National

CRANSTON, R.I. — Health care providers, union leaders and advocates from across Rhode Island got the Fourth of July spirit going early. Gathering Thursday outside the state health insurance commissioner’s office here, they “declared independence from the insurance industry,” and urged the state’s congressional delegation to support a strong national health care reform bill that includes a public option.

The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the New Haven firefighters is not a reason to keep Judge Sonia Sotomayor off the court as some on the right are pushing, but rather it shows how urgent it is that she be confirmed.

The demand for full marriage rights was a major theme at the June 28 Gay Pride Parade in New York.

More than 5,000 workers at the world’s largest pork processing plant, Smithfield Packing in Tar Heel, N.C., approved their first-ever union contract in voting that ended this morning.

The unemployment rate soared to 9.5 percent in June, a 26-year high, and up a fraction from 9.4 percent in May. The Department of Labor said 467,000 jobs were lost in June.

A national health care plan with a government run public option moved dramatically closer to reality this morning with the release of a new proposal by Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.

Costco Wholesale, the fifth largest general retailer in the United States, is sending letters to nearly 300,000 customers in the country's northwest and midwest regions, informing them that they might have bought meat that is subject to recall because of possible E. coli bacteria contamination, U.S. media reported on Tuesday.

In the early morning hours of December 12, 2006, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents swept into Swift & Co. meatpacking plants in six states, rounding up detaining thousands of workers in one of the largest immigration raids in U.S. history.

Though the House of Representatives passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act three months ago, the Senate has yet to take action on the bill.

Last week, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the Obama administration strongly supported the bill, stating, "The President and I seek swift passage of this legislation because hate crimes victimize not only individuals, but entire communities."