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☆ Sinead O’Connor Condemned Church Abuse Early. America Didn’t Listen.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Liam Stack | More About Liam Stack | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Americans began to grapple with a nationwide epidemic of child abuse in Catholic parishes and other religious organizations in 2002, after a landmark Boston Globe investigation revealed a pattern of misdeeds and cover-ups in Boston that went back decades. Ten years earlier, Sinead O’Connor became a pop culture pariah in the United States for an on-air protest intended to raise awareness of the same problem. The backlash to her actions — tearing up a picture of Pope John Paul II on “Saturday Night Live” and then shouting “Fight the real enemy!” — was swift. Prominent Americans, including celebrities like Madonna and Joe Pesci, denounced her. Catholic leaders were outraged, including some who were forced to resign years later for their roles in covering up abuse.

Persons: Sinead O’Connor, Pope John Paul II, —, Madonna, Joe Pesci Organizations: Boston Globe, Protesters, Rockefeller Center . Catholic Locations: Boston, United States

Torrential rainfall and widespread flooding wreaked havoc in the river valleys and mountain towns of Vermont and New York State on Monday, ravaging communities and drawing comparisons to the devastation of Tropical Storm Irene more than a decade ago. The storm caused a night of chaos in New York on Sunday, particularly in the Hudson Valley, where up to eight inches of rain fell in some areas and one person died. But its center had shifted to Vermont by Monday, putting the landlocked and mountainous state — and particularly a number of tiny, isolated towns along rivers and creeks, just as when Irene struck — in the cross hairs for major flooding. “What’s different for me is that Irene lasted about 24 hours,” he said at a news conference on Monday. “We’re getting just as much rain, if not more, and it’s going on for days.

Persons: Irene, —, Phil Scott of Vermont, “, ”, “ We’re, It’s Organizations: New York State, Gov Locations: Vermont, New York, Hudson

☆ Nathan’s July 4 Contest: Miki Sudo Narrowly Defends Women’s Title
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Liam Stack | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For most of America, the Fourth of July evokes thoughts of fireworks, family and cookouts. But hours before any of those things begin in earnest, many Americans will turn their attention to a curious spectacle that has become another holiday tradition: the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. The definition of humanly possible has one meaning for most of the meat-eating world; it has quite another for most of the contestants. That is especially true for the defending champions, Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo, who were back to defend their titles and possibly expand the notion of what is humanly possible. Chestnut holds the men’s world record of 76 hot dogs and buns eaten in 10 minutes in 2021, while Ms. Sudo holds the women’s world record of 48.5 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

Persons: Joey Chestnut, Miki Sudo, Chestnut, Sudo Organizations: Independence Locations: America, Coney, Brooklyn

The case, though framed as clash between free speech and gay rights, was the latest in a series of decisions in favor of religious people and groups, notably conservative Christians. A Colorado law forbids discrimination against gay people by businesses open to the public as well as statements announcing such discrimination. But when the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, 303 Creative L.L.C. He was the author of every major Supreme Court decision protecting gay rights under the Constitution. But he was also the court’s most ardent defender of free speech.

Persons: Neil M, Gorsuch, Lorie Smith, Smith, Smith’s, Mary Beck Briscoe, Judge Briscoe, “, ” Judge Briscoe, Timothy M, Tymkovich, George Orwell, ’ ”, ”, Anthony M, Kennedy, Justice Kennedy, Jack Phillips, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Brett M, Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett Organizations: Supreme, U.S ., Appeals, Circuit, Colorado Civil Rights Commission Locations: Colorado, Denver, “ Colorado

☆ Haze Moves Through Midwest, as New York City Avoids the Worst for Now
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Liam Stack | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In Pittsburgh, the air quality was so poor on Thursday that smoke covered the tops of downtown’s skyscrapers. City pools were closed for the second day in a row, and the Pittsburgh Pirates delayed the start of their game against the San Diego Padres. His guests had stopped trying to take pictures of the sights, he said, because the haze made it so hard to see anything. “It was kind of nice because it was really smoky at Cedar Point, so no one’s out there,” he said. “We went on all the rides.”At Ziegler Park, in Cincinnati, children splashed around at the pool on Thursday as smoky conditions persisted.

Persons: ”, Maria Montaño, Christopher Jen, “, Justin Gunn Organizations: Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres Locations: Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Ziegler, Cincinnati

☆ Ahead of New York Pride Parade, Worries About L.G.B.T.Q. Rights
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Liam Stack | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Over the last year, states across the country have passed laws banning drag performances and transgender health care, while protests and physical attacks on L.G.B.T.Q. Conservative-led boycotts against companies that once embraced Pride festivities, like Target and Anheuser Busch, have led to billions of dollars of corporate losses. Heritage of Pride, which organizes the march, recognized the worsening political climate in an open letter earlier this month that was co-signed with the organizers of dozens of other Pride events across the country. Across the country, a wave of state legislation has targeted L.G.B.T.Q. young people in particular, banning transgender health care for minors and barring teachers from discussing gay and transgender topics in schools.

Persons: Ron De Santis, ” Organizations: Conservative, Target, Anheuser Busch Locations: Florida, America, United States

☆ Stony Brook University to Receive $500 Million, an Uncommonly Large Gift
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Liam Stack | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Stony Brook University, a public school on Long Island, received a donation of $500 million on Thursday from a foundation formed by an alumnus and a former faculty member, making it the recipient of one of the largest gifts to a university in American history. The school said it hopes the gift will spur other donations that could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. Gifts of that size are rare for universities, and especially so for public institutions like Stony Brook, which is one of the flagship schools of the State University of New York. The donation plus the state matching funds amount to nearly twice the amount of Stony Brook’s current endowment of $370 million, the university president, Maurie McInnis, said in an interview. The donation was made by the Simons Foundation, which was formed in 1994 by Jim Simons, a former Stony Brook math professor who later made billions as a hedge fund manager, and his wife Marilyn Simons, who received her bachelor’s degree and doctorate at Stony Brook.

Persons: Maurie McInnis, Jim Simons, Marilyn Simons Organizations: Stony Brook University, New York State, State University of New, Simons Foundation, Brook Locations: Long, Stony, State University of New York, Stony Brook

☆ With Mpox at Risk of Flaring, Health Officials Advise, ‘Get Vaccinated’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Sharon Otterman | Liam Stack | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Late last year, with cases at a trickle, New York City wound down its mpox emergency response. Health officials stopped posting updates about cases. Since peaking in the city late last July at almost 100 cases a day, the disease has continued to circulate at much lower levels. Health officials stopped posting case information on the city’s website at the end of last year. The health department said there had been at least 39 mpox cases in New York so far this year, including 20 in January and two in the past month.

☆ A University Fired 2 Employees for Including Their Pronouns in Emails
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Liam Stack | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Raegan Zelaya and Shua Wilmot decided to include their pronouns at the end of their work emails, they thought they were doing a good thing: following what they viewed as an emerging professional standard, and also sending a message of inclusivity at the Christian university where they worked. But their bosses at Houghton University, in upstate New York, saw the matter very differently. When they refused to do so, both employees were fired, just weeks before the end of the semester. Houghton’s firing of the two staff members has dismayed some of its alumni, nearly 600 of whom signed a petition in protest. And it comes as gender and sexuality have become major fault lines in an increasingly divided nation, and after other faith-based organizations, including Yeshiva University in Manhattan, have argued that First Amendment protections of religious freedom allow them to treat gay and transgender people differently than others.

☆ As Crisis Grows, All of New York’s Migrant Plans Are Met With Outrage
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Liam Stack | Jeffery C. Mays | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Now, the daily stream of migrants feeding the crisis has doubled in size in recent weeks, city officials say. With no clear solutions at hand, the city turned to shelter some migrants in public school gyms starting last week. That plan, like many others before it, was almost immediately met with outrage — not only from activists and human right groups, but also from public school parents and the ranks of everyday New Yorkers. On Wednesday, the city began to distance itself from that proposal, too. More than 67,000 migrants have arrived in New York City since the crisis began.

☆ New York to Ban Natural Gas, Including Stoves, in New Buildings
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Liam Stack | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

New York may soon become the first state in the nation to ban natural gas in new construction under a budget deal announced by Gov. But it was opposed by the oil and gas industry and treated skeptically by some consumers. Environmental groups warned that the details of the plan were still unclear and said they worried it may contain a provision that would allow local governments to effectively veto the measure. But Katy Zielinski, a spokeswoman for the governor’s office, said on Friday that no such measure was included in the deal. “The new law will not have any loopholes that will undermine the intent of this measure,” said Ms. Zielinski.

☆ Street Chaos and Long Hours Push Farmers’ Market Workers to Unionize
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Liam Stack | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

One day last year, a man was slashed as he walked through the Union Square Greenmarket, collapsing to the ground as blood seeped through his sliced-open clothes. One of the first to respond to the chaotic scene was a market employee working an already hectic 12-hour day. And then there was the day at the Tompkins Square Greenmarket when an out-of-control car careened over the curb, sending market workers and customers scrambling in panic. The eruptions were part of the difficult and occasionally dangerous work of running the more than 70 open-air farmers’ markets and other programs overseen by GrowNYC, a nonprofit organization. Most of the workers at the city’s farmers’ markets are hourly employees who make between $19 and $26 an hour.

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