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Chipotle agrees to pay after closing store that sought union

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:40 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Chipotle Mexican Grill has agreed to pay $240,000 to former employees as part of a settlement stemming from a complaint that the company violated federal law by closing a restaurant where workers wanted to unionize.Chipotle announced it was permanently closing its Augusta, Maine, location last year after workers filed a National Labor Relations Board petition for a union election. The NLRB later said the closure was illegal.The Maine location was the first in the chain to file a union petition. The settlement, released by union officials on Monday, states that two dozen employees will receive payments from Chipotle and they will be placed on a preferential hiring list for other Maine locations.The company must also post a notice in dozens of stores in New England that it won’t close stores or discriminate against employees due to union support, the settlement states.“It sends a message to corporations that shutting down a store and blackballing wor...

Kansas high court signals continued abortion rights support

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:40 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ highest court signaled Monday that it still considers access to abortion a “fundamental” right under the state constitution, as an attorney for the state argued that a decisive statewide vote last year affirming abortion rights “doesn’t matter.”The state Supreme Court is considering exactly how far the Republican-controlled Legislature can go in restricting abortion under a 2019 decision protecting abortion rights. The justices heard arguments from attorneys for Kansas and abortion providers in two lawsuits but isn’t likely to rule for months. One lawsuit challenges a 2015 law banning a common second-trimester abortion procedure, and the other challenges a 2011 law that regulates abortion providers more strictly than other health care providers. Legal challenges have blocked both laws from being enforced.The U.S. Supreme Court declared in June 2022 that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t protect abortion rights and that states can ban a...

Most stocks tick up, including a jump for beaten down banks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:40 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are mostly rising on Wall Street Monday as battered banks show more strength, at least for now.The S&P 500 was 0.3% higher as of 1:22 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 260 points, or 0.8%, to 32,497 and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% lower.Markets have been in turmoil following the second-and third-largest U.S. bank failures in history earlier this month. Investors have been hunting for what banks could be next to fall as the system creaks under the pressure of much higher interest rates.First Citizens ‘ stock soared 51.3% after it said it would buy most of Silicon Valley Bank, whose failure sparked the industry’s furor earlier this month. As part of the deal, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. agreed to share some of the losses that may arise from some of the loans First Citizens is buying.Other banks that investors have highlighted as the next potential victims of a debilitating exodus of customers also strengthened.First Rep...

Foes of Kentucky transgender bill push back with radio ads

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:40 GMT

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A well-known Kentucky Republican on Monday blasted the GOP’s push for transgender legislation, calling it “a bad look for the party of Abraham Lincoln” in a radio ad coming days before lawmakers could vote to override the Democratic governor’s veto of the bill.Former longtime GOP state lawmaker Bob Heleringer evoked Lincoln’s memory and words in lashing out against the Republican measure. A companion radio ad features Trey Grayson, a former Republican secretary of state in Kentucky. The Fairness Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization in Kentucky, paid for the commercials, which are airing statewide.It’s part of an uphill effort by the bill’s opponents to try to fend off an override of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto of the measure aimed at regulating the lives of transgender youths. The bill would ban access to gender-affirming health care and restrict the bathrooms they can use. It also would allow teachers to refuse to...

Wisconsin school bans Miley, Dolly duet from class concert

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:40 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Administrators at a Wisconsin elementary school stopped a first-grade class from performing a Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton duet promoting LGBTQ acceptance because the song “could be perceived as controversial.”Students at Heyer Elementary School in Waukesha had prepared a rendition of “Rainbowland” for their spring concert, but school officials struck the song from the lineup last week. Parents in the district say the decision was made because the song encourages LGBTQ acceptance and references rainbows.Superintendent James Sebert, who did not immediately return a call on Monday, confirmed to Fox6 that administrators had removed “Rainbowland” from the first-grade concert because it might not be “appropriate for the age and maturity level of the students.” He also cited a school board policy against raising controversial issues in classrooms.Sebert has previously prohibited rainbows and pride flags from being displayed in Waukesha classroo...

CP NewsAlert: 10 injured after explosion in Calgary destroys home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:40 GMT

CALGARY — Fire officials say 10 people have been injured after an explosion destroyed a home in Calgary.More coming.The Canadian Press

Two more bodies pulled from rubble after Old Montreal fire, five bodies identified

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:40 GMT

MONTREAL — Police say two more bodies have been pulled from the rubble of a building that caught fire March 16 in Old Montreal, bringing the death toll to seven.Police Insp. David Shane said today four more victims of the fire have been identified, for a total of five.Shane says police recently identified the bodies of An Wu, Dania Zafar, Saniya Khan, and Nathan Sears.Fire operations chief Martin Guilbault says the fire department secured the structure and deployed search dogs, who helped locate the final two bodies today.He says searchers don’t believe there are more victims but will continue to look through the rubble for bodies.Some of those missing in the fire had rented their accommodations on Airbnb, which is illegal to use in that part of the city.This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2023.The Canadian Press

Prince Harry in court for phone hacking suit vs UK tabloid

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:40 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry and Elton John were in a London court Monday as the lawyer for a group of British tabloids asked a judge to toss the lawsuit they brought with several other high-profile people who allege phone hacking and other invasions of privacy.Harry’s presence at the High Court in London signals the importance of the case, one of several lawsuits the Duke of Sussex has brought in his battle against the press. The hearing is expected to conclude Thursday.The case alleges Associated Newspapers Ltd., which publishes The Daily Mail and The Mail On Sunday, commissioned the “breaking and entry into private property,” and engaging in unlawful acts that included hiring private investigators to bug homes, cars and record private phone conversations.“They were the victim of numerous unlawful acts carried out by the defendant, or by those acting on the instructions of its newspapers,” attorney David Sherborne said in a court document.Sherborne who also represents John’s husband...

Gwyneth Paltrow accuser calls Utah ski crash 'serious smack'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:40 GMT

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — The man suing Gwyneth Paltrow over a 2016 skiing collision at one of the most upscale resorts in North America took the stand Monday, saying he was rammed into from behind and sent “absolutely flying.”The trial in Utah hinges on who crashed into who: Paltrow testified days earlier that Terry Sanderson, a retired 76-year-old optometrist, veered into her back. He says the opposite, and that the collision broke four ribs and caused post-concussion symptoms that changed his personality and strained his family relationships. But beyond questions of skiing etiquette, Paltrow’s attorneys have argued the lawsuit is an attempt by an “obsessed” man to exploit the actor-turned-lifestyle influencer's wealth and celebrity. Sanderson is suing Paltrow for more than $300,000 and Paltrow has countersued for $1 and attorney fees. The amount of money at stake for both sides pales in comparison to the typical legal costs of a multiyear lawsuit, private security detail and expert-...

Chargers lineman says he was sexually assaulted by TSA agent

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:40 GMT

(The Hill) -- A Los Angeles Chargers player says he was sexually assaulted by a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent at a California-area airport. “I really just got sexually assaulted by TSA at @JohnWayneAir.  After I asked the gentleman to please stop BC I’m uncomfortable and I feel that this part of the check is unnecessary (After he felt what was needed),” Chargers defensive end Sebastian Joseph-Day wrote in a tweet on Friday. “Then they told me I was the problem after 3 TSA agents swarmed me.”In his Twitter thread, Joseph-Day called the incident with the TSA agent “extremely unnecessary and dehumanizing,” adding that he feels he’ll have to “jump through hoops” just to file a complaint on the situation. I’m not sharing this on Twitter for sympathy,” Joseph-Day, who joined the Chargers after winning a Super Bowl with the crosstown rivals Rams in 2021, wrote in a tweet. “I’m sharing this so this group of gentleman and staff aren’t allowed to do this ever ag...