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In-N-Out bans mask-wearing for employees in some states

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:24 GMT

New York (CNN) — In-N-Out employees in five US states will no longer be allowed to wear masks as part of new company guidelines that “emphasize the importance of customer service,” notably showing their smiles, according to a new policy issued by the fast food chain.Beginning August 14, employees that want to wear masks amid Covid-19 must have a “valid medical note exempting him or her from this requirement,” an email to workers said. The policy is in effect for workers at its restaurants in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Texas and Utah, which amount to about 100 locations.A policy for its California and Oregon restaurants, where it can’t ban employees from wearing masks, said that they have to wear a company-provided N95 mask. A majority of In-N-Out locations are in California, totaling about 300 out of 391.“We are introducing new mask guidelines that emphasizes the importance of customer service and the ability to show our associates’ smiles and other facial features while considering...

Snorkeler bitten by 7-foot alligator while swimming in Central Florida spring

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:24 GMT

ALTOONA, Florida (WESH) — The swimming area of a Central Florida spring has been closed down after an alligator attack.According to National Forests in Florida, a snorkeler was attacked Monday at the Alexander Springs Recreation Area in the Ocala National Forest.The man was snorkeling when a 7-foot alligator bit him, he said.He suffered puncture wounds and lacerations. He was hospitalized.The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) removed the aggressive alligator shortly after being notified and is investigating the incident.The USFS will reopen the Alexander Springs swim area once FWC completes its investigation.

Miami International Airport’s multi-million dollar contract paves the way for major upgrades

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:24 GMT

Miami International Airport is set to undergo a transformative upgrade as the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners approved a multi-million dollar contract to modernize and enhance its conveyance units.According to officials with MIA, the contract is worth approximately $12 million per year and will help upgrade 372 old elevators, escalators, and moving walkways at the airport. 145 of those units are going to get a complete modern makeover. Over the next five to 10 years, officials are planning to upgrade or replace at least 30 units every year. “This is a game-changer that will future-proof the conveyance units at Miami International Airport for decades to come and provide an improved travel experience for all of our visitors,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava in a press release. “As our airport continues to grow at unprecedented levels, important investments like these will ensure the gateway to our community is more efficient and cust...

Dracut police investigating after reports of BB pellets shot at cars, apartments

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:24 GMT

An investigation got underway in Dracut over the weekend after police said they received several reports of BB pellets being fired at passing cars and apartments. Police said they first responded on Saturday night around 9:45 p.m. to a site on Nashua Road for a report of a vehicle that had been hit by pellets. The driver, according to police, told officers their vehicle was hit twice on two separate occasions traveling toward Tyngsboro and, later, while traveling back into Dracut. Police said they then received three additional reports of vehicles that were hit by BB pellets while driving through the same area of Nashua Road around the same time that the first vehicle was hit. In total, police said one driver was hit in the hand by a pellet but declined medical attention. Hours later, around 2 a.m. Sunday morning, police said area residents reported their apartments were hit by BB pellets.Police said one apartment had damage to a glass door, a storm door and a wi...

More AI: Meta launches ChatGPT rival Llama

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:24 GMT

MENLO PARK, Calif.  — Facebook parent company Meta Platforms has built an artificial intelligence system that rivals the likes of ChatGPT and Google’s Bard but it’s taking a different approach: releasing it for free.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday that the company is partnering with Microsoft to introduce the next generation of its AI large language model and making the technology, known as Llama 2, free for research and commercial use.Much like tech peers Google and Microsoft, the social media company has long had a big research team of computer scientists devoted to advancing AI technology. But it’s been overshadowed as the release of ChatGPT sparked a rush to profit off of “generative AI” tools that can create new prose, images and other media.Meta has also tried to distinguish itself by being more open than some of its Big Tech rivals about offering a peek at the data and code it uses to build AI systems. It has argued that such openness makes...

Rescued Australian man who was adrift 3 months in Pacific with dog ‘grateful’ to be alive

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:24 GMT

By MARÍA VERZA (Associated Press)MANZANILLO, Mexico (AP) — An Australian sailor who was rescued by a Mexican tuna boat after being adrift at sea with his dog for three months said Tuesday that he is “grateful” to be alive after setting foot on dry land for the first time since their ordeal began.After a visit from a doctor on board the Maria Delia Tuna, Timothy Lyndsay Shaddock, 54, and his dog, Bella, disembarked in the Mexican city of Manzanillo from the fishing boat that rescued them.“I’m feeling alright. I’m feeling a lot better than I was, I tell ya,” Shaddock, smiling, bearded and thin, told reporters on the dock in the port city, which is about 210 miles (337 kilometers) west of Mexico City..“To the captain and fishing company that saved my life, I’m just so grateful. I’m alive and I didn’t really think I’d make it,” Shaddock said, adding that he and his “amazing” dog are both doing...

Wildfires in Greece close highways and threaten an oil refinery, as the EU sends firefighting planes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:24 GMT

By THANASSIS STAVRAKIS and DEREK GATOPOULOS (Associated Press)MANDRA, Greece (AP) — Fast-moving wildfires swept across hills in the searing heat outside the Greek capital on Tuesday, forcing authorities to close highways to help protect an oil refinery. Water-dropping airplanes and helicopters flew low though a blanket of smoke tinted orange by the sunset to try and contain two wildfires to the west of Athens before nightfall. The European Union pledged additional assistance, while forecasts indicated more extreme heat was on the way.Italy and France were each sending two firefighting planes to help Greece cope. The planes and their teams are part of an EU civil protection mechanism, and they will join some 30 Romanian firefighters already stationed in Greece as part of a seasonal EU fire program, European officials said Tuesday.Fire Service spokesman Vassilis Varthakoyiannis said that the main fire near Athens rapidly became a major crisis. “The Fire Service had to inte...

Ticker: Consumer spending up; Flex-work firms hiring faster

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:24 GMT

Americans increased their spending last month as inflation eased in many areas, and the job market remained remarkably strong.Retail sales rose 0.2% from May to June, following a revised 0.5% increase the previous month, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.The figure matched the pace of consumer inflation in June from the prior month, underscoring that shoppers are just about keeping up with pricing pressures.While the headline number of 0.2% was a bit weaker than expected, economists focused on data that excludes volatile autos, gas, building materials and food services, which rose a solid 0.6% in June. That 0.6% figure is used to help calculate overall economic growth in the U.S., and it was a pretty strong showing in June.Flex-work firms hiring fasterCompanies with flexible in-office policies are hiring faster than those that have fully returned to pre-pandemic attendance rules. But landing a flexible job still comes with challenges.New research from Scoop Technologies Inc.,...

City opens applications for School Committee seat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:24 GMT

Applications for a new appointed Boston School Committee member are now open, the city announced in a release Tuesday, again stoking the elected vs. appointed school committee debate.The mayoral appointee would serve out the remainder of former member Lorena Lopera, ending on January 1, 2024, with the option to then reapply for a four-year term.Lopera announced she would be leaving the committee and taking a vice president position with the local nonprofit EdVestors at the June 21 School Committee meeting. She was appointed to the position by Mayor Kim Janey in 2021 after two members stepped down amid a text message scandal and reappointed by Mayor Michelle Wu for a full term later that year.The new appointment process comes in the midst of a long-running push to return to an elected school committee, which the city overturned in 1991. Boston’s remains the only school district in the state with a non-elected governing board and one of the few left among major U.S. cities.Asked...

As the planet warms, scientists worry that cases of infectious diseases could spike

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:29:24 GMT

By ZOYA TEIRSTEIN, GristNEW YORK (AP) — People around the world are living longer, healthier lives than they were just half a century ago. Climate change threatens to undo that progress. Across the planet, animals — and the diseases they carry — are shifting to accommodate a globe on the fritz. And they’re not alone: Ticks, mosquitos, bacteria, algae, even fungi are on the move, shifting or expanding their historical ranges to adapt to climatic conditions that are evolving at an unprecedented pace.These changes are not happening in a vacuum. Deforestation, mining, agriculture, and urban sprawl are taking bites out of the globe’s remaining wild areas, contributing to biodiversity loss that’s occurring at a rate unprecedented in human history. Populations of species that humans rely on for sustenance are dwindling and getting pushed into ever-smaller slices of habitat, creating new zoonotic-disease hotspots. Meanwhile, the number of people experienc...