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State lawmakers want children to fill labor shortages, even in bars and on school nights

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:02 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — As the federal government cracks down on child labor violations, some state lawmakers are embracing legislation to let children work longer hours and in more hazardous occupations.The legislators, mostly Republicans, argue that relaxing child labor laws could ease nationwide labor shortages.But child welfare advocates worry the measures represent a coordinated push to scale back hard-won protections for minors.“The consequences are potentially disastrous,” said Reid Maki, director of the Child Labor Coalition, which advocates against exploitative labor policies. “You can’t balance a perceived labor shortage on the backs of teen workers.”Lawmakers proposed loosening child labor laws in at least 10 states over the past two years, according to a report published last month by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. Some bills became law, while others were withdrawn or vetoed.Legislators in Wisconsin, Ohio and Iowa are actively considering relaxing child l...

Chirping sounds lead airport officials to bag filled with smuggled parrot eggs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:02 GMT

LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. (AP) — The 24 bright green baby parrots began chirping and bobbing their heads the second anyone neared the large cages that have been their homes since hatching in March.The Central American natives, seized from a smuggler at Miami International Airport, are being raised by the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation — a round-the-clock effort that includes five hand feedings a day in a room filled with large cages. At just 9 weeks old, these parrots have already survived a harrowing journey after being snatched from their nests in a forest. They are almost fully feathered now and the staff has started transitioning them from a special formula to a diet of food pellets and fruit.“You ready to meet the children?” asked Paul Reillo, a Florida International University professor and director of the foundation, as he led visitors Friday into a small building tucked behind a sprawling house in Loxahatchee, a rural community near West Palm Beach. “They are hand-raised babie...

Pending abortion restrictions strain providers in US Southeast

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:02 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A wave of newly approved abortion restrictions in the Southeastern United States has sent providers scrambling to reconfigure their services for a region with already severely limited access.Pending bans at varying stages of pregnancy in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida — states that had been holdouts providing wider access to the procedure — are threatening to further delay abortions as appointments pile up and doctors work to understand the new limitations.“There’s really going to be no way for the whole abortion-providing ecosystem to manage it all,” said Jenny Black, the president of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.Black, who oversees the organization’s work in North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and parts of Virginia, said providers have had to quickly determine how to comply with the pending laws amid the “decimation of abortion access across the South.” She expects new restrictions will compound the stressors on a system that ...

Aging America: Baby boomers push nation’s median age higher as fewer children are born

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:02 GMT

The United States grew older, faster, last decade.The share of residents 65 or older grew by more than a third from 2010 to 2020 and at the fastest rate of any decade in 130 years, while the share of children declined, according to new figures from the most recent census.The declining percentage of children under age 5 was particularly noteworthy in the figures from the 2020 head count released Thursday. Combined, the trends mean the median age in the U.S. jumped from 37.2 to 38.8 over the decade.America’s two largest age groups propelled the changes: more baby boomers turning 65 or older and millennials who became adults or pushed further into their 20s and early 30s. Also, fewer children were born between 2010 and 2020, according to numbers from the once-a-decade head count of every U.S. resident. The decline stems from women delaying having babies until later in life, in many cases to focus on education and careers, according to experts, who noted that birth rates never rec...

Chinese basketball legend Yao Ming steps down as head of national league

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:02 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Former Houston Rockets star Yao Ming has stepped down as head of China’s struggling national basketball league. An eight-time NBA All-Star, Yao had been leading efforts to commercialize the top-tier 20-team Chinese Basketball Association Management Company since his appointment in 2017. A notice on the CBA’s website thanked Yao for his service. It gave no indication of the reason behind Yao’s departure other than that the board of directors had determined it was time for new leadership. Yao was one of the first Chinese athletes to become an international household name when the Houston Rockets drafted him with the first pick in 2002. The 2.29-meter (7-foot-6) center played for eight seasons in the NBA before retiring in 2011, citing chronic injuries.Allegations of corruption have dogged the league in recent years. Two teams, the Jiangsu Dragons and Shanghai Sharks, were ejected from the league finals last month after being found to have engaged in unsporti...

Colorado Rapids knocked out of U.S. Open Cup at home by Real Salt Lake, miss chance to reach quarterfinals for first time since 2007

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:02 GMT

COMMERCE CITY — Real Salt Lake is the Colorado Rapids’ bogeyman. Wednesday night’s U.S. Open Cup defeat in the Round of 16 only confirmed it.Looking to reach the Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2007, Colorado instead lost to its rival for the second straight match, 1-0. Jefferson Savarino’s game-winning curling effort in the 30th minute was the difference at DSGP. More sleepless nights could be ahead, as the teams will face off twice more in the 2023 season.“I mean, without talking very candidly and explicitly, it makes you lose sleep at night,” defender Keegan Rosenberry said after the game. “You don’t like losing to teams in this league in general, but RSL is a team that just eats at you a little bit more. It’s been interesting to learn from the supporters about how much it means to them as well, and it hurts us just that more to feel that for them.”In the 24th minute, Colorado had its best chance of the first ...

Police searching for suspect accused of stabbing Metro driver multiple times

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:02 GMT

Police are searching for a suspect who stabbed a Metro bus driver multiple times Wednesday night in Woodland Hills before fleeing on foot. Calls about the incident, located at Erwin Street and Topanga Canyon Boulevard, came in at around 5:15 p.m., officials with the Los Angeles Police Department said.The assault happened after a male suspect boarded the bus and began arguing with the driver. As the altercation escalated, it spilled out of the bus onto the sidewalk where the MTA operator was stabbed multiple times in the upper torso by the suspect who then fled eastbound on Erwin Street, LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton said.  The bus driver, who has yet to be identified, was taken to Northridge Hospital in critical condition and remains in the intensive care unit. "The Department has mustered a number of night watch detectives and uniform personnel to investigate this senseless attack," LAPD Chief Michel Moore said. "Detectives are speaking with witnesses and gathering video evidenc...

NCS, CCS softball playoffs: Pinole Valley blanks TCAL rival, clinches berth in D-III championship

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:02 GMT

NCSDivision IIINo. 1 Pinole Valley 2, No. 4 Albany 0Pinole Valley was dominant in the regular season, authoring a 23-1 record.The Spartans have somehow been even better in the playoffs, shutting out a fourth consecutive opponent to reach the North Coast Section Division III title game.Albany, which finished the season 14-8, had played its Tri-County Athletic League rivals tough in two regular season games, losing 3-2 and 7-6.The Cougars, like the three opponents before them, were unable to score against senior ace Kailani Tatro, the Pinole Valley star who struck out seven and allowed just five hits in a complete game.Tatro, who has pitched every inning of every game this season, also went 2 for 3 with an RBI.Pinole Valley freshman Ayla Serrano was 1 for 2 with an RBI, and pinch-runner Jordan Mendoza scored a run for the second consecutive game. Genevive Hallinan had two hits for AlbanyPinole Valley, which improved to 27-1, will play No. 10 Encinal at Diablo Valley College at 1 p.m. ...

NCS softball playoffs: A surprising home run helps San Ramon Valley advance to D-I final

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:02 GMT

DANVILLE – San Ramon Valley sophomore Sophia Jin had scored 30 runs this season, and 66 in two years on the varsity. But Tuesday afternoon was the first time that Jin could take her time rounding the bases. Her solo home run in the bottom of the third inning, a bomb that helped push San Ramon Valley to a 4-3 victory over Freedom and a berth in Friday’s North Coast Section Division I title game vs. California at St. Mary’s College, was the first time she had hit a ball over the fence.Jin later said she had never done it at any level of competition.Several players had their mouths open in amazement (or perhaps shock) while watching the ball sail through the air, awe turning into joy as they mobbed the sophomore at home plate. “Once I got that pitch, I swung as hard as I could,” Jin said, who then laughed and added, “I wasn’t really trying to hit a home run, but it happened.”DANVILLE – San Ramon Valley player Sophia Jin celebrates her home run. San Ramon Valley and Freedom ...

Bill that would legalize some psychedelic substances passes California State Senate, heads to Assembly

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:02 GMT

(KTXL) — A bill that would decriminalize the possession of some psychedelic substances passed the California State Senate Wednesday and now heads to the State Assembly. Senate Bill 58, which was introduced by Senator Scott Weiner, would allow people age 21 or older to own or prepare "certain hallucinogenic substances," including psilocybin, psilocyn, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine, and mescaline. California Attorney General Rob Bonta ‘seriously considering’ run for governor The bill would also repeal laws that prohibit growing "spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other material which contain psilocybin or psilocyn."SB 58's decriminalization of mescaline specifically excludes peyote derivatives. Newsom faces the tough question of whom would replace Feinstein as Senator if she resigned The bill's author states that peyote use and cultivation will remain a crime because the plant is "nearly endangered" and because of its historical spiritual use by Native Ameri...