U.S. crops ready for picking, but farm workers in short supply It’s nearly apple-picking time in Washington’s Yakima Valley. Cherry season will be around for a few more weeks, and a bounty of other fruits and vegetables are maturing on branches and in fields.
“The orchards are big and beautiful,” said Dan Fazio, executive director of the Washington Farm Labor Association. More
Ebola virus re-emerges in Congolese conflict zone KINSHASA, Congo — At least four new cases of the Ebola virus have emerged in Congo’s northeast, just a week after an outbreak in the northwest was declared over, the country’s health ministry said Wednesday.
There was no indication the two outbreaks, separated by more than 1,553 miles, are related, Health Minister Dr. More
Trump pressures China with threat to crank up size of proposed tariffs WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday tried to increase pressure on China to change its trade practices by directing administration officials to consider more than doubling the size of proposed tariffs he has already threatened to slap on $200 billion in imports.
But the administration stopped short of actually making such a move, raising questions about whether it was a negotiating ploy in its widening trade war with China. More
Photographer joins bear hunt, but not to kill The largest grizzly hunt in the Lower 48 in more than 40 years is set to open next month in Wyoming, and more than 7,000 people applied for a chance to kill one of up to 22 bears. Among the tiny number of people who won the draw for permits is a wildlife photographer who has produced some of the most famous images of the area’s grizzlies.
Thomas Mangelsen, who has lived near Grand Teton National Park for four decades, said this week that he will use the permit to shoot bears as he’s always done – with a camera, not a gun. More
Sen. Collins says it’s ‘unbelievable’ that Trump wants to stop Russia probe Donald Trump called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to halt Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, ramping up his attacks on the probe as the president’s former campaign chairman goes on trial for unrelated criminal charges. More
Foxtrot workers protest following company's abrupt closure, demand back pay CHICAGO - Some Foxtrot workers took to the streets Friday for a rally in the wake of the company's abrupt closure. They're asking for 60 days' pay after the sudden mass layoffs. The workers said ... 04/26/2024 - 10:55 am | View Link
This Week In History Bennett Place became a State Historic Site in 1961. April 27: Baseball Hall of Famer Enos “Country” Slaughter of Roxboro. On April 27, 1916, Hall of Fame baseball player Enos Slaughter was born near ... 04/20/2024 - 4:31 am | View Link
Hundreds of Walgreens pharmacists start monthlong protest all over Chicago The demonstration for better pay and working conditions will culminate with a final display at Walgreens’ Deerfield headquarters. 04/18/2024 - 5:43 am | View Link
Q&A: Fayetteville PRIDE co-presidents talk bullying, summer festival, what's next Serving alongside Maddox is Brian Adam Kline, 38, a theater and film teacher at Capital Encore Academy and children’s book author. He said he has lived in Fayetteville for about 15 years and has been ... 03/25/2024 - 3:15 am | View Link
On May 1, reproductive care in Florida will change.
Anyone more than six weeks pregnant will be prohibited by law from getting an abortion.
Obstetricians who work privately, or on a hospital staff, already are fielding questions from patients, while also trying to understand the effect on their practices. A wrong call could lead to criminal charges — for a woman or a doctor.
There are exceptions to the new abortion law.
Palm Beach County Democratic Party Chair Mindy Koch may be back in office after being removed by Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried, but many of the issues that caused her to be removed in the first place remain.
As depicted in a recent Sun Sentinel editorial, there are valid issues that have been cast aside relative to non-compliance on party bylaws by Koch.
Both of Florida’s U. S. senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, recently voted against the aid package to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. They were in a group of 18 senators voting no (as 79 voted yes).
Again and again, they disappoint America and the people of Florida. If polled, the majority of Florida citizens would want to aid these countries that are allies, upholding our democratic values.
Dear Amy: My friend “Tina” and I have been friends since college and are now in our 50s. When we met we were members of a campus religious organization, however as the years passed we both drifted away from our religious affiliations. I now would call myself agnostic.
Recently, Tina had a difficult break-up with a significant other.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden didn’t waste time.
Just minutes into his speech at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Saturday, Biden launched into the issues dominating the 2024 election, including his age and former President Donald Trump’s hush-money trial in New York.
“The 2024 election’s in full swing and yes, age is an issue,” Biden said in a roughly 10-minute speech.
By MIKE SCHNEIDER (Associated Press)
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — During three years of working as a parade performer at the Disneyland Resort in Southern California, Zach Elefante always has had a second or third job to help him earn a living.
Unlike the experiences of his peers at Disney’s parks in Orlando, Florida, where there is a much smaller talent pool, the performers who play Mickey Mouse, Goofy and other beloved Disney characters at the California parks aren’t always provided a consistent work schedule by the company.
It’s among the reasons the California performers are organizing to be represented by a union now, more than four decades after their Florida counterparts did so.
While Disney asks character performers to be available to work at any time, that demand isn’t always rewarded with scheduled work hours, the California performers said.
“A lot of performers get the sense that if they don’t give their full availability, we won’t be in shows … and that will impact other jobs we need to sustain a living in this area,” said Elefante, who lives in Santa Ana, California.
Earlier this month, the California character performers and the union organizing them, Actors’ Equity Association, said they had filed a petition for union recognition.
It’s a different era and a different union doing the organizing this time around, so the California character and parade performers likely will avoid some of the bad blood that the Disney performers in Florida have experienced with their union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
It has been a rocky four-decade marriage in Florida between the performers who put the “magic” in the Magic Kingdom and the Teamsters, a union historically formed for transportation and warehouse workers which had deep ties to organized crime until the late 1980s.
Why now for the California character performers, so many decades after their Florida counterparts organized?