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Opinion: Calculating the unprecedented economic costs of COVID

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:12 GMT

The economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States will reach $14 trillion by the end of this year, our team of economists, public policy researchers and other experts estimate. That makes it by far the costliest disaster the country has suffered this century.Putting a price tag on all the pain, suffering and upheaval people here and around the world have experienced from the pandemic is of course hard to do. More than 1.1 million Americans have died of COVID, and many more have been hospitalized or lost loved ones.We used data from the first 2½ years of the pandemic to forecast total economic losses from the pandemic over four years, from January 2020 through December 2023.Our team used economic modeling to approximate the revenue lost because of mandatory business closures at the beginning of the pandemic. We also used modeling to assess the economic consequences of the many changes in personal behavior that continued long after lockdown orders were lifted, such as th...

Police: Caregiver raped patient at Marin seniors’ home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:12 GMT

A Novato man has been charged with raping a patient at a San Rafael care home where he worked as a hospice nurse.Michael Andre Shipe, 65, was linked to the crime from DNA tests on evidence in the case, said San Rafael police Sgt. Justin Graham.Michael Andre Shipe of Novato was booked on May 10, 2023, on allegations he raped a patient at a San Rafael care home where he worked. (Marin County Jail photo) The alleged crime was reported in September at Cogir of San Rafael Memory Care at 111 Merrydale Road. The center specializes in services for dementia patients and also offers hospice care.The woman had a sexual assault examination, and San Rafael police obtained a search warrant to get a sample of Shipe’s DNA. Police sent the material to a state lab, which matched the genetic profile to Shipe, Graham said.Police arrested Shipe on May 10 after receiving the test results. He was booked into the Marin County Jail with a bail amount of $200,000.On Thursday, the Marin County District A...

Sempervirens Fund purchase expands Big Basin Redwoods State Park conservation area

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:12 GMT

BOULDER CREEK — The Sempervirens Fund on Tuesday announced that the land trust recently purchased a 16.5-acre patch of forest adjacent to Big Basin Redwoods State Park known as the Sterrenzee Ridgetop.The ridgetop overlooks Big Basin to the west and Boulder Creek to the east, and is populated with second-growth redwoods and hardwoods, mostly untouched by the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex fires. The Sterrenzee Ridgetop is located on the northern edge of the 153-acre property known as the Gateway to Big Basin, which the land trust acquired last year, and follows on the heels of its purchase in January of the 15-acre Saddle Mountain Vista property, which lies just south of the gateway.Sterrenzee Ridgetop was purchased for $500,000 from Kurt and Mary Mortensen, and Saddle Mountain Vista was purchased for $376,500 from Andrea Potter. The purchases were made with financial support from Resources Legacy Fund and the Sempervirens Fund donors.“This series of land acquisitions will expand prote...

Opinion: Make digital world accessible to S.J.’s disabled community

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:12 GMT

There has been substantial public discussion around equity in society. Conversations frequently focus on gender, income, race or sexual orientation. But often missing is the disabled community, which overlaps with all identified groups.There are many disability categories, but people often think of the most visible types, such as wheelchair-bound individuals and their need for unencumbered physical access. However, accessibility is not limited to the physical world; it includes the digital world. Individuals classified under various disability categories must utilize “screen-reader” software to navigate and read documents and websites. When these individuals encounter digital media that is inaccessible, it is exclusionary. Non-compliant digital media offered by organizations intentionally or unintentionally discriminates against millions of people. One in five people in the United States has a disability. And from that population, approximately 8 million U.S. citizens utilize screen...

Exceptional rains in drought-struck northern Italy kill 6, cancel Formula One Grand Prix

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:12 GMT

ROME (AP) — Exceptional rains Wednesday in a drought-struck region of northern Italy swelled rivers over their banks, killing at least six people, forcing the evacuation of thousands and prompting officials to warn that Italy needs a national plan to combat climate change-induced flooding.The heavy rains and floods also forced Formula One to cancel this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix to not overtax emergency crews that were already stretched thin in responding to the emergency.Days of rainstorms stretched across a broad swath of northern Italy and the Balkans, where “apocalyptic” floods, landslides and evacuations were also reported in Croatia, Bosnia and Slovenia.The president of Emilia-Romagna, Stefano Bonaccini, said six people were killed and others unaccounted for in flooding that forced the evacuation of thousands of people.Italian Civil Protection Minister Nello Musemeci called for a new nationwide hydraulic engineering plan to adapt to the impact of increasing incidents...

Biden y McCarthy nombran negociadores para evitar el incumplimiento nacional por el techo de la deuda

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:12 GMT

WASHINGTON — Las conversaciones sobre el límite de la deuda entraron en una nueva fase alentadora el martes cuando el presidente Joe Biden y el presidente de la Cámara de Representantes, Kevin McCarthy, nombraron a los principales emisarios para negociar un acuerdo para evitar un incumplimiento nacional sin precedentes. Biden interrumpió un próximo viaje al extranjero con la esperanza de cerrar un acuerdo antes de la fecha límite del 1 de junio.El nuevo grupo de negociadores significa que las discusiones ahora se reducen en gran medida a lo que la Casa Blanca y McCarthy aceptarán para permitir que los legisladores eleven el límite de la deuda en los próximos días. El orador dijo después de una reunión con Biden y los líderes del Congreso que un acuerdo era “posible” para el fin de semana, incluso cuando, en opinión de McCarthy, las dos partes permanecieron alejadas por el momento.Biden se mostró públicamente optimista después de una reunión de aproximadamente una hora en...

Target wrestles with pullback in spending and theft that may cost retailer more than $1B this year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:12 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Target on Wednesday reported another quarterly profit decline and issued a cautious sales and profit outlook for the current period.The Minneapolis company is dealing with rising costs, which includes rising theft as a big factor, and consumers who have become more cautious about spending.The company still topped Wall Street expectations and stuck to annual profit guidance above industry analyst projections. Shares rose 1.4% before the opening bell. Target is among the first major U.S. retailers to report quarterly results, and a lot of attention will be paid to the impact that stubbornly high inflation and tightening credit are having on customers. Walmart reports earnings Thursday. Macy’s, Kohl’s and Nordstrom post quarterly results later this month.Home Depot, the nation’s largest home improvement retailer, said Tuesday that sales for the first quarter fell 4.2%, and it expects its first annual revenue decline since 2009. Also on Tuesday, U.S. data sho...

Última hora de Guillermo Lasso y la disolución de la Asamblea Nacional de Ecuador, en vivo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:12 GMT

Haz clic aquí para ver las actualizaciones más recientesMiembros de la Asamblea Nacional votan a favor de la destitución del presidente ecuatoriano Guillermo Lasso por presunta corrupción durante una sesión en Quito el 9 de mayo de 2023. (Foto de RODRIGO BUENDIA/AFP vía Getty Images)The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.Source

Miami Springs PD releases surveillance video after armed suspect assaults 67-year-old hotel clerk

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:12 GMT

The Miami Springs Police Department released a new surveillance video Wednesday on their official Twitter page that showed a 67-year-old hotel clerk at Miami Springs Inn getting brutally beaten by an armed suspect. On May 4, authorities responded to the hotel, located on the 600 block of East Drive, after reports of a stabbing. When officers arrived on the scene, they found the stabbing victim incoherent with a cut on his left cheek. According to police, the elderly man was able to explain to officers what happened shortly after he woke up. The victim said two people, later identified as Wayne A. Bromfield Jr. and Tanya Frazier Williams, entered the office to rent a room reserved under Bromfield Jr.’s name. Williams provided her ID for the rental, but when there was an issue with payment, the three of them got into an argument.Bromfield Jr. threatened the 67-year-old man’s life and left the room after Williams advised him not to. Then, Williams demanded and snatched mone...

Brawl breaks out at Disney’s Magic Kingdom

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:12 GMT

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (WSVN) — Cell phone video captured an altercation between two families at the most magical place on earth.The fight happened Monday when authorities said a family stepped in front of another family who was trying to take a picture.One family member then punched a member of the other family in the face.Orange County deputies said at least one person was treated for minor injuries at the scene but did not want to press charges. Two people involved were removed from the theme park.