Latest news with #AnthonyLee
Boston Globe
18-03-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
FDA staff return to crowded offices, broken equipment, and missing chairs
Advertisement One staffer described 'chaos and lost work hours' for commuting, security lines and shuffled office space. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up About half the FDA's 20,000 scientists, attorneys, inspectors and support staff report to the agency's main campus in White Oak, Maryland, which until the late 1990s was a naval weapons testing facility. While many agencies switched to telework during the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA began embracing the practice a decade earlier. Most employees had the option to work from home at least two days a week — flexibility that was seen as a competitive perk for recruiting highly trained experts who can often earn more working in industry. By 7:30 a.m., many on-campus parking lots were full, with cars parked along side streets, according to employees. Some workers reported waiting up to one hour to clear security checkpoints, and photos viewed by the AP showed lines of employees winding out doorways, along sidewalks and around corners. Once inside, employees confronted broken desks, missing chairs and locked offices for which they didn't have keys. 'All of the staff is definitely bending over backwards to make an impossible situation work and get their work done,' said one employee. Some employees were left to scour the campus for chairs and other essentials. 'People are looting chairs from conference rooms and other buildings,' a staffer said. 'We have no supplies. People are hunting around all of the buildings on campus for pads of paper and other basics.' Advertisement When employees did get situated, many shared cramped spaces with people from different divisions and teams, making it difficult to hold calls and meetings. Photos shared with the AP show folding chairs and tables setup in hallways and lobbies. An FDA spokesman said in an email Monday the agency 'is continuing its return-to-office activities to ensure staff remain able to conduct their important public health work.' All the employees told the AP that they brought their own drinking water Monday. That's due to a monthslong issue involving Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease, which was detected at several FDA buildings. The General Service Administration, which oversees federal buildings, has been working on the issue since last summer. FDA staff received an email earlier this month that all water is safe to drink, but it did not detail the latest testing results or corrective actions taken. Anthony Lee, who represents the local chapter of the federal union for FDA employees, said the agency has not granted the group's request for a meeting on the issue. Asked about the water, one staffer said: 'Honestly, none of us have tried it. After months of Legionella warnings, it's not very inviting.'
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Veterans Benefits Symposium to be held Thursday
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) — Various veteran's organizations will be attending the second Veterans Aging and Survivor Benefits Symposium, Thursday, at Western Region One Source. The Department of Veterans Affairs, The One Source, Mesa County's Veterans Service Office and the Area Agency on Aging, along with the Rifle Veterans Assisted Living Home will be in attendance. 'It's a free event. We are not doing an RSVP. It's a first-come, first-serve situation,' says Mesa County Veterans Service Officer Anthony Lee. It's an event to help veterans understand the resources and benefits available to them. Outreach coordinator for VA Western Colorado Healthcare System Braydon Gear says if you choose to attend, you need to bring several documents. 'It's always good to bring DD214's. That is the service members exiting paperwork. It pretty much shows when they served, when they served, where they served, campaigns they were a part of. (A lot of paperwork is needed) to prove eligibility for veteran's services.' If you are not enrolled in veteran's services, particularly VA health care, you can call the health care hotline number at 877-222-8387 or go to the fourth floor at the VA hospital for enrollment eligibility. Officials say to make sure to take your DD214 form. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
North Carolina may become 30th state to allow gun owners to carry without permit
GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — North Carolina may be the 30th state in the country to allow gun owners to carry concealed handguns in the state without a permit. Senate and House GOP lawmakers filed legislation on Tuesday, known as 'Freedom to Carry NC' under Senate Bill 50. This bill would allow anyone to carry without a permit who is a United States citizen, at least 18 years of age and isn't prohibited by law. With permit-less concealed carry looming in the background of the legislature, local concealed carry classes are apprehensive of the effects if the bill is passed. 'You should have that permit to basically cover you. The class is going to teach you about justified self-defense when you can do it, when you can do it, where you can care, where you can't care,' Anthony Lee of ENC Protective Services said. 'What I'm seeing is how in my personal pay I see an uptick in what we see a bunch of crimes, of violations of concealed carry.' Kentucky and South Carolina are the most recent states to approve it. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
