Latest news with #Cortese
Euronews
6 days ago
- Health
- Euronews
ADHD drugs lower risk of suicidal behaviour, car accidents, and crime
People with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are often well aware of the side effects of medication, including difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite, and irritability. But a new study has identified other, longer term consequences. For people newly diagnosed with ADHD, the drugs are tied to a significantly lower risk of suicidal behaviour, alcohol or drug abuse, car accidents, and criminal activity. The findings could be reassuring for the roughly 5 per cent of children and 2.5 per cent of adults who have ADHD, which can cause distraction, forgetfulness, high energy levels, restlessness, and other issues. Symptoms usually start before the age of 12. The results 'are extremely important from a public health perspective and a clinical perspective,' Dr Samuele Cortese, one of the study's authors and a professor at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom, said during a press briefing. The study, published in the BMJ, included nearly 149,000 people ages 6 to 64 who were diagnosed with ADHD in Sweden from 2007 to 2020. Researchers compared people who started ADHD medication within three months of diagnosis with those who did not start treatment, and followed them for an average of two years. Their goal was to mimic the design of a randomised controlled trial, where some people receive the intervention being tested – such as a new medicine – and others get a placebo or dummy treatment. These trials are considered the gold standard in medical research, allowing scientists to home in on the effect of the new drug or intervention. Other research has pointed to a link between untreated ADHD and job instability, anxiety, addiction, and other problems. But the lack of randomised trials made it hard to prove that ADHD drugs actually lowered the risks. The latest study does not quite establish causation, but it comes closer. ADHD medication was tied to a 17 per cent lower risk of suicide, attempted suicide, and suicidal thoughts, as well as a 15 per cent reduction in substance misuse, a 12 per cent reduction in transportation accidents, and a 13 per cent reduction in criminality. The researchers said the lower risks could be because the drugs reduce impulsivity – which could curb criminality by reducing aggressive behaviour – and improve attention, which might minimise distractions and lower the risk of car accidents. The study has some limitations, notably the fact that people could have collected their ADHD medications and then not taken them. The analysis also does not include incidents – for example, minor accidents – that were not serious enough to be captured in medical or legal records. Even so, Cortese said doctors should consider the findings when they discuss possible ADHD treatment with their patients. 'When doctors discuss the potential use [of drugs] they focus on the type of medication and the side effects – which we don't need to underestimate, but oftentimes there is not information on what are the risks if you don't take' medication, he said. 'I think this is important to consider [that] if left untreated, there [could] be some unfortunate risks, and now we have evidence that medication can help reduce these risks'. If you are contemplating suicide and need to talk, please reach out to Befrienders Worldwide, an international organisation with helplines in 32 countries. Visit to find the telephone number for your location.
The Age
11-08-2025
- Business
- The Age
Family pays $2.9m for a Princes Hill home in competitive auction
'The clearance rate at our company is over 88 per cent, so we are selling them, and we are selling them competitively,' Cortese added. Meanwhile, further out in Melbourne's east an investor, a first home buyer and a builder developer negotiated to buy a post-war weatherboard house after it passed in at auction at $750,000. The three-bedroom house on 60 Surrey Road, Blackburn North had a price guide of $858,000 to $943,800, and a reserve price of $940,000. Peter Schenck, Ray White Blackburn selling agent and auctioneer, said the two bidders – the first home buyer and builder – were joined by a single woman – the investor – in post-auction negotiations, who bought the house for $901,000. 'The buyer was a lady who turned up post-auction but had seen the house before,' Schenck said. 'She is an investor, and will rent the property out back through us.' He said investors were slowly coming back into the market post the February and May rate cuts. Loading In Melbourne's inner south-east, two first home buyers in their 20s battled it out with the help of their parents for a single-fronted Victorian home, with the winner paying $1.35 million for the property at auction. The three-bedroom house at 13 Oban Street, South Yarra was built about 1880, and had been held by the same family for nearly 70 years. Kay & Burton Stonnington selling agent Gabrielle Gruskin listed the home for sale with a quoted price range of $1.2 million to $1.3 million. 'We had quite a lot of interest in the house, with about 60 groups coming through – we thought there may be more in the crowd, but there is always more houses coming up,' she said. The buyer – a man in his early 20s whose parents had bid on his behalf – had called about the property only the day before auction, Gruskin said. 'He hadn't been through it … and he came through today and bought it,' she said. The auction had opened with a bid of $1.2 million, with the two sole bidders battling it out for nearly 15 minutes, Gruskin added. The reserve price was $1.3 million. The underbidder, a man in his late 20s, had visited the property previously and was with his father, who bid on his behalf. Both men were looking to purchase their first home. 'These type of properties in South Yarra have been especially popular with the first home buyers … there has been a rise in interest in the market,' Gruskin said. Loading Just across the Yarra River in Richmond, a townhouse sold under the hammer for $1,205,000 to a couple in their 30s. The three-bedroom home at 6/33 York Street had been guided at $1.05 million to $1.1 million, with a reserve price of $1.05 million, BigginScott Richmond leasing agent Phoebe Hnarakis said. 'All four bidders were young couples, one with children,' she said. The winners were first home buyers with 'a bit of a trade background, and are excited to do some work to the place', she added. While renovated or 'turnkey' homes were still more popular, properties such as the townhouse were also sought after because 'someone could come and put their stamp on it without having to do anything structural,' Hnarakis said.
Politico
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Who's scared of Newsom's money grabs?
BOXED OUT FROM BALLOT-BOX BUDGETING — In his effort to resolve differences in school funding formulas, state Sen. Dave Cortese is up against a lot: voter-approved measures that set the education budget, wealthy communities content with the status quo, and a Legislature newly ambivalent about making big decisions about money at a moment of economic uncertainty. Now the Bay Area Democrat faces one more hurdle: newfound uncertainty about whether successfully selling voters on the change would actually deliver any effect on policy. During this year's budget season, Gov. Gavin Newsom has repeatedly brushed aside the votes Californians cast last November, rerouting money from a climate bond, leaving an anti-crime initiative's policy changes unfunded, and disregarding a new health-care financing formula altogether. The willingness of Cortese and his Silicon Valley backers to take their cause to the ballot is turning into an early test of whether Sacramento decision-makers' disregard for voters' preferences will affect the willingness of deep-pocketed interests to invest in shaping policy through what political scientists call 'ballot-box budgeting.' Cortese has been focused on the budget gap between schools in low-tax and high-tax districts since serving as a San Jose city councilmember in the early 2000s. Disparities between high-tax districts and low-tax districts, he argued to Playbook, are the result of two separate statewide measures approved by voters. By capping property taxes, Prop 13 in 1978 shifted the burden of education spending to the state. Then, 20 later, Prop 98 amended the constitution to include a K-12 funding formula based on per capita income, attendance, and state revenue. 'All of that requires constitutional changes that are provocative — problematic to say the least,' Cortese said. He would create a reserve account, fed during surplus budget years, whose investment proceeds would go to schools otherwise receiving less money from the state under the Prop 98 formula. Cortese's SB 743, currently moving through the Legislature, establishes the reserve-account framework but would become active only through a constitutional amendment he plans to introduce in January. But now Cortese has reason to be uncertain that is even a viable route to his policy goal. In the past few months, Newsom has repeatedly treated last November's ballot measures as little more than nonbinding advisory votes from the electorate that could be ignored in the face of an unforeseen budget crunch. Prop 35 was supposed to lock down revenue from a health-insurance tax, but Newsom nevertheless swept the money up into the general fund. Prop 36 changed sentencing rules but has yet to send money to the counties expected to administer treatment programs for convicted criminals. The Prop 4 bond laid out long-term climate priorities, but Newsom grabbed millions from it to address wildfire needs he considered more urgent. It's enough precedent to wonder who would bother with ballot-box budgeting anymore — to convince either lawmakers or voters that it's worth the cost to create the reserve accounts if the governor could decide to redirect the money due for them toward another purpose. Cortese's SB 743 passed the Senate floor last week and now heads to the Assembly. Even Should the bill fail there, or be vetoed by the governor, Cortese could fold its provisions into the amendment he would take straight to voters. He says tech entrepreneur Dave House and the Silicon Valley Education Foundation, which produced the documentary Zip Code Red about funding disparities, stand at the ready to back a petition campaign. 'If we have polling in early 2026 that says go, I don't know why we would stop,' Cortese said. But last year's experience could sour his backers from lavishly spending at the ballot. A California Medical Association-led coalition spent $54 million only to see its meticulously drawn Medi-Cal formulas be treated in Sacramento as a dead letter. The Yes on 35 coalition has yet to sue the governor, or take any action beyond a few aghast press releases, to rectify the situation. 'That's flat-out false. Anyone pushing this narrative either hasn't read the measures or is counting on others not to,' said Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon. 'Prop 35 and Prop 36 are being implemented as the voters approved — full stop. And Prop 4 was designed specifically to fund wildfire-related projects.' Cortese said a recalcitrant governor may be the biggest hurdle he faces now, but is optimistic that by the time this could reach the ballot Newsom's priorities may shift in his direction. 'Maybe this is wishful thinking, but for a governor approaching the last year of his term would be a legacy move to leave an equalization bill behind,' said Cortese. 'He's not going to be the governor to lose his fiscal discretion.' — With help from Eric He NEWS BREAK: LA Mayor Karen Bass reduces downtown LA curfew hours to 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. … Man suspected of shooting two Minnesota lawmakers taken into custody … Southern California wildfire survivors file suit against State Farm. Welcome to Ballot Measure Weekly, a special edition of Playbook PM focused on California's lively realm of ballot measure campaigns. Drop us a line at eschultheis@ and wmccarthy@ or find us on X — @emilyrs and @wrmccart. TOP OF THE TICKET A highly subjective ranking of the ballot measures — past and future, certain and possible — getting our attention this week. 1. Pay for performance (San Jose, 2026?): San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan may need to return to a ballot measure to launch his pay-for-performance initiative, after the city council voted against adopting the proposal outright last week. 'It may be time to take this question directly to the voters, instead of leaving it to the political insiders,' he said. 2. Measures A and B (Huntington Beach, 2025): An alliance of bookworms and progressive activists prevailed, by unexpectedly wide margins, in its effort to wrest back control over Huntington Beach's public library system from a conservative city council that conceded the battle, if not the war. 'We now have an opportunity to grow from this, for greater future use, in ways we never could have grown through a victory at this moment in time,' councilmember Chad Williams wrote on social media. 3. California Forever (Solano County, 2026?): As Suisun City pushes forward with a reimbursement agreement to annex land that would keep California Forever from having to go to the ballot, county officials are increasingly concerned about getting left behind. Last week, Solano supervisors sent a letter to the financially struggling city, asking it to pause discussions with the would-be start-up city's developers until after the county updates its general plan. 4. SMART transit funding (Sonoma and Marin counties, 2026): Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit officially launched its campaign committee to renew a quarter-cent sales tax that will determine whether the North Bay commuter-rail system can keep running after the same measure failed in 2020. The campaign, which is aiming for the June 2026 ballot, boosts the support of a local luminary who suddenly has more time to spend on local ballot politics: outgoing Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire. 5. Minimum wage referendum (Los Angeles City, 2025): Unions are fighting a travel-industry-backed referendum effort to overturn the city's new $30 minimum wage. LA-based Unite Here Local 11 filed a lawsuit late last week against what it said are signature-gatherers' misleading statements to voters, an allegation the Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress campaign denies. 6. Voter ID (2026?): Assemblymember Carl DeMaio launched his campaign with a coastal tour through Santa Monica, Huntington Beach and San Diego, teaming up with fellow GOP lawmakers and MAGA-world activists like Scott Presler, who characterized the initiative as a tool for Republicans to flip Southern California Democratic-held congressional districts. 7. Parking lot development (Menlo Park, 2025?): Menlo Park's city council is preparing for a ballot fight over its contentious plans to turn city-owned downtown parking lots into housing. As local retailers aim to qualify a measure that would mandate voter approval for changes to the lots, the city has hired consulting firm Tripepi Smith to help sell the vision. ON OTHER BALLOTS After voters in Nebraska bucked the national trend on abortion-rights measures last year and voted for a constitutional amendment that banned abortions after the first trimester, the state's anti-abortion activists are launching a push to put a total abortion ban on the 2026 ballot … A group pursuing an abortion-rights constitutional amendment says the Idaho's Supreme Court's delay delivering a decision nearly two months after hearing arguments in a ballot-language dispute is putting their organizing efforts at a disadvantage … Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed legislation to refer two measures to the November 2026 ballot that would maintain or expand the state's existing free school lunch program, including through a cap on tax deductions from high-earners … A coalition of progressive education groups in Michigan is launching an initiative effort that would increase the income tax on those earning over $500,000 to help fund K-12 schools … Lawmakers in New York voted to place a constitutional amendment on the November 2025 statewide ballot that would allow the state to build Nordic skiing and biathlon trails on forest preserve land at the upstate Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex in exchange for acquiring new forest land in the surrounding area … And tenants-union members in Duluth, Minnesota submitted signatures for a 'right to repair' measure that would allow residents paying for home repairs to deduct the cost from their rent. IN MEMORIAM A BAN ON FORCED PRISON LABOR: After a constitutional amendment to end forced prison labor in California failed at the statewide ballot in 2024, supporters had high hopes that a repeat attempt could yield a different outcome. For this year at least, the cause appears to be dead. In February, Assemblymember Lori Wilson introduced two pieces of legislation, ACA 6, a constitutional amendment to formally ban slavery in the state's founding document, as well as AB 475, a companion bill that would prohibit the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from requiring inmates to work, and developing wage regulations for those who chose to do so. But there appears to be little momentum to move either bill forward soon. ACA 6 never even received a committee hearing, and AB 475 was held in appropriations at the end of May. Neither Wilson's office nor a representative of last year's campaign to pass Prop 6 responded to requests for comment. The effort to banish slavery from California's constitution is survived by a national anti-slavery movement working to put the issue on more than a dozen ballots in 2026 and 2028. POSTCARD FROM ... … NEVADA COUNTY: Few prominent political careers have been launched from the dry foothills of the Sierra Nevada. But local Republicans are looking to stop future members of the county board of supervisors — where chair Heidi Hall was just elected to her third term — from making a career out of it. The Nevada County Republican Party has begun a petition drive to place an initiative on the June 2026 ballot that would impose term limits under an authority clarified by the legislature in 2021. Restricting supervisors to two terms, argue the measure's boosters, will ensure fresh blood circulates through the county administration building in Nevada City. 'If you stay too long the ideas get a little too calcified,' said Nevada County Republican Party chair Mac Young. 'This wasn't designed to be punitive to anyone. It's just good, bi-partisan housekeeping.' Young points to 17 other California counties with such limits on its supervisors, including Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange. But he looked to another conservative, rural county closer to home for a template: Shasta County, where 76 percent of voters backed Measure C last March. It caps service at two four-year terms, but applies only to newly elected county supervisors. 'It's not a partisan thing, it's just something we think fits well with our county,' Young said. Last month the party launched a petition drive to qualify for next year's ballot. Nevada has one of the oldest populations among the state's counties, and Young says he is counting on an army of retirees active on his party's central committee to gather the 5,074 signatures due by November. Despite its partisan character, Young's campaign appears surprisingly unpolarizing, its good-government approach evoking a bygone age. He says the proposal was met with support or at least indifference from the current county leadership, perhaps because existing supervisors would not be directly affected. 'I'd love to tell you there's some miraculous timing to the whole thing,' he said. 'But really it's just an availability of time and resources.' THAT TIME VOTERS ... … WENT SHOPPING: Californians have seen ballot measures on a wide variety of questions related to shops, markets and boutiques including to: Require most stores to close on Sundays (1930, failed) … Create a definition for stores and require a state license to operate (1932, did not qualify) … Allow the Legislature to authorize the sale of liquor in its original packaging in retail stores where it is not being consumed (1932, did not qualify) … Set up a licensing system for stores, prohibit operating a store without a license, and limit the hours of labor in stores (1934, did not qualify) … Prohibit indoor smoking in businesses, restaurants and other establishments, except in specifically designated areas (1976, did not qualify) … Reduce criminal penalties for shoplifting, among other theft- and drug-related crimes (2014, passed) … Legalize recreational marijuana and require stores to get a state license in order to sell marijuana for recreational use (2016, passed) … And increase penalties for theft- and drug-related crimes, including shoplifting (2024, passed).
Hamilton Spectator
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
The Rome less travelled? I visited the super-popular Italian capital, full of iconic sights, to explore its quieter corners
The swift current of late-morning foot traffic is moving steadily over the cobblestones of Via dei Condotti. It streams down the iconic Spanish Steps, then flows past all the glamorous storefronts along one of Rome's most famous shopping streets. You know the names: Prada, Valentino, Gucci. But my tour guide Dario Cortese, steering us around in a golf cart, takes me just one block beyond this busy scene, to a tucked-away lane, Via Margutta . 'Can you smell the jasmine?' he asks, then goes silent for a moment, in deference to a nearby fountain. 'Can you hear the water flowing?' Yes, indeed, to both. It's a surprise urban oasis. Almost as an afterthought, Cortese points out Pablo Picasso's former apartment, where his two-month stay in 1917 is now marked by a discreet plaque. This quiet street was once a hub of artist studios. This is also where the character Joe Bradley, played by Gregory Peck, lived in 'Roman Holiday.' Scenes from the 1953 rom-com were filmed on this block. 'Nobody knows about this street,' claims Cortese, as we scoot to the next stop. 'But you can find a place like this around every corner in Rome.' Today's itinerary is a custom tour with Access Italy , a family-run company that promises to 'unlock the Italia less travelled,' taking visitors to less obvious sights. Via Margutta, a quiet street whose famous former residents include Pablo Picasso, feels like a surprise urban oasis in the heart of Rome. Italy's ancient capital is, of course, one of Europe's most popular travel destinations. And this year, for a (probably) record-breaking number of visitors, all roads lead to Rome. Tourism is set to soar due to excitement over the newly elected pope, Leo XIV, coupled with the fact that this is a much-anticipated Jubilee year . The holy occasion is expected to draw 35 million pilgrims to the Vatican over the course of 2025. But even amid the exhilarating busyness, the Eternal City has lesser-known corners that reveal the spirit of this place in a quieter way, as I learn on this trip in May, my eighth visit to the destination. 'There's a whole hidden side of Rome,' says Roberto Wirth, soon after my arrival at the storied Hotel Hassler Roma , a landmark property that's been in his family for generations. (He co-owns the Hassler with his twin sister, Veruschka.) Perched at the crest of the Spanish Steps, the hotel's open-air, top-floor patio restaurant is a perfect place to get a lay of the land. The noontime cannon, across the way at Janiculum Hill, fires moments after I step onto the terrace, a puff of smoke rising above the trees. I spot the Monument to Victor Emanuele II (a.k.a. 'the typewriter') over to the left. The dome of St. Peter's Basilica stands soaring straight ahead. I can picture the fumata bianca that was rising over it just a few weeks before my trip, signalling the end of the Papal conclave, and the selection of a new Holy Father. After lunch, I follow the advice of the Wirth twins, who recommend I explore Rome by simply finding some shade and room to walk. I take a short stroll over to the huge hilltop park surrounding the Villa Borghese, where rambling paths offer shelter from the baking sun. The next day, I'm happy to trade my walking shoes for a golf cart ride, settling into the front seat next to Cortese. One of the stops on his guided tour takes me to meet an artist, an eccentric and well-known local character, at his al fresco 'workspace,' near Piazza Navona. Dario Cortese is a tour guide with Access Italy, a family-run company that takes travellers to less obvious sights. 'These are all made here, on the street,' says Giancarlino Benedetti Corcos, bringing out a series of his contemporary paintings, which he creates at a little table two steps away. One, appropriately enough, is his abstract take on a map of Rome. While Corcos shows me his art in the little lane, where he's been working for 20-some years, people push through on Vespas and bicycles. A stylish woman with a leather jacket and oversized sunglasses chatters away to us in Italian (which nobody ever interprets). The scene all feels a bit chaotic, and very Roman. Almost lost amid the other sites — we also swing past the Colosseum and the uber-trendy Trastevere district — is Cortese's advice to visit a small church, the Basilica di Santa Maria del Popolo . 'You can see the most beautiful artworks,' he says, 'for free.' Following his counsel to double-check the church's often limited schedule, I breathe a sigh of relief to see the door open. Most people apparently come to Santa Maria to pray, evidenced by rows of the faithful seated in the pews. But a smaller group, less than a dozen visitors, has clustered in a chapel to the left of the altar. The Basilica di Santa Maria del Popolo is home to beautiful artworks, including paintings by Caravaggio. Joining them in the corner are two large paintings by Michelangelo Merisi, the master better known as Caravaggio. One depicts a young Saul, who would become St. Paul, in the throes of a dramatic and divine intervention, knocked from his horse and blinded by heavenly light. Normally, paintings like these would draw a lot more art lovers, but these are a little hidden — and sometimes even literally shrouded in darkness. The light overhead goes out after a few moments. Turns out, there's no fee to enter the church. But lighting up the artwork for perhaps three minutes? That'll set you back two euros. The light is activated by dropping coins through a slot. Soon, someone rattles a couple of coins out of their pocket to illuminate the chapel again. When the light goes out a second time, then a third, it's time to leave the hushed silence. It seems like my time to kick in, but I only have bills on hand. So I head back out to the crush of the square out front, eager to search out more of the city's hidden corners. Tim Johnson received accommodation from Hotel Hassler Roma and a guided tour from Access Italy; neither reviewed nor approved this article.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democrats support bills guaranteeing cash for low-income
(NewsNation) — A group of Democratic lawmakers from 17 states is hoping to garner support for legislation that would provide recurring cash payments to low-income residents as a way of alleviating poverty in the United States. The group of 20 Democrats launched 'Legislators for a Guaranteed Income' this week. The newly formed group will partner with a network of 245 mayors and local officials who have attempted to introduce similar pilot programs around the country, according to a news release issued by the group. The organization said that there are 25 proposed bills across 11 states that are seeking to establish some sort of guaranteed payments to low-income residents. Proposed legislation has been introduced in California, Illinois, Tennessee and North Carolina. Where do the DOGE stimulus checks stand? The California bill, introduced by State Sen. Dave Cortese, would provide recurring guaranteed cash payments to homeless teens as they transition into adulthood. The Tennessee bill, which is sponsored by State Rep. Justin Pearson, would offer eligible residents $3,000 per year. Under the California bill, eligible teens would receive four monthly $1,000 payments as part of a program that would cost $40 million to $50 million, reported. Despite the cost, Democrats see value in the investment. Cortese said he believes homeless teens deserve more than a chance to survive, but instead 'a real chance to thrive,' Cortese said in a statement issued by the organization. Other Democrats agreed that those in need would benefit from legislation aimed at cutting down on poverty. 'We need leaders of moral courage who see the world as it is and are ready to fight for a vision of what it can be,' Pearson, the Tennessee Democrat, said in a released statement. 'The call for guaranteed income that Dr. (Martin Luther) King put out is being answered today by hundreds of cities and counties across the nation, and I'm proud to expand the movement by joining Legislators for a Guaranteed Income.' How Karen Read's past media interviews could hurt her at trial The mayor's group claims that more Americans are struggling to make ends meet as the cost of living continues to rise. Many of those work multiple jobs, the organization said, and yet more than one in three Americans are considered to be part of the working poor. In addition, 63% of working Americans do not have enough money saved to cover a $500 emergency if needed. The push for guaranteed income arose after a 2019 experiment in Northern California, where 125 residents received $500 per month for two months. Researchers found that participants saw their financial stability increase after being assisted through the pilot program, reported. 'The work-around guaranteed income is moving from cities and counties to states,' Michael Tubbs, the former mayor of Stockton, Calif., where the experiment took place, told the online news organization. 'We're going to be organizing state officials across the country who see what we all see: that affordability is an issue, that the Trump tariffs and gross mismanagement of the economy has made the problem even worse.' Yet, as Democrats push to gain support for more legislation to assist low-income residents, Republicans argue that those types of legislation encourage those people not to work. 'If you get people addicted to just getting a check from the government, it's going to be really hard to take that away,' former South Dakota Republican State Sen. John Wiik told Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
