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A Colorado homeless shelter votes to unionize, citing work conditions, lack of pay and support

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:16 GMT

Employees of a Denver nonprofit working with homeless youth voted to unionize their workplace, making Urban Peak the first homeless shelter in Colorado to unionize, according to the Service Employees International Union Local 105.The labor unit has joined SEIU Local 105 after more than a year of organizing, with workers citing problems such as large workloads, high rates of turnover among staff, inadequate training and resources, poor handling of responses to trauma, and punishment for speaking out.On Wednesday, a majority of Urban Peak’s non-management employees voted in favor of establishing the union.“I’m so proud of what we’ve done,” said Jackson Vincent, a relief staff member, adding: “Unionizing, organizing, has even just made the atmosphere and the way that we support each other — regardless of things that need to change — so much better in the workplace.”Urban Peak was established in 1988 as an overnight shelter in a chur...

How wildfires are threatening Colorado water supplies — and costing lots of money

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:16 GMT

The Colorado River this spring ran high, fast and so full of sediment pushed downstream from wildfire burn scars that the water treatment plant in Hot Sulphur Springs couldn’t keep up.The sediment repeatedly clogged the town’s intake valves, forcing town leaders to issue an emergency order in April and call for residents to voluntarily cut back on water use.“It was pretty much to the breaking point,” said Nick Rardin, water operator with the town.The 700-person town 30 miles northwest of Winter Park is the most recent Colorado community to deal with impacts to water supplies due to wildfires. As wildfires become larger and more catastrophic across the drying West, water leaders warn communities must prepare for the eventual impact on the critical watersheds that provide the water flowing from Colorado taps.“We need to figure out what strategies we need to be more resilient in the face of these fires – they’re not going to stop happening,” said Esther Vi...

Cook fatally shot at Wilmington anti-gang violence event

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:16 GMT

Police are looking for two suspects who shot and killed a cook as he left a community event in Wilmington Thursday night.The shooting was reported around 10:15 p.m. near Bay View Avenue and West D Street. Police respond to a fatal shooting in Wilmington on July 27, 2023. (KTLA)The unidentified victim left a few minutes before a Summer Night Lights event at the Wilmington Recreation Center was about to end when he was approached and shot.“Our victim, who was a cook here, just exited and was here on the street when he was approached by unknown suspects who fired rounds at him. Our victim was struck by gunfire,” Los Angeles Police Department Captain Keith Green said. Video captures brawl breaking out in crowded L.A. restaurant Witnesses called authorities, who arrived to find a man down with multiple gunshot wounds. The victim, described only as a 46-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police are looking for two shooters, wearing all-black clothing, who ran off in an unk...

Cannabidiol Straight From Kentucky — A Real Tested CBD Spotlight Review Of Evercure CBD

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:16 GMT

Kentucky may not be the first state that comes to mind when thinking about the hemp industry. Unlike Colorado, Oregon, and California, Kentucky doesn’t have a strong reputation in the weed legalization movement. Although Kentucky still doesn’t allow recreational marijuana, many local tobacco farmers have begun adding legal hemp flowers to their crops. Also, CBD-rich products have become a big business in the Bluegrass State.The relaxed laws surrounding CBD have created more opportunities for Kentucky hemp entrepreneurs. For instance, the company Evercure CBD promises to make high-quality CBD products made from Kentucky-grown hemp flowers. So, does Evercure CBD live up to its advertised claims? Real Tested CBD decided to test one of Evercure’s most popular products to find out.How Does Evercure’s CBD Oil Rank On Real Tested CBD?For our trial, Real Tested CBD ordered Evercure’s signature 600 mg CBD oil. According to the company, this full-spectrum CBD oil...

Mirrorball Dreams of Beach Boys

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:16 GMT

Mirrorball Dreams of Beach Boys: Alexandra Johnstone of L.A. dream-pop duo Mirrorball told us about her Beach Boys experience.Alexandra Johnstone: The best gig I ever saw was in 2012 when all living members of the Beach Boys joined on stage for the reunion tour at the Hollywood Bowl.They sang along with the Dennis Wilson song “Forever” and to Carl Wilson’s vocal for “God Only Knows.”In that moment, the Mike Love andBrian Wilson drama didn’t exist, and it was not even a footnote.As a Beach Boys fan, I think this was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. There was a spiritual, brotherly quality that pulsated through you and down into the earth— I felt it, and I will never forget it.Mirrorball Dreams of Beach Boys: Mirrorball’s single “Red Hot Dust” is out now.                                 &n...

San Jose city employees warned ChatGPT use is a public record

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:16 GMT

As widely popular artificial intelligence platforms such as ChatGPT continue to creep into our lives, San Jose is one of the first major American cities to warn its employees about the reach of the new tool, releasing a host of strict guidelines for AI use.The city is making one thing clear up front: Be careful what you do with this new-fangled gizmo.Everything city workers search for and create within ChatGPT is subject to the California Public Records Act, city officials warn multiple times throughout the newly released 23-page document, meaning that any citizen can get a look at how San Jose employees are using the new AI program.“Presume anything you submit could end up on the front page of a newspaper,” the July 20 memo states on its first page, adding, “Do not use any prompts that may include information not meant for public release.”According to city officials, some employees already are using ChatGPT.“We’ve (heard) folks have experimented with (...

Podziemski’s intense competitive fire led him to NBA, and led Warriors to him

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:16 GMT

LAS VEGAS – Brandin Podziemski was supposed to leave with Trayce Jackson-Davis. Dripping with sweat in his blue Warriors hoodie, they’d done an hour more than their required work for the day, and Vegas was calling.But the No. 19 pick stayed behind. Instead of heading out to enjoy his free time on the Strip, he parked his butt on a metal bleacher and took in an even rarer sight at the Warriors’ practice facility in Las Vegas.Stephen Curry and Chris Paul, two future Hall of Famers and his new teammates, working out together for the first time since 2009.“It’s a million-dollar experience,” Podziemski said. “Anybody would pay any amount of money to watch them two work out.”Who would’ve thought the kid who didn’t take basketball seriously until eighth grade and rode the bench in college just two years ago would wind up here?“It’s a super surreal moment,” Podziemski said.Podziemski stayed for another hour and soaked in every piece of knowledge they were willing to share. They talked about...

Opinion: Cancer-drug shortage creates ‘death panels’ for patients like me

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:16 GMT

More than a decade ago, conservative Republicans led by Sarah Palin created a furor by falsely claiming that proposed federal legislation to provide end-of-life counseling would result in “death panels” that would “pull the plug on Grandma” to save money.Today, something resembling real death panels have sprung up at cancer-care centers across the country, not because of a government plot but because of a poorly regulated free market. A national scarcity of front-line chemotherapy drugs — especially cisplatin and carboplatin — has resulted in rationing the life-extending medications.Many cancer centers have drawn a line in the sand. They offer certain chemo drugs only to patients they think they can cure and withhold them from those they deem incurable, even if the drugs would extend their lives. I’m one of hundreds of thousands of cancer patients on the wrong side of that line and now deemed expendable.For more than five years, I’ve been under treatment for a rare cance...

Silicon Valley office vacancy climbs to “historic high” as tech retrenches

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:16 GMT

SAN JOSE — Silicon Valley’s office vacancy rate has ballooned to what experts describe as a “historic” high level, a fresh indicator of the economic fallout unleashed by the consolidation in the tech sector.The office vacancy rate in Silicon Valley, defined as Santa Clara County and Fremont, reached 21.6% in the April-through-June second quarter, according to a new report from Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate firm.“The Silicon Valley office vacancy rate increased significantly in the second quarter of 2023, finishing at a historic high of 21.6%,” Cushman & Wakefield reported.During the January-through-March first quarter of 2023, the office vacancy in Silicon Valley was 18.4%, according to the real estate firm.Several forbidding outposts contributed to the grim landscape of the Silicon Valley office market and its sky-high vacancy rates.Among the weakest markets in the South Bay, according to Cushman & Wakefield:— Sa...

Huge housing tower is eyed for one-time Sunset campus in Menlo Park

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:16 GMT

MENLO PARK — The leafy, low-slung former headquarters of Sunset Magazine in Menlo Park could become the tallest high-rise in San Mateo County if a project on file with city planners comes to fruition.A sweeping redevelopment is being eyed at the one-time home of the lifestyle publication, which could include several hundred homes, office space for 1,000-plus workers, a hotel and a housing tower that could top 20 stories.80 Willow Road office campus near the corner of Willow Road and Middlefield Road in Menlo Park, shown with the outlines. Boundaries are approximate. (Google Maps)A review of plans on file with Menlo Park city planners shows the most prominent feature of the project at 80 Willow Road would be a residential tower that could soar 328 feet. If the floors were a conventional 12 feet, that could equate to 27 stories.The property owners — a group whose principal executives include the son of a former top government official with close ties to Russia’s...