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Supreme Court throws out case that could have limited lawsuits over disability access

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:13:20 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a case surrounding a Maine hotel that could have made it harder for people with disabilities to learn in advance whether a hotel’s accommodations meet their needs.Hotels and other business interests had urged the justices to limit the ability of so-called testers to file lawsuits against hotels that fail to disclose accessibility information on their websites and through other reservation services.The information is required by a 2010 Justice Department rule. People who suffer discrimination can sue under the landmark Americans With Disabilities Act, signed into law in 1990.The justices did not issue a decision on the substance of the case. Instead, they dismissed the case and threw out a lower court ruling in favor of tester lawsuits. The outcome leaves the issue unresolved nationally.Federal courts in some parts of the country allow such lawsuits. In others, those suits are barred.The case in front of the court involve...

Gerry Fraley wins BBWAA Career Excellence Award, top honor for baseball writers

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:13:20 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Gerry Fraley, a gregarious and tempestuous reporter over four decades until his death four years ago, won the BBWAA Career Excellence Award on Tuesday.The honor was announced by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America at the winter meetings. Fraley will be honored during the Hall of Fame’s induction weekend from July 19-22 in Cooperstown, New York.Known for his quick humor and combustible temper, Fraley died in May 2019 at age 64 after a two-year battle with cancer.He received 173 of 370 ballots from BBWAA members with 10 or more consecutive years’ service after finishing second last year, two votes behind John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press.San Francisco Chronicle columnist Bruce Jenkins received 113 votes this year and New York Post baseball columnist Joel Sherman got 83. There was one blank ballot submitted in voting conducted by mail in November.“Frales,” as he was called throughout baseball, became the 75th winner of the honor, known as the J....

U of T named world’s most sustainable university

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:13:20 GMT

The University of Toronto (U of T) has been recognized as the most sustainable university in the world in a new ranking.The QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2024, which evaluates post-secondary institutions for their environmental impact, social impact and governance, features nearly 1,400 global universities.U of T rose from second place in last year’s ranking, with the University of California, Berkeley taking the top spot in that edition. The method tracks how post-secondary institutions tackle the world’s most prominent environmental, social and governance challenges. U of T was ranked third for environmental and seventh for social impact.The environmental impact category comprises sustainable education, sustainable institutions and sustainable research, while the social impact category includes employment and opportunities, equality, life quality, impact of education and knowledge exchange.Canadian universities rank highly in sustainabilityOther Canadian...

US job openings fall to lowest level since March 2021 as labor market cools

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:13:20 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers posted 8.7 million job openings in October, the fewest since March 2021, in a sign that hiring is cooling in the face of higher interest rates yet remains at a still-healthy pace. The Labor Department’s report said Tuesday that openings were down significantly from 9.4 million in September.Layoffs were up modestly in October. And the number of Americans who quit their jobs – which generally reflects confidence in their ability to find better pay or working conditions elsewhere — was down slightly.Despite dropping in October, job openings remain at historically high levels. They have now exceeded 8 million for 32 straight months — a threshold they had never reached before 2021.U.S. hiring is slowing from the breakneck pace of the past two years. Still, employers have added a solid 239,000 jobs a month this year. And the unemployment rate has come in below 4% for 21 straight months, the longest such streak since the 1960s.The job market has shown...

Rate of sexual assault in the Canadian Armed Forces rising, StatCan survey suggests

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:13:20 GMT

A new report from Statistics Canada suggests the problem of sexual misconduct in the military is getting worse.The survey suggests 3.5 per cent of Canadian Armed Forces personnel say they were sexually assaulted by another military member in 2022.That is a significant increase from the 1.6 per cent reported in the same survey in 2018, and 1.7 per cent in 2016.Statistics Canada defines sexual assault as sexual attacks, unwanted touching, and sexual activity when the victim was unable to consent.Victims of these assaults were more likely to be women, the survey found, and they were disproportionately younger, Indigenous, members of the LGBTQ+ community or people with disabilities.Most Armed Forces members who said they were victims of these assaults said they did not report them to authorities, in many cases because they did not think it would make a difference.However, more than half who say they witnessed inappropriate sexual behaviour said they did intervene.Statistics Canada says ...

Scrapyard that caught fire should not be located in centre of Saint John, says panel

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:13:20 GMT

FREDERICTON — A panel investigating a major scrapyard fire in Saint John, N.B., says the site is at significant risk of future, potentially catastrophic, explosions.The panel was established with representatives from Port Saint John and the provincial government to investigate the Sept. 14 fire at the American Iron & Metal plant, located by the city’s harbour.The massive fire took nearly three days to extinguish and prompted officials to warn residents to stay indoors and close their windows.In a report released today, the panel says the location of the plant, which is close to a residential neighbourhood, is entirely inappropriate.It says Saint John’s water resources were not to sufficient to deal with the Sept. 14 fire, and that the city is ill-equipped to manage potential future fires at the site.The panel says the negative socio-economic impacts of the plant are unacceptable to nearby residents and surrounding communities.This report by The Canadian Press was fir...

Assembly of First Nations meeting kicks off as election of new national chief looms

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:13:20 GMT

OTTAWA — A special meeting of the Assembly of First Nations is kicking off in Ottawa on Tuesday, as chiefs get ready to elect a new leader. The election of the organization’s next national chief comes as members look for a reset, following a turbulent period when their internal politics were as high-profile as their advocacy for some 600 First Nations. Former national chief RoseAnne Archibald was ousted in June at a special chiefs’ assembly held to address the findings of an investigation into complaints from five staff members about her conduct.The third-party independent review concluded some of Archibald’s behaviour amounted to harassment. It also found she breached internal policies by retaliating against complainants and failing to maintain confidentiality about the matter.Archibald denied those allegations, and her supporters maintain she was removed from the post for trying to change the organization’s status quo.Of the 231 chiefs who took part in the ...

PAWS Chicago rescues dogs and cats from 'horrific' conditions, meat trade in Dominica

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:13:20 GMT

CHICAGO — PAWS Chicago took part in a harrowing journey over the weekend to rescue around 75 dogs and cats subjected to "horrific" conditions and a cat meat trade in the Caribbean Island of Dominica.The only animal shelter on the small island, St. Nicholas Animal Rescue, was forced to close after losing their lease.PAWS Chicago joined a coalition put together by Wings of Rescue, a charity that provided the plane and has transported 70,000 pets out of harm's way since 2012.Wings of Rescue CEO Ric Browde told WGN News he's spent a lot of time in Dominica and that some of the cats and kittens were saved from the cat meat trade."There's an underground way of buying cats to eat them," Wings of Rescue CEO Ric Browde said. "It got to the point where the shelter would not adopt out adult cats."Without hesitation, PAWS Chicago arranged for a large in-take effort on Saturday night.Courtesy PAWS ChicagoCourtesy PAWS ChicagoCourtesy PAWS ChicagoCourtesy PAWS ChicagoCourtesy PAWS ChicagoCourtesy...

Classic holiday song tops Hot 100 for first time, dethroning Mariah Carey

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:13:20 GMT

(WJW) — Brenda Lee's 65-year-old holiday classic "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" has reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time.The 78-year-old singer breaks multiple records with the latest ranking, which, according to reports from Billboard, became the third holiday song to ever hold the top spot, following “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)” and Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You."Brenda Lee arrives at the 57th Annual CMA Awards on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)As reported by People, Lee was only 13 years old when she recorded the 1958 classic. Now, she's the oldest artist to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100. It's also the longest a song has waited to top the charts in Billboard Hot 100 history since it was first released, according to reports. The grocery prices in ‘Home Alone’ are freaking people out on TikTok: ‘Insane’ It's Lee's third No. 1 song ...

6.9 million users of 23andMe had personal information stolen by hackers

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:13:20 GMT

(The Hill) — An estimated 6.9 million users of the genetic testing company 23andMe had their personal information stolen by hackers in a recent data breach, a company spokesperson confirmed to The Hill on Monday. According to the spokesperson, an estimated 5.5 million users had their data accessed from the company's DNA Relatives feature, which helps users find and connect with family relatives who also have the feature enabled. Hackers also breached the data of an additional 1.4 million people's family tree profiles, which includes a variety of identifying information about the user, the spokesperson said. TechCrunch first reported the estimated 6.9 million users impacted by the breach. Why Apple is urging ‘all users’ to update their iOS 23andMe first announced the data breach in early October and said both third-party forensic experts and federal law enforcement officials were assisting in the investigation.Last Friday, the company said the investigation was complete, and filed...