Free Republic

A college professor has argued that black workers should get paid time off when someone in the black community is tragically killed, even if they have no direct connection to them. Dr Angel Jones, who teaches at Southern Illinois University, argued that black teachers ought to be eligible for 'black bereavement leave' because the grief process for the community in the wake of public tragedy can be tough. The professor said she recently burst into tears when she had to email her students in the wake of Tyre Nichols' death - who was beaten to death in Memphis, allegedly at...

Pro-choice activists are celebrating an amendment to Portland’s bereavement leave policy that has made it the first local government in the United States to give paid time off to public employees after an abortion. One pro-life group is calling it an unwitting acknowledgment of the loss of life. The new policy allows public employees to take up to three days of bereavement leave for an abortion or a miscarriage, stillbirth or any other type of pregnancy loss, “irrespective of whether deemed medically necessary,” Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. The city council approved the changes unanimously. Laura Narefsky, an attorney on the...

Bill Would Grant New Yorkers 3 Months Paid Bereavement Leave To Mourn Loss Of Loved Ones August 2, 2018 at 7:59 pm NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Lawmakers want every worker in New York to get three months paid bereavement leave to mourn the loss of a loved one. But many business owners say it could be crippling. Will Gov. Andrew Cuomo sign it into law? The bill is sponsored by Sen. Richard Funke, of upstate Batavia, whose son died. “I’ve experienced the pain of losing a child. The grief can be unpredictable and overwhelming,” he said in a statement. “No...

State lawmakers proved it again last month: Watch them closely or they’ll get you good. That’s what they did when they passed a new bereavement-leave bill at the 11th hour as the legislative session ended. The bill would force employers to offer workers 10 — yes, 10 — weeks of time off with pay whenever a family member dies. That may sound nice, but the cost would be paid by the worker himself, via a 0.126 percent payroll deduction. Via a new tax, that is.

Sad, sad day. Cleo, our ancient German short-haired pointer, is barely able to walk. When she does walk, she tends to fall down in her own mess. For this majestically beautiful girl, it must be deeply upsetting. She cannot go up or down the steps in Beverly Hills, and she is extremely hard to carry.

We are born to die. Not that death is the purpose of our being born, but we are born toward death, and in each of our lives the work of dying is already underway. The work of dying well is, in largest part, the work of living well. Most of us are at ease in discussing what makes for a good life, but we typically become tongue-tied and nervous when the discussion turns to a good death. As children of a culture radically, even religiously, devoted to youth and health, many find it incomprehensible, indeed offensive, that the word "good"...

HEMET, Calif. (KABC) -- He gave his life serving this country in the war zone of Afghanistan. But a local bank has refused to cash the government check to pay for his burial. Now his family is fighting back. Navy Corpsman Marc Retmier was the 500th Californian to die in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He had dreams of coming home to Hemet to become a doctor. Click in the Eyewitness News Story Window above to watch the accompanying video to this story. But now his family says a controversy involving a bank and his bereavement check is adding...

EDMONTON (CP) - The first warning is a phone call. It is never good. It alerts an unlucky spouse, partner or parent that within the next few minutes they can expect a visit from a team of sombre military officers. Even before the dreaded knock on the door, the family knows something bad has happened. Practice makes perfect in tragedy as in everything else, and military officials acknowledge that 18 months of fighting in southern Afghanistan has made them much better at delivering word of death or injury - and supporting those affected by it. "Unfortunately, we've gotten very good...

To expiate the pain of losing her firstborn son in the Iraq war, Cindy Sheehan decided to cheer herself up by engaging in Stalinist agitprop outside President Bush's Crawford ranch. It's the strangest method of grieving I've seen since Paul Wellstone's funeral. Someone needs to teach these liberals how to mourn. Call me old-fashioned, but a grief-stricken war mother shouldn't have her own full-time PR flack. After your third profile on "Entertainment Tonight," you're no longer a grieving mom; you're a C-list celebrity trolling for a book deal or a reality show. We're sorry about Ms. Sheehan's son, but the...

Children Who Lost Parents in Deadly Nightclub Fire Coping With Loss, Change By Brooke Donald/ Associated Press Writer Feb 19, 2005 PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Nathan Mattera's summers now include bereavement camp, and his after-school activities have been pared to counseling and playing near home. He stays close to his grandmother, now his legal guardian, and occasionally sleeps at the foot of her bed. The 11-year-old boy's life was uprooted when fire ripped through the Station nightclub, leaving him one of nearly 70 children who lost a parent in the blaze. Two years after the fire that killed 100, some...