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☆ No Tip for Your Delivery Driver? Then Be Prepared to Wait, DoorDash Says.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Christine Hauser | More About Christine Hauser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The pressure on customers to add a tip, which DoorDash addressed in a statement on Wednesday, was the company’s latest effort to make changes to its app amid concerns about the rights of gig workers and fair pay for delivery people. In June, DoorDash announced it would give delivery drivers the option to be paid an hourly minimum wage, which would vary by region, instead of earning money for each delivery. DoorDash started its tip pilot earlier this year in some cities in the United States and Canada, and might expand it nationwide, the company said. She said that Dashers, the nickname for the independent gig workers who pick up and deliver food and other goods for DoorDash, keep the tips that they make. It is now appearing for randomly chosen users in several cities in the United States and Canada, DoorDash said.

Persons: DoorDash, “, ” Jenn Rosenberg, Dashers, Tipping Locations: United States, Canada

Meta said on Monday that it will introduce an advertisement-free subscription option for Facebook and Instagram for the first time beginning next month for users in Europe, a sign of how government pressure is leading large tech companies to change their core products. The social networking company said it was complying with “evolving European regulations” by introducing the subscription option in the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Starting in November, users will be able to choose to continue using Facebook or Instagram for free with ads, or to subscribe to stop seeing ads, Meta said. The cost will range from 9.99 euros a month ($10.58) on the web to 12.99 euros a month ($13.75) on iOS and Android devices, and apply to a user’s linked Facebook and Instagram accounts. Amazon, Apple, Google, TikTok and others are also making changes to comply with new rules in the European Union, which is home to roughly 450 million people across 27 countries.

Persons: Meta Organizations: Facebook, European, Apple, Google, European Union Locations: Europe, European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland

☆ Halloween Is Tricky for Actors on Strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Christine Hauser | More About Christine Hauser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Barbie, Ken and Wednesday Addams costumes are out. Ghosts and zombies are in. Halloween this year is tricky for actors on strike, under new union guidelines that tell them how to avoid crossing the virtual picket line: Don’t dress as characters from major studio productions or post photographs of the costumes online. “Let’s use our collective power to send a loud and clear message to our struck employers that we will not promote their content without a fair contract,” the union, SAG-AFTRA, said in the guidelines on Thursday. But SAG-AFTRA said its Halloween guidelines were intended “to make sure our members don’t inadvertently break strike rules.”

Persons: Barbie, Ken, “, AFTRA, don’t, ” Organizations: SAG, Alliance, Television Producers, Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros

The man who has long been linked to the 2005 disappearance of the American teenager Natalee Holloway described in court documents released on Wednesday how he had brutally attacked her on a beach in Aruba after she rejected his advances. It was the first time that details of Ms. Holloway’s disappearance have been made public, and it came after Joran van der Sloot, a 36-year-old Dutchman, agreed to provide “full, complete, accurate, and truthful information” about it in exchange for a 20-year sentence on extortion and wire fraud charges. As part of a plea agreement, Mr. van der Sloot pleaded guilty on Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama in Birmingham to charges that he had tried to extort Ms. Holloway’s mother, prosecutors said. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In court, Judge Anna M. Manasco said that as part of the sentencing decision, Mr. van der Sloot had confessed to killing Ms. Holloway and disposing of her remains, The Associated Press reported.

Persons: Natalee Holloway, Joran van der, van der Sloot, Holloway’s, Anna M, Manasco, Holloway Organizations: Northern, Northern District of, Associated Press Locations: Aruba, Northern District, Northern District of Alabama, Birmingham

☆ Customers May Struggle to Get Clorox Wipes After a Damaging Cyberattack
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Christine Hauser | More About Christine Hauser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A new market disruption is coming to grocery store shelves. In the coming weeks, just as flu season gets underway, shoppers could be peering into depleted spaces where their Clorox cleaning supplies once stood. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, the Clorox Company said it had identified unauthorized activity on some of its information technology systems and it was forced to process orders manually. “The cybersecurity attack damaged portions of the company’s IT infrastructure, which caused wide-scale disruption of Clorox’s operations,” it said. Clorox, a publicly traded company, said it expected to return to automated processing of orders next week.

Persons: ” Organizations: Securities and Exchange Commission, Clorox Company

☆ In Texas, a Black High School Student Is Suspended Over His Hair Length
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Christine Hauser | More About Christine Hauser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Soon after starting his junior year last month at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas, Darryl George was separated from his classmates because of the way he wears his hair, his mother and a lawyer said. Each morning, he is asked by officials at the school, about 30 miles east of Houston, whether he has cut his hair yet, she said. “He is actually getting singled out,” said Ms. George. “They are personally stopping him, ‘Did he cut his hair?’ Asking him at the door.”Darryl has locs, or long ropelike strands of hair, that he pins on his head in a barrel roll, a protective style that reflects Black culture, Ms. George said. On Aug. 31, about two weeks after school started, school officials told her that his hair length, even though pinned, violated the dress code.

Persons: Darryl George, Darryl, Darresha George, ”, George, “, ‘ Organizations: Hill High School Locations: Mont Belvieu , Texas, Houston

☆ It’s a Spider, Not a Doctor, Captain or Vulcan
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Christine Hauser | More About Christine Hauser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Star Trek fans and spider enthusiasts have unexpectedly converged on a new frontier. Scientists in Brazil announced that they had identified three new species of spiders and subsequently named them Kirk, McCoy and Spock after some of the main characters of “Star Trek.”The trio of spiders are part of the Roddenberryus genus, a taxonomic classification named for Gene Roddenberry, who created the 1960s science fiction television series that spawned decades of films, sequels, comics and a community of devoted Trekkies. Mr. Roddenberry, who died in 1991, “inspired generations of kids to pursue scientific careers,” wrote Alexander Sánchez-Ruiz, a zoologist, and Alexandre Bragio Bonaldo in their article in European Journal of Taxonomy, published on Sept. 6, explaining how a science fiction franchise became the basis for the spiders’ names. The nomenclature was not entirely frivolous. Dr. Bonaldo, a researcher at the Paraense Emílio Goeldi Museum in Brazil, said in an interview that the spiders’ wide, fused heads and thoraxes, known as the cephalothorax, and long abdomen of the spiders “make them ideal candidates for names inspired by the Star Trek universe.”

Persons: Kirk, McCoy, Spock, Gene Roddenberry, Roddenberry, “, ”, Alexander Sánchez, Ruiz, Alexandre Bragio Bonaldo, Bonaldo Organizations: Scientists, “, Goeldi, Star Locations: Brazil

☆ A Three-Legged Bear Walks Into a Bar
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Christine Hauser | More About Christine Hauser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A three-legged black bear wandered onto the patio of a house in Florida. He trudged by the pool. He ambled up to a fish tank and gnawed on a container of guppy food. Then he went for the refrigerator, grabbed two cans of White Claw hard seltzer and tossed away a third. It was a typical day in the neighborhood of Magnolia Plantation — a subdivision of about 500 houses in Lake Mary, just north of Orlando — where the three-legged bear makes himself at home so often that residents have given him a name befitting a creature with just a trio of limbs: Tripod.

Persons: seltzer, Orlando —, ”, Josaury, reveler Locations: Florida, Magnolia, Lake Mary, Orlando, Magnolia Plantation, Central Florida

☆ Spectator Is Removed From U.S. Open After Remark Associated With Nazi Regime
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Christine Hauser | More About Christine Hauser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A spectator at the U.S. Open was removed early on Tuesday after Alexander Zverev, a player from Germany, told the umpire that he had heard the man say a phrase associated with the Nazi regime, according to a spokesman and a video of the encounter. The disruption occurred in the fourth set of the match between Zverev, the No. “He just said the most famous Hitler phrase there is in this world,” Zverev told the umpire, according to video of the encounter. “It’s unacceptable.” The umpire, James Keothavong, turned toward the stands and asked the man to identify himself, but he did not. “We’re going to get him out,” Keothavong said, then urged fans to remain fair and to show respect to both players.

Persons: Alexander Zverev, Italy, Zverev, “, ” Zverev, James Keothavong, “ We’re, ” Keothavong Organizations: U.S ., Nazi, Arthur Locations: Germany, Zverev, Queens

☆ Anchor Workers Want to Save Their Brewery by Buying It
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Christine Hauser | More About Christine Hauser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Unionized workers at Anchor Brewing Company, the oldest craft brewer in the United States, want to buy the 127-year-old company and run it as a co-op to save it from shutting down, a union official said. The workers have “decided to launch an effort to purchase the brewery and run it as a worker co-op,” according to a proposal letter from the Anchor employees. Pedro de Sá, the business agent at International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 6, whose members include workers at Anchor, sent the proposal on Wednesday to Mike Minami, the president of Sapporo USA, which owns the company. “All we want is a fair shot at being able to continue to do our jobs, make the beer we love, and keep this historic institution open,” the letter said. “We do not want the brewery and brand we love to be sold off before we even had a chance.”

Persons: Pedro de Sá, Mike Minami, “, ” Organizations: Anchor Brewing Company, Anchor, Warehouse Union, Sapporo Locations: United States, Sapporo USA

☆ Mikala Jones, Surfer Known for Photography Inside Waves, Is Dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Christine Hauser | More About Christine Hauser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mikala Jones, a professional surfer known for his photography and videos filmed from inside the tight tubes of breaking waves, has died after an accident while he was surfing in Indonesia, his family said. This week, the online surfing world mourned a member of its tribe and circulated some of his most popular works, including a photograph that showed him peering through the barrel of a breaking wave as he rode it into an opening of sunlight. In one of Mr. Jones’s last Instagram posts, he filmed himself standing up on a surfboard as the walls of a wave folded around him. “Time to live,” he wrote. Besides his wife and children, he said, surfing was “all I need.”

Persons: Mikala Jones, John Jones, Jones’s, ” Organizations: Associated Press Locations: Indonesia, Sumatra

PinnedTorrential rainfall generated widespread flooding across western New England and parts of New York State on Monday, flooding homes and washing away roads and bridges as people were stranded in vehicles. In Vermont, where flooding was expected to intensify throughout the day, officials said about 20 people so far had been rescued by boat, with another two dozen evacuated from homes. And at least one person, a woman in her 30s, died in the flooding in New York’s Hudson Valley, the authorities said. The downpour was generating flash flooding in five counties across northern Vermont, where up to three inches of rain have fallen so far, the Weather Service said. In central Vermont, Addison, Orange, Rutland and Windsor counties are at risk of a flash flood through the early afternoon.

Persons: Steven M, Neuhaus, ”, ABC’s, Mr, John F, Irene, Claire Moses Organizations: New York State, America, National Weather Service, Weather Service, New York, Orange, Kennedy, Boston Logan International Airport, Amtrak, Weather Prediction Locations: New England, New, Vermont, Hudson Valley, Orange County, N.Y, “, Burlington, Addison, Orange, Rutland, Windsor, Hudson, New York, LaGuardia, Boston, New York City, Albany, East

A recently discovered letter written by President Abraham Lincoln that offers a glimpse into his thinking during the early part of the Civil War sold this week in Pennsylvania for $85,000, according to an autograph dealer. “Discovering unpublished, unknown letters of Abraham Lincoln is increasingly rare,” Mr. Raab said in a statement about the document on the Pennsylvania collection’s website. The letter, which measures 5 by 8 inches, was sold to a private collector in the southeastern United States on Wednesday, Mr. Raab said. Dated Aug. 19, 1861, the short letter is addressed to Charles Ellet Jr., an American civil engineer and Union Army colonel, who had met the president and lobbied him for the creation of a civil engineering corps. Colonel Ellet had insisted that immediate action be taken to understand the South’s infrastructure because he felt that Washington was vulnerable.

Persons: Abraham Lincoln, Nathan Raab, Raab, Mr, Charles Ellet Jr, Ellet Organizations: Pennsylvania, Union Army Locations: Pennsylvania, United States, American, Washington

☆ OceanGate, Operator of the Titan Submersible, Suspends Operations
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Christine Hauser | More About Christine Hauser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

OceanGate Expeditions said it had “suspended all exploration and commercial operations” after its Titan submersible presumably imploded during a dive to explore the wreckage of the Titanic last month, killing the company’s founder and four other people. The company, which is based in Everett, Wash., made the announcement at the top of its website, above footage of previous Titanic explorations and a link to learn more about how to “explore the world’s most famous shipwreck.”It was not clear when the message was added to the company’s website. There were no further details from the OceanGate, which did not immediately respond to an email. On board the lost submersible were Stockton Rush, 61, the founder and chief executive of OceanGate Expeditions, who was piloting the vessel; Hamish Harding, 58, a British businessman and explorer; Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, a French maritime expert; Shahzada Dawood, 48, a British Pakistani businessman; and his son, Suleman, 19.

Persons: Hamish Harding, Paul, Henri Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood, Suleman Organizations: OceanGate Expeditions, Stockton Rush Locations: Everett, Wash, British, British Pakistani

☆ First the Smoke. Then the Bugs.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Christine Hauser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

But New Yorkers pestered by clouds of small insects this week have wondered whether they were being dealt another consequence of the smothering smoke drifting in from Canadian wildfires. As swarms of bugs were changing the city’s horizon, layering the muted skyline of skyscrapers with a swirling, street-level cloud of insects, some New Yorkers complained they could not open their mouths to breathe as they walked down the street, for fear of inhaling a big gulp of them. Pedestrians swatted as they walked. Diners at outdoor patios in Brooklyn fanned the air. Gothamist reported that “residents of the Bug Apple want these unwelcome tourists to skip town.”

Persons: It’s, ” Locations: New York City, Brooklyn, “

For Felisha Robinson, it was the scene in the biopic “What’s Love Got to Do With It” in which Tina Turner runs across the highway, face bloodied from having been beaten by her then-husband and performing partner, Ike Turner, to escape her abusive marriage with nothing but 36 cents and a Mobil card in her pocket. As Robinson, 42, was getting out of her own abusive marriage in 2020, she found herself gravitating toward the 1993 film that made waves around the world for starkly depicting the violence Tina Turner had endured. She had watched it when she was younger, but felt she now understood all that it took for Turner get there. Looking back at the singer’s interviews, books and songs helped Robinson process her own experience. “The desperation that was in her, like, ‘I have got to get out of this situation.

Persons: Felisha Robinson, Tina Turner, Ike Turner, Robinson, “, ”, Turner Organizations: Mobil

☆ 8 People Rescued in Partial Building Collapse in Iowa
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Christine Hauser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A search and rescue effort was winding down in Iowa on Monday after the partial collapse of a six-story apartment building the day before, officials said. The Davenport Police Department said its officers and firefighters responded on Sunday at about 5 p.m. to a report of the collapse at 324 Main Street in Davenport, a city along the Mississippi River in the eastern part of the state. Overnight, more than a dozen people were escorted out of the building and eight were rescued, Chief Michael Carlsten, of the Davenport Fire Department, said at a news conference on Monday. One man was taken to the hospital, but Chief Carlsten did not know the man’s condition. There was no information about other injuries.

☆ Prince Harry and Meghan Say They Were Chased by Paparazzi in New York
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Christine Hauser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Prince Harry, his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and her mother, Doria Ragland, were involved in a “near catastrophic” car chase while being followed by paparazzi on Tuesday night in New York, a spokesperson said. “Last night, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Ms. Ragland were involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi,” a statement said. “This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.”The New York Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the incident.

☆ Carroll’s Testimony Highlights Trauma of Speaking Out After Rape, Experts Say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Amanda Holpuch | Christine Hauser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Sexual assault survivors can be traumatized again when testifying years later, experts say. It is not unusual for people who are sexually assaulted to not come forward right away. “The victim has to be prepared to be the sole carrier of the information, and they also carry the burden of all the questions,” said Veronique Valliere, a psychologist who counsels sexual assault perpetrators and victims. “All the defense has to do really is to attack the decision-making of the victim,” she said. “If the offender happens to have resources, like money or status, immediately people go to thinking there is an alternative motive for fabrication,” Dr. Valliere said.

☆ After Too Much Rain, Too Little Gas in South Florida’s Stations
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Christine Hauser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Government agencies have intervened to try to address a severe gasoline shortage in Florida, where last week’s torrential rain storms and floods damaged critical infrastructure and left gas stations in the state’s southeast without fuel. The Environmental Protection Agency has stepped in to help Florida increase gasoline supplies, while the state was delivering fuel directly to the areas where the shortage is most acute. Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said at a briefing on Thursday that the E.P.A. was “quickly processing” a request from Florida “to expand the available supply of gas in the region” and that it was ready to provide additional help if requested. “We are closely monitoring the situation in Florida right now,” she said, adding that the Biden administration had “been in touch with the state to offer assistance.”

☆ How to Stay Safe in the Heat
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-20 | by ( Christine Hauser | The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +21 min

How to Stay Safe in the Heat Give this articleImage People flocked to Alki Beach in Seattle in June 2021 to escape the heat. Rising temperatures can put many at risk for heat-related illnesses, including heat stroke and heat exhaustion. Here’s guidance from experts on how to stay cool during the swelter — even without air-conditioning. There are a few tips to keep in mind to stay hydrated during a heat wave, when people should be especially vigilant about keeping themselves safe and healthy. Trying to stay cool during a heat wave in Houston in June.

Persons: Ruth Fremson, It’s, Kelly Hyndman, Leslie Swanson, Dr, Swanson, ”, Philip Gehrman, Justin Fiala, “ You’re, Fiala, Brandon Bell, Juan Arredondo, Basil Eldadah, Sharon A, Brangman, Eldadah, James Mark, Claire McCarthy, haven’t, “, they’re, Tony Woodward Organizations: New York Times, Northern, Centers for Disease Control, University of Alabama, Getty, University of Michigan, Penn Sleep Center, University of Pennsylvania, New York Times Company, Northwestern Medicine, ., The New York Times, National Institute, Aging, SUNY, Medical University, Cleveland Clinic, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Seattle Children’s Locations: Alki, Seattle, Europe, Birmingham, Houston, United, geriatrics, Syracuse, N.Y, Ohio, Boston

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