ORD, Neb. (AP) — A central Nebraska town is settling a lawsuit with a man it tried to stop from writing letters and emails to city officials and the police department.

The city sued Guy Brock in 2020 seeking to stop him from writing to the city or police, saying the communications had become harassing and burdensome. 

After the city lost the lawsuit, Brock sued for attorneys' fees and punitive damages. 

At a hearing in December, Brock and a representative for the town’s insurance carrier said they had reached a $16,000 settlement to dismiss the case. 

Ord is a town of 2,300 people about 60 miles northwest of Grand Island.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/1/1641148839832.jpg" alt="Image courtesy of Pixabay" />
 <figcaption>Image courtesy of Pixabay</figcaption>
 </figure>ORD, Neb. (AP) — A central Nebraska town is settling a lawsuit with a man it tried to stop from writing letters and emails to city officials and the police department.The city sued Guy Brock in 2020 seeking to stop him from writing to the city or police, saying the communications had become harassing and burdensome. After the city lost the lawsuit, Brock sued for attorneys' fees and punitive damages. At a hearing in December, Brock and a representative for the town’s insurance carrier said they had reached a $16,000 settlement to dismiss the case. Ord is a town of 2,300 people about 60 miles northwest of Grand Island.

Ord settles with man it tried to stop from writing letters

JACKSON COUNTY —A Kansas City 17-year-old, certified by Family Court to stand trial as an adult, has been charged in the fatal shootings in March of two 15-year-olds near 73rd and Norton in Kansas City, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.

Edward T. Shelton faces two counts of Murder 2nd Degree and two counts of Armed Criminal Action.

According to court records, Kansas City police were dispatched on March 20, 2021, to the scene of a double homicide in the area of 73rd and Norton in Kansas City. 

Both victims were 15 years old. They were identified as Dominque Nelson and Dominik Simmons. One was found at the scene, shot multiple times. The other was found the next morning, shot once in the back, nearby.&nbsp;

Prosecutors requested the Shelton be held on a $200,000 bond.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/12/1640364892094.png" alt="Shelton-photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Shelton-photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>JACKSON COUNTY —A Kansas City 17-year-old, certified by Family Court to stand trial as an adult, has been charged in the fatal shootings in March of two 15-year-olds near 73rd and Norton in Kansas City, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.Edward T. Shelton faces two counts of Murder 2nd Degree and two counts of Armed Criminal Action.According to court records, Kansas City police were dispatched on March 20, 2021, to the scene of a double homicide in the area of 73rd and Norton in Kansas City. Both victims were 15 years old. They were identified as Dominque Nelson and Dominik Simmons. One was found at the scene, shot multiple times. The other was found the next morning, shot once in the back, nearby.&nbsp;Prosecutors requested the Shelton be held on a $200,000 bond.&nbsp;

Teen will be tried as an adult in killing of 2 Kansas City boys

MONROE, La. (AP) — President Joe Biden cannot require teachers in the Head Start early education program to be vaccinated against COVID-19, a Louisiana federal judge ruled Saturday, handing a victory to 24 states that had sued the federal government.

U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alabamaag.gov/Documents/news/Head%20Start%20Mandate%20Stay%20Order.pdf" target="_blank">wrote that the Biden administration unlawfully bypassed Congress</a>&nbsp;when ordering that workers in Head Start programs be vaccinated by Jan. 31 and that students 2 years or older be masked when indoors or when in close contact outdoors.

Head Start is a federally funded program that promotes education for children under the age of 6 who are from low-income families.

Doughty, an appointee of then-President Donald Trump, wrote that the separation of powers is crucial to the country’s founding and quoted former President Ronald Reagan, who said “the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”

“If the Executive branch is allowed to usurp the power of the Legislative branch to make laws, then this country is no longer a democracy — it is a monarchy,” Doughty wrote.

Republican attorneys general who were among the 24 states involved in the lawsuit praised Doughty’s decision.

“This victory will help ensure that numerous Head Start programs will continue to operate rather than have to fire teachers and cut back services to children,” Alabama Attorney General Marshall said in a news release. “And this win will forestall the nonsensical and damaging practice of forcing masks on two-year-olds.”

It was not immediately clear whether the federal government would appeal the decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

Doughty’s ruling is similar to a Friday ruling in which a federal judge also blocked the Head Start mandate in Texas.

Saturday’s ruling affects Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Wyoming and West Virginia.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1636124369655.png" alt="It was not immediately clear whether the federal government would appeal the decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans-photo White House" />
 <figcaption>It was not immediately clear whether the federal government would appeal the decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans-photo White House</figcaption>
 </figure>MONROE, La. (AP) — President Joe Biden cannot require teachers in the Head Start early education program to be vaccinated against COVID-19, a Louisiana federal judge ruled Saturday, handing a victory to 24 states that had sued the federal government.U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alabamaag.gov/Documents/news/Head%20Start%20Mandate%20Stay%20Order.pdf" target="_blank">wrote that the Biden administration unlawfully bypassed Congress</a>&nbsp;when ordering that workers in Head Start programs be vaccinated by Jan. 31 and that students 2 years or older be masked when indoors or when in close contact outdoors.Head Start is a federally funded program that promotes education for children under the age of 6 who are from low-income families.Doughty, an appointee of then-President Donald Trump, wrote that the separation of powers is crucial to the country’s founding and quoted former President Ronald Reagan, who said “the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”“If the Executive branch is allowed to usurp the power of the Legislative branch to make laws, then this country is no longer a democracy — it is a monarchy,” Doughty wrote.Republican attorneys general who were among the 24 states involved in the lawsuit praised Doughty’s decision.“This victory will help ensure that numerous Head Start programs will continue to operate rather than have to fire teachers and cut back services to children,” Alabama Attorney General Marshall said in a news release. “And this win will forestall the nonsensical and damaging practice of forcing masks on two-year-olds.”It was not immediately clear whether the federal government would appeal the decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.Doughty’s ruling is similar to a Friday ruling in which a federal judge also blocked the Head Start mandate in Texas.Saturday’s ruling affects Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Wyoming and West Virginia.

Federal judge blocks Biden vaccine mandate for Head Start program

SUPERIOR, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado official says nearly 1,000 homes were destroyed, hundreds more were damaged, and that three people are missing after a wildfire charred numerous neighborhoods in a suburban area at the base of the Rocky Mountains northwest of Denver.

Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle also said Saturday that investigators are still trying to find the cause of the blaze that erupted Thursday.

Officials had previously estimated that at least 500 homes — and possibly 1,000 — were destroyed. They also announced earlier Saturday that two people were missing.

The wind-whipped wildfire blackened entire neighborhoods in the area between Denver and Boulder.

Authorities had said earlier no one was missing. But Boulder County spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said Saturday that was due to confusion inherent when agencies are scrambling to manage an emergency.

Pelle said officials were organizing cadaver teams to search for the missing in the Superior area and in unincorporated Boulder County. The task is complicated by debris from destroyed structures, covered by 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow dumped by a storm overnight, he said.

At least 991 homes were destroyed, Pelle said: 553 in Louisville, 332 in Superior and 106 in unincorporated parts of the county. Hundreds more were damaged. Pelle cautioned that the tally is not final.

The cause of the blaze was under investigation. Pelle said utility officials found no downed power lines around where the fire broke out. He said authorities were pursuing a number of tips and had executed a search warrant at “one particular location.” He declined to give details.

At least seven people were injured in the wildfire that erupted in and around Louisville and Superior, neighboring towns about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Denver with a combined population of 34,000. More than 500 homes were feared destroyed.

The blaze, which burned at least 9.4 square miles (24 square kilometers), was no longer considered an immediate threat — especially after an overnight dumping of snow and frigid temperatures Saturday. The bitter cold compounded the misery of Colorado residents who started off the new year trying to salvage what remains of their homes.

At least 6 inches (0.15 meters) of snow and temperatures in the single digits cast an eerie scene amid still-smoldering remains of homes. Despite the shocking change in weather, the smell of smoke still permeated empty streets blocked off by National Guard troops in Humvees.

Utility crews struggled to restore electricity and gas service to homes that survived, and dozens of people lined up to get donated space heaters, bottled water and blankets at Red Cross shelters. Xcel Energy urged other residents to use fireplaces and wood stoves to stay warm and keep their pipes at home from freezing.

Families filled a long line of cars waiting to pick up space heaters and bottled water at a Salvation Army distribution center at the YMCA in Lafayette, just north of Superior.

Monarch High School seniors Noah Sarasin and his twin brother Gavin had been volunteering at that location for two days, directing traffic and distributing donations.

“We have a house, no heat but we still have a house,” Noah Sarasin said. “I just want to make sure that everyone else has heat on this very cold day.”

Hilary and Patrick Wallace picked up two heaters, then ordered 2 hot chocolate mochas at a nearby cafe. The Superior couple couldn’t find a hotel and were contemplating hiking 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) back to their home; their neighborhood was still blocked off to traffic. The family slept in one room on New Year’s Eve.

Both teared up when a man entered the shop and joked aloud that he’d lost his coffee mugs — and everything else — in the fire. The man was in good spirits, laughing at the irony of the situation.

“I have a space heater and a house to put it in. I don’t even know what to say to them,” Hilary said, wiping away a tear.

Superior resident Jeff Markley arrived in his truck to pick up a heater. He said he felt lucky to be “just displaced” since his home is intact.

“We’re making do, staying with friends, and upbeat for the new year. Gotta be better than this last one,” Markley said.

“It’s bittersweet because we have our house, but our friends don’t. And our neighbors don’t,” said Louisville resident Judy Givens as she picked up a heater with her husband, Rusty. “We thought 2022 might be better. And then we had omicron. And now we have this, and it’s not starting out very well.”

Dozens trudged through the snow to determine the condition of their homes and take belongings.

Brian Williams, a resident of Superior, used a sled to evacuate his son from their home as the fire raged. It survived the blaze but was filled with ash and lacked utilities.

“We had to get our badges for work and medicine and stuff,” Williams said.

Donna O’Brien bundled up with her son Robert to make the 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometer) trek to check on their home. “I think we’re still in kind of shock,” she said. “This is our neighborhood and it happens everywhere else, but it’s not supposed to happen where you live.”

The wildfire broke out unusually late in the year, following an extremely dry fall and amid a winter nearly devoid of snow until the overnight snowfall. Scientists say climate change is making weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

Ninety percent of Boulder County is in severe or extreme drought, and it hadn’t seen substantial rainfall since mid-summer. Denver set a record for consecutive days without snow before it got a small storm on Dec. 10, its last snowfall before the wildfires broke out.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/12/1640951000026.png" alt="Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle also said Saturday that investigators are still trying to find the cause of the blaze that erupted Thursday-photo courtesy KKTV" />
 <figcaption>Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle also said Saturday that investigators are still trying to find the cause of the blaze that erupted Thursday-photo courtesy KKTV</figcaption>
 </figure>SUPERIOR, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado official says nearly 1,000 homes were destroyed, hundreds more were damaged, and that three people are missing after a wildfire charred numerous neighborhoods in a suburban area at the base of the Rocky Mountains northwest of Denver.Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle also said Saturday that investigators are still trying to find the cause of the blaze that erupted Thursday.Officials had previously estimated that at least 500 homes — and possibly 1,000 — were destroyed. They also announced earlier Saturday that two people were missing.The wind-whipped wildfire blackened entire neighborhoods in the area between Denver and Boulder.Authorities had said earlier no one was missing. But Boulder County spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said Saturday that was due to confusion inherent when agencies are scrambling to manage an emergency.Pelle said officials were organizing cadaver teams to search for the missing in the Superior area and in unincorporated Boulder County. The task is complicated by debris from destroyed structures, covered by 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow dumped by a storm overnight, he said.At least 991 homes were destroyed, Pelle said: 553 in Louisville, 332 in Superior and 106 in unincorporated parts of the county. Hundreds more were damaged. Pelle cautioned that the tally is not final.The cause of the blaze was under investigation. Pelle said utility officials found no downed power lines around where the fire broke out. He said authorities were pursuing a number of tips and had executed a search warrant at “one particular location.” He declined to give details.At least seven people were injured in the wildfire that erupted in and around Louisville and Superior, neighboring towns about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Denver with a combined population of 34,000. More than 500 homes were feared destroyed.The blaze, which burned at least 9.4 square miles (24 square kilometers), was no longer considered an immediate threat — especially after an overnight dumping of snow and frigid temperatures Saturday. The bitter cold compounded the misery of Colorado residents who started off the new year trying to salvage what remains of their homes.At least 6 inches (0.15 meters) of snow and temperatures in the single digits cast an eerie scene amid still-smoldering remains of homes. Despite the shocking change in weather, the smell of smoke still permeated empty streets blocked off by National Guard troops in Humvees.Utility crews struggled to restore electricity and gas service to homes that survived, and dozens of people lined up to get donated space heaters, bottled water and blankets at Red Cross shelters. Xcel Energy urged other residents to use fireplaces and wood stoves to stay warm and keep their pipes at home from freezing.Families filled a long line of cars waiting to pick up space heaters and bottled water at a Salvation Army distribution center at the YMCA in Lafayette, just north of Superior.Monarch High School seniors Noah Sarasin and his twin brother Gavin had been volunteering at that location for two days, directing traffic and distributing donations.“We have a house, no heat but we still have a house,” Noah Sarasin said. “I just want to make sure that everyone else has heat on this very cold day.”Hilary and Patrick Wallace picked up two heaters, then ordered 2 hot chocolate mochas at a nearby cafe. The Superior couple couldn’t find a hotel and were contemplating hiking 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) back to their home; their neighborhood was still blocked off to traffic. The family slept in one room on New Year’s Eve.Both teared up when a man entered the shop and joked aloud that he’d lost his coffee mugs — and everything else — in the fire. The man was in good spirits, laughing at the irony of the situation.“I have a space heater and a house to put it in. I don’t even know what to say to them,” Hilary said, wiping away a tear.Superior resident Jeff Markley arrived in his truck to pick up a heater. He said he felt lucky to be “just displaced” since his home is intact.“We’re making do, staying with friends, and upbeat for the new year. Gotta be better than this last one,” Markley said.Not everyone felt as positive.“It’s bittersweet because we have our house, but our friends don’t. And our neighbors don’t,” said Louisville resident Judy Givens as she picked up a heater with her husband, Rusty. “We thought 2022 might be better. And then we had omicron. And now we have this, and it’s not starting out very well.”Dozens trudged through the snow to determine the condition of their homes and take belongings.Brian Williams, a resident of Superior, used a sled to evacuate his son from their home as the fire raged. It survived the blaze but was filled with ash and lacked utilities.“We had to get our badges for work and medicine and stuff,” Williams said.Donna O’Brien bundled up with her son Robert to make the 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometer) trek to check on their home. “I think we’re still in kind of shock,” she said. “This is our neighborhood and it happens everywhere else, but it’s not supposed to happen where you live.”The wildfire broke out unusually late in the year, following an extremely dry fall and amid a winter nearly devoid of snow until the overnight snowfall. Scientists say climate change is making weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.Ninety percent of Boulder County is in severe or extreme drought, and it hadn’t seen substantial rainfall since mid-summer. Denver set a record for consecutive days without snow before it got a small storm on Dec. 10, its last snowfall before the wildfires broke out.____

Official: Nearly 1K homes destroyed in wildfire near Denver

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Novavax Inc. said it filed data Friday with the Food and Drug Administration to support clearance of its long-anticipated COVID-19 vaccine, a different kind of shot than current U.S. options.

Novavax said the data package is the last requirement before the company formally submits its emergency-use application next month to become the fourth U.S. COVID-19 vaccine. The announcement comes shortly after the European Commission and World Health Organization cleared use of the Maryland-based company’s two-dose shot.

Novavax developed a protein vaccine, similar to shots used for years against other diseases and a strategy that might appeal to people hesitant to use COVID-19 vaccines made with newer technologies. But Novavax, a small biotech company, faced months of delays in finding manufacturers to mass-produce its vaccine.

The Serum Institute of India currently is manufacturing the vaccine. Novavax has lined up additional production facilities in the Czech Republic, South Korea and elsewhere that are expected to eventually add to supplies.

In studies of tens of thousands of people in the U.S., U.K. and Mexico, the vaccine proved safe and 90% effective against symptomatic infection from earlier coronavirus variants. A booster dose six months later revved up protection against the recent delta variant. Novavax says it is currently testing how the shots hold up against the newest scourge, omicron.

The vaccine is made with lab-grown copies of the coronavirus spike protein and mixed with an immune-boosting chemical.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/12/1640978029009.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Novavax Inc. said it filed data Friday with the Food and Drug Administration to support clearance of its long-anticipated COVID-19 vaccine, a different kind of shot than current U.S. options.Novavax said the data package is the last requirement before the company formally submits its emergency-use application next month to become the fourth U.S. COVID-19 vaccine. The announcement comes shortly after the European Commission and World Health Organization cleared use of the Maryland-based company’s two-dose shot.Novavax developed a protein vaccine, similar to shots used for years against other diseases and a strategy that might appeal to people hesitant to use COVID-19 vaccines made with newer technologies. But Novavax, a small biotech company, faced months of delays in finding manufacturers to mass-produce its vaccine.The Serum Institute of India currently is manufacturing the vaccine. Novavax has lined up additional production facilities in the Czech Republic, South Korea and elsewhere that are expected to eventually add to supplies.In studies of tens of thousands of people in the U.S., U.K. and Mexico, the vaccine proved safe and 90% effective against symptomatic infection from earlier coronavirus variants. A booster dose six months later revved up protection against the recent delta variant. Novavax says it is currently testing how the shots hold up against the newest scourge, omicron.The vaccine is made with lab-grown copies of the coronavirus spike protein and mixed with an immune-boosting chemical.

New COVID vaccine might appeal to those hesitant to get shots

By DANA GENTRY <a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/holidays-are-no-holiday-amazon%C2%A0">States Newsroom</a>

It’s called ‘peak season’ – the time 
of year when 10-hour days for some of the nation’s more than one 
million Amazon employees extend into eleven-hour shifts packed into a 
backbreaking blur of six-day work weeks.

“They work us like crazy with hardly any days off, especially during the holidays. They
 don’t care about the safety of their employees,” says Johnny Acejo, who
 spent five years employed at an Amazon facility in Phoenix.&nbsp;

Amazon declined to answer the majority of questions posed for this story.

Unwinding after a long shift while 
facing the prospect of doing it again involves video games, booze, or 
weed, according to about a dozen employees interviewed by the Current. 
Others turn to the sleep aid Unisom, purchased online from Amazon.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“They literally keep track of your 
restroom time,” Acejo says of a scanner worn by employees that allows 
Amazon to track their movements. “I took five minutes in the restroom 
because I had real bad stomach pains and I was throwing up. I got a 
write up. All they care about is the numbers.”

Ecommerce sales in the U.S. topped $800 billion in the last year. As of October, Amazon owned 41% of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/274255/market-share-of-the-leading-retailers-in-us-e-commerce/">market share</a>, followed by Walmart at 6%, according to Statista.

Amazon’s net income for the twelve months ending September 30, 2021 was $26.263 billion, up&nbsp; 51.14% year-to-year.

Amazon is the second largest employer
 in the U.S. (behind Walmart) with more than a million workers. Amazon 
employs more than 10,500 Nevadans at more than a dozen warehouses, 
distribution facilities, and fulfillment centers throughout the state, 
mostly in Southern Nevada.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

“Amazon is changing the nature of 
work in our country,” says a resolution passed by the International 
Brotherhood of Teamsters last summer, which noted the company “presents 
an existential threat to the standards we have set” in Teamster-related 
industries Amazon has disrupted, such as parcel delivery, freight, food 
distribution, and movie production.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The resolution says the union 
“recognizes that there is no clearer example of how America is failing 
the working class than Amazon. From its start as a book retailer, Amazon
 has grown to become an ecommerce giant and has disrupted industry after
 industry and displaced hundreds of thousands of jobs.”

“Amazon is very rightly worried that 
if one fulfillment center were to organize and unionize, it could start a
 domino reaction that would cause all others to fall in line,” says 
Avery, a former Amazon worker and host of the podcast The Amazon.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

“Amazon exploits its employees, 
contractors, and employees of contractors via: wage theft, fraudulent 
classification, intense production quotas, dehumanizing work 
environments, unsafe workplaces and production standards, low wages, 
high turnover, no voice on the job, lack of job security and outsourced 
jobs,” says the Teamsters’ resolution.&nbsp;

But the union’s effort to organize Amazon workers appears stalled.&nbsp;

“We are not discussing specific locations or strategies at this time,” said a national spokesperson for the Teamsters.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Members of local Teamsters chapters 
say they’re unaware of any efforts to unionize Amazon workers in Nevada,
 as is a spokeswoman for the AFL-CIO of Nevada.

For the last two decades, Amazon has deflected union overtures – most recently in Bessemer, Alabama, when it turned back the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which represents poultry plant workers in that state.

Last month, a judge <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/29/22565851/amazon-bessemer-union-vote-nlrb-appeal-overturned-second-election">ruled</a> Amazon interfered in the vote and ordered a do-over.&nbsp;

“I’d say the ability to organize is a
 slim chance due to attrition, union busters, and Amazon’s brazen 
ability to not break but obliterate labor law with little to no 
consequences,” says Avery of The Amazon podcast. “Every chip is stacked 
against the workers and through pure grit a large number of them are 
still fighting the good fight.”

“Organizing is hard due to the fact 
that no one stays,” he says. “Union organizers at Bessemer estimated 
they lost 60 ‘yes’ ballots a day due to attrition and Amazon’s ability 
to legally prolong the organizing attempt. People simply don’t stay in a
 shit hole long.”

A group of Whole Foods employees unsuccessfully <a target="_blank" href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/06/whole-foods-workers-seek-to-unionize-says-amazon-is-exploiting-our-dedication/#:~:text=Since%20the%20Amazon%20acquisition%2C%20several%20hundred%20Whole%20Foods,have%20saved%20millionsas%20a%20result%20of%20the%20shake-up.">attempted to organize </a>in
 2018 after Amazon laid off several hundred employees and increased the 
cost of doing business for suppliers, according to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-era-at-amazons-whole-foods-grates-on-some-suppliers-employees-1530526964">Wall Street Journa</a>l, when it purchased the grocery chain for $13.7 billion in 2017.

“Amazon won’t allow that because it 
will cost them more in the long run,” said one Whole Foods delivery 
driver in San Diego who asked not to be named. Paying union dues will 
just be a burden to workers, she fears.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

In February, Amazon <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2021/02/amazon-pay-617-million-settle-ftc-charges-it-withheld-some">agreed</a> to pay $61.7 million to settle charges leveled by the FTC that it withheld tips from its delivery drivers. Another <a target="_blank" href="https://www.classaction.org/news/amazon-illegally-withheld-tips-from-flex-drivers-class-action-claims">suit </a>with similar allegations followed within days.

“We do not believe unions are in the 
best interest of our customers, our shareholders, or most importantly, 
our associates,” says an anti-union <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRpwVwFxyk4">vide</a>o
 produced by Amazon for its employees. “Our business model is built upon
 speed, innovation, and customer obsession—things that are generally not
 associated with union. When we lose sight of those critical focus areas
 we jeopardize everyone’s job security: yours, mine, and the 
associates’.”

“Does your Chair take comfort in the 
outcome of the recent union vote in Bessemer? No, he doesn’t,” Jeff 
Bezos wrote earlier this year in his 2020 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/2020-letter-to-shareholders?utm_source=social&amp;utm_medium=tw&amp;utm_term=amznnews&amp;utm_content=2020shareholderletter&amp;linkId=116261313">letter</a> to shareholders. “I think we need to do a better job for our employees.”&nbsp;

Bezos went on to say that even though
 the vote was in Amazon’s favor, “it’s clear to me that we need a better
 vision for how we create value for employees – a vision for their 
success.”

Bezos rejected the notion that Amazon
 employees are “desperate souls and treated as robots. That’s not 
accurate. They’re sophisticated and thoughtful people who have options 
for where to work. When we survey fulfillment center employees, 94% say 
they would recommend Amazon to a friend as a place to work.”

Avery, host of The Amazon podcast, says job satisfaction is elusive at an Amazon fulfillment center.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“Satisfaction isn’t near what most 
people get from a job at Amazon, it’d be hard to be satisfied when 
Amazon averages a 150% turnover rate and near double the average of 
serious accidents in the workplace,” he says.

He’s referring to a Washington Post 
investigation that revealed Amazon reported twice as many accidents to 
OSHA as other warehouse and storage companies.&nbsp;&nbsp;

OSHA is currently investigating the 
storm-related deaths this month of half a dozen Amazon employees at an 
Indiana warehouse.&nbsp; Some employees say they were not allowed to leave 
the warehouse to seek shelter.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“As soon as there was a tornado 
warning, the team took immediate action to move to shelter in place 
locations,” Amazon spokeswoman Alisa Carroll told the Current via 
email.&nbsp;

“When a site is made aware of a 
tornado warning in the area, all employees are notified and directed to 
move to a designated and marked shelter in place location,” she said. 
“This is the safest approach to ensure no one is on the road or outside 
during a tornado.”

Carroll said the site got warnings 
between 8:06 and 8:16, and “leaders directed people on site to 
immediately take shelter. At 8:27, the tornado struck the building.”

Validated OSHA complaints from 
Amazon’s Nevada workers the last year range from safety concerns, some 
resulting from a reduced workforce certain days of the week, to 
violations of COVID protocols.

“Scanners and carts used by employees
 for order picking are not being sanitized after being used,” says one 
complaint to OSHA, echoed frequently by workers interviewed 
nationwide.&nbsp;&nbsp;

But the most common complaint from Amazon workers in Nevada was the heat.&nbsp;&nbsp;

A complaint of “poor air quality” prompted an OSHA inspection of DLV 7, a facility in North Las Vegas ,on April 27.

“There is poor air quality in the 
workplace. The air filters are dirty,” says the complaint. “It is very 
hot in the building. Employees are experiencing headaches due to the 
heat and wearing a mask.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

“Employees in the warehouse are not 
provided with enough water or rest and are being potentially exposed to 
heat stress related illness,” says a complaint that brought OSHA to DLV 2
 on Alexander Rd. in North Las Vegas on June 1. “The warehouse fans are 
operational but are not providing adequate airflow for the given volume 
of the warehouse.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

“Inside the warehouse employees are 
exposed to heat stress,” says a complaint that resulted in an inspection
 of LAS 1 on Bermuda Rd. in Henderson on June 22. “There is only one fan
 and no air-conditioning in the building.”

On June 28, inspectors visited the 
LAS 7 fulfillment center on Tropical Pkwy. in North Las Vegas,&nbsp; after 
receiving complaints that employees were “experiencing heat issues since
 the summer began due to the lack of air conditioning on the south end 
of the warehouse. Operation managers have advised that fans would be 
installed at each station throughout the warehouse however that has yet 
to occur for all stations. It is warm on the north side of the 
warehouse, but it is hot on the south side of the warehouse.”&nbsp;

OSHA records say the complaint was resolved.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“Employees are working under heat 
stress up to 100 degrees inside the establishment,” says a complaint 
filed in July by a worker at LAS 1 in Henderson. “The employer does not 
allow employees to use the fans in the trailers. The fans are locked up 
and employees that unlock the fans face retaliation including 
termination.”

The same substantiated complaint says
 workers “are rarely able to take breaks during their shifts. Employees 
typically do not receive any breaks during their shifts.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

Amazon is among hundreds of companies
 that have agreed to pay a statutorily approved average wage and certain
 benefits to be eligible for incentives to do business in Nevada.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In 2014, the state ponied up a 
combination of incentives and tax abatements expected to save Amazon 
$1.365 million over the course of several years, while generating a 
projected $393 in economic impact for every dollar of abated tax.&nbsp;

“The proposed plan will bring a new non-sort operation to the Reno area. The state incentive program is a critical factor in the company’s decision for this expansion,” Amazon said in its proposal.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The company noted the majority of 
jobs would pay under the $20.62 per hour dictated by Nevada law to 
qualify a firm for the abatements.

“500 of the 600 positions will make 
an annual wage of $29,100 ($14/hr at 40 hrs/week). Of the remaining 100,
 50 will earn $41,600/yr ($20/hr) and the other 50 is above the 
statewide wage requirement,” its proposal said.

Companies that receive abatements are
 audited after two years and again after five years, according to Greg 
Bortolin, spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.&nbsp;

“The company projections in 2014 
estimated they would produce 600 jobs at an average wage of $16.50 per 
hour and make a capital expenditure of $10 million,” he said via email. 
“The audit findings found they created 533 jobs at an average wage of 
$23.37 per hour and made a capital expenditure of $15,295,110.”

A second <a target="_blank" href="https://www.diversifynevada.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Amazon.com_.kydc_Board_Packet_4.pdf">contract</a>
 with Amazon in 2016 bestowed benefits valued at $1.8 million on Amazon 
in return for building and operating a warehouse in Clark County.&nbsp; The 
company estimated the economic impact at $707 for every dollar of tax 
revenue sacrificed by the government.&nbsp;

“The
 company projections in 2016 estimated they would produce 1,000 jobs at 
an average wage of $14.64 per hour and make a capital expenditure of $18
 million,” says Bortolin. “The audit findings found they created 704 
jobs at an average wage of $52.63 and made a capital expenditure of 
$7,439,082.”

Both the jobs and wages generated were in compliance with the abatements, Bortolin says.

When Amazon was looking for a second national headquarters, then-Gov. Brian Sandoval <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/100-free-acres-in-las-vegas-part-of-bid-for-amazons-2nd-hq/">offered </a>to pony up $800 million in incentives toward the effort.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Avery of The Amazon podcast says the 
idea behind subsidies that employees “would reinvest all of their 
paycheck back into the city via housing and taxes and just going 
downtown to buy stuff,” is questionable. “In reality, it’s hard to say 
that that would happen. Those employees work for Amazon. They have the 
biggest company store known to man where anything can arrive to them 
faster than ever, no matter how much subsidizing is done.”

Why does a company valued near $2 trillion need public money from the states where it does business?&nbsp;

Nevada Democratic state Sen. Dina Neal attempted in 2019 to create a legislative committee to oversee incentives and abatements.&nbsp; Gov. Steve Sisolak vetoed the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/80th2019/Bill/6857/Overview">bill</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The state’s arrangement with Amazon 
has put it at odds with its own interests, as it incentivizes higher 
wages from private employers while failing to invest in its own critical
 workforce.&nbsp;

In a letter to Sisolak in October, 
the Governor’s Committee on Behavioral Health lamented that pay for 
“…front line staff working with the intellectually disabled and 
psychiatrically ill adults is far below that of large local employers 
such as Amazon and Walmart,” the Current <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nevadacurrent.com/2021/10/14/sisolak-asked-to-make-mental-health-worker-pay-competitive-with-other-local-employers/">reported</a>.&nbsp;

While Amazon offers subsidies to 
employees to cover part of a health plan for workers who can purchase 
through an exchange, it has the most workers of any Nevada employer 
enrolled in Medicaid – 3,648 employees and 4,244 dependents at a cost of
 $ 21,326,448 in 2020, according to a<a target="_blank" href="https://dhhs.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/dhhsnvgov/content/Programs/Office_of_Analytics/Nevada%20Medicaid%20Recipients%20Employed%20by%20Employers%20with%2050%20or%20More%20Employees%20SFY%202020%20SB%20366.pdf"> state report</a>.&nbsp;

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders <a target="_blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/3410#:~:text=Stop%20Bad%20Employers%20by%20Zeroing%20Out%20Subsidies%20Act,employees%20on%20business%20days%20during%20the%20preceding%20year.">attempted</a>
 unsuccessfully in 2018 to impose a tax on companies with 500 employees 
“equal to the amount of federal benefits received by their low wage 
workers.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/12/1640715507348.png" alt="An Amazon employee in a fulfillment center. (Amazon press photo)" />
 <figcaption>An Amazon employee in a fulfillment center. (Amazon press photo)</figcaption>
 </figure>By DANA GENTRY <a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/holidays-are-no-holiday-amazon%C2%A0">States Newsroom</a>It’s called ‘peak season’ – the time 
of year when 10-hour days for some of the nation’s more than one 
million Amazon employees extend into eleven-hour shifts packed into a 
backbreaking blur of six-day work weeks.“They work us like crazy with hardly any days off, especially during the holidays. They
 don’t care about the safety of their employees,” says Johnny Acejo, who
 spent five years employed at an Amazon facility in Phoenix.&nbsp;Amazon declined to answer the majority of questions posed for this story.Unwinding after a long shift while 
facing the prospect of doing it again involves video games, booze, or 
weed, according to about a dozen employees interviewed by the Current. 
Others turn to the sleep aid Unisom, purchased online from Amazon.&nbsp;&nbsp;The job is consuming.&nbsp;&nbsp;“They literally keep track of your 
restroom time,” Acejo says of a scanner worn by employees that allows 
Amazon to track their movements. “I took five minutes in the restroom 
because I had real bad stomach pains and I was throwing up. I got a 
write up. All they care about is the numbers.”The numbers are good.&nbsp;Ecommerce sales in the U.S. topped $800 billion in the last year. As of October, Amazon owned 41% of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/274255/market-share-of-the-leading-retailers-in-us-e-commerce/">market share</a>, followed by Walmart at 6%, according to Statista.Amazon’s net income for the twelve months ending September 30, 2021 was $26.263 billion, up&nbsp; 51.14% year-to-year.Amazon is the second largest employer
 in the U.S. (behind Walmart) with more than a million workers. Amazon 
employs more than 10,500 Nevadans at more than a dozen warehouses, 
distribution facilities, and fulfillment centers throughout the state, 
mostly in Southern Nevada.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2>Union no</h2>“Amazon is changing the nature of 
work in our country,” says a resolution passed by the International 
Brotherhood of Teamsters last summer, which noted the company “presents 
an existential threat to the standards we have set” in Teamster-related 
industries Amazon has disrupted, such as parcel delivery, freight, food 
distribution, and movie production.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The resolution says the union 
“recognizes that there is no clearer example of how America is failing 
the working class than Amazon. From its start as a book retailer, Amazon
 has grown to become an ecommerce giant and has disrupted industry after
 industry and displaced hundreds of thousands of jobs.”“Amazon is very rightly worried that 
if one fulfillment center were to organize and unionize, it could start a
 domino reaction that would cause all others to fall in line,” says 
Avery, a former Amazon worker and host of the podcast The Amazon.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“Amazon exploits its employees, 
contractors, and employees of contractors via: wage theft, fraudulent 
classification, intense production quotas, dehumanizing work 
environments, unsafe workplaces and production standards, low wages, 
high turnover, no voice on the job, lack of job security and outsourced 
jobs,” says the Teamsters’ resolution.&nbsp;But the union’s effort to organize Amazon workers appears stalled.&nbsp;“We are not discussing specific locations or strategies at this time,” said a national spokesperson for the Teamsters.&nbsp;&nbsp;Members of local Teamsters chapters 
say they’re unaware of any efforts to unionize Amazon workers in Nevada,
 as is a spokeswoman for the AFL-CIO of Nevada.For the last two decades, Amazon has deflected union overtures – most recently in Bessemer, Alabama, when it turned back the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which represents poultry plant workers in that state.Last month, a judge <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/29/22565851/amazon-bessemer-union-vote-nlrb-appeal-overturned-second-election">ruled</a> Amazon interfered in the vote and ordered a do-over.&nbsp;“I’d say the ability to organize is a
 slim chance due to attrition, union busters, and Amazon’s brazen 
ability to not break but obliterate labor law with little to no 
consequences,” says Avery of The Amazon podcast. “Every chip is stacked 
against the workers and through pure grit a large number of them are 
still fighting the good fight.”“Organizing is hard due to the fact 
that no one stays,” he says. “Union organizers at Bessemer estimated 
they lost 60 ‘yes’ ballots a day due to attrition and Amazon’s ability 
to legally prolong the organizing attempt. People simply don’t stay in a
 shit hole long.”A group of Whole Foods employees unsuccessfully <a target="_blank" href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/06/whole-foods-workers-seek-to-unionize-says-amazon-is-exploiting-our-dedication/#:~:text=Since%20the%20Amazon%20acquisition%2C%20several%20hundred%20Whole%20Foods,have%20saved%20millionsas%20a%20result%20of%20the%20shake-up.">attempted to organize </a>in
 2018 after Amazon laid off several hundred employees and increased the 
cost of doing business for suppliers, according to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-era-at-amazons-whole-foods-grates-on-some-suppliers-employees-1530526964">Wall Street Journa</a>l, when it purchased the grocery chain for $13.7 billion in 2017.“Amazon won’t allow that because it 
will cost them more in the long run,” said one Whole Foods delivery 
driver in San Diego who asked not to be named. Paying union dues will 
just be a burden to workers, she fears.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In February, Amazon <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2021/02/amazon-pay-617-million-settle-ftc-charges-it-withheld-some">agreed</a> to pay $61.7 million to settle charges leveled by the FTC that it withheld tips from its delivery drivers. Another <a target="_blank" href="https://www.classaction.org/news/amazon-illegally-withheld-tips-from-flex-drivers-class-action-claims">suit </a>with similar allegations followed within days.“We do not believe unions are in the 
best interest of our customers, our shareholders, or most importantly, 
our associates,” says an anti-union <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRpwVwFxyk4">vide</a>o
 produced by Amazon for its employees. “Our business model is built upon
 speed, innovation, and customer obsession—things that are generally not
 associated with union. When we lose sight of those critical focus areas
 we jeopardize everyone’s job security: yours, mine, and the 
associates’.”“Does your Chair take comfort in the 
outcome of the recent union vote in Bessemer? No, he doesn’t,” Jeff 
Bezos wrote earlier this year in his 2020 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/2020-letter-to-shareholders?utm_source=social&amp;utm_medium=tw&amp;utm_term=amznnews&amp;utm_content=2020shareholderletter&amp;linkId=116261313">letter</a> to shareholders. “I think we need to do a better job for our employees.”&nbsp;Bezos went on to say that even though
 the vote was in Amazon’s favor, “it’s clear to me that we need a better
 vision for how we create value for employees – a vision for their 
success.”Bezos rejected the notion that Amazon
 employees are “desperate souls and treated as robots. That’s not 
accurate. They’re sophisticated and thoughtful people who have options 
for where to work. When we survey fulfillment center employees, 94% say 
they would recommend Amazon to a friend as a place to work.”Avery, host of The Amazon podcast, says job satisfaction is elusive at an Amazon fulfillment center.&nbsp;&nbsp;“Satisfaction isn’t near what most 
people get from a job at Amazon, it’d be hard to be satisfied when 
Amazon averages a 150% turnover rate and near double the average of 
serious accidents in the workplace,” he says.He’s referring to a Washington Post 
investigation that revealed Amazon reported twice as many accidents to 
OSHA as other warehouse and storage companies.&nbsp;&nbsp;OSHA is currently investigating the 
storm-related deaths this month of half a dozen Amazon employees at an 
Indiana warehouse.&nbsp; Some employees say they were not allowed to leave 
the warehouse to seek shelter.&nbsp;&nbsp;“As soon as there was a tornado 
warning, the team took immediate action to move to shelter in place 
locations,” Amazon spokeswoman Alisa Carroll told the Current via 
email.&nbsp;“When a site is made aware of a 
tornado warning in the area, all employees are notified and directed to 
move to a designated and marked shelter in place location,” she said. 
“This is the safest approach to ensure no one is on the road or outside 
during a tornado.”Carroll said the site got warnings 
between 8:06 and 8:16, and “leaders directed people on site to 
immediately take shelter. At 8:27, the tornado struck the building.”Validated OSHA complaints from 
Amazon’s Nevada workers the last year range from safety concerns, some 
resulting from a reduced workforce certain days of the week, to 
violations of COVID protocols.“Scanners and carts used by employees
 for order picking are not being sanitized after being used,” says one 
complaint to OSHA, echoed frequently by workers interviewed 
nationwide.&nbsp;&nbsp;But the most common complaint from Amazon workers in Nevada was the heat.&nbsp;&nbsp;A complaint of “poor air quality” prompted an OSHA inspection of DLV 7, a facility in North Las Vegas ,on April 27.“There is poor air quality in the 
workplace. The air filters are dirty,” says the complaint. “It is very 
hot in the building. Employees are experiencing headaches due to the 
heat and wearing a mask.”&nbsp;&nbsp;“Employees in the warehouse are not 
provided with enough water or rest and are being potentially exposed to 
heat stress related illness,” says a complaint that brought OSHA to DLV 2
 on Alexander Rd. in North Las Vegas on June 1. “The warehouse fans are 
operational but are not providing adequate airflow for the given volume 
of the warehouse.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“Inside the warehouse employees are 
exposed to heat stress,” says a complaint that resulted in an inspection
 of LAS 1 on Bermuda Rd. in Henderson on June 22. “There is only one fan
 and no air-conditioning in the building.”On June 28, inspectors visited the 
LAS 7 fulfillment center on Tropical Pkwy. in North Las Vegas,&nbsp; after 
receiving complaints that employees were “experiencing heat issues since
 the summer began due to the lack of air conditioning on the south end 
of the warehouse. Operation managers have advised that fans would be 
installed at each station throughout the warehouse however that has yet 
to occur for all stations. It is warm on the north side of the 
warehouse, but it is hot on the south side of the warehouse.”&nbsp;OSHA records say the complaint was resolved.&nbsp;&nbsp;“Employees are working under heat 
stress up to 100 degrees inside the establishment,” says a complaint 
filed in July by a worker at LAS 1 in Henderson. “The employer does not 
allow employees to use the fans in the trailers. The fans are locked up 
and employees that unlock the fans face retaliation including 
termination.”The same substantiated complaint says
 workers “are rarely able to take breaks during their shifts. Employees 
typically do not receive any breaks during their shifts.”&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2>Paying for the privilege</h2>Amazon is among hundreds of companies
 that have agreed to pay a statutorily approved average wage and certain
 benefits to be eligible for incentives to do business in Nevada.&nbsp;&nbsp;In 2014, the state ponied up a 
combination of incentives and tax abatements expected to save Amazon 
$1.365 million over the course of several years, while generating a 
projected $393 in economic impact for every dollar of abated tax.&nbsp;“The proposed plan will bring a new non-sort operation to the Reno area. The state incentive program is a critical factor in the company’s decision for this expansion,” Amazon said in its proposal.&nbsp;&nbsp;The company noted the majority of 
jobs would pay under the $20.62 per hour dictated by Nevada law to 
qualify a firm for the abatements.“500 of the 600 positions will make 
an annual wage of $29,100 ($14/hr at 40 hrs/week). Of the remaining 100,
 50 will earn $41,600/yr ($20/hr) and the other 50 is above the 
statewide wage requirement,” its proposal said.Companies that receive abatements are
 audited after two years and again after five years, according to Greg 
Bortolin, spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.&nbsp;“The company projections in 2014 
estimated they would produce 600 jobs at an average wage of $16.50 per 
hour and make a capital expenditure of $10 million,” he said via email. 
“The audit findings found they created 533 jobs at an average wage of 
$23.37 per hour and made a capital expenditure of $15,295,110.”A second <a target="_blank" href="https://www.diversifynevada.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Amazon.com_.kydc_Board_Packet_4.pdf">contract</a>
 with Amazon in 2016 bestowed benefits valued at $1.8 million on Amazon 
in return for building and operating a warehouse in Clark County.&nbsp; The 
company estimated the economic impact at $707 for every dollar of tax 
revenue sacrificed by the government.&nbsp;“The
 company projections in 2016 estimated they would produce 1,000 jobs at 
an average wage of $14.64 per hour and make a capital expenditure of $18
 million,” says Bortolin. “The audit findings found they created 704 
jobs at an average wage of $52.63 and made a capital expenditure of 
$7,439,082.”Both the jobs and wages generated were in compliance with the abatements, Bortolin says.When Amazon was looking for a second national headquarters, then-Gov. Brian Sandoval <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/100-free-acres-in-las-vegas-part-of-bid-for-amazons-2nd-hq/">offered </a>to pony up $800 million in incentives toward the effort.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Avery of The Amazon podcast says the 
idea behind subsidies that employees “would reinvest all of their 
paycheck back into the city via housing and taxes and just going 
downtown to buy stuff,” is questionable. “In reality, it’s hard to say 
that that would happen. Those employees work for Amazon. They have the 
biggest company store known to man where anything can arrive to them 
faster than ever, no matter how much subsidizing is done.”Why does a company valued near $2 trillion need public money from the states where it does business?&nbsp;Nevada Democratic state Sen. Dina Neal attempted in 2019 to create a legislative committee to oversee incentives and abatements.&nbsp; Gov. Steve Sisolak vetoed the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/80th2019/Bill/6857/Overview">bill</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;The state’s arrangement with Amazon 
has put it at odds with its own interests, as it incentivizes higher 
wages from private employers while failing to invest in its own critical
 workforce.&nbsp;In a letter to Sisolak in October, 
the Governor’s Committee on Behavioral Health lamented that pay for 
“…front line staff working with the intellectually disabled and 
psychiatrically ill adults is far below that of large local employers 
such as Amazon and Walmart,” the Current <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nevadacurrent.com/2021/10/14/sisolak-asked-to-make-mental-health-worker-pay-competitive-with-other-local-employers/">reported</a>.&nbsp;While Amazon offers subsidies to 
employees to cover part of a health plan for workers who can purchase 
through an exchange, it has the most workers of any Nevada employer 
enrolled in Medicaid – 3,648 employees and 4,244 dependents at a cost of
 $ 21,326,448 in 2020, according to a<a target="_blank" href="https://dhhs.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/dhhsnvgov/content/Programs/Office_of_Analytics/Nevada%20Medicaid%20Recipients%20Employed%20by%20Employers%20with%2050%20or%20More%20Employees%20SFY%202020%20SB%20366.pdf"> state report</a>.&nbsp;U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders <a target="_blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/3410#:~:text=Stop%20Bad%20Employers%20by%20Zeroing%20Out%20Subsidies%20Act,employees%20on%20business%20days%20during%20the%20preceding%20year.">attempted</a>
 unsuccessfully in 2018 to impose a tax on companies with 500 employees 
“equal to the amount of federal benefits received by their low wage 
workers.”

The holidays are no holiday at Amazon 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Prosecutors have charged a 17-year-old for a crash in October that killed a Lincoln High School student. 

The teenager was charged motor vehicle homicide with willful or reckless driving, a felony. 

The Lincoln Journal Star says prosecutors have asked a judge to transfer the case to adult court. 

Bryshawn Williams, a Lincoln High School sophomore and varsity football player, died after the teen crashed into a tree in Lincoln shortly before 1 a.m. on Oct. 5, according to Lincoln police. 

The teen had been heading south on 70th Street before leaving the road and crashing. He told police he swerved to miss a deer and lost control, hit a curb, mailbox and then the tree.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Prosecutors have charged a 17-year-old for a crash in October that killed a Lincoln High School student. The teenager was charged motor vehicle homicide with willful or reckless driving, a felony. The Lincoln Journal Star says prosecutors have asked a judge to transfer the case to adult court. Bryshawn Williams, a Lincoln High School sophomore and varsity football player, died after the teen crashed into a tree in Lincoln shortly before 1 a.m. on Oct. 5, according to Lincoln police. The teen had been heading south on 70th Street before leaving the road and crashing. He told police he swerved to miss a deer and lost control, hit a curb, mailbox and then the tree.

Teen charged for crash that killed Nebraska student

BERLIN (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization says he’s worried about the omicron and delta variants of COVID-19 producing a “tsunami” of cases between them, but he’s still hopeful that the world will put the worst of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic">pandemic</a>&nbsp;behind it in 2022.

Two years after the coronavirus first emerged, top officials with the U.N. health agency cautioned that it’s still too early to be reassured by initial data suggesting that omicron, the latest variant, leads to milder disease. First reported last month in southern Africa, it is already the dominant variant in the United States and parts of Europe.

And after 92 of the WHO’s 194 member countries missed a target to vaccinate 40% of their populations by the end of this year, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged everyone to make a “new year’s resolution” to get behind a campaign to vaccinate 70% of countries’ populations by the beginning of July.

According to WHO’s figures, the number of COVID-19 cases recorded worldwide increased by 11% last week compared with the previous week, with nearly 4.99 million newly reported from Dec. 20-26. New cases in Europe — which accounted for more than half of the total — were up 3% while those in the Americas rose 39% and there was a 7% increase in Africa. The global gain followed a gradual increase since October.

“I’m highly concerned that omicron, being more transmissible (and) circulating at the same time as delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases,” Tedros said at an online news conference. That, he said, will put “immense pressure on exhausted health workers and health systems on the brink of collapse.”

WHO said in its weekly epidemiological report that the “overall risk” related to omicron “remains very high.” It cited “consistent evidence” that it has a growth advantage over the delta variant.

It noted that a decline in case incidence has been seen in South Africa, and that early data from that country, the U.K. and Denmark suggest a reduced risk of hospitalization with omicron, but said that more data is needed.

WHO’s emergencies chief, Dr. Michael Ryan, underlined that note of caution. He said it will be important in coming weeks to “suppress transmission of both variants to the minimum that we can.”

Ryan said that omicron infections began largely among young people, “but what we haven’t seen is the omicron wave fully established in the broader population. And I’m a little nervous to make positive predictions until we see how well the vaccine protection is going to work in those older and more vulnerable populations.”

WHO officials didn’t offer specific comments on decisions by the U.S. and other countries to reduce self-isolation periods. Ryan said “these are judgement calls that countries make” — taking into account scientific, economic and other factors. He noted that the average incubation period to date has been around five to six days.

“We need to be careful about changing tactics and strategies immediately on the basis of what we’re seeing” about omicron, Ryan said.

Tedros renewed longstanding warnings that “ending health inequity remains the key to ending the pandemic.” He said that missing the target of getting 40% of populations vaccinated this year “is not only a moral shame — it cost lives and provided the virus with opportunities to circulate unchecked and mutate.”

Countries largely missed the target because of limited supply to low-income nations for most of the year and then vaccines arriving close to their expiry date, without things such as syringes, he said.

All the same, “I still remain optimistic that this can be the year we can not only end the acute stage of the pandemic, but we also chart a path to stronger health security,” Tedros said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/12/1640816747031.png" alt="Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged everyone to make a “new year’s resolution” to get behind a campaign to vaccinate 70% of countries’ populations by the beginning of July-courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged everyone to make a “new year’s resolution” to get behind a campaign to vaccinate 70% of countries’ populations by the beginning of July-courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>BERLIN (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization says he’s worried about the omicron and delta variants of COVID-19 producing a “tsunami” of cases between them, but he’s still hopeful that the world will put the worst of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic">pandemic</a>&nbsp;behind it in 2022.Two years after the coronavirus first emerged, top officials with the U.N. health agency cautioned that it’s still too early to be reassured by initial data suggesting that omicron, the latest variant, leads to milder disease. First reported last month in southern Africa, it is already the dominant variant in the United States and parts of Europe.And after 92 of the WHO’s 194 member countries missed a target to vaccinate 40% of their populations by the end of this year, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged everyone to make a “new year’s resolution” to get behind a campaign to vaccinate 70% of countries’ populations by the beginning of July.According to WHO’s figures, the number of COVID-19 cases recorded worldwide increased by 11% last week compared with the previous week, with nearly 4.99 million newly reported from Dec. 20-26. New cases in Europe — which accounted for more than half of the total — were up 3% while those in the Americas rose 39% and there was a 7% increase in Africa. The global gain followed a gradual increase since October.“I’m highly concerned that omicron, being more transmissible (and) circulating at the same time as delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases,” Tedros said at an online news conference. That, he said, will put “immense pressure on exhausted health workers and health systems on the brink of collapse.”WHO said in its weekly epidemiological report that the “overall risk” related to omicron “remains very high.” It cited “consistent evidence” that it has a growth advantage over the delta variant.It noted that a decline in case incidence has been seen in South Africa, and that early data from that country, the U.K. and Denmark suggest a reduced risk of hospitalization with omicron, but said that more data is needed.WHO’s emergencies chief, Dr. Michael Ryan, underlined that note of caution. He said it will be important in coming weeks to “suppress transmission of both variants to the minimum that we can.”Ryan said that omicron infections began largely among young people, “but what we haven’t seen is the omicron wave fully established in the broader population. And I’m a little nervous to make positive predictions until we see how well the vaccine protection is going to work in those older and more vulnerable populations.”WHO officials didn’t offer specific comments on decisions by the U.S. and other countries to reduce self-isolation periods. Ryan said “these are judgement calls that countries make” — taking into account scientific, economic and other factors. He noted that the average incubation period to date has been around five to six days.“We need to be careful about changing tactics and strategies immediately on the basis of what we’re seeing” about omicron, Ryan said.Tedros renewed longstanding warnings that “ending health inequity remains the key to ending the pandemic.” He said that missing the target of getting 40% of populations vaccinated this year “is not only a moral shame — it cost lives and provided the virus with opportunities to circulate unchecked and mutate.”Countries largely missed the target because of limited supply to low-income nations for most of the year and then vaccines arriving close to their expiry date, without things such as syringes, he said.All the same, “I still remain optimistic that this can be the year we can not only end the acute stage of the pandemic, but we also chart a path to stronger health security,” Tedros said.___

WHO chief hopeful world will put the worst of pandemic behind it in 2022

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Betty White, whose saucy, up-for-anything charm made her a television mainstay for more than 60 years, whether as a man-crazy TV hostess on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” or the loopy housemate on “The Golden Girls,” has died. She was 99.

White’s death was confirmed by her longtime agent Jeff Witjas in a phone call Friday with publicist Pam Golum. White would have turned 100 on Jan. 17, 2022.

She launched her TV career in daytime talk shows when the medium was still in its infancy and endured well into the age of cable and streaming. Her combination of sweetness and edginess gave life to a roster of quirky characters in shows from the sitcom “Life With Elizabeth” in the early 1950s to oddball Rose Nylund in “The Golden Girls” in the ’80s to “Boston Legal,” which ran from 2004 to 2008.

But it was in 2010 that White’s stardom erupted as never before.

In a Snickers commercial that premiered during that year’s Super Bowl telecast, she impersonated an energy-sapped dude getting tackled during a backlot football game.

“Mike, you’re playing like Betty White out there,” jeered one of his chums. White, flat on the ground and covered in mud, fired back, “That’s not what your girlfriend said!”

The instantly-viral video helped spark a Facebook campaign called “Betty White to Host SNL (please?)!,” whose half-million fans led to her co-hosting “Saturday Night Live” in a much-watched, watch-hailed edition that Mother’s Day weekend. The appearance won her a seventh Emmy award.

A month later, cable’s TV Land premiered “Hot In Cleveland,” the network’s first original scripted series, which starred Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick as three past-their-prime show-biz veterans who move to Cleveland to escape the youth obsession of Hollywood. They move into a home being looked after by an elderly Polish widow — a character, played by White, who was meant to appear only in the pilot episode.

But White stole the show, and the salty Elka Ostrovsky became a key part of the series, an immediate hit. She was voted the Entertainer of the Year by members of The Associated Press.

“It’s ridiculous,” White said of the honor. “They haven’t caught on to me, and I hope they never do.”

By then, White had not only become the hippest star around, but also a role model for how to grow old joyously.

“Don’t try to be young,” she told The AP. “Just open your mind. Stay interested in stuff. There are so many things I won’t live long enough to find out about, but I’m still curious about them.”

Such was her popularity that even White’s birthday became a national event: In January 2012, NBC aired “Betty White’s 90th Birthday Party” as a star-studded prime-time special. She would later appear in such series as “Bones” and Fireside Chat With Esther” and in 2019 gave voice to one of the toys, “Bitey White,” in “Toy Story 4.”

White remained youthful in part through her skill at playing bawdy or naughty while radiating niceness. The horror spoof “Lake Placid” and the comedy “The Proposal” were marked by her characters’ surprisingly salty language. And her character Catherine Piper killed a man with a skillet on “Boston Legal.”

But she almost wasn’t cast as “Happy Homemaker” Sue Ann Nivens in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in 1973. She and her husband, Allen Ludden, were close friends of Moore and Moore’s then-husband, producer Grant Tinker. It was feared that if White failed on the show, which already was a huge hit, it would be embarrassing for all four. But CBS casting head Ethel Winant declared White the logical choice. Originally planned as a one-shot appearance, the role of Sue Ann (which humorously foreshadowed Martha Stewart) lasted until Moore ended the series in 1977.

“While she’s icky-sweet on her cooking show, Sue is really a piranha type,” White once said. The role brought her two Emmys as supporting actress in a comedy series.

In 1985, White starred on NBC with Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty in “The Golden Girls.” Its cast of mature actresses, playing single women in Miami retirement, presented a gamble in a youth-conscious industry. But it proved a solid hit and lasted until 1992.

White played Rose, a gentle, dim widow who managed to misinterpret most situations. She drove her roommates crazy with off-the-wall tales of childhood in fictional St. Olaf, Minnesota, an off-kilter version of Lake Wobegon.

The role won her another Emmy, and she reprised it in a short-lived spinoff, “The Golden Palace.”

After her co-star Arthur died in 2009, White told Entertainment Tonight: “She showed me how to be very brave in playing comedy. I’ll miss that courage.”

White’s other TV series included “Mama’s Family,” as Vicki Lawrence’s irascible mother; “Just Men,” a game show in which women tried to predict answers to questions directed to male celebrities; and “Ladies Man,” as the catty mother of Alfred Molina.

“Just Men” brought her a daytime Emmy, while she won a fourth prime time Emmy in 1996 for a guest shot on “The John Larroquette Show.”

She also appeared in numerous miniseries and TV movies and made her film debut as a female U.S. senator in Otto Preminger’s 1962 Capitol Hill drama “Advise and Consent.”

White began her television career as $50-a-week sidekick to a local Los Angeles TV personality in 1949. She was hired for a local daytime show starring Al Jarvis, the best-known disc jockey in Los Angeles.

It was then she got a tip to start lying about her age.

“We are so age-conscious in this country,” she said in a 2011 interview with The Associated Press. “It’s silly, but that’s the way we are. So I was told, ‘Knock four years off right now. You’ll be blessing yourself down the road.’

“I was born in 1922. So I thought, ‘I must always remember that I was born in 1926.’ But then I would have to do the math. Finally, I decided to heck with it.”

White proved to be a natural for the new medium. She was bright, pretty and likable, with a dimpled, eye-crinkling smile. A 1951 Los Angeles Times headline said: “Betty White Hailed as TV’s Busiest Gal.”

“I did that show 5½ hours a day, six days a week, for 4½ years,” she recalled in 1975. Jarvis was replaced by actor Eddie Albert, and when he went to Europe for the film “Roman Holiday,” she headed the show.

A sketch she had done with Jarvis turned into a syndicated series, “Life With Elizabeth,” which won her first Emmy. For a time she did interviews on “The Betty White Show” in the daytime, filmed the series at night and often turned up on a late-night talk show. She also appeared on commercials and every New Year’s narrated the Pasadena Rose Parade.

With the glib tongue and quick responses nurtured in the Jarvis years, she was a welcome guest on “I’ve Got a Secret,” “To Tell the Truth,” “What’s My Line” and other game shows — all the way up to the 2008 “Million Dollar Password,” which revived the game once hosted by Ludden, whom she had met when a contestant on his original “Password.”

That was in 1961, and the next year, while touring in summer theater during television’s off season, she starred with Ludden — by then a widower with three children — in the comedy “Critic’s Choice.”

White, who had claimed to be “militantly single” since a 1947-1949 marriage, weakened in her resolve.

“I had always said on `The Tonight Show’ and everywhere else that I would never get married again,” she told a reporter in 1963. “But Allen outnumbered me. He started in and even the children got in the act. And I surrendered — willingly.”

The marriage lasted from 1963 until his death from cancer in 1981.

Off-screen, White tirelessly raised money for animal causes such as the Morris Animal Foundation and the Los Angeles Zoo. In 1970-1971, she wrote, produced and hosted a syndicated TV show, “The Pet Set,” to which celebrities brought their dogs and cats. She wrote a 1983 book titled “Betty White’s Pet Love: How Pets Take Care of Us,” and, in 2011, published “Betty &amp; Friends: My Life at the Zoo.”

Her devotion to pets was such that she declined a plum role in the hit 1997 movie “As Good As It Gets.” She objected to a scene in which Jack Nicholson drops a small dog down a laundry chute.

In her 2011 book “If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won’t),” White explained the origins of her love for dogs. During the Depression, her dad made radios to sell to make extra money. But since few people had money to buy the radios, he willingly traded them for dogs, which, housed in kennels in the backyard, at times numbered as many as 15 and made White’s happy childhood even happier.

Are there any critters she doesn’t like?

“No,” White told the AP. “Anything with a leg on each corner.”

She was born Betty Marion White in Oak Park, Illinois, and the family moved to Los Angeles when she was a toddler.

“I’m an only child, and I had a mother and dad who never drew a straight line: They just thought funny,” she told The Associated Press in 2015. “We’d sit around the breakfast table and then we’d start kicking it around. My dad was a salesman and he would come home with jokes. He’d say, `Sweetheart, you can take THAT one to school. But I wouldn’t take THIS one.′ We had such a wonderful time.”

Her early ambition was to be a writer, and she wrote her grammar school graduation play, giving herself the leading role.

At Beverly Hills High School, her ambition turned to acting, and she appeared in several school plays. Her parents hoped she’d go to college, but instead she took roles in a small theater and played bit parts in radio dramas.

Explaining in 2011 how she kept up her frantic pace even as an octogenarian, she explained that she only needed four hours of sleep each night.

And when asked how she had managed to be universally beloved during her decades-spanning career, she summed up with a dimpled smile: “I just make it my business to get along with people so I can have fun. It’s that simple.”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Betty White, whose saucy, up-for-anything charm made her a television mainstay for more than 60 years, whether as a man-crazy TV hostess on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” or the loopy housemate on “The Golden Girls,” has died. She was 99.White’s death was confirmed by her longtime agent Jeff Witjas in a phone call Friday with publicist Pam Golum. White would have turned 100 on Jan. 17, 2022.She launched her TV career in daytime talk shows when the medium was still in its infancy and endured well into the age of cable and streaming. Her combination of sweetness and edginess gave life to a roster of quirky characters in shows from the sitcom “Life With Elizabeth” in the early 1950s to oddball Rose Nylund in “The Golden Girls” in the ’80s to “Boston Legal,” which ran from 2004 to 2008.But it was in 2010 that White’s stardom erupted as never before.In a Snickers commercial that premiered during that year’s Super Bowl telecast, she impersonated an energy-sapped dude getting tackled during a backlot football game.“Mike, you’re playing like Betty White out there,” jeered one of his chums. White, flat on the ground and covered in mud, fired back, “That’s not what your girlfriend said!”The instantly-viral video helped spark a Facebook campaign called “Betty White to Host SNL (please?)!,” whose half-million fans led to her co-hosting “Saturday Night Live” in a much-watched, watch-hailed edition that Mother’s Day weekend. The appearance won her a seventh Emmy award.A month later, cable’s TV Land premiered “Hot In Cleveland,” the network’s first original scripted series, which starred Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick as three past-their-prime show-biz veterans who move to Cleveland to escape the youth obsession of Hollywood. They move into a home being looked after by an elderly Polish widow — a character, played by White, who was meant to appear only in the pilot episode.But White stole the show, and the salty Elka Ostrovsky became a key part of the series, an immediate hit. She was voted the Entertainer of the Year by members of The Associated Press.“It’s ridiculous,” White said of the honor. “They haven’t caught on to me, and I hope they never do.”By then, White had not only become the hippest star around, but also a role model for how to grow old joyously.“Don’t try to be young,” she told The AP. “Just open your mind. Stay interested in stuff. There are so many things I won’t live long enough to find out about, but I’m still curious about them.”Such was her popularity that even White’s birthday became a national event: In January 2012, NBC aired “Betty White’s 90th Birthday Party” as a star-studded prime-time special. She would later appear in such series as “Bones” and Fireside Chat With Esther” and in 2019 gave voice to one of the toys, “Bitey White,” in “Toy Story 4.”White remained youthful in part through her skill at playing bawdy or naughty while radiating niceness. The horror spoof “Lake Placid” and the comedy “The Proposal” were marked by her characters’ surprisingly salty language. And her character Catherine Piper killed a man with a skillet on “Boston Legal.”But she almost wasn’t cast as “Happy Homemaker” Sue Ann Nivens in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in 1973. She and her husband, Allen Ludden, were close friends of Moore and Moore’s then-husband, producer Grant Tinker. It was feared that if White failed on the show, which already was a huge hit, it would be embarrassing for all four. But CBS casting head Ethel Winant declared White the logical choice. Originally planned as a one-shot appearance, the role of Sue Ann (which humorously foreshadowed Martha Stewart) lasted until Moore ended the series in 1977.“While she’s icky-sweet on her cooking show, Sue is really a piranha type,” White once said. The role brought her two Emmys as supporting actress in a comedy series.In 1985, White starred on NBC with Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty in “The Golden Girls.” Its cast of mature actresses, playing single women in Miami retirement, presented a gamble in a youth-conscious industry. But it proved a solid hit and lasted until 1992.White played Rose, a gentle, dim widow who managed to misinterpret most situations. She drove her roommates crazy with off-the-wall tales of childhood in fictional St. Olaf, Minnesota, an off-kilter version of Lake Wobegon.The role won her another Emmy, and she reprised it in a short-lived spinoff, “The Golden Palace.”After her co-star Arthur died in 2009, White told Entertainment Tonight: “She showed me how to be very brave in playing comedy. I’ll miss that courage.”White’s other TV series included “Mama’s Family,” as Vicki Lawrence’s irascible mother; “Just Men,” a game show in which women tried to predict answers to questions directed to male celebrities; and “Ladies Man,” as the catty mother of Alfred Molina.“Just Men” brought her a daytime Emmy, while she won a fourth prime time Emmy in 1996 for a guest shot on “The John Larroquette Show.”She also appeared in numerous miniseries and TV movies and made her film debut as a female U.S. senator in Otto Preminger’s 1962 Capitol Hill drama “Advise and Consent.”White began her television career as $50-a-week sidekick to a local Los Angeles TV personality in 1949. She was hired for a local daytime show starring Al Jarvis, the best-known disc jockey in Los Angeles.It was then she got a tip to start lying about her age.“We are so age-conscious in this country,” she said in a 2011 interview with The Associated Press. “It’s silly, but that’s the way we are. So I was told, ‘Knock four years off right now. You’ll be blessing yourself down the road.’“I was born in 1922. So I thought, ‘I must always remember that I was born in 1926.’ But then I would have to do the math. Finally, I decided to heck with it.”White proved to be a natural for the new medium. She was bright, pretty and likable, with a dimpled, eye-crinkling smile. A 1951 Los Angeles Times headline said: “Betty White Hailed as TV’s Busiest Gal.”“I did that show 5½ hours a day, six days a week, for 4½ years,” she recalled in 1975. Jarvis was replaced by actor Eddie Albert, and when he went to Europe for the film “Roman Holiday,” she headed the show.A sketch she had done with Jarvis turned into a syndicated series, “Life With Elizabeth,” which won her first Emmy. For a time she did interviews on “The Betty White Show” in the daytime, filmed the series at night and often turned up on a late-night talk show. She also appeared on commercials and every New Year’s narrated the Pasadena Rose Parade.With the glib tongue and quick responses nurtured in the Jarvis years, she was a welcome guest on “I’ve Got a Secret,” “To Tell the Truth,” “What’s My Line” and other game shows — all the way up to the 2008 “Million Dollar Password,” which revived the game once hosted by Ludden, whom she had met when a contestant on his original “Password.”That was in 1961, and the next year, while touring in summer theater during television’s off season, she starred with Ludden — by then a widower with three children — in the comedy “Critic’s Choice.”White, who had claimed to be “militantly single” since a 1947-1949 marriage, weakened in her resolve.“I had always said on `The Tonight Show’ and everywhere else that I would never get married again,” she told a reporter in 1963. “But Allen outnumbered me. He started in and even the children got in the act. And I surrendered — willingly.”The marriage lasted from 1963 until his death from cancer in 1981.Off-screen, White tirelessly raised money for animal causes such as the Morris Animal Foundation and the Los Angeles Zoo. In 1970-1971, she wrote, produced and hosted a syndicated TV show, “The Pet Set,” to which celebrities brought their dogs and cats. She wrote a 1983 book titled “Betty White’s Pet Love: How Pets Take Care of Us,” and, in 2011, published “Betty &amp; Friends: My Life at the Zoo.”Her devotion to pets was such that she declined a plum role in the hit 1997 movie “As Good As It Gets.” She objected to a scene in which Jack Nicholson drops a small dog down a laundry chute.In her 2011 book “If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won’t),” White explained the origins of her love for dogs. During the Depression, her dad made radios to sell to make extra money. But since few people had money to buy the radios, he willingly traded them for dogs, which, housed in kennels in the backyard, at times numbered as many as 15 and made White’s happy childhood even happier.Are there any critters she doesn’t like?“No,” White told the AP. “Anything with a leg on each corner.”Then what about snakes?“Ohhh, I LOVE snakes!”She was born Betty Marion White in Oak Park, Illinois, and the family moved to Los Angeles when she was a toddler.“I’m an only child, and I had a mother and dad who never drew a straight line: They just thought funny,” she told The Associated Press in 2015. “We’d sit around the breakfast table and then we’d start kicking it around. My dad was a salesman and he would come home with jokes. He’d say, `Sweetheart, you can take THAT one to school. But I wouldn’t take THIS one.′ We had such a wonderful time.”Her early ambition was to be a writer, and she wrote her grammar school graduation play, giving herself the leading role.At Beverly Hills High School, her ambition turned to acting, and she appeared in several school plays. Her parents hoped she’d go to college, but instead she took roles in a small theater and played bit parts in radio dramas.Explaining in 2011 how she kept up her frantic pace even as an octogenarian, she explained that she only needed four hours of sleep each night.And when asked how she had managed to be universally beloved during her decades-spanning career, she summed up with a dimpled smile: “I just make it my business to get along with people so I can have fun. It’s that simple.”___

Betty White, TV’s Golden Girl, dies at 99

KANSAS CITY (AP) —More canceled flights frustrated air travelers on the final day of 2021 and appeared all but certain to inconvenience hundreds of thousands more over the New Year’s holiday weekend.

Airlines&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-lifestyle-health-travel-business-4c22883188cf61e68824b6936ef1955b">blamed many of the cancellations on crew shortages related to the spike in COVID-19 infections</a>, with wintry weather in parts of the United States compounding the problem.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/12/1640977323462.png" alt="New Year's Eve flights&nbsp; courtesy Flight View&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>New Year's Eve flights&nbsp; courtesy Flight View&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) —More canceled flights frustrated air travelers on the final day of 2021 and appeared all but certain to inconvenience hundreds of thousands more over the New Year’s holiday weekend.Airlines&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-lifestyle-health-travel-business-4c22883188cf61e68824b6936ef1955b">blamed many of the cancellations on crew shortages related to the spike in COVID-19 infections</a>, with wintry weather in parts of the United States compounding the problem.By midday Friday on the East Coast, airlines had scrubbed more than 1,300 U.S. flights and 2,700 worldwide, according to tracking service FlightAware. That compared with about 1,400 U.S. cancellations for all of Thursday.That pushed the total U.S. cancellations since Christmas Eve above 9,000.The disruptions come just as travel numbers climb higher going into the New Year’s holiday weekend. Since Dec. 16, more than 2 million travelers a day on average have passed through U.S. airport security checkpoints, an increase of nearly 100,000 a day since November.Canceled flights began rising shortly before Christmas, most notably for United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways.On Friday, United canceled more than 200 flights, or 11% of its schedule — and that doesn’t include cancellations on the United Express regional affiliate. CommutAir, which operates many United Express flights, scrubbed one-third of its schedule by midday, according to FlightAware figures.JetBlue canceled more than 140 flights, or 14% of its schedule, and Delta grounded more than 100, or 5% of its flights by midday Friday.Other forms of transportation are also being hammered by the surge in virus cases. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that it is monitoring more than 90 cruise ships because of COVID-19 outbreaks.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-lifestyle-health-business-travel-c092c07a571566dd2e32163fa1f3a593">The health agency warned people not to go on cruises</a>, even if they are fully vaccinated against the virus.The remnants of the delta variant and the rise of the new omicron variant pushed the seven-day rolling average of new daily COVID-19 cases in the U.S. above 350,000, nearly triple the rate of just two weeks ago, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.