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Ill. poised to mandate paid leave for nearly all workers

CHICAGO — When Joan Van is sick, she doesn’t get paid. The East St. Louis-area restaurant server and single mother of three said she works doubles to make up the money when she or one of her children gets sick. “You can’t let your kids see you break down because you’re tired and exhausted, ‘cause you gotta keep pushing. You got to. And if you don’t, then who’s gonna do it?” she said. She may not have to for much longer. Expansive paid leave legislation requiring Illinois employers to give workers time off based on hours worked, to be used for any reason, is ready ...

Willkommen Maddie Pearson

The Willkommen Committee of the New Ulm Area Chamber of Commerce welcomes Maddie Pearson from the New Ulm Country Club as the new Events Coordinator. Maddie has been working at the Country Club for the past five years and is currently a junior at Minnesota State University, Mankato, seeking ...

‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ wins Super Bowl weekend box office

The third installment in the “Magic Mike” series danced its way to the top of the box office charts this weekend with a James Cameron double header, “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Titanic” (yes that “Titanic”), looming close behind. “Magic Mike’s Last Dance “ earned $8.2 million in its first weekend in North American theaters, according to studio estimates on Sunday. Cameron’s “Avatar” sequel brought in an additional $6.9 million while the 25th anniversary rerelease of “Titanic” took in $6.4 million from Friday to Sunday. North American moviegoing ...

In Mexico, US complaints help union organizing efforts

MEXICO CITY — It has been nearly two years since the United States began pressing Mexico over labor rights violations by using rapid dispute resolution methods contained in the U.S.-Mexico Canada free trade agreement. The administration of President Joe Biden has brought six such complaints and brags that, for the first time, someone is challenging Mexico’s anti-democratic, old-guard unions that have kept wages painfully low for decades. But workers and union organizers are mixed on the results, saying it’s hard to build a real union movement overnight, and that employers and ...

FTX’s Bankman-Fried, DOJ tussle over his communications

Federal prosecutors are trying to prohibit FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried from privately contacting current and former employees of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange to prevent potential witness tampering in a criminal case accusing him of bilking investors and customers. The request, made in a letter filed late Friday by U.S. Justice Department lawyers, prompted an indignant response from Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, who accused prosecutors of twisting the facts to cast the FTX founder in a sinister light ahead of his trial scheduled later this year. The testy exchange prompted U.S. ...