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Few firm beliefs and low trust: Americans not sure what’s true in age of health misinformation

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:52 GMT

Darius Tahir | KFF Health News (TNS)Around 3 in 10 Americans still believe ivermectin is an effective treatment for covid. What’s more, few place significant trust in any form of news media or official institution to accurately convey information about health topics, from covid treatments and vaccines to reproductive health issues, a new poll from KFF shows.The confusion about what’s true — and who’s telling the truth — is of critical importance to public health, experts in political science said. “Misinformation leads to lives being lost and health problems not being resolved,” Bob Blendon, a professor emeritus of public health at Harvard, said in an interview. Blendon was not associated with the survey.Such misinformed beliefs are strongly held by only a sliver of the population, according to a new KFF poll. Nearly a third of the 2,007 respondents said the dewormer ivermectin was definitely or probably an effective treatment for COVID-19. (It’s not: Numerous randomized controlled ...

Northern California fires: One dead, old growth forest could be threatened, firefighter injured 

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:52 GMT

Dozens of fires across Northern California continue to burn, sparked by periods of dry lightning that hit the ground starting early last week. The wildfires are burning across several counties, with many rural communities threatened or under evacuation orders. The largest of the blazes is the Smith River complex in Del Norte County, at an estimated 28,700 acres as of the Times-Standard’s print deadline on Monday.Lightning complexA firefighter suffered “catastrophic injuries” Wednesday after being struck by a falling tree during the night shift on the Lone Pine fire. The firefighter was evacuated and has gone through two successful surgeries, and remains in the intensive care unit, according to a Sunday press release from the U.S. Forest Service. The release notes an “inquiry” has been prompted about the event. This inquiry is to find the cause of the incident, said Adrianne Rubiaco, a fire public affairs specialist for the Six Rivers National Forest.RELATED: Map of Northern Californ...

Single-family home sells for $3.8 million in Saratoga

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:52 GMT

The spacious property located in the 18900 block of Alcott Way in Saratoga was sold on Aug. 8, 2023. The $3,820,000 purchase price works out to $1,818 per square foot. The house, built in 1959, has an interior space of 2,101 square feet. This single-story house offers a capacious living environment with its four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Additionally, the home provides a two-car garage, granting ample space for parking and storage purposes.Additional houses that have recently been sold close by include:A 2,703-square-foot home on the 13600 block of Westover Drive in Saratoga sold in June 2023, for $5,025,000, a price per square foot of $1,859. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.In June 2023, a 2,962-square-foot home on Via Alto Court in Saratoga sold for $5,250,000, a price per square foot of $1,772. The home has 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.On Harleigh Drive, Saratoga, in April 2023, a 1,623-square-foot home was sold for $2,400,000, a price per square foot of $1,479. The hom...

Rethinking retirement: What to know about returning to the workforce

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:52 GMT

Q. I retired last year at age 66. After an unfulfilling volunteer experience, I find myself in a period of re-evaluation and considering going back to work. Given that, how does one overcome the societal and human resources biases toward rehiring? Is there any place (or hope) for seniors returning, once they retire? G.D.You are not alone in this re-evaluation period. About one in six retired Americans are rethinking their post-retirement life. On average, these folks have been out of the workforce for about four years with half looking for remote positions and two-thirds looking for full-time work. The evaluation process you mentioned is an important first step. Assuming a satisfying work experience, it can be useful to examine the positive aspects of work that you might be missing. In working with over 25,000 soon-to-retire employees, I often asked the question, “When you retire, what will you miss most from your work experience?” Note, these employees worked for large companies an...

American workers want almost $79,000 salary to start a new job

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:52 GMT

Alex Tanzi | (TNS) Bloomberg NewsThe wage floor for American workers climbed to a record high close to $79,000, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of New York survey released Monday that also found pay demands among women are rising twice as fast as for men.The average reservation wage – the lowest annual pay that workers would accept to take a new job – increased to $78,645 in July, according to the New York Fed’s most recent Survey of Consumer Expectations. That’s up from about $72,900 a year earlier and $69,000 in July 2021.Pay expectations among women in the labor force rose 11% in the past year, twice as fast as for men, the survey found. Still, there’s a substantial gender gap when it comes to what’s an acceptable salary. For men the average reservation wage was about $91,000 — and for women it was $25,000 lower than that.Workers with a college degree now expect $98,600 annually to accept a new job, compared with an average $63,300 for those who don’t have one.For comparison,...

Castro Valley resident sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison for COVID-19 fraud scheme

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:52 GMT

A federal judge has sentenced a Castro Valley man to 2½ years in prison, after the man admitted to obtaining illegally more than $1.6 million dollars in unemployment benefits from various state agencies during the pandemic, authorities said.Idowu Hashim Shittu, 48, received a 30-month prison sentence from U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr., according to a statement from Ismail Ramsey, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California. Shittu pleaded guilty on March 1 to three counts of effecting transactions with access to devices issued to other persons, Ramsey said.The plea agreement states that from at least April through July 2020, Shittu obtained reloadable debit cards issued in the names of other people and used them for his personal expenditures, Ramsey said. These cards, referred to as “Green Dot Cards” in the plea agreement, contained unemployment benefits from various state agencies.Ramsey said Shittu did not know to whom the Green Dot Cards we...

Pac-12 preview: Our assessment of the coaching Hot Seats, Cold Seats and nonexistent seats

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:52 GMT

Scan the contract terms across the Pac-12, and one item leaps off the screen: Every coach will enter the 2023 season with at least five years of security.Sure, terminations can strike at any point. But a coaching change following this season — or next season, for that matters — would assuredly carry a massive buyout for the coaches at the 10 public schools required to make the contracts available.That suggests ultra-low levels of heat for each coach. But the Hotline prefers to gauge the seat temperature one or two layers down, where contract details fade and the reality of a win-now profession lurks.(Please note: Salaries cited below are taken from published reports or school disclosures and are averaged for the duration of the term.)Arizona’s Jedd FischContract: signed through 2027 (salary: $3.3 million)Seat heat: Chilly as a late-November evening in Tucson: jacket and beanie required.Comment: Fisch is not in any danger of losing his job, even if Arizona fails to ...

Buy Powerball Online – Top Sites to Purchase Official Powerball Lottery Tickets

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:52 GMT

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SJ man sentenced to 12 years for selling fentanyl-laced pills to Los Gatos High students

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:52 GMT

(KRON) -- A San Jose man will be sentenced to 12 years in prison for selling fentanyl-laced pills to a group of Los Gatos High School students, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.One of the victims, a 15-year-old girl, overdosed in a bathroom. The pill the teen overdosed on was a counterfeit Percocet pill laced with fentanyl that was able to be traced back to Simon Armendariz.One of students would get the $10 pills delivered from Armendariz at school before first period or at the nearby parking lot, the DA's office said. Missing Netflix employee was last seen in SF, police say The 23-year-old pleaded as charged to all charges and allegations including selling drugs to minors and possession of fentanyl. Misdemeanor offenses were also among the numerous charges.Armendariz will be formally sentenced on Dec. 6 at 9:05 a.m. in the Hall of Justice in San Jose.“Just so everybody knows: fentanyl kills,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “Just so everybody...

Dick's 2Q profit falls, and the retailer lowers its full-year outlook on worries about theft

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:52 GMT

Dick's Sporting Goods profit slipped in its second quarter and missed Wall Street's expectations as the retailer cut its full-year profit outlook, citing worries over theft at its stores.Shares declined more than 24% in morning trading Tuesday. For the period ended July 29, Dick's earned $244 million, or $2.82 per share. A year earlier the company earned $319 million, or $3.25 per share.Analysts polled by FactSet predicted earnings of $3.81 per share. Jailed Sam Bankman-Fried can’t prepare for trial without vegan diet and adequate meds, lawyers say “Our Q2 profitability was short of our expectations due in large part to the impact of elevated inventory shrink, an increasingly serious issue impacting many retailers,” President and CEO Lauren Hobart said in a statement.Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said in a statement that a large portion of Dick's quarterly profit drop appeared to be from theft.“In our view this is a particular issue for Dick’s as many of the prod...