Latest news with #Lettieri
Asia Times
19-05-2025
- Business
- Asia Times
The statistical truth about American stagnation
A week ago I wrote a post arguing that globalization didn't hollow out the American middle class (as many people believe): After I wrote the post, John Lettieri of the Economic Innovation Group wrote a great thread that strongly supports my argument. He showed that the timing of America's wage stagnation — roughly, 1973 through 1994 — just didn't line up well with the era of globalization that began with NAFTA in 1994. In fact, American wages started growing again right after NAFTA was passed. Source: John Lettieri In fact, wage growth since NAFTA has been almost as strong as in the decades after World War 2! Now, I think this might be too simple of a story. Although there was a lot of noise and political hand-wringing over NAFTA, most Americans probably don't think it was competition from Mexico that hollowed out the US middle class — they think it was China. And while economists think NAFTA hurt some specific manufacturing industries in a few specific places, they generally conclude that it helped most Americans; it's the China Shock, after China's entry into the WTO in 2001, that many economists think was overall harmful to the working class. And if you add the China Shock to Lettieri's timeline, you see that by some measures — but not by others — there's a second, shorter era of wage stagnation that lines up with it pretty well. I've modified Lettieri's charts to show the China Shock: Source: John Lettieri, modified by Noah Smith You can see that median wages flatten out between 2003 and 2015, while average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers continue to rise. Obviously, the Great Recession is the biggest factor after 2007 (and many economists believe the China Shock only lasted through 2007). But there's a good argument that Chinese competition did hold American wages down for a few years in the 2000s. And in case you were wondering, here's the breakdown for men and women: Source: John Lettieri, modified by Noah Smith And Lettieri has more charts showing that the story looks the same for the working class as it does for the middle class. So I think the story is more nuanced than Lettieri makes it out to be. The surge in middle-class and working-class wages in the late 1990s might have come in spite of some small headwinds from NAFTA, and the China Shock might have exerted a drag on American wages during the 2000s. But the much bigger story that these charts tell is that the biggest wage stagnation in modern American history came before the era of globalization — roughly from 1973 through 1994. What was the cause of that epic stagnation? In macroeconomics, it's very hard to isolate cause and effect, since there are so many things going on at the same time. The decades between 1973 and 1994 featured two oil shocks, major inflation, two big changes in the global monetary regime, multiple major recessions, changes in trade deficits and imports, and plenty more. So much was going on that it's possible that the wage stagnation was just a series of negative shocks that lasted for a long time — 'just one damn thing after another', as the saying goes. But as a first pass, we can look at some of the theories of why that stagnation happened, and see if they match up with the timeline. Part of the stagnation in wages was due to rising inequality. If we look at average versus median hourly compensation (which includes benefits like health insurance and retirement matching contributions), we see that the average stagnated less than the median: Sources: EPI, Fred But you can still clearly see that from the early 1970s through the mid-1990s, the average value stagnated as well. This suggests that there was something systemic going on — it wasn't just the middle class getting hit. Part of that 'something' was a productivity stagnation. If you look at average hourly compensation versus average labor productivity (output per hour worked), you see a modest divergence, but the productivity slowdown from the early 1970s until the mid 1990s is clearly visible, and it exactly lines up with the stagnation in wages : Nobody knows exactly why productivity slowed down for two decades, but in my opinion, the leading candidate explanation is that the oil shock of 1973 inaugurated an era of energy scarcity that forced industrial economies to shift away from energy-intensive growth. Is it also possible that the same underlying shifts that made productivity slow down during those two decades also caused inequality to rise, and labor's share of income to fall from 63% to 61% over the exact same period? It seems plausible, because the timing lines up so perfectly. But I don't know of a good theory as to how a technological shift could cause all of these things at once. One common theory is that in the 1970s and 1980s, American industrial policy — including trade policy — stopped favoring manufacturing and started favoring the financial sector. This is, for example, the thesis of Judith Stein's 'Pivotal Decade: How the United States Traded Factories for Finance in the Seventies.' But if you look at the growth of the finance industry as a share of the US economy, it's a more or less unbroken rise from the end of WW2 through the turn of the century: Source: Greenwood & Scharfstein (2013) And if you look at financial profits, these actually fell as a share of the total in the 1970s before surging in the 1980s and again in the late 90s and early 00s: Source: James Kwak The timing here doesn't really line up. There's no clear measure of financialization that coincides specifically with the early 1970s through the mid-1990s. The explosion of finance profits in the 1980s might explain part of the wage stagnation, if it came via financiers putting pressure on companies to suppress wages. But that can't explain the wage stagnation in the 1970s, nor the re-acceleration in the late 90s and early 00s (when financial profits exploded but wages did well). A lot of research suggests that unions drive down economic inequality (though researchers disagree on exactly how big the effect is). Farber et al. (2021) write: US income inequality has varied inversely with union density over the past hundred years…We develop a new source of microdata on union membership dating back to 1936, survey data primarily from Gallup (N ≈ 980,000), to examine the long-run relationship between unions and inequality…Using distributional decompositions, time-series regressions, state-year regressions, as well as a new instrumental-variable strategy based on the 1935 legalization of unions and the World-War- II era War Labor Board, we find consistent evidence that unions reduce inequality, explaining a significant share of the dramatic fall in inequality between the mid-1930s and late 1940s. Here's a picture of that relationship: Source: Joe Nocera As we saw above, wage inequality — the divergence between average and median compensation — was responsible for part of the stagnation in middle-class wages, though not all of it. But the timing doesn't seem to fit here either. As you can see from that chart, unions have been in decline since the mid-1950s. The decline was a bit faster in the 1980s, which might slightly help explain wage stagnation in that decade. But overall, it's been pretty smooth. That doesn't match up with the 20-year wage stagnation that started in the early 70s and ended in the mid 90s. The chart of real wages for production and nonsupervisory workers shows a dramatic slowdown from around 1973-1994. But a chart of nominal wages for those same workers — i.e. the actual number of dollars they earned per hour — shows no such slowdown, except maybe a very gentle flattening in the 1980s: The difference, of course, is inflation. From around 1973 to 1983, prices increased at rapid rates: The smoothness of nominal wage growth raises the possibility that nominal wage growth is very sticky — that workers are able to negotiate about the same number of additional dollars from year to year, despite big changes in the purchasing power of a dollar. Again, the timing here doesn't line up with the era of wage stagnation. But I suppose it might explain the first half of it. Finally, we're back to trade and globalization. Certainly, Americans worried a lot about competition from European and Japanese companies, especially in the early 1980s. The Japanese and European auto and machine tool industries really did put American companies under intense competitive pressure starting in the 1970s. But it's very hard to see this effect in the aggregate statistics. Import penetration rose in the 1970s, but flatlined in the 1980s and early 1990s: Source: World Bank As for the trade deficit, that was zero in the 1970s and then had a brief but temporary surge in the 1980s: Recall that the current account deficit is almost exactly the same as the trade deficit. Some people I talk to seem to think that wage stagnation began as a result of the abolition of the Bretton Woods currency system in 1971-73. But that change, which ended the US dollar's role as the world's official reserve currency, caused the US dollar to depreciate, which made US exports more competitive and actually discouraged imports. The dollar then surged again in the early 80s and collapsed in the late 80s after the Plaza Accord (an agreement to weaken the dollar): Source: Bloomberg And the Japanese yen strengthened more or less steadily against the dollar during the entire period of wage stagnation. So trade with Europe and Japan just doesn't line up with the wage stagnation in terms of timing, either. If you think overall import penetration is the key measure of globalization, then maybe trade had an effect in the 1970s; if you think trade deficits are a better measure, then maybe trade had an effect in the 1990s. But then the trade deficit and imports both surged in the late 1990s, which is when the wage stagnation ended. In any case, we're left with a bit of a mystery. The only macro trend that lines up very neatly with the great wage stagnation of 1973-1994 is the productivity slowdown, but there's no good theory explaining how that could explain all of the wage stagnation, since productivity rose more than wages. Meanwhile, de-unionization, financialization, inflation, and trade with Europe and Japan can at best explain only some sub-periods of the wage stagnation — not the whole thing. In fact, the great wage stagnation might have been from a patchwork of causes — first inflation and a surge of imports in the 70s, then accelerated de-unionization and financialization and the collapse of exports in the 1980s, with the productivity stagnation playing a corrosive role the whole time. But we should always be suspicious of complex, multi-factorial explanations for trend breaks on a chart. That wage stagnation started and ended suddenly enough that it cries out for a simple story. We just don't have one yet. Update: Some people have been asking me if the wage stagnation of 1973-1994 might have been caused by the mass entry of women into the US workforce. Here's the employment rate (also called the 'employment-population ratio') for American women: You can see that the first part of the timing doesn't line up here. When the wage stagnation began, American women had already been entering the workforce at a steady clip for 25 years. (The labor force participation rate for women looks much the same). Also, empirical evidence suggests at most a small effect of female labor supply on male wages — and if you look at the breakdown for men and women, you see that the stagnation for men was worse than for women over 1973-1994. And theoretically speaking, women's mass entry into the workforce shouldn't produce an overall decline in wages. Just like immigration or a baby boom, women's entry into the workforce is both a positive labor supply shock and also a positive labor demand shock at the same time — when women earn more, they spend most of what they earn, on things that require labor to produce.1 So we shouldn't expect the addition of women to the workforce to hold down wages. Thus, this theory also doesn't line up with the timing of the stagnation, and it's not clear why we would expect it to be a major factor in the first place. This article was first published on Noah Smith's Noahpinion Substack and is republished with kind permission. Become a Noahopinion subscriber here.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The Biggest Bacon Product Recalls In The US
Bacon is a big deal in the U.S. In fact, in 2020, research suggests that more than 268 million Americans consumed bacon in some format. The cut of processed meat is popular for a few reasons — it's a little sweet, pretty salty, and it's pleasantly crispy, too. It's also incredibly versatile. It can be fried or baked, served with eggs or grilled cheese, wrapped around chicken or scallops, or slapped in a cheeseburger. But like many foods, bacon has some drawbacks. For one, it's processed meat, which means it comes with some serious health risks. According to the World Health Organization, it's a Group 1 carcinogen, which means it is known to cause cancer. On top of this, bacon products have also been caught up in a few major recalls over the years. Sometimes, bacon products are pulled from the market because they contain undeclared allergens, for example. Other items, it's because they contain metal, plastic, or even small rocks. On rare occasions, it's due to a risk of deadly foodborne bacteria making its way into the food supply. But don't worry. If you're concerned about the safety of your bacon products, the Food Safety and Investigation Service (FSIS) is often quick to recall products from the market if they pose a risk. Intrigued? Find out more about some of the biggest bacon product recalls of the last few decades below. Read more: Beef Jerky Brands Ranked From Worst To Best Breakfast sandwiches are a go-to for many Americans. In fact, research suggests that when it comes to the first meal of the day, around 45% of people in the U.S. say that a breakfast sandwich, usually loaded with ingredients like eggs, bacon, and sausages, is one of their favorites. But sometimes, unfortunately, things go wrong with prepackaged breakfast sandwiches. At the beginning of April 2025, Utah-based manufacturer Hearthside Food Solutions had to issue a recall for more than 489,000 pounds of breakfast sandwiches because they contained undeclared sesame, a common allergen. Two types of prepared sandwiches were implicated in the recall, and both were sold under the Lettieri's brand. They were: Lettieri's Food to Go Bacon, Egg and Cheese French Toast Breakfast Sandwich, and Lettieri's Food to Go Sausage, Egg and Cheese French Toast Breakfast Sandwich. The issue was linked to the French toast used in the bacon and sausage sandwiches, which contained sesame flour, but this was not listed in the ingredients. At the time of the recall, the sandwiches had already been sent to Army and Air Force Exchange Services across the U.S. Luckily, despite the fact that sesame is in the top nine most common allergens in the U.S., no reactions were reported as a result of the labeling error. Sesame isn't the only allergen that can sneak its way into bacon products. In 2023, Custom Made Meals, a manufacturer based in Colorado, had to recall more than 1,300 pounds of bacon-wrapped chicken breasts because they contained undeclared milk. This means they were a health risk to anyone in the U.S. with an allergy to cow's milk. Research suggests that almost 2% of American children suffer from a milk allergy. In this instance, the problem was due to a labeling mix-up. The products, which were Bacon-Wrapped BBQ Seasoned Chicken Grillers, had been packaged with the wrong labels. This meant that the ingredients list on the back of the product was incorrect. Luckily, nobody reported any allergic reactions as a result of eating the bacon-wrapped chicken, even though it had already been sent to retailers in Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, and Missouri. Bacon bits are often used in everything from creamy pasta dishes to hearty soups, but one thing you definitely don't want to discover in your bacon dinner is a piece of metal. Unfortunately, that's what happened to one person after they purchased a bacon topping produced by the meat giant Smithfield. After they sent a complaint to the company, Smithfield was forced to recall more than 185,600 pounds of bacon topping (which had already been sent to retailers nationwide). The affected products included Golden Crisp Patrick Cudahy Precooked Bacon Topping, Smithfield Precooked Bacon Topping, and Member's Mark Fully Cooked Bacon Crumbles. Luckily, nobody was injured by any metal pieces, which may have found their way into the product via broken machinery in the factory where it was produced. If a person accidentally bites down on a piece of metal, they could end up with oral or teeth injuries. If they swallow it, they could even end up with internal cuts. In an abundance of caution, the FSIS urged anyone who had already bought any of the bacon products listed in the recall not to consume them. Instead, they were encouraged to throw them away or return them to the store for a refund. Another thing you don't want in your favorite bacon product? Small rocks. But unfortunately, in 2019, three El Monterey customers were not spared from this reality. The consumers had purchased the brand's Egg, Potato, Bacon and Cheese Sauce Breakfast Wraps, but were surprised to discover small rocks inside. One person even reported a potential injury as a result of consuming the breakfast wraps. As a result, the manufacturer of the wraps, Ruiz Foods, recalled more than 246,000 pounds of the product from shelves across the U.S. It was unknown exactly how the small rocks found their way into the breakfast wraps, but it could have been due to contamination in the factory where they were produced. Once again, like metal, eating a small rock by accident can cause serious harm. It's a choking hazard, for one, and it could also cause dental, mouth, or internal injuries. Fortunately, there were no further reports of any injuries associated with the El Monterey wraps. Scallops are a popular seafood in the U.S. They can be prepared in many ways, from Alfredo pasta to frutti de mare, but they are also frequently enjoyed wrapped in bacon. However, in 2017, consumers were put at risk from this favorite seafood dish, when New York brand Les Châteaux De France sent more than 4,200 pounds of bacon-wrapped scallops to institutional locations in five states (New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, and Pennsylvania) that contained undeclared milk. As mentioned earlier, this was a major risk, because milk is one of the top nine allergens in the U.S. The problem was discovered during an FSIS food safety assessment, and it was this that prompted the recall. Fortunately, there were no confirmed allergic reactions to the bacon-wrapped scallops. However, anyone who was concerned was urged to not consume the product. Nobody wants a foreign object in their food, but unfortunately, it does happen. Metal and small rocks are two examples of common unwanted materials in the food supply, but neither are as common as plastic fragments. In fact, plastic pieces are the most common foreign object that people find in their food. The material, which, again, often finds its way into products during the manufacturing process, was the cause of a 2016 McCain Foods recall. The brand was forced to pull more than 25,200 pounds of its McCain Early Risers Potato, Egg, Cheese, and Bacon Fritters. The products that are made for schools were recalled from food service distributors in 12 states after receiving a complaint from a consumer who had discovered a piece of plastic inside one of the fritters. Accidentally consuming plastic fragments comes with many risks, including choking and cuts. Luckily, nobody reported any injuries as a result of consuming the fritters. Turkey bacon is often considered to be the healthier alternative to pork bacon, but it still comes with its own set of risks. It's still made with potentially harmful preservatives, for example, and it contains sodium and cholesterol. It's also not immune from a recall. In 2015, for example, food giant Kraft Heinz had to recall more than 2 million pounds of turkey bacon sold under the Oscar Mayer brand due to fears the products could spoil before the best before date. At the time of the recall, the products, which included uncured and cured bacon products from Oscar Mayer, had already been sent not just across the U.S., but also to retailers in the Bahamas and St. Martin. The issue was discovered by consumers, who realized the turkey bacon was spoiled before its best before date. Eating spoiled meat comes with a higher risk of foodborne illness, and unfortunately, in this instance, some people did get sick from eating the recalled product. As well as sesame and milk, soy is another top allergen in the U.S. Soy allergies are more common in children, but they do affect adults, too. In rare cases, products with soy could lead to life-threatening anaphylaxis if consumed by someone with an allergy. This is why, in 2015, Ohio company L&L Foods had to recall more than 30,600 pounds of bacon bits from manufacturers in Ohio and North Carolina. The products had been contaminated with soy lecithin, which is a food additive made from soy, during production. However, the allergen was not declared on the packaging. The uncured bacon bits were supposed to be used in salad kit products, but fortunately, the packaging error was discovered during an FSIS inspection of the L&L Foods product labels. There were no reports of any allergic reactions associated with the bacon bits. Not all packaging errors are associated with allergens. In 2014, Chicago-based company DaBecca Natural Foods had to recall more than 3,400 pounds of its Sliced Uncured Apple Smoked Bacon from institutional distributors in California and Texas. This was because the products were shipped out in packaging that did not have the USDA mark of inspection on the label. The USDA mark of inspection is important — its purpose is to assure consumers that the meat product they are consuming has been thoroughly inspected and is safe to eat. For that reason, it should always be easy to find on product packaging. If a meat product is not appropriately inspected, there is no guarantee that it was produced in a safe, hygienic facility. The packaging error was discovered during an FSIS inspection of the DaBecca Natural Foods facility. There were no reports of any health issues associated with the misbranded products. Sodium nitrite is a common food preservative, often found in meat products. It's used to help the food last longer, and reduce the growth of bacteria, like Clostridium botulinum, for example (which is the cause of botulism, a serious foodborne illness). On top of this, in bacon, it can also help to enhance taste and color. It's not without risks — sodium nitrite is also associated with an increased risk of cancer and heart disease. It's vital that foods with sodium nitrite are labeled accurately, so consumers can make informed decisions. In 2014, Abe's Finest Meats was forced to recall more than 80,000 pounds of hickory smoked sliced bacon, sold under the Cedar Creek brand name, because sodium nitrite was not listed on the packaging. At the time of the recall, the sliced bacon products had already been sent to distributors in two states: Florida and Georgia. There were no consumer health complaints associated with the recall. In 2014, Michigan company Dearborn Sausage also had to issue a recall after a routine assessment conducted by the FSIS. As with L&L Foods, a packaging error meant that one of its products, Randy's Slab Bacon, had been sold with the wrong labeling. This meant that soy, an allergen, was not declared on the product, and resulted in a recall of more than 3,600 pounds of product. Fortunately, the issue was only related to one retailer, which was selling the same product from Dearborn Sausage as both slab bacon and sliced bacon. The sliced bacon version had the wrong label, and did not appropriately list hydrolyzed soy protein, which is a common food additive derived from soybeans. There were no reports of ill effects or allergic reactions associated with the mislabeled bacon, but anyone who was concerned about experiencing any health-related problems was urged to contact their healthcare provider. The FSIS is in place to keep the food system as safe as possible. Every facility that processes animal products, including bacon, needs to be inspected to ensure that regulations are followed properly, and food products are produced in hygienic, clean environments. However, sometimes, brands slip through the net. This is what happened in 2014, when New York company Transatlantic Foods shipped more than 220,000 pounds of meat products, including uncured bacon, to retailers across the country without the appropriate inspections taking place. After receiving an anonymous tip, the FSIS discovered that Transatlantic Foods was manufacturing products in a facility that did not have an official Grant of Inspection. This means that consumers were at risk of potentially eating meat produced in an unsafe environment. Fortunately, a recall was issued, and there were no reports of illness associated with the uninspected products. There are three things you want in a bacon cheeseburger: bacon, beef, and cheese. One thing you certainly don't want? A piece of gasket. Unfortunately for one consumer, this is what they found when they opened up a pack of Sam's Choice Fireside Gourmet Angus Beef Patties with Bacon and Aged Cheddar. The products had been produced by Kenosha Beef International, a Wisconsin-based company, and the gasket piece likely broke off during manufacturing and embedded itself in the product. Fortunately, the consumer did not experience any injuries as a result of the contamination, and there were no reports of anyone else finding any foreign objects in the products. However, to be on the safe side, a recall was issued for more than 37,600 pounds of bacon cheeseburgers, which had already been shipped to Indiana, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. Regular inspections are carried out by the FSIS to stop foodborne bacteria from contaminating the food supply and causing dangerous outbreaks of foodborne diseases. However, sometimes, they still get through. In 2011, routine testing at a Canadian facility, operated by a company called Ailments Prince, discovered listeria, a harmful foodborne bacteria. Unfortunately, bacon products produced at this facility, including Napoli Cooked Bacon Topping and Stefano Brand Cooked Diced Bacon, had already been shipped to distribution centers in the U.S. The affected products were supposed to be sent on to foodservice locations, but the discovery resulted in a recall of more than 380,000 pounds of bacon products. Fortunately, while listeria bacteria can lead to an illness called listeriosis (which can be life-threatening for vulnerable individuals, particularly the elderly and the very young), there were no reports of health problems associated with the recalled products. Read the original article on Mashed.
New York Times
15-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Bruins' Vinni Lettieri, Wild's Justin Brazeau and the NHL's year-end game of musical chairs
BRIGHTON, Mass. — The Boston Bruins conclude the regular season on Tuesday against the New Jersey Devils. Vinni Lettieri will then report to Providence. The veteran is hoping for a long run in the AHL playoffs. Part of that is because his house outside Minneapolis is occupied. Maybe until the middle of June. Advertisement 'My place is his place,' Lettieri said of ex-Bruin Justin Brazeau, 'until the season is over.' Lettieri belongs to the cluster of players from 16 NHL teams whose seasons are ending. Some, like the 30-year-old forward, will continue playing in the AHL. Others will participate in the World Championships, which begin in May. But most will return to their offseason homes. There are some exceptions: landlords whose tenants are advancing to the playoffs. Hockey players regularly rent their homes to their counterparts. For the most part, their unique schedules align, and players who are traded for each other often find common housing ground. Charlie Coyle, dealt for Casey Mittelstadt, is renting the former Colorado Avalanche forward's property outside Denver. But this is the time of year when arrivals and departures can overlap. Last season, Kevin Hayes and the St. Louis Blues did not qualify for the playoffs. Hayes returned to Boston. Jeremy Swayman, who had been renting Hayes' place, had to move out and find a new spot while preparing for the postseason. 'It's nice because we all kind of have similar schedules,' Swayman said. 'But if one guy makes the playoffs and the other guy doesn't, then it's kind of weird.' For Lettieri, the process started in February of 2024, when he and his wife, Cassandra, purchased their Minnesota home. The native of Excelsior, Minn., was in the first season of his two-year contract with the Wild. Four months later, things took a turn. On June 29, the Wild traded Lettieri to the Bruins. Jakub Lauko, the player the Wild acquired for Lettieri, was at his offseason home in Czechia when Bruins general manager Don Sweeney called with the news. Wild counterpart Bill Guerin was next in line to welcome Lauko to his new team. Lettieri was Lauko's third call of the day. Advertisement The two knew each other well. In 2022-23, Lettieri appeared in 48 games for Providence. Lauko split the year between Providence (35 games) and Boston (23). So when Lettieri got news of the deal, he called his friend and former Providence teammate right away. 'Just a big laugh,' Lauko recalled of the conversation with a smile. 'Like, 'What the f—?'' After some intercontinental head shakes, Lettieri invited Lauko to live in his house once the season began. Lettieri sent his prospective renter multiple pictures and videos. Lauko considered the offer. It would be about a 30-minute drive to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. It would eliminate the hassle of house hunting. Lauko accepted. 'You don't have to worry about the furniture,' said Lauko, whose two-year contract is expiring. 'Which is probably the most pain in the butt for guys who are going on year-to-year contracts or two-year contracts. Honestly, how many guys are here on an eight-year contract in the league that can settle down, buy a house? The guys that are on one-year, two-year contracts, it's hard to move with furniture and stuff. So the best-case scenario is to be in a place that's already furnished. Or guys with places around the league. So those guys who are playing at the same time, they leave, we get in. We leave, they get in.' Before training camp, Lettieri and his wife settled into their rented place in Providence, where he would likely spend most of 2024-25. Lauko moved into the Lettieris' home. Things took another turn on March 6. Lauko was in Vancouver with the Wild when Guerin told him he was going back to Boston. The trade caught Lauko by surprise. That night, Lauko took a car service from Vancouver to Seattle. The next morning, he flew to Tampa to join the Bruins. On March 8, Lauko played 12:24 in the Bruins' 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. He returned to Boston that night on the team charter. After what he recalled was approximately 90 minutes of sleep, Lauko flew to Minnesota early the next morning to retrieve his things. Advertisement 'I had, like, two shirts with me. Two pairs of underwear,' Lauko said. 'Nothing with me.' It was a whirlwind day. Lauko's sister, who had arrived the day before from Seattle, returned the rental he had been driving. His car had been in the shop. Lauko packed some of his stuff before returning to Boston that night, jammed in a middle seat because he had purchased a last-minute flight. The Netflix shows he had downloaded earlier had expired. At the same time, Brazeau, who joined the Wild in Vancouver, needed a place to live when the team returned to Minnesota. The Lettieris' home was his natural landing spot. So Brazeau moved in and shoved what Lauko left behind into the Lettieris' guest room. As for Lettieri and his wife, if the Wild are still playing when Providence's postseason ends, they will live with his grandparents, who are nearby in Minnesota. 'It's important for them to feel comfortable and not have to worry about moving or anything,' Lettieri said of Brazeau and his girlfriend. 'We're lucky enough to have all my family there so we can stay with them. It's no problem for us. We'd be happy for him if they made that kind of a run.' Meanwhile, Lauko will return to Minnesota at some point this offseason to move the rest of his things out of Lettieri's house. Because he will be a restricted free agent, it's no guarantee he will remain a Bruin in the fall. So he is thinking about keeping his stuff in a storage unit in Minnesota until he receives contractual clarity. Lauko was informed that Lettieri jokingly worried about the condition in which his former renter left his house. 'He's full of s—,' Lauko cracked back. 'I overpaid for his f—ing place.' (Top photos of Justin Brazeau and Vinni Lettieri: Bob Frid and Winslow Townson / Imagn Images)
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Yahoo
CT police department mourning sergeant who died after battle with cancer
A police sergeant in Torrington died over the weekend following a battle with cancer. Sgt. Nicholas Lettieri died Saturday evening at Hartford Hospital after a battle with pancreatic cancer, according to William Baldwin Jr., chief of the Torrington Police Department. In a post on the department's Facebook page, Baldwin said it was with 'extreme sadness and deep regret' that he announced Lettieri's death. He was 34 years old and an 11-year veteran of the department. Lettieri leaves behind his wife, Meghan, and his 2-year-old son, Finn, according to Baldwin. He was surrounded at the hospital with family, loved ones, friends and members of police department and law enforcement family, Baldwin said. Funeral arrangements have not yet been made. 'Please keep the Lettieri family and Torrington (police) officers in your thoughts and prayers,' Baldwin said. 'Our condolences go out to the entire Lettieri family during this extremely difficult time.'
Boston Globe
13-03-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Here's why Bruins winger Vinni Lettieri calls an emergency stint with his high school football team ‘a great experience'
Nelson coached the Minnetonka High football team, and he needed a kicker. 'Yeah, that was pretty funny,' said Lettieri, whose father, Tino, was a world-class soccer goalkeeper. He encouraged Vinni to give it a try. Well, maybe encouraged is not strong enough. 'My dad was like, 'You pick up the phone, you call him back, and you're playing,' ' Lettieri said with a chuckle, following Thursday's morning skate prior to the Bruins' game against the Senators at Canadian Tire Centre. He was reluctant at first but now wouldn't trade that season with the Skippers for anything. Advertisement 'It's the best thing that I've ever done just from the standpoint that sometimes you don't want to do something, but then when you look back on it, it's just such a great experience,' he said. 'And the Minnetonka football team and the coaching staff were so good to me, and it was just a good little stint to have with them.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Minnetonka nearly rode Lettieri's foot to the 2011 states. In the sectionals, the Skippers led, 3-0, until late in the fourth quarter thanks to Lettieri's 32-yard field goal right before the half. 'It looked like 60 [yards] ... I was so nervous. And I was freezing,' said Lettieri. 'They threw me out there. I actually counted the yards [from center] wrong before I lined up. But I made the kick, and I sprinted off the field like, 'What is going on right now?' I was like, 'If I'm bringing this team to states on that field goal, that would be absolute comedy.' ' Alas, Eden Prairie scored at the buzzer to take a 6-3 win, before moving on to states and then capturing the Class 5A title. 'But it was so fun,' said Lettieri. 'It was such a good experience. The guys on the team were so great. I'm happy I did it.' With futbol and football in the rearview, Lettieri focused on hockey, a journey that took him from Minnetonka to the USHL, to the University of Minnesota, to the professional ranks. Since 2016, he has split his time between the AHL and NHL. Advertisement All along that journey, Lettieri was guided by Tino — who immigrated from Italy to Montreal and represented Canada in the 1976 and 1984 Olympics, as well as 1986 World Cup — and his grandfather, NHL legend Lou Nanne. 'My grandpa is the backbone of our family and he's been in hockey since Day 1 and he still is in hockey doing the broadcasting for Wild games,' said Lettieri of Nanne, who played both defense and right wing during an 11-year run with the North Stars before moving on a front office career and then broadcasting. 'He's given me so much advice and wisdom along the years. And he doesn't miss one of my games, not one of my shifts. If he has to, he re-watches games that he misses if he's flying during that time. But he's phenomenal.' Lettieri also credited Tino for his guidance. 'Between those two and the rest of my family, I'm very lucky and I'm very fortunate for what they bring and the support that they have for me,' he said. In his second stint with the Bruins this season, Lettieri is playing right wing on the second line with fellow Minnesotans Casey Mittlestadt (who, coincidentally, played at Eden Prairie High) in the middle and Cole Koepke (Two Harbors/Hermantown High) on the left side. Lettieri's energy is unmistakable. He is always a man in motion. 'Vinni's a good player. He's a guy that we can use in different situations. Right now, he's playing on our second power-play unit. He's playing with Mittsi. He can score. He has the ability to put the puck in the back of the net because he's got a really good shot,' said Bruins coach Joe Sacco. 'And then attention to detail away from the puck is just something that we continue to talk about with all our guys and with Vinni, too. When he's dialed in and his details are good away from the puck, he's an effective player for us.' Advertisement Jim McBride can be reached at
