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Xylazine-laced fentanyl is causing wounds and scrambling efforts to stop overdoses

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A powerful animal sedative in the illicit drug supply is complicating the U.S. response to the opioid crisis, scrambling longstanding methods for reversing overdoses and treating addiction.Xylazine can cause severe skin wounds, but whether it is leading to more deaths — as suggested by officials in Washington — is not yet clear, according to health and law enforcement professionals on the front lines of efforts in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. In fact, early data suggests the drug may inadvertently be diluting the effects of fentanyl, the synthetic opioid behind most overdose deaths.There is broad agreement, however, that much more information is needed to understand xylazine’s impact, to craft ways of disrupting illegal supplies and to develop medicines to reverse its effects.“We don’t know whether xylazine is increasing the risk of overdose or reducing the risk of overdose,” said Dr. Lewis Nelson of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, who advises federal ...

Ben’s Chili Bowl planning to franchise, expand beyond the DC area

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

Home of D.C.'s signature half-smokes and chili, Ben's Chili Bowl has been serving hungry late night customers on U Street since 1958. Famous drop-ins have included Bill Cosby, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Martin Luther King. Jr. and President Barack Obama. (WTOP/Heather Brady) Home of D.C.'s signature half-smokes and chili, Ben's Chili Bowl has been serving hungry late night customers on U Street since 1958. Famous drop-ins have included Bill Cosby, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Martin Luther King. Jr. and President Barack Obama. (WTOP/Heather Brady) Ben’s Chili Bowl’s famous half-smokes are one of D.C.’s most iconic foods. Soon, they could be available outside the D.C. area.“We̵...

Southwest has a labor deal with mechanics just days after flight attendants rejected theirs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines has reached agreement on a new labor contract with its mechanics just days after the flight attendants’ union rejected a company proposal.Southwest said Friday that a tentative new contract with the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association would give its mechanics industry-leading compensation.Across the airline industry, revenue is rising as travel recovers from the pandemic. Unions are pushing airlines for better pay and benefits, even raising the threat of strikes to make their case.At Southwest, leaders of the union representing more than 18,000 flight attendants voted this week to reject a tentative contract that its own negotiators reached with the Dallas airline and the help of federal mediators. The company said the deal would have raised pay 15%.The flight attendants are working under wages and other terms contained in a contract ratified in 2016. By federal law, contracts in the airline industry do not expire, and it is difficult for unions...

Spurs, Wembanyama scheduled for prime time on Day 1 of Summer League in Vegas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) — No. 1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama of San Antonio and No. 2 pick Brandon Miller of Charlotte might go head-to-head on the first day of NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.The NBA has San Antonio playing Charlotte on July 7, which is opening day in Las Vegas. It’ll be a summer rematch; the same two teams are playing at the California Classic in Sacramento on July 3, the first day of that event.Both Wembanyama and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich have said the generational French talent will play this summer. It’s just not clear how many times he’ll play, or if he’ll play in Sacramento, Las Vegas, or both.But the NBA is setting it up for prime time on Day 1 in Vegas, just in case. The San Antonio-Charlotte game that day, as well as a matchup between Portland and Houston — meaning No. 3 pick Scoot Henderson of the Trail Blazers and No. 4 pick Amen Thompson of the Rockets — will both be televised that night on ESPN.“I can’t wait to wear my fi...

Do free RTD rides make a difference?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Free rides boost public transit numbers, but they're still far below where they were before the COVID pandemic. All rides on RTD bus and rail lines will be free this July and August, a two-month stretch of the same program the transit line experimented with last summer. RTD rides will be free for 2 months this summer RTD offered free ridership on all its bus and rail lines in August 2022, hoping to cut ground pollution by raising ridership numbers with a little help from state funding. The Colorado senate passed a bill that gave RTD enough money to cover as much as 80% of whatever it lost in revenue from free fares - about $10.3 million in total. As with most of the country's public transit, RTD ridership crashed during the COVID pandemic. The ridership in August 2020 was around a third of the ridership as in in August 2019. RTD fares have nudged ridership numbers up but not to where they were, according to a report. Denver ranked one of worst-run cities in th...

Obi Toppin is worth monitoring during trade season; is a reunion with Kristaps Porzingis in play?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

The clock is starting in earnest on Obi Toppin.The power forward has wowed fans with his electric dunks, but remains on the end of any rotation featuring Julius Randle, leaving Toppin as one of the main Knicks to monitor as trade season approaches.Toppin, the eighth overall pick in 2020, is eligible for a contract extension before the season. If the sides don’t reach an agreement by the October deadline, Toppin becomes a restricted free agent next summer.Then the Knicks risk losing him for nothing, or a lot less than what could be retrieved in a trade before that point.It wouldn’t make sense for either side to sign a new contract as long as Toppin is Randle’s backup. With Randle’s workload consistently high, Toppin’s averages in minutes (15.7), points (7.4), rebounds (2.8), assists (1.0) and field-goal percentage (44.6%) all fell last season. On offense, the 25-year-old became more of a spot-up 3-point shooter with the reserves. A source said Toppin was...

Live updates | Adventurers drop OceanGate fraud lawsuit after Titan tragedy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

By The Associated PressFollow along for live updates on the submersible that imploded deep in the Atlantic Ocean, killing all five people aboard during a voyage down to the Titanic shipwreck.___ADVENTURERS DROP OCEANGATE FRAUD LAWSUIT AFTER TITAN TRAGEDYA pair of adventurers who sued OceanGate for fraud said they have dropped their lawsuit against the company that owned the Titan submersible.Sharon and Marc Hagle sued OceanGate after they put money down for a trip to the Titanic wreckage site and the voyage never happened. The couple said the trip was both rescheduled and canceled, and they were told they would not receive a refund.The Hagles are adventurers who became the first married couple on a commercial space flight last year, according to Purdue University, Marc’s alma mater.The couple said in a statement to The Associated Press on Friday that they have decided to drop their legal action in the wake of CEO Stockton Rush’s death, along with four passengers, and the...

Nets first-round pick Noah Clowney says he’s got more offensive game than was on display at Alabama

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

Former Alabama forward and Nets first-round draft pick Noah Clowney said the full extent of his offensive game wasn’t on display in his lone season with the Crimson Tide.Because Brandon Miller was the team’s No. 1 scoring option.Speaking to reporters just 12 hours after the Nets officially selected him with 21st overall pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft, the trigger-happy stretch-four from South Carolina suggested the public has only been exposed to trace amounts of his offensive game.He is excited to show the aspects of his repertoire that were diminished on a team built around Miller as the lone star.“I think I got a lot more to my game than what people have seen, but obviously, I was playing with Brandon, and we didn’t need another star on that team,” the 18-year-old, 6-10 Clowney said at the HSS Training Facility in Industry City Friday afternoon. “So I played my role to help us win. That’s really all there was to it. But I think itR...

Swissport USA cabin cleaners, ramp workers at Logan strike to protest ‘intimidation,’ ‘retaliation’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

Cabin cleaners and ramp workers at Logan International Airport rallied Friday to protest what they said were unfair labor practices of intimidation and retaliation by their parent company, Swissport USA.The strike comes as an SEIU 32BJ official says Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office is investigating the Switzerland-based outfit. The attorney general’s office received more than 20 complaints against Swissport over the last five years including for allegations of non-payment of wages, according to public data.A spokesperson for Campbell said the office cannot confirm or deny any ongoing investigations.A group of roughly 20 Swissport workers gathered in front of the state transportation building in downtown Boston where they accused Swissport USA managers of reducing work hours and handing out warnings for participating in union-related business at their workplace.Some workers said they were “mocked” by management for trying to unionize with the Service Employees International ...

Celtics have more options, balance with addition of Kristaps Porzingis: ‘He brings a lot to our team’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

As the Celtics processed how their season ended in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Brad Stevens and the front office pinpointed a desire for more roster balance.They had a surplus of guards and not quite enough in their frontcourt, with Al Horford aging and Robert Williams struggling to stay on the floor. They targeted Kristaps Porzingis – the 7-foot-3 big man with elite skill and shooting ability – to be a solution and did everything in their power to acquire him, ultimately parting with Marcus Smart to do so.Porzingis, the No. 4 overall pick in 2015, has shown great promise over his first eight seasons while having trouble staying healthy. But he’s coming off arguably his best season after averaging a career-high 23.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, and the Celtics view him as a great fit in their system as a floor-spacing big who adds another dynamic scoring option and compliments what they want to do defensively, too.“Kristaps can play with any combination of our play...