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Jesse Wegman: We waited 200 years for this Supreme Court ethics code?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:41:52 GMT

On first impulse, I was tempted to say something nice about the Supreme Court’s first-ever ethics code, which the justices released on Monday after years of pleas from the American public and lawmakers of both parties. But the most striking thing about the code was its resentful tone: call it the condescension of the unelected.In responding to the widespread outrage that has followed detailed news reports of repeated and egregious ethical violations — most notably by two of its most senior justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — the court chose to gaslight the American people, upon whom it depends for its legitimacy.“The absence of a code,” the court wrote in a sniffy, one-paragraph opening statement, “has led in recent years to the misunderstanding that the justices of this court, unlike all other jurists in this country, regard themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules.”As Alito might say, not true. The only misunderstanding here (a willful one, it seems) is on the part ...

Bencivenga, Fugh-Berman: Menopause is not a disability. Why are employers being asked to treat it like one?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:41:52 GMT

Menopause is not a disease and not a disability, but you wouldn’t know that from recent articles about how employers should offer menopause-specific benefits to employees. The end of childbearing potential may be celebrated or mourned, but cessation of the menstrual cycle is not a medically important event. Sure, some women have hot flashes (also called vasomotor symptoms), and for a minority of women those hot flashes are troublesome. But the idea that workplace modifications are needed for occasional sweating episodes is peculiar. The only other symptom definitively linked to menopause is vaginal dryness, for which it is difficult to imagine workplace relevance.Most menopausal women don’t experience bothersome symptoms. But if one attributes every aging-related or life-related symptom to menopause, the prevalence of bothersome symptoms rises rapidly. A report on menopause and the workplace from the National Menopause Foundation, in partnership with Bank of America, fou...

Zomorodi, Diaz: Sitting down all day is killing us. The cure is surprisingly simple — and difficult

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:41:52 GMT

From head to toe, our bodies are adapting to accommodate our devices. A majority of U.S. workers spend most of each weekday seated and looking at screens. We’ve thereby put ourselves in the midst of a slow-moving health crisis marked by alarming rates of early-onset diabetes and hypertension. Plus, by the end of most days — though it’s not the preferred medical terminology — we just feel like crap.Many of us ignore our Apple Watches’ insistent, buzzing reminders to get up and move. Others work out before heading to our desks, mistakenly assuming an early-morning sweat makes up for the hours of sitting to come. And then there are the disciples of the standing desk, which unfortunately won’t fix our irregular blood sugar and lipid levels either.After setting out to pinpoint the minimum amount of movement needed to offset the harms of our sedentary lives, Columbia University Medical Center researchers found that five minutes of gentle walking every h...

State of Minnesota reissuing nearly 150,000 uncashed or expired tax rebate checks

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:41:52 GMT

The Minnesota Department of Revenue is reissuing nearly 150,000 one-time tax rebate checks that went either uncashed and had expired.The department on Wednesday announced it is mailing a first round of unclaimed checks this week. A second batch will go out in the mail in early December.Gov. Tim Walz in May signed a $3 billion tax bill authorizing an estimated $1.1 billion in one-time tax rebates for more than 2 million Minnesotans. The final amount ended up being just less than $1 billion.Payments started reaching mailboxes and bank accounts in August and September. People who got checks had 60 days from the issue date to cash them in.Single filers earning up to $75,000 a year were eligible for $260 checks, joint filers earning up to $150,000 were eligible for $520 checks, and households got $260 for each dependent up to three. A married couple with three children could receive up to $1,300.The Revenue Department determined eligibility based on adjusted gross income in 2021.Reissued...

Biden holds press conference following meeting with China's Xi Jinping: Watch live

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:41:52 GMT

President Biden is slated to hold a press conference Wednesday evening, following his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit (APEC), as The Hill reported.Biden went into the meeting with some key goals, including resuming direct military-to-military lines of communication as a way to lower the temperature between Washington and Beijing. The sensitive issue of Taiwan was also on the table, as were the wars in Europe and the Middle East. The meeting marked the first time Xi had come to the U.S. in six years. Biden and Xi last met one year ago in Indonesia but had not spoken since.The event is scheduled to begin at 8:15 p.m. EST.Watch the live video above.

Man arrested Wednesday in disturbing St. Louis County sexual misconduct case

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:41:52 GMT

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. - Authorities arrested a man who allegedly committed acts of sexual misconduct around a minor and briefly trespassed her home Wednesday morning. Prosecutors have charged Christopher Martin, 25, with three felonies: sexual misconduct involving a child under 15, first-degree sexual misconduct, and first-degree trespassing. NOTE: Viewers may find some details in this story to be disturbing. Mayor resigns, hired weeks later in new job making 6x more The St. Louis County Police Department says a record check of Martin revealed he had an active warrant for sexual misconduct out of the City of St. Louis. According to a probable cause statement obtained by FOX 2, Martin approached the victim while she was on her way to a bus stop near Fleta Street and Seth Avenue in south St. Louis County. Around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Martin allegedly exposed himself and asked a girl to have sex. The victim ran away from the scene and back to her home, and her mother notified police ...

Ex-St. Louis postal worker admits to depositing checks from stolen mail

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:41:52 GMT

ST. LOUIS - A St. Louis woman and former U.S. Postal Service admitted to stealing checks from the mail and depositing them in her own account during a federal court hearing Wednesday. Porcia Rhodes, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of mail theft by a USPS employee. She was originally charged with four counts of bank fraud. Mayor resigns, hired weeks later in new job making 6x more Prosecutors claim Rhodes committed the crimes between July 26, 2022, and Sept. 22, 2022, replacing the payee’s name on the check with her own and depositing the checks with a mobile device.An indictment alleges Rhodes altered and deposited or attempted to deposit 21 checks totaling more than $5,000. According to her plea agreement, Rhodes said she intercepted a birthday card containing a $500 check that a Troy, Illinois, woman was trying to mail to her grandson in Florida. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. S...

Legal Lens: Push for Missouri statute of limitations reform in sexual abuse cases

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:41:52 GMT

ST. LOUIS - There’s an effort underway in Missouri to change the statute of limitations for when victims of sexual abuse can take civil action against their abuser. In Wednesday's Legal Lens segment, Brown & Crouppen attorney Andrea McNairy takes a closer look at why some say the change is needed. 

Mandatory evacuations lifted in southeast Wellington following home explosion

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:41:52 GMT

LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. — Mandatory evacuations have been lifted in southeast Wellington following a home explosion Wednesday afternoon.Evacuations were ordered from Jockey Drive south to the area of Little Fox Lane to Back Stretch Drive at around 3:11 p.m.No information as to what caused the explosion was immediately available, but pictures obtained by Denver7 at the scene showed a multi-story home partially collapsed from the explosion.It’s not clear if any residents were inside at the time.Read more at our partner, Denver7.

10 Freeway: Crews completely clear hazardous materials 2 days ahead of schedule

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:41:52 GMT

Crews working to clear the remains of hazardous materials left behind from the destructive fire that significantly damaged the 10 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles have finished ahead of schedule, clearing the way for Caltrans crews to begin the important restoration work needed to reopen the vital roadway.On Wednesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that Caltrans emergency contractors cleared all the hazardous materials from the repair site two days earlier than originally expected.With that milestone reached, repair crews now have full access on the site to shore up support pillars and speed up repairs, Newsom said."This critical, ahead-of-schedule milestone helps us safely get Los Angeles’ traffic moving in December," Gov. Newsom said. "I’m grateful for Caltrans District 7’s around-the-clock work to safely repair the 10 as quickly as possible. California is leveraging an all-of-government approach working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to get this done." Closure of 10 ...