San Francisco News
9/11 survivors’ exposure to toxic dust and the chronic health conditions that followed offer lessons that are still too often unheeded
Roberto Lucchini, Florida International University The 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York resulted in the loss of 2,753 people in the Twin Towers and surrounding area. After the attack, more than 100,000 responders and recovery workers from every U.S. state – along with some 400,000 residents and other workers around ground zero – were exposed to a toxic cloud of dust that fell as a ghostly, thick layer of ash and then hung in the air for more than three months. The World Trade Center dust plume, or WTC dust, consisted of a dangerous mixture
America is in the middle of a labor mobilization moment – with self-organizers at Starbucks, Amazon, Trader Joe’s and Chipotle behind the union drive
John Logan, San Francisco State University Labor Day 2022 comes smack bang in the middle of what is increasingly looking like a pivotal year in the history of American unions. The summer has seen a steady stream of workforce mobilizations. Employees at Trader Joe’s locations in Massachusetts and Minneapolis both voted to unionize. Meanwhile, restaurant chain Chipotle saw the first of its stores unionize, following a vote by workers at an outlet in Lansing, Michigan. It comes on the back of a wave of successful efforts to mobilize at Starbucks and Amazon. The growth of unionized stores at Starbucks in
Who is Artemis? NASA’s latest mission to the Moon is named after an ancient lunar goddess turned feminist icon
Marie-Claire Beaulieu, Tufts University Artemis I will send a rocket without a crew on a monthlong journey around the Moon. The program aims to increase women’s participation in space exploration – 30% of its engineers are women. In addition, the Artemis I mission will carry two mannequins designed to study the effects of radiation on women’s bodies so that NASA can learn how to protect female astronauts better. Female astronauts are currently less likely to be selected for missions than men because their bodies tend to hit NASA’s maximum acceptable threshold of radiation earlier. NASA expects to bring the first
Body found in Lake Mead 20 years after drowning
Tom Erndt law saw his father on August 2, 2002, in Lake Mead, Nevada. He never saw him again until 20 years later, when his father’s remains were found at the bottom of the drought-stricken lake. Erndt’s father has been classified as “missing” for two decades and the last time he saw his father was as a 10-year-old boy sitting in a boat on Lake Mead. According to Erndt, it was a summer weekend, and the family has always taken their boat out to Lake Mead’s Callville Bay on Saturdays to camp on the shore and go on a “midnight
Militia member sentenced to over 10 years for shootings cover-up
A far-right, anti-government militia member was sentenced to 126 months in prison for obstructing justice in an investigation and enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity. Robert Blancas, 35, is a member of the “Grizzly Scouts,” a militia group connected to the “boogaloo” militias, which are anti-law enforcement and anti-government extremists. On May 29, 2020, ex-Air Force Sgt. Steven Carillo shot two Federal Protective Security Officers at the Oakland federal building. Carillo was also involved in a shootout with Santa Cruz County’s sheriff’s deputies in June 2020. Carillo pled guilty in trials for both shootings earlier this year. Blancas,
3 Indiana State University students killed in car crash
Three Indiana State University students died in a car crash Sunday morning. According to authorities, there were 5 people inside the car. All passengers are believed to be ISU students, including football players. “This is a terrible tragedy,” ISU President Dr. Deborah J. Curtis said. “As we are waiting on additional details from authorities investigating this accident, our hearts go out to the families and friends of the students involved.” The Vigo County Sheriff’s Department said that deputies responded to the crash around 1:34 a.m on State Road 46 at Main Street in Riley. Initial investigation reveals that the vehicle