El cambio climático añadió 41 días de “calor peligroso” al 2024, según investigadores. Foto: Pexels (Archivo)
La población mundial vivió alrededor de 41 días más de “calor peligroso” durante 2024 debido al cambio climático, de acuerdo con un grupo de investigadores y científicos del World Weather Attribution y Climate Central.
En un análisis presentado recientemente, los expertos indicaron que también empeoró el clima dañino del mundo durante este año que termina, aunado al hecho de que 2024 fue el año más caluroso que se ha medido hasta ahora.
El cambio climático hizo que el calor, las sequías, los ciclones tropicales y las fuertes lluvias “sean más probables e intensas en todo el mundo, destruyendo las vidas y los medios de subsistencia de millones”, afirmó la directora de World Weather Attribution, Friederike Otto.
En declaraciones recogidas por la agencia de noticias Associated Press, la también científica climática del Imperial College, con sede en Londres, Inglaterra, sentenció: “Mientras el mundo siga quemando combustibles fósiles, esto solo empeorará”.
Los científicos concluyeron en el reporte que el cambio climático intensificó 26 de los 29 fenómenos meteorológicos estudiados, los cuales provocaron la muerte de al menos 3 mil 700 personas, al tiempo que orillaron al desplazamiento de millones.
Russian defences shot down Azerbaijan Airlines plane with 38 dead, according to international agency. Photo: Russian Defence Export
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It was Russian air defences that caused Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 to crash on Wednesday, killing 38 people and injuring 29 others, according to sources cited by the Reuters news agency.
However, this does not mean that the downing of the plane, which crashed in Kazakhstan, was carried out intentionally, as it was believed to be an air defence system that Russia uses in that area to counter attacks by Ukrainian drones.
The international news agency interviewed at least six Azerbaijani sources, one of whom claimed that preliminary results of the investigation showed that the Embraer plane was specifically shot down by the Pantsir-S1 air defense system.
"Their communications were paralyzed by electronic warfare systems during the approach to Grozny," said the source, adding that the Azerbaijani government is waiting for Russia to acknowledge the downing of the plane.
According to the Russian state-owned company engaged in the export and import of defense-related products, the Pantsir-S1 defense system is capable of neutralizing aircraft, helicopters, missiles, drones and precision ammunition. It is a modern anti-aircraft shield that Russia uses in several cities in the context of the military conflict with Ukraine.
Members of the Unite Here Local 2 union celebrate after securing a new contract in San Francisco, California, Monday, December 23, 2024, after more than three months of strike action. Photo: BCN
By Katy St. Clair/Bay City News
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Hilton hotel workers in San Francisco, who have been on strike for the past three months, have reached a tentative agreement and will vote to ratify it on Tuesday, the union announced Monday.
Once ratified, the new contract will mark a definitive end to strikes at Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton hotels across the city that began in the fall.
Marriott workers reached agreements on Thursday, followed by Hyatt on Friday. According to Ted Waechter, spokesman for the Unite Here Local 2 union, which represents the workers, the Hilton agreement is the same one ratified last week by striking Hyatt and Marriott workers.
The tentative agreement covers about 900 workers, 650 of whom have been on strike for more than three months, according to Waechter. The hotels include the Hilton San Francisco Union Square and about 250 workers at Hilton's Parc 55 hotel, who were prepared to strike.
All agreements with hotels include maintaining workers' health plans, wage increases and protections against staff shortages and increased workloads.
Many of the 2,500 workers have been on strike for about 93 days, demonstrating daily in Union Square, which is the site of a Hilton and the nearby Grand Hyatt on Stockton Street.
“San Francisco hotel workers are indomitable,” Lizzy Tapia, president of Unite Here Local 2, said Monday. “Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott workers refused to give up their health care or back down, and we showed on the picket line that we are not afraid of a tough fight. As contract negotiations with the city’s other full-service hotels begin in the new year, they should know that this is the new standard they must accept for their own employees.”
Hilton was not immediately available for comment.
Unite Here Local 2 represents approximately 15,000 hotel, airport and food service workers in San Francisco and San Mateo counties.
38 people killed and 29 injured in plane crash in Kazakhstan. Photo: From X account @azalofficial.
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An air crash left 38 people dead and 29 injured on Wednesday near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, after an Azerbaijan Airlines flight deviated hundreds of kilometers from its scheduled route.
The plane from Baku, Azerbaijan, bound for Grozny, Russia, crashed on the coast of the Caspian Sea after deviating from its original route due to an emergency caused by a bird strike, according to Russian airport authorities.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that according to available information, the plane changed course due to bad weather, but the real cause of the accident is still unknown.
However, Reuters news agency cited an aviation expert who suggested the bird theory was unlikely, and said the original route of flight J2-8243 passed through an area defended by Russia against Ukrainian drone attacks.
Azerbaijan Airlines said the pilots of the Embraer 190 were forced to attempt an emergency landing 3 kilometres from Aktau.
Artificial Intelligence in health insurance becomes a health risk, as it is being used to review denied cases through algorithms. However, these do not take into account the special circumstances of each case, which generates discrimination and inequality.
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly present in daily life as a tool to streamline processes; in health insurance it is being used to review denied cases through algorithms, however, these do not take into account the special circumstances of each case, which generates discrimination and inequality.
Specialists pointed out during a briefing held by Ethnic Media Services, that healthcare AI is often based on racial and economic biases that increasingly determine who receives treatment and who does not.
Artificial intelligence is thus being used to deny applications for health insurance, posing a health risk in cases requiring personalized medical assessment. An investigation by ProPublica this year revealed that insurers are now routinely denying millions of claims using AI.
Dr. Katherine Hempstead, a policy officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, explained that it is impossible to determine topics in health insurance policies through AI, since there are a wide variety of possibilities in each case.
“There are many different contexts and the rules are not the same for each insurance company and this creates a feeling of mistrust,” added Hempstead.
She also says that there are more people affiliated with Medical, the problem is that not everyone has the same access to medicines or services, since each case is different and often a feeling of inequality is generated among members.
In addition, he mentioned that insurance policies are increasingly more corporate and not so human, which affects the perception of patients who lose confidence in the system, since they deny requests and some services through the automated system generated by AI.
Dr. Miranda Yaver, an assistant professor of health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh, conducted a study for her book “Coverage Denied: How Health Insurers Drive Inequality in the United States,” to be published in spring 2026, explaining these health insurance inequalities.
Yaver is concerned that Artificial Intelligence will gain ground in the health field, as an error could be generated and in the medical case it would represent the risk of a life and in the denied cases, some appeal and the result is in their favor, but not always, they are those who need it most, so equity and opportunities are reduced.
“AI has its advantages, but it is also important to think about the implications of these tools, which on the one hand, if they work well, can help us speed up the processes to provide the care that is needed, but on the other hand, they can destabilize, especially marginalized groups, essentially the most vulnerable groups,” said Yaver.
Josh Becker, a California senator and author of SB 1120, the Physicians Make Decisions Act, explained the importance of this law, which limits the scope of AI by requiring physicians to make the final decisions.
The bill is called “Doctors Make Decisions,” and it addresses concerns about medical decision-making that prioritizes patient well-being rather than letting automated systems make decisions that require a trained doctor. This bill aims to address critical gaps in the medical system.
“The algorithm does not have the capacity to make personal and individual decisions, which only doctors can carry out,” he said.
He commented that the use of artificial intelligence in the medical field and health insurance could help evaluate a similar study in the future, but at the moment AI is being talked about as a tool to increase efficiency and cut costs, which creates many threats to health.
Becker shared the case of a doctor who denied 60 thousand cases in a single month, which demonstrates a worrying system that denies patients, since many times they are not even given the opportunity to obtain the treatment they need.
Aerial view of Port-au-Prince and a place of displacement. Photo: United Nations
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The United Nations has updated the number of people killed in the massacre that took place in the port city of Cité Soleil, Haiti, in early December, to 207, for religious reasons.
Dozens of elderly people and voodoo religious leaders were killed in the violence by members of the gang known as Wharf Jeremie, who took the victims from their homes and a place of worship, interrogated them and finally executed them.
According to a new report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 73 women and 134 men were murdered between December 6 and 11, all accused of witchcraft, according to the Reuters news agency.
At least 300 members of the Wharf Jeremie gang are believed to have been involved in the raids, kidnappings and executions; human rights groups have attributed the massacre to the death of the son of the gang's leader, Monel Felix, who accused villagers of "causing" his son's illness through voodoo.
The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti issued a statement calling for steps to be taken to strengthen police work: “Neither the police nor the judicial authorities intervene at Wharf Jérémie. Abuses committed there by gang members generally go unpunished.”
President Claudia Sheinbaum recalled that Mexico will not accept interference, especially from the United States.
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While US President-elect Donald Trump has warned that he will designate cartels as foreign terrorist organizations as soon as he takes office, he seems to have little understanding that the weapons used by criminal cells in Mexico come from the United States, which is why President Claudia Sheinbaum has recalled that she will not accept “interference” in what is done on Mexican territory.
“I said it in the letter I wrote to President Donald Trump, who will take office in January of next year: that is where drugs are consumed, mainly; that is where weapons come from, and that is where we put our lives. That is not true,” said President Sheinbaum at a rally in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, on Sunday afternoon.
In his speech, he stressed that Mexico intends to collaborate and work together, but does not allow other countries, such as the United States, to interfere in the nation's national security.
"We collaborate, we coordinate, we work together, but we will never subordinate ourselves. Mexico is a free, sovereign and independent country and we do not accept interference in our country," the president said.
He pointed out that Mexico is implementing the National Security Strategy, which focuses on addressing the causes, to prevent young people from joining criminal groups and also to strengthen zero impunity.
"The most important thing for us is to build peace throughout the country," he said.
This Sunday, the program “60 Minutes of Overtime,” broadcast by CBS News, made an extensive account of the weapons used by cartels in Mexico, which are trafficked from the United States and how difficult it is to buy an authorized and legal weapon in the country, unlike in the neighboring country to the north.
He recalled that it is estimated that between 200,000 and half a million American firearms are smuggled into Mexico every year, a fact for which the Mexican government has filed two lawsuits: one against the arms manufacturer Smith & Wesson and one of its wholesalers, and another involving five American gun stores.
“If they believe that fentanyl overdoses are a problem, if they believe that migration across the border is a problem, if they believe that the expansion of organized crime is a problem in the United States, then they should be concerned about stopping the flow of guns coming into Mexico. And it needs to be stopped at the source, because all of those problems are driven by the supply of U.S. guns to the cartels,” said U.S. attorney Jonathan Lowy in an interview with 60 Minutes.
Jonathan Lowy, American lawyer, in an interview with 60 Minutes.
The media also recalled that, while in Mexico there is only one gun store in the entire country, located at the military base in Mexico City, in the United States there are more than 75 thousand active dealers.
In addition, in Mexico, obtaining a weapon is not an easy task. 60 Minutos witnessed how obtaining a pistol or low-caliber rifle is an odyssey, since it requires a special permit, psychological tests, drug detection tests, and extensive background checks.
This only official gun store sells barely a thousand weapons a month, all of them registered.
It should be noted that the weapons that the drug cartels have are all high-caliber. But that has not prevented them from obtaining them, especially in the United States.
In March, 60 Minutes spoke with then-Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who said homicides and cartel violence had skyrocketed during his six-year term, and said the United States was partly to blame.
Former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. 60 Minutes.
“We have confiscated, during the time I have been in government, 50,000 high-powered, high-caliber weapons,” he said. “Fifty thousand weapons. And 75 percent of them are from the United States,” López Obrador said in the interview.
Tim Sloan, an attaché for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in Mexico from 2019 to 2022, told 60 Minutes that when a gun is recovered at a crime scene, the ATF is tasked with tracking it down. In 2019, an incident at a cartel ranch near Guadalajara shocked him.
“There were dead bodies everywhere… There were 55-gallon drums with body parts in them,” Sloan said. “And every gun in that house came from the United States. All of them.”
Tim Sloan, former attaché of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in Mexico, in an interview with 60 Minutes.
Sloan explained that most guns in Mexico are sold directly to traffickers or to so-called “straw buyers,” someone who buys a firearm on behalf of another person. He explained that thousands of dollars are offered to someone to go into a store in the U.S. and buy the gun in their name, and for many it is easy, especially if they have addiction problems and no criminal record.
“If buyers have no criminal record, they can buy as many guns as they want in certain states. Then comes the easy part: “just drive across the border,” Sloan said.
San Mateo County emergency officials have pledged to quickly address gaps in tsunami warning and response procedures and to routinely conduct drills.
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Emergency officials from the the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors se comprometieron a abordar rápidamente las lagunas en los procedimientos de alerta y respuesta ante tsunamis y a realizar simulacros de forma rutinaria.
Definir claramente términos como “terreno elevado” y marcar rutas de evacuación son algunas de las tareas del Departamento de Gestión de Emergencias del Condado de San Mateo tras la advertencia de tsunami del 5 de diciembre emitida por el Servicio Meteorológico Nacional.
Los funcionarios también se comprometieron a lanzar una campaña de educación pública sobre los riesgos de tsunami que incluya cómo crear un plan básico de seguridad familiar.
“Estas son las cosas en las que trabajaremos en los próximos meses”, dijo la doctora Shruti Dhapodkar, directora del Departamento de Gestión de Emergencias del condado, a unos 75 residentes en un foro en Half Moon Bay sobre la respuesta local al tsunami. “Todos los años tenemos que practicar”.
“Lo único que quiero dejarles saber desde el principio”, dijo el supervisor del condado de San Mateo, Ray Mueller al inaugurar la reunión, “es que el equipo que ven reunido aquí frente a ustedes ha estado trabajando incansablemente desde ese día… tratando de descubrir cómo podemos seguir adelante y prepararnos para ese próximo evento”.
Varios miembros de la audiencia dijeron que estaban confundidos y alarmados la mañana del 5 de diciembre cuando los teléfonos celulares sonaron en todo el norte de California con la alerta de tsunami del Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. La alerta, provocada por un terremoto de magnitud 7.0 en la costa del condado de Humbolt, fue cancelada después de aproximadamente una hora.
Asimismo, los funcionarios brindaron una mirada detrás de escena a los momentos clave después del terremoto registrado a las 10:44 horas, incluida la decisión de no activar una serie de sirenas de tsunami desde Pacifica hasta Pescadero.
Minutos después del terremoto, el Centro Nacional de Alerta de Tsunamis de Alaska informó que olas potencialmente dañinas podrían golpear la costa del condado de San Mateo poco después del mediodía.
Ante ello, la policía y los bomberos alertaron rápidamente a la gente en las playas costeras y áreas bajas para que se trasladaran a terrenos más altos.
En el Centro de Operaciones de Emergencia del Condado en Redwood City, el equipo de Dhapodkar estudió mapas de movimientos sísmicos y monitoreó una serie de boyas en alta mar en busca de señales de tsunami. Se comunicaron con sus homólogos en otros condados costeros y con la Oficina de Servicios de Emergencia de California, señaló el Ayuntamiento en un comunicado.
“Sabíamos que, a medida que recibíamos más datos, las cosas iban mejorando cada vez más gracias al Servicio Meteorológico Nacional y al Centro de Tsunamis”, dijo Dhapodkar. “También estábamos hablando con los condados al norte de nosotros: Humboldt, Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma, Marin. Las sirenas de tsunami no sonaron porque no las activamos nosotros”. “Esa fue la decisión correcta”.
“Queríamos evitar que se activaran las sirenas de tsunami para prevenir atascos, pánico, accidentes de tráfico y otras posibles lesiones a las personas en la costa”, agregó.
Los funcionarios de emergencia dijeron que sus objetivos inmediatos son: mejorar la información y el acceso a las zonas de peligro mediante la actualización de la señalización de tsunami, definir claramente las zonas de peligro y crear un mapa digital para uso del público.
Asimismo, mejorar la concienciación y la educación sobre los tsunamis, y fortalecer la preparación y la respuesta al crear y ejecutar simulacros anuales de tsunami.
Según el Servicio Geológico de California, desde 1800, más de 150 tsunamis han azotado las costas del estado. Muchos de ellos apenas fueron perceptibles, pero unos pocos han causado víctimas mortales o daños importantes; el más reciente fue un tsunami de 2011 provocado por un devastador terremoto de magnitud 9.0 en la costa de Japón que causó daños por valor de 100 millones de dólares a los puertos y bahías de California.
Properties to indigenous peoples will be delivered by President Claudia Sheinbaum, who signed the decrees for compensation, restitution and land titling in favor of the Tarahumara communities. Photo: Courtesy of the Presidency of Mexico
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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum will hand over property to indigenous peoples in Chihuahua; she signed decrees for compensation, restitution and land titling in favor of Tarahumara communities.
“Today is a historic day, because we are returning land, territory, to whom it belongs,” Sheinbaum said.
As part of the Plan for Justice for the Peoples of Sierra Tarahumara, the head of the Executive signed the decrees by which compensation, restitution and titling of 1,485 hectares in favor of the indigenous community of Guasachique and titling of 693 hectares of land as property of the indigenous community of Bosques de San Elías Repechique were granted, she reported in a statement. comunicado.
“Today we are doing justice. Justice is the essence of the Fourth Transformation, social justice, above all. Let the indigenous peoples never be abandoned again,” said the president. Photo: Courtesy of the Presidency of Mexico
The Justice Plans seek to work together with community members and the Government of Mexico, promoting dialogue and citizen participation.
“Today we are doing justice. Justice is the essence of the Fourth Transformation, social justice, above all. Let us never again abandon indigenous peoples, let us not think that progress is above indigenous peoples, let us never again deprive indigenous peoples of their land, but on the contrary, let us compensate for what has historically been taken from them,” said the president.
In addition, roads and artisanal paths will continue to be built in the Sierra Tarahumara, as part of the Plans for Justice and Comprehensive Development of Indigenous Peoples and Communities.
“Let the value of the indigenous peoples be recognized as the essence, as the deep Mexico, above all, with dignity; because what the Rarámuri people teach us, what the indigenous peoples teach us is that the deep dignity of the people of Mexico is found here in the Sierra Tarahumara and in every place where there is an indigenous people who preserve, who resist and who remind us that Mexico is what it is thanks to its indigenous peoples, not only those of before, but also, and above all, those of now. And, for that reason, the fourth transformation means social justice and returns dignity to the indigenous peoples and to the people of Mexico,” Sheinbaum pointed out.
In addition, resources will be provided to the program La Escuela es Nuestra (The School is Ours) to promote education in this sector, and there will also be funds for Health Centers and to meet the demands of the Rarámuri communities.
The general director of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI), Adelfo Regino Montes, reported that a total of 4.72 billion pesos have been invested in actions related to Environmental Justice and Productive Projects; Health and Environmental Medicine; Indigenous Education; Culture, Language and Identity; Infrastructure and Basic Services, as well as the implementation of all the Programs for Well-Being.
“Let the value of the indigenous peoples be recognized as the essence, as the deep Mexico, above all, with dignity; because of what the Rarámuri people teach us,” Sheinbaum pointed out. Photo: Courtesy of the Presidency of Mexico
East Palo Alto City Council shakes up, two new council members were sworn in Tuesday, but procedural irregularities were present at the ceremony. (City of East Palo Alto via Bay City News)
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Two new council members were sworn into office at East Palo Alto City Hall on Tuesday, but procedural irregularities were evident at the ceremony.
The reorganization of City Council following the November general election was delayed with outgoing councillors voting on issues beyond their term end date and moving unrelated items off the consent calendar.
“The concern I had with the inauguration was that they did a full agenda with the expired council,” newly elected Councilman Mark Dinan said in an interview Wednesday. “They were sworn in on Dec. 8, 2020, and their terms expired in four years by law. They shouldn’t have voted on anything substantial yesterday. It should have been purely ministerial, which is passing the torch.”
In the November election, Carlos Romero, Dinan and Webster Lincoln prevailed over their opponents in a crowded race for City Council with three vacant seats. Romero regained his seat, while former Mayor Antonio Lopez and Councilwoman Lisa Gauthier left office.
It is unclear whether outgoing councillors can continue to vote on resolutions despite more than four years having passed since they took office.
East Palo Alto’s municipal code mirrors state law, which states that the terms of elected city officials “shall be in accordance with state law for a period of four years beginning on the Tuesday following their election and until their successors are elected and qualified.”
Newly elected City Councilman Mark Dinan is sworn in at East Palo Alto City Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024 in East Palo Alto, Calif. (City of East Palo Alto via Bay City News)
City Manager Melvin Gaines wrote in a statement that until the old council certifies the election results and the new council members are sworn in, the old council “continues to have the right, under state law, to meet and transact business.”
Among those matters, the former council decided to adopt a final plan for the future Ravenswood Business District, or RBD.
“They voted on some very, very big issues and that included the RBD that was part of the consent package,” Dinan said. “They didn’t discuss it, but it was voted on and approved. This is a billion-dollar development plan for East Palo Alto. It’s a very big deal.”
Dinan believes his and Lincoln's oaths were delayed until the end of the meeting because the previous council did not want either of them to influence the approval of the RBD's final plan.
“They didn’t want to do the oath at first for us, because then Webster and I would have voted on the RBD,” Dinan said. “When you do that, you’re doing it with two council members whose terms have already expired.”
But Gaines said the former council voted on the RBD plan Tuesday because it was originally supposed to be addressed at an earlier meeting that ended up being canceled.
“The agenda items from the 12/17/24 meeting that the outgoing councilmembers voted on were on the consent calendar,” Gaines wrote in her statement. “Many of these items were holdovers from a previous meeting that had been cancelled due to unexpected absences.”
Lincoln and Dinan sat patiently in the audience, anxiously waiting to be sworn in and recognized for their victory.
However, hours passed as council members heard public comments on unrelated matters and issued a proclamation to the city's Little League team for winning its district's Fall Baseball championship.
“I would question a city reorganization meeting where they spent more time honoring a worthy Little League team than actually reorganizing,” Dinan said. “It’s great what they’ve accomplished, but yesterday was not the time or place to do it, any more than it would be the place to make a proclamation before a wedding.”
Newly elected City Councilman Webster Lincoln is sworn in at East Palo Alto City Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024 in East Palo Alto, Calif. (City of East Palo Alto via Bay City News)
The meeting was unusual compared to previous East Palo Alto City Council reorganization ceremonies. In the past, swearing-in rituals after elections have always focused solely on recognizing outgoing members, ushering in new candidates and naming a new mayor and vice mayor.
Dinan and Lincoln were finally sworn in after Lopez and Gauthier were honored. They cast their first official votes as new councilors in the election for mayor and vice mayor.
The new council unanimously promoted Councilwoman Martha Barragán as mayor. Barragán has served two years on the council.
They were split on who should be vice mayor. Romero was in favor of appointing Councilman Ruben Abrica. However, the two newly sworn-in councilmen and Barragan chose Dinan to take on the role in a 3-2 vote.
During the vote for vice mayor, Romero said he thought seniority should come first in the decision. Abrica is a three-time mayor and was one of East Palo Alto's first council members when the area was incorporated in 1983.
“I think it should be someone with a little more experience than Mr. Dinan,” Romero said. “I will have to vote ‘no.’”
Although Barragán voted in favor of Dinan being deputy mayor, he reiterated that Dinan and Lincoln should initially give up their position to councilors with more experience behind them.
“I think we will also rely on the most experienced members of our staff, our board, and also taking into account what the voters want from us,” Barragán said.
Even though Dinan's time at City Hall started on a sour note, he is excited to get to work as the new deputy mayor.
“I am deeply honored to join the City Council and doubly honored to be selected to serve as Deputy Mayor under my friend, Mayor Martha Barragán,” Dinan said. “I look forward to working with everyone at City Hall to address community concerns – housing, parking, economic development, parks and all the issues raised in the campaign.”
Ravneel Chaudhary, who ran unsuccessfully for a council seat, closed the meeting by calling on members to put their potential differences behind them in order to get things done and move East Palo Alto forward.
“I recognize that members of this council do not always align politically and that each of you brings different visions for the future of East Palo Alto, and that is perfectly fine,” Chaudhary said during public comment after the reorganization ceremony had been completed.
“I am hopeful that this new council will build on the accomplishments of its predecessors, putting aside personal egos to collaborate and address the critical issues facing our city,” he said.
