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Opinion: Office holiday parties return, bringing sexual harassment risk

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 11:20:50 GMT

With the holiday season upon us, so too is the first big wave of in-person corporate holiday parties since COVID began. Remote and hybrid employees, many of whom have had little in-person experience with their companies, will be meeting for the first time or rekindling relationships with their colleagues and supervisors.These parties can be a great opportunity to build relationships with coworkers outside the day-to-day grind. Unfortunately, in-person office gatherings — especially those involving alcohol — can also dangerously blur the lines between workplace and leisure and create an environment in which inappropriate jokes, unwanted touching or worse can be commonplace.It is important to note that in these circumstances employees remain protected under federal and state protections prohibiting discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Six years after the #MeToo movement began, there remains a lot of work to be done to make the workplace (which includes offsite e...

Universal Studios plans United Kingdom theme park

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 11:20:50 GMT

Universal Studios is looking to continue its recent building spree with a potential project in the heart of Europe that would transform a sleepy English countryside town into a 500-acre theme park destination.Related ArticlesBusiness | Look inside Zootopia land pitched for Disneyland expansion Business | First look inside Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disneyland Business | 5 questions about when Disneyland will reopen Haunted Mansion Business | Disneyland 2024: All of the events, parades, and fireworks happening next year Business | What to expect during 2024 Lunar New Year festival at Disney California Adventure Universal Studios has purchased land outside London as a possible theme park site, according to Universal Destinations & Experiences.“We recently acquired land in Bedford and are at the early stages of exploring its feasibility for a potential park and resort at this site,” according to a Unive...

In-N-Out adds lite lemonade and Cherry Coke to its menu

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 11:20:50 GMT

In-N-Out Burger rarely changes its menu so even the slightest tweak stands out.This week the Irvine-based chain announced a couple of additions to its soft drink lineup in a Facebook post.The new drinks are Cherry Coke and Lite Pink Lemonade.Related ArticlesRestaurants, Food and Drink | Make these appetizers for your New Year’s Eve celebration Restaurants, Food and Drink | Hayward’s first Chipotle opens at new apartment village Restaurants, Food and Drink | Taste-Off: The best cold-smoked salmon at Costco and Trader Joe’s — and the ones to avoid Restaurants, Food and Drink | South Bay restaurants ring in 2024 with a French twist Restaurants, Food and Drink | Bullfrog to become California’s amphibious illegal alien The new lemonade includes real lemon juice and is sweetened with stevia leaves and monk fruit, according to signs posted in restaurants. It has 10 calories per 22-ounce ...

Irvine-based Masimo’s CEO open to settling Apple Watch rift

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 11:20:50 GMT

By Mark Gurman and Caroline Hyde | BloombergIrvine-based Masimo Corp. Chief Executive Officer Joe Kiani, head of the medical device maker that has put Apple Inc.’s smartwatch on the brink of a US ban, said he’d be open to settling with the company.The executive, speaking Tuesday on Bloomberg TV, said the “short answer is yes,” when asked if he’d settle, but he declined to say how much money he’d seek from Apple. Kiani said he would “work with them to improve their product.”“They haven’t called,” he said. “It takes two to tango.”The International Trade Commission ruled earlier this year that the Apple Watch violates two Masimo patents related to blood-oxygen sensing. The ITC imposed an import ban on the Ultra 2 and Series 9 models that goes into effect Dec. 25.The restriction only applies to Apple’s own retail channels. Best Buy Co., Target Corp. and other resellers can continue to offer the products. But it’s put Apple in the unusual situation of having to pull a big moneymaker off ...

How to avoid drowsy driving during the holidays

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 11:20:50 GMT

In case you missed it (because we did!), Nov. 5 to Nov. 11 was Drowsy Driving Prevention Week, according to the National Sleep Foundation.We’re writing about this now because the topic of driving drowsy is just as important now as it was last month.Drowsy driving will always be a major safety issue, and especially during the holiday season. Christmas Day can be a long day for people who travel and perhaps get on the freeway late at night to return home after a heavy meal and a few eggnogs.Driving drowsy is an unappreciated road hazard that’s more common than many people think, and it leads to countless accidents and fatalities. AAA research found that drivers often don’t realize how drowsy they are and they continue to drive when they really should stop for a break. The good news is that driving drowsy is preventable with adequate sleep and other prevention measures.“Drowsiness refers to a state of increased tendency to fall asleep” states an Auto Club article. “Beyond the danger of...

Poverty: Here’s how many Americans are struggling to get by

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 11:20:50 GMT

Poverty in the U.S.Related ArticlesNational Politics | Kaiser Permanente teams up with food bank to feed Bay Area families National Politics | Social Security clawbacks hit a million more people than agency chief told Congress National Politics | Share the Spirit: Lincoln Families opened the doors for one mother to learn English — and so much about herself National Politics | Medicaid ‘unwinding’ makes other public assistance harder to get National Politics | Share the Spirit: Woman’s career goal back on track thanks to Rubicon Programs The number of Americans struggling to get by has increased in the past few years.The U.S. Census Bureau produces annual poverty estimates to measure the economic well-being of households, families and individuals.The report offers the official poverty measure and the supplemental poverty measure. The official figure, produced since the 1960s, defines poverty b...

California doctor accused of strangling his wife convicted of second-degree murder

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 11:20:50 GMT

A fertility doctor accused of strangling his wife in 2016, and then staging the body to make it look like she took a fatal fall down the stairs at their San Clemente home, was convicted Tuesday of murder.An Orange County Superior Court jury deliberated for roughly three hours before convicting Dr. Eric Scott Sills of second-degree murder for the slaying of 45-year-old Susann Sills, after finding he was not guilty of a more serious count of first-degree murder. Dr. Sills, who had been free on bail, was handcuffed and taken into custody immediately after the verdict.Eric and Susann Sills worked together at the Center of Advanced Genetics, a fertility clinic in Carlsbad. He handled the medical work, according to testimony during the trial, while she ran the business side of the practice. The couple and their twin children — a boy and girl who were 12 years old at the time of their mother’s death — lived in an upscale San Clemente neighborhood.On the morning of Nov. 12, 2016, Dr. Sills ...

California police must tell drivers why they’re being stopped starting next year under new law

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 11:20:50 GMT

California police will soon be required to tell drivers why they’ve stopped them before they can start asking questions.The new bill, A.B. 2773, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2024, will also require all police agencies to track whether officers who stop drivers are complying with the law.During its meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 19, members of the Los Angeles Police Commission asked commanders what the new law would mean for officers making traffic stops.“This is instead of the officer asking a driver, ‘Do you know why I pulled you over?’” LAPD Captain Steven Ramos told the commission. “Now, the onus is on the officer to tell the individual why they pulled them over.”On its face, the law written by state Assemblyman Chris Holden of Pasadena and passed in 2022 would require officers to give drivers basic information about the reason they’re being detained.But the changes to what police are required to tell drivers could also lead to fewer of what are known as pretextual stops: That is, ...

Ex-New York Giants running back arrested in California robberies

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 11:20:50 GMT

LOS ANGELES — Derrick Ward, a former running back and a member of the 2008 Super Bowl-winning New York Giants team, has been arrested in Los Angeles on suspicion of robbery.Ward, 43, was arrested Monday in the North Hollywood area, police said. He was being held Tuesday on $250,000 bail, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department inmate search website.Police didn’t immediately provide details of the alleged crime, and it wasn’t immediately clear whether Ward had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.A call by The Associated Press to the police department seeking information wasn’t immediately returned Tuesday evening.Police told NBC News that Ward allegedly robbed five businesses, including gas stations, and that the 6-foot-tall, 230-pound ex-player didn’t use a gun during the alleged crimes.Ward was drafted by the New York Jets in 2004 in the seventh round but was cut without playing a regular season game.He went on to play for the Giants from 2004 to 2008, the Tamp...

UK rate cut speculation swells as inflation falls by more than anticipated to 2-year low of 3.9%

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 11:20:50 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Inflation in the U.K. as measured by the consumer prices index eased back to its lowest level in more than two years, official figures showed Wednesday, in a development that stoked speculation that the Bank of England may start cutting interest rates sooner than expected.The Office for National Statistics said inflation dropped to 3.9% in the year to November, its lowest level since September 2021, from 4.6% the previous month. That decline was bigger than anticipated in financial markets.The agency said the biggest driver for the fall was a decrease in fuel prices after an increase at the same time last year. Food price inflation also contributed to the decline.The sharp drop has fueled expectations that the Bank of England, which sets interest rates in order to hit a 2% target, may move to reduce borrowing rates possibly in the first half of 2024.The pound dropped 0.6% to $1.2650, a sign that traders think the central bank may look to cut rates soon, which would red...