New Jersey to raise minimum wage to $15 an hour
The new plan would raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour on July 1, $11 an hour in 2020, $12 an hour in 2021, $13 in 2022, $14 in 2023 and $15 in 2024.
North & Central America
Microsoft pledges $500 million for affordable housing in Seattle area
Microsoft’s money represents the most ambitious effort by a tech company to directly address the inequality that has spread in areas where the industry is concentrated. It will fund construction for homes affordable not only to the company’s own non-tech workers, but also for teachers, firefighters, and other middle- and low-income residents.
U.S. wind power to exceed hydropower in 2019 for first time ever
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects wind energy capacity to increase from 96 GW at the end of 2018 to 107 GW by the end of 2019, and 114 GW by the end of 2020.
USC researchers find new culprit and potential treatment target for Alzheimer’s
Brain changes associated with leaky capillaries suggest new, potential drug targets as well as a way to diagnose the disease sooner.
New York passes trans rights bill, conversion therapy ban
New York State made history today, with both houses of the legislature passing bills to ban discrimination based on gender identity and to prohibit the use of conversion therapy on minors. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to sign both.
New York legislators pass sweeping overhaul of restrictive voting laws
The measures, planned by Democrats who reclaimed control of all levers of state government for the first time in modern memory, would allow voters to cast their ballots early or by mail for the first time in state history.
United States’ FDA approves world’s first device that could save thousands of premature infants from common heart condition
The Amplatzer Piccolo, a device even smaller than a small pea, now offers hope to premature infants and newborns who need corrective treatment, and who may be non-responsive to medical management and high risk to undergo corrective surgery.
U.S. cancer death rate hits milestone of 25 years of decline
Lower smoking rates are translating into fewer deaths. Advances in early detection and treatment also are having a positive impact, experts say.
Colorado’s Jared Polis officially sworn in as first openly gay U.S. governor
Jared Polis was officially been sworn in as Governor of Colorado on Tuesday, making him the first out gay man to claim the title of Governor in any state.
Mars Inc. to spend $1 billion over ten years to combat deforestation, child labor, and poverty in its cocoa supply chain
Under the new sustainability scheme – which will cost the company $1 billion over 10 years – all the cocoa it buys will be responsibly sourced by 2025, the parent company of M&Ms, Snickers, and Twix said.