It might be time for companies in San Francisco to call employees' bluff

The question, and one asked this week by the San Francisco Chronicle, is why San Francisco isn't bouncing back in the same way. As reporter Roland Li writes: "There's always been a disparity -- New York has 10 times the population of San Francisco -- but the coastal tourism and economic hubs have diverged in striking ways as they recover from the pandemic." Consider, writes Li, that while the construction of major commercial property projects in Manhattan were completed during the pandemic -- and while much of that new office space is almost fully leased -- over in San Francisco, projects have stalled and existing buildings struggle to find tenants because of work-from-home policies.

Charlottesville's First Black Woman Police Chief Fired As Officers Refused to Comply

After a midsummer meeting in June 2021, newly hired police chief RaShall Brackney felt the need to double down on her personal safety, unholstering her gun as she left headquarters. Brackney's fear however was not prompted by the activity on the streets, or even the ongoing public threats made against the police department over the years. Instead, she found herself afraid of her own subordinates, cops who wanted her gone after making some controversial, yet necessary shake ups throughout the force.

Florida Has An Outrageous New Law Targeting Teachers. Here's Why I'll Be Breaking It.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit held at the Tampa Convention Center on July 22 in Tampa, Florida. In a couple of weeks, I'll walk back into my college classroom and continue my second decade of teaching at one of Florida's universities. Despite the recently passed HB 7 Amendment (Stop WOKE Act), I won't be adjusting my syllabi to remove readings or discussions that make students “uncomfortable,” and I won't pretend that systemic racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia and other forms of oppression do not exist.

Trump property appraiser no longer in contempt in NY civil probe

Cushman & Wakefield, which appraised several properties belonging to Donald Trump, is no longer in contempt of court for not complying with a subpoena for the New York attorney general's civil probe into the former U.S. president's business. In an order made public on Friday, Justice Arthur Engoron of a New York state court in Manhattan said Cushman had "purged its contempt of court," and that under an agreement with Attorney General Letitia James "no fines were paid, or need be paid." The attorney general is investigating whether Trump and his family business, the Trump Organization, fraudulently inflated the values of golf clubs, hotels and other assets to obtain loans, and reduced those values to save on taxes.

'What is wrong with this state?' Holland resident might leave Michigan after housing nightmare

"What I had left evaporated into nothing," he said. "I had to try to find work here in West Michigan and there was nothing in Holland, so there was Muskegon or Grand Rapids." But job after job didn't pan out.

Gang of female shoplifters stole thousands of dollars worth of men's Nike boxer shorts from Kohl's stores, investigators say

Police say three women stole about $1,800 worth of men's underwear from a Kohl's store in Newnan, Georgia. Kohl's says they stole Nike men's boxer shorts, which cost between $26 and $40, per Fox 5 Atlanta. More than $6,000 worth of high-end men's underwear has been stolen from Kohl's stores in the area, say police.

Oregon cops make arrests in thefts of 44,000 catalytic converters

Police in suburban Portland, Oregon, said Thursday they arrested a crime ring leader responsible for trafficking more than 44,000 catalytic converters stolen from vehicles on the West Coast since 2021. Beaverton police say they busted a local organized crime ring, arresting two suspected ringleaders and 12 suspected associates. According to Oregon Live, authorities were alerted to the operations when one of the suspects was caught hauling 100 stolen catalytic converters during a traffic stop late in 2021.

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  Cops: Oregon crime ring moved $22M in catalytic converters

  Statesman Journal
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  Catalytic converter thefts rising in Roswell, police say

  WSB Cox articles

In her own words: SC Mega Millions winner’s testimony shows how she lost $83 million to NY attorney

On the morning after she became a multi-millionaire, a South Carolina woman drove by the KC Mart No. in Simpsonville where she bought her lottery ticket, to see if anyone was there, just in case she had made a mistake and didn't really win. It was the largest Mega Millions jackpot to be won by a single ticket — more than $1.5 billion — and she had seen the numbers reported on television.

Over 300 companies left Russia and hundreds more have curtailed operations after the Ukraine invasion. The 47 that remain run the risk of being nationalized by Putin

In the six months since Russia invaded Ukraine, around 300 global companies have exited the Russian market, and another 700 have halted new investments and projects, or curbed operations in the country. Western firms from the U.S. and Europe dominate the long list, which includes banks Citi and Goldman Sachs, apparel brands like Burberry and Adidas, and technology giants like IBM, Intel, Snap and Twitter, according to research from the Yale School of Management. The large-scale corporate exodus, alongside tough western sanctions, has devastated the Russian economy—reversing decades of foreign investment and cooperation—despite the Kremlin's continued petrodollar inflow and its insistence that Russia is faring just fine.

Wisconsin GOP leader Vos fires 2020 election investigator

Wisconsin's Republican Assembly leader on Friday ended a 14-month, taxpayer-funded inquiry into the 2020 election by firing his hand-picked investigator. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos' firing of Michael Gableman came just three days after the lawmaker narrowly survived a primary challenge from an opponent endorsed by former President Donald Trump and Gableman. While Gableman found no evidence of widespread fraud during his inquiry, he had joined Trump in calling for lawmakers to consider decertifying the 2020 election — something Vos and legal experts say is unconstitutional and impossible.

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  Vos fires Wisconsin election investigator Gableman

  WITI
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  Robin Vos fires Michael Gableman, ending a 2020 election review that's cost taxpayers more than $1 million and produced no evidence of fraud

  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

‘Cold, cold blood’: why were eight Ohio relatives killed the same night?

When eight members of the Rhoden family were murdered in rural Ohio, in 2016, Edward “Jake” Wagner and other members of the nearby Wagner family denied any involvement. Then on 22 April 2021, exactly five years after the murders, Jake Wagner stood in a courtroom in Pike county, a hilly corner of Appalachia where everyone knows everyone and families stick tightly together, and told a judge, “I am guilty, your honor.” One of the victims, 19-year-old Hanna Rhoden, was the mother of his child.

Low water levels at Lake Mead reveal more than just human remains

Lake Mead National Recreation Area is showing the dramatic effects of falling water levels from the ongoing drought. The nation's largest reservoir is now giving up many of its secrets, including a fourth set of human remains discovered since May. Among those found were the remains of Daniel Kolod, who went missing in 1958.

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  Droughts are unearthing unexpected finds ranging from World War II bombs to Sin City skeletons

  Business Insider
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  Las Vegas family suspects remains found at Lake Mead are Army veteran who drowned saving wife

  KLAS Las Vegas

Are naps actually good for you? Here’s what sleep experts say

Taking a nap when you're sick is a sign that your immune system is doing its job, Waters says. "When you are sick, your immune cells release chemical messengers to direct the body's response and healing," she explains. "These messengers also make you sleepy."

J.J. Watt feels like ‘a wimp’ after bathroom drama at home

J.J. Watt had an unwanted guest in his bathroom Saturday morning. The Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman is ready to handle anything and everything on the field. What he wasn't about to handle, touch or get near was the “baby rattlesnake” curled up in the corner of one of the bathrooms at his home.

Minnesota's Finstad sworn in as newest member of Congress

Minnesota Republican Brad Finstad was sworn in Friday as the newest member of the U.S. House, giving the GOP one more seat, which means Democrats can't afford to lose more than four votes on close issues like their flagship climate change and health care bill. Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a ceremonial photo op afterward with a smiling Finstad, who was surrounded by members of his large family, including his wife, Jackie, and their seven children. “It's a special day for us to welcome a new member of Congress, Mr. Finstad, and his beautiful family,” Pelosi said.

GOP Rep. James Comer says Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert have shown interest in being on Oversight Committee in a Republican-controlled House

Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert have shown interest in joining the Oversight panel. GOP ranking member James Comer told Politico that the conservative pair were eyeing the committee. Republican leaders hope to retake the House this fall and vigorously probe the Biden administration.

Azov Regiment Commander Prokopenko taken to Russia his wife

SUNDAY, 14 AUGUST 2022, 12:23 Russian media have reported that Denys Prokopenko, commander of the Azov Regiment, has been taken to Russia, but government agencies and the Red Cross have yet to confirm this. Source: Kateryna Prokopenko, wife of Azov Regiment Commander Denys Prokopenko, in interview for Suspilne Quote from Kateryna: "I only know that he was taken to Russia and, generally speaking, this has not been confirmed yet. I found out about Denys's whereabouts through Russian media.

Author Salman Rushdie attacked on lecture stage in New York

Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked Friday as he was about to give a lecture in western New York. An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man storm the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing Rushdie as he was being introduced. Rushdie's book “The Satanic Verses” has been banned in Iran since 1988, as many Muslims consider it to be blasphemous.

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  Salman Rushdie ‘getting the care he needs’ says New York governor

  Yahoo News Video
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  Police: Rushdie undergoes surgery after attack

  Associated Press Videos

American Airlines stopped a family from boarding a flight after they said their daughter had special needs

A family was not allowed to board an American flight after saying their daughter had special needs. A family was not allowed to board an American Airlines flight after telling staff their daughter had special needs. The family were flying from Orlando, Florida to Richmond, Virginia via Charlotte on June 6 when they missed their connection due to a two-hour delay on their first leg.

Renowned researcher Marty Martin, dubbed ‘the ambassador of rattlesnakes,’ dies from rattlesnake bite

William “Marty” Martin, a renowned snake researcher who dedicated his life's work to the study of timber rattlesnakes, died last week after he was bitten by a snake on the property of his West Virginia home, his wife said. Martin, who was described as the “ambassador of rattlesnakes” in a 2019 profile on the online journal Terrain, was just 13 years old when he documented the first instance of timber rattlesnakes in the Bull Run Mountains in Virginia. At the age of 17, he became a founding member of the Virginia Herpetological Society, and for 30 years he served on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's timber rattlesnake task force, which worked to preserve the species, according to Reptiles Magazine.

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  Respected snake researcher dies from rattlesnake bite

  Associated Press
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  There are 3 types of rattlesnakes found in NC. Here’s how to identify them.

  Raleigh News and Observer

Eleven dead in mass shooting in Montenegro, state prosecutor says

CETINJE, Montenegro (Reuters) -Eleven people, including two children and a gunman, were killed in a mass shooting in Montenegro on Friday, and six others were injured, a state prosecutor told Vijesti TV after an initial investigation of the crime scene. Montenegro Police director Zoran Brdjanin said that around 3.30 p.m.(1330 GMT) a 34-year old man with a hunting rifle shot dead two siblings, one 8 years old and another 11 years old, and injured their mother who died later in the afternoon in a medical facility. "The family was staying at the house of the shooter as tenants," Brdjanin said.

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  Montenegro prosecutor says children among the dead in mass shooting

  Reuters Videos
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  Gunman in Montenegro kills 10, then shot dead by passerby

  Associated Press

Rudy Giuliani says Trump will 'raid every one of Biden's houses' if the former president wins the 2024 presidential election

Giuliani says Trump will "raid every one of Biden's houses" if the ex-president runs and wins in 2024. "Breaking into the home of a former president is a political act," Giuliani told The New York Post. The FBI is probing Trump for potential violations of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice.

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  Group rallies against FBI raid of former President Trump's home

  KTVQ
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  Trump Under Investigation for Potential Obstruction of Justice, Espionage Act Violations

  National Review

‘Shocked and disheartened’: How coal country is reacting to Manchin’s climate deal

Coal country is still reeling from Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-W.Va.) decision to back a sweeping climate and energy package that will accelerate the nation's transition away from coal. In the Mountain State, the once-burgeoning coal industry says it feels betrayed, displaced coal workers are celebrating the bill's black lung benefits and Republicans seeking Manchin's seat in 2024 are licking their chops. The Inflation Reduction Act includes several Appalachia-centric measures, including subsidies to build renewable energy projects on former coal fields and the permanent extension of a tax on coal companies that funds benefits for miners suffering from black lung disease.