February 17, 2021

New York MTA to see partial restoration of night service next week

New York MTA to see partial restoration of night service next week
The MTA will run an hour later and open an hour earlier, which preserves the authority’s cleaning schedule while also enhancing service.

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Starting Monday, Feb. 22, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will run an extra two hours every night; extending service to 2:00 a.m. and reopening at 4:00 a.m. The changes are being implemented due to several factors including MTA’s continued cleaning and sanitization efforts, customer confidence in the safety of the system and New York State’s improving COVID-19 trends.

Hospitalization and infection rates related to COVID-19 have decreased and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced last week that stadiums and areas with a capacity of 10,000 people or more could begin to re-open with limited spectators on Feb. 23.

"With the expansion of hours of operation for restaurants and bars, as well as the re-opening of cultural centers and sports facilities, we must ensure that both employees and patrons have transportation options to get them where they need to go, when they need to get there,” said Gov. Cuomo. “Accordingly, the MTA will be expanding the overnight hours for subway service to ensure transportation is available, while still maintaining the organization's comprehensive cleaning procedures."

The Federal Transit Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development all advise cleaning and disinfection, especially high-touch surfaces. ..............(more)

https://www.masstransitmag.com/management/article/21210397/new-york-mta-to-see-partial-restoration-of-night-service-next-week

February 17, 2021

Republican John James says he was called racial slur in Florida

(Detroit Metro Times) Michigan GOP darling John James, a two-time U.S. Senate candidate, said he was called a racial slur while on vacation in Florida.

In a video posted on Twitter on Monday, James said a man in “a big pickup truck rolls by and screams out the window, ‘Die, [N-word].’”

“You know what I did? I kept walking,” James, now sporting a goatee, said. “There’s nothing I can do about that jackass over there.”

He added, “My mom and dad taught me there’s always going to be hateful people in the world. You can never control what they think or what they say. But you can control what you think and what you say.” .............(more)

https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2021/02/16/republican-john-james-says-he-was-called-racial-slur-in-florida?

February 17, 2021

Trump lawyers hit with major data breach -- stolen files are on the dark web: report

Data from a major law firm representing Donald Trump has reportedly been compromised, according to a bombshell new report by The Wall Street Journal.

"A hacker claims to have stolen files belonging to the global law firm Jones Day and posted many of them on the dark web. Jones Day has many prominent clients, including former President Donald Trump and major corporations," The Journal reported.

"Jones Day, in a statement, disputed that its network has been breached. The statement said that a file-sharing company that it has used was recently compromised and had information taken. Jones Day said it continues to investigate the breach and will continue to be in discussion with affected clients and appropriate authorities," the newspaper reported. .........(more)

https://www.rawstory.com/jones-day-lawyers-trump-hacking/?

February 16, 2021

In Athens, rare snow blankets Acropolis, halts vaccinations

Athens, Greece – Heavy snowfall blanketed the Acropolis and other ancient monuments in Athens, caused power cuts and halted COVID-19 vaccinations in the Greek capital on Tuesday as the weather brought many services across the country to a standstill.

While western Europe got some respite from winter weather, temperatures plunged in the southeast of the continent and storms also battered Turkey.

The snow, an unusual sight in the Greek capital of more than 3 million residents, also stopped most public transport services. Hundreds of toppled trees downed power cables, causing blackouts in several suburbs.

Snow is common in Greece’s mountains and in the north of the country, but much rarer in the capital. Some Athenians emerged cautiously outside, snapping photos on balconies and in the streets. ..............(more)

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/world/2021/02/16/athens-rare-snow-blankets-acropolis-halts-vaccinations/6767924002/

February 16, 2021

Why Lunch Should Be The Day's Biggest Meal, According To Experts

Why Lunch Should Be The Day's Biggest Meal, According To Experts
How American work culture has led to unhealthy eating patterns, and what we can do to change the focus away from dinner.

By Courtney Iseman
02/16/2021 05:45am EST | Updated 8 hours ago


(HuffPost) The old saying goes: “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.” In present-day America, however, our approach to meals tends to be the opposite.

There are a few theories behind why we seem stuck in a pattern with dinner as the heaviest meal. A 2015 Washington Post article references a study on circadian rhythms possibly causing hunger spikes and cravings for sweet, salty, starchy foods later at night, along with the suggestion that this may be due to evolution: It was once efficient for humans to eat late at night in order to store energy as fat and glycogen for the next day. There’s also the hormone factor: Cortisol and adrenaline drop off midday, so if we’re working late into evening or night, we’re looking for a boost from food.

And then there are work schedules, which seem to be the most prevalent and inescapable driver of today’s eating habits ― habits detrimental to health and well-being, negatively affecting everything from sleep to waistlines.

“I think it’s all wrong,” said Patrick Okolo III, chief of gastroenterology for Rochester Regional Health. Okolo said it’s important to view the implications of eating our largest meal latest in the day from a digestive standpoint, as well as an overall health perspective. As for the latter, we don’t metabolize food as well at night because of the normal, natural rhythm of the body. ..................(more)

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lunch-should-be-biggest-meal_l_601acb8fc5b668b8db3dd497

February 16, 2021

Toxic Lee Chatfield

Kalamazoo County might be next to break with group over ex-House speaker's hire


(Detroit News) The Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners will consider halting funding for Southwest Michigan First after the economic development group hired former state House Speaker Lee Chatfield as its new CEO.

On Monday, the Kalamazoo City Commission voted to break ties with the organization over Chatfield's past opposition to civil rights protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Michigan residents. The city commission had paid Southwest Michigan First about $10,000 a year. The county pays the group about $75,000 a year.

Tracy Hall, the chairwoman of the county board and a Democrat, said the county-level discussions will begin at a Tuesday night meeting, but because of procedural rules, a vote might not take place for two weeks. ...............(more)

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2021/02/16/kalamazoo-co-might-next-break-group-over-ex-speakers-hire/6768114002/

February 16, 2021

Miami lawyer whose pants caught fire during arson trial arrested on cocaine charge

The Miami lawyer who drew worldwide notoriety after his pants caught on fire during an arson trial has been arrested on a cocaine charge.

Stephen Gutierrez, 32, whose law license is currently revoked, was pulled over Monday night near Westchester and arrested on a felony cocaine charge.

According to a Miami-Dade police report, he was pulled over for driving without a working headlight. An officer saw a bulge in his pocket and believed it was a knife; it turned out to be a metal cylinder with a white powder inside. “Gutierrez spontaneously blurted out ‘That’s cocaine,’ ” according to the arrest report. ................(more)

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article249278645.html?

February 16, 2021

Gov. Whitmer proposes complete ban on firearms in state Capitol building

(Detroit Metro Times) Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is proposing a complete ban on firearms in the state Capitol building as part of her budget proposal, a move that will require approval from the Republican-controlled Legislature.

The proposal comes a month after the Michigan State Capitol Commission unanimously voted to prohibit the open carry of firearms in the Capitol building. The ban does not include concealed weapons.

Whitmer’s $67 billion budget calls for adding $5 million to boost Capitol security, which would include more staff and equipment such as metal detectors to impose the ban, Pubic Information Officer for the State Budget Office Kurt Weiss told the Associated Press.

Whitmer and Democratic lawmakers have called for increased security after menacing protesters with rifles entered the Capitol building on April 30. ...........(more)

https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2021/02/15/gov-whitmer-proposes-complete-ban-on-firearms-in-state-capitol

February 16, 2021

Adam Kinzinger reveals letter 'brainwashed' Trump-loving relatives sent him after he voted for impea

‘You joined the Devil’s Army’: Adam Kinzinger reveals letter ‘brainwashed’ Trump-loving relatives sent him after he voted for impeachment


(Independent UK) A Republican congressman who broke with Trump and was censured by his own party has shared a letter sent by relatives who he says were “brainwashed”, after they called him a “disappointment”.

Adam Kinzinger, who voted along with 10 other Republicans to impeach the former president on 13 January, was sent the letter by relatives after he broke ranks to condemn the events of 6 January, when Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol.

His family reportedly said in the letter two days later that Mr Kinzinger was “a disappointment” to them “and to God!”, and that his remarks about Mr Trump “have embarrassed the Kinzinger family name”.

Speaking in an interview published on Monday – and after his Republican colleagues in the Senate voted to acquit the former president on Saturday – the six-term Illinois Republican said the letter showed that his relatives had been “brainwashed” when it came to politics. ......(more)

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/adam-kinzinger-trump-family-letter-b1802874.html

February 16, 2021

Revealed: Monsanto owner and US officials pressured Mexico to drop glyphosate ban

(Guardian UK) Internal government emails reveal Monsanto owner Bayer AG and industry lobbyist CropLife America have been working closely with US officials to pressure Mexico into abandoning its intended ban on glyphosate, a pesticide linked to cancer that is the key ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weed killers.

The moves to protect glyphosate shipments to Mexico have played out over the last 18 months, a period in which Bayer was negotiating an $11bn settlement of legal claims brought by people in the US who say they developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma due to exposure to the company’s glyphosate-based products.

The pressure on Mexico is similar to actions Bayer and chemical industry lobbyists took to kill a glyphosate ban planned by Thailand in 2019. Thailand officials had also cited concerns for public health in seeking to ban the weed killer, but reversed course after US threats about trade disruption. ...............(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/16/revealed-monsanto-mexico-us-glyphosate-ban