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MBTA takes steps to hike bus driver pay amid service cuts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:48:00 GMT

The MBTA is trying to chip away at its bus operator shortage by offering higher starting wages, and giving all drivers the option to work full-time hours.Under a new agreement with the Boston Carmen’s Union, the MBTA, for the first time, is allowing new drivers to start at 40 hours per week, rather than 30. This would bump an annual starting salary from $34,647 to $46,196, based on a $22.11 hourly rate for new hires.The option to work full-time will also be extended to part-time drivers already employed by the T. Those working beyond 40 hours per week will also be paid overtime, MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo said.“That is an important roadblock that we have eliminated, and moving forward we envision that will help us greatly accelerate the hire of bus operators,” MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said at a Thursday Board of Directors meeting.Boston Carmen’s President Jim Evers said allowing bus drivers to work more hours is a “great way to get more workers in the door.” The shift, h...

Suspect arrested in deadly shooting outside Central Library

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:48:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A suspect in Tuesday's deadly shooting outside of the San Diego Central Library has been arrested, authorities said.Police arrested 21-year-old Kenneth Cheney on suspicion of killing one person and wounding another, Lt. Jud Campbell with San Diego Police Department said in a news release Thursday. Cheney is in the process of being booked into San Diego County Jail, according to SDPD. He is expected to face multiple charges related to the shooting, including murder, police said. Surveillance video shows armed man run from downtown shooting The victim who died in the shooting has been identified as 20-year-old Trey Walker, police confirmed. The second victim has not been identified at this time and is expected to survive his injuries.Check back for updates on this developing story.

Chula Vista to reclaim certified 'Welcoming City' designation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:48:00 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- The City of Chula Vista will once again become a certified "Welcoming City."The city council voted 4-1 during its Tuesday meeting to regain its designation.Being a certified welcoming city is a designation through an Atlanta-based, national nonprofit organization, Welcoming America. The organization works with communities to create and ensure cities and communities have welcoming and inclusive policies for immigrants. Suspect arrested in deadly shooting outside Central Library “Being certified welcoming is not an easy bar to achieve," Lola Pak, communications director for Welcoming America, told FOX 5. “Cities and county governments will undergo this and they evaluate their programs and policies to ensure that they are inclusive of newcomers including immigrants and refugees.”Map of "welcoming cities" (Courtesy: Welcoming America)“I think it’s important for us to pursue the values that have made this city great and I believe pursuing the welcoming America ce...

Convoy District revitalization to include new apartments, sign

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:48:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A plan to revitalize the Convoy District is taking a big step forward. Those familiar with the area remember where the old Dixieline Lumber used to be located in Kearny Mesa. On Thursday, construction broke ground at 4888 Convoy Street on a 531-unit apartment complex as part of a plan to revitalize the area."I’m thrilled to announce that this site will be transforming into much-needed housing for San Diegans," San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said. "This new housing will take this area that was once just a place where folks came to work and maybe do a little bit of shopping to a full 24/7 live, work, play community.”Gloria and other community leaders were on site to expand on the project. Convoy District to add housing to cultural hub "In about a month, we will start construction on one of our biggest road repair projects yet: the full repaving of Convoy Street," Gloria said. "No more potholes on Convoy, everybody."The hub is also known as the Convoy Asian Cultural Distric...

DeSantis pushes past embarrassing campaign start, raises $8.2M ahead of early state blitz

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:48:00 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday sought to push past an embarrassing beginning to his presidential campaign, outlining an aggressive travel schedule as his allies insisted they remain well funded and well positioned for a long Republican primary fight ahead.While DeSantis supporters privately acknowledged the bungled announcement was an unwelcome distraction, there was a broad sense — even among some Republican critics — that it would likely have limited long-term political consequences, if any at all. For the doubters, the campaign confirmed Thursday night that it had raised $8.2 million in the 24 hours since entering the race, a massive sum that far exceeded the amount raised by President Joe Biden over the same period.“Do they wish they could do it over again? Probably,” David Oman, a veteran Republican Iowa operative, said of DeSantis’ bungled announcement. “Will we be talking about it in 10 days? Probably not.”DeSantis formally launched his campa...

Man declared innocent of attempted murder after 33 years in California prison

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:48:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California man who spent 33 years in prison for attempted murder has been declared innocent and freed, the Los Angeles County district attorney announced Thursday.Daniel Saldana, 55, was convicted in 1990 of opening fire on a car containing six teenagers who were leaving a high school football game in Baldwin Park, east of Los Angeles. Two students were wounded but survived.The attackers mistook the teens for gang members, authorities said.Saldana was 22 at the time of the shooting and worked full-time as a construction worker. He was one of three men charged with the attack. Convicted of six counts of attempted murder and one count of shooting at an occupied vehicle, Saldana was sentenced to 45 years to life in state prison. Saldana appeared with District Attorney George Gascón at a press conference announcing his exoneration Thursday. He said he was grateful to be freed.“It’s a struggle, every day waking up knowing you’re innocent and here I am locked up in a ...

Privacy, rights commissions says Ontario needs to develop ‘guardrails’ on public sector use of AI

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:48:00 GMT

Ontario should put in place “effective guardrails” on the public sector’s use of artificial intelligence technologies, the Information and Privacy Commissioner and the Ontario Human Rights Commission said Thursday in a joint statement.The government must urgently develop “robust and granular” rules so it can reap the benefits of AI technologies in an ethically responsible manner, the two bodies said in the statement.“AI technologies have great potential to benefit society in terms of improved health, education, public safety, and social and economic prosperity,” they wrote.“However, they have also been shown to be unsafe when not effectively governed.”A spokesperson for the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery said the government is developing a trustworthy AI framework “that will ensure the transparent and accountable use of AI” across the public sector.That framework says the government commits to always...

Lululemon promises 2,600 new jobs after exemption from some immigration rules

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:48:00 GMT

Vancouver-based company Lululemon says it will expand its headquarters in the city and create 2,600 jobs over the next five years.The announcement comes months after the federal government granted the company the ability to hire foreign workers for certain highly skilled positions, including management jobs, software engineers and computer technicians, without needing to apply for a labour market impact assessment.Federal Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne says if Ottawa hadn’t acted, the company’s headquarters may have left Vancouver.CEO Calvin McDonald says Lululemon has secured an additional 125,000 square feet of office space in downtown Vancouver because of the confidence it has in the agreement.A labour market impact assessment is a process sometimes used to determine if a company needs a foreign worker to fill a position because of a lack of Canadian workers or permanent residents available to do the job.Immigration Minister Sean Fraser says Canada wo...

Man convicted of killing Washington teen at high school decades ago gets 45 years

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:48:00 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — A man convicted of murder in the death of a 16-year-old girl at her Washington high school over 30 years ago will likely spend the rest of his life in prison. King County Superior Court Judge Josephine Wiggs on Thursday sentenced Patrick Nicholas to nearly 46 years in prison for the killing of Sarah Yarborough, who was found fatally strangled on the Federal Way High School campus in 1991, The Seattle Times reported.A jury found Nicholas, 59, guilty of first-degree murder and returned a special verdict that Yarborough’s killing was sexually motivated, which allowed for a longer prison sentence.Defense attorney David Montes urged the mandatory minimum 20-year sentence, saying Nicholas didn’t commit crimes in the decades since. Wiggs, who had presided over Nicholas’ trial, determined more than 45 years was appropriate because of the facts of the case and his history of sexual violence. During the trial, prosecutors said Yarborough was an honor student and member of her s...

Guam ‘very blessed’ with no early reports of major damage in the messy aftermath of Typhoon Mawar

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:48:00 GMT

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Chainsaws buzzed Friday as neighbors helped each other clear toppled trees and began cleaning the wreckage of Typhoon Mawar, which walloped Guam as the strongest typhoon to hit the island in over two decades but appeared to have passed without leaving death or massive destruction in its wake. While it was still early going in the recovery effort, police Sgt. Paul Tapao said there did not seem to be any major damage, main arteries were passable and “Guam has been very blessed to have no storm-related deaths or any serious injuries.” To Tapao, the roar of the mechanical saws was a reminder of the resilience of the storm-prone U.S. Pacific territory and its people. “Everyone helps out with the cleaning,” he said. “That’s the Guamanian way — that’s embedded in the blood.”He added that there’s a saying in Chamorro — the indigenous language of the Mariana Islands — “inafa maolek,” that means cooperation, a concept of restoring harmony or order.“Storms have taugh...