Hong Kong's business, political elite turn out for funeral of property Lee Shau-kee
Lee, who died at age 97 on March 17, was once ranked as the richest man in Asia. In Forbes' February ranking, he was listed as the city's second-richest person with $29.2 billion in assets.
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Winnipeg Free Press
9 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Trump's USDA to scatter half its Washington staff to field offices. Critics see a ploy to cut jobs
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture will move thousands of employees out of the nation's capital in a reorganization the agency says will put them closer to customers while saving money, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Thursday. Around 2,600 workers — more than half the Washington, D.C. workforce — will be moved to five hubs stretching from North Carolina to Utah, Rollins said. The union representing federal workers immediately criticized the plan as a ploy to cut federal jobs, pointing out that some 95% of the department's employees already work outside Washington. The move is part of President Donald Trump's effort to make the federal government slimmer and more efficient, which received a Supreme Court boost this month. 'American agriculture feeds, clothes, and fuels this nation and the world, and it is long past time the department better serve the great and patriotic farmers, ranchers, and producers we are mandated to support,' Rollins said in a statement. The goal is to re-size the department so that costs don't outstrip available finances, as well as eliminate layers of management and consolidate redundant functions, the statement said. The department expects the plan to take several months. The five hubs are in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Fort Collins, Colorado; Indianapolis and Salt Lake City. Although it's important to be closer to farmers and ranchers, Chad Hart, a professor of agricultural economics at Iowa State University, said taking those employees out of Washington risks losing an important connection to Congress. 'You want that balance' to ensure effective farm policy, Hart said. Much of the government savings could come from employees who choose not to relocate, Hart said. He added that the agricultural community is concerned about a 'bumpy transition' reminiscent of similar action during Trump's first term, when it took relocated Agriculture offices months to get up and running again. Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the labor union representing federal workers, had a sharper critique. He said about 85% of all federal employees already work outside the capital, but insisted Washington 'is the center of our nation's government for a reason.' Workers at headquarters help coordinate between senior leaders and field offices, Kelley said, and they ensure the agency has a 'seat at the table' when lawmakers and the White House make decisions that affect farmers nationwide. 'I'm concerned this reorganization is just the latest attempt to eliminate USDA workers and minimize their critical work,' the union leader said. The Agriculture Department reported that its headcount grew by 8% over the past four years, with salaries increasing by 14.5%. The statement from Rollins said the 4,600 employees in and around Washington are 'underutilized and redundant' and housed in underused buildings with billions of dollars in deferred maintenance. In the Washington region, the department will vacate three buildings and examine the best use of three others. One building set to be abandoned has $1.3 billion in needed but delayed maintenance and has room for 6,000 employees while only housing 1,900. Wages will fall too, Rollins promised. The capital region is among the nation's costliest to live, and department employees there are paid a surcharge of 34% to keep ahead of the cost of living. The surcharges range from 17.1% in Salt Lake City to 30.5% in Fort Collins. ___ Raza reported from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Winnipeg Free Press
9 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King drops out of 2026 Republican race for US Senate
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King dropped out of the 2026 Republican race for the US Senate Thursday, admitting on X that he likely wouldn't earn the nomination to face Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff, considered the Senate's most vulnerable Democratic incumbent coming up for reelection. A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, who had suggested he may join the Republican race, said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp called the representative and said he would be supporting former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley's campaign, which he hasn't launched yet. 'Congressman Collins and the Governor had a positive call,' said the spokesperson. 'The Congressman reiterated to the Governor he is focused on continuing to deliver on President Trump's agenda and looks forward to the Governor's support after he wins the primary.' The move comes two months after King launched his bid for Senate with a promise to advance President Donald Trump's agenda. The announcement followed decisions from U.S. Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kemp not to seek the Republican nomination, leaving Georgia Republicans looking for other options against Ossoff. King has been slow to raise funds, and said on X he instead said he plans to run to for reelection for his job as insurance commissioner. 'I've spent my entire life in the arena as a lawman, soldier, and first Hispanic elected statewide in Georgia, and I'm not done yet,' King said in a post on X. U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, a Republican who represents a coastal Georgia district, also announced his campaign for U.S. Senate after Kemp announced he wasn't running.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
New Orleans trash collectors litigate over removing foul French Quarter odors
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The stench of trash and residue of bad decisions in one of America's favorite party hotspots is being scrubbed away, thanks to a change in garbage collectors that New Orleans residents say has transformed the French Quarter. 'The Quarter has never been this clean,' said Jill Wagner. She became inured during her three decades living along Bourbon Street to rat-infested, overflowing garbage cans and sidewalks stained with puke, urine and booze. Now, with a zesty lemon fragrance sprayed across the streets daily, 'it smells like Disney World.' A chorus of residents and business owners is heaping praise on the city's so-called 'Trash King,' Sidney Torres IV, and his company, IV Waste, for cracking the code to sanitary success. The district has gleamed since Torres was given an emergency year-long contract last December to handle its waste management, they say. Tourists stumbling out of a Bourbon Street bar around sunrise on any given day can find IV Waste employees power-washing sidewalks, scooping up cigarette butts and spritzing streets with his patented 'lemon fresh' cleaning formula. But a judge on Wednesday allowed Mayor LaToya Cantrell to replace IV Waste at the end of July, over the objections of the city council. With a local management district insisting on Torres, this raises the possibility of rival collectors competing for the French Quarter's garbage. 'Just because they like the other guy, that is not enough,' the mayor's attorney Charles Rice told the judge, and he said there's 'no reason' to believe a different contractor would do worse. An escalating legal battle over the trash A state appeals court is scheduled to review in August who will ultimately earn tens of millions of dollars managing the French Quarter's trash in 2026 and beyond. At stake is the attractiveness of some of the most important city blocks in the country, residents say — New Orleans reports that more than 19 million visitors spent a collective $10 billion last year, and most visited the historic French Quarter. In a city plagued by dysfunction including constant flooding, treacherous potholes and a massive jailbreak, Torres' company has become a point of civic pride. The quarter is filled with signs in support of IV Waste. 'It's not even in the same solar system — the service they provide versus what others provide,' said Danny Conwill, who owns an oyster bar off Bourbon Street and is suing the mayor to keep IV Waste. He recalls other trash collectors leaving 'noxious garbage juices' and heaps of shrimp heads and oyster shells scattered about, leading to rank summer odors bad for business. Torres, a real estate developer who began as a personal assistant to Lenny Kravitz and once hosted Justin Bieber's 20th birthday party at his Bahamas resort, became a local celebrity and reality TV star after launching a trash company to clean up the city after Hurricane Katrina. He then sold it and waited out a non-compete clause before rebuilding his trash empire with IV Waste. Officials say city will be paying more for less After a competitive bidding process last year, the city began negotiating a $73 million contract with another local firm, Henry Consulting, to clean the French Quarter for at least the next five years. But before the deal was finalized, council members grew alarmed that the company did not seem to have the necessary equipment or subcontracts in place as Super Bowl LIX and the annual Mardi Gras celebrations loomed. IV Waste then won an emergency contract to clean the French Quarter through 2025, and Henry Consulting sued, accusing the city of failing to uphold a valid contract. The metastasizing litigation now pits an outgoing mayor with waning popularity against a feisty city council and state officials including the attorney general, with both sides slinging accusations of cronyism. Cantrell was elected in 2017 with the endorsement of Henry Consulting founder Troy Henry. In April, Cantrell announced she was terminating the IV Waste contract early, and that Henry's firm would take over. This new no-bid contract would cost $2.1 million more, with inferior results, sanitation director Matt Torri told the city council on Monday. He and other officials said Henry Consulting still doesn't seem ready for the job. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. Henry Consulting declined to comment to The Associated Press. Cantrell's office told The AP that the city 'remains committed to working with all parties to provide sanitation services to the French Quarter.' Meanwhile, a new Louisiana law empowers the management district to appoint its own garbage collector, and the residents and business owners who run this state agency selected IV Waste. Torres said his company will keep taking out the trash, even if it means rivals go toe-to-toe on Bourbon Street. 'We're going to do our job, and they can watch and learn,' Torres said. 'The French Quarter can rest assured that we're going to continue to clean.' ___ Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
