Copper thieves cut off this SoCal suburb's phones for months and the bills kept coming
Hacienda Heights has been without landline phone service for six months due to copper wire thefts. Some schools' power lines also have been cut.
latimes.com
Sondheimer: Glendale's Art Samontina finds solace in coaching after loss of son
The basketball coach watched on his cell phone as his 6-year-old son died from complications of pneumonia. Now his elder son is helping him heal.
latimes.com
The Sports Report: Dodgers are adding Blake Snell to the rotation
The Dodgers agree to a five-year, $182-million deal with two-time Cy Young Award winner pitcher Blake Snell.
latimes.com
How not to poison your loved ones during your big holiday feast
Not to brag, but I’m pretty good in the kitchen; I love a complex pastry project, ferment things with relish (sorry), and am probably above-average at emulsifying a sauce. But there is one scenario involving cooking for others that strikes dread in my heart: getting them sick. I’m a doctor with specialty medical training in infectious diseases and public health. If I prepared a meal that sent a crowd of my friends and loved ones running for the bathroom, I might never emerge from the shame hole. I thought I knew everything I needed to know about food safety to avoid eternal public humiliation. Still, as I came to understand while researching this story, even know-it-alls like me have a lot to learn about handwashing, cleaning surfaces and food, storing leftovers, and reducing non-germ risks. Thanksgiving, and the holidays more broadly, are different from other times of the year. People are preparing more dishes for more people than they typically would, says Ben Chapman, a food safety expert who leads the Agricultural and Human Sciences at North Carolina State University. The resulting chaos means less control in the kitchen — which often leads to higher risk for both cooks and eaters. Here’s the stuff you need to sweat — and don’t — as you take on your next big holiday dinner. Proper handwashing and drying is essential DO wash your hands – a lot. Raw whole turkeys are highly likely to be contaminated with germs that can make people sick, most commonly campylobacter and salmonella. The big risk of touching raw meat in the kitchen is that you’ll move those germs to surfaces that other people will also be touching a lot. That raises the chance people will get nasties on their hands — and in their mouths — even if they didn’t directly handle the thawing turkey. For that reason, Chapman recommends washing your hands more than you think you need to when preparing a meal for a lot of people. Clean your hands immediately after touching raw meat — and don’t forget that even a partially thawed turkey can transmit germs. Plain soap and water works fine — it doesn’t have to be antimicrobial soap to do the job, but you do need to rub the skin all over the hands to get them really clean, including the backs of hands, between fingers, and under the nails. But the real shocker here, at least to me, was when Chapman told me alcohol-based hand sanitizers are actually better for most situations, even if you have watery turkey juice on your mitts. (One situation where sanitizer is inferior to soap: after touching lots of really fatty meat, like sausage or pork. In those situations, use soap to make sure you’re cutting through the grease to get at all the germs mixed in.) DON’T skip drying ’em. It’s not just the actual handwashing that’s important for removing germs from your fingers, Chapman says: Drying hands after washing removes up to 90 percent of the bacteria on the skin’s surface, so don’t ignore this important step. “I might go through 10 dish towels on Thanksgiving Day,” Chapman says. There’s no need to waste tons of paper towels drying off. Chapman suggests keeping different dish towels in different parts of the kitchen for different purposes, if at all possible. For example: You could keep one “dirty” towel in a kitchen corner for drying off hands you’ve washed them after say, holding a raw turkey. On a hook elsewhere in the kitchen, you could keep a “clean” towel you use for wiping up sauce spills or other less germy messes. Any system can easily break down when random people drift in and out of your kitchen while you’re cooking. It’s not a bad idea to just chuck used dish towels directly in the wash after mopping up spills of raw meat juices or drying off particularly gross hands. “I might go through 10 dish towels on Thanksgiving Day,” Chapman says. Clean this, not that DON’T worry about washing your produce. Washing produce removes physical debris, like soil, sand, and dirt. However, it rarely removes germs that make people sick. The reason: When produce is contaminated with pathogens, they often attach just under the surface, within tiny pores in the fruit or vegetable that protect it from being washed away. “Fresh produce, unfortunately for us, is our No. 1 source of foodborne illness in the US,” Chapman says. “And also unfortunately for us as consumers, by the time it gets to me, there’s very little I can do.” DO take special care if you’re going to wash your turkey. There’s no food safety reason to wash your turkey, but a lot of people like to anyway because of personal preference. Chapman prefers wiping debris off with a hand towel (which he then throws straight into the washing machine). However, if you opt to wash your turkey, he suggests being especially fastidious about cleaning your sink afterward. “The sink is a food preparation area,” Chapman says, as people often rinse lettuce or other vegetables in the sink, and water bouncing off a contaminated basin can splash pathogens onto food that does not later get cooked. If you’re a poultry washer, just make sure to clean and sanitize the sink afterward, including the bottom, sides, and rim around the basin. So if you’re a poultry washer, just make sure to clean and sanitize the sink afterward, including the bottom, sides, and rim around the basin. DO frequently sanitize your kitchen counters and other surfaces. Because turkey is particularly high-risk for contamination with disease-causing germs, Chapman is “bleach forward” about sanitizing his kitchen’s surfaces on Thanksgiving, and he favors a pre-packaged bleach spray (like the ones made by Clorox or Lysol) for getting the job done. If you’re really worried about damaging clothes, “that’s part of the reason why aprons exist,” he says. However, you can also use sanitizers that contain quaternary ammonium, which is in most non-bleach disinfectant sprays. As a bonus, it’s also easier on stainless steel and utensils — and alcohol-based cleaners are also quite good. Just don’t mix different cleaners together or spray them on the same surface at the same time, as doing so can release toxic gases that can cause serious illnesses or even death. Whatever you choose, stick with it — at least for the day. Check your temperatures DO cook your turkey (and whatever’s inside it) to 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Turkey and everything inside it should be heated to at least 165 degrees before serving to kill any disease-causing germs. It’s fine to cook stuffing on the inside as long as it reaches this temperature. Yes, doing this without turning out a dry turkey requires some finessing; Chapman roasts his stuffed bird at a lower temperature of 325 for a longer time and also strategically deploys foil. DO keep your fridge cold enough. The right refrigerator temperature is cool enough to slow spoilage, but not so cold it freezes milk, lettuce, and other foods high in water content. Chapman sets his to 38 degrees, which he says keeps leftovers good for about a week. He suggests buying a cheap refrigerator thermometer to ensure yours has the perfect climate if it doesn’t have a built-in one you can calibrate. DON’T bother cooling leftovers before refrigeration. The old rule about bringing leftovers to room temperature before putting them in the fridge is from a time of older refrigerators, when they occasionally allowed interior temperatures to rise above safe levels for food storage. Modern refrigerators don’t work that way, so feel free to put leftovers in the fridge while they’re still warm, Chapman says. DON’T bother reheating leftovers, unless you want to. So long as food was cooked to the appropriate temperature at the time of your feast and was not left out on the counter for hours before refrigeration, there’s no need to reheat leftovers to any particular temperature. Avoid toxins in your cookware and your air DO choose non-nonstick cookware and wood, silicone, or stainless steel cooking utensils. The best bet for cookware is to use products made of glass, stainless or carbon steel, or cast iron. That’s because a lot of nonstick cookware is made with “forever chemicals,” the shorthand term for per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) that have been linked with a range of cancers and other health conditions. Teflon is one of them, but there are other PFASes out there, and manufacturers aren’t always transparent about which of the broad panoply of these chemicals are or aren’t in their products. If you love nonstick cookware, a good bet is to use a pan with a ceramic coating. And if you end up using a nonstick pan coated either with Teflon or another PFAS, you can minimize the release of these chemicals by using only soft (e.g. non-metal) utensils when cooking, avoid heating it while empty, and wash them by hand using gentle cleansers and sponges. And for stirring whatever’s in your pot, it’s a better idea to use wood, silicone, or stainless steel rather than black plastic utensils. There’s a chance — albeit a small one — these may be made from recycled electronic waste, so avoid them if you’re risk-averse. DO ventilate and filter your air while cooking — especially with gas. Gas stoves create a lot of pollutants, which is why they typically must be installed with range hoods. Other kinds of cooking can also create pollutants — for example, cooking with nonstick pans, grilling, and frying. Unfortunately, range hoods don’t always vent the air outdoors — sometimes, they just recirculate it inside. So if you’re cooking with gas, it’s a great idea to open a window and turn on a fan if you have those options, and a portable air purifier can also help. A little knowledge can go a long way toward maximizing what makes hosting fun and minimizing the worry your feast will lead to a lifetime of dishonor. Go forth and feed your people!
vox.com
Trump taps businessman John Phelan for Navy secretary
President-elect Donald Trump announced he is nominating businessman John Phelan to serve as the next Secretary of the Navy.
nypost.com
‘Dancing With the Stars’ Season 33 winners revealed
Ilona Maher, Stephen Nedoroscik, Danny Amendola, Joey Graziadei and Chandler Kinney competed with their pro partners for the Mirrorball Trophy.
nypost.com
Stephen A Smith claims Trump ran for president to 'get back' at NFL owners after failed Bills bid
President-elect Donald Trump tried to buy the Buffalo Bills about a decade ago. Apparently, he said at the time that a losing bid would result in a run for president.
foxnews.com
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle suffer blow as $4.7M Portugal home remains incomplete: report
The sprawling property is still not ready to be moved into, and will only be used as a vacation home by the couple, according to a new report.
nypost.com
Trump tariffs will bring Mexico to the table, Texas Democrat says
Rep. Henry Cuellar believes Trump's threat of tariffs will "definitely get Mexico to the table so we can solve the problem about immigration and fentanyl."
foxnews.com
Prep talk: No. 47 Bear Bachmeier plays quarterback, not fullback, for Murrieta Valley
Quarterback Bear Bachmeier chose to wear the No. 47 jersey to emphasize he can run the ball for Murrieta Valley.
latimes.com
Trump’s win is part of a mysterious — and ominous — worldwide trend
Then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump addressing a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds on October 5, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images I keep having this feeling we’re missing something big: that none of the explanations for Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election are capturing the whole story. Most of the explanations for what happened have focused on recent events in the US — like Biden staying in the race too late, or Democrats being alienated from the working class. These are of varying utility, but they all suffer from a shared problem: The United States isn’t the only country where incumbents have lost power of late. 2024 was the first year in recorded history when incumbents have lost vote share in every single developed democracy that held a contest, with Vice President Kamala Harris actually performing better than all but one of her developed-world peers. Since 2020, incumbent parties in Western democracies have lost 40 out of 54 elections — meaning the odds of an incumbent defeat in the past few years have been just shy of 80 percent. Dominant incumbent parties have suffered election setbacks or even outright defeats in places as diverse as South Africa, India, and Japan. Even some of the exceptions to the “incumbents lose” rule of late bolster the point, as they tend to have some kind of anti-system credential (see the Morena party in Mexico, for example). Inflation has been the most common culprit named in the global anti-incumbency movement. But while that’s surely part of the picture, it’s also not the whole story. Incumbents have also recently lost votes in countries that experienced low post-Covid inflation, like Japan and Germany. So most of the best explanations don’t really work in the face of the sheer scope of the anti-incumbent wave. Clearly, something bigger is happening here: Voters around the world are really angry about how their political system is working, and want to empower people who aim to wreck or transform it. Understanding why radical parties are succeeding on both sides of the aisle — but especially the right — requires understanding why, exactly, voters have become radicalized against the political status quo. The truth is that we don’t actually know. But it’s something we should figure out quickly because the kinds of parties these voters are empowering threaten more than just the parts of the system that deserve to be overhauled. Their rise could damage institutions that have delivered some of the greatest accomplishments in humanity’s history. The puzzle of anti-system voting Recently, I’ve found myself dividing supporters of far-right anti-democratic factions into roughly two groups. On the one hand, you have the diehards: people who, for example, voted for Trump twice in the GOP primary. Research suggests that these voters are overwhelmingly driven by hostility toward culture change and weakening social hierarchies. My book, The Reactionary Spirit, is mostly about these kinds of people and what makes them tick. But while the diehards are often the majority of the far-right party’s supporters, they typically aren’t the majority of the electorate. To win, people like Trump need to win over other kinds of voters, ones who don’t share the hardcore base’s preoccupation with culture war. Of course, we’re all familiar with the concept of “swing voters.” What makes them more interesting today is that they’re increasingly swinging in much wider arcs. Whereas swing voters in wealthy democracies once bounced back and forth between the center-right and center-left, they now are willing to consider options on the extreme left and extreme right (or, depending on the country, both). This, I think, is where anti-system sentiment matters the most. These swing voters are unhappy with how their systems are working. Though they’re not ready to give up on democracy entirely, they do want it to look very different. How should democracy be different? Well, they’re less clear on that. Anti-system voters are the sort of people who voted for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary and then Trump in the general election. They’ve likely been attracted to figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Joe Rogan, Ron Paul, and Tulsi Gabbard — all people with very different ideas and approaches, but who generally share a hostility toward “the establishment” in one form or another. The rise of such voters itself raises two questions. First, why are swing voters more open to radicalism? And second, why did it accelerate so much in the past few years? Again, there are no easy answers here. But one interpretation is that the centrist parties of the left and right are reaping what they’ve sowed. The 21st century can, in broad strokes, be described as a series of shocks: 9/11, the 2003 Iraq war, the 2008 financial crisis, the 2015 European refugee crisis, and, perhaps most importantly, the Covid-19 pandemic. There is plenty of reason to be upset at how elites handled these situations, as they often directly caused the crisis or botched the response. When you layer deeper structural problems on top of that, like mounting inequality or the looming threat of climate change, it’s eminently understandable that voters would erupt in protest. Surely, this is an important part of the story for some slices of the global electorate. But it’s a heavily Western and especially American narrative that makes less sense when applied to other democracies — like Mexico, South Africa, Japan, or Brazil — that have seen major anti-incumbent votes of late. Moreover, it assumes a model of voting — where voters reflect and assess policy successes and failures rationally — that may not be accurate. Extensive evidence, compiled in books like Democracy for Realists, shows that voters often base their ballot decisions on identities, partisan loyalties, or plain old gut feeling. In the United States, this semi-rationality is especially acute for swing voters, who tend to pay less attention to politics than firm partisans and thus are generally less informed about the facts of what’s happening in any given election cycle — let alone what happened 10 or 20 years ago. This is where the limits of our knowledge on the topic start to fray. A diffuse, emotional, gut-level discontent with the political system — which I suspect is what’s actually at the heart of global anti-system voting — is something that’s necessarily harder to study than simple dissatisfaction with specific policy choices or economic conditions. And we don’t really know why that feeling is arising now, or what can be done to address it. The rancid vibes of human flourishing — or, what the right gets right One group that I think has captured this feeling, at least to some degree, is the so-called “postliberal” right. These thinkers believe that modernity is, in broad strokes, a failure. Liberal capitalism’s work of “liberating” us from the restraints of traditional religion and community has instead delivered a society of aimless, depressed, and lonely people. People angry at the political system, in this narrative, are really angrier at something deeper: a soulless society. I don’t buy the postliberal narrative in full. It depends in large part on the notion of “deaths of despair” — the idea of rising American deaths by suicide and drugs brought on by widespread unhappiness — that has largely been debunked by critics on the left, right, and center. Some of its other assertions, like the idea that we are in a uniquely lonely period in history, are also on questionable empirical footing. But as much as I don’t buy some of the specific claims, I think there’s something directionally important in their diagnosis. There really is a sense, among people of all political stripes, that things aren’t working the way they’re supposed to. You can see it in reliable data on (for example) trust in government, declining both in the United States and democracies globally. You can also see it anecdotally in the way that people talk about politics on social media, where “doomerism” dominates and people of all political stripes routinely indulge in despairing talk about the future of their countries. The political vibes have turned rancid — and we don’t fully understand why. It’s a puzzle that’s especially important to solve given that, at this moment, humanity is living through the best period in its history. The world is richer than it’s ever been. War deaths have risen during the unusually destructive Gaza and Ukraine wars, but they’re still well below what the world looked like prior to World War II. We’ve eradicated smallpox, a disease that killed as many as 500 million people throughout history. We’ve made extraordinary strides toward social equality and inclusion, with historical practices like slavery now formally abolished across the globe. Challenges like income inequality and climate change remain serious, but there has been some real progress in the right direction. To see what all this progress looks like, take a look at this chart of life expectancy — perhaps the most useful metric of whether people are doing well. It shows a long-term trend toward people everywhere living longer lives, one that’s been consistently rising for decades. There’s only one global dip in the trend — the Covid-19 pandemic — and that’s already been reversed. By the end of 2023, life expectancy globally was the highest ever in human history. This is an important counterpoint to the grim story of the 21st century I told earlier. Our era has been defined as much by its extraordinary successes as its failures — both of which were made possible, in large part, by existing political systems. When anti-system political leaders start threatening the basic building blocks of the current order — including alliance networks, global trade, public health institutions, and democracy itself — you can imagine a world where the long trend toward human improvement reverses for good. Yet simply saying “things are better” isn’t going to persuade people who feel like they’ve never been worse. What we need to do is understand anti-system voting better, and try to get a sense of why there’s such a sense of omnicrisis and what can be done to address it. We — those who believe in the liberal democratic political order, imperfect as it is — are still missing something. And we better figure out what before voters throw the baby out with the bathwater by elevating politicians who stick it to the old elite by wrecking the parts of the system that are actually working.
vox.com
California man tried to fly from LAX with 71 pounds of meth-caked clothes, including cow pajama onesie: DOJ
"Drug dealers are continually inventing creative ways of smuggling dangerous narcotics in pursuit of illicit profit – as alleged in the facts of this case," U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said.
nypost.com
As Americans prepare for Thanksgiving, veterans face food insecurity in significant numbers: study
President and CEO of America's Warrior Partnership asks people to give back this Thanksgiving when many veterans cannot afford to put food on the table.
foxnews.com
Hamas claims it’s ready for Gaza cease-fire after Hezbollah’s deal with Israel
Hamas said it was open to efforts to bring an end to its 13-month-old war with the Jewish state in Gaza as senior officials hailed the Israel-Hezbollah agreement.
nypost.com
SJSU transgender volleyball scandal: Timeline of allegations, political impact and a raging culture movement
The San Jose State women's volleyball transgender scandal will come to a head in Las Vegas for the Mountain West Tournament; here is how it got there.
foxnews.com
First Harris video since losing goes viral for wrong reasons and more top headlines
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox.
foxnews.com
Coast-to-coast winter storm packing heavy snow to cause chaos for Thanksgiving holiday travel
The first half of the busy Thanksgiving travel week includes storms dumping rain and mountain snow in the West, while the eastern half of the country deals with rain, freezing rain and snow.
nypost.com
Australia’s House of Representatives passes bill that would ban young children from social media
Australia’s House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban children younger than 16 years old from social media, leaving it to the Senate to finalize the world-first law.
nypost.com
Gregg Jarrett: Americans had final say on Jack Smith's 'misbegotten' Trump prosecutions
Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss charges being dropped against President-elect Trump in federal election interference case.
foxnews.com
This week's top high school football championship games
A look at this week's top high school football championship games in the Southland.
latimes.com
Why we eat turkey on Thanksgiving, according to history
Why is Thanksgiving traditionally associated with turkey and other specific foods? We asked a history expert why we eat what we do on the holiday.
cbsnews.com
How you accept a gift says a lot about your character. Be gracious.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “We are either glad or sorry at a gift, and both emotions are unbecoming.”
washingtonpost.com
How the Thanksgiving Holiday Can Help Heal America’s Political Rifts
We need traditions and tribalism because we need each other. We always have, writes Michael Morris.
time.com
Australia’s Social Media Ban for Children Is Closer to Becoming Law. Here’s What to Know
Australia’s House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban children younger than 16 years old from social media.
time.com
California worker dies while hanging Christmas lights on home in freak accident
A California man was electrocuted in a freak accident as he was in the middle of a routine task millions of people do in preparation for the upcoming holiday season.
nypost.com
Honolulu hopes to identify long-unclaimed bodies with advanced DNA testing
Forensic pathologists hope advanced DNA testing technology will enable them to attach names to all the unidentified people at the Honolulu Medical Examiner's Office.
cbsnews.com
Drug cartel reeling in huge profits with illegal fishing in Gulf of Mexico
The cartel allegedly uses fishing boats to smuggle drugs and migrants — and catch tons of red snapper, a commercially valuable but vulnerable species.
cbsnews.com
Saudi Arabia Splashes the Cash To Clean Up Its Image
The kingdom's large-scale construction projects include a 110-mile long linear city described by its developers as " a revolution in urban living."
newsweek.com
Harrowing True Story Behind Netflix's 'Apple Cider Vinegar'
The streaming giant's upcoming TV show is based on the real-life story of fraudster and former influencer Belle Gibson.
newsweek.com
For Thanksgiving, this type of bread makes the best stuffing, chefs reveal
Two chefs told Fox News Digital how they make stuffing on Thanksgiving — and shared tips for others to make the best possible version of the coveted side dish.
foxnews.com
Shock as Woman Starts Losing Hair, 2 Months Later She's Completely Bald
After noticing the first bald spot in August, Alberte Schack was devastated as she watched her hair fall out daily over the next two months.
newsweek.com
China Responds to Possible EU Sanctions Over Russia War Drones
The proposed penalties follow last week's meeting of EU foreign ministers, who discussed "credible" reports of a Chinese factory producing UAVs for Russia.
newsweek.com
Kevin O'Leary Wants '400 Percent' Tariffs on China: 'Go to DEFCON 1'
The Canadian businessman Kevin O'Leary has said President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on Chinese products are "not enough."
newsweek.com
Viral 'DWTS' Dance Dubbed 'One of the Best' Routines in Show's History
Despite getting a perfect score for the routine, the pair still came fourth overall.
newsweek.com
Taylor Swift ranked No. 2 on Billboard’s ‘Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century’ list
Billboard has now named the greatest pop star of the 21st century and it's not Taylor Swift.
nypost.com
Thanksgiving is our most woke holiday; that’s why it’s so great.
Thanksgiving is a glorious all-you-can-eat buffet built on DEI, wokeness and good, old-fashioned neighborliness -- before we even had a name for the first two.
washingtonpost.com
Will Trump’s pick for Labor Secretary be able to act on her pro-union ideas?
Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer participates in a local round table in Oregon City, Oregon, on October 9, 2024. | Jordan Gale/Washington Post via Getty Images President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Labor Secretary, Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), is a pro-union Republican, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Trump’s administration will be pro-worker. Although Cabinet secretaries can do their best to influence the commander-in-chief, they ultimately have to execute on the president’s policies, multiple labor experts told Vox. If they disagree with the president — especially if they refuse to implement a new policy — there’s a high likelihood that they’d be removed from that position. Given Trump’s infamous lack of interest in details, he may give Chavez-DeRemer latitude with the daily tasks of the agency. That means Chavez-DeRemer could shift the agency in a more pro-worker direction in the regular operations she’ll oversee. Any major rule changes, however, are likely to need the backing of the president. As a result, it’s not evident that having a Labor Secretary more supportive of unions will translate to concrete protections in favor of workers if Trump himself isn’t on board. In its first term, the Trump administration took a decidedly anti-worker stance, undoing workplace safety regulations and curtailing overtime protections. If the president-elect chooses to do the same this term, Chavez-DeRemer would have little recourse but to implement his policies or face the consequences. “One thing to keep in mind is that the secretaries serve at the pleasure of the president. … It is not an independent role,” says Heidi Shierholz, a former chief economist in the Labor Department during the Obama administration and the president of the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. “There’s a real, very clear restriction on how far they can go, away from what Trump and his key advisers want.” Trump’s pick is more pro-labor than he is Chavez-DeRemer, a first-term Congress member from a swing district in Oregon, lost a tight race for reelection in 2024. She has a solid pro-worker record that differs notably from many of the positions Trump has previously backed. Chavez-DeRemer is one of just five House Republicans who supported the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO), a bill that would expand workers’ ability to unionize that Trump’s White House advisers recommended he veto. She also backed the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, legislation that shields public sector workers’ ability to unionize, which conservatives have also chafed against. And she voted against a GOP effort to overturn a Biden administration labor rule related to workers’ retirement savings, Bloomberg Law reports. “Unions aren’t the enemy of small businesses, they’re a partner,” Chavez-DeRemer — who is the daughter of a Teamsters union member — previously said in a House Education and the Workforce Committee meeting, acknowledging that she’s in the “minority” in her party. During her 2024 House race, Chavez-DeRemer picked up the support of more than 20 local unions in her area, though her Democratic opponent garnered the backing of some of the larger national ones. “She’s got more labor union endorsements than any Republican I’ve ever seen in my life,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said during a Chavez-DeRemer campaign event in Oregon City. Because of her track record, Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination was heavily cheered by Sean O’Brien, the head of the Teamsters, who’d reportedly urged Trump to choose her for the role. “Thank you @realDonaldTrump for putting American workers first by nominating Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer for US Labor Secretary,” O’Brien said in a post on X. “You put words into action.” While Chavez-DeRemer has been more supportive of unions than most Republicans, her overall record is nuanced: She was given a 10 percent rating by the AFL-CIO for her 2023 House votes, with the union dinging her on votes she took on policies that could harm recipients of unemployment insurance and that would allow employers more leeway in the types of health care plans they offer. “There’s the whole world of all of the other employment rights, minimum wage, overtime, [Equal Employment Opportunity] rights, paycheck equity, and paid leave. And she hasn’t co-sponsored any of those bills,” Judy Conti, the government affairs director for the National Employment Law Project, told Vox. Despite this, though, she still has marked differences from Trump. “This record stands in stark contrast to Donald Trump’s anti-worker, anti-union record, and his extreme Project 2025 agenda that would gut workplace protections, make it harder for workers to unionize, and diminish the voice of working people,” National Education Association President Becky Pringle said in a statement. During his first administration, Trump proposed a number of anti-worker rules including allowing servers’ management to take more of their tips and allowing companies more leeway for wage theft. He’s spoken about firing workers who are on strike, a practice that’s often illegal, in favorable terms. And he’s complained about how much he hated paying his own employees overtime. It’s not clear Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination will make a policy difference Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination may not make a significant policy difference if the president-elect chooses to pursue the same types of labor policies he championed during his first term. Because the president has expansive influence over the policies that agencies roll out, secretaries often have to implement the rules that they are asked to, even if they disagree with them. As Politico has detailed, secretaries can be “marginalized” by the administrations they’re in, and even rarely consulted for their advice. “If a Cabinet secretary disagrees with an executive action, they have decision-making autonomy, but they likely would face strong White House pressure to resign,” says Meena Bose, the dean of public policy at Hofstra University. If confirmed as a member of his Cabinet, Chavez-DeRemer would be able to use her platform and position to try to influence the president and elevate workers’ demands. Whether she might be able to institute concrete policy changes, however, will likely depend on Trump’s openness to such ideas. The same would be the case in the event of a strike. The Labor secretary can play a role in mediating high-profile disputes, like the dock workers’ strike in 2024 or the rail workers’ strike in 2022. Acting Labor Secretary Judy Su was able to engage in negotiations for the dock workers’ strike only because President Joe Biden allowed her to, however. Chavez-DeRemer could use her perch to advise Trump in the case of future strikes, but her involvement in ending them would depend on whether he supports her being involved. If confirmed, Chavez-DeRemer could have other technical ways to influence policy. One such avenue could be through the Labor secretary’s oversight of the Office of Labor and Management Standards, which has been leveraged by Republican administrations in the past to subject unions to extraordinary administrative scrutiny, says Conti. It’s possible Chavez-DeRemer could direct the office not to target unions in this way. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a separate entity from the Labor Department, will also play a major role in establishing policies for unions and organizing. So, Trump’s staffing for NLRB could also be a notable factor in shaping the administration’s approach toward labor. Overall, however, experts told Vox that Cabinet secretaries only have so much leeway to break with their administration. As a result, Trump’s decision to select a more pro-worker Labor secretary could be more of a messaging maneuver than a substantive one.
vox.com
Border Agents Seize $18 million Worth of Fake Gibson Guitars in Record Haul
"Intellectual property theft is not a victimless crime," said HSI Los Angeles Deputy Special Agent in Charge John Pasciucco.
newsweek.com
Map Shows Different Ways States Say Thanksgiving
Are you "Thanks-GIV-ing" type, or more of a THANKSgiving person?
newsweek.com
Joe Biden Seeks $24 Billion Boost for Ukraine: Report
The U.S. president called on Congress for additional support for Kyiv, Politico reported.
newsweek.com
World Cheese Awards Single Out Two US States as World Beaters
Two American companies took home top honors at this year's World Cheese Awards in Portugal.
newsweek.com
They coached their sons together. Now those kids are Caps teammates.
Brandon Duhaime and Jakob Chychrun grew up playing together in South Florida. They’re reunited with two of their earliest coaches — their dads — during this year’s Capitals mentors trip.
washingtonpost.com
Map Shows Mississippi Supreme Court Election Votes So Far
It could be days before a winner is named in the runoff between Justice Jim Kitchens and challenger state Sen. Jenifer Branning.
newsweek.com
See how a lab-grown diamond is made
Lab-grown diamonds have increased in popularity in the past several years. See how these gems are created.
washingtonpost.com
Florida Fines Insurers Millions in Major Crackdown
Florida Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky has increased efforts to enforce insurance laws since taking office in March 2023.
newsweek.com
Police Seek Public's Help in Search for Missing Mother, 2-Year-Old Son
Maria Guadalupe Hernandez Garcia and her son Christopher have not been seen by family since Election Day.
newsweek.com
Winter Weather Warnings for 8 States As 36 Inches of Snow To Hit
Snowy travel conditions are expected across the western U.S. for Thanksgiving.
newsweek.com
Perfecting the smoked turkey this holiday season with Chef Duran's recipe
Celebrity Chef George Duran reveals the perfect smoked turkey recipe to wow your holiday guests this Thanksgiving.
foxnews.com