Latest news with #Burstein
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Commissioner of Health gives tips on how to handle poor air quality
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The National Interagency Fire Centre in Idaho is sending crews to Canada to help battle the rash of wildfires that are bringing down the air quality in Western New York. 'What we used to call fire season, we now refer to as the fire year just because fire activity can really happen at any time of year,' said Rebecca Paterson, a public affairs specialist at the center. Paterson says a preparedness level scale from one to five is used to measure the amount of resources available to battle wildfires. 'In Canada, they're actually at a PL five right now, preparedness level of five, so they are maxed out and that is often where we find ourselves in the position of: the United States is cooperating with them, using our cooperative agreement to send resources,' said Paterson. According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, there are more than 200 fires burning in the country as of Friday. Paterson says it's hard to predict how long it will take to put the fires out or what will happen to air quality. 'There's still hope that this won't be a really long duration event for those that are feeling the smoke impact from this, but I mean certainly having fires at this time of the season when typically places are kind of going into a hotter and drier season, there is some potential that those impacts could last for a while,' said Paterson. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has issued an air quality health advisory for areas throughout New York State, including Western New York, that expires midnight on Saturday. 'Just like you check the weather forecast, it's really good to check the forecast for air quality,' said Erie County Commissioner of Health Dr. Gale Burstein. 'When this poor air quality gets into our lungs we might have symptoms with difficulty breathing, wheezing, coughing. It's also an irritant, you might have itchy eyes, you might have a headache, sore throat–so all of those are things we have to think about.' She says those most vulnerable to poor air quality include people with chronic lung disease, chronic heart disease, asthma, COPD, pregnant people, older adults, infants and young children, people who smoke, and people who work outside. 'If you or anybody in your house is in those categories, you should think about now how to prepare when the air quality does get bad,' said Dr. Burstein. Dr. Burstein recommends people go to to check what the air quality is like in their community and in locations they plan to travel to. 'There's also long term effects that we won't see right now, so being exposed to this poor air quality can make us increased risk in the future for lung disease and heart disease, including strokes so we really want to make sure that we minimize our exposure to this poor air quality,' said Dr. Burstein. She says the best option when the air quality is poor is to stay inside. Those who can't are encouraged to use N95 masks and to drive with their windows up and their air conditioner on. Hope Winter is a reporter and multimedia journalist who has been part of the News 4 team since 2021. See more of her work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Washington Post
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Want a Tony? Try playing one of these iconic roles.
Danny Burstein was uniquely aware of the legacy he was joining when the actor rehearsed for the Broadway revival of 'Gypsy' and prepared to portray Herbie, the compassionate talent manager who romances Mama Rose. Burstein, 60, had appeared in the 1993 production of 'Three Men on a Horse' alongside Jack Klugman, the actor who played Herbie in 'Gypsy's' 1959 Broadway premiere. Over the years, Burstein also worked with Jonathan Hadary, John Dossett and Boyd Gaines — the actors who had inhabited Herbie in the beloved musical's three most recent Broadway revivals. After all four of those performers earned Tony Award nominations for the role, Burstein wasn't daunted by the prospect of living up to their performances. In fact, he invited their influence.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Southeast Asia ‘Is Not Such a Safe Haven'
Geopolitical uncertainty looms large and in charge over supply chain professionals' heads this year—and alternative sourcing comes with its own challenges. Inspectorio's newly released State of Supply Chain Report 2025 shows that, even as supply chain professionals see opportunity for growth in other areas of their business, they feel keeping up with U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff regime has to be the top priority. More from Sourcing Journal Port Fees on Chinese Ships Would 'Distort Competition,' But Who Benefits? Retailers Grow Concerned Over Proposed Port Fees for Chinese Ships China, Hong Kong Cry Foul on Panama Ports Deal The supply chain management software company's data shows that 95 percent of all executives surveyed indicated that tariffs are a primary disruptor to their businesses. Daniel Smith, vice president of product marketing at Inspectorio, said, in previous years, sustainability and compliance have emerged as key focus points for supply chain industry professionals. The shift in prioritization marked a deviation from what the industry has expressed concern over in recent years. 'To see the rise of geopolitical strife, and especially tariffs, in the minds of the market as a really important topic that's overshadowing everything else, was a huge shift,' Smith said. 'It's extremely pressing. If you have slim margins as it is, and then you get a tariff placed on [a] piece of your product or material in your product or the finished good itself, that can really erase your margin.' More than one in five executives indicated that, in response to that threat, their company has looked to diversify their supplier base, and 36 percent of executives said they are looking to either relocate production or shift sourcing to low-risk regions. So far, the winner for alternative sourcing as some brands and retailers shift away from China has been Southeast Asia. Among respondents evaluating alternative locations for sourcing, about four in 10 executives indicated they've turned their interest there. Mark Burstein, SVP Americas at Inspectorio, said companies have shown a particular interest in Vietnam, Bangladesh and Cambodia. That's likely in part because those nations have existing manufacturing infrastructure suited to handle some degree of scale. But that's now becoming an issue, Burstein said, noting that, for brands and retailers looking to enter Vietnam, in particular, factories may not have the availability to create and ship finished goods their way. 'Everyone jumped into Vietnam, and they just don't have the capacity, so it's not like you're going to find a bunch of factories with available capacity,' he said. And, even if companies can strike deals with manufacturers throughout Southeast Asia, it doesn't mean they've found a fireproof solution; Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh and a slew of other countries could still be subject to new tariff requirements from the Trump administration, Burstein noted. 'Southeast Asia is not such a safe haven—it's [just] a safe haven to get out of China,' he said. The alternatives don't seem popular among respondents; just over 20 percent said they would look to shift toward South Asia, while nearly 13 percent have an eye on Eastern Europe and about 7 percent are looking toward Latin America. Africa seems to be on the fringes of respondents' considerations on sourcing, with just over 5 percent saying they have prioritized it as an alternate sourcing location. For Burstein, that feels like it could be a mistake. He recently lobbied legislators to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) later this year, alongside the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA). That's partly because he believes it could be a viable option for brands looking for a quick exit from China and a new set of long-term manufacturing partners. But despite the opportunity in Africa, companies don't seem to be biting. That's partially because the continent would need a high degree of further investment to make scalable sourcing viable—and the looming expiration of AGOA could be driving some of the trepidation about sourcing from Africa. What's more, Smith noted, some of the existing investment in the continent has come from Chinese companies, which could spell trouble if Trump continues to show an interest in bringing the hammer down on China. Effectively, the continent faces the plight of every other region vying for new business: businesses have no way of knowing whether tariffs will soon hit African nations. 'China has been investing heavily in Africa for quite a while,' Smith said. 'If you switch some sourcing over to Africa, you might think you're in the clear, but we know that this administration is using tariffs as a weapon. They have certain outcomes that they're wanting; they want certain nations to feel the pain. There's no reason why they wouldn't say, 'Okay, I see you're importing that from Africa, but that factory was owned by a Chinese company…and we're not cool with that, so we're going to slap the tariff on you anyway.'' That kind of strategy isn't totally out of the question; Trump has already proposed a port tax on container shippers with ties to China—whether because they have China-operated ships, China-built ships or orders with Chinese shipbuilders for future ships. The proposal hasn't been finalized, and has faced heavy backlash from the industry because of the gargantuan cost increases it could see logistics companies paying, but Trump proposed it in a play to bring some shipbuilding to the United States. If the president maintains similar aspirations for U.S. apparel manufacturing, locales with factories associated with China could be susceptible to a similar blueprint. Those kind of additional tariffs on any alternative sourcing destination could leave brands and retailers feeling defeated, paying higher prices for goods and passing those costs on to the end consumer. But, as the arena stands today, Burstein said he has yet to see movement from some companies whose sourcing strategies could leave them in limbo. In essence, nowhere's safe, but China certainly isn't. 'People are just waiting to see what happens, because things change every day—even sometimes, every hour, they're changing,' he said. 'People don't want to make a rash decision.'
