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Editorial: Horrors of ‘zombie drug’ xylazine spread in U.S.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:00 GMT

These days, drug use in New York’s Washington Square Park is very much out in the open. On the park benches, you can see people smoking, injecting themselves and their bench mates and even cooking methamphetamine.But the big shocker for an infrequent visitor is something different. A few of the people present in the park have red and black wounds on their skin. In at least one case, parts of human tendons appeared to be exposed.Most likely, the gruesome sight is a consequence of seeing the effects of someone using the veterinary tranquilizer xylazine, colloquially tranq. Commonly mixed with the synthetic opioid fentanyl and obtained with relative ease, xylazine is sometimes called the “zombie drug” in acknowledgment of its flesh-eating properties.Xylazine, which has no FDA-approved use in humans, is becoming a massive problem in both New York and Chicago. Why do people mix the two drugs together? In essence, the addition of xylazine extends the duration of the fentanyl high. And for...

Chris Pratt back in the ‘space cowboy’ saddle in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:00 GMT

In the decade since first playing Peter Quill/Star-Lord in “Guardians of the Galaxy” Chris Pratt, with his exuberant comic physicality, morphed from a likable supporting player to Hollywood’s A-list successor to Harrison Ford.This week’s “Guardians 3” now matches his other, equally popular “Jurassic World” trilogy as the velociraptor-taming Owen Grady.Star-Lord, the half-human leader of a pack of quirkily adorable misfits has been dubbed “A blissed-out space cowboy.” Last week’s virtual global press conference for “Vol. 3” emphasized that this is a conclusion, the bye-bye-bye of “Guardians.” But as any Marvel follower knows, that changes whenever creator-writer-director James Gunn gets a green light for “Vol. 4.”What’s clear in “3” is Star-Lord’s not happy.  “He’s definitely lost,” Pratt, 43, said.  “Quill is a guy who needs to learn how to swim. He has been hopping from lily pad to lily pad, woman to woman. In the beginning he was running from the death of his mother and pret...

Edwards: Low-income T fares a fair deal for Mass. workers

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:00 GMT

Every day, hardworking Massachusetts residents face a difficult dilemma: pay for transportation to get to work or afford basic necessities. This is an unfair and unnecessary burden on those who contribute to the economic prosperity of the state. On this International Workers Day, it’s time to take action and make public transportation affordable for our workers with a low-income fare at the MBTA.Unfortunately, Massachusetts has been trending in the opposite direction. For years, the cost of riding the MBTA has increased at a much faster rate than the cost of driving, and recent reports suggest that driving in Boston may actually be cheaper than taking public transit. The Massachusetts legislature can reverse this trend by passing legislation that establishes a permanent low-income fare program and ensures funding for a low-income fare in the Commonwealth’s FY24 Budget.Consider Yinchun Liang, a homecare worker who relies on the MBTA to travel from Charlestown to Chinatown every...

Workers want full-time jobs, career development: Study

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:00 GMT

Employer flexibility is crucial. But workers want full-time jobs, not gigs. They expect their pay to rise. Most importantly, career development is top of mind.Those are just some of the findings of a study released last week by ADP Research Institute, which tracks worker sentiment worldwide. Even with the COVID-19 pandemic lingering, workers all over the world seem less concerned about contending with present challenges and are most focused on what’s next.“While flexibility and mental health are still recurrent — and I think permanent fixtures in the workplace — what is dominating this year’s report is career progression,” says Nela Richardson, ADP Research Institute’s chief economist.The study, “People at Work 2023: A Global Workforce View,” found that workers still care most about salary and job security, but they care a little less about both of those than they did last year. Career progression was the standout, with 40% of workers saying it matters most in a job, compared ...

Dear Abby: Ex-GF believes she wasn’t cheating

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:00 GMT

Dear Abby: My longtime girlfriend and I broke up recently. One of the reasons was because we didn’t agree on a definition of cheating. She met a friend through work whom I met once, and what I saw and heard during that interaction screamed he was a sleaze who wanted to move in on my girl. I voiced my concerns and asked her to stop seeing this friend, and she agreed.A week later, she renewed the friendship, communicating through Snapchat. For six months she would have drinks with him, go places with him and have conversations with him without telling me. She swears they never did anything physical. I had seen the signs — from time to time I’d notice she wasn’t where she said she would be, the car would smell like smoke, and we were growing apart.One day, I finally had had enough and we agreed to separate. Since our first day apart, they have been together. I have told her she cheated on me and I couldn’t trust her. She insists she wasn’t cheating a...

Kraken beat Avs 2-1, eliminate defending Stanley Cup champs

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:00 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice, Philipp Grubauer was stellar in stopping 33 shots and the Seattle Kraken eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche with a 2-1 win in Game 7 on Sunday night.The Kraken became the first expansion team to beat the reigning Stanley Cup champs in their inaugural playoff series, according to NHL Stats.Bjorkstrand scored one goal on a fortuitous deflection — the puck hit off a stick and glove — and another with a liner past goaltender Alexandar Georgiev that clanged off the post. Seattle grabbed the lead in every game in the series.Next up for the second-year Kraken is a second-round series against the Stars that opens in Dallas on Tuesday night. Seattle was 1-1-1 against Dallas in the regular season. Mikko Rantanen was credited with a power-play goal for Colorado after a shot by Nathan MacKinnon clipped him and went in. MacKinnon appeared to score early in the third period to tie it at 2, but Seattle challenged the play...

‘Waste of time’: Community college transfers derail students

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:00 GMT

First came the good news. After taking classes at a community college, Ricki Korba was admitted to California State University, Bakersfield, as a transfer student. But when she logged on to her student account, she got a gut punch: Most of her previous classes wouldn’t count.The university rejected most of her science classes, she was told, because they were deemed less rigorous than those at Bakersfield — even though some used the same textbooks. Several other courses were rejected because Korba exceeded a cap on how many credits can be transferred.Now Korba, a chemistry and music major, is retaking classes she already passed once. It will add a year to her studies, plus at least $20,000 in tuition and fees.“It just feels like a waste of time,” said Korba, 23, of Sonora, California. “I thought I was supposed to be going to a CSU and starting hard classes and doing a bunch of cool labs.”Every year, hundreds of thousands of students start at community colleges hoping to transfer to a...

Rising Mississippi River continuing to test flood defenses

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:00 GMT

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — The rising Mississippi River will continue to test flood defenses in southeast Iowa and northwest Illinois on Monday as it crests in the area.The peak water levels this spring will likely rank in the top 10 of all time in many places, but the National Weather Service said river levels will generally remain well below past records. That should help most towns along the river withstand the floodwaters though officials will be checking their floodwalls and sandbag barriers closely in the next few days.“Luckily we’ve had relatively dry weather over the last week or so and not expecting much in the way of rainfall as well,” National Weather Service meteorologist Tom Philip said. “So it’s coming through as forecast for the most part.”The river peaked in the Dubuque area Saturday at 23.03 feet (7 meters)— well below the 25.7 feet (7.8 meters) record — but officials there were grateful to have the floodwall the city built 50 years ago in place. Without that floodwall,...

Met Gala 2023 live updates: Get set for fashion’s big night

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Fashion’s biggest night is just a few hours away — after all, it is the first Monday in May. Follow along for real-time updates on the 2023 Met Gala from The Associated Press. We’ll be bringing you news in all formats, all day and all night, from the carpet and behind the scenes. ___WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH KARL LAGERFELDThe late fashion designer’s selection as the theme is not without controversy, with some criticizing his unapologetically polemical comments on a variety of topics, including xenophobic and fatphobic remarks. AP Entertainment Writer Leanne Italie, who will be anchoring our coverage tonight, breaks down the designer’s multifaceted legacy.___WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS YEAR’S MET GALAThis year is themed around the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new exhibit, “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty.” Given that Lagerfeld was, well, a fashion designer, you can expect many a haute look. The guest list is heavily guarded, but ever...

Grab your fancy duds for Met Gala mania with Karl Lagerfeld

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 09:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s the first Monday in May: Welcome to Met Gala mania.With a livestream available when the evening gets underway, the world’s most fashionable fundraiser takes on one of the world’s most prolific — and controversial — designers, the late Karl Lagerfeld, as the starry party’s theme. So how would the man of the hour, who died in 2019, feel about all the hullabaloo? Lagerfeld was a student of history, to be sure, but his eyes were forever on the future.“Karl never wanted to have a retrospective when he was alive. He felt that it was funereal. He made the point that (Cristóbal) Balenciaga and (Coco) Chanel never had them when they were alive,” said William Middleton, who wrote the biography “Paradise Now: The Extraordinary Life of Karl Lagerfeld.”So what about now?“He believed very much in fashion history, so he’s a part of fashion history now. I don’t think he would have had a problem with it,” Middleton surmised.Others aren’t...