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Schor, Fan: Can a four-day workweek really work? Many companies have already learned the answer

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:46:57 GMT

In 1940, Congress amended the Fair Labor Standards Act to limit the standard workweek to 40 hours, with any additional hours eligible for overtime. Despite a more than threefold increase in productivity since, the 40-hour week has remained unchanged for 83 years.But it may be changing at last. 2023 could just be the year of the four-day, 32-hour week.Over the first few months of the year, Google searches for information about the four-day week rose by a factor of five. The media have produced hundreds of stories on companies that are offering 32-hour schedules. California and other states have considered legislation to enact or study a four-day week, and Riverside Rep. Mark Takano has introduced a bill on the subject in Congress.In Europe, national and regional governments have pilot four-day week programs in progress, and the United Arab Emirates has shifted public-sector employees to a 4½-day schedule. In February, we released findings from the world’s largest trial of a fou...

Other voices: Hello there, Big Brother! Please, come right in

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:46:57 GMT

The Fourth Amendment protects Americans from “unreasonable searches and seizures” by the government, acknowledging the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects.” It is a bedrock principle of the Bill of Rights.But a survey released this month reveals that an astonishing number of Americans, particularly younger Americans, would be comfortable throwing this fundamental protection on the ash heap of history.The Cato Institute recently conducted a poll of 2,000 adults and included the question: “Would you favor or oppose the government installing surveillance cameras in every household to reduce domestic violence, abuse and other illegal activity?” Seventy-five percent of respondents were against such an outrageous intrusion. But 14 percent approved and 10 percent “didn’t know.”Holy, George Orwell. But it gets worse.Breaking down the responses, Cato discovered that a whopping 29 percent of those...

Jay Ambrose: Biden’s plan to tax people for money that isn’t money

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:46:57 GMT

President Joe Biden, eager to get more tax money to pay for the faults of others along with his own disastrously irresponsible, inflationary overspending, has said that American billionaires have a tax rate of just 8%. Here, then, is a great excuse to hit this relatively small group of 700 or maybe 1,000 people with a fiscal fist as big as the Treasury Department without worrying about losing millions of votes.A difficulty for Biden, however, is that the tax rate is more than three times bigger than he said, 25.6%, either demonstrating that he made a major mistake or qualifies to be called a political trickster. I endorse the second possibility, seeing as how the tiny-tax assertion could confuse the public enough for him to seem a hero catching cheapskate billionaires even though the top 1% of taxpayers deliver something like 43% of all federal taxes.The way Biden arrives at his deception is by saying the billionaires and still other super-rich tax targets pay nothing for the unreal...

Class 4A baseball state quarterfinal: Minnetonka 4, Mounds View 3

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:46:57 GMT

A well-played back-and-forth Class 4A state tournament quarterfinal game between Minnetonka and Mounds View on Tuesday nearly ended in the kind of comedy that can only happen in baseball.Racing around third base to score the winning run in the bottom of the seventh, the Skippers’ Colten Benedict suddenly stopped in his tracks, momentarily throwing the outcome in doubt.With Benedict about to score easily on a double to the left-field gap by Max Pederson, Minnetonka head coach Paul O. Twenge raised his hands to celebrate his team’s impending come-from-behind, 4-3 victory at CHS Field.“I thought he meant, ‘Stop!’ ” Benedict said.By then, the ball was on its way in on a relay from center field, but Twenge — and his teammates — quickly got Benedict to finish his dash to the plate and he scored the winning run ahead of the throw.Benedict went 3 for 4 and scored two runs as third seed Minnetonka (18-7) advanced to face second seed East Ridge (18-8) in a noon semifinal on Wednesday at...

Black bear sighted in Amsterdam

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:46:57 GMT

AMSTERDAM, N.Y. (NEWS10) - It’s not every day you run into a bear. NEWS10 is in Amsterdam where some folks had the opportunity to spot a black bear and has more on the bear’s whereabouts. Asylees in Albany want work, not a handout In Amsterdam, city residents waking up to numerous bear sightings. The Amsterdam police department confirms the first sighting came in at 6:20 Monday morning.Sergeant Keeland Zyzes says the bear was first seen in a residential neighborhood.“We got a report of a black bear on Henrietta and Guy Park Avenue,” said Zyzes.After the bear made its way from the residential neighborhood, the bear made its way up to Lynch Middle School, just in time for the parents to drop the kids off for class.The sergeant tells NEWS10 that after officers kept students and parents safe at the school, the bear then made its way through town, stopping by a creek next the police station. Then later, the bear was spotted near the library in the afternoon. Cancer drug shortage now ...

Report: 'Field of Dreams' matchup of Cardinals-Giants expected next year

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:46:57 GMT

ST. LOUIS - The nostalgic "Field of Dreams" matchup is on track to return to next year and will likely pit the St. Louis Cardinals against the San Francisco Giants, according to a new report. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports a 2024 "Field of Dreams" matchup of Cardinals-Giants is expected next year, but possibly somewhere other than the traditional site in Iowa. RELATED - Cardinals extend alcohol sales through eighth inning Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama is being considered to host the game, according to Slusser. Giants legend Willie Mays played at Rickwood Field during his stint in the Negro Leagues with the Birmingham Black Barons. Major League Baseball could announce more information on the "Field of Dreams" later this week, per Slusser. The "Field of Dreams" stadium matchups are a relatively new to MLB and inspired by the 1980s Kevin Costner-starred baseball movie with the same namesake. The Chicago White Sox hosted the New York Yankees for the inaug...

Suspect wanted in Belleville bank robbery

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:46:57 GMT

BELLEVILLE, Ill. - The FBI and Belleville Police Department are searching for a man accused in a Metro East bank robbery Tuesday morning.The robbery happened around 10 a.m. at a Bank of America location in the 1900 block of Carlyle Avenue. Police tie 12-year-old girl to overnight crime spree Investigators say the suspect approached a teller, demanded money and indicated he was armed, though it's unclear if the suspect had a weapon. No injuries were reported from the robbery. However, the suspect left with an undisclosed amount of money. The suspect took off in a black four-door Hyundai sedan with tinted windows and a missing license plate, initially heading westbound on Carlyle Avenue. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News SIGN UP NOW Police described t...

Police investigate shooting on I-25 near 8th Avenue; northbound lanes are closed

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:46:57 GMT

Denver police are investigating a shooting on Interstate 25, and a stretch of northbound lanes near Alameda Avenue is shut down.ALERT: #DPD is investing a shooting at northbound I-25 and 8th Avenue. NB I-25 at Alameda to 8th is closed. Alternate routes are advised. Updates will be posted to this thread when available. #Denver pic.twitter.com/pQehTSSMxj— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) June 13, 2023The shooting happened near 8th Avenue and northbound lanes are closed from Alameda to 8th, police said in a 3:17 p.m. Tuesday tweet. Drivers should avoid the area if possible, and alternate routes are advised.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Shooting that injured 10 after Denver Nuggets’ NBA Finals victory may be tied to drug deal, police say Crime and Public Safety | Shots fired at moving car in Aurora leaves two men hospitalized with serious wounds Crime and Public Safety | How rising violence, kids with guns have pushed...

Trump Pleads Not Guilty, Jets to Greet Supporters in New Jersey

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:46:57 GMT

Patricia Hurtado, Zoe Tillman and Mark Niquette(Bloomberg) — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday pleaded not guilty in a Miami courtroom to federal charges he mishandled state secrets and immediately resumed rallying supporters behind his 2024 presidential bid.Trump, who is making a comeback bid for the White House, is the first former president who has faced federal criminal charges. He appeared in court wearing a navy blue suit, white shirt and red tie, and pleaded not guilty to all 37 counts against him. Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, entered the plea on his client’s behalf before a federal magistrate judge. “We most certainly enter a plea of not guilty,” Blanche said during the hearing. The arraignment followed an historic indictment brought by the Justice Department alleging he willfully refused to return top-secret government documents and conspired to stymie US officials’ efforts to recover them after he left office in 2021....

Growing concerns that France will bow to Iranian pressure to restrict Iran’s opposition in France

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:46:57 GMT

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by phone with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi on Saturday. The rare conversation lasted for 90 minutes, fueling speculation about the future of relations between the two countries, and between Iran and Europe in general, as tensions remain high over Tehran’s provocative nuclear activities, support for Russia’s war on Ukraine, and crackdown on protests that have spanned the entire Islamic Republic since last September.Amidst that speculation, some observers of Western foreign policy have expressed concern that Macron and other European leaders may be willing to provide long-sought concessions to Tehran. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one expert on Iranian affairs highlighted prior instances of European governments granting Tehran’s requests for restrictions on activists and dissidents within the Iranian expatriate community, while receiving comparatively little in return.The same source indicated such requests have been a constant...