February 2024 - Page 13 of 15

Six days on the bubble with America’s most eclectic team

Feb

Six days on the bubble with America’s most eclectic team

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It’s 9:40 a.m. in the southeast parking lot at The Pit, and a man in black-and-white face paint circles on a dirt bike. This is Snake. He arrives early for New Mexico men’s basketball games, hypes up friendly faces and sportively harasses the visiting team when it arrives. Everyone knows Snake. He’s been at this for years. He’s a believer.An attendant asks Snake how he is, and Snake declares he has everything he needs. His Lobos are hunting for their first NCAA Tournament berth in a decade. In a couple hours, they’ll be on network television, playing…

Feb

By Jean Thompson

Science and Technology

Snap Lays Off 10% of Its Work Force

Snap, the parent of messaging app Snapchat, on Monday said it would lay off more than 500 employees, joining other tech companies in a wave of new cost-cutting measures.The layoffs amount to 10 percent of its global work force; the majority will occur in the first quarter of 2024. “We have made the difficult decision to restructure our team,” the company said in a securities filing, adding that it would take pretax charges of $55 million to $75 million, primarily for severance and related costs.Amazon, Google and Microsoft have announced layoffs this year, following tens of thousands across the sector…

Fed Chair Powell Says Officials Need More ‘Good’ Data Before Cutting Rates

Feb

By Jean Thompson

Investments and Business

Fed Chair Powell Says Officials Need More ‘Good’ Data Before Cutting Rates

Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, made clear during a “60 Minutes” interview aired on Sunday night that the central bank is moving toward cutting interest rates as inflation recedes, but that policymakers need to see continued progress toward cooler price increases to make the first move.Mr. Powell was interviewed on Thursday, after the Fed’s meeting last week but before Friday’s blockbuster jobs report. He reiterated his message that lower borrowing costs are coming. But he also said that the Fed’s next meeting in March is probably too early for policymakers to feel sure enough that inflation…

Chile Wildfire Photographs – The New York Times

Feb

By Jean Thompson

International

Chile Wildfire Photographs – The New York Times

Runaway forest fires ravaged the coastal hills of central Chile, taking scores of lives, with hundreds of people reported as missing. Thousands of homes were destroyed, especially in the hilly neighborhoods around the resort town of Viña del Mar, where many older residents were not able to escape. The fires exploded on Friday amid unusually warm weather and strong winds.“We’re standing before a tragedy of immense proportions,” President Gabriel Boric said on Sunday, as survivors sought to comprehend their losses. He announced that the nation would observe two days of mourning.SundayUberlinda Silva, 72, in her burned house in El Olivar.Burned…

Feb

By Jean Thompson

Health

When a Spouse Goes to the Nursing Home

Even as the signals of approaching dementia became impossible to ignore, Joseph Drolet dreaded the prospect of moving his partner into a long-term care facility.Mr. Drolet, 79, and his beloved Rebecca, 71, both retired lawyers and prosecutors in Atlanta, had been a couple for 33 years, though they retained separate homes. In 2019, she began getting lost while driving, mishandling her finances and struggling with the television remote. The diagnosis — Alzheimer’s disease — came in 2021.Over time, Mr. Drolet moved Rebecca (whose surname he asked to withhold to protect her privacy) into his home. But serving as her round-the-clock…

NHL player poll: Why 78 percent say there should be no neck-guard mandate

Feb

By Jean Thompson

International

NHL player poll: Why 78 percent say there should be no neck-guard mandate

Mandatory neck guards are coming to youth hockey in the United States.Already required in Canada and many other countries, USA Hockey, which governs the sport at the amateur level in the U.S., has long held its line at “recommending” laceration protection — namely neck guards, but also cut-resistant socks, sleeves and undergarments.The decision was announced Sunday and will go into effect on Aug. 1, about nine months after the issue was thrust into the spotlight when former NHL player Adam Johnson died of a skate cut to the neck during a game in England.More NHLers have begun to wear neck…