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Pritzker signs bill mandating paid leave for Illinois workers

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:15:59 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Gov. JB Pritzker is expected to sign a bill Monday which will mandate paid leave for nearly all Illinois workers.It's called the Paid Leave for All Workers Act. It's a bill that was passed by the Illinois General Assembly earlier this year and is now making its way to the governor's desk.It will require employers in the state to give their employees time off based on the hours they've worked, and unlike before, they can be used for any reason.Most employees will get a minimum of 40 hours, or what's equivalent to five days, of paid leave per year and employers will have the option to offer more if they'd like.The time will be available for use on the worker's 90th day of employment. While the time can be used for any reason, an employer can still require prior notice before taking the time off.Up to 40 hours of unused paid leave can be carried over annually, but employers are not required to pay out the balance if a person leaves the workspace. Employers that viol...

$201 cardboard box among Silicon Valley Bank-branded items for sale on eBay

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:15:59 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – From coffee mugs to a cardboard box, swag from the now-failed financial institution Silicon Valley Bank is attracting bids on eBay.Along with those who appear to be manufacturing items with the SVB logo and tongue-in-cheek "Bank Run 2023 FDIC 250K" OR "Risk Management Department" messages, there are number of other singular items for sale.A branded "corporate swag" tumbler and bottle set surpassed $75 Monday with nearly seven days before the auction's close. Bidding for a hat and 12-ounce tumbler set reached $100. Tom Brady’s ‘retirement sand’ auctioning off for $99,990 on eBay The seller of a $50 used, blue SVB coffee mug claims to have been an employee at the failed bank:I worked for Silicon Valley Bank in the Enterprise Business Analytics team as a data scientist," the alleged former employee wrote. I am utterly shocked by what has happened and am extremely concerned about the future. Buying this mug helps me out but also gets you a piece of history to one of the fa...

Iowa man pretended to ATF agent, police allege

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:15:59 GMT

A 56-year-old Davenport man faces multiple charges - including impersonating a public official - after police allege he wore law-enforcement attire and pulled over a driver for a traffic stop.Craig Weber fares a felony charge of having a short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun, three aggravated misdemeanor charges of impersonating a public official, and a serious misdemeanor charge of false imprisonment, court records show. Chicago man files class action suit against Buffalo Wild Wings, says boneless wings are just nuggets Craig Weber (photo: Scott County Jail) Driver claimed to be ATF agent, police allegeAbout 12:50 a.m. Feb. 8, Iowa State Patrol conducted a traffic stop on a red Ford Escape SE police allege was speeding 75 mph in a posted 55 mph zone at Interstate 74 westbound at the Lincoln overpass, arrest affidavits say.According to affidavits, Weber, the driver, said he knew he was speeding, and said he was an ATF agent out of the Quad Cities office. He said he has be...

'We've got a lot to prove': 9th-seed Illinois grateful yet motivated for NCAA Tournament

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:15:59 GMT

CHAMPAIGN - For the first time in over a decade, it's a "three-peat" for the program when it comes to "March Madness.'Yet it's a bit different than the past few years when Illinois was coming into the NCAA Tournament off conference championships of some sort. The Illini got a No. 1 seed after winning the Big Ten Tournament in 2021 then got a fourth seed after winning the conference regular season championship in 2022.This year, Brad Underwood's team has a No. 9 seed as they get ready to take part in the West Region of the Division I men's basketball tournament. They'll face eighth-seeded Arkansas on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. central time in Des Moines, facing a tremendous challenge just to get out of the opening round.Should they do so, top-seeded Kansas is likely waiting for them in the second round, making for a difficult road for the Illini to snap an 18-year Sweet 16 drought.It's put Illinois in the underdog role heading into another NCAA Tournament, but it's not like Underwood is t...

What Role Did Trump Play In The Collapse Of The Silicon Valley Bank

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:15:59 GMT

Spring arrives weeks earlier for much of the country

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:15:59 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — As our temperatures continue to climb and our pollen continues to spike, you may be noticing more and more trees, plants and flowers budding and blooming noticeably earlier than years passed.The USA-NPN or National Phenology Network monitors the rise in temperatures and the impacts our changing climate has on our plants across the United States. It even has a page solely dedicated to the status of spring across the nation. La Niña has ended — Here’s what’s next and when El Niño could begin Being able to track seasonal and year-to-year changes with our growing seasons can help farmers and the food industries that rely on them. This type of information can also be valuable to local gardeners planting or harvesting at the most appropriate time. The National Phenology Network's research has led to the creation of 'The First Leaf Index' and 'The First Bloom Index.' Data of lilacs and honeysuckles were chosen as the plants/shrubs it tracked to help create these maps. The...

Paul J. Davies: A full banking crisis isn’t apparent in the Silicon Valley Bank wreckage

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:15:59 GMT

The market still appears to be hunting for weakness among some smaller U.S. banks and even across Europe after U.S. authorities stepped in to guarantee deposits at Silicon Valley Bank. This makes little sense: There should be no snowballing of runs on banks. But profit expectations could be trimmed at many firms, which could justify some — but far from all — of the price declines.The Federal Reserve brought out its bazooka Sunday, guaranteeing funds for any bank whose depositors might have been clicking “withdraw” over the weekend. The central bank saw clear potential for a systemic crisis in the closures of SVB and Signature Bank and acted to kill it before it got started.In Europe, the much smaller local office of SVB in the UK was easily absorbed into HSBC Holdings Plc in a private solution negotiated by regulators swiftly over the weekend. The chances of contagion were far smaller in Europe anyway, in part because rules designed to ensure that banks can c...

St. Paul nonprofit completes purchase of surplus Duluth Harbor lighthouse

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:15:59 GMT

DULUTH, Minn. — A historic 43-foot-tall lighthouse at the entrance to the Duluth Ship Canal has a new owner.Rethos, a St. Paul-based historic preservation nonprofit, was awarded the Duluth Harbor North Pierhead Light by the National Park Service last month.In 2021, the U.S. Coast Guard announced it no longer needed the lighthouse that was built in 1910 at the end of the north breakwater of Duluth’s shipping canal.It first offered the structure to government agencies, nonprofits or educational groups at no cost. So Rethos submitted an application.“It seemed kind of crazy to me that we would take over a lighthouse, but it also seemed pretty spectacular to be able to take over a lighthouse, especially one in Duluth on Lake Superior where we could tell that really great story of Duluth,” said Rethos Executive Director Heidi Swank.Swank received an email last month informing her that Rethos was the new owner of the lighthouse, she said. She received a hard copy of the letter signed...

Vikings agree to sign TE Josh Oliver, restructure LB Jordan Hicks’ deal

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:15:59 GMT

The Vikings are still working to get under the salary cap but that didn’t stop them from making a big splash on the first day of the free-agent negotiating period.A source said Minnesota agreed Monday to sign tight end Josh Oliver to a three-year, $21 million contract with $10.75 million guaranteed. Oliver, who could make as much as $24 million with incentives, is a top blocking tight end who caught 14 passes for 149 yards last season with Baltimore.The Vikings entered Monday about $7 million over the salary cap but to drop that number have agreed to restructured deals with linebacker Jordan Hicks and offensive lineman Chris Reed. They still have work to do, and must be under the cap by 3 p.m. Wednesday, the s first official day of the NFL year.Entering his fifth season, Oliver will team with Pro Bowl selection T.J. Hockenson to give Minnesota a strong one-two punch at tight end. It’s generally been known since the Vikings acquired Hockenson from Detroit last November th...

Trudy Rubin: Netanyahu’s attack on Israel’s judiciary also impacts the United States

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:15:59 GMT

It is quite stunning to watch the elected leader of a democracy drag his country toward authoritarianism and a civil war — and all for egotistical reasons.No, I’m not referring to attempted coup leader and election denier Donald Trump, who promised his followers last weekend that, if reelected, “I am your justice. I am your retribution.”Rather, I’m pointing at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, who, in an apparent effort to avoid conviction in his ongoing corruption trials, is trying to destroy the independence of the Israeli courts, and pandering to ultra-radical cabinet ministers who guarantee him the votes to do so.Down that road lies serious instability within Israel, where hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens have been protesting Netanyahu’s attack on democracy. Down that road also lies the prospect of a new Palestinian uprising on the West Bank, and the possible fracture of Israel’s Abraham Accords with ...