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Massachusetts pay disclosure bill clears House as advocates, businesses cheer move

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:04 GMT

The Massachusetts House passed legislation Wednesday that would require businesses with at least 25 employees to list a salary or wage range on a job posting, teeing it up for potential action in the Senate before formal sessions end for the year in mid-November.Lawmakers want Massachusetts to fall in line with 10 other states that already have some form of pay disclosure law on the books, including Rhode Island, New York, and Connecticut. The proposal, legislators said during remarks on the House floor, would primarily help women and people of color.Rep. Josh Cutler, one of the lead co-sponsors of the bill, said the proposal will help “persistent gender and racial wage gaps” in Massachusetts.“In some industries, companies may worry about being at a competitive disadvantage if they share employee pay ranges. But having a statewide law eliminates this problem by putting everyone on an equal footing and nothing in the bill ties the hands of employers or creates any new costs,” said Cu...

Patriots-Saints injury report: Rhamondre Stevenson among 10 limited Patriots on Wednesday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:04 GMT

The Patriots practiced in full pads Wednesday, their first day on the field as they prepare for a critical game Sunday against the Saints.That practice produced their longest injury report of the season.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots teammates confident Mac Jones can put poor showing behind him New England Patriots | How Patriots can utilize three players returning from PUP, injured reserve New England Patriots | How Patriots plan to replace Matthew Judon with in-house options New England Patriots | Injury-ravaged Patriots get good news at Wednesday practice before Saints game New England Patriots | What Patriots can expect from J.C. Jackson after trade with Chargers Rhamondre Stevenson is dealing with a new thigh injury, while 11 others were either limited or non-participants.In New Orleans, six players missed practice, including two starting offensive lineman.Both teams’ complete...

Nazzaro Community Center to stay in the North End for generations, receives landmark status

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:04 GMT

In the pouring rain on Election Day 2018, North End resident Ellen Hume and a group of neighbors started a petition drive calling on city officials to designate the Nazzaro Community Center a historic landmark.Nearly five years later, and after collecting more than 1,500 signatures, Hume saw what she had been desiring for a while: Mayor Michelle Wu declaring that the Nazzaro will be staying in the community for generations to come.The resident recounted when a woman asked her why she was so passionate about saving the community staple that has served the neighborhood in some form for over a century since she’s not Italian.“I said, ‘Look, my Swedish ancestors came on the bottom of a ship here. They were poor as dirt. They were bankrupt. They were desperate. And, they built a new life in this country,’” Hume said.“This immigrant’s history belongs to all of us, so let’s celebrate it properly,” she continued. “Keep this in public use and go onto the next generations.”Gaining historic pr...

Red Sox can cross former GM off candidate list after Hazen agrees to Arizona extension

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:04 GMT

The Red Sox can officially cross a very appealing name off their list of candidates to head their baseball operations.Hours after their first postseason win since the 2017 National League Wild Card, the Arizona Diamondbacks agreed to an extension with Mike Hazen.Hazen’s previous deal ran through 2024 with a club option for 2025, but his contract is now guaranteed through 2028, reports Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. His assistant general managers, Amiel Sawdaye and Mike Fitzgerald, also received extensions of the same length.With Hazen’s long history in Boston – he spent 12 years with the Red Sox before going to Arizona in October 2016 – he was immediately connected to his former organization once they fired Chaim Bloom in mid-September.The Red Sox would’ve needed the Diamondbacks’ permission to interview him, but their president and CEO, Derrick Hall, wasn’t interested in opening that door. So much so that he revealed previous extension discussions with Hazen, strongly sugges...

Patriots teammates confident Mac Jones can put poor showing behind him

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:04 GMT

Mac Jones wasn’t good this past weekend. He knows it, his coaches and teammates know it, and everyone who watched Sunday’s drubbing in Dallas knows it.The performance raised obvious long-term concerns, but what matters most in the short term is how Jones responds.Back home at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots have begun putting Sunday’s blowout behind them as they look ahead to the New Orleans Saints. That includes Jones, who was back on the field at practice Wednesday and who teammates say has been his usual self this week despite the ugly showing.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots-Saints injury report: Rhamondre Stevenson among 10 limited Patriots on Wednesday New England Patriots | How Patriots can utilize three players returning from PUP, injured reserve New England Patriots | How Patriots plan to replace Matthew Judon with in-house options New England Patriots | Injury-ravaged Patriots get go...

GM Preller says Melvin will be back as manager of the underwhelming Padres

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:04 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Bob Melvin will be back as manager of the big-spending San Diego Padres following the most disappointing season in franchise history, general manager A.J. Preller said Wednesday.The GM also downplayed reports of a fractured relationship with Melvin, who has guided the Padres to the only two winning records in a full season under Preller and has a year left on his contract.“Bob is our manager and is going to be our manager going forward," Preller said during a video news conference. "A lot's been said in the last few weeks, obviously, but both he and I are very excited about the challenge of getting this group back to the postseason next year.”The announcement came three days after the star-laden Padres finished 82-80. They were eliminated from playoff contention on Friday night, a bitter result for a team that entered the season with World Series aspirations after making a stirring run to the NL Championship Series last fall and then increasing their payroll to arou...

‘Bear attack bad’: Alberta couple identified as pair killed in grizzly bear attack

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:04 GMT

A family member of the couple killed by a grizzly bear in the wilderness of Banff National Park says he knew something was wrong as soon as he received a call with a message from their satellite device.Colin Inglis said his nephew, Doug Inglis, and Jenny Gusse, both 62, from Lethbridge, Alta., died in the bear attack on the weekend. Their seven-year-old border collie named Tris was also killed.The longtime couple, he said, was on a weeklong backpacking trip in the area and had been checking in daily with him and Gusse’s mom.Inglis received a text message from their inReach device at 4:52 p.m. Friday saying they had been delayed but that everything was OK.A representative with the satellite device company reached out at 8:15 p.m.“I got an actual phone call from Garmin saying that the SOS had been activated and that somebody had actually entered into the inReach (a message) that said, ‘bear attack bad,'” he said Wednesday in an interview.“‘Bear atta...

Ottawa puts more money toward study of Winnipeg landfill search for women’s remains

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:04 GMT

The families of two slain First Nations women whose remains are believed to be in a Winnipeg-area landfill say they have renewed hope after Manitoba’s provincial election and the federal government’s commitment of $740,000 toward further assessing the scope of a search.“We’ve been beat down so many times and never wanted to lose that hope,” said Melissa Robinson, whose cousin, 39-year-old Morgan Harris, is one of the women.“I just feel like everything has been renewed and that fire has been relit.”Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree said in Ottawa on Wednesday that more research is needed to figure out how a search could be done to find the remains of Harris and Marcedes Myran, believed to be at the Prairie Green Landfill north of Winnipeg.Jeremy Skibicki has been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Harris, Myran and two others — Rebecca Contois, whose partial remains were found in a different landfill last year, and an...

Quebec police arrest 13 over alleged grandparent scams linked to organized crime

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:04 GMT

MONTREAL — Thirteen people were arrested Wednesday in connection with an alleged grandparent fraud scheme linked to organized crime, Quebec provincial police said.Police say the alleged frauds, which targeted people in the United States, took place between May 2019 and March 2021.The 12 men and one woman, aged between 26 and 43, were scheduled to appear in a Montreal court Wednesday afternoon, Quebec prosecutors said.All 13 face charges of fraud over $5,000, according to charging documents. Others face a variety of additional charges, including identity theft, conspiracy and attempted fraud. Four are charged with committing an offence for a criminal organization.Provincial police spokeswoman Sgt. Catherine Bernard said Quebec police worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other American agencies as part of the probe. Shelley Orman, with the FBI’s Baltimore field office, said U.S. authorities believe the scam stole more than US$2.5 million from 85 elderly victims.Fi...

Health care workers picket outside US hospitals in multiple states, kicking off 3-day strike

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:04 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente workers took to picket lines in multiple states on Wednesday, starting a massive strike that the company warned could cause delays at its hospitals and clinics that serve nearly 13 million Americans.The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, representing about 85,000 of the health system’s employees nationally, approved a strike for three days in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, and for one day in Virginia and Washington, D.C. Some 75,000 people were expected to participate in the pickets.“They’re not listening to the frontline health care workers,” said Mikki Fletchall, a licensed vocational nurse based in a Kaiser medical office in Camarillo, California. “We’re striking because of our patients.”The nonprofit company said its 39 hospitals, including emergency rooms, will remain open. Doctors are not participating, and Oakland, California-based Kaiser said it was bringing in thousands of temporary workers to...