#pandemic-hit

#pandemic-hit

I fell for Ischia well before I ever visited it in person.In the 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley, the scene where Tom, the main character, happens upon Marge and Dickie, the couple he is pursuing, was filmed beneath the island's Aragonese castle on its golden beach (the Spiaggia dei Pescatori, the beach of the fishermen).

Wine, wine everywhere: bottles stacked on bottles, crowding every spare surface space, taking every inch of unclaimed countertop, packed like sardines between the tables, layered like a phalanx three soldiers deep atop the bar.That's more or less the scene at Anajak Thai, the lauded second-generation Sherman Oaks Thai restaurant that has become one of the premier destinations for drinking wine in Southern California the same way people fall in love: first in drips and drabs, and then all at once.

When President Biden announced his re-election campaign and its top two staff members this week, the names of his closest and longest-serving advisers were not included.A small circle of senior officials, some who have known Mr. Biden for longer than many of the soon-to-be-hired campaign staff members have been alive, will guide the president's political strategy both in the White House and on the campaign trail.

New York City public schools issued significantly more suspensions during the first half of this school year, according to long overdue department statistics.Between July and December 2022, schools issued just over 10,600 suspensions - 27% more than the same period in 2021.The number is about 6% higher than in 2019 just before the pandemic hit, even though the number of K-12 students has declined over 10%.

A health crisis drove Sherri Cuffe, MPH '23, to investigate the impact of nutrition and exercise on quality of life.May 19, 2023-Sherri Cuffe never worried much about her health until about ten years ago, when she suddenly became very ill.She was bedridden and in pain for months as doctors worked to figure out what was wrong.

Corridor 109 started in late December 2021 inside Koreatown's Kobawoo.The Monday-only feast from veteran fine dining chef Brian Baik was hailed as one of LA's most exciting, and hard-to-get seafood tasting menus.Now just over a year later, Baik has landed in a more permanent destination in Chinatown inside the former Lao Tao space at Far East Plaza.

In recent months, Toronto's transit system has ramped up service, students have returned to in-person classes and daycares are up and running once again.Things almost seem like they did before COVID-19 changed the world.But despite the gradual return to normal, you might notice the city feels emptier.

Rola Z., 50
Forced to flee the civil war in Lebanon as a child, Rola was inspired to get into comedy by the implosion of her marriage, the loss of her corporate-communications job, and the agony of seeing her home country endure one crisis after another."I thought, 'If I cannot change it, can I laugh about it?'

Why is Washington the perfect place to host a historical- board-game conference?Just ask Kevin Bertram, owner of Fort Circle Games: "You know, DC has the highest concentration of nerds in this country, so . . . ." Actually, the answer is more prosaic.Bertram is the organizer of the event-held for the first time this year-and Fort Circle is based in the District.

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images / Realtor.comWhen future Basketball Hall of Famer LeBron James debuted in the NBA in 2003, he was an 18-year-old with the weight of enormous expectations on his shoulders.One example?Before even joining the league, he signed a $90 million shoe deal with Nike-a contract that was worth more than his rookie agreement with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

More than 40% of all U.S. mortgages were originated in 2020 or 2021, when the pandemic drove borrowing costs to historic lows and triggered a refinancing boom, according to data from Black Knight.That's good news for all the homeowners who locked in cheap loans - but maybe not so great for the Federal Reserve, as it seeks to cool the economy by raising interest rates.

About six years ago, Keiko Kawano, a radio host, found that when she stopped doing voice-articulation exercises, her smile began to fade.At a certain point, she struggled to lift the corners of her mouth.So Ms. Kawano, then 43, decided to learn how facial muscles work.After using the knowledge to reanimate her smile, she started helping others do the same under the motto, More smile, more happiness.

During the peak of Covid-19, a record number of people abandoned the office in exchange for remote work.Mothers and fathers soon added "find and keep remote job" to their newborn checklists.But, as restrictions have gradually eased and remote opportunities transitioned to hybrid or returned to in-office, the Google searches for "best places to work from home" have skyrocketed.

On any given night, a dozen or more eager pizza fans might be hovering near the front of Folks Pizzeria in Costa Mesa, staring at their phones or craning to peer in on the action.It isn't hard: The kitchen takes up more than half the space, ensuring everyone gets a view of one of Orange County's busiest restaurants.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has released photoshop fails sent in by benefit fraudsters - trying to prove they live in the UK.The doctored images include photos of men and women pasted into various scenes and outside homes ahead of a crackdown in fraud.They were sent to benefit officials by scammers who were asked to provide evidence they live in Britain.

Immediately after being "surprise bombed" with a Golden Apple Award on Wednesday, South Loop Elementary School fourth grade teacher Helen Chan, tried her hardest not to get choked up."I really don't want to start crying," Chan said, with tears halfway down her face."I want to thank you for all the support that I have received, especially from my students.

While some urban counties are bouncing back from a pandemic-driven exodus, Cook County's population has yet to recover its losses, according to U.S. Census data released Thursday.Cook County remains the second largest county in the U.S. at 5.1 million residents, but its population fell by more than 68,000 residents last year, the second biggest decline among all counties.

Salesforce and Meta are looking to sublease significant portions of their downtown office space, spokespeople for both companies confirmed.Both tech companies announced mass layoffs in recent months.The downtown sublets were first reported by CoStar News.A Salesforce spokesperson confirmed Friday that the company planned to sublease about 125,000 square feet of office space in the 1.2 million-square-foot Salesforce Tower at Wolf Point along the Chicago River downtown, a figure that represents about a quarter of the space it originally planned to occupy in the building.

Stephen J. Lyons' op-ed "The kids are not OK" (Feb.25) names many valid reasons for why so many teens are suffering from anxiety, depression and suicidal impulses.I'd like to add one more possibility: addiction.Namely, addiction to phones and social media.This was already a problem before the pandemic hit, but once it did, phones and screen time remained the only way for teens to keep their all-important social connections.

Unlike most days, 84-year-old Cruz Mendoza woke up bright and early on Dec. 18 to iron his plaid shirt and polish his sombrero and shoes to wear to the Christmas luncheon in the lobby of his senior housing facility, Casa Maravilla in Pilsen.He spends most weekends alone and that is something he is used to, he said.

WASHINGTON Even as 7,000 nurses return to work at two of New York's busiest hospitals after a three-day strike, colleagues around the country say it's just a matter of time before frontline workers at other hospitals begin walking the picket line.Problems are mounting at hospitals across the nation as they try to deal with widespread staffing shortages, overworked nurses beaten down by the pandemic and a busted pipeline of new nurses.

Newly released police records following the conclusion of a Buffalo Grove murder-suicide investigation show that Andrei Kisliak made a desperate push to get money in the days leading up to Nov. 30, when investigators discovered - and have since concluded - that he killed his wife, daughters and mother before taking his own life.

Ali Pruitt suffered burnout working an office job, but found remote work was no instant fix.She now makes her living teaching other remote workers how to build a work-life balance.Pruitt shares how she gets clients to use a virtual messaging board to mark the end of the workday.This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ali Pruitt, a 41-year-old remote-work coach from Florida, who's now based in Ajijic, Mexico.

An unexpectedly large crowd of 1 million people crammed on to the Champs-Elysees to celebrate the start of 2023, after two years of Covid cancellations  with Paris officials calling it a renaissance in people wanting to get together again and a taster for future big gatherings for the 2024 Olympics.

Paula Naylor pushes her father, Paul Romanello, with his wheelchair on Dec. 21 in Tulsa, Okla.Romanello was recently celebrated by the Centenarians of Oklahoma when he turned 100 years old.Michael Noble Jr. for NPR Gloria Helmuth has seen the joy of what it means to turn 100.She's not there herself  she's 82  but over the years, she's helped pay tribute to hundreds of centenarians.

On a rainy afternoon this month, Robinette Haywood waited in line for a food pantry under an awning at the Chosen Tabernacle church with her two youngest children, Malachi, 5, and Reign, 3.
Haywood, 46, who previously worked packaging meat in Milwaukee, recently moved to Chicago's Englewood neighborhood to be closer to family.

Changes are coming to Medicaid, and millions of people are at risk of losing their coverage.This year, every state will be checking the eligibility of everyone who is enrolled in the program.That's about 84 million people across the country.Of those, nearly 8 million are New Yorkers.People can become ineligible for Medicaid if they make too much money to qualify, get health care coverage through an employer or move to a new state.

For the first time since the pandemic hit, Japan's ski slopes are crowded again, filled with Australians, Hong Kongers and other tourists who for the past two seasons were unable to enjoy the world-famous powder snow sometimes rather cringingly referred to as "Japow."But despite being perhaps one of the last great snow destinations, increasingly fewer Japanese are to be found on the country's finest slopes.

By Sylvie Corbet and Jade le Deley | Associated Press PARIS At least 1.1 million people protested on the streets of Paris and other French cities Thursday amid nationwide strikes against plans to raise the retirement age but President Emmanuel Macron insisted he would press ahead with the proposed pension reforms.

As we dip into 60-degree temps, Portland's forecast is looking positively balmy and its music scene decidedly on the up and up.Spring forth into these upcoming shows-featuring a whole lot of Pacific Northwest hip-hop-and a homecoming record release for Latin indie rock star Y La Bamba.MUST-SEE:
Can't miss upcoming events.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter and have the latest stories from Mission Local delivered directly to your inbox.Cafe de Olla, once part of the Mission Economic and Development Agency's incubator program, graduates into its own spot on Tuesday at 3388 19th Street.It's been a pandemic-like journey to survive and to do all the repairs in their new spot, so the owners Eduardo Antonio and Francisco Camacho launched a Go Fund Me campaign in January that has raised nearly $5,000 toward their goal of $75,000.

When the pandemic hit, Steve Gaffney was laid off from his longtime job at a company that provided lighting for events.Three weeks later, his daughter Morgan was born.At 42, he became a stay-at-home father.It made sense for their family: His partner, who unlike him has a college degree, earned more, and as a facilities manager she was always on call.

AUSTIN, Texas Two bills have been filed in the Texas Legislature that would allow breweries to deliver directly to the consumer.They are Senate Bill 752 and House Bill 2003, and, if passed, the consumer would still need to show a valid proof of age and sign a receipt."You can get almost anything you want delivered to your house a gallon of milk, wine from your local Texas winery and so we are just kind of looking to be on the same page with those things and to get reasonable, rational laws passed that allow us to be on the same playing field," said Patrick Clark, co-founder of Zilker Brewing Co. Clark opened the brewery in 2015.

When LaChena Clark was laid off from her job as a senior loan officer at Chase Bank in 2008, she still had to do her laundry.So, she figured out how to monetize the never-ending chore, opening Sudsy Water Laundry&Dry Cleaners in Harlem.Now there are four locations; three in Harlem and one on the Upper East Side.

Inflation is decelerating quickly.It peaked at 8.1 per cent last summer.It fell to 5.9 per cent in January, and the Bank of Canada predicts it will fall to three per cent by the end of this year.But economists say that's the easy part.The Bank of Canada has repeatedly said it's committed to getting price growth all the way down to two per cent.

President Joe Biden will nominate Julie Su to serve as labor secretary, the White House confirmed on Tuesday, which would make her the first Asian American to serve in a secretary-level role in Biden's Cabinet.Su, who has served as the deputy labor secretary since 2021, would replace Marty Walsh, who is departing the administration next month for a job atop the National Hockey League Players Association.

Legendary thrash drummer Dave Lombardo ( Slayer, Mr. Bungle, Testament, Misfits, Dead Cross, etc.) has announced his debut album, Rites of Percussion, arriving May 5th via Ipecac Recordings.The lead single "Journey of the Host" can be streamed below.The idea for a Lombardo solo album has origins as far back as 1998, when it was suggested by the drummer's current Mr. Bungle bandmate Mike Patton.

Cyrille Aimee says that her music has thrived since she found a quiet environment in the jungle, but the award-winning jazz singer isn't talking about a lack of sound.When she held up her cell phone for a recent video call it wasn't necessary to see the thick curtain of greenery behind her exuberant tangle of curls to know that she was in a setting teaming with vociferous life.

On March 4, WW International Inc. (aka WeightWatchers) announced that it is acquiring a digital health company called Sequence, which offers telehealth prescriptions for the appetite-suppressing drugs Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro.Getting into the weight loss drug space is a bit of a pivot for WeightWatchers.

Ontario is projected to be short 33,000 nurses and personal support workers by 2028 despite Premier Doug Ford's investment in the sector, the province's fiscal watchdog said in a special health-care report released Wednesday.The Financial Accountability Office (FAO), which is a body that provides independent analysis on the state of Ontario's finances, also says the government will be short $21 billion to cover its commitments over a six-year period to expand hospitals, long-term care and home care.

The Toronto Transit Commission board has passed what TTC CEO Rick Leary is calling the toughest annual budget in decades.Mayor John Tory first announced some changes to the TTC operating budget last week, touting some $53 million in new spending largely focused on making the system safer in the wake of several violent incidents.

Toronto Mayor John Tory did not break conflict of interest rules when he voted to dial back ActiveTO road closures on Lake Shore Boulevard this summer, the city's integrity commissioner said in a report released Tuesday.Tory was the subject of a complaint submitted to the commissioner in July alleging that due to his connections with Rogers Communications  the telecommunications giant that owns the Toronto Blue Jays  the mayor should have recused himself from the June 15 vote in council.

Chef Sai Sakham Chou of Burma Taste, a Burmese restaurant in Sunnyvale, has been accused of sexual harassment by a female employee "half his age," according to a lawsuit.In a complaint filed with the Santa Clara County Superior Court on Feb. 17, the plaintiff, a server and student from Myanmar identified by the pseudonym Jane Doe, worked for Burma Taste for one year before resigning due to repeated verbal and physical sexual harassment, according to her attorney, Navruz Avloni, from the San Francisco firm Avloni Law.

Bocanova, the Pan-American restaurant that had a successful, eight-year run in Oakland's Jack London Square before closing in 2017, is making a major comeback.The restaurant known for its bustling Latin American brunch and happy hour is reopening in February in a new location - 1111 Broadway - in downtown Oakland.

A protester holds red flares near the Invalides during a demonstration against French government's pension reform plan in Paris as part of a day of national strike and protests in France, January 31, 2023.Gonzalo Fuentes, Reuters A feeling of deja-vu pervaded the French capital on Monday as hundreds of thousands of protesters unfurled their posters nationwide and strikes paralysed public transport in opposition to the government's announced pension reform.

French workers angry over proposed changes to retirement rules are halting high-speed trains, disrupting electricity supplies and taking to the streets in a day of nationwide strikes and protests seen as a major test for Emmanuel Macron and his presidency.eople would have to work longer before receiving a pension under the new rules - with the nominal retirement age rising from 62 to 64.

The Paris transport network RATP has warned of severe disruptions as workers down tools in a nationwide strike on January 19, 2023.Benoit Tessier, Reuters Trains ground to a halt in France on Thursday, schools were shut and businesses disrupted as workers walked off their jobs in an attempt to derail a planned pension reform that would see the retirement age pushed up by two years to 64.

PARIS Workers in many French cities took to the streets Thursday to reject proposed pension changes that would push back the retirement age, amid a day of nationwide strikes and protests seen as a major test for Emmanuel Macron and his presidency.Demonstrations gathered thousands of people in the cities of Paris, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes, Lyon and other places as strikes were severely disrupting transport, schools and other public services across the country.

After Nathan Chen had impressed a panel of figure skating judges at the Beijing Olympics last February by performing a vibrant and challenging free skate program that lifted him above a formidable field and secured his long-awaited gold medal, he had to face his toughest judge:
His mother.Beijing-born Hetty Chen, who cleaned houses and worked as a medical interpreter to finance his figure skating career and the pursuits of her four older kids, had advocated for him.

Pregnant women and new mothers died in sharply increasing numbers during the pandemic, and not just because of a rise in medical complications that may accompany pregnancy and childbirth.An even greater toll was exacted by other causes, like drug overdoses, homicides and car accidents, according to a study published on Friday.

Sir Rod Stewart is a Tory who backed Boris Johnson in 2019.So it was a surprise to hear the 78-year-old singer, when asked about recent strikes by NHS workers over pay, telling Sky News this week that he was on the nurses' side not the Conservatives'.I personally have been a Tory for a long time, but I think this government should stand down now and give the Labour party a go at it.

Six people were shot and killed in a small San Joaquin Valley community early Monday morning.Reporter: Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado, KVPR
Protections For Renters Could End Soon In Los Angeles
When the pandemic hit in early 2020, local governments across the country passed eviction moratoriums to protect tenants from becoming homeless if they couldn't afford to pay their rents.

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Microsoft hints at hardware changes just as 10,000 job cuts are announced.Microsoft is expected to announce big hits to Windows and devices revenue next week.Microsoft announced 10,000 layoffs today and hinted at some changes to its hardware lineup in an internal memo.The software giant is writing down $1.2 billion in its Q2 earnings next week related to severance costs, building leases, and "changes to our hardware portfolio."

Moderna has become a well-known name thanks to its highly effective COVID-19 vaccine, based on mRNA technology.But even before the pandemic hit, the company was developing an mRNA-based vaccine against another scourge, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which primarily affects infants and the elderly.

French workers angry over proposed changes to retirement rules are halting high-speed trains, disrupting electricity supplies and taking to the streets Thursday in a day of nationwide strikes and protests seen as a major test for Emmanuel Macron and his presidency.French workers would have to work longer before receiving a pension under the new rules with the nominal retirement age rising from 62 to 64.

Skift Take
Internal meetings were supposed to be killed off by video conferencing, but it looks like in-person face-to-face will be back with a bang this year.This post first appeared here on Skift.com as part of the Future of Work briefingWhen a company as large as Shopify, circa 10,000 employees, declares it is banning meetings that involve more than two people, change is afoot.

The smell of fried egg sandwiches drifting across an allotment in a Leeds park on a sub-zero lunchtime in December was more than welcome to the group gathered there, breathing into gloved hands and stamping numb feet as they made jokes and reminisced.They had spent every Tuesday afternoon of the year working on this plot, planting vegetables and building a shed for a composting toilet with reclaimed materials though they hadn't quite got as far as putting a door on it.

kikovic - stock.adobe.comBy
 If customers were demanding before the pandemic, the increased need for online shopping and digital retail during lockdowns has made them even harder to handle.The past year has seen firms which have never before considered being online taking to digital in a bid to change with the times.

Most economists believe that the US is headed for a recession, which could prove to be brutal.Is the country prepared?Judging from the system of unemployment insurance - a crucial support for the jobless and for the entire economy - the answer is a clear no.America's basic unemployment benefits were never very generous, and for the most part haven't kept up with inflation.

Food banks are renewing calls for long-term solutions to food insecurity as they prepare for a busy holiday season, with the latest numbers showing demand is at an all time high.The Daily Bread Food Bank saw a record month in November with over 208,100 client visits  more than triple what it used to be before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

New York City's ban on the sale of foie gras, the fattened livers of ducks and geese prized as an ingredient in many French dishes, may not go into effect if a new ruling by New York's Department of Agriculture and Markets goes unchallenged by the city.On Wednesday, the agriculture department called the city's law unreasonably restrictive to the two Sullivan County farms, La Belle Farm and Hudson Valley Foie Gras, that had sued in May over the ban.