Swift swooped into town for a pair of shows at U.S. Bank Stadium that drew about 128,000 fans and all but dominated local media for days.And yet, still, I hear people who dismiss her. She’s just for teen girls. She’s not talented. She’s a fraud. And so on.I’ve been writing professionally about music for 28 years now and I’ve covered teen pop concerts since the days of ‘N Sync. I’ve seen it all, including that time when I went to a Kidz Bop concert alone and endured icy stares the entire show. But I’ve never seen anything like the 33-year-old Taylor Swift.For those still unconvinced, hear me out.She’s a talented songwriterSwift learned to play the guitar when she was 12 and, soon after, began writing her own songs, inspired by the likes of Shania Twain and Dolly Parton. She convinced her parents to move to Nashville, where she worked with experienced songwriters to hone her craft, including Liz Rose, who once described the pair’s after-school writing...

Two Padres players heading to All-Star game

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Two San Diego Padres players are heading to Seattle for this year's All-Star game.Outfielder Juan Soto and pitcher Josh Hader were selected to represent the team as reserves for this year's Midsummer Classic. The two are veterans of the annual showdown between the National and American leagues, with this year marking Hader's fifth appearance and Soto's third."Taking the awards, it feels great," Soto said to MLB.com about the honor. "Going there seeing so many All-Stars and people, everybody is a great feeling. Just to see all those All-Stars, you know, and just pick their (brains) and everything. There are a lot of guys and teams that are in a good position. I try to pick whatever they can give me so I can bring it over. That's the main thing. I just try to get to know those guys a little more."Hader echoed that sentiment, saying "It's an honor. Obviously, this game is really, really hard. So to be named an All-Star with all of these guys, it'll just be fun." San Dieg...

San Diego Legion advance to Major League Rugby Championship

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Legion defeated the Seattle Seawolves Sunday 32-10 to advance to the Major League Rugby championship game.Following their victory in front of the home crowd at Snapdragon Stadium, the Legion now look forward to their championship match against the New England Free Jacks.The Legion and the Free Jacks will face off for the MLR Championship Shield on Saturday, July 8 at SeatGeek Stadium in Chicago. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. EST.This will be the second appearance for the Legion in the championship game. They lost to the Seattle Seawolves 26-23 in the 2019 championship. The Free Jacks will be playing in their first championship match. Saints wide receiver Chris Olave hosts camp at Mission Hills The two teams faced off once during the 2023 regular season, with the Legion earning a 29-12 victory.The Legion's championship climb was built on a dominant 15-1 regular season, with their sole loss occurring against the Houston SaberCats.“It’s been a competitive,...

Battier among retired NBA stars moving into tech sector as investors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

TORONTO — When Shane Battier was drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies in 2001 no one was talking about business in the NBA’s locker-rooms or clubhouses. Nine years into his retirement from playing, Battier says professional basketball’s culture has radically changed.“Now, guys like Carmelo Anthony and Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, LeBron James, guys who talk about being owners, you know about being LLPs,” said Battier, who won NBA titles with James on the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013. “Using their platform to grow their brand and leverage their capital into many more millions and that’s awesome. “These young guys have awesome, have amazing role models now.”Battier has become a leader in that movement, investing in several tech companies. He was in Toronto last week as a speaker at Collision, an annual tech conference that has been at the Enercare Centre since 2019. Baron Davis, who played in the NBA from 1999 to 2012, also spoke at Collisio...

Heat warning issued for all of Toronto and GTA

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

A heat warning has been issued for all of Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) as a big push of warm and humid air headed this way.Daytime high temperatures from Tuesday through Thursday are expected to be around 30 degrees Celsius each day, feeling like 37 to 40 degrees with the humidity.Temperatures overnight will still be in the low 20’s.“In these types of conditions, it is important to stay cool and stay hydrated, especially if you are doing strenuous activity outdoors,” says CityNews 680 meteorologist Carl Lam.“Hot temperatures can also lead to somewhat poor air quality with ground level ozone as the primary concern.”A reminder during this period of heat is to never leave pets or people in cars unattended, for any amount of time, as temperatures inside parked vehicles increases significantly.

For Norah Jones, ‘Little Broken Hearts’ gives a lesson in making the most of a bad experience

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:48 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A sign of how much “Little Broken Hearts” represented a departure for Norah Jones was that she filmed not one, but two music videos for the album depicting herself as a murderer.One victim was a lying, cheating boyfriend, the other his temptress. Both ended up at the bottom of a lake.A decade after its release, the disc stands as an island in Jones’ career. It’s a little gem where she tested herself to leave a musical comfort zone to process romantic turmoil — and ended up with a concise, consistent statement that rivals some classic heartbreak albums.“I just love it,” Jones said recently. “It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever done. I also think that for people who weren’t really on board with me or my music, some of them liked it when they didn’t like the rest of my stuff, and I always thought that was kind of fun and funny.”This is Norah Jones, remember. Her sumptuous voice was everywhere in the early 2000s, songs from ...