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Nursing homes across the country are in trouble.
Many are facing closures due to staff shortages and higher operating costs from inflation and the pandemic.
These closures have been growing over the last few years.
But like everything else, the pandemic and the staffing shortages this past year are taking things down an uncertain path.
A recent survey by the American Health Care Association is highlighting these issues. It found more than half of nursing homes in the U.S. are operating at a financial loss. Many more are struggling to find staff.
And more than 400 nursing homes are projected to close this year across the country.
Leading Age Texas, a nonprofit advocating for senior care communities across the state, said the same issues are reflected in Texas.
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The latest news from around North Texas.
President and CEO George Linial said according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 12% of the long-term care workforce disappeared during the pandemic in Texas, which is worse than the national average.
"Without enough staff, places have had to close wings to reduce admissions, and that has an effect on the total healthcare system because hospitals usually discharged to nursing homes for rehab. And some of them have been unable to find spots for people. So they stay in the hospital and that just adds to the cost,” said Linial.
There's been dozens of nursing home closures across the state in the last two years including a few in North Texas. And there's a concern for more as the staffing crisis continues.
Right now, there's a push to increase state funding for nursing homes.
Groups are also lobbying for a tuition reimbursement program for those that follow a career in long-term care.
"We've actually run this bill twice. In the last two sessions, it never quite made it. But we continue to advocate for it. And hopefully, it will gain some traction this upcoming legislative session,” said Linial.
Local senior care facilities tell me retaining people is key.
“There have been about 20 nursing homes that have closed in the last year. And several more are sort of on the brink just because they can't afford the staff pay increases,” said Linial. “About two-thirds of nursing homes have residents that are on Medicaid. So they rely on state funding and those state rates have not increased in a long time. So it has really put a real strain on the system, in terms of how do you figure out how to keep staff.”
Dallas-based Manchester Care Homes and Cambridge Caregivers are doing everything they can just to do that.
“We have a philosophy: pay attention to the employees that pay attention to you,” said Brian Levy, director of marketing and business development.
Their own CEO recently started paying money out of his own pocket to help cover gas for every employee.
"We just moved our gas stipend from $25 per child per paycheck to $30 per paycheck. For everyone, anybody full time whether you're the admin or you're a caregiver or a house manager,” Levy said.
Industry leaders say it's important for families to be aware of what's going on and to ask lots of questions if they have a loved one currently staying in or going into senior care. | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/staffing-shortages-pave-uncertain-future-for-nursing-homes/2999516/ | 2022-06-24T14:33:58 | 1 | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/staffing-shortages-pave-uncertain-future-for-nursing-homes/2999516/ |
Broadway between Jefferson Boulevard and Taylor Street will be closed Monday, according to the Fort Wayne Traffic Engineering Department.
A sewer crew will be working in the area and should finish July 1.
For more information, call 311 or visit www.trecthefort.org. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/broadway-closure/article_b3be18d0-f3b8-11ec-91ea-ffe45be72fb0.html | 2022-06-24T14:35:38 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/broadway-closure/article_b3be18d0-f3b8-11ec-91ea-ffe45be72fb0.html |
Illinois Road at the Getz Road intersection will have lane restrictions Monday, according to the Fort Wayne Traffic Engineering Department.
An engineering crew will be working in the area and should finish Sept. 30.
For more information, call 260-427-1172 or visit www.trecthefort.org. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/illinois-road-lane-restrictions/article_72b87b9c-f3b7-11ec-8f8e-7b5d9e979ce1.html | 2022-06-24T14:35:44 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/illinois-road-lane-restrictions/article_72b87b9c-f3b7-11ec-8f8e-7b5d9e979ce1.html |
Every morning, NBC 5 Today is dedicated to delivering you positive local stories of people doing good, giving back and making a real change in our community. | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/something-good/dallas-public-library-event-provides-freefamily-fun-and-household-goods/2999551/ | 2022-06-24T14:47:01 | 1 | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/something-good/dallas-public-library-event-provides-freefamily-fun-and-household-goods/2999551/ |
CROWN POINT — The Foamation Project will release a special craft beer this weekend to raise money and awareness for suicide prevention.
The experimental craft brewery operates out of Crown Brewing at 211 S. East St. in downtown Crown Point. It's run by brewer and owner Thom Klekot and PR and sales manager Rachel Klekot.
They put out special releases of craft beer, including the Mind Your Colonel Copper Lager and Coffee Lager that come out this weekend on tap and in four-packs of 12-ounce cans. The fundraiser will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. It also includes a bake sale and T-shirt sales with proceeds going to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
The Mind Your Colonel Copper Lager has an ABV of 5.4%. Klekot compared the taste to "toasted bread with a balanced semi-sweet caramel nose with a touch of lemon from the dry hop," describing it as having a "medium body with the right amount of bitterness for supreme drinkability."
It's the second year The Foamation Project released the Mind Your Colonel Lager but the first it has come out with the Mind Your Colonel Coffee Copper Lager.
"Talk about a crisp breakfast beer, we teamed up with fellow nerds over at Smugglers Coffee for seriously the perfect blend in this beer. We use their +1 for Charisma single-origin Mexican light roast coffee," Klekot said. "This is our second annual fundraiser in the name of our dear friend Gary 'The Colonel' DeYoung who lost his fight to cancer. As he did in life, we are using his spirit to help others."
The fundraising event also honors another friend they lost.
"The loss of The Colonel unfortunately overlapped with the devastating loss of another — Ian Krajewski, who lost his battle with depression. We are honoring him in reminding all that you're not alone," Klekot said. "Suicide is an epidemic. Undoubtedly we've all been touched and affected by the loss of someone struggling in silence. We want to assist in the effort of ending that silence. Mental health is not a scary phrase and there should be no barriers in asking for help."
The local chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention will be on hand with educational materials and a sympathetic ear.
"We've teamed with Big Mike's Crew, a local nonprofit that raises funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention due to the ripple effect of their own personal loss," Klekot said. "They will be with us on Saturday providing information and answering any questions anyone may have."
The craft brewery has other projects in the works.
"The Foamation Project has been getting a great response and has gathered a following after branching out to being consistently on tap and available around the region," Klekot said. "We are currently buttoning up some details on running a weekly event with Crown Brewing, which will be unique for the Region. We'll give you details on that when we get the green light."
It's also looking for a brick-and-mortar location.
"We're also on the hunt for a small production space of our own," he said. "We have just started this endeavor so there is not much to say as of right now. It will be production-based to start, no taproom or bottle shop."
Joseph S. Pete is a Lisagor Award-winning business reporter who covers steel, industry, unions, the ports, retail, banking and more. The Indiana University grad has been with The Times since 2013 and blogs about craft beer, culture and the military.
"Centennial Park has become a regional, destination type of park. The fees were set at a price point to be attractive for visitors but to also capture funds to help offset their impact on the park."
"It's gratifying to be able to help a military family, especially at a time when people in this country say 'thank you for your service' as lip service." | https://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/the-foamation-project-to-release-a-special-craft-beer-for-suicide-prevention/article_dbd13cca-f2a7-5c29-b1e0-42e5c4db251e.html | 2022-06-24T14:49:58 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/the-foamation-project-to-release-a-special-craft-beer-for-suicide-prevention/article_dbd13cca-f2a7-5c29-b1e0-42e5c4db251e.html |
The U.S. Supreme Court effectively overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision on Friday as it released its highly anticipated yet still bombshell ruling in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
The decision upends 50 years of federal abortion rights and had been expected after a draft of the ruling was leaked in early May, a rarity for the Supreme Court.
States moved to shore up protections ahead of the widely expected reversal, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who signed sweeping legislation protecting abortion rights earlier this month. But hundreds of thousands of Americans are still trying to understand how the historic U.S. Supreme Court decision affects them.
Friday's ruling does allow states to criminalize abortion, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'd be illegal everywhere. Here's where New York stands right now.
More Coverage
Abortion Law in the Empire State
In New York, abortion rights are theoretically protected by the 2019 Reproductive Health Act. In the words of the state Senate, the point of the law was to "codify Roe v. Wade protections into state law."
The bill was signed into law in early 2019. Then-governor Andrew Cuomo celebrated the signing by having One World Trade Center lit up in pink that night.
In addition to codifying Roe vs Wade, the act moved abortion regulations into the state's health code, expanded who could provide abortions and also extended the window in which women could have abortions.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, 16 states, New York and New Jersey among them, and the District of Columbia have laws that explicitly protect the right to abortion to varying degrees.
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/abortion-rights-in-new-york-after-roe-v-wade-reversal-supreme-court/3748168/ | 2022-06-24T14:54:10 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/abortion-rights-in-new-york-after-roe-v-wade-reversal-supreme-court/3748168/ |
Hundreds of Casey Skudin's brothers and sisters in the FDNY, as well as his loving family and friends, are set to say their final goodbyes to the 16-year veteran of the department at his funeral on Friday.
Skudin was killed a week ago by a falling tree limb in North Carolina as he was with his family on vacation. Skudin, along with his wife and two kids, were driving at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville when the limb fell across a road at the entrance to the estate amid high winds, officials said.
Skudin and his family were on vacation to celebrate his 46th birthday and Father’s Day, which happened to fall on the same day. The falling tree limb crushed the car, killing Skudin and leaving his 10-year-old son hospitalized.
His wife and their eldest son managed to get out safely.
"For it to turn so tragic on such a meaningful weekend is truly hard to digest," said Randy Eichin, Skudin's best friend.
An escort of first responders followed Skudin after his body was flown back to New York on Tuesday. It went from a tarmac at Queens' LaGuardia Airport to a funeral home in Oceanside, where Skudin’s fellow firefighters waited to salute the 45-year-old.
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"It’s the hero’s welcome that a hero like Casey surely deserves," Eichin said.
Visitation services were held for Skudin on Thursday. During Friday's funeral ceremony, Skudin’s family and widow have asked that mourners not wear black, wanting it to be a celebration of his vibrant life.
The funeral starts at 11 a.m. at Towers Funeral Home in Oceanside.
For years, Skudin risked his life to help his fellow man. First as a lifeguard, then as a FDNY firefighter in Rockaway. Skudin's cousin, Ian Skudin, said he was someone "you just look up to, it's hard not to."
But in cruel twist of fate – it wasn’t a fire or a rip current that took Skudin’s life, but rather a freak accident.
Eichin hopped on a plane bound for Asheville to make sense of what happened, and to support Casey’s family. Flowers and a FDNY T-shirt later marked the spot where the tree limb once was.
"If one person was to go I know for sure, he’d say take me and please spare my family. A lifeguard, fireman. He would make that choice," Eichin said, fighting back tears.
The surfing community in Long Beach is set to remember Skudin too, as he was a longtime surfer and outdoorsman who earned a medal years ago for rescuing a drowning surfer. On Sunday morning, there will be a memorial paddle out for Skudin at Lido West Beach. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/fdnyer-a-married-dad-of-2-killed-by-tree-on-46th-birthday-vacation-to-be-honored-friday/3747752/ | 2022-06-24T14:54:16 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/fdnyer-a-married-dad-of-2-killed-by-tree-on-46th-birthday-vacation-to-be-honored-friday/3747752/ |
HOUSTON — Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v Wade, states have the power to make their own laws regarding abortion rights, including banning them.
In Texas, the high court's decision triggers a law that will ban nearly all abortions and make them a felony.
The "trigger law" was passed last year by the Texas Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott.
What is Texas' trigger law?
Here are key elements of the law:
- It will outlaw abortions in Texas unless the mother's life is in danger.
- It will take effect 30 days after Roe v Wade is overturned and will make performing an abortion in Texas a crime.
- Doctors who perform abortions could face life in prison and fines up to $100,000.
Anti-abortion advocates said the goal is to add civil penalties to the law.
Texas won't be the only state banning abortion.
Seth Chandler with the University of Houston Law Center sad about 25 states are going to have very strict limits on abortions. | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/texas/roe-v-wade-texas-trigger-law/285-d6a132f5-9743-499c-8c86-31ab41b1a98f | 2022-06-24T14:56:03 | 0 | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/texas/roe-v-wade-texas-trigger-law/285-d6a132f5-9743-499c-8c86-31ab41b1a98f |
PALM BAY, Fla. – A man who was trespassed from a Walmart in Palm Bay last week for attempting to steal a pack of cigarettes left was arrested Thursday after leaving behind an illegal firearm, according to the Palm Bay Police Department.
Justin Horne, 35, a homeless resident of Palm Bay, was trespassed on June 13 because the value of the attempted theft did not initially warrant a law enforcement response, police said.
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An officer was still there, however, who when requesting Horne’s identification and was told his ID was “outside in his backpack,” according to an affidavit for Horne’s arrest warrant. Horne left the store without incident and without retrieving the backpack, police said.
Walmart employees later noticed the bag and collected it, observing what they told police appeared to be two firearms inside. A responding officer said the two weapons were a pepper spray pistol and a Harrington & Richardson Model 88 shotgun with no stock and “a majority of the barrel sawed off,” as well as no visible serial number, according to the report.
Police reviewed the trespass report and searched for Horne using the Driver and Vehicle Information Database. Officers said Horne was positively identified as a man seen on surveillance video removing the backpack and leaving it near a shopping cart repository at the store’s west entrance.
Horne was booked Thursday at the Brevard County jail, records show. He faces charges of possession of a short-barreled gun and two counts of possession of a firearm/weapon by a convicted felon. | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/24/florida-man-trespassed-from-walmart-arrested-after-leaving-behind-bag-with-sawed-off-shotgun-police-say/ | 2022-06-24T14:57:28 | 1 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/24/florida-man-trespassed-from-walmart-arrested-after-leaving-behind-bag-with-sawed-off-shotgun-police-say/ |
ORLANDO, Fla. – A man who was convicted of attempted murder for a drive-by shooting in New York was found dead in an Orlando apartment after an hours-long standoff, police said.
Michael Green (also known as Michael Edwards), 36, shot and killed himself inside one of the apartments at Mosaic at Millenia Thursday night after barricading himself inside.
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Green had been on the run for about two weeks, according to the Albany County District Attorney, following a conviction on a charge of attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
The conviction was for an April 2020 drive-by. The district attorney said Green had appeared in court each day until June 10, when the verdict was set to be read.
Investigators have not said how Green wound up in Orlando or how he got into the apartment where he ultimately died.
Orlando police and U.S. Marshals attempted to make contact with Green, who made suicidal threats. Officers said SWAT and crisis negotiation teams worked for more than five hours in an effort to get the man to peacefully surrender.
Once officers made their way into the apartment, Green was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/24/man-convicted-in-new-york-found-dead-in-orlando-apartment-following-standoff/ | 2022-06-24T14:57:34 | 0 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/24/man-convicted-in-new-york-found-dead-in-orlando-apartment-following-standoff/ |
The Supreme Court has released a historic ruling Friday overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that found constitutional protection within the 12th Amendment to a woman’s right to an abortion.
The majority opinion was penned by Justice Samuel Alito, with Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett joining. Chief Justice Roberts concurs with the ruling, but also said he would have upheld the Mississippi law at the center of this case without necessarily overturning Roe.
Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sototmayor and Stephen Breyer are joined in the dissent.
The decision comes as part of the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which was a challenge to Mississippi’s law which banned abortions after 15 weeks.
The challenge did not require the justices to overturn Roe. It could have ruled that a 15-week ban on abortion was permissible under the constitution — weakening Roe, but not completely removing the constitutional right to an abortion.
The decision by the court is not altogether surprising. A draft opinion from the Supreme Court, penned by Justice Samuel Alito, was leaked to the public, showing that a majority of the justices favored overturning the landmark abortion case, or at least that was the case in February when the draft opinion was written.
However, it is rare for the high court to overturn a previous ruling because of the idea of stare decisis, which means “stand by what’s decided,” according to a constitutional law professor at the University of Miami, Caroline Mala Corbin.
“As it happens, it’s in an abortion case (Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey) where the court sort of laid down the rules for when it is justifiable to overrule a previous decision,” Corbin said. “So for example, if there’s been a significant change in the facts that made a prior rule no longer make sense, or if the law has been graduating and evolving in such a way that an earlier decision really isn’t the law of the land anymore, then it might make sense to officially acknowledge that the law has shifted from what it was originally. Or, for example, if the rule the court had announced in an earlier decision was simply not workable. It was just too complicated. It was out in the real world, it was impossible for courts to actually apply and so that’s the general rule for stare decisis.”
This decision by the court is also notable because it marks the first time the high court has retracted individual rights in overturning a previous ruling.
For instance, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka overturned the court’s ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson. Plessy ruled that segregation was constitutionally permissible; however, Brown found that it was a violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause, thereby expanding the rights of Black people in America.
What happens now?
Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe, that does not mean that abortion is now illegal. The ruling kicks the decision back down to the states, allowing each one to decide their own laws surrounding abortion, and potentially other reproductive rights.
As of this report, 13 states have already made moves to ban virtually all abortions should the Supreme Court overturn Roe. The legislatures of those states have passed “trigger laws,” which take effect if certain conditions are met — in this case, the overturning of Roe.
These states, according to The New York Times, include; Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
Where does Florida stand?
In Florida, a 15-week abortion ban — similar to the one challenged in Dodd — is set to take effect on July 1. That law, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in April, faces two lawsuits challenging it.
The first was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood. This suit challenges the law on the basis that it violates Florida’s state constitution, specifically the right to privacy ensconced therein.
“In the text of the Florida constitution is a provision that says that the government cannot intrude on the Florida citizen’s right to privacy and the Florida Supreme Court has interpreted this language to cover abortion,” Corbin said.
The Florida Supreme Court first ruled on the issue in October 1989 in the case of a law requiring teenage girls to get a parent’s consent before having an abortion.
According to a Washington Post article at the time, the opinion handed down by the court, in a 6-to-1 decision, cited a 1980 amendment to the state constitution providing that “every natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into (their) private life” in its ruling.
The clause can be found in Section 23 of the state constitution. It reads, in full: “Every natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into the person’s private life except as otherwise provided herein. This section shall not be construed to limit the public’s right of access to public records and meetings as provided by law.”
The 1989 ruling said that the imposition of restrictions on abortion constituted an intrusion into a woman’s personal life.
“Florida’s privacy provision is clearly implicated in a woman’s decision of whether or not to continue her pregnancy,’’ the majority opinion said. ‘’We can conceive of few more personal or private decisions concerning one’s body that one can make in a lifetime, except perhaps the decision of the terminally ill in their choice of whether to discontinue necessary medical treatment.’’
Even the dissenting opinion found that the privacy clause applied to a woman’s right to an abortion. The dissent only took issue with how the court defined “viability,” believing it to extend beyond the standard set out in the 1973 Roe ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.
“I wholeheartedly concur that Florida’s express constitutional right of privacy, article I, section 23, Florida Constitution, is implicated in this case,” Justice Parker Lee McDonald wrote in his dissent. “Specifically, I note that the privacy provision was added to the Florida Constitution by amendment in 1980, well after the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade, It can therefore be presumed that the public was aware that the right to an abortion was included under the federal constitutional right of privacy and would therefore certainly be covered by the Florida privacy amendment.”
The second lawsuit comes from a synagogue, Congregation L’Dor Va-Dor of Boynton Beach.
This suit contends that Florida’s 15-week ban on abortions violates Jewish teachings, which state abortion “is required if necessary to protect the health, mental or physical well-being of the woman” and for other reasons.
“As such, the act prohibits Jewish women from practicing their faith free of government intrusion and this violates their privacy rights and religious freedom,” the lawsuit, filed in Leon County Circuit Court said.
The lawsuit added that people who “do not share the religious views reflected in the act will suffer” and that it “threatens the Jewish people by imposing the laws of other religions upon Jews.”
Under current law, Florida allows abortions up to 24 weeks.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
Read the full Supreme Court opinion below: | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/24/supreme-court-overturns-roe-v-wade-what-happens-now/ | 2022-06-24T14:57:40 | 0 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/24/supreme-court-overturns-roe-v-wade-what-happens-now/ |
ATLANTIC CITY — A three-alarm fire on the Atlantic City Boardwalk near New York Avenue appeared to be under control by about 10:30 Friday morning, according to eyewitness reports.
The fire had engulfed a small shop near Ripley's Believe It or Not! on the Boardwalk. It was unclear how the blaze started as of early Friday or whether there are any injuries.
Colleen Pichirallo was going about her morning in her apartment less than a block away when she said the sounds of sirens filled the neighborhood. She then saw smoke cover her block.
“You couldn’t see half of the building,” Pichirallo said, watching firefighters as the worked to extinguish the blaze. “It was all engulfed.”
Police have moved their caution tape toward the damaged building to allow access to Schiff’s Central Pier. If you look closely, you can see the portion of the building damaged by the flames. @ThePressofAC @ACPressHuba pic.twitter.com/RPVuYzTe0Y
— Eric Conklin (@ACPressConklin) June 24, 2022
Crystal Temarantz could see the area fill with smoke from her hotel room on the eighth floor of Resorts. She was preparing to leave the city, but stopped for a peek at the scene.
“I wasn’t sure if it was a fire,” said Temarantz, of Kingston, Pennsylvania. “I thought maybe it was either a fire or they we’re cooking food. It looked pretty thick.”
People are also reading…
As of 9 a.m., a portion of the Boardwalk was closed to traffic as multiple crews were on scene.
Fire is near the Ripley’s Believe it Or Not Museum, a city police officer told me. @ACPressHuba @ThePressofAC
— Eric Conklin (@ACPressConklin) June 24, 2022
Various local fire departments have been called in to provide mutual aid.
Staff writers Selena Vazquez and Eric Conklin contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/watch-atlantic-city/article_db55d91e-f3bd-11ec-9cf6-bf2be746707a.html | 2022-06-24T15:00:07 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/watch-atlantic-city/article_db55d91e-f3bd-11ec-9cf6-bf2be746707a.html |
PERRY COUNTY, Ark. — The Perry County community is simply heartbroken following the fatal shooting of one of their own.
"I really didn't think it was true," said Beverly Ussery.
Her kids went to school with 21-year-old Jeremiah Story, who was the victim of the shooting that happened at the Perry County Jail, where he worked as a detention officer.
"His smile was infectious," Ussery said.
Story was an athlete who did it all, and wanted to serve his country after high school.
Story did just that, as he enlisted in the United States Army after he graduated in 2018.
Ussery remembers the positive attitude that Story had and the willingness to always lend a hand to so many in this small community.
"When you heard Jeremiah's name, it was usually in church [and] him helping the youth. Or on the football field helping the younger kids," Ussery said.
Story's life was sadly cut short Wednesday night after the deadly shooting at Perry County Jail.
"It just hit us to the core in our community," Ussery said.
According to Arkansas State Police, 37-year-old Roderick Lewis was being booked into the Perry County Detention Center on drug charges.
While working as a detention officer, Story was shot as he stood in a restroom where Lewis was changing from civilian attire into clothing issued by the jail.
Unfortunately, Story died at a Conway hospital early Thursday morning.
"In times of sadness and in times of happiness, we are always there for each other," Deloise McDonough, a family friend said.
McDonough is best friends with Jeremiah's aunt, and for them Jeremiah felt like family.
"We always had family get togethers down there and Jeremiah was just in the midst of it all," McDonough said.
Those memories are helping the two cope with this tragedy.
"We come together. We are small, but when something tragic happens, we come together and we are mighty," Ussery said.
McDonough said the sun will rise tomorrow.
She also can't help but believe Jeremiah will reunite with the family members he loved so dearly.
"He's in heaven with Nanny Malla and they're probably playing dominoes because that was one of their favorite things to do," McDonough said.
According to Arkansas State Police, the gun reportedly used by Lewis was one he possessed when he arrived at the jail while in the custody of local sheriff’s deputies.
Lewis is currently being held at the Faulkner County Jail and is being charged with capital murder. | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/family-remembers-arkansas-detention-officer/91-f21462e1-5404-4502-b62e-52c52f24b289 | 2022-06-24T15:00:36 | 0 | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/family-remembers-arkansas-detention-officer/91-f21462e1-5404-4502-b62e-52c52f24b289 |
ARKANSAS, USA — Arkansas officials reacted to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization taken on Friday, June 23, 2022.
The Supreme Court decision ends nearly 50 years of federally guaranteed access to abortion and will have long-term consequences for reproductive health.
Statements from local leaders:
Congressman Steve Womack:
“The dignity and value of each human life has been upheld. This decision rightfully restores the American people’s ability to protect babies and recognizes the science-backed truths of the humanity of the unborn. The Supreme Court’s duty is to follow the Constitution and enact jurisprudence based in fact. Today, reason—not bullying and intimidation tactics—prevailed. Arkansans celebrate knowing the innocent lives and morality at the heart of this case have been given a voice.”
Congressman Markwayne Mullin:
“The Scales of Justice have weighed in favor of life,” Mullin said. “This is a historic day in our country. The sanctity of every life has prevailed and the unalienable rights prescribed by our forefathers have been restored. I am grateful for the system of checks and balances that allows for judicial review of prior decisions. And I am grateful as well for the affirmation of States’ rights, allowing states like Oklahoma to elevate life.”
Congressman Bruce Westerman:
"I am ecstatic to see the U.S. Supreme Court today rectify its 1973 decision by reversing Roe v. Wade and sending the issue of abortion back to the States," said Rep. Westerman. "Life is a right. Abortion is not. Our system of government is not based on unelected judges creating a right that doesn’t exist in the Constitution. A new day has dawned in America, and many innocent lives will be saved in the years to come. Make no mistake, we must help struggling women and ensure they have every resource they need throughout and after pregnancy. Women will always have choices. As many as two million U.S. families are looking to adopt at any given time, while roughly 700,000 abortions are performed each year. Each of these precious lives could have a family ready and willing to provide a loving home. I look forward to a day when all Americans reject the horrors of abortion in their own states to ensure the right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for every child."
U.S. Senator John Boozman:
“This is a long-awaited, consequential day for our nation. The Supreme Court’s decision to affirm there is no constitutional right to indiscriminately sacrifice the lives of children in their mothers’ wombs is the culmination of decades of work to correct the tragic, deadly lie that unborn babies are expendable and undeserving of protection. I’m pleased to have helped confirm justices to our nation’s highest court who are committed to interpreting the Constitution in a manner that is consistent and true to its intent and meaning. With this ruling, the American people will finally have the opportunity to enact their will on this issue instead of unelected judges in Washington, D.C. I am proud of Arkansas’s steadfast commitment to defend the sanctity, dignity, and value of every human life, including vulnerable children who deserve our compassion and care.”
House Speaker Charles McCall:
“Decades of steadfast prayer and unwavering legislative efforts to protect the lives of the unborn have finally prevailed. Overturning Roe v. Wade justifies the long battle by Oklahoma House Republicans and pro-life allies nationwide to return this matter to the duly elected representatives of state legislatures to decide.
With Roe overturned and Oklahoma’s several proactive, pro-life policies already in immediate effect, the stage is set for Oklahoma to be America’s most pro-life state.
For close to 50 years, the silent cries of the millions who lost their lives before even having a chance to live have been heard through the voices of those of us fighting for their rights. The pro-life movement won, securing those yet unborn the future and promise that comes with being born in the United States of America."
Oklahoma Attorney General, John O' Connor:
“After almost 50 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has wiped one of the most horrifying opinions in American history from the books. It has courageously done so in the face of intimidation, leaks, violence, and even an assassination attempt,” Attorney General O’Connor stated. “Roe not only took away over 60 million lives, it also barred Oklahomans and all other Americans from protecting our unborn children. We should help every woman facing a crisis pregnancy, but not at the cost of the innocent child’s life. This is truly a day for celebration and thanksgiving.”
Alliance Defending Freedom General Counsel Kristen Waggoner:
“The Supreme Court’s decision is a major victory for unborn children and their mothers. Laws across the country can now affirm that life is a human right and ensure women have greater access to the support and resources they need and deserve. We now turn to the states to ensure that unborn children and their mothers are protected from the gruesome reality of abortion, and that they receive the care and resources they need to flourish. Mississippi asked the court to overturn Roe because that case was egregiously wrong and had no basis in constitutional text, structure, or history. Additionally, Roe’s changing standards have long been unworkable, which is why so many pro-life laws ended up in court. It also failed to account for changing science, which demonstrates that life begins at conception. Today is a day of celebration, but the battle continues, as states either respect or shirk their responsibility to protect the life and health of women and children.” | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/local-leaders-react-scotus-decisions-dobbs-jackson-womens-health-organization-womack-boozman/527-4321b0d2-4583-4f25-8f6c-9f8e5528d827 | 2022-06-24T15:00:42 | 0 | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/local-leaders-react-scotus-decisions-dobbs-jackson-womens-health-organization-womack-boozman/527-4321b0d2-4583-4f25-8f6c-9f8e5528d827 |
BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — Tennessee Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development Jeff McCord is one of four finalists for the president’s job at Northeast State Community College.
The former head of Kingsport’s Regional Center for Advanced Manufacturing has been Gov. Bill Lee’s labor commissioner since Lee took office in January 2019. He led the agency through Tennessee’s most acute employment crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic when state unemployment systems were overwhelmed with claims and had to quickly add systems for federal pandemic unemployment benefits.
Northeast State’s search advisory committee whittled the applicant list to four on Monday and Tuesday, according to a release from Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) Chancellor Flora Tydings.
Other candidates who will be interviewed on campus July 11-14 include:
- Connie Marshall, the school’s interim president. With a background in radiology, Marshall also has degrees in organizational management, education (masters) and educational leadership and policy analysis (Ed. D).
- Eric Heiser, the provost at Central Ohio Technical College in Newark, Ohio. Heiser has associates and bachelor’s degrees in business administration as well as a master’s in adult and postsecondary education and a Ph. D in education and human resources studies-higher education leadership.
- Robert Brandon, vice president of academic and student services at Southwest Virginia Community College in Richlands. Brandon holds bachelor’s, master’s and Ph. D. degrees in English.
McCord, whose wife CeeGee has held a prominent role at Eastman Chemical Co. for years, has a bachelor’s degree in management from Georgia Tech, an MBA with an information systems concentration from Kennesaw State University in Georgia, and an Ed. D in learning and leadership from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.
The Regional Center for Advanced Manufacturing (RCAM) partners with Northeast State and provides an off-site teaching location for training a qualified technical workforce for the region’s manufacturing sector. McCord’s state bio says that in addition to leading the development of the RCAM, which opened in 2009, he also led the development of the state’s first registered apprenticeship program through a post-secondary institution.
TBR Regent and Kingsport Chamber of Commerce CEO Miles Burdine chaired the search committee, which Tydings wrote produced “four excellent finalists.”
The July interviews will be public and will also be viewable online using a link that TBR will provide. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/tn-labor-commissioner-mccord-a-finalist-for-northeast-state-presidency/ | 2022-06-24T15:07:55 | 1 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/tn-labor-commissioner-mccord-a-finalist-for-northeast-state-presidency/ |
AUSTIN, Texas — The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, the longtime legal precedent guaranteeing the right of legal abortion in the U.S.
The court's 6-3 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was a determination of the constitutionality of a 2018 Mississippi law banning most abortions after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. The decision is likely to have major ramifications across the country.
At least 13 states have so-called "trigger laws" that immediately take effect upon the overturning of Roe v. Wade and ban all or nearly all abortions.
Texas is one of them. According to the language outlined in House Bill 1280, if Roe v. Wade was to be overturned, abortion in Texas would be prohibited and criminalized unless the mother's life is in danger. Anyone who violates this trigger law will face a second-degree felony and a civil penalty of at least $100,000.
Prior to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Texas already had an abortion law in place that is more restrictive than Mississippi's.
In September 2021, Senate Bill 8, or the "Texas Heartbeat Act," went into effect. That law bans abortions once cardiac activity is detected in a fetus, which is typically at around six weeks gestation and before many women learn they are pregnant. The only exception is for medical emergencies.
Senate Bill 8 is not enforced by the State of Texas but rather allows almost anyone, anywhere, to sue a doctor who performed an abortion or anyone who "aides and abets" a woman in getting an abortion and recover $10,000. Persons who rape or commit incest against a woman and cause the pregnancy are the only ones who cannot sue under the Texas law.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-abortion-trigger-law-supreme-court-roe-v-wade/269-087842e1-1124-4870-876b-9ecbd5d907f5 | 2022-06-24T15:08:46 | 1 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-abortion-trigger-law-supreme-court-roe-v-wade/269-087842e1-1124-4870-876b-9ecbd5d907f5 |
The 68-year-old man is accused of pulling out a pistol-grip shotgun during a traffic stop.
LAKE PLACID, Fla. — A call about a wrong-way driver ended in a deadly shootout Friday morning with law enforcement officers in the Lake Placid area.
The Highlands County Sheriff's Office says it was first alerted overnight to a van going the wrong way on the southbound side of US-27 near State Road 70. Just after 2:30 a.m., deputies spotted the white Econoline van heading north – now driving the correct way.
Authorities stopped the van a mile north of Sun ‘n Lakes Boulevard.
Investigators say 68-year-old driver Robert W. McNamara was the only person inside the van, and a deputy began writing him a citation for failing to maintain a lane.
While that citation was being written, McNamara is accused of becoming "argumentative" and refusing to stay in his seat. The sheriff's office says he got out of the van holding a pistol-grip shotgun and fired once at the deputy writing the ticket.
Both the deputy and a backup deputy reportedly fired back, hitting McNamara "several times."
"Our deputies did their best to provide Mr. McNamara medical treatment until Highlands County Emergency Medical Services arrived on scene and at 3:23 a.m. pronounced Mr. McNamara deceased," Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman said.
According to Sheriff Blackman, McNamara had a "criminal history out of both Florida and Connecticut for narcotics and paraphernalia possession."
Neither deputy was hurt. They've both been put on administrative leave, which is protocol while cases like this are investigated.
John Kromholz, assistant state attorney for the 10th Judicial Circuit, will spearhead the investigation.
DEPUTY INVOLVED SHOOTING UPDATE
Good morning, I am Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman. I am here this morning to report what we currently know about an officer involved shooting. As always, what I am reporting is subject to change as the investigation unfolds and we gather additional evidence.
This morning, June 24th, at approximately 2:30 a.m., the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office received a call for service from the Florida Highway Patrol regarding a white van traveling north in the southbound lanes of US 27 near State Road 70 in the Lake Placid area. Our deputies responded and at 2:31 a.m., deputies located a white Econoline van in the area. At this point, the van was heading north in the northbound lanes.
Deputies followed the van for a short period and then conducted a traffic stop at 2:33 a.m., a mile north of Sun ‘n Lakes Blvd. south near Lake Placid.
At this point a deputy made contact with the driver and sole occupant of the van. During the traffic stop the deputy decided to issue the driver, 68-year-old white male Robert W. McNamara, a citation for failure to maintain a single lane.
While the deputy was writing the citation, Mr. McNamara refused to stay in his vehicle and was being what can be described as argumentative with the deputy. As the deputy was completing the citation, Mr. McNamara exited his van and approached the deputy. Mr. McNamara produced a black in color, pistol-grip shotgun and fired a round at the deputy. The deputy issuing the citation and a backup deputy returned gun fire, striking Mr. McNamara several times.
Our deputies did their best to provide Mr. McNamara medical treatment until Highlands County Emergency Medical Services arrived on scene and at 3:23 a.m. pronounced Mr. McNamara deceased.
The two deputies involved in this situation were not injured and have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of this investigation.
Mr. McNamara has a criminal history out of both Florida and Connecticut for narcotics and paraphernalia possession.
Also on scene is assistant state’s attorney for the 10th Judicial Circuit, John Kromholz, who will be overseeing the investigation of this inciden
Posted by Highlands County Sheriff's Office on Friday, June 24, 2022 | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/highlandscounty/driver-shooting-van-highlands-lake-placid-sheriff-deputy/67-193f2090-f11f-4072-b97b-914d09e4f482 | 2022-06-24T15:11:55 | 1 | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/highlandscounty/driver-shooting-van-highlands-lake-placid-sheriff-deputy/67-193f2090-f11f-4072-b97b-914d09e4f482 |
State police: Man shot by Allegan Co. deputy was stopped for impaired driving
A man shot and killed last week by an Allegan County sheriff's deputy had been pulled over because he was suspected of driving impaired, Michigan State Police said.
Joseph Maverick Nagle was shot during a "physical altercation" with the deputy during a 10 p.m. traffic stop on June 16 on 26th Street near 136th in Salem Township, officials said.
State police are investigating the shooting and said this week that Nagle demonstrated signs of impairment during sobriety tests. They said when he was told he was under arrest, he started to fight with the deputy. During the fight, the deputy fired a single shot that hit Nagle in the chest.
The deputy suffered some non-life-threatening injuries, according to authorities.
Investigators said the deputy's patrol vehicle is not equipped with a dashboard camera and the deputy was not wearing a police body camera. As a result, they said, there's no known video of the incident.
State police officials said they are not releasing the name of the deputy, who was placed on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation and an internal review by Allegan County officials.
cramirez@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @CharlesERamirez | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/06/24/michigan-police-man-shot-allegan-county-deputy-impaired-driving/7721219001/ | 2022-06-24T15:12:58 | 1 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/06/24/michigan-police-man-shot-allegan-county-deputy-impaired-driving/7721219001/ |
MSU boosts tuition 3%, hikes aid to spare students from families making $75K income
Michigan State University Board of Trustees on Friday approved a 3% tuition increase for undergraduates in 2022-23.
The increase for students attending the state's second-largest university was set last June when trustees set rates for three years — 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 — to help students and families plan and give MSU's financial aid office more information on the cost of attendance, university spokesman Dan Olsen said.
It means that tuition for full-time resident undergraduate students who are freshmen and sophomores will increase to $20,889 annually.
Olsen added that the budget includes a nearly $12 million boost in financial aid that will result in no out-of-pocket increase for students with family incomes of less than $75,000 a year.
Board members, who participated in a retreat this week, made few public comments after approving MSU's overall budget of nearly $1.6 billion.
Dan Kelly, vice chair of the board, was among the few who spoke and said that approving a budget is among the most important things the board does.
"I'm happy with this budget, and I support it," said Kelly.
Melanie Foster, who chairs the board's budget and finance committee, said numerous meetings have been held in recent months to discuss the budget.
"It is a balanced budget, and that was a challenge but we got there," said Foster.
kkozlowski@detroitnews.com | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/06/24/msu-boosts-tuition-3-hikes-aid-spare-certain-students/7717764001/ | 2022-06-24T15:13:04 | 0 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/06/24/msu-boosts-tuition-3-hikes-aid-spare-certain-students/7717764001/ |
N. Mich. teen charged after allegedly threatening to kill people with knife
A 14-year-old in northern Michigan accused of threatening to kill people with whom the teen lived Wednesday has been charged, state police said.
Officials said the youth was arrested Wednesday and arraigned Thursday on three counts of assault with intent to murder, carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent, three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, and three counts of domestic violence.
A court set the teen's bond at $100,000. Officials also said the teen was placed into a juvenile facility out of the area to await further court proceedings.
According to a preliminary investigation, troopers from the Michigan State Police Post in Caro were called to a residence in the 4000 block of Center Street in Fairgrove for a report of an assault. Fairgrove is in Tuscola County, about nine miles west of Caro and 110 miles north of Detroit.
They were told by witnesses that the 14-year-old threatened to kill other residents in the home with a knife after an argument.
After an investigation, the troopers determined there was an assault but there were no life-threatening injuries reported.
The state police said they are not releasing any further information at this time.
cramirez@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @CharlesERamirez | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/06/24/northern-michigan-teen-charged-after-allegedly-threatening-kill-people-knife/7722070001/ | 2022-06-24T15:13:10 | 1 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/06/24/northern-michigan-teen-charged-after-allegedly-threatening-kill-people-knife/7722070001/ |
No injuries in Auburn Hills apartment building fire
Auburn Hills — Officials are investigating a fire that ripped through an apartment building Thursday.
Firefighters were called at about 3:40 p.m. to the 3100 block of Brookshear Circle near North Squirrel Road and East Walton for a report of an apartment fire, authorities said.
They found a large fire on the apartment building's first and second floors as well as through the roof of one unit.
Officials said residents were able to escape and no injuries were reported. The Red Cross is providing aid to those displaced by the fire.
Officials said crews from the fire departments of Rochester Hills, Bloomfield Township, Orion Township, Waterford Regional, Rochester and Troy assisted in extinguishing the fire.
Investigators said the six units affected by the fire are a total loss.
cramirez@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @CharlesERamirez | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/oakland-county/2022/06/24/no-injuries-auburn-hills-apartment-building-fire/7721576001/ | 2022-06-24T15:13:10 | 1 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/oakland-county/2022/06/24/no-injuries-auburn-hills-apartment-building-fire/7721576001/ |
DALLAS (KDAF) — Friday, June 24, is National Food Truck Day and we are ever so grateful for this inventive way of distributing food.
Nothing is more fun than a block party lined with a bunch of food trucks, offering creative and tasty food options.
In celebration of food trucks and the wonderful people who work hard to run food trucks, we are presenting a list of the best in town. Here is Yelp’s list of the best food trucks in Dallas:
- Super Sliders Food Truck
- Easy Slider
- La Botana Taco Bar
- Mooshie
- TJ’s Dawg House
- Cousins Maine Lobster
- The Bomb Fried Pies
- District 1
- Not Just Q
- El Chifrijo Puerto Rican Fusion
For more suggestions, visit Yelp! | https://cw33.com/news/local/these-are-the-best-food-trucks-in-dallas-for-national-food-truck-day-according-to-yelp/ | 2022-06-24T15:15:21 | 0 | https://cw33.com/news/local/these-are-the-best-food-trucks-in-dallas-for-national-food-truck-day-according-to-yelp/ |
Men from Mandan and Williston have been named to the North Dakota Board of Public School Education.
State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler announced Gov. Doug Burgum's appointments to the board that provides guidance and oversight for the state’s K-12 system.
Mike McHugh, of Mandan, is the aviation education coordinator for the state Aeronautics Commission, a certified career and technical education teacher, and a former Bismarck Public Schools aviation instructor. Eric Nelson, of Williston, is a senior technical adviser for Creedence Energy Services, which provides chemical treatment services for the oil industry.
The Board of Public School Education has seven members -- Baesler, who is the board’s executive secretary, and six members appointed by the governor to represent groups of counties. The new appointees will serve six-year terms that start July 1.
Nelson will represent Burke, Divide, McKenzie, Mountrail, Ward, and Williams counties; McHugh will represent Adams, Billings, Bowman, Dunn, Golden Valley, Grant, Hettinger, Mercer, Morton, Oliver, Sioux, Slope, and Stark counties.
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Board of Public School Education appointees also are members of the state Board of Career and Technical Education, which oversees North Dakota’s state CTE department. They also are in charge of the North Dakota K-12 Education Coordination Council, which reviews state education programs and encourages collaboration among agencies and interest groups. | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/education/mandan-williston-men-named-to-k-12-education-board/article_9e99d2f4-f3be-11ec-8457-07f7c5b23dfc.html | 2022-06-24T15:22:18 | 1 | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/education/mandan-williston-men-named-to-k-12-education-board/article_9e99d2f4-f3be-11ec-8457-07f7c5b23dfc.html |
A 66-year-old Big Spring man died Thursday after a Mack Truck rolled over Thursday on State Highway 158 southeast of Midland in Glasscock County, according to the Department of Public Safety.
DPS reported Friday that Terry Jack Smith was traveling west on SH 158 – 16 miles southeast of Midland -- when a front left tire blew out, resulting in the 2007 Mack Truck veering across the eastbound lanes. The truck then continued south off the roadway before rolling over into a field, according to DPS.
DPS reported the crash happened at around 1:34 p.m., and Smith was not wearing a seat belt. | https://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/DPS-Big-Spring-man-dies-after-blowout-on-SH-158-17263168.php | 2022-06-24T15:23:30 | 0 | https://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/DPS-Big-Spring-man-dies-after-blowout-on-SH-158-17263168.php |
A 61-year-old Midlander died Wednesday afternoon after his vehicle rolled over on Business 20, east of Midland, according to the Department of Public Safety.
DPS reported Friday that Kenneth Shawn Bohlscheid was driving a 2006 GMC Sierra west on Business 20 near mile marker 144 – about 3 miles east of Midland. He was traveling at an “unsafe speed” for a curve in the roadway and the “the vehicle traveled off the roadway to the right and the driver then over-corrected to the left sending (the Sierra) into a side skid.” DPS then reported that Bohlscheid’s Sierra then rolled over and he was ejected from the vehicle.
The crash happened around 3:40 p.m., and Bohlscheid was not wearing a seat belt, according to DPS. | https://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/DPS-Midlander-dies-in-rollover-on-Business-20-17263120.php | 2022-06-24T15:23:36 | 0 | https://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/DPS-Midlander-dies-in-rollover-on-Business-20-17263120.php |
Abortion rights supporters and opponents reacted strongly today to the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
The ruling allows states to further restrict or outlaw abortion, and Ohio has laws in place or proposed that would do that.
“We are thanking God that Roe has finally been overturned,” said Debbie Smith, president of Warren County Right To Life. “We have worked and prayed for this day for decades.”
“This is outrageous. It’s been part of our legal system for 50 years and the fact that this has been orchestrated over the years to put justices on the court who would overturn a legal right, taking away something from half the population, is just outrageous,” said Joy Schwab, founder of the Dayton Women’s Rights Alliance. “Everyone who cares about women’s rights and human rights has got to immediately mobilize and pledge and work to get people in Congress who will codify this into the law in the land.”
“We can’t go back 50 years when women were dying of illegal abortion or being forced to have children that they cant take care of,” she said.
About the Author | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/local-activists-react-to-us-supreme-court-overturning-roe-v-wade/WHL7KNPRUFHTRMUFNEBDFWUYTM/ | 2022-06-24T15:27:47 | 1 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/local-activists-react-to-us-supreme-court-overturning-roe-v-wade/WHL7KNPRUFHTRMUFNEBDFWUYTM/ |
The overturn of Roe v. Wade would allow Ohio’s “Heartbeat Bill” to go into effect, outlawing abortions after five or six weeks — before many women even know they’re pregnant.
Enforcement of that bill, passed in 2019, has been held up by a federal court injunction against prosecutors in the few Ohio counties that have abortion clinics, including Montgomery and Hamilton. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost previously said that if Roe was overturned, the office would move to lift the injunction.
» THE RULING: Supreme Court overturns abortion, returns decision to states
The only exemption in the “Heartbeat Bill” is for cases in which the mother’s health is seriously at risk.
Separate from that bill, abortion is already illegal in Ohio past 20 weeks’ gestation, or 22 weeks past the woman’s last menstrual period.
Ohio legislators began preparing for the potential overturn of Roe v. Wade even before the May leak of a draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court indicating that would happen.
Senate President Matt Huffman said early this month that when the court’s final decision is known state legislative leaders will decide whether to reconvene this summer to pass more anti-abortion legislation.
The primary bill under consideration is House Bill 598, sponsored by state Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland. Designed as a “trigger ban,” to outlaw abortion if Roe is overturned, Schmidt’s bill would make it a felony for doctors to perform abortions. Currently it does not include exceptions for rape, incest or the mother’s health.
In May, anticipating overturn and in reaction to Schmidt’s bill, Ohio Democrats announced they will seek a state constitutional amendment to permanently legalize abortion in Ohio. They acknowledged they don’t have nearly enough votes to meet the three-fifths threshold in both houses of the legislature to place that amendment on a statewide ballot, but framed the move as precursor to a long-term campaign for a constitutional referendum.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nan Whaley, former mayor of Dayton, has said she would work to keep abortion accessible to Ohioans and would veto any bill that restricts abortion access.
Republican incumbent Gov. Mike DeWine’s campaign website touts him as “the most pro-life governor in Ohio history,” highlighting his signature of the “Heartbeat Bill” and the “Born Alive Infant Protection Act.” The latter, sponsored by state Sen. Steve Huffman, R-Tipp City, expands the first-degree felony definition of “abortion manslaughter” to include failing to try to keep an infant alive born after an attempted abortion, and creates a third-degree felony for failing to file a monthly “child survival form” for any fetus delivered alive after an abortion attempt.
An amendment to the bill, saying abortion clinics operating under a variance from state law cannot have emergency service agreements with any doctor who is connected to a public institution, targets two of the state’s six abortion clinics: the ones in Kettering and Cincinnati. The amendment’s intent is to make their operation impossible.
Of the 20,605 abortions in Ohio in 2020, nearly half were chemically induced non-surgical abortions. There were 10,792 surgical abortions performed in Ohio in 2020, according to the state Department of Health’s annual report.
The clinics in Montgomery and Hamilton counties provided 31.8% of those surgical procedures, according to the report: 1,570 in Montgomery and 2,408 in Hamilton.
Of the statewide total, 98% of all abortions were performed by 18 weeks’ gestation. Only 0.5% took place beyond 20 weeks. | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/ohio-impact-what-does-supreme-court-overturning-of-roe-v-wade-mean-for-laws-here/KHSNBB46N5FUZIOQUHLJOS6AWE/ | 2022-06-24T15:27:47 | 0 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/ohio-impact-what-does-supreme-court-overturning-of-roe-v-wade-mean-for-laws-here/KHSNBB46N5FUZIOQUHLJOS6AWE/ |
Ohio political leaders reacted to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a nearly 50-year constitutional right of a woman to get an abortion, sending the issue back to states to decide.
Here’s what politicians are saying:
Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted:
“As we transition as a nation from Roe to Dobbs, we all need to do our best to understand and respect the heartfelt, genuine differences of opinions among our families, friends, neighbors and communities. Being an adoptee who started life in a foster home, my own experience helped shape my views on this issue. I’m here today because my birth mother chose life and put me up for adoption, which I know could not have been an easy decision for her. My prayer for all of us is this collective experience will build a more compassionate nation that values life.”
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost:
“This decision returns abortion policy to the place it has always belonged: to the elected policy branches of government. Roe was poorly reasoned, a doctrine of shifting sands that invited perpetual litigation.
“We will continue to debate this issue. But passion is not a license to violence. I call again on my federal colleague, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and my fellow states’ attorneys general to publicly commit to holding violent protesters accountable under the law, no matter which side they are on.”
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan:
“Today’s disastrous decision is the largest case of government overreach in my lifetime. By overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court is gutting a long-established right in order to put politicians between women and their doctors. Even worse, this ruling gives the green light to those here in Ohio who have introduced legislation that would deny women access to potentially lifesaving care, and threaten to put women and doctors in jail.
“We saw this coming, which is why as a member of Congress I’ve voted repeatedly to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act, only to watch it die in the Senate along with so many other bills that would protect health care and help women and families. It’s clear the Senate is not working the way it’s supposed to and Ohio women will pay the price. It has never been more important that we expand our pro-choice majority, end the filibuster, and pass legislation to protect the fundamental right to an abortion.”
Ohio Sen. Steve Huffman:
“My strong Catholic faith, combined with thirty years as a practicing physician, drives my belief that every life should be valued. Since my election to the Ohio House in 2015, the Ohio General Assembly has passed more significant legislation to defend unborn children and protect their right to life than at any time since the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark abortion ruling in 1973.
“Today, we celebrate the court’s decision to rule in favor of the sanctity of human life, and our work continues. As Chairman of the Senate Health Committee I will work with my colleagues and our legal counsel to ensure we uphold the Constitution and protect the unborn.
“As we review the opinion, and look ahead, we are mindful that being pro-life is about more than just protecting a baby’s right to live, it is also about providing support for pregnant women and parents, reducing financial barriers for adopting families, reprioritizing federal funding for family planning organizations and providers—the list goes on.
“Of all of my legislative accomplishments, I am most proud of the work we have done in Ohio to protect life and I remain committed to doing so.”
Ohio governor candidate Nan Whaley, former City of Dayton mayor:
“This is no longer a hypothetical. Unfortunately for women in Ohio, the Court’s decision to strike down Roe means that Governor DeWine will move to criminalize abortion. That means women in Ohio will have the right to a safe and legal abortion taken away from them, even if their life is at risk or if they’ve been the victim of rape or incest. It’s exactly what Mike DeWine and the extremists in the Ohio Legislature want, and that’s unacceptable.
“This election has never been more important. If DeWine is reelected, he’ll take Ohio women back to a time where abortion was criminalized and dangerous. The right to access a safe and legal abortion and reproductive care is on the ballot this November. Ohioans have an opportunity to elect a pro-choice governor who won’t interfere with a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body.”
About the Author | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/roe-overturned-ohio-leaders-react-to-supreme-court-ruling-on-abortion/63CMGFPNFVBA7G6ZGAGSVKVFJA/ | 2022-06-24T15:27:56 | 1 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/roe-overturned-ohio-leaders-react-to-supreme-court-ruling-on-abortion/63CMGFPNFVBA7G6ZGAGSVKVFJA/ |
The United States Supreme Court today overturned the constitutional right to abortion, allowing individual states to ban the procedure or impose heavier regulations on it.
The decision erased a 7-2 decision in 1973 by a conservative court that ruled a woman’s decision to have an abortion during the first three months of her pregnancy must be left to her and her doctor.
Justice Samuel Alito, in the final opinion issued Friday, wrote that Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 decision that reaffirmed the right to abortion, were wrong the day they were decided and must be overturned.
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” he wrote. “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely—the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
Joining Alito were Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. The latter three justices are Trump appointees. Thomas first voted to overrule Roe 30 years ago.
Chief Justice John Roberts would have stopped short of ending the abortion right, noting that he would have upheld the Mississippi law at the heart of the case, a ban on abortion after 15 weeks, and said no more.
Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — the diminished liberal wing of the court — were in dissent.
In their dissent, the justices wrote the court previously “struck a balance.”
“It held that the State could prohibit abortions after fetal viability, so long as the ban contained exceptions to safeguard a woman’s life or health,” they wrote. “...Today, the Court discards that balance. It says that from the very moment of fertilization, a woman has no rights to speak of. A State can force her to bring a pregnancy to term, even at the steepest personal and familial costs.”
A draft opinion leaked on May 2 suggested Roe v. Wade would be overturned. Justice Samuel Alito signed the majority opinion, which said it’s time “to return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives,” according to a Politico report.
The opinion was labeled a “1st Draft” in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a Mississippi case that challenged an abortion ban after 15 weeks.
In his draft, Alito dismissed the arguments in favor of retaining the two decisions, including that multiple generations of American women have partly relied on the right to abortion to gain economic and political power.
The leak resulted in a wave of rallies across the country and locally.
Whatever the intentions of the person who leaked Alito’s draft opinion, the conservatives held firm in overturning Roe and Casey.
The decision came against a backdrop of public opinion surveys that find a majority of Americans oppose overturning Roe and handing the question of whether to permit abortion entirely to the states. Polls conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and others also have consistently shown about 1 in 10 Americans want abortion to be illegal in all cases. A majority are in favor of abortion being legal in all or most circumstances, but polls indicate many also support restrictions especially later in pregnancy.
The Biden administration and other defenders of abortion rights have warned that a decision overturning Roe also would threaten other high court decisions in favor of gay rights and even potentially, contraception.
Justice Clarence Thomas, the member of the court most open to jettisoning prior decisions, wrote a separate opinion in which he explicitly called on his colleagues to put the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage, gay sex and even contraception cases on the table.
But Alito contended that his analysis addresses abortion only. “Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion,” he wrote. | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/supreme-court-overturns-abortion-returns-decision-to-states/QV6ZZ5GRYRF7TIOLUVSA3I2A5A/ | 2022-06-24T15:27:57 | 0 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/supreme-court-overturns-abortion-returns-decision-to-states/QV6ZZ5GRYRF7TIOLUVSA3I2A5A/ |
DALLAS — Recent studies show that kids are spending more time gaming than ever.
Children ages 5-8 spend about 40 minutes a day playing some sort of video game. And kids over the age of 8 play for almost an hour and a half. If today's Digital Parents think games are everywhere, they may be right.
"It's become one of those activities that everybody does, even if they say they don't do it," said Jeff Haynes, Senior Video Game Editor for Common Sense Media. "Chances are they're probably gaming. In fact, playing games by and of itself is a human activity. Gaming by itself is not a bad thing – it’s just in how you wind up doing it."
Haynes' job is to help parents make informed decisions when it comes to the games today's kids are playing. Common Sense Media provides reviews and insight into a wide variety of content kids have access to, including video games. Their work highlights not just an overall rating for a specific game, but also whether or not that title includes adult language, excessive violence, commercialization, even positive role models.
It's a useful tool for parents trying to keep tabs on what their kids are playing and how much time they're spending gaming. Though Haynes is quick to remind that it's not the quantity of time spent gaming, but the quality.
"There's nothing wrong with having the option to play a game, especially if you've gotten your homework or chores done, as a way to unwind," he said." Everybody needs to do it. Playing games is a human activity."
Defenders of gaming will say the industry gets a bad wrap. That many games are educational and can help kids build important life skills.
Haynes said it's important to remember that much like sports or even plain board games, video games can be a productive and worthwhile endeavor to relax, bond with friends or even just blow off some steam.
But he said parents should be concerned when a kid elevates gaming above everything else in life, neglecting schoolwork, chores and other responsibilities. And it's also a red flag if a kid suddenly becomes secretive about their gaming habits, hiding things from mom or dad.
Another concern for parents - chat functionality built in to many of today's games. Many times, the person on the other end of that chat is anonymous. Which means parents don't always know who their kid is talking to, or what they're talking about. Haynes recommends disabling chat features if a parent is uncomfortable.
And like much of parenting, Haynes said the most important tip he has for parents is a common one: talk with your kids. Or better yet, join in on the gaming with them.
"Simply sit down and ask, what is it you like about this particular title, genre, experience," Haynes said. "Ask their kid what they're into, why they like it. And then you've got this shared experience you can talk about."
More reporting on digital parenting from Marc Istook: | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/digital-parenting-gaming/287-65ac52fe-16b9-4ccd-a661-a113844d6844 | 2022-06-24T15:30:45 | 1 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/digital-parenting-gaming/287-65ac52fe-16b9-4ccd-a661-a113844d6844 |
DALLAS — The Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade in a landmark abortion ruling released Friday, eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion and letting states decide on the issue.
While many questions about the immediate impact remain to be answered, we already had an idea of how things are expected to unfold here in Texas.
Before the memo was leaked, Texas was one of 13 states to already pass a "trigger law," making most abortions illegal if Roe v. Wade got overturned.
In a statement immediately after the ruling Friday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton declared abortion illegal in Texas.
'Today, the question of abortion returns to the states," Paxton said. "And in Texas, that question has already been answered: abortion is illegal here. I look forward to defending the pro-life laws of Texas and the lives of all unborn children moving forward.”
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick previously touted the state's trigger law as ensuring "if Roe is overturned, abortion is banned in Texas."
"I am sure the left will fight to allow abortion in Texas," Patrick said. "They will not win that fight."
What is the Texas trigger law?
Under the Texas trigger law, doctors would face up to life in prison and a $100,000 for performing an abortion. The lone exception to the law would be if a woman's life is in danger. People diagnosed with cancer while pregnant or people suffering from depression or other medical issues would not qualify for the exception.
The mother would not face civil or criminal action, according to the law.
When would the Texas trigger law take effect?
Texas' total ban on abortions would start 30 days after a decision on Roe v. Wade.
What do we not know about the trigger law?
Some elements of the trigger law remain unclear, including how it could impact women who have a miscarriage and those who undergo in vitro fertilization, or IVF. The law describes "pregnant" as the moment of fertilization; in IVF, there are often multiple embryos destroyed.
Seema Mohapatra, who teaches health law and bioethics at SMU, told WFAA after the May opinion leak that some definitions in the trigger law still aren’t clear.
“That could definitely put parts of the whole IVF process at legal risk,” she said. “A lot of people are surprised that restrictions on abortion effect people who are seeking to become pregnant.”
According to CDC data, roughly 2% of infant born in the US each year are from IVF.
What is Texas' current abortion law?
Texas already bans abortion after six weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest. That was part of Senate Bill 8 passed last year, which also allows a person to sue anyone who aids or abets an abortion for up to $10,000.
What other states have "trigger" laws?
Texas is one of 13 states to have a trigger law in the case of a decision on Roe v. Wade. Here are the others:
- Arkansas
- Idaho
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Wyoming | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/roe-v-wade-abortion-scotus-supreme-court-ruling-texas-trigger-law-explainer/287-75949629-4a17-4b50-9cea-0810cc5bef69 | 2022-06-24T15:30:51 | 0 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/roe-v-wade-abortion-scotus-supreme-court-ruling-texas-trigger-law-explainer/287-75949629-4a17-4b50-9cea-0810cc5bef69 |
DALLAS — The Supreme Court has ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, the longtime legal precedent guaranteeing the right of legal abortion in the U.S.
The 6-3 ruling was handed down Friday morning, a major decision after months of protests and years of legal fighting over abortion rights in the country.
The court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was a determination of the constitutionality of a 2018 Mississippi law banning most abortions after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. For more background on the ruling, click here.
In light of the Supreme Court's decision today and its impact on Roe v. Wade, we're tracking reactions from North Texas leaders, activists and legal experts.
Here's a look at reactions from Texas officials:
Gov. Greg Abbott
"The U.S. Supreme Court correctly overturned Roe v. Wade and reinstated the right of states to protect innocent, unborn children. Texas is a pro-life state, and we have taken significant action to protect the sanctity of life. Texas has also prioritized supporting women's healthcare and expectant mothers in need to give them the necessary resources so that they can choose life for their child. I signed laws that extended Medicaid health care coverage to six months post-partum, appropriated $345 million for women's health programs, and invested more than $100 million toward our Alternatives to Abortion program. This critical program provides counseling, mentoring, care coordination, and material assistance, such as car seats, diapers, and housing to mothers in need. Texas will always fight for the innocent unborn, and I will continue working with the Texas legislature and all Texans to save every child from the ravages of abortion and help our expectant mothers in need."
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton
"SCOTUS just overruled Roe & Casey, ending one of the most morally & legally corrupt eras in US history. Praise the Lord. Abortion is now illegal in Texas. And today I’m closing my office—and making it an annual holiday—as a memorial to the 70 million lives lost bc of abortion."
Texas Democrats
“Nearly 50 years ago, the Supreme Court enshrined in Roe v. Wade the fundamental right to reproductive freedom for all Americans. Today, our worst fear was realized: the Court has overturned that ruling, ending the federal constitutional protection of abortion rights and threatening the reproductive liberty of millions of Americans. No child or adult should be forced to carry a pregnancy to term against their will. By supporting this decision and enacting legislation like the ‘trigger’ law, Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans have made it clear they are hellbent on doing just that. With the passage of Texas’s six-week abortion ban, these radical far-right conservatives have already made Texas an incredibly dangerous place to live for the millions who sought to exercise their previously-protected right to abortion. Now, Texas has become exponentially more dangerous with the activation of this dystopian and extremist law. Nevertheless, we cannot and will not stop fighting. Make no mistake: Texas Democrats will not sit idly by as Republicans threaten the lives and liberty of millions of Texans. Today’s decision is a blaring, five-alarm call to action. It is more important than ever that we send to Washington true, fearless leaders who are ready to fight to codify abortion at the federal level. It is more important than ever that we elect Beto O’Rourke as governor, flip the Texas Legislature, and elect Democrats up and down the ticket who will overturn Greg Abbott’s draconian and brutal laws imposing the will of a tiny minority on the entirety of our state. We cannot tolerate anything less. This is the moment to organize, raise our voices, and create change. The urgency of protecting abortion access has never been greater; the threat to our livelihoods and freedoms has never been more immediate. This November, Texans have a choice: radical conservatives running on a platform of anti-freedom and anti-Texan authoritarianism, forced birth, and human suffering – or Democrats up and down the ticket who will cushion the blow of today’s national trauma by ensuring Texans can live without fear of forfeiting the right to their most basic bodily autonomy. The choice is clear. The moment to act is right now.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick
"Today is a tremendous day for life. The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization adheres to the constitution and returns the decision on abortion back to the states. Because of our trigger bill that we passed last year, in 30 days, abortion will be banned in Texas. I thank God for delivering us this day, and I am so proud that Texas has taken the lead to ensure that such evil can no longer live in our state. Since I first took office in 2007, protecting life has been my top priority. In 2011, I authored the Sonogram Law, and in 2021, I was proud to lead the Texas Senate in passing the Heartbeat Act, which dramatically reduced the number of abortions that occur in Texas. Media estimates report that as many as 62 million innocent lives have been ended since the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade in 1973. Words cannot do that unfathomable number justice. The left will surely fight to keep the abortion industry alive in Texas, but they will fail. The Supreme Court's ruling is an acknowledgement of the truth: when an abortion is performed, a human life is ended. This watershed victory is not just a victory for innocent life, but a victory for all of humanity."
Sen. Ted Cruz
“The Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs case, reversing Roe v. Wade, is nothing short of a massive victory for life, and it will save the lives of millions of innocent babies. The decision reverses one of the most egregious departures from the Constitution and legal precedent the United States has ever seen, and one that has resulted in the deaths of 63 million American children. Roe was wrong the day it was decided, and it has been wrong every day since then. If you search for the word ‘abortion’ in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, you won’t find it. The Court at the time acknowledged that, and yet Roe created a brand new constitutional ‘right’ out of whole cloth. And while the left manically argues that the Dobbs decision makes abortion illegal throughout the country, that is false. What this decision does is leave abortion policy up to the states and returns power to the American people—which is exactly how questions of abortion were handled before Roe. This is a momentous day, and yet the fight for life doesn’t end with the Dobbs decision. It simply begins a new chapter. I’ve been proud to stand for life in the U.S. Senate, and I will continue to do so as we navigate the path ahead.”
Planned Parenthood Texas
“Today, the U.S. Supreme Court erased nearly 50 years of history and its responsibility to uphold legal precedent. This deplorable ruling by the Court’s conservative majority strips Americans of their constitutional rights and further erodes abortion access in Texas. This dangerous outcome opens the floodgates for more states across the country to ban abortion. Texans know all too well the reality of living in a post-Roe world. For more than nine months under S.B 8, Texans have been denied access to abortion in their own state and have been forced to continue a pregnancy, seek abortion outside the health care system, or travel hundreds or even thousands of miles if they can secure the funds, time off from work, child care, and transportation needed to access abortion out of state. Providers have been forced to turn away patients. It’s heartbreaking and completely preventable. Forcing someone to continue a pregnancy against their will is a grave violation of human rights and dignity. All Americans deserve to live under a rule of law that respects their bodily autonomy and reproductive decisions. Let’s be clear: today’s ruling and its unraveling of Roe v. Wade will not end the need for abortion. This decision will have damaging effects for generations. And we know the impacts of this decision will fall hardest on the communities who already face discriminatory obstacles to health care—particularly Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities, people with disabilities, people in rural areas, young people, LGBTQ+ people, undocumented people, and those having difficulty making ends meet. The fate of Roe is not the fate of Planned Parenthood. Today our doors are open and they will remain open to serve Texans who need access to essential reproductive health care. Our priority will remain restoring and expanding access to that care, including abortion, for all Texans.”
Republican Party of Texas
"Today is a historic day which Republicans and Pro-Life advocates have waited for a generation. It will be remembered in history as the day the United States of America reversed one of the most unjust, damaging and plainly incorrect judicial decisions in it's history. Thankfully, the left's egregious attack on our government institutions failed, and justice was done. We also are grateful for the work of Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, Sen. Angela Paxton, and the Republican and Democrat legislators who passed the law which will now protect the lives of all unborn children in Texas. The Republican Party of Texas continues to support facilitating adoptions and providing assistance to mothers in need both during and after their pregnancies. During the 87th Texas Legislature funding was greatly increased for the Alternatives to Abortion program, which received a total of $100 million for the biennium. This program gives mothers access to needed resources during and after their pregnancy. The program assists new mothers and their children by providing items like diapers, formula, car seats, and classes on pregnancy and parenting. Additionally, private nonprofit crisis pregnancy centers like Birth Choice in Dallas, the Trotter House in Austin, and Houston Pregnancy Help Center in Houston provide services to assist mothers both during and after pregnancy."
Texas Organizing Project
“Today, our nation’s right-wing political machine, fueled by lies and a desire to continue the sinister, violent legacy of white supremacy, stripped Americans of their fundamental right to safe and legal abortion – a ruthless crusade nearly 50 years in the making. Words alone cannot fully convey the atrociousness of this partisan opinion, the ways in which it jeopardizes countless other inherent personal freedoms, and the level of harm it will inflict on our nation’s marginalized communities – notably Black and Latino. This methodical undermining of our fundamental rights is par for the course for this Supreme Court. It is this right-wing court that has shattered protections in the Voting Rights Act and has now gutted rights established by Miranda v. Arizona. It is no coincidence whatsoever that right-wing extremists are hell-bent on banning us from making decisions for ourselves, literally not allowing us as human beings to have the power to determine our own futures. The fight for healthcare broadly, and abortion access specifically, IS a fight for racial justice. In his absurd majority draft opinion drenched in cynicism, Justice Alito states “Women are not without electoral or political power” – a twisted and insulting invitation for us to re-secure these human rights ourselves at the state legislative level, since our reactionary-ruled Supreme Court will not recognize them. We fully intend to turn Alito’s backhanded dare on its head, and fight tooth and nail with allies for however long is necessary to ensure that all – no matter our race, income level, or ZIP Code – have access to the abortion care we all deserve. We will leave no stone unturned in using this dare as a catalyst for bold, people-powered transformation. Our presence will be felt in the streets, and our rage will be channeled at the ballot box as we will stop at nothing to win, because future generations deserve so much more than regressive policies holding us back from living the full, happy lives we all have a right to live.”
Republican National Committee
"Life wins! Millions of Americans are celebrating today’s ruling and a pro-life movement that has worked tirelessly for decades. For a half century unelected judges have dictated America’s abortion laws. This historic ruling rightfully returns power to the American people to enact laws that protect unborn children and support mothers everywhere. As this debate now returns to the states and the American people, we know there is still much work ahead. Republicans will continue to advocate for life, uphold the law, and stand against an extreme Democrat Party’s pro-abortion agenda.”
More coverage of Roe v. Wade: | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/roe-v-wade-overturned-north-texas-reactions/287-e4d7f3db-783b-4d0a-8847-69770a43185a | 2022-06-24T15:30:57 | 1 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/roe-v-wade-overturned-north-texas-reactions/287-e4d7f3db-783b-4d0a-8847-69770a43185a |
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — The World Games is less than two weeks away and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says they need more money to help manage the events.
Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway has asked the Jefferson County Commission for $1.2 million to help with the games. He asked for the money because they didn’t have the funds in their budget for the World Games, and agencies who were supposed to help them backed out.
Pettway said you can’t put a price tag on safety.
“We don’t want something to go wrong and say that we should have done this or we could have done this,” Pettway said. “We want to say when you come here and the world is watching us, they see the best and the world is watching us and be safe.”
The money will pay officers for working on their off days and pay over time.
Jefferson County Commissioner Joe Knight said this is a last-minute request considering the World Games are two weeks away. The commission is also two-thirds through its $80 million budget for the fiscal year.
Knight said the commission still has a lot of questions for Sheriff Pettway before the funds can be given.
“We’re trying to be conservative with the funds, we’re looking dead in the eye of a recession, inflation out of control and is hurting everybody,” Knight said. “We’re having to make adjustments all over the board, and we all have to take a look holistically at what we got, what we need, and what we can use.”
The next county commission meeting is July 14, three days before the World Games end. The commission will have to call a special call meeting in order to approve the funds. | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/jefferson-county-sheriff-asking-commission-for-1-2-million-to-help-manage-world-games/ | 2022-06-24T15:45:26 | 1 | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/jefferson-county-sheriff-asking-commission-for-1-2-million-to-help-manage-world-games/ |
Las Cruces boy finds bone marrow match in sister. Here is their transplant story.
LAS CRUCES – Moustapha Idrissa and Balkissa Boubacar’s first child was born eight years ago. Muhammad was perfect and the young family was happy. However, standard tests on the newborn revealed he had sickle cell anemia.
Sickle cell diseases are inherited blood disorders that affect millions of people each year — particularly those with ancestors from sub-Saharan Africa, Spanish-speaking areas of the Western Hemisphere, Saudi Arabia, India and several Mediterranean countries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Normal red blood cells are circular and contain the protein hemoglobin which carries oxygen. But in patients who have SCD, their hemoglobin is abnormal, causing red blood cells to become sickle- or banana-shaped. The odd shape can lead to blockages, strokes and other complications.
Many people diagnosed with the disorders experience excruciating pain. Muhammad has not.
“Some describe it as if you take a nail and hammer hitting the bone,” Moustapha said, noting that some people are given morphine because the pain is so bad.
The disease can be managed in some cases by making sure the person isn’t too hot or too cold, is hydrated and by managing diet. These are several of the ways the Idrissa family managed Muhammad’s condition and he has largely been able to lead a normal life. Still, Muhammad has taken note of how his childhood differs from others.
More:Meet a Las Cruces mom who donated her breastmilk amid the formula shortage
“When he was young, he (would) ask me why is he the only one getting poked (by needles) all the time,” Moustapha said of his son. “When I take him to the hospital and they try to get blood from him, sometime they check him three, four, five times a day getting like five, ten tubes (of blood). It’s hard.”
Muhammad needs bone marrow transplant
Moustapha is from The Republic of Niger in West Africa but traveled to the U.S. as an adult. The family later moved from Washington D.C. to Santa Fe where Moustapha studied sustainable agriculture, including hydroponics and aquaponics. He also operated a popular food cart, Mafe Café, where he served West African and New Mexican fusion food.
In 2019, Moustapha took Muhammad to Tennessee for routine scans after he started exhibiting SCD symptoms. Doctors found Muhammad had suffered a silent stroke, which happens when blood and oxygen are blocked from going to the brain, but the patient exhibits no noticeable symptoms. This can be a warning of a more serious stroke.
Moustapha said doctors suggested Muhammad needed a bone marrow transplant — the only known treatment to cure SCD.
By this time the family had grown to include another son, Ibrahim, and daughter, Jennah, who was born premature weighing just 2 pounds. She had to stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for months before her family could take her home.
Muhammad's family were tested to see if they were a bone marrow match. It wasn’t until Jennah was 9 months old that she was tested and she came back a perfect bone marrow match for her older brother. However, Jennah needed to grow before the transplant procedure could happen.
“That's a big sigh of relief because some people go like 20, 15 years (before a donor match is found) and that can create all kind of problems. And so we're really happy,” Moustapha said.
Moving to Las Cruces
In the meantime, the family moved to Las Cruces in July 2020 at the advice of doctors and Muhammad started getting blood transfusions every few weeks. Another way to manage SCD is to avoid high elevations.
The blood transfusions are used to trick Muhammad’s body into thinking there is no need to produce more blood cells, as there are already enough in his body. So far this has been successful, but it also means Muhammad has accumulated more iron in his body than is safe. Doctors are currently working to address this.
Today, Muhammad is 8 years old and Jennah is 3. Their siblings, Ibrahim and Iman, are 5 years and 18 months, respectively. Muhammad is the only child to be diagnosed with SCD.
Moustapaha described his children as happy, energetic little ones. After moving to Las Cruces, he started taking classes at New Mexico State University and recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences.
The transplant process is scheduled to begin in July at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Testing and preparation will take about a month, Moustapha said, then the actual procedure will take place. The following month will be critical to ensure Muhammad’s body accepts the transplant and to allow Jennah to heal.
According to the Mayo Clinic, Muhammad’s immune system will be suppressed to prepare for the transplant. Samples taken from Jennah will be introduced to her brother's body. The idea is that the new bone marrow will allow Muhammad’s body to produce healthy, circular red blood cells on its own.
The entire family will relocate to Seattle for nearly a year as it is too expensive to maintain residences in both states. Moustapha said he will likely not be able to work while caring for his hospitalized children. A friend of the family started a GoFundMe page for them to help with travel costs, living expenses and any other medical expenses that may not be covered by insurance.
The online fundraiser has raised more than $4,600, but the page has a goal of $50,000.
Moustapha added that he was uncomfortable asking for help because he prefers to be the person who gives to others. But his family needs help and he is thankful for the generosity of the New Mexico community.
Next year, after the children are healthy, he said he plans to move the family back to Las Cruces, where he hopes to complete his master’s degree at NMSU. Las Crucens may even have the chance to try Moustapha’s fusion food.
'Promise to God'
Moustapha’s long-term goal is to return to Africa to share the knowledge he has gained in his college studies and also to help people there suffering from SCD. Many do not have access to treatments such as those in western countries. He hopes to establish a sickle cell foundation in Africa.
“I made a promise to God that (once my son is healthy), I'm going to also help every sickle cell patient I come across,” Moustapha said.
He also made a promise to Muhammad and said his son is looking forward to the transplant.
“He's excited about the bone marrow transplant because I told him I'll take him to Africa after the transplant, but right now he has a port it’s not recommended I travel with him to Africa” Moustapha said. “He keeps telling people, ‘once my port is removed, then I can go to Africa and ride a horse.’ So he's excited about that. He wants to play, wants to have fun.”
Those interested in making a donation to the Idrissa family can do so online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/muhammads-sickle-cell-anemia-transplant-surgery.
Leah Romero is the trending reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News and can be reached at 575-418-3442, LRomero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on Twitter. | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/2022/06/24/las-cruces-boy-finds-bone-marrow-match-in-sister-sickle-cell-disease/65361669007/ | 2022-06-24T15:48:22 | 1 | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/2022/06/24/las-cruces-boy-finds-bone-marrow-match-in-sister-sickle-cell-disease/65361669007/ |
Lincoln National Forest among public lands reopening in New Mexico
ALAMOGORDO — Some national forests in Arizona and New Mexico are relaxing fire restrictions and reopening, thanks to a strong start to the annual rainy season in the southwest U.S.
The monsoon has delivered much-needed moisture to the parched region and relief from scorching temperatures. Forecasters say Arizona has a good chance of getting above-average rain through the season that runs through September. New Mexico has equal chances of above, below and normal rainfall.
Two national forests that border New Mexico's most populated areas — the Santa Fe and the Cibola forests — along with the Lincoln and Carson forests largely will reopen Friday after being closed because of wildfire danger. That means residents and visitors once again will be able to hit the hiking, biking and horse riding trails, and camp there.
More:Federal forest officials worried about long-term impact of New Mexico wildfire burn scar
Some pockets will remain closed because of active wildfires, or the threat of flash flooding or trees falling.
Restrictions across the forests and other public land vary on whether campfires are allowed without limits or only in developed areas. Bandelier National Monument also will ease fire restrictions Friday.
The Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in eastern Arizona is rescinding all fire restrictions Friday, but officials urged visitors to avoid lighting campfires in hot, dry conditions.
Lightning from monsoon storms also can ignite new blazes. Eight small fires were reported in Arizona and New Mexico on Wednesday, two of which were caused by lightning.
A dozen large wildfires are burning in the two states in what has so far been a historic start to the fire season due to hot, dry and windy conditions brought on by drought and climate change. | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2022/06/24/lincoln-national-forest-among-public-lands-reopening-in-new-mexico/65363262007/ | 2022-06-24T15:48:28 | 0 | https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2022/06/24/lincoln-national-forest-among-public-lands-reopening-in-new-mexico/65363262007/ |
The United States Supreme Court today overturned the constitutional right to abortion, allowing individual states to ban the procedure or impose heavier regulations on it.
The decision erased a 7-2 decision in 1973 by a conservative court that ruled a woman’s decision to have an abortion during the first three months of her pregnancy must be left to her and her doctor.
The Dayton Daily News took a closer look at what we know so far, what could happen next, and how people could be affected.
What does decision mean for Ohio?
Abortion is legal in Ohio. However, the state is among those likely to ban it at some point if Roe is overturned.
The Ohio General Assembly is considering two proposed trigger bans, Senate Bill 123 and House Bill 598, which would ban abortions if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe. The bills include exceptions if necessary to prevent death or significant bodily harm to the pregnant person.
Several Ohio laws also have been passed over the years to restrict abortions but are on hold by the courts based on current precedent. Overturning Roe v. Wade could potentially impact these laws.
Will people travel to other states for abortion?
Travel times and wait times will get longer if a ban happens in Ohio.
If Michigan and Pennsylvania do not ban abortion in a post-Roe scenario, Ohioans would need to travel at most 279 miles to access an abortion provider, according to Payal Chakraborty, a researcher getting a Ph.D. in epidemiology at Ohio State University. She is part of the Ohio Policy Evaluation Network, a collaboration studying abortion and policy.
If those states also ban abortion, the longest distance an Ohioan would have to drive would be 339 miles.
Currently, the longest drive Ohioans have to make is 99 miles to get one way to the nearest abortion facility.
The impact of increased driving distance is not equitably distributed, Chakraborty said, based on her research.
“So people with financial insecurity, people of color and people living in rural areas are disproportionately impacted by a ban on abortion in Ohio,” she said.
Who typically gets an abortion in Ohio?
The decision will impact thousands each year seeking abortions in the state.
There were 20,605 induced abortions in Ohio in 2020, according to the latest annual report by the Ohio Department of Health. This includes 19,438 abortions obtained by Ohio residents (94.3%). While there was an increase in 2020, overall there has been a steady decline in terminations over the past two decades.
The majority of patients who received abortions were in their 20s (59.2%). Most were less than nine weeks pregnant (62.3%).
About 48% of residents who received an abortion in Ohio were Black and nearly 44% were white. About 77.4% of patients reported they were not Hispanic, while 4.6% reported they were Hispanic, though a significant portion (17.9%) didn’t report either category.
About 86% of women with known marital status who obtained abortions were never married, divorced or widowed.
About 38% of women who received an Ohio abortion in 2020 reported a high school degree or GED as their highest level of education. The second most common education level was some college but no degree (22.4%).
About the Author | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/roe-v-wade-overturned-who-this-will-impact-in-ohio/B27TZYRFNFHO7CJ5KS7MRYHO2E/ | 2022-06-24T15:49:31 | 0 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/roe-v-wade-overturned-who-this-will-impact-in-ohio/B27TZYRFNFHO7CJ5KS7MRYHO2E/ |
JACKSON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Troopers shot and killed a man after an hours-long standoff Thursday night in Monroe County.
According to state police, a woman called 911 around 8 p.m., saying her husband locked himself inside a room in their home in Jackson Township, near Bartonsville, threatening to kill himself and shoot police.
When state police got to the home, Keith Carroll refused to come out for nearly two hours.
Authorities say around 10 p.m., Carroll came out holding a gun. Troopers shot and killed the man.
The deadly shooting is under investigation.
See news happening? Text our Newstip Hotline. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/monroe-county/troopers-shoot-kill-man-after-standoff-monroe-county-jackson-township/523-d1be7414-ab8d-4900-b035-b8b7b3b617ba | 2022-06-24T15:51:22 | 1 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/monroe-county/troopers-shoot-kill-man-after-standoff-monroe-county-jackson-township/523-d1be7414-ab8d-4900-b035-b8b7b3b617ba |
ALBANY — Macon native Bethany Jackson, a sophomore forensic science and chemistry double major at Albany State University, will conduct research this summer with professors at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., on “Developing Stronger Seal Integrity During Geologic CO2 Sequestration.”
During her research, Jackson will learn more about geologic carbon sequestration as a method of securing carbon dioxide (CO2) in deep geologic formations. The process would prevent the release of CO2 into the atmosphere so that it does not contribute to global warming.
Jackson is a student committed to academic excellence and has held a 3.5 grade-point average since enrolling at ASU.
Her current research is “Trend Analysis of Variance of Opioid Prevalence in Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida,” and the findings will be presented at the 2022 ASU Undergraduate Research Symposium in the fall.
She is also a member of the Velma Fudge Grant Honors Program, and the College Exchange Club.
What is your major at Albany State University and what motivated you to learn more about that field?
My major is forensic science and chemistry. This stems from my passion to work with the FBI one day.
Why did you choose ASU?
I chose ASU because the institution has everything I need and more to create the career path that best fits me, especially since ASU is the only school in Georgia with an accredited Forensic Science program.
What do you love most about your chosen field?
I love the fact that my chosen career field is so diverse and complex. There is always going to be something new or different and room to elevate in my field.
What are you most excited to learn about in your summer internship at Washington University?
Since I will be studying carbon dioxide, I am most excited to learn how to apply my research skills into other areas, specifically engineering, and how it relates to the world of chemistry.
Who has made the biggest impact on you at ASU?
Dr. Florence Lyons has made the biggest impact on me at ASU. Without her, I wouldn’t be in this program or doing research at one of the top institutions. She really guided me to reach my fullest potential in anything I want to do.
What are obstacles you’ve had to overcome to progress as a college student?
As a college student, obstacles such as mental health, death in the family, and just stress are things I have had to overcome. But I didn’t let them defeat me.
What advice would you give to students with an interest in your field or at ASU?
If you are interested in the forensic science and chemistry career fields at ASU, know that this field is based on science and research. So if you’re interested, be ready to be hands-on and in the lab. | https://www.albanyherald.com/local/albany-state-university-student-to-conduct-summer-research-at-washington-university/article_cc095cae-f32e-11ec-8c90-6bc39f3c916c.html | 2022-06-24T15:59:16 | 0 | https://www.albanyherald.com/local/albany-state-university-student-to-conduct-summer-research-at-washington-university/article_cc095cae-f32e-11ec-8c90-6bc39f3c916c.html |
CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK)—West Virginia Governor Jim Justice sent a press release immediately after news broke that the Supreme Court had overturned Roe v. Wade.
He applauded the decision to “return abortion law to the states.”
“I applaud the Supreme Court’s courageous decision today. I’ve said many times that I very proudly stand for life and I am rock-solid against abortion, and I believe that every human life is a miracle worth protecting.
I will not hesitate to call a special session after consulting with the Legislature and my legal team if clarification in our laws needs to be made.”
Gov. Jim Justice | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/gov-justice-applauds-roe-v-wade-decision/ | 2022-06-24T15:59:17 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/gov-justice-applauds-roe-v-wade-decision/ |
...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM EDT /9 AM CDT/ THIS
MORNING TO 9 PM EDT /8 PM CDT/ THIS EVENING...
* WHAT...Heat index values of 105 to 110 expected.
* WHERE...Portions of southeast Alabama, south central and
southwest Georgia and Big Bend and Panhandle Florida.
* WHEN...From 10 AM EDT /9 AM CDT/ to 9 PM EDT /8 PM CDT/ Friday.
* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat
illnesses to occur.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out
of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young
children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles
under any circumstances.
Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When
possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or
evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat
stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when
possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent
rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone
overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location.
Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1.
&&
Tons of debris have been removed from Lee County waterways during the county’s annual Rivers Alive event
LEESBURG — The Lee County Chamber of Commerce and the Lee County Code Enforcement Office have been the event organizers of the county’s annual Rivers Alive cleanup event for the past 16 years, during which several thousand pounds of litter and debris have been removed from the Kinchafoonee and Muckalee creeks and the Flint River.
The program encourages the protection and preservation of area waterways and allows many area youths to see and explore the local natural environment.
The chamber and Code Enforcement personnel are seeking sponsorships from the community to support this year’s Rivers Alive event. Company logos or names will be on the back of event T-shirts, included in media releases and other various marketing tools used to promote this event. Sponsorships are $250.
This event, which is part of the county’s stormwater program, partners with area groups that have an interest in water quality and protection of the environment. These partnerships include the Flint RiverQuarium, Chehaw Park, Leesburg Law Enforcement Explorers, LCHS School’s Navy J.R.O.T.C. program, and the Flint Riverkeeper. The yearly event attracts 200-plus volunteers.
Over the years of removing debris, the volunteers have removed several unusual items from the creek bed and banks. These include sunken boats, washing machines/dryers, bicycles, wheel barrels, a Dr Pepper drink machine, an engine block and an intact camper shell.
Lee County Rivers Alive has been successful each year in improving the water quality and appearance of our waterways due to the support and assistance that is received though the Lee County Board of Commissioners, the city of Leesburg, off-duty fire staff, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Lee County Public Works and the Chamber of Commerce. Last year’s event netted several pounds of debris from the creeks.
Interested individuals or business representatives are encouraged to contact Leslie Barbosa at (229) 759-2422 or lbarbosa@lee.ga.us by Friday.
Santa Clara University rounded up 10 of the most popular occupations for people with a bachelor's business degree, including sales, finance, and management. Click for more.
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accounts, the history behind an article. | https://www.albanyherald.com/local/lee-county-chamber-code-enforcement-seek-rivers-alive-sponsors/article_56d3bcba-f322-11ec-acd7-77a759e940f1.html | 2022-06-24T15:59:17 | 0 | https://www.albanyherald.com/local/lee-county-chamber-code-enforcement-seek-rivers-alive-sponsors/article_56d3bcba-f322-11ec-acd7-77a759e940f1.html |
SAN ANTONIO — Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales is speaking out after the Supreme Court released its opinion overturning Roe V. Wade Friday. In Texas, a "trigger law" is poised to go in to effect in 30 days that will ban abortions in the state under almost all circumstances.
Gonzales is holding a press conference Friday morning along with local reproductive rights groups, the Buckle Bunnies Fund and the Lilith Fund.
When the draft opinion on the case was leaked back in early May, Gonzales said he would not prosecute women seeking abortions.
"While I am the elected district attorney and our office is responsible for making those prosecuting decisions, my commitment to the citizens of Bexar County is that I am not going to prosecute someone who makes a decision about her own body," he said on May 3.
Gonzales believes the decision will jeopardize the health and safety of women faced with impossible and very personal choices about their own bodies and health. He was one of five Texas District Attorneys to sign a letter pledging to not prosecute a person's personal and private decisions regarding their own bodies. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/bexar-county-da-responds-to-supreme-court-decision-to-overturn-roe-v-wade-abortions-trigger-law/273-35d0cad7-0a99-4d0f-b825-d0edb789d84d | 2022-06-24T16:01:21 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/bexar-county-da-responds-to-supreme-court-decision-to-overturn-roe-v-wade-abortions-trigger-law/273-35d0cad7-0a99-4d0f-b825-d0edb789d84d |
DALLAS — The Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade in a landmark abortion ruling released Friday, eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion and letting states decide on the issue.
While many questions about the immediate impact remain to be answered, we already had an idea of how things are expected to unfold here in Texas.
Before the memo was leaked, Texas was one of 13 states to already pass a "trigger law," making most abortions illegal if Roe v. Wade got overturned.
In a statement immediately after the ruling Friday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton declared abortion illegal in Texas.
'Today, the question of abortion returns to the states," Paxton said. "And in Texas, that question has already been answered: abortion is illegal here. I look forward to defending the pro-life laws of Texas and the lives of all unborn children moving forward.”
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick previously touted the state's trigger law as ensuring "if Roe is overturned, abortion is banned in Texas."
"I am sure the left will fight to allow abortion in Texas," Patrick said. "They will not win that fight."
What is the Texas trigger law?
Under the Texas trigger law, doctors would face up to life in prison and a $100,000 for performing an abortion. The lone exception to the law would be if a woman's life is in danger. People diagnosed with cancer while pregnant or people suffering from depression or other medical issues would not qualify for the exception.
The mother would not face civil or criminal action, according to the law.
When would the Texas trigger law take effect?
Texas' total ban on abortions would start 30 days after a decision on Roe v. Wade.
What do we not know about the trigger law?
Some elements of the trigger law remain unclear, including how it could impact women who have a miscarriage and those who undergo in vitro fertilization, or IVF. The law describes "pregnant" as the moment of fertilization; in IVF, there are often multiple embryos destroyed.
Seema Mohapatra, who teaches health law and bioethics at SMU, told WFAA after the May opinion leak that some definitions in the trigger law still aren’t clear.
“That could definitely put parts of the whole IVF process at legal risk,” she said. “A lot of people are surprised that restrictions on abortion effect people who are seeking to become pregnant.”
According to CDC data, roughly 2% of infant born in the US each year are from IVF.
What is Texas' current abortion law?
Texas already bans abortion after six weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest. That was part of Senate Bill 8 passed last year, which also allows a person to sue anyone who aids or abets an abortion for up to $10,000.
What other states have "trigger" laws?
Texas is one of 13 states to have a trigger law in the case of a decision on Roe v. Wade. Here are the others:
- Arkansas
- Idaho
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Wyoming | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/roe-v-wade-abortion-scotus-supreme-court-ruling-texas-trigger-law-explainer/287-75949629-4a17-4b50-9cea-0810cc5bef69 | 2022-06-24T16:01:27 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/roe-v-wade-abortion-scotus-supreme-court-ruling-texas-trigger-law-explainer/287-75949629-4a17-4b50-9cea-0810cc5bef69 |
SAN ANTONIO — The Supreme Court has ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, the longtime legal precedent guaranteeing the right of legal abortion in the U.S.
The 6-3 ruling Friday in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was a determination of the constitutionality of a 2018 Mississippi law banning most abortions after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Leaders representing Texas and the San Antonio area are reacting to this major development.
Governor Greg Abbott quickly tweeted his support of the decision, saying "Texas is a pro-life state. We will ALWAYS fight to save every child from the ravages of abortion." See his full statement below:
His opponent, Democratic candidate for governor, Beto O'Rourke, tweeted his reaction, saying he will overcome the decision with "political power."
Meanwhile, former San Antonio mayor and HUD Secretary, Julian Castro, voiced his opposition to the ruling, saying, "A radical court has again destroyed longstanding precedent."
His twin brother, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX 20), responded in a similar manner.
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX 23), who represents parts of South Texas, was also in support of the decision:
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat whose district includes parts of the San Antonio area, voiced his opposition to the decision, saying "too many women will needlessly suffer and die."
Planned Parenthood Texas, an abortion rights advocacy organization, also released a statement on action they plan to take from here:
Below is a joint statement from Jeffrey Hons, President & CEO, Planned Parenthood South Texas; Melaney A. Linton, President & CEO, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast; and Ken Lambrecht, President & CEO, Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas:
“Today, the U.S. Supreme Court erased nearly 50 years of history and its responsibility to uphold legal precedent. This deplorable ruling by the Court’s conservative majority strips Americans of their constitutional rights and further erodes abortion access in Texas. This dangerous outcome opens the floodgates for more states across the country to ban abortion.
“Texans know all too well the reality of living in a post-Roe world. For more than nine months under S.B 8, Texans have been denied access to abortion in their own state and have been forced to continue a pregnancy, seek abortion outside the health care system, or travel hundreds or even thousands of miles if they can secure the funds, time off from work, child care, and transportation needed to access abortion out of state. Providers have been forced to turn away patients. It’s heartbreaking and completely preventable.
“Forcing someone to continue a pregnancy against their will is a grave violation of human rights and dignity. All Americans deserve to live under a rule of law that respects their bodily autonomy and reproductive decisions. Let’s be clear: today’s ruling and its unraveling of Roe v. Wade will not end the need for abortion. This decision will have damaging effects for generations. And we know the impacts of this decision will fall hardest on the communities who already face discriminatory obstacles to health care—particularly Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities, people with disabilities, people in rural areas, young people, LGBTQ+ people, undocumented people, and those having difficulty making ends meet.
“The fate of Roe is not the fate of Planned Parenthood. Today our doors are open and they will remain open to serve Texans who need access to essential reproductive health care. Our priority will remain restoring and expanding access to that care, including abortion, for all Texans.”
The ruling is expected to disproportionately affect minority women who already face limited access to health care, according to statistics analyzed by The Associated Press.
Thirteen states, including Texas, mainly in the South and Midwest, already have laws on the books that ban abortion in the event Roe is overturned. Another half-dozen states have near-total bans or prohibitions after 6 weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.
The Biden administration and other defenders of abortion rights have warned that a decision overturning Roe also would threaten other high court decisions in favor of gay rights and even potentially, contraception. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/san-antonio-and-tx-leaders-react-to-supreme-courts-decision-to-overturn-roe-v-wade-abortion-constitution/273-ad054f1c-75a0-4d43-adfa-5a9ff6e7222e | 2022-06-24T16:01:33 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/san-antonio-and-tx-leaders-react-to-supreme-courts-decision-to-overturn-roe-v-wade-abortion-constitution/273-ad054f1c-75a0-4d43-adfa-5a9ff6e7222e |
HOUSTON — The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years in a decision by its conservative majority to overturn Roe v. Wade. Friday's outcome is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.
The decision, unthinkable just a few years ago, was the culmination of decades of efforts by abortion opponents, made possible by an emboldened right side of the court that has been fortified by three appointees of former President Donald Trump.
The ruling came more than a month after the stunning leak of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito indicating the court was prepared to take this momentous step.
It puts the court at odds with a majority of Americans who favored preserving Roe, according to opinion polls.
Alito, in the final opinion issued Friday, wrote that Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 decision that reaffirmed the right to abortion, were wrong the day they were decided and must be overturned.
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“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision,” Alito wrote.
Authority to regulate abortion rests with the political branches, not the courts, Alito wrote.
Who voted against Roe v. Wade?
Here's a breakdown of how each of the nine justices voted in this landmark case.
Who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade?
Justices appointed by Republican presidents voted to overturn the landmark abortion-rights ruling. These are:
- Samuel Alito
- John Roberts
- Clarence Thomas
- Neil Gorsuch
- Brett Kavanaugh
- Amy Coney Barrett
Who voted to uphold Roe v. Wade
Justices appointed by Democrat presidents voted to keep the ruling these include:
- Elena Kagan
- Sonia Sotomayor
- Stephen Breyer
Joining Alito were Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. The latter three justices are Trump appointees. Thomas first voted to overrule Roe 30 years ago.
Chief Justice John Roberts would have stopped short of ending the abortion right, noting that he would have upheld the Mississippi law at the heart of the case, a ban on abortion after 15 weeks, and said no more.
Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — the diminished liberal wing of the court — were in dissent.
“With sorrow—for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection—we dissent,” they wrote.
The ruling is expected to disproportionately affect minority women who already face limited access to health care, according to statistics analyzed by The Associated Press.
Thirteen states, mainly in the South and Midwest, already have laws on the books that ban abortion in the event Roe is overturned. Another half-dozen states have near-total bans or prohibitions after 6 weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.
In roughly a half-dozen other states, the fight will be over dormant abortion bans that were enacted before Roe was decided in 1973 or new proposals to sharply limit when abortions can be performed, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.
More than 90% of abortions take place in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy, and more than half are now done with pills, not surgery, according to data compiled by Guttmacher.
PHOTOS: Crowds outside Supreme Court react to abortion ruling
The decision came against a backdrop of public opinion surveys that find a majority of Americans oppose overturning Roe and handing the question of whether to permit abortion entirely to the states. Polls conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and others also have consistently shown about 1 in 10 Americans want abortion to be illegal in all cases. A majority are in favor of abortion being legal in all or most circumstances, but polls indicate many also support restrictions especially later in pregnancy.
The Biden administration and other defenders of abortion rights have warned that a decision overturning Roe also would threaten other high court decisions in favor of gay rights and even potentially, contraception.
But Alito wrote in his draft opinion that his analysis addresses abortion only, not other rights that also stem from a right to privacy that the high court has found implicit, though not directly stated, in the Constitution. Abortion is different, Alito wrote, because of the unique moral question it poses.
Whatever the intentions of the person who leaked Alito’s draft opinion, the conservatives held firm in overturning Roe and Casey.
In his draft, Alito dismissed the arguments in favor of retaining the two decisions, including that multiple generations of American women have partly relied on the right to abortion to gain economic and political power.
Changing the composition of the court has been central to the anti-abortion side’s strategy. Mississippi and its allies made increasingly aggressive arguments as the case developed, and two high-court defenders of abortion rights retired or died. The state initially argued that its law could be upheld without overruling the court’s abortion precedents.
Then-Gov. Phil Bryant signed the 15-week measure into law in March 2018, when Justices Anthony Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg were still members of a five-justice majority that was mainly protective of abortion rights.
By early summer, Kennedy had retired and was replaced by Justice Brett Kavanaugh a few months later. The Mississippi law was blocked in lower federal courts.
But the state always was headed to the nation’s highest court. It did not even ask for a hearing before a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ultimately held the law invalid in December 2019.
By early September 2020, the Supreme Court was ready to consider the state’s appeal.
The court scheduled the case for consideration at the justices’ private conference on Sept. 29. But in the intervening weeks, Ginsburg died and Barrett was quickly nominated and confirmed without a single Democratic vote.
The stage now was set, although it took the court another half year to agree to hear the case.
By the time Mississippi filed its main written argument with the court in the summer, the thrust of its argument had changed and it was now calling for the wholesale overruling of Roe and Casey.
The first sign that the court might be receptive to wiping away the constitutional right to abortion came in late summer, when the justices divided 5-4 in allowing Texas to enforce a ban on the procedure at roughly six weeks, before some women even know they are pregnant. That dispute turned on the unique structure of the law, including its enforcement by private citizens rather than by state officials, and how it can be challenged in court.
But Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted in a searing dissent for the three liberal justices that their conservative colleagues refused to block “a flagrantly unconstitutional law” that “flouts nearly 50 years of federal precedents.” Roberts was also among the dissenters.
Then in December, after hearing additional arguments over whether to block the Texas law known as S.B. 8, the court again declined to do so, also by a 5-4 vote. “The clear purpose and actual effect of S. B. 8 has been to nullify this Court’s rulings,” Roberts wrote, in a partial dissent.
In their Senate hearings, Trump’s three high-court picks carefully skirted questions about how they would vote in any cases, including about abortion.
But even as Democrats and abortion rights supporters predicted Kavanaugh and Gorsuch would vote to upend abortion rights if confirmed, the two left at least one Republican senator with a different impression. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine predicted Gorsuch and Kavanaugh wouldn’t support overturning the abortion cases, based on private conversations she had with them when they were nominees to the Supreme Court.
Barrett was perhaps the most vocal opponent of abortion in her time as a law professor, before becoming a federal judge in 2017. She was a member of anti-abortion groups at Notre Dame University, where she taught law, and she signed a newspaper ad opposing “abortion on demand” and defending “the right to life from fertilization to natural death.” She promised to set aside her personal views when judging cases.
Trump, meanwhile, had predicted as a candidate that whoever he named to the court would “automatically” vote to overrule Roe.
What is Texas' trigger law?
The "trigger law" was passed last year by the Texas Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott.
Attorney General Ken Paxton clarified that the "Human Life Protection Act" will take effect 30 days from the court's judgment on Roe v. Wade, which is separate from today's opinion.
"A judgment is a legal document distinct from the Court’s opinion. The Court will issue its judgment only after the window for the litigants to file a motion for rehearing has closed," Paxton said in a statement. "A judgment can issue in about a month, or longer if the Court considers a motion for rehearing."
Here are key elements of the law:
- It will outlaw abortions in Texas unless the mother's life is in danger.
- It will take make performing an abortion in Texas a felony crime.
- Doctors who perform abortions could face life in prison and fines up to $100,000.
Anti-abortion advocates said the goal is to add civil penalties to the law.
Texas won't be the only state banning abortion.
Seth Chandler with the University of Houston Law Center sad about 25 states are going to have very strict limits on abortions.
Seth Chandler with the University of Houston Law Center said about 25 states are going to have very strict limits on abortions.
A recent CNN poll showed that a majority of Americans believe Roe v. Wade should not be completely overturned by the Supreme Court.
The polling shows that Americans are also concerned about the court restricting other liberties, like same-sex marriage. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/texas/roe-v-wade-decision-2022/285-d4c7141e-6b21-4666-aa86-38e082b1ab63 | 2022-06-24T16:01:39 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/texas/roe-v-wade-decision-2022/285-d4c7141e-6b21-4666-aa86-38e082b1ab63 |
HOUSTON — Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v Wade, states have the power to make their own laws regarding abortion rights, including banning them.
In Texas, the high court's decision triggers a law that will ban nearly all abortions and make them a felony.
WATCH: Live coverage from outside the U.S. Supreme Court in player above
The "trigger law" was passed last year by the Texas Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott.
Attorney General Ken Paxton clarified that the "Human Life Protection Act" will take effect 30 days from the court's judgment on Roe v. Wade, which is separate from today's opinion.
"A judgment is a legal document distinct from the Court’s opinion. The Court will issue its judgment only after the window for the litigants to file a motion for rehearing has closed," Paxton said in a statement. "A judgment can issue in about a month, or longer if the Court considers a motion for rehearing."
What is Texas' trigger law?
Here are key elements of the law:
- It will outlaw abortions in Texas unless the mother's life is in danger.
- It will take make performing an abortion in Texas a felony crime.
- Doctors who perform abortions could face life in prison and fines up to $100,000.
Anti-abortion advocates said the goal is to add civil penalties to the law.
Texas won't be the only state banning abortion.
Seth Chandler with the University of Houston Law Center sad about 25 states are going to have very strict limits on abortions.
Editor's note: A previous version of this story said that the trigger law takes effect in 30 days. It actually takes effect 30 days from the Supreme Court's judgment. A date for it hasn't been set yet. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/texas/roe-v-wade-texas-trigger-law/285-d6a132f5-9743-499c-8c86-31ab41b1a98f | 2022-06-24T16:01:45 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/texas/roe-v-wade-texas-trigger-law/285-d6a132f5-9743-499c-8c86-31ab41b1a98f |
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Politicians and organizations have been reacting to the news that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade. KSN will update this story as we get more comments.
Planned Parenthood Great Plains
Two hundred and fifty years ago, our country’s founders said, ‘All men are created equal.’ Today, the Supreme Court took the ‘men’ part literally, stripping rights from every woman in America. State by state, we have seen access to abortion virtually eliminated. Oklahoma recently enacted the first total abortion ban most Americans have seen in their lifetime. Even while reproductive rights were being taken away before our very eyes, many people still doubted Roe could ever fall. Today this creeping march to crush fundamental freedoms has reached its awful conclusion: your body is not your own. Your rights are entirely dependent on where you reside. Yet in this very grim moment in American history, Planned Parenthood Great Plains’ doors are still open and will stay open, to provide sexual and reproductive care today, tomorrow, and for years to come. Our services may be forced to change due to cruel bans on abortion care, but our commitment to our patients remains.”
Emily Wales, president and CEO, Planned Parenthood Great Plains
U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R – Kansas)
“Since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, numerous, sensible laws designed to protect the lives of the unborn have been blocked by unelected judges. Today, nearly 50 years after Roe, the Supreme Court rule there is no constitutional right to an abortion. As Justice Alito stated, ‘It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.’ With this ruling, the American people will again have the opportunity to make their voices heard through their representatives and the legislative process. This historic decision will now allow legislatures, accountable to the citizens who elected them, to take action to pass laws that protect children in the womb and support their mothers.”
U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R – Kansas)
“As an OBGYN, I had the honor of delivering more than 5,000 babies. Because of these wonderful moments and experiences, I believe life begins at conception. In fact, this is why today’s historic decision signals a new beginning for millions of unborn American children.
“In many states, this monumental ruling will trigger protections for the well-being of moms and guard the sanctity of life for their sons and daughters. Hopefully, today begins healing the wounds the pro-abortion agenda ripped open on American society almost 50 years ago.”
He goes on to say:
“All this being said, I want to remind everyone that putting an end to Roe vs Wade simply places this emotion-filled issue into the hands of the citizens of this country and their elected state officials, as opposed to unelected members of the federal judiciary. Nothing more, nothing less.
“I urge all Americans to remain peaceful and respectful during the protests of this decision.
“Justice cannot and will not be served under the threat of mob violence so help us God.”
Click here to watch Marshall’s complete statement.
U.S. Representative Tracey Mann (R – Kansas District 1)
“The U.S. Supreme Court has just overturned Roe v. Wade. A MONUMENTAL win for the pro-life movement!”
U.S. Representative Jake LaTurner (R – Kansas District 2)
“Today is a monumental win for pro-life Americans across our country who have been fighting tirelessly over the last fifty years to protect the most vulnerable among us—the unborn. Democrats’ extreme abortion-on-demand agenda does not accurately reflect the views of most Americans. Overturning Roe ensures state and local officials closest to the people they represent, not unelected judges in Washington, construct our nation’s abortion laws.
“Unfortunately, this welcomed ruling won’t protect life in Kansas. It’s now more important than ever that Kansans reaffirm our commitment to protecting the unborn and vote to pass the Value Them Both Amendment to guarantee our state does not become a hub for unlimited abortions.”
U.S. Representative Sharice Davids (D – Kansas District 3)
“The Supreme Court just erased nearly 50 years of precedent, endangering the lives of women in Kansas and the entire country.
“Here’s a promise – I’ll always fight to ensure Kansas families have access to the full range of health care services, including reproductive health care.”
U.S. Representative Ron Estes (R – Kansas District 4)
“After more than 60 million babies were denied the blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness before they were even born, the disastrous and misguided Roe v. Wade ruling from 1973 has finally been overturned.
“Today’s ruling does not ban abortion, but returns abortion regulation to each state and their democratically elected officials. As the left continues to push radical abortion policy in Kansas, this gives a new voice to the majority who want common sense laws that protect mothers and babies, like parental consent for minors, no taxpayer funded abortions, and an end to late-term abortions.”
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, a Democrat, seeking reelection this year
“A woman’s reproductive healthcare decisions should be between her and her physician. I’ll continue to oppose all regressive legislation that interferes with individual freedoms or threatens the strides we’ve made in recent years making Kansas a constructive place to do business.”
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor
“Today’s landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court was the right one because as a matter of constitutional interpretation, as the Court writes, ‘Roe was egregiously wrong from the start.’ Now, the Court explains, ‘The permissibility of abortion, and the limitations upon it, are to be resolved like most important questions in our democracy: by citizens trying to persuade one another and then voting.’
“Today’s decision means the power and responsibility to decide the important and difficult questions involving regulation of abortion have been returned to the people instead of federal judges. The people of Kansas will speak directly to this subject in less than six weeks. In voting on the Value Them Both amendment, Kansans will decide whether state judges may determine how abortion is regulated in Kansas or whether that is a responsibility for the elected and democratically accountable branches of state government.
“In my view, the increase in the number of abortions in Kansas the past two years after a long period of steady decline is distressing. I prefer a future with less abortion, not more. To preserve existing limits on late-term abortions, requirements parents be notified when minors seek abortion, and prohibitions on using taxpayer funds to pay for abortion, I will join with other pro-life Kansans in casting my vote for Value Them Both. On August 2, the people will speak and their voice will show the path forward for Kansas.” | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/kansas-reaction-to-the-overturning-of-roe-v-wade/ | 2022-06-24T16:03:37 | 1 | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/kansas-reaction-to-the-overturning-of-roe-v-wade/ |
After the heavy heat leading into the Summer Solstice, the Georgia Hanford Park and Arthur J Gerk Arboretum was a wonderful space for an early evening stroll.
With the sun slowly setting and the heat keeping mosquitos at bay, the entrance of Georgia Hanford Park and Arthur J Gerk Arboretum welcomed visitors with a slow trickle of water underneath the walkway. Cottonwood fluff lined the sides of the path, dusting the grass with its seeds.
Walking down the path through the east end of Georgia Hanford Park and Arthur J Gerk Arboretum, an open field showed off the expanse of the park. Other than the freshly mowed grass, the field was reminiscent of Iowa's prairie; it felt as if one could see for miles.
Through the spindly amur maples and the soon-to-be-flowering staghorn sumac trees, the shorter trees soon grew taller and were filled with flowers. The short but bright Japanese tree lilac boasted bushels of tiny white flowers, and the northern catalpa towered overhead with larger flowers of similar hue.
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Cork trees and buckeye leaves showed the individuality and versatility of deciduous trees. Feeling the cork trees, it's obvious the bark is harvested for wine stoppers. And buckeye trees, whose leaves are so unique, stood next to an array of maples.
A most popular favorite of species, the willow trees stood tall next to the pathway split. Gently swaying in the breeze, willows stood tall next to the water. Algae swirled in the pool, with a giant willow tree standing on either side.
As small animals ran through the greenspace, the more delicate and often overlooked shapes caught my camera. The small berries of the eastern redcedar, the spiral arrangement of the ginkgo leaves on its branches, the bright green growth on conifers began to stand out.
As the sun slowly descended through more than 400 trees and shrubs at Georgia Hanford Park and Arthur J Gerk Arboretum, nature's individuality shone brightly.
Rae Burnette is a GA and Crime & Courts Reporter at the Globe Gazette. You can reach her by phone at 641.421.0523 or at Rae.Burnette@GlobeGazette.com | https://globegazette.com/news/local/a-walk-through-georgia-hanford-park-and-arthur-j-gerk-arboretum/article_f6becbfd-b0bc-5a57-a44f-a3e67b7bbddf.html | 2022-06-24T16:09:41 | 0 | https://globegazette.com/news/local/a-walk-through-georgia-hanford-park-and-arthur-j-gerk-arboretum/article_f6becbfd-b0bc-5a57-a44f-a3e67b7bbddf.html |
A 52-year-old Waverly man was taken by helicopter to Bryan West Campus after his vehicle rolled off of Fletcher Avenue and into a field southeast of Waverly on Thursday, causing serious injuries, according to the Lancaster County sheriff.
Sean Gleason, of Waverly, was atop his rolled-over vehicle with his legs pinned inside the car's wheel well when deputies responded to the crash at around 9:15 p.m. Thursday, Sheriff Terry Wagner said.
First responders extracted Gleason, who had suffered serious injuries, from the wheel well and placed him in the StarCare helicopter, Wagner said.
The sheriff's office is still piecing together what led up to the crash Thursday night. Wagner said it's unclear which direction Gleason had been travelling on Fletcher Avenue when he lost control near 162nd Street and ultimately landed upside down in a field.
Gleason wasn't wearing a seat belt. It's unclear if alcohol played a role in the crash, Wagner said.
A Kansas City, Missouri, native, Andrew Wegley joined the Journal Star as breaking news reporter after graduating from Northwest Missouri State University in May 2021.
Police were dispatched at 9:40 p.m. Wednesday to the 2000 block of Surfside Drive, where they found Tammy Ward's 2009 Toyota Corolla was involved in a single-vehicle crash, the department said.
Assistant City Attorney Rick Tast was acquitted of a misdemeanor trespass charge after prosecutors failed to prove he acted with criminal intent when he entered a northeast Lincoln home last May.
The pursuit began near 56th and O, where a trooper saw two motorcycles without license plates and attempted a traffic stop, according to the State Patrol. Both motorcycles fled eastbound at a high rate of speed.
The Lancaster County Attorney's had sought review of a county court judge's decision to suppress the document in Benjamin Rieker's case, a rarely seen move.
The 38-year-old man was driving north on County Road 800 at around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday when he began to cross the railroad tracks near U.S. 6, according to the Saline County Sheriff's Office.
The 22-year-old fled officers and ran into a residential neighborhood where he was later arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and tampering with physical evidence, police said.
The 32-year-old denied to deputies that he intended to sell or deliver the marijuana, instead claiming it was for personal use, Lancaster County Sheriff's deputies said in court records.
The 37-year-old had been wanted since a search warrant served on his hotel room earlier this month turned up an AR-style rifle that was reported stolen 12 years ago, police said.
It's unclear what petition either group was gathering signatures for. "Could have been the same, could have been opposite sides of the fence. I have no idea," police said. | https://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/waverly-man-hospitalized-after-single-car-rollover-crash-sheriff-says/article_443b8f1d-822d-5f43-8e1d-50f5aacee422.html | 2022-06-24T16:10:59 | 1 | https://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/waverly-man-hospitalized-after-single-car-rollover-crash-sheriff-says/article_443b8f1d-822d-5f43-8e1d-50f5aacee422.html |
Lawrence De Villiers has returned to the site that put him on Lincoln’s restaurant map.
The restaurateur teamed with former Lincoln City Councilman Roy Christensen and former longtime school board member Doug Evans to open L’s Kitchen on April 1 at 17th and Van Dorn streets, where De Villiers owned and operated the French restaurant The Normandy from 2014-17 before selling it.
The new restaurant will enjoy its official grand opening July 8-9. The “L” in L’s Kitchen is not for Lawrence, but rather for Lincoln, with the idea of Lincoln residents embracing the small bistro as their own.
L’s Kitchen serves “American comfort food with a continental twist,” including must-tries meatloaf ($22) and Hungarian goulash ($22). De Villiers created the menu that’s executed by his staff led by executive chef Kevin Milligan.
“It’s not quite fine dining,” said De Villiers, who also is the business manager at Lincoln furniture store Barnwood & Leather. “We like to call it gourmet comfort food.”
Milligan, 23, grew up in New Hampshire and graduated with a liberal arts degree from Wyoming Catholic College in Lander, Wyoming, where he ran the school’s cafeteria. The meatloaf is his recipe.
“Looking for a quality chef can be difficult, but we found one in Kevin,” De Villiers said.
Because seating is limited -- a max of about 40 -- L’s Kitchen requires reservations and turns over tables only once or twice each evening. (With Milligan gone this weekend, De Villiers will operate the kitchen with a limited menu.)
“I know, it’s a non-capitalistic concept,” De Villiers said. “Most restaurants want to turn over tables as often as they can. But we’re not about making money. We’re about making quality.”
That starts with L’s delicious, accessible menu.
Food
The restaurant showcases its distinct takes on familiar foods: salmon, rib-eye steak, scallops, pork tenderloin, chicken breast, three kinds of fettuccine, etc.
The chicken entree ($21), which I ordered and thoroughly enjoyed, featured a rich, white wine parmesan cream sauce and was served with goat cheese mashed potatoes and asparagus. It offered a nice mix of flavor and color.
My companions, Andy and Jill, went with signature dishes. Andy had the goulash, which boasted hearty beef chunks in a savory, semi-spicy brown sauce served atop fettuccine. Jill combined two appetizers – leek soup ($8) and crab cakes ($16) – into a meal. The soup was chowder-like, creamy with a not-overpowering leek flavor. And the crab cakes, well, they were some of the best I’ve tried: loosely pattied, with a wonderful crab taste.
The appetizer menu also includes Moroccan meatballs ($13) served with house aioli and bacon Brussel sprouts ($10), roasted and sauteed and finished with a cream sauce.
Other entrees include wild scallops ($34), which Milligan learned to make at home with his father, and a carbonara fettuccine ($18), featuring a garlic bacon cream sauce.
Desserts are made in-house. You may have seen Milligan’s bread pudding in a Facebook post. He also makes a yummy chocolate mousse, which my companions and I shared.
L’s Kitchen recently obtained its liquor license. De Villiers said the restaurant will offer a mix of affordable wines from around the world. Grade: A
Atmosphere
L’s Kitchen is small, which is why reservations are required. The restaurant seats 30, plus another eight at the bar. Two- and four-top tables line the walls. They are covered in paper black-and-white checkered tablecloths. Walls feature black-and-white photographs of Lincoln landmarks by Chuck Starr, including the Joyo Theatre, with L’s Kitchen spelled out on its marquee. Classical music played from the speakers during our visit. Grade: A
Service
The restaurant will take walk-ins, if there’s room. I called when L’s opened at 5:30 p.m. and booked a table for 7. You also can reserve a table online through the restaurant’s website at lskitchenlincoln.com. Weekends fill up quickly.
Our service was exceptional. Norma, who hails from Mexico, was our server. She explained the menu, noting a couple of items weren’t available (sadly, the scallops) that night. She brought us freshly baked, complimentary honey rolls to munch on while we waited for our entrees. The food takes a little time because each dish is made from scratch. Our orders arrived between 15 to 20 minutes after ordering. Grade: A
Specialty diets
L’s Kitchen goes out of its way to accommodate those with special diets, designating vegetarian and gluten-free items on the menu. Three of the eight appetizers and three of the 11 entrees are vegetarian-friendly. The entrees include a house special vegetable parmesan gratin ($20) and ratatouille fettuccine, which is vegan-friendly, too. Grade: A
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Jeff Korbelik is the winery manager at James Arthur Vineyards, former Journal Star features editor and author of “Lost Restaurants of Lincoln, Nebraska.” He’s written restaurant reviews for Ground Zero since 1998.
Police were dispatched at 9:40 p.m. Wednesday to the 2000 block of Surfside Drive, where they found Tammy Ward's 2009 Toyota Corolla was involved in a single-vehicle crash, the department said.
A Lincoln Southeast soccer coach noticed the same teams were winning each season, so he decided to look at the data. What he found turned into a larger project to tackle inequities in youth sports access.
A University of Nebraska-Lincoln student recently opened a clothing boutique in Waverly. She sells a variety of women’s clothing, home goods and other accessories, designing many of the looks herself.
Assistant City Attorney Rick Tast was acquitted of a misdemeanor trespass charge after prosecutors failed to prove he acted with criminal intent when he entered a northeast Lincoln home last May.
At the corner of 13th and P streets, a Uvalde shooting memorial is seen by thousands in Lincoln each day. But the artist or artists responsible have remained invisible in the weeks since the work appeared.
The pursuit began near 56th and O, where a trooper saw two motorcycles without license plates and attempted a traffic stop, according to the State Patrol. Both motorcycles fled eastbound at a high rate of speed.
The revocation follows a complaint alleging that beginning in the early to mid-1990s, Nolan Beyer “engaged in a personal and noneducational relationship with a student.”
The red and black Spider-Man inspired sculpture that sparked controversy in 2019 when it was mistaken for devil horns lost its final battle after a tree fell on top of it during a storm last weekend. | https://journalstar.com/news/local/dining-out-ls-kitchen-owner-resurrects-a-familiar-lincoln-location/article_af9601f2-8e10-55c9-ad28-8b9b3e671d78.html | 2022-06-24T16:11:05 | 1 | https://journalstar.com/news/local/dining-out-ls-kitchen-owner-resurrects-a-familiar-lincoln-location/article_af9601f2-8e10-55c9-ad28-8b9b3e671d78.html |
As expected, the Supreme Court on Friday ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place for nearly 50 years.
With Roe v. Wade overturned, experts say roughly half of states will follow through with abortion bans.
In Nebraska, abortions are still legal up to 20 weeks, but Friday's decision is expected to prompt a special session of the Legislature to consider legislation banning abortion in the state.
To further restrict abortion in Nebraska will take 33 votes, a number anti-abortion senators couldn't reach in April in attempting to pass so-called trigger legislation. Many other states, including Missouri, South Dakota and Wyoming, had passed trigger legislation designed to become law as soon as the Court made its decision.
This is a developing story. Stay with JournalStar.com throughout the day for updates.
Reaction from Nebraska politicians and stakeholders to the Supreme Court's abortion decision
Nebraska Family Alliance
The moment we have been praying for and working towards for nearly 50 years is finally here: Roe v. Wade has been fully overturned in a 6-3 vote! Your decades of faithful prayers, support, and advocacy have brought us to this historic moment.https://t.co/fg4YSISanv
— NE Family Alliance (@nebfamily) June 24, 2022
Sen. Jen Day
We will never stop defending our right to decide if, when, and under what circumstances to have a family. Abortion care is still safe and legal in Nebraska and the Nebraska Legislature must reject medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion. https://t.co/jljpfabp21
— Senator Jen Day (@JenDayforNE) June 24, 2022
Archdiocese of Omaha
Many in our country will not agree with the reasoning and the decision of the Supreme Court. And some women will still wonder how they can meet the challenge of an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy. This is a moment for each of us to commit to not let any woman face her challenge. pic.twitter.com/yNmLVKFKSs
— Archdiocese of Omaha (@ArchOmaha) June 24, 2022
ACLU of Nebraska
Abortion remains legal in Nebraska — but with today’s decision overturning Roe, our right to access that care is under threat like never before. Now is the time to act.
— ACLU of Nebraska (@ACLUofNE) June 24, 2022
FIND A RALLY NEAR YOU AND STAY TUNED: https://t.co/XIGsMaXwFk pic.twitter.com/aKI1BMzKOo
Jim Pillen, Republican candidate for governor
From the #PillenPressTeam: A statement from Jim Pillen pic.twitter.com/kDbF38nUGn
— Jim Pillen (@jim_pillen) June 24, 2022
Sen. Carol Blood, Democratic candidate for governor
Be clear about what Nebraska’s trigger bill does and how it violates a woman’s bodily autonomy. Nebraska’s trigger bill creates a police state where doctors must live in fear of being arrested and charged as felons for providing needed healthcare to their patients.
— Senator Carol Blood (@senatorblood) June 24, 2022
Sen. Adam Morfeld
I will not turn every miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, IVF procedure, and split-second life-saving decision by a doctor into a criminal investigation. These are private decisions that should be left to a woman and her doctor not politicians and lawyers.
— State Senator Adam Morfeld (@Adam_Morfeld) June 24, 2022
Sen. Julie Slama
50 years. 64 million lives lost.
— Senator Julie Slama (@SenatorSlama) June 24, 2022
One of the darkest chapters in our history ends today.
Roe v. Wade has been overturned by the Supreme Court.
It's a beautiful day for life! 💗 pic.twitter.com/U400RG0EyC
Nebraska Democratic Party
Nebraska Democrats are assailing the wrong-headed U.S. Supreme Court decision today to overturn #RoeVWade.@janekleeb: “The majority of Nebraskans believe abortion must remain legal and that women must have the right to make their own health decisions."https://t.co/CryZjT0179 pic.twitter.com/qjuqRYT135
— Nebraska Democratic Party (@NebraskaDems) June 24, 2022
Sen. Deb Fischer
— Senator Deb Fischer (@SenatorFischer) June 24, 2022
Sen. Megan Hunt
We have already defeated an abortion ban in Nebraska, and WE WILL DO IT AGAIN. We will defeat any other attempt to ban abortion in this state because the majority of Nebraskans understand that banning abortion is as extreme as it is unnecessary.
— Senator Megan Hunt (@NebraskaMegan) June 24, 2022
Sen. Ben Sasse
Women's Fund of Omaha
To be clear, this changes nothing about abortion access in Nebraska. Every person, no matter where they live, how much money they make or how they identify, should have the freedom to make their own personal health care decisions. 2/ #NEleg #BansOffOurBodies
— Women's Fund of Omaha (@OmahaWomensFund) June 24, 2022
Lancaster County Republican Party
Sen. Tony Vargas
Politicians don't belong in doctor's offices making medical decisions. Women should make the decisions that are the best for them with their doctors. Today's ruling by the Supreme Court takes away an established right that protected Americans’ health & safety for nearly 50 years.
— Senator Tony Vargas (@TonyVargas) June 24, 2022
Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks, Democratic candidate for U.S. House
Statement from Patty Pansing Brooks on the overturning of Roe v. Wade: pic.twitter.com/4w8aFd2XUR
— 🌈 Patty Pansing Brooks (Vote June 28th, NE-01) (@Patty4Nebraska) June 24, 2022
Reaction from Nebraska politicians and stakeholders to the Supreme Court's abortion decision
Nebraska Family Alliance
The moment we have been praying for and working towards for nearly 50 years is finally here: Roe v. Wade has been fully overturned in a 6-3 vote! Your decades of faithful prayers, support, and advocacy have brought us to this historic moment.https://t.co/fg4YSISanv
— NE Family Alliance (@nebfamily) June 24, 2022
Sen. Jen Day
We will never stop defending our right to decide if, when, and under what circumstances to have a family. Abortion care is still safe and legal in Nebraska and the Nebraska Legislature must reject medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion. https://t.co/jljpfabp21
— Senator Jen Day (@JenDayforNE) June 24, 2022
Archdiocese of Omaha
Many in our country will not agree with the reasoning and the decision of the Supreme Court. And some women will still wonder how they can meet the challenge of an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy. This is a moment for each of us to commit to not let any woman face her challenge. pic.twitter.com/yNmLVKFKSs
— Archdiocese of Omaha (@ArchOmaha) June 24, 2022
ACLU of Nebraska
Abortion remains legal in Nebraska — but with today’s decision overturning Roe, our right to access that care is under threat like never before. Now is the time to act.
— ACLU of Nebraska (@ACLUofNE) June 24, 2022
FIND A RALLY NEAR YOU AND STAY TUNED: https://t.co/XIGsMaXwFk pic.twitter.com/aKI1BMzKOo
Jim Pillen, Republican candidate for governor
From the #PillenPressTeam: A statement from Jim Pillen pic.twitter.com/kDbF38nUGn
— Jim Pillen (@jim_pillen) June 24, 2022
Sen. Carol Blood, Democratic candidate for governor
Be clear about what Nebraska’s trigger bill does and how it violates a woman’s bodily autonomy. Nebraska’s trigger bill creates a police state where doctors must live in fear of being arrested and charged as felons for providing needed healthcare to their patients.
— Senator Carol Blood (@senatorblood) June 24, 2022
Sen. Adam Morfeld
I will not turn every miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, IVF procedure, and split-second life-saving decision by a doctor into a criminal investigation. These are private decisions that should be left to a woman and her doctor not politicians and lawyers.
— State Senator Adam Morfeld (@Adam_Morfeld) June 24, 2022
Sen. Julie Slama
50 years. 64 million lives lost.
— Senator Julie Slama (@SenatorSlama) June 24, 2022
One of the darkest chapters in our history ends today.
Roe v. Wade has been overturned by the Supreme Court.
It's a beautiful day for life! 💗 pic.twitter.com/U400RG0EyC
Nebraska Democratic Party
Nebraska Democrats are assailing the wrong-headed U.S. Supreme Court decision today to overturn #RoeVWade.@janekleeb: “The majority of Nebraskans believe abortion must remain legal and that women must have the right to make their own health decisions."https://t.co/CryZjT0179 pic.twitter.com/qjuqRYT135
— Nebraska Democratic Party (@NebraskaDems) June 24, 2022
Sen. Deb Fischer
— Senator Deb Fischer (@SenatorFischer) June 24, 2022
Sen. Megan Hunt
We have already defeated an abortion ban in Nebraska, and WE WILL DO IT AGAIN. We will defeat any other attempt to ban abortion in this state because the majority of Nebraskans understand that banning abortion is as extreme as it is unnecessary.
— Senator Megan Hunt (@NebraskaMegan) June 24, 2022
Sen. Ben Sasse
Women's Fund of Omaha
To be clear, this changes nothing about abortion access in Nebraska. Every person, no matter where they live, how much money they make or how they identify, should have the freedom to make their own personal health care decisions. 2/ #NEleg #BansOffOurBodies
— Women's Fund of Omaha (@OmahaWomensFund) June 24, 2022
Lancaster County Republican Party
Sen. Tony Vargas
Politicians don't belong in doctor's offices making medical decisions. Women should make the decisions that are the best for them with their doctors. Today's ruling by the Supreme Court takes away an established right that protected Americans’ health & safety for nearly 50 years.
— Senator Tony Vargas (@TonyVargas) June 24, 2022
Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks, Democratic candidate for U.S. House
Statement from Patty Pansing Brooks on the overturning of Roe v. Wade: pic.twitter.com/4w8aFd2XUR
— 🌈 Patty Pansing Brooks (Vote June 28th, NE-01) (@Patty4Nebraska) June 24, 2022 | https://journalstar.com/news/local/what-the-supreme-court-decision-to-overturn-roe-v-wade-means-for-nebraska/article_a30d673a-276a-507a-b6ee-08fd9b1cd95c.html | 2022-06-24T16:11:11 | 1 | https://journalstar.com/news/local/what-the-supreme-court-decision-to-overturn-roe-v-wade-means-for-nebraska/article_a30d673a-276a-507a-b6ee-08fd9b1cd95c.html |
Lake Charlevoix EMS helped by passage of Senate Bill 821
CHARLEVOIX — Roy Griffitts, chairman of the newly formed Lake Charlevoix EMS Authority, announced this week that Sen. Wayne Schmidt of Traverse City helped the local emergency ambulance service through recent passage of a new senate bill.
Schmidt sponsored a bill that will allow emergency services to borrow money and issue negotiable bonds or notes to finance acquisitions, construction, furnishing buildings or facilities and acquire necessary property and the purchase of necessary equipment.
Representative Gary Howell of Lapeer who worked to get the bill passed in the House of Representatives assisted Schmidt.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the bill into law on June 15.
“We could not be more pleased,” said Griffitts. “The passage of this bill and the signing by our governor attests to the fact that parties can reach across the aisle and come to agreement on important issues.”
Act No. 102 of Public Acts 2022 amends Public Act 57 of 1988, which allows municipalities to incorporate authorities for the provision of emergency services.
Most importantly, the passage of the bill will have no fiscal impact on the state and no fiscal impact on local governments other than eligible authorities, according to Griffits.
Bill Gnodtke, a Lake Charlevoix EMS Authority board member who represents Norwood, worked with Schmidt to ensure the bill's passage and the signing by Whitmer. | https://www.petoskeynews.com/story/news/local/charlevoix/2022/06/24/lake-charlevoix-ems-helps-assist-passage-senate-bill/7702800001/ | 2022-06-24T16:21:49 | 1 | https://www.petoskeynews.com/story/news/local/charlevoix/2022/06/24/lake-charlevoix-ems-helps-assist-passage-senate-bill/7702800001/ |
Otsego Conservation District earns grants to refurbish, maintain demonstration gardens
GAYLORD — The Otsego Conservation District recently received grants to assist in managing the organization's Alternative Landscaping Demonstration Gardens and Conservation Forest.
The Otsego Conservation District (OCD) has received $4,182 from the Great Lakes Energy People Fund, a $500 grant funding from Cwik Holly By Golly, $1,000 grant funding from the Rotary Club of Gaylord Fund, and $1,000 grant funding from the Kohnert Family Fund.
As this year marks the 25th anniversary of Otsego County’s Alternative Landscaping Demonstration Gardens and Conservation Forest, the funding was awarded to restore, refurbish, repair and renovate the garden, including the garden's pergola with its need for repairs, the staining of the amphitheater, replacing broken and weather worn arbors, and repairs to the irrigation system. These improvements will enhance the aesthetic appeal of the gardens, and ensure the community has a place to enjoy and learn.
The conservation district has utilized the garden as a space to host educational programs, volunteer opportunities, and community events. The garden and forest are a teaching tool for wildlife habitat, reforestation, riparian buffer restoration, horticulture, and utilization of native plants for increased biodiversity.
The OCD has a history of working in an educational setting. This is demonstrated through continued involvement in environmental education programs both in and outside of schools. Many of the educational workshops and programs arranged by the conservation district are held at the Alternative Landscaping Demonstration Garden and Conservation Forest or Nature Center.
Members of the Great Lakes Energy support the Peoples Fund by voluntarily rounding up their bills to the next highest dollar. The rounding up amount distributes to nonprofit organizations and charitable activities that benefit people in communities served by the cooperative. | https://www.petoskeynews.com/story/news/local/gaylord/2022/06/24/conservation-district-has-utilized-garden-space-host-educational-programs/7686157001/ | 2022-06-24T16:21:55 | 1 | https://www.petoskeynews.com/story/news/local/gaylord/2022/06/24/conservation-district-has-utilized-garden-space-host-educational-programs/7686157001/ |
Gaylord skate park project unleashes power of community involvement with arts
GAYLORD — A project that enabled young people to showcase their creative talent and create a more attractive recreational area has now been completed with the installation of new murals at the Gaylord skate park.
Students learned how to be part of a community solution with RISE: Otsego Substance Free Coalition through its Street Art Workshop Series and Ramp Park Improvement Project at the Gaylord Ramp Park. The park, which shares a lot with the Otsego County Sportsplex at 1250 Gornick Ave., draws young people to recreate with skateboards, BMX bikes and inline skates.
Ranging in age from 12 to 20, the participating youth completed a 10-class workshop on the fundamentals of contemporary street art. Their education culminated with the installation of custom murals at the ramp park on June 21.
“The project is designed to improve space that’s been set aside for local youth,” said Ellen Templeton in a statement. She is the community health coordinator for the Health Department of Northwest Michigan, which is administrating grant funding and behind-the-scenes organization for the project.
More:Program brings together artists, young people for creative work at skate park
“Our hope is that, through this project, the park becomes a positive place for families and creatives to come and enjoy their time together," added Templeton.
The outdoor park reopened with a new view on June 21 as the youth and a handful of hired artists created the murals. An overall theme of “rebirth” pulls the artwork together. It represents the rebirth of the ramp park after being moved to the location and now sporting colorful art.
Prior to the mural project, which also involves purchasing and installing four security cameras, the ramp park was being tagged with inappropriate graffiti. It had been identified by a community assessment as a place where youth were at risk of using alcohol and drugs — making it a perfect focal point for RISE.
“We want people to feel safe and to even hop on a skateboard and learn a new skill,” Templeton said.
Gaylord Area Council for the Arts and the City of Gaylord are primary partners in the project. The arts council was involved in the grant writing and developing the 10-session workshop. The Gaylord Area Council for the Arts’ instructors and members worked directly with the students, who found themselves diving into their murals and spending more time than was asked or anticipated, according to Lisa Marie Tobin, arts council executive director.
“Art is an important avenue for helping people — young and old — deal with stress and share their voice. In addition to teaching the youth fundamentals like drawing, shading, street art history and the difference between street art and graffiti. we hope to inspire them to use art to positively transform their community,” Tobin added.
Christopher Gibson, one of the artists who worked with the young people, said "(This) has been incredible."
"It's good to see the passion in the youth aand it's good to see support from the Gaylord Area Council for the Arts and RISE for this project," he said.
The park is equipped with a variety of ramps and obstacles to challenge both beginners and those who are experienced with the ramps.
The Gaylord Ramp Park mural project is a partnership that brings art education and community park improvements together. It is being funded through the Coalition Support & Community Change Program through Prevention Network.
“This project has exceeded our expectations in every way,” Templeton said, noting that the youth’s role has connected with other generations in the community and showed them how they’re valued. “These kids are our future. This investment goes far beyond the beautification of the ramp park. It’s amazing what people can do when they come together.”
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Tobin said she plans to take community art to the next level by involving the youth in the next public art project. The arts council was recently awarded $15,000 through the Consumer Energy Foundation’s “Put Your Towns on the Map” competition. The money will be used to add public art to a three-block alley running from the Gaylord Gateway Trailhead to Claude Shannon Park along Main Street. | https://www.petoskeynews.com/story/news/local/gaylord/2022/06/24/gaylord-skate-park-project-unveils-new-student-murals/7686369001/ | 2022-06-24T16:22:01 | 0 | https://www.petoskeynews.com/story/news/local/gaylord/2022/06/24/gaylord-skate-park-project-unveils-new-student-murals/7686369001/ |
SPOKANE, Wash. — Washington and Idaho lawmakers issued statements Friday on the United States Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that found a woman's right to an abortion was a constitutional right.
According to the Supreme Court, "The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion." Because of this decision, laws regarding abortion will now be made by state representatives rather than the federal government.
Gov. Jay Inslee signed a measure into law in March prohibiting legal action against people seeking an abortion and those who aid them.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little, however, signed a "fetal heartbeat" measure into law in 2021. The law included a trigger provision that would make abortion illegal in the state 30 days after a ruling from the Supreme Court.
Here's how Washington and Idaho officials have reacted to the courts decision:
Idaho Gov. Brad Little
Idaho Gov. Brad Little released the following statement on the Supreme Court's ruling:
I join many in Idaho and across the country today in welcoming the high court's long awaited decision upholding state sovereignty and protecting preborn lives. The decision provides clarity around landmark cases at the center of passionate debate in our country for nearly five decades. This is now clear – the ‘right’ to an abortion was a judicial creation. Abortion is not a right expressed in the U.S. Constitution, and abortion will be entrusted to the states and their people to regulate.
Idaho has been at the forefront of enacting new laws to protect preborn babies. The pro-life bill I signed into law in 2020 will go into effect later this summer.
Today's decision is the culmination of pro-life efforts to defend the defenseless – preborn babies who deserve protection. It also is affirmation of states' rights, a fundamental aspect of our American government.
However, we fully acknowledge this monumental moment in our country's history means we must confront what know will be growing needs for women and families in the months and years ahead. We absolutely must come together like never before to support women and teens facing unexpected or unwanted pregnancies. Families, churches, charities, and local and state government must stand ready to lift them up and help them and their families with access to adoption services, healthcare, financial and food assistance, counseling and treatment, and family planning. We are being called to support women and our fellow community members in extraordinary new ways, and I'm confident Idahoans are ready to meet this responsibility with love and compassion.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)
Sen. Murry released the following statement shortly after the court's decision was announced on Friday morning:
Today, Republicans dragged this country backwards by half a century. Republicans ripped away our rights and made this generation the first generation of American women with fewer rights than their mothers.
Republicans are forcing women to stay pregnant and give birth when they don’t want to—no matter the circumstances. They are even passing laws to jail women who get abortions and the doctors who provide them.
Right here in the Senate, it was Republicans who stacked our Supreme Court with anti-abortion justices, who blocked Democrats’ efforts to protect abortion rights, and who right now are pushing for a federal abortion ban.
Everyone needs to understand this is a real crisis that'll hurt millions of people across the country—Republicans want a federal abortion ban & #RoeVWade is no longer settled law. We aren’t going to stand idly by while they rip away abortion rights or go after birth control next.
We are going to stand up and fight back with our voices and our votes—to protect the right of every woman to make her own health care decisions. The American people will not forget Republicans’ cruelty—not today, not tomorrow, and not this November.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
Rep. Rodgers issued the following statement via Twitter shortly after the decision was announced on Friday:
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA)
Rep. Jayapal released the following statement via Twitter on Friday morning:
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA)
Rep. Newhouse released the following statement via Twitter on Friday morning:
Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho)
Sen. Risch released the following statement on the court's decision:
Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided in 1973, resulting in the deaths of millions of unborn babies over nearly half a century. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court took a major step to right that wrong, ruling that the U.S. Constitution does not provide for a right to an abortion. The Court’s decision recognizes that states have an interest in protecting life at all stages of development by giving Americans the power to decide this matter at the state-level through their elected representatives.
“The most basic right we as humans have is the right to life. I have immense empathy for any expecting mother in difficult circumstances. As the greatest country in the history of human civilization, we should support those mothers to the best of our ability.
Idaho Democratic Party
Idaho Democratic Party Chair Lauren Necochea (D-Boise) released the following statement in response to the court's decision:
I never expected to see such a grave rollback of our rights in the 21st Century. I am shocked that young Americans just lost rights that their parents were guaranteed and for which their grandparents fought.
Today’s decision overturns 50 years of established reproductive freedoms and starts the clock on a terrifying countdown here in Idaho. In 30 short days, a trigger law banning safe and legal abortions will go into effect, stripping away Idahoans’ reproductive rights. This law is especially cruel because it only applies to those who don’t have the resources to find a way around it. People with means will be able to flee the state to receive abortion care, while Idahoans facing low wages, including a disproportionate share of people of color, will face involuntary pregnancy.
Roe v. Wade protected our state from the most extreme positions of its Republican lawmakers. Idahoans are losing this protection just as the Republican supermajority is becoming increasingly radicalized. The Idaho Republican Party platform seeks to completely eliminate access to abortion care, even in the tragic cases of rape and incest. We have seen Republican legislators bring bills that would put patients on trial for murder if they receive abortions. We must brace for more extreme measures to follow this ban.
Taking away the right to a safe and legal abortion is only the beginning. Access to different types of birth control and in vitro fertilization are now at risk as well as other freedoms based on our right to privacy.
Idahoans can no longer rely on the courts to protect their rights. The only way we can win back our reproductive rights is by electing Democrats across the state.
Idaho Democrats will continue to fight for the reproductive rights and freedoms of all Idahoans for as long as it takes. We stand with the majority of Idahoans who believe people should have access to all of the reproductive health care options available, including abortion.
Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho
Karl Eastlund, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho, released the following statement on the court's decision:
By overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court has now officially given politicians permission to control what patients can do with their bodies. This dangerous and chilling decision will have devastating consequences for the patients we serve in Idaho and across the country, forcing people to travel hundreds, sometimes thousands, of miles for care or remain pregnant.
But make no mistake – this decision goes beyond abortion. This is about who has power over you, who has the authority to make decisions for you, and who can control how your future is going to be.
It is a dark day for our country, but this is far from over. Patients should know that Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho will always fight for you, and we will not back down. Together, we will rebuild and reclaim our freedom. | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/washington/roe-v-wade-decision-case-washington-idaho/293-f8d4981e-bf81-4c21-b530-bd41481ce787 | 2022-06-24T16:22:02 | 0 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/washington/roe-v-wade-decision-case-washington-idaho/293-f8d4981e-bf81-4c21-b530-bd41481ce787 |
WASHINGTON — State and local officials in Washington are reacting to the United States Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade, a major decision after months of protests and years of legal fighting over abortion rights in the country.
The court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was a determination of the constitutionality of a 2018 Mississippi law banning most abortions after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy.
The 6-3 ruling was handed down Friday morning.
Following the ruling, King County Executive Dow Constantine announced $1 million in emergency funding to ensure safe access to abortion.
U.S. Senator Patty Murray said in a series of tweets the decision "dragged this country backwards by half a century."
Meanwhile, U.S congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) voiced her support for the decision in a series of tweets.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said she is "outraged" for the women that need abortion care.
The congresswoman said she is one of the women in the country that have needed abortion services.
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) said in a statement following the decision, "Today, life wins."
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson called overturning Roe v. Wade, "deeply harmful, shameful and radical" before outlining three promises to Washington citizens in a series of tweets.
Seattle Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda said she will work to make the city a safe space for women seeking abortions.
In 1991, Washington state voters approved Initiative 120, which offers strong abortion protections, including funding for low-income women who want abortions.
Advocates were trying to create state legislation to protect a women’s right to abortion, whether they are state residents or traveling to the state seeking health care.
The result of this was the state solidifying abortion rights in Washington. | https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/washington-state-officials-react-scotus-decision-overturn-roe-wade/281-40097eb4-bde7-4d5c-a26c-d988ae5f7f16 | 2022-06-24T16:24:01 | 1 | https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/washington-state-officials-react-scotus-decision-overturn-roe-wade/281-40097eb4-bde7-4d5c-a26c-d988ae5f7f16 |
Protesters furious over the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade are expected to turn out in unprecedented numbers Friday following the reversal of a nearly half-century ruling granting abortion rights.
The decision, unthinkable just a few years ago, was the culmination of decades of efforts by abortion opponents, made possible by an emboldened right side of the court that has been fortified by three appointees of former President Donald Trump.
The ruling came more than a month after the stunning leak of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito indicating the court was prepared to take this momentous step.
A crowd of hundreds had already gathered outside the steps of the Supreme Court Friday morning in the immediate aftermath of the justices' ruling.
Thousands are expected to flood the streets of New York by the end of the day, with rallies scheduled in Washington Square Park at 6:30 p.m., Union Square at 8 p.m. and at the Nassau County Courthouse in Mineola at 6:30 p.m.
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Alito, in the final opinion issued Friday, wrote that Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 decision that reaffirmed the right to abortion, were wrong the day they were decided and must be overturned.
Authority to regulate abortion rests with the political branches, not the courts, Alito wrote.
In New York, where Gov. Kathy Hochul signed sweeping legislation protecting abortion rights earlier this month, politicians condemned the latest actions of the highest court.
“Two days in a row, politics came before people at the highest court in the land, and, as a result, the health of our nation now hangs in jeopardy. What the court has done today ignores the opinions of the majority of Americans, as it helps states control women’s bodies, their choices, and their freedoms," said NYC Mayor Eric Adams.
In 2019, New York’s pro-reproductive rights legislature passed the Reproductive Health Act, codifying the protections of Roe v. Wade in the state’s constitution.
RHA preserves the right to abortion in New York, despite federal or judicial efforts to dismantle Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York reiterated after the court's draft opinion was leaked in May.
"This is personal. The U.S. Supreme Court has robbed millions of people of their right to control their bodies and personal health care decisions. This cruel decision provokes a dangerous health crisis," the group's interim president and CEO Joy Calloway said Friday in a statement.
"People will be forced to overcome unjust barriers to access abortion or carry pregnancies against their will — at the risk of their health and lives," she added. "We will not compromise on our bodies, our dignity, or our freedom. We have strength in numbers and power in our united voices." | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/abortion-rights-supporters-plan-ny-protests-after-court-strikes-down-roe-v-wade/3748186/ | 2022-06-24T16:25:43 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/abortion-rights-supporters-plan-ny-protests-after-court-strikes-down-roe-v-wade/3748186/ |
The U.S. Supreme Court effectively overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision on Friday as it released its highly anticipated yet still bombshell ruling in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
The decision upends 50 years of federal abortion rights and had been expected after a draft of the ruling was leaked in early May, a rarity for the Supreme Court.
States moved to shore up protections ahead of the widely expected reversal, with Gov. Phil Murphy proposing a bill last month that would expand access and require insurance companies to pay for procedures as he vowed to protect abortion rights.
Still, hundreds of thousands of Americans, including those in the Garden State, are trying to grasp how the historic U.S. Supreme Court decision affects them. Friday's ruling lets states ban abortion but that doesn't mean they'll be illegal everywhere.
Here's where New Jersey stands right now (check the latest on New York here).
More Coverage
Abortion Laws in New Jersey After SCOTUS Ruling
In New Jersey, abortion rights are theoretically protected by the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act, passed and signed into law in Jan. 2021.
One of the most liberal abortion laws in the nation, that act put into state law what the state Supreme Court first ruled many years ago: A woman has the right to an abortion at any time in her pregnancy.
In addition to codifying a woman's right to an abortion, it also included a clause allowing women to come in from out of state for procedures. That detail becomes especially important now that other states may look to criminalize abortion outright.
The law also points toward an eventual requirement that insurance companies pay for the procedure.
According to the pro-abortion rights Guttmacher Institute, 16 states and the District of Columbia have laws that explicitly protect the right to abortion to varying degrees. New Jersey and New York are among them.
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/how-does-supreme-court-ruling-affect-abortion-rights-in-new-jersey-what-to-know/3748243/ | 2022-06-24T16:25:49 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/how-does-supreme-court-ruling-affect-abortion-rights-in-new-jersey-what-to-know/3748243/ |
INDIANAPOLIS — Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai'i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky issued a response to the Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Planned Parenthood said the decision will harm those already facing the greatest barriers to health care. The organization said the country's legacy of racism and discrimination disproportionately harms Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities, people with low incomes, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, and people living in rural areas.
"It is my promise to every person in Indiana that Planned Parenthood will never back down. We will keep fighting with everything we've got to ensure that everyone can access the care you need to control your body and your life," said Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai'i, Indiana, Kentucky. "I want to be clear: Planned Parenthood will always be here to help you get the care you need."
"Make no mistake - this decision goes beyond abortion. This is about who has power over you, who has the authority to make decisions for you, and who can control your future," said Jennifer M. Allen, CEO of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates. "This is a dark day for our country, but our fight is far from over. The people of Indiana should know that Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates will always fight for you, and we will not back down. Generations before us have fought tirelessly to gain and protect our rights. Now it's our turn to pick up the mantle."
Planned Parenthood recommends anyone needing care to go to abortionfinder.org or call 1-800-230-7526. | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/indiana/planned-parenthood-of-indiana-responds-to-overturning-of-roe-v-wade-abortion-provider/531-0b831839-89f4-4237-8971-5b551e2321c8 | 2022-06-24T16:28:30 | 0 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/indiana/planned-parenthood-of-indiana-responds-to-overturning-of-roe-v-wade-abortion-provider/531-0b831839-89f4-4237-8971-5b551e2321c8 |
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Volunteers from several sponsors showed up again on Friday to continue packing thousands of bookpacks for students in need.
A Gift for Teaching’s “The Great Big Backpack Build” event started with music and energy for day two.
“This is awesome because I’m one of the teachers that takes advantage of A Gift for Teaching for my students,” Alecia Bryant said.
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Bryant is a teacher at Meadow Woods Middle School in Orange County and has been volunteering with A Gift for Teaching for years.
“Taking time after work, coming to A Gift for Teaching, shopping and having that stuff available for my students, it is the least I can do. We pull out of our pockets, we do it because we have a heart for students and a heart for education,” Bryant explained.
Bryant teaches 7th grade civics and said she’s had students who have shown up with no school supplies on their first day of class.
“It’s amazing how we live in Orange County, we have Disney and all of this here, but there’s a lot of students that don’t have so it’s amazing that companies give so we can help our kids,” she said.
Board members with A Gift for Teaching said more than 70% of public schools in Central Florida are considered high need.
All 15,000 bookbags will be delivered to students in over 150 schools in Orange and Osceola counties in August.
Donations are being accepted online at agiftforteaching.org/supplydrive. | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/24/a-heart-for-students-volunteers-wrap-up-packing-thousands-of-backpacks-for-orange-osceola-schools/ | 2022-06-24T16:28:56 | 0 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/06/24/a-heart-for-students-volunteers-wrap-up-packing-thousands-of-backpacks-for-orange-osceola-schools/ |
MIDLAND, Texas — The Midland Downtown Farmers Market will take place on June 25 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
The event will be held at 1705 Missouri on the lawn of the Museum of the Southwest.
The vendors at the event are required to make or grow all their products. For more information, you can look at their Facebook page. | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/midland-downtown-farmers-market-to-be-held-on-june-25/513-4eec2ea2-f763-445e-bb25-b5965290e49f | 2022-06-24T16:30:44 | 0 | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/midland-downtown-farmers-market-to-be-held-on-june-25/513-4eec2ea2-f763-445e-bb25-b5965290e49f |
ATLANTIC CITY — A three-alarm fire on the Atlantic City Boardwalk near New York Avenue appeared to be under control by about 11 a.m. Friday, according to Fire Chief Scott Evans.
Firefighters are now working to put out a few hotspots in the ceiling, Evans said.
Approximately 60 firefighters responded the scene, Evans said.
The fire had engulfed a small shop near Ripley's Believe It or Not! on the Boardwalk. No injuries were reported.
It was unclear how the blaze started as of Friday morning.
Evans said the first call on the fire came in around 8:30 a.m. and the “well-advanced” fire quickly tore through the building. Five stores, including Devki Jewelers and H&A Fashion, were impacted by the blaze, Evans said.
Smoke could be seen coming from the front doors and windows, Evans said.
As of 9 a.m., a portion of the Boardwalk was closed to traffic as multiple crews were on scene.
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The city hopes to have the section of the Boardwalk around New York Avenue reopened by this afternoon, said Andrew Kramer, spokesman for the city.
Some of the buildings suffered heavy smoke and water damage. No damage to Ripley’s.
“This was a real serious fire because these are very old buildings," Evans said.
Colleen Pichirallo was going about her morning in her apartment less than a block away when she said the sounds of sirens filled the neighborhood. She then saw smoke cover her block.
“You couldn’t see half of the building,” Pichirallo said, watching firefighters as the worked to extinguish the blaze. “It was all engulfed.”
Police have moved their caution tape toward the damaged building to allow access to Schiff’s Central Pier. If you look closely, you can see the portion of the building damaged by the flames. @ThePressofAC @ACPressHuba pic.twitter.com/RPVuYzTe0Y
— Eric Conklin (@ACPressConklin) June 24, 2022
Crystal Temarantz could see the area fill with smoke from her hotel room on the eighth floor of Resorts. She was preparing to leave the city, but stopped for a peek at the scene.
“I wasn’t sure if it was a fire,” said Temarantz, of Kingston, Pennsylvania. “I thought maybe it was either a fire or they we’re cooking food. It looked pretty thick.”
Sargis Ghalechyan, a Brigantine resident and owner of Bill’s Gyros and My Friend’s Diner on the Boardwalk near where the fire broke out, said at around 8:30 a.m. he was at the diner heading to the gyro place when he saw the building burst into flames.
“I looked over and said ‘what is that’,” said Ghalechyan. “It started fast.”
Fire is near the Ripley’s Believe it Or Not Museum, a city police officer told me. @ACPressHuba @ThePressofAC
— Eric Conklin (@ACPressConklin) June 24, 2022
Various local fire departments have been called in to provide mutual aid.
Staff Writers Selena Vazquez and Eric Conklin contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/watch-atlantic-city-boardwalk-fire-now-under-control/article_db55d91e-f3bd-11ec-9cf6-bf2be746707a.html | 2022-06-24T16:30:44 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/watch-atlantic-city-boardwalk-fire-now-under-control/article_db55d91e-f3bd-11ec-9cf6-bf2be746707a.html |
MIDLAND, Texas — The Midland Police Department is asking for help locating 85-year-old Nancy Holland who went missing on June 21.
Holland was last seen in the area of Midkiff and Wall St in Midland. She was following her son from Idaho driving an RV.
If has seen Nancy, contact the Midland Police at 432-413-5100 or 432-685-7108. | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/mpd-asks-for-help-locating-a-missing-person/513-fa5691cf-f78e-4cf9-8f93-213deeb2fcc8 | 2022-06-24T16:30:45 | 0 | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/mpd-asks-for-help-locating-a-missing-person/513-fa5691cf-f78e-4cf9-8f93-213deeb2fcc8 |
Madison Biddle sees the softball.
She catches the softball.
That sums up the strategy that made the Egg Harbor Township High School junior shortstop one of New Jersey’s best defensive players this spring.
“I don’t like to think when a ball is hit,” Biddle said. “As soon as the ball is hit, I just react. If I think, I’m going to make a mistake.”
Biddle’s ability to catch seemingly everything it hit her way combined with her prowess at the plate makes her The Press Softball Player of the Year. She batted .386 with seven home runs and 37 RBIS to lead the Eagles to a 25-2 record and the South Jersey Group IV and Cape-Atlantic League championships. In addition to her skills on the field, EHT coach Kristi Troster said Biddle always knew the right thing to say off the field to reenergize the Eagles if they were down.
“She’s a gem defensively,” Troster said. “She trains day in and day out. She’s the one who says ‘Hit at me again.’ The fact that she does hit and hits for both power and extra base hits and everything like that just makes her more of a standout at that position.”
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Biddle’s success is a family project.
Biddle said he was inspired to play softball by her older sister Emily, who played center field for the 2017 Eagles who won the state Group IV title.
“She inspired me to be the person I am today,” Madison said of Emily.
Biddle’s parents Kristie and John often hit her ground balls on her off days.
“I listen to my coaches, and I watch videos,” Biddle said. “Anytime I can learn something new I definitely try it.”
Biddle’s ability to cover a lot of ground was key for the Eagles. Her defensive skills helped the Eagles limit the number of high-scoring innings their opponents had.
“Anything that comes in my direction I try to get there,” Biddle said. “Just think about where the ball is and you have to grab it.”
COACH OF THE YEAR
Kristi Troster never envisioned herself hitting infield practice while wearing a unicorn headband.
But she’s a coach who believes in connecting with players.
Troster is The Press Coach of the Year. Troster describes the Eagles as magical unicorns because of their effervescent personalities.
“Sometimes it’s the little things you do for the kids because that’s who they are,” Troster said. “I enjoyed going to practice every day. I enjoyed the good times. I enjoyed the tough times. This team had talent and humility. They were really great people.”
Troster was a standout field hockey and softball player at North Penn High School in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. She at an EHT assistant before taking over the program in 2020. She also coaches the Eagles field hockey team.
“She’s not only a coach. You can talk to her about anything,” Biddle said. “She has the highest softball IQ ever. But when you need to talk about something or you have a mental block, she talks you through it. She’s the reason our team has the confidence we have.”
TEAM OF THE YEAR
Egg Harbor Township finished No. 3 in The Press Elite 11 ranking and is The Press Team of the Year.
The Eagles won their third South Jersey title since 2016 and the inaugural Cape-Atlantic League Tournament. Egg Harbor Township lost to Watchung Hills 2-1 in the state Group IV final.
Sophomore third baseman Payton Colbert (42 hits) and sophomore first baseman Sienna Walterson (47 RBIs) sparked the offense. Sophomore pitcher Madison Dollard had a 0.75 ERA.
“Our team became really close this year,” Biddle said. “The closer we became the more devoted we were to winning. Us playing as a team and backing each other up no matter what happened I think that was the most important part of the year.”
EHT's loss in the state final provides plenty of motivation for next season.
“When we lost that, obviously it was upsetting,” Biddle said. “But the day after we all texted each other and said, ‘Next year is the year.’ We refuse to lose next year.”
MMcGarry@PressofAC.com | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/highschool/who-is-the-press-softball-player-coach-and-team-of-the-year/article_fc5eb7cc-f195-11ec-9668-0fcf15c27798.html | 2022-06-24T16:30:45 | 1 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/highschool/who-is-the-press-softball-player-coach-and-team-of-the-year/article_fc5eb7cc-f195-11ec-9668-0fcf15c27798.html |
GLASSCOCK COUNTY, Texas — One person has been killed in a crash on June 23 in Glasscock County.
The incident took place at 1:34 p.m. on SH 158 MM 306. 66-year-old Terry Smith of Big Spring was killed in the crash.
The initial investigation revealed that Smith was traveling west on SH 158 when his front left tire had a blowout and resulted in him veering across the eastbound lanes of SH 158. Smith eventually went off the roadway before rolling over into a field.
Smith was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation is still ongoing and we will continue to update this story as we receive more information. | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/one-dead-after-fatal-crash-in-glasscock-county/513-74945e30-2e90-4cd9-9f50-2a408d5ed5e1 | 2022-06-24T16:30:46 | 0 | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/one-dead-after-fatal-crash-in-glasscock-county/513-74945e30-2e90-4cd9-9f50-2a408d5ed5e1 |
MIDLAND, Texas — One person has been killed in a fatal crash on June 22 in Midland County.
The incident occurred at 3:41 p.m. on BI-20 MM 144. 61-year-old Kenneth Bohlscheid was killed in the crash.
The initial investigation revealed that Bohlscheid was traveling west on BI-20 at an unsafe speed when he veered off the roadway to the right and then over-corrected to the left, which sent his vehicle into a side skid. Bohlscheid then rolled over and was ejected from the vehicle.
Bohlscheid was not wearing a seatbelt during the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene.
We will continue to update this story as we receive more information. The investigation is still ongoing. | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/one-dead-after-fatal-crash-in-midland-county/513-86d620c4-eeab-40e5-b7ac-fe0c07496d72 | 2022-06-24T16:30:46 | 1 | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/one-dead-after-fatal-crash-in-midland-county/513-86d620c4-eeab-40e5-b7ac-fe0c07496d72 |
Downtown demolition Jun 24, 2022 12 hrs ago Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Demolition of the old St. Joseph Hospital provides a tangled contrast to the downtown skyline Thursday. Mike Moore | The Journal Gazette Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Twisted framework Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Most Popular Caleb Swanigan dies; former Homestead, Purdue basketball star Missionary Church president removed New BBQ restaurant will fill former ACME location Dining Out restaurant review: Steak, bread pudding top picks at Chance Bar in Fort Wayne Piere's facing fight over outdoor concerts Stocks Market Data by TradingView | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/downtown-demolition/article_5dbf7212-f33b-11ec-941d-6f6c63f2121d.html | 2022-06-24T16:33:04 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/downtown-demolition/article_5dbf7212-f33b-11ec-941d-6f6c63f2121d.html |
A Fort Wayne man charged with murder was sentenced Friday in another case to five years in prison for his part in a shooting during a marijuana deal gone bad.
Ahmad K. Pearson, 21, is waiting for his murder trial, which doesn’t have a date set yet. He’s accused of shooting Travis Deval Jones, 40, on Aug. 31.
In the shooting over the marijuana sale, Pearson, of the 2500 block of Capitol Avenue, pleaded guilty May 24 to three counts of battery by means of a deadly weapon. The shooting happened April 2, 2020, at Baldwin Creek Apartments on Hobson Road in Fort Wayne.
According to court documents, four people in a white Nissan Versa went to buy marijuana at the apartment complex. The person selling saw two people in the back seat with guns, their hoods up and heads down.
The seller thought they planned to rob him and went back inside. Pearson and another man came out and accused them of tying to rob their friend.
When they tried to drive off, Pearson and the other man shot at the car, according to the probable cause affidavit.
One of the victims was shot in the left hip, and the bullet was lodged in the fleshy area. Another victim was shot in the left cheek, resulting in a broken bones in the jaw and in the third and fourth vertebrae. The third victim was shot in the back. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/fort-wayne-man-sentenced-to-five-years-in-shooting/article_d1d3616e-f3cb-11ec-8700-83b48fecf3c7.html | 2022-06-24T16:33:10 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/fort-wayne-man-sentenced-to-five-years-in-shooting/article_d1d3616e-f3cb-11ec-8700-83b48fecf3c7.html |
Old Lower Huntington Road between Lower Huntington Road and the dead end will be closed from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday during crossover-pipe replacement, the Allen County Highway Department said today.
Old Lower Huntington Road section closed Monday
- The Journal Gazette | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/old-lower-huntington-road-section-closed-monday/article_aea3134c-f3cb-11ec-9b03-5f9c949c6cb0.html | 2022-06-24T16:33:17 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/old-lower-huntington-road-section-closed-monday/article_aea3134c-f3cb-11ec-9b03-5f9c949c6cb0.html |
Huntington police have in custody the suspect wanted in a multiple stabbing that left two people dead and two others in critical condition.
Officers said they were called to a residence in the 600 block of Whitelock Street about 7:30 p.m. Thursday and found the victims suffering from stab wounds.
One person was pronounced dead at the scene and another victim died sometime after arriving at a hospital. The two others remain in critical condition, police said.
Officers said they have not established a motive in the attacks, but have identified suspect James Lee Bonewits as a person of interest.
An investigation is ongoing. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/police-fire/huntington-stabbing-leaves-2-dead-2-critical/article_62869a6a-f3a8-11ec-97f8-3fc866901c51.html | 2022-06-24T16:33:23 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/police-fire/huntington-stabbing-leaves-2-dead-2-critical/article_62869a6a-f3a8-11ec-97f8-3fc866901c51.html |
Following a 6-3 Supreme Court decision Friday overturning Roe v. Wade, abortion will be banned in Texas.
The court's ruling came more than a month after the stunning leak of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito indicating the court was prepared to take this momentous step of reversing a precedent for a constitutionally protected right.
WHAT IS THE TEXAS TRIGGER LAW?
Twenty-two states have laws or constitutional amendments in place, so-called trigger laws, which could be quickly used to ban abortion should Roe v. Wade be overturned.
Texas is one of the states with a trigger law in place. State legislators, anticipating the possibility that one day a conservative court may overturn the case, passed the Human Life Protection Act of 2021 last year during the 87th legislative session.
The ban doesn't start right away and the exact date the ban will be in place is not yet known. The state will ban abortion 30 days after the Supreme Court issues its formal judgment, which is different than the opinion released Friday, according to an advisory from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and typically comes within a month of the opinion. Scroll down for more details on when the ban may begin in Texas.
The first sign that the court might be receptive to wiping away the constitutional right to abortion came in late summer when the justices divided 5-4 in allowing Texas to enforce a ban on the procedure at roughly six weeks, which is before some women even know they are pregnant. That dispute turned on the unique structure of the law, including its enforcement by private citizens rather than by state officials, and how it can be challenged in court.
ARE THERE EXCEPTIONS TO THE ABORTION LAW?
The Texas ban on abortion does allow abortions if the life of the mother is in danger or to prevent substantial impairment, but the law doesn't define what that is.
The Texas ban on abortion does not make provisions for cases of rape or incest.
WHAT IS THE PUNISHMENT IN TEXAS?
People who have abortions won't be prosecuted, however, the Texas law does target doctors who would be facing up to life in prison and fines up to $100,000 for performing illegal abortions.
One thing that will also stay in place in Texas is the recent bounty law allowing private citizens to sue anyone who helps someone get an abortion.
TEXAS GOVERNOR RESPONDS AFTER COURT DECISION
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) issued a statement Friday morning, saying the Supreme Court correctly overturned Roe v Wade while touting the state's efforts to improve women's health programs.
"The U.S. Supreme Court correctly overturned Roe v. Wade and reinstated the right of states to protect innocent, unborn children. Texas is a pro-life state, and we have taken significant action to protect the sanctity of life. Texas has also prioritized supporting women's healthcare and expectant mothers in need to give them the necessary resources so that they can choose life for their child. I signed laws that extended Medicaid health care coverage to six months post-partum, appropriated $345 million for women's health programs, and invested more than $100 million toward our Alternatives to Abortion program. This critical program provides counseling, mentoring, care coordination, and material assistance, such as car seats, diapers, and housing to mothers in need.
TEXAS AG ON WHEN THE BAN WILL BEGIN IN TEXAS
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says it's unclear when the ban will begin in Texas but that his office will make that date known as soon as possible.
Paxton said the Supreme Court released an opinion on Friday and must release its formal judgment before the clock starts on Texas's 30-day countdown to outlaw abortion.
"The Court will issue its judgment only after the window for the litigants to file a motion for rehearing has closed. A judgment can issue in about a month, or longer if the Court considers a motion for rehearing. So while it is clear that the Act will take effect, we cannot calculate exactly when until the Court issues its judgment," Paxton said.
ROE V. WADE HISTORY BEGINS IN DALLAS
The landmark Roe v. Wade abortion case started in Dallas County 49 years ago with a woman named Norma McCorvey.
Dallas attorney Linda Coffey initially represented McCorvey, known as "Jane Roe," in the historic case, filing suit in a Dallas County District Court against then Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade.
Coffey and her former classmate, attorney Sarah Weddington, argued the case which later advanced to the U.S. Supreme Court. Weddington argued the case before the court twice, in December 1971 and again in October 1972, resulting the next year in the 7-2 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
Coffey told NBC 5 earlier this year she was having dinner in May when word came of a leaked draft opinion by the nation’s High Court that indicated Roe might be overturned.
“I just felt that was awful, and I started turning it on all the channels and they said the same thing,” Coffee said. “I thought this was incredible. I didn’t understand how that could happen that someone could leak out an opinion that was just a first draft.”
During the May interview, Coffee, 79, expressed concern that if abortion were left up to individual states it would place an undue burden on women.
“A lot of women don’t have the funds to go to, like, if they were going from here to California,” Coffee said.
Coffee has always expressed concern for women living in poverty and their access to safe and legal procedures. She is once again very concerned about poor women if abortion is outlawed.
ROE V WADE
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox. | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/texas-trigger-law-will-make-abortion-illegal-after-supreme-courts-landmark-reversal/2999677/ | 2022-06-24T16:40:23 | 1 | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/texas-trigger-law-will-make-abortion-illegal-after-supreme-courts-landmark-reversal/2999677/ |
ORISKANY, N.Y. – Oneida County's Metro SWAT Team was recognized as the winner of the Tactical Week Challenge on Friday following a series of training sessions at the state Emergency Preparedness Training Center, operated by the State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, in Oriskany.
Law enforcement agencies from across the state gathered for the annual training competition, which helps members hone their skills by training in real-life scenarios like active shooters and barricaded suspects.
The training also allows the agencies to learn from each other.
"You get to see what everybody else is doing, see their way, they see our way, and maybe we can make our way better,” said James Holt, of the SWAT team.
Some law enforcement members from Erie County also participated in Tactical Week in an effort to strengthen their skills in the wake of the mass shooting in Buffalo.
"That's our community as well, being in Erie County, it can happen without warning anywhere in America, in our county, as you saw, in Buffalo. That's why we're here. That's why we train as hard as we do,” said Det. Ben Pisa of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office.
Patrol officers will begin training in Oriskany next week. | https://www.wktv.com/news/local/oneida-countys-metro-swat-team-wins-2022-tactical-week-challenge/article_3427c690-f3cf-11ec-bfee-537f5af33a5c.html | 2022-06-24T16:49:02 | 0 | https://www.wktv.com/news/local/oneida-countys-metro-swat-team-wins-2022-tactical-week-challenge/article_3427c690-f3cf-11ec-bfee-537f5af33a5c.html |
BOISE, Idaho — After the decision by the Supreme Court overturned the federally guaranteed right to an abortion nationally, individual states will now decide whether or not the procedure will be legal inside their borders.
Idaho is one of several states that has what's known as a trigger law in place. The state will automatically ban abortion if the Supreme Court ever overturned its controversial decision in Roe v. Wade.
Idaho's ban on abortions takes effect in 30 days.
On Friday, Idaho's federal, state, and local leaders reacted to the court's decision.
U.S. Senator Mike Crapo
“My strong commitment to supporting measures that protect the rights of the unborn remains unchanged. I believe abortion is wrong and should be limited to cases where the mother’s life is in imminent danger. The Court’s decision upholds my belief that states should have the ability to protect the right to life.”
U.S. Senator Jim Risch
"Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided in 1973, resulting in the deaths of millions of unborn babies over nearly half a century. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court took a major step to right that wrong, ruling that the U.S. Constitution does not provide for a right to an abortion. The Court's decision recognizes that states have an interest in protecting life at all stages of development by giving Americans the power to decide this matter at the state-level through their elected representatives.
"The most basic right we as humans have is the right to life. I have immense empathy for any expecting mother in difficult circumstances. As the greatest country in the history of human civilization, we should support those mothers to the best of our ability."
Representative Russ Fulcher
Governor Brad Little
"I join many in Idaho and across the country today in welcoming the high court's long awaited decision upholding state sovereignty and protecting preborn lives. The decision provides clarity around landmark cases at the center of passionate debate in our country for nearly five decades. This is now clear – the 'right' to an abortion was a judicial creation. Abortion is not a right expressed in the U.S. Constitution, and abortion will be entrusted to the states and their people to regulate.
"Idaho has been at the forefront of enacting new laws to protect preborn babies. The pro-life bill I signed into law in 2020 will go into effect later this summer.
"Today's decision is the culmination of pro-life efforts to defend the defenseless – preborn babies who deserve protection. It also is affirmation of states' rights, a fundamental aspect of our American government.
"However, we fully acknowledge this monumental moment in our country's history means we must confront what know will be growing needs for women and families in the months and years ahead. We absolutely must come together like never before to support women and teens facing unexpected or unwanted pregnancies. Families, churches, charities, and local and state government must stand ready to lift them up and help them and their families with access to adoption services, healthcare, financial and food assistance, counseling and treatment, and family planning. We are being called to support women and our fellow community members in extraordinary new ways, and I'm confident Idahoans are ready to meet this responsibility with love and compassion,"
Boise Mayor Lauren McLean
"I am infuriated, & intensely worried. The decision to terminate a pregnancy is deeply personal and private. This decision by the Supreme Court will have devastating consequences on the health, privacy, & economic independence of women throughout our community, state, and nation.
"It is particularly harmful for women of color & low-income women. No one should have to flee their state to access safe healthcare. I remain steadfast in my support for all people who need access to abortion care & stand with them in fighting for privacy in health care decisions. "
Idaho Democratic Party
"I never expected to see such a grave rollback of our rights in the 21st Century. I am shocked that young Americans just lost rights that their parents were guaranteed and for which their grandparents fought.
"Today's decision overturns 50 years of established reproductive freedoms and starts the clock on a terrifying countdown here in Idaho. In 30 short days, a trigger law banning safe and legal abortions will go into effect, stripping away Idahoans' reproductive rights. This law is especially cruel because it only applies to those who don't have the resources to find a way around it. People with means will be able to flee the state to receive abortion care, while Idahoans facing low wages, including a disproportionate share of people of color, will face involuntary pregnancy.
"Roe v. Wade protected our state from the most extreme positions of its Republican lawmakers. Idahoans are losing this protection just as the Republican supermajority is becoming increasingly radicalized. The Idaho Republican Party platform seeks to completely eliminate access to abortion care, even in the tragic cases of rape and incest. We have seen Republican legislators bring bills that would put patients on trial for murder if they receive abortions. We must brace for more extreme measures to follow this ban.
"Taking away the right to a safe and legal abortion is only the beginning. Access to different types of birth control and in vitro fertilization are now at risk as well as other freedoms based on our right to privacy.
"Idahoans can no longer rely on the courts to protect their rights. The only way we can win back our reproductive rights is by electing Democrats across the state.
"Idaho Democrats will continue to fight for the reproductive rights and freedoms of all Idahoans for as long as it takes. We stand with the majority of Idahoans who believe people should have access to all of the reproductive health care options available, including abortion."
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist: | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/idaho-reaction-supreme-court-abortion/277-4c10f8b2-0764-4d1b-be19-826209642f8f | 2022-06-24T16:49:54 | 1 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/idaho-reaction-supreme-court-abortion/277-4c10f8b2-0764-4d1b-be19-826209642f8f |
Published
Updated
Researchers are trying to understand how wildfires and forest thinning help or hurt the endangered wildlife in the Southwest's forests.
No one knows how many Mexican spotted owls live across the Southwest, whether it's as few as 1,000 or as many as 10,000. The last real count, in targeted areas of Arizona and New Mexico, was completed in 2002.
That same year, the Rodeo-Chediski Fire burned across nearly half a million acres of forest lands in Arizona's White Mountains, long one of the owl's important habitats. The fire charred wide swaths of the owl's territory and raised new questions about its numbers and its long-term recovery.
Researchers are only now beginning to understand the impacts of the fire, at the time the largest in recorded Arizona history. One thing that’s become clear to scientists, advocates and owl enthusiasts is that Mexican spotted owls are struggling to survive.
Federal wildlife managers point to megafires like Rodeo-Chediski as among the biggest threats to the owls and to a whole host of species that live in the forests, including bats, small ground-dwelling mammals and larger animals like elk and bears. A fire as destructive as Rodeo-Chediski can disrupt wildlife habitat for decades.
Still, some independent researchers assert that fire has always been a part of the Southwest and that it’s actually the treatments aimed at limiting fires that harm owl populations.
Shaula Hedwall, one of the biologists on the Mexican spotted owl recovery team, is trying to determine the extent to which either of these is true. Her research is a small part of larger efforts across the Southwest to count and monitor the raptors.
What they’d like to know most of all is how the birds are coping alongside forest management activities intended to reduce high-intensity fire risks, such as prescribed burns and thinning.
To do that, those researchers are focusing on breeding pairs, which play a crucial role in assessing populations, whether their numbers are decreasing, increasing or stagnant. Where there are breeding pairs, owlets are born, eventually fledge and may survive to establish new territories.
It’s labor-intensive and costly to track individual owlets using demography studies that follow individuals. That requires capturing birds, banding them and tracking their movements over time, said Hedwall. The last count did it that way, but only looked at small patches of habitat in Arizona and New Mexico and wasn't a thorough population count or a measure of larger population trends.
Using occupancy rates in specific areas provides a more practical way to assess trends over time. Greater reproduction rates mean the area’s population has a better chance at survival.
“We're looking right now at the effects of prescribed burning … on occupancy and reproduction in owls, and mechanical thinning and burning on owl occupancy and reproduction,” said Hedwall. “And we're also measuring changes in habitat that occur from thinning and burning.”
Owls are declining and so is their habitat
Mexican spotted owls are heat sensitive, according to Hedwall, who is a senior fish and wildlife biologist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Because of that, they like cooler microclimates, such as forests of mixed conifers like Douglas fir and ponderosa pine, with stands of Gambel oak sprinkled in.
They like vertical canopy diversity with medium trees to perch on when foraging and sleeping, also called roosting. And they like taller, older trees to roost and nest in. If the area is sloped and north-facing, it's even better.
Hedwall was a co-author on a March paper assessing habitat, a study led by Chris Witt from the U.S. Forest Service, with other Mexican spotted owl experts, including Gavin Jones and Joe Ganey, both from the federal Rocky Mountain Research Station.
In the paper, the team analyzed owl habitat from 1986 to 2020, using satellite imagery, Google Earth Engine and modeling to classify the footprint of the Rodeo-Chediski Fire into four distinct categories based on the degree to which patches of habitat aligned with spotted owl preferences.
They estimated that over 35 years, nearly 83% of the forest type that matched preferred owl habitat pre-fire had changed post-fire. More directly, they found that it reduced habitat for roosting and nesting, two key behaviors that indicate stable owl habitat, by 38%.
Related: How the Schultz Fire reveals long-term costs of big wildfires, from floods to habitat loss
Researchers were able to create a living map, said Jones. As fires roar across the landscape, models of suitable habitat are overlaid with recent events to see where owls could persist.
The new technology has been revolutionary for monitoring habitat. Researchers can now go all the way back to satellite imagery records and combine them with current events, allowing them to make determinations about long-term habitat trends.
Jones and his colleagues recently published two more papers on changing spotted owl habitat using the same technology. Habitat isn’t just vegetation, he said, and his two papers add other elements such as climate and topography to map owl habitat at a finer scale. Two additional areas they looked at lost about 25% of suitable spotted owl habitat.
“I really think this changes everything,” said Jones. “We can essentially, at any time when a fire happens, when a drought happens, when some type of management operation happens, we can just remap spotted owl habitat almost instantly.”
What is proposed to help owls
His isn’t the only research with sobering results. Michael Lommler, the Colorado data specialist at the Great Basin Institute, submitted his dissertation on spotted owl habitat selection after the Rodeo-Chediski Fire.
He looked at 20 protected activity centers, or PACs, which are areas where spotted owls are known to roost and nest, during the breeding season between 2014 and 2016. He compared current observations with historical data provided by the Forest Service.
According to his research, the presence of breeding pairs was reduced by 50% within the perimeter of the fire. Before the Rodeo-Chediski Fire, owl pairs were present at the same rate in PACs both inside and outside the fire perimeter. After the fire, site occupancy for both breeding pairs and individuals was lower where high-severity burning occurred.
“Spotted owls are looking for certain levels of forest structure with high canopy cover, large mature trees, generally looking for shady, cool spots in which to nest and roost,” said Lommler. “And because of the effects of the wildfire, there is simply less of that habitat available.”
To help halt some of that habitat loss, federal biologists, and researchers like Lommler, are recommending an array of fire management tactics that include thinning, prescribed fire and managed fire.
Nearly 90% of the Rodeo-Chediski Fire occurred on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests and the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. Since the fire, according to a forest representative, over 45,000 acres within the footprint of the fire have undergone treatments, either mechanical thinning, prescribed burning or replanting. Within the perimeter of the Rodeo-Chediski footprint, over 25,000 acres have undergone prescribed burning, and over 18,000 acres have been mechanically thinned.
Do forest treatments do more harm than good?
There’s another theory that seems to contradict that work. A team of independent researchers says that the Southwest is well adapted to fire and so are Mexican spotted owls.
Fires, even large ones, are a part of the natural cycle and can even benefit owls, they say. After periods of fire, forest stands open up, and hunting becomes easier for birds as they soar through stands of singed trees.
It’s the treatments to reduce fire that are actually harming owls, they contend, primarily through salvage logging, which occurs after a forest is burned and contributes to habitat loss. During this process, land managers remove all the sellable trees.
But instead of methodically removing trees, entire patches of forest are razed, turning potential habitat into stump forests that are of no use to the birds, the researchers argue. That reduces some of the structure the owls need to perch and feed, reducing habitat.
Chad Hanson has worked on spotted owl research projects for over 25 years. He is the director and principal ecologist at the John Muir Project, a research organization that advocates for land management policies that prioritize ecological health. He’s also one of the main proponents of the "fire is good for owls" concept.
He’s authored several studies that look at the effects of logging on owl populations. According to his findings, the burned forests are intricately connected to the health of spotted owls.
“When (the Forest Service) is talking about thinning and thinning of small trees and under undergrowth, they're not talking about pruning shears,” says Hanson. “They're talking about chainsaws and bulldozers and giant feller bunchers and massive, multi-ton logging machinery, tearing through the forest and taking out huge old trees.”
Logging in national forests used to be a widely accepted major threat to spotted owls as recently as the 1980s, said Monica Bond, a wildlife biologist and biodiversity activist with the Wild Nature Institute. In the decade that followed, the Endangered Species Act listing of the northern spotted owl halted many logging projects in the Pacific Northwest.
The timber wars marked a pivotal shift, when the science of logging the ecological harm done to forests was thrust to the fore of the debate between conservation and commerce.
Long regarded as overgrown and in need of management, old-growth forests were seen by the public as a solution to climate change. The rainforest along the Pacific Northwest coast, the U.S. Forest Service estimates, stores 2,100 million metric tons of carbon per year, which is 24% of car emissions in Oregon and Washington, one of the largest natural carbon sinks in the country.
At the same time, conservation groups such as the Sierra Club were advocating for greater protections. Undervalued and misunderstood, old-growth forests and the benefits they provide were abstract to many. The northern spotted owl became an effective face for why these forests needed protection.
Hanson says it’s at this point that the Forest Service, logging industry and some politicians started to rebrand, replacing the word "logging" with more benign terms such as restoration, thinning and fuel reduction.
The role of fire in wildlife habitat
It was around this time that the perception of threats started to shift from logging to fire. To save spotted owls, the Forest Service contended, fires needed to be prevented.
In 2007, five years after the Rodeo-Chediski Fire, the Forest Service issued a plan to burn 162,000 acres within the burn area to reduce fuel loads. Despite this plan, nearly 20 new fires have occurred in the area since 2002. And nearly 30,000 acres have been salvaged logged, according to Bryant Baker, a GIS map specialist and conservation director at the nonprofit Los Padres ForestWatch.
In short, none of the efforts to reduce fires actually prevented future fires from happening, said Bond, the biologist, but instead led to less suitable habitat for Mexican spotted owls.
“I found they actually liked to forage in the areas that had burned severely when it's closer to their nest," Bond said. "So they did forage in the unburned stuff and the lightly burn and moderate, but they showed a preference for foraging in these high severity burned areas closer to their nests.”
These newly burned stands, rather than hindering owl growth, were encouraging it, Hanson said. The patchy structure, Bond said, provides clear sight lines and minimum cover for prey.
A useful contrast that Hanson points to is the Horseshoe II fire that burned in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona in 2011. It is the fourth-largest fire to burn in Arizona.
According to his research, the area where the fire occurred is mostly protected from logging. This offered a good opportunity to observe the response of Mexican spotted owls to burned landscapes. The work he cited found that owl populations had doubled in the area three years after the fire.
The research concluded that owls used these burned areas, called snag forests, to forage. In burned areas, prey boons were observed as the small mammals, insects and reptiles that the birds feed on seek cover that doesn’t exist.
Instead of salvage logging and thinning efforts to reduce fuels, Bond suggests the idea of "proforestation," which is just letting nature take its course and allowing tree regeneration on its own.
With climate change fueling the dry conditions for wildfires to thrive, the likelihood that fires continue to burn across the West is growing. The 10 largest fires in Arizona have all occurred in the two decades following Rodeo-Chediski in 2002.
As fire regimes continue to change, biologists expect owls to suffer if the status quo is maintained. Whether by direct fire setting or indirect fire management, forests are being altered by human activity.
Out in the forest with the owls
Hedwall, the USFWS biologist, points to the connections between the climate, the environment and how humans and animals interact with the world. Less precipitation means more fires and less vegetation productivity, which leads to less food production, such as small mammals, for owls.
As a member of the Mexican spotted owl recovery team, she works with partners to recover Mexican spotted owls and she needs to understand how forest management can be used to support owl recovery.
She recently started her day on a breezy afternoon in the Coconino National Forest, just west of the area where the Rodeo-Chediski Fire burned.
She was headed to one of the spotted owl Protected Activity Centers that her team is monitoring. This area had not been burned and for now, it’s a reference site that’s being monitored to see how the owls fare in untreated sites compared to those where prescribed burning and mechanical thinning have occurred.
The forest is lush, the soil is rich and the canopy is so dense that only dabbled light permeates the forest floor, nearly 100 feet from the treetops. This particular site is the 600-acre management area for a breeding pair of owls.
After four hours of trekking up and down slopes, through underbrush and over tree trunks, Hedwall whispered, “shhhh!” She heard the distant hoot of a male up the side of the mountain. She raced up the slope, colleague Jamieson Arnold, who works for the Forest Service, in tow, recording the time, date and location.
They wanted to spot the owl, hoping to locate the nest. The faint contact call of a female owl followed, telling the researchers they were in the right area.
“Wait, I hear them, it’s that way,” Hedwall said. “They both are calling. It was a male call. And the female gave contact calls!” She and Arnold darted higher up to see if they could locate the source of the sound.
Another hour’s worth of searching produced no leads. The calls were heard, but no owls or nests were seen that day.
On day two, Hedwall felt renewed. She was in a treatment area where a prescribed burn was slated to take place.
Julia Camp, Arnold’s manager, joined Hedwall, this time in a new PAC. The owls have continued to use the site since the Forest Service and USFWS burned the area in 2017. It didn’t take long before the hoot of the male echoed through the forest. This time the call was loud, crisp and clear.
He was near where they were standing. After a few minutes of craned-neck searching, they found the nest. Hedwall went higher up the slope to get a better vantage point.
“I see a fuzzball! I might see two fuzzballs,” she exclaimed in a hushed shout. “That’s what you’ll see with raptors, one small, one big. They’ll probably fledge next week.”
She was feeling lucky, so much so that she was keen to check out another nest site several miles away. The researchers hadn’t visited this site since April. This time, the male made his presence known, not with a sound, but by flying directly toward the two biologists. The nest was near.
“He’s going to follow us,” said Hedwall. Perhaps he was keen to escort the humans out of the area.
“Found it,” she declared after searching a patch of forest surrounding an old Gambel oak. The female was sitting on a chick, maybe two, deep inside a hollowed-out cavity.
Legal issues complicate the work
One of the most significant drivers in the efforts to understand Mexican spotted owl populations, where they live and the effects of forest management is the 2012 recovery plan and a subsequent 2013 lawsuit filed by WildEarth Guardians.
The recovery plan mentions site-specific actions federal agencies should take to measure and assess spotted owl populations to determine the status of the species. The document essentially functions as a roadmap to delisting or uplisting if conditions worsen.
Following its publication, the New Mexico-based conservation organization alleged that the Forest Service had abdicated its responsibility to assess how the birds were responding to activities related to logging. The group also said USFWS had ignored potential impacts on spotted owls.
WildEarth Guardians fought for the protection of spotted owls in the 1990s. Twenty years after Mexican spotted owls were listed as threatened in 1993, the conservation group said the Forest Service intended to weaken some of the guardrails put in place to protect the birds.
In 2019, a Tucson-based federal judge partially agreed with them and placed an injunction on some logging activities in New Mexico and Arizona.
In 2020, the two federal agencies reached an agreement with the group. As a part of that agreement, both agencies agreed to monitor Mexican spotted owl populations. The outcome could affect the bird’s listing.
A slew of research projects has addressed issues raised by lawsuits. In addition to Hedwall's work, the Forest Service contracted with Bird Conservancy of the Rockies in 2013 to assess Mexican spotted owl populations across portions of their range until 2025.
Their work covers over 200 randomly selected sites across Arizona and New Mexico. The sites are represented by square kilometer patches on forest land, the primary habitat of Mexican spotted owls. Each site is visited by a team of scientists who check each plot annually.
According to Marion Clement, the Mexican spotted owl coordinator for the organization, the more data that’s collected, the firmer their foundation for making conclusions.
"We use a loudspeaker or game caller to play a territorial call that a Mexican spotted owl would make, and during the breeding seasons, the owls are very tuned in to defending a territory,” said Clement. “So, if they're within earshot, especially if they're nesting, they will come in and make themselves known.”
The spotted owl’s recovery is measured by trends in populations over a 10-year period and trends in habitat. While the final verdict is still out, Clement cautions that some of the tentative data that they’ve collected do not bode well for delisting.
Researchers are seeing a slight decline in breeding pairs. “It’s not … drastic, but it’s there,” she said. “When we detect … single owls, they're modeled separately from pairs. And those also seem to have a slight decline.”
As environmental conditions such as fire continue to alter Mexican spotted owl habitat, these can be used to tell scientists what suitable habitat still exists across large swaths of the Southwest.
Overall assessment of owls
While all groups studying owls have seen data that’s resulted in less than desired outcomes for spotted owls, Hedwall offers a key to why some of the current conclusions should be approached with care.
The main element to determining population trends, she said, are long-term studies over years and vast areas, something Clement is currently working on.
While forested habitat for Mexican spotted owls may be changing because of climate change and forest fires, the owls may find refuge in the many canyons that dot the landscape.
Hedwall also challenges the idea that the owls rely heavily on severely burned forests, saying that those findings may be overstated. They use these areas, and many others, for foraging, she said, but the more important factor for owl populations is the need for nesting and roosting habitat. Without those, there’s no new population source.
“Having burned, high intensity burned landscapes everywhere is not good for nest and roost habitat for owls,” Hedwall said. “They will use those areas for foraging as long as they're not too big, but it's not nest/roost habitat long-term for these birds.”
Later on the second day in the field, another surprise came: Arnold, the Forest Service scientist, had radioed from the other site. His team had found a nest where he and Hedwall had been the night before.
It was encouraging news for the researchers. With three separate breeding pairs, all with owlets, the prospects for the Mexican spotted owls appeared to be good in this part of the forest this season, despite the planned burning and mechanical thinning.
Hedwall and Camp spent that Friday inputting all of the information they recorded that week into their database. But their work to determine how forest management activities affect owls won’t end for a few years.
The prospects of forest management and conservation coexisting doesn’t seem far off, based on their work. It’s about very specific site actions that allow managers to treat areas of the forest while also leaving some areas intact, she cautions.
“What I'm trying to do is not only maintain or enhance existing habitat (Mexican spotted owls) are using for nesting and resting, but also work with people to create habitat that will develop into nesting and roosting habitat into the future,” she said.
“I hope … we're going to learn a whole bunch about how owls are actually using the landscape and that we're going to be able to use that information to inform forest management moving forward so that we can maintain habitat for these birds.”
Lindsey Botts is an environmental reporter for The Arizona Republic/azcentral. Follow his reporting on Twitter at @lkbotts and Lkbotts on Instagram. Tell him about stories at lindsey.botts@azcentral.com
Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. Follow The Republic environmental reporting team at environment.azcentral.com and @azcenvironment on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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Roe v. Wade has been overturned. What is the law for abortions in Arizona now?
The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturned Roe vs. Wade and allows states to set their own course on abortion laws — so what does that mean for Arizona now?
Uncertainty, at least at first.
Expect an immediate challenge to the state's anti-abortion laws and a direct or implied threat of prosecution for abortion providers, several experts told The Arizona Republic. They pose the most likely scenario as an initial fight to determine which of two anti-abortion laws — one 158 years old and another brand new — will take precedence.
The old law, created in Arizona’s territorial days, is a strict ban on providing or helping to provide an abortion, except to save the mother's life. It calls for a mandatory prison sentence of two to five years for violators.
More:Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, eliminating constitutional right to abortion
Republicans in the state Legislature passed the new anti-abortion law this year; Gov. Doug Ducey signed it into law in March. Scheduled to take effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns its current session (something that may happen by the end of June), it bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy except if necessary to save the mother’s life. Violating physicians face potential felony charges and loss of their professional licenses.
The state court system, likely the Arizona Supreme Court, will be needed to settle the issue as women seeking abortions and abortion service providers wait for guidance.
Impact still unclear, for now
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling Friday overturned the constitutional right to abortion established with its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, allowing states to set their own policies.
It also overturns the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision that allowed states to set rules based on viability.
"The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives," the ruling states.
U.S. Supreme Court judgments take effect 25 days after a judgment is issued, giving the losing party time to file a petition for a rehearing. Such petitions are rarely granted, but the interim period could give Arizonans time to evaluate their next steps.
Before the Supreme Court's ruling, opinions were mixed on which of the two state laws would prevail.
Brittni Thomason, a spokeswoman with the Arizona Attorney General's Office, said June 16 that "once the U.S. Supreme Court provides new clarity or guidelines, we will commence a formal legal analysis for Arizona." The office wouldn't describe what the scope of the analysis would be.
Statements released by Attorney General Mark Brnovich after the ruling emphasized his anti-abortion sentiment.
"Attorneys General have a solemn responsibility to defend the most vulnerable among us, and that’s exactly what we did today," Brnovich wrote. "I look forward to seeing this issue returned to elected representatives where it belongs. As Americans, we believe in the dignity & value of every person."
Brnovich implied that Arizonans would be governed by the new 15-week law set to take effect 90 days after the Legislature ends its current session, likely to happen in the next several days.
"The Arizona Legislature passed an identical law to the one upheld in Dobbs, which will take effect in approximately 90 days," a statement from Brnovich's office on June 24 states.
Brnovich noted that he filed an amicus brief in the Dobbs case and that his office has "been vigorously defending" a law Arizona passed year that bans abortions sought because of "genetic abnormalities" and conveys the same rights other children have to fetuses. He said he expected to prevail in that case because of Friday's decision.
After signing the 15-week abortion ban in March, Ducey told reporters that it — and not the pre-statehood ban — would take effect if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. But he has not clarified why he believes that, nor has he responded to requests for an updated comment.
Representatives of Planned Parenthood of Arizona and the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona said they expect abortion to remain legal and services to continue as normal until the 15-week ban takes effect this fall.
Arizona abortion law:What you need to know now that Roe v. Wade is overturned
Unless, that is, the state takes action to revive to the pre-statehood ban.
In 1973, the Roe v. Wade decision caused the Arizona Court of Appeals to amend and reverse a 2-1 decision it had made a few weeks earlier that declared that the laws banning abortions and advertising of abortion or contraception services were constitutional. But they are still in Arizona statute.
Brittany Fonteno, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Arizona, Inc., said the group’s legal position is that the 1973 action stops the abortion ban from taking effect, “meaning the state would have to act to lift the injunction” to enforce it.
“There’s going to be a lot of contradictory actions at the same time,” Fonteno said before the ruling. “We’re going to see very swift movement … to try to ban abortion.”
Arizona has one of the country’s most “complex legal landscapes” on the aftermath of a Roe reversal, she said.
“The state has to make a decision,” she said. “Right now there are lot of conflicting narratives.”
That’s already creating confusion among patients and physicians, she said.
“We have patients that don’t know that it’s legal — they don’t know what their rights are,” Fonteno said. “Anti-abortion politicians and advocates (are) trying to create confusion so that doctors are scared.”
The group is having “conversations internally” she didn’t want to share about what operations might look like in the aftermath of a Roe v. Wade reversal and the legal strategies they may take in the courtroom.
“We’re ready, we’re prepared,” Fonteno said, adding that Planned Parenthood doors “will remain open no matter what,” providing birth control, sexually transmitted infection testing, gender-affirming care and — if legal — abortion services.
Cathi Herrod, an attorney and president of the anti-abortion Center for Arizona Policy, said the complete ban on abortions "should be enforceable," but that "it's going to be challenged in court quickly."
Herrod said she believes the 1973 injunction against the ban only enjoins the Pima County attorney and state attorney general from enforcing it.
“It’s another reason why this all will be sorted out by the courts, most likely,” she said.
The lack of clarity could help advocates of legal abortion stop the total ban from taking effect, according to Jen Piatt, a research scholar with Arizona State University's Center for Public Health Law and Policy.
Attorneys arguing against the total ban likely would use a legal theory known as "implied repeal," she said. The 15-week abortion ban Ducey signed this year contains obvious conflicts with the territorial-era law, and a judge could decide that means the old law was repealed by implication, she said.
Andrew Gould, a former state Court of Appeals judge and state Supreme Court justice who retired last year in a bid to run for state attorney general, agreed with Piatt's take.
The new law confuses the issue, containing a provision that explicitly states the pre-statehood law is not repealed. Despite that, "most judges would say that old law was repealed" by the 15-week law, because newer laws typically take precedence when they conflict with old laws, Gould said.
When abortion providers could have assurance that they won't face prison time is another question. That might only happen if the Legislature "expressly states they've repealed it or not," Gould said. "Or, it's going to have to be sorted out in the courts."
What would abortion ban in Arizona look like? A century of prosecutions, deaths before Roe sheds light
Outcome of fall elections will matter
Marcela Taracena, spokeswoman for the ACLU, said the organization is discussing how to challenge Arizona’s anti-abortion law in court, but also is looking to a wider fight on abortion.
“We plan to work closely with partners to mobilize our community against anti-abortion attacks and demand that candidates take a stance on this issue leading into the 2022 elections,” she said.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling means the November election is more important than ever to both abortion proponents and opponents. Not only would Democratic lawmakers work to try to preserve abortion rights, but enforcing any abortion ban also requires a willing prosecutor. The lone Democrat running for state attorney general, attorney Kris Mayes, said she presents a "stark difference" compared with the six GOP candidates running for the office, one of whom she'll face in November.
"As attorney general, we will not prosecute women or doctors in the state of Arizona for abortion, period, even when Roe falls," she said.
Roe v. Wade is based on a woman's implied right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution, but the state Constitution expressly grants "strong and explicit" right to privacy that she believes contradicts the pre-statehood ban, she said.
"We're going to enforce the Constitution, which I believe supersedes both (the old and new anti-abortion laws)," Mayes said.
Julie Gunnigle, a Democrat running against Republican appointee Rachel Mitchell for Maricopa County Attorney, has also said she wouldn't prosecute anyone for providing abortions.
That's already the stance in Pima County. Following the leaked draft of the Supreme Court's opinion, County Attorney Laura Conover posted on social media that her office, "will do everything in our power to ensure that no person seeking or assisting in an abortion will spend a night in jail."
Direct voter enactment of legal abortions in Arizona also remains a remote possibility this year.
Abortion-rights advocates launched a citizens initiative in May and are collecting voter signatures. They would have to obtain 356,467 valid voter signatures by July 7, but there's no indication they'll get close to that with their late start.
Voters won't get another chance to change the law at the ballot box until 2024.
More attacks on abortion expected
While the total and 15-week ban laws are the main focus, other Arizona statutes could play a role in a post-Roe world.
An anti-abortion law from a decade ago sets a 20-week limit on abortions. It was signed into law by then-Gov. Jan Brewer in 2012. Herrod said that won’t come into play because it was ruled unconstitutional by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court, and thus there is no pending litigation against it.
What could open another legal front is the question of whether fetuses have the same rights as all other children.
A law signed by Ducey in 2021 full citizen rights to fetuses in addition to banning abortions sought because of "genetic abnormalities."
That law was challenged by several pro-choice groups and is on hold following a stay by a federal judge in December, who noted its conflict with Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the two cases dismantled by the Supreme Court ruling. The stay was extended and upheld by the 9th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court, which turned down a request by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to let the law take effect immediately.
With Roe v. Wade overruled, the basis for the stay has eroded. And since the 2021 law grants the fetus all the rights and privileges of any other child, that would necessarily prevent an abortion, Herrod said.
Assuming the territorial law won't go into effect, Fonteno said she expects the Arizona Legislature to take more action against abortion.
“They won’t be satisfied with the 15-week ban,” she said.
Possible chilling effect for doctors
Until courts decide the impact on Arizona, abortion providers will temporarily close up shop, predicted Paul Bender, who teaches constitutional law at ASU.
"I don’t think you’d be able to find a doctor to give ... a legal abortion in Arizona the day Roe v. Wade is overruled," Bender said. "I think a doctor would be in peril to do an abortion immediately after."
Because of the old law’s mandatory prison time that some would argue is still in effect, overturning Roe v. Wade "would scare doctors from doing abortions in Arizona right away," he said.
Legal abortions wouldn't end in Arizona "if doctors are willing to take the chance," he said, "but most doctors will not want to take that chance."
Will Humble, executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association, echoed Bender’s assertion.
“You will see the clinics close,” he said. “I think you would definitely see an immediate ending of those services.”
How long they would stay closed may depend on what the state Supreme Court decides, he said, adding that would expected the court to rule quickly.
The Arizona Medical Association, which officially supports keeping abortion services legal, is "very concerned" about the risk for physicians if the state reverted to the pre-statehood ban, said the group's president, Dr. Jennifer Hartmark-Hill.
"While it is probable that many physicians would cease providing pregnancy termination services out of fear of imprisonment, it would ultimately be up to each physician's sole discretion," Hartmark-Hill said.
The law's enforcement would present a "significant threat to the health and safety of patients," she added.
An average of 35 women a day received abortions in 2020, state Department of Health Services statistics show. About 95% of abortions in Arizona that year occurred by or before 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Reach the reporter at rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. Follow him on Twitter @raystern. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2022/06/24/arizona-abortion-law-roe-v-wade-repeal/7648545001/ | 2022-06-24T16:50:53 | 0 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2022/06/24/arizona-abortion-law-roe-v-wade-repeal/7648545001/ |
HEYBURN — The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined a local potato processing business after an investigation into a fatal accident at the plant on Jan. 26.
According to the inspection detail report, which remains open, Royce Jensen, 62, died after falling from a catwalk.
OSHA fined the company a total of $28,714 for two violations.
The company was issued a violation of $14,357 for duty to have fall protection and falling object protection. The second violation was also for $14,357 and for general requirements.
The penalties were issued on May 13 and abated on June 9.
Abatements means the company took action to comply with the standard or recognize the hazard identified by OSHA during the inspection.
OSHA is also performing an inspection on a second Mini-Cassia Company, Barclay Mechanical Services, of Paul, in an unrelated fatal fall a day earlier on Jan. 25.
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OSHA has not released its finding yet on that incident.
In an earlier interview, Cassia County Coroner Craig Rinehart said a 58-year-old man died at a Barclay job site at 700 S. 350 E., where he was working on a silo. | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/osha-fines-heyburn-potato-processing-company-after-fatal-accident/article_a220bc62-f328-11ec-a284-f3c23f6da0ac.html | 2022-06-24T16:50:56 | 1 | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/osha-fines-heyburn-potato-processing-company-after-fatal-accident/article_a220bc62-f328-11ec-a284-f3c23f6da0ac.html |
alert top story editor's pick Twin Falls Home History Walk takes off TIMES-NEWS Jun 24, 2022 1 hr ago 0 1 of 3 Librarian Jennifer Hills talks about historic buildings during the Twin Falls Home History Walk on Thursday, June 23, 2022, in downtown Twin Falls. DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS Librarian Jennifer Hills talks about historic buildings during the Twin Falls Home History Walk on Thursday, June 23, 2022, in downtown Twin Falls. DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS Librarian Jennifer Hills talks about historic buildings during the Twin Falls Home History Walk on Thursday, June 23, 2022, in downtown Twin Falls. DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS Related to this story Most Popular Clif Bar sells for almost $3 billion Clif Bar & Co., a business with a Twin Falls bakery, has been bought by Mondelez International, according to a press release Monday. Police: Burley woman stood over sleeping husband with knife A Burley woman was charged with felony assault with intent to murder after her sleeping husband woke up and found her standing over him with a knife. Sign Holders on Blue Lakes Boulevard Bill and Tina Ronks of Twin Falls hold signs encouraging love and positivity. Downtown parking structure to get public hearing for height variance TWIN FALLS — A proposed parking structure planned for downtown will get a public hearing at 6 p.m. Tuesday during the City Council meeting. Stork report: Births in Twin Falls Congratulations to these families! The debate begins: The Lava Ridge Wind Project would double the amount of wind energy produced in Idaho. But at what cost? For the past two years, the Lava Ridge Wind project has gathered fans and skeptics. Idaho View: With Patriot Front arrest, anti-LGBTQ movement comes out of the shadows of a U-Haul truck Opinion: CSI's Schutt steps down, accepts job in Massachusetts The College of Southern Idaho announced today that Vice President of Learner and Community Services, Dr. Michelle Schutt, will be leaving the college in early July. HWY 30 Music Fest gets underway at the Twin Falls County Fairgrounds Gordy's HWY 30 Music Festival roared to a start Wednesday. Death notices Chancelor Maughan, 25, of Twin Falls died June 17, 2022. Arrangements are in the care of Parke’s Magic Valley Funeral Home. Watch Now: Related Video US Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, states can ban abortion Abortion leads to life of protest, prayer AP Abortion leads to life of protest, prayer A post-Roe v. Wade America: Supreme Court overturns abortion rights landmark AP A post-Roe v. Wade America: Supreme Court overturns abortion rights landmark Nike joins other major western brands, quits Russia over war with Ukraine AP Nike joins other major western brands, quits Russia over war with Ukraine
Clif Bar sells for almost $3 billion Clif Bar & Co., a business with a Twin Falls bakery, has been bought by Mondelez International, according to a press release Monday.
Police: Burley woman stood over sleeping husband with knife A Burley woman was charged with felony assault with intent to murder after her sleeping husband woke up and found her standing over him with a knife.
Sign Holders on Blue Lakes Boulevard Bill and Tina Ronks of Twin Falls hold signs encouraging love and positivity.
Downtown parking structure to get public hearing for height variance TWIN FALLS — A proposed parking structure planned for downtown will get a public hearing at 6 p.m. Tuesday during the City Council meeting.
The debate begins: The Lava Ridge Wind Project would double the amount of wind energy produced in Idaho. But at what cost? For the past two years, the Lava Ridge Wind project has gathered fans and skeptics.
Idaho View: With Patriot Front arrest, anti-LGBTQ movement comes out of the shadows of a U-Haul truck Opinion:
CSI's Schutt steps down, accepts job in Massachusetts The College of Southern Idaho announced today that Vice President of Learner and Community Services, Dr. Michelle Schutt, will be leaving the college in early July.
HWY 30 Music Fest gets underway at the Twin Falls County Fairgrounds Gordy's HWY 30 Music Festival roared to a start Wednesday.
Death notices Chancelor Maughan, 25, of Twin Falls died June 17, 2022. Arrangements are in the care of Parke’s Magic Valley Funeral Home. | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/twin-falls-home-history-walk-takes-off/article_77ffa0d0-f326-11ec-9bed-7395b2c18926.html | 2022-06-24T16:51:02 | 0 | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/twin-falls-home-history-walk-takes-off/article_77ffa0d0-f326-11ec-9bed-7395b2c18926.html |
It's about to get prehistoric.
Dino Day roars back into Schererville Friday evening.
Schererville Parks and Rec will host Dino Day from 5 to 10:30 p.m. Friday at Redar Park at 217 Gregory St. in Schererville.
"Dinosaurs have returned to Schererville and have made Redar Park their official stomping ground, the town said in a press release. "Schererville Parks brings back Dino Day Party in the Park to celebrate every size, shape and color of our prehistoric friends. So grab every dino-fanatic and join us for an evening that's truly the size of T-Rex."
The festivities at Redar Park in Schererville include food trucks, vendors, artisans, a face painter and a tattoo artist.
There's a free dino dance party at 8:45 p.m. and a free outdoor screening of "Jurassic World 2" at 9 p.m.
Kids can check out the giant animatronic dino Frankie the Dinosaur and run around in a Kids Corner that includes laser tag, a 55-foot game truck, a 130-foot-long giant obstacle course dubbed "The Beast" and unlimited Nerf War.
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There's also live music, giant yard games, giant bubble making, and a dino roar contest with prizes. Kids can meet and greet characters from pop culture like Mario, Luigi and Chase and Marshall. Animal Quests also will host a live animal show with 10 different animals from 8 to 8:45 p.m.
The band Rosie and the Rivets will play a show from 6 to 8 p.m.
Most of the festivities can be enjoyed for free but a few things like tattoos, crafts and food trucks require extra charges.
NWI Business Ins and Outs: Parlor Doughuts, Domino's, Gyros Bar and Grill and Captain's Seafood opening
Open
Parlor Doughnuts is now baking something sweet in Valparaiso, after celebrating its grand opening Saturday.
But Parlor Doughnuts Valparaiso is not your conventional doughnut shop. The Evansville-based chain specializes in craft doughnuts, specialty coffee and artisan baked goods.
Lifelong Valpo residents Marissa and Wes Barnes opened the franchise at 255 Morthland Drive in Valparaiso. It's a prominent space on U.S. 30 that was previously home to Jordy N Jax BBQ, Petey's Gyros and Dicky's Dogs.
The franchise is Parlor Doughnuts' third in Indiana and first in the northern part of the state.
It serves layered doughnuts that combine yeast and cake doughnuts. It also has vegan, gluten-free and keto-friendly doughnuts, as well as Doggie Doughnuts for good puppies. The menu also includes acai bowls, avocado toast and breakfast tacos.
“We are thrilled to bring Parlor’s products, brand and mission to Northwest Indiana — a region that celebrates with delicious comfort food and coffee, and appreciates top-notch customer service,” Marissa Barnes said. “One of our key values is to create a place that facilitates conversation and community where friends and families of all ages can gather in a vintage American space that feels like the 'Parlor,' a conversation center of 1900s Victorian homes but with a modern twist. My husband, Wes, and I are lifelong residents of Valparaiso and are excited to bring a business to our community that values giving back, including a passion for active military, veterans and first responders.”
Joseph S. Pete
Craft doughtnuts and coffee
Parlor Doughnuts was founded in Evansville in 2019 by Darrick Hayen, his son Noah and restaurateur Josh Tudela. Hayden toured the country with his son's band, sampling local doughnuts everywhere he went while Noah developed a passion for craft coffee.
They combined their interests to open Parlor Doughnuts, which has been growing fast across the country. It now has more than 24 locations open or in development from coast to coast.
The Valparaiso doughnut shop plans to employ around 20 people and is still hiring for a variety of jobs, including baristas and bakers.
For more information, visit www.parlordoughnuts.com or email parlordoughnutsvalpo@gmail.com .
Joseph S. Pete
Coming soon
Domino's, America's largest pizza chain, is headed to Munster.
The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based pizzeria, which already has an extensive footprint around the Calumet Region, signed a lease to open in the strip mall on Main Street that's anchored by Anytime Fitness.
“This will be an excellent location for Dominos and is a win-win for both the tenant and landlord. The center is now 100% occupied with strong, well-known tenants," said Brett McDermott of Crown Point-based commercial real estate firm Latitude Commercial, which represented the landlord.
Domino's has recently opened many new locations in Northwest Indiana, including in Highland and Griffith.
Joseph S. Pete
Open
Gyros Bar and Grill opened in Valparaiso.
It's a family-friendly restaurant with a 21-plus lounge at 391 W. U.S. 6.
The 5,300-square-foot restaurant serves fare like gyros, burgers, hot dogs, chili dogs and ribs in a sit-down casual dining environment. It took over a former Pepe's that had been vacant for at least 20 years.
Gyros Bar and Grill seats about 150 diners. The menu includes chicken, fish, steak sandwiches and many Chicagoland favorites like Polish sausages and Italian beef sandwiches.
It's located along a busy stretch of U.S. 6 that 22,000 cars pass by weekly. Given its locations, it's expected to draw from Valparaiso, Chesterton, South Haven and Portage.
For more information, call 219-254-2351.
Joseph S. Pete
Coming soon
Captain's Seafood is coming soon to Michigan City.
The seafood market at 5360 Franklin St. will offer shrimp, fish, crab legs and lobster tails.
Joseph S. Pete
New owners
New owners took over the NutriHub Nutrition shop on U.S. 30 in Merrillville.
Jasmine Wade and Sheva Robinson bought the health food store at 536 E 81st Ave. in Merrillville. It specializes in meal replacement protein shakes packed with vitamins.
NutriHub sells a number of products like protein shakes, protein bars, herbal teas, energy teas, thermogenic teas and aloe. The 1,900-square-foot business employs five and has seating, including comfortable couches, for people who want to enjoy their shakes there.
"It's different things for health in general," Wade said. "We're registered nurses and the major health issues we've seen is one of the reasons we want to help everybody health-wise. We've seen unhealthy eating. We've introduced these products to our family. I don't want my family to be part of a statistic."
Joseph S. Pete
Focus on nutrition
The pair aims to educate the public about health, such as by posting about nutritious eating on social media.
"We're out here to help our community," Robinson said. "These products help people lose weight. They help with obesity. They're low in sugar, so diabetics are able to take them. They can be used to built muscle for those struggling with gaining weight or maintaining weight. It's got minerals, vitamins and protein. It helps with digestion, skin and hair."
NutriHub aims to offer healthy fare that also tastes good. Shake flavors include many varieties of chocolate, fruit and candy such as Almond Joy, Peppermint Patty and Rootbeer Barrel.
"If you have a sweet tooth, we have cake and cookie flavors to satisfy that craving," Wade said. "We have a shake of the month that's lemon pound cake this month. It's healthy but sweet and it targets that craving."
Joseph S. Pete
'Trying to make a difference'
People can try samples of the products on a trial basis. NutriHub also offers body scans to help clients meet their weight loss and wellness goals.
Wade and Robinson have been passing products at neighboring businesses like Athletico and Planet Fitness as outreach. They hope to eventually expand and open more franchises, including potentially in other states.
"We'd like to be able to get word out mouth going out," Wade said. "We're driven African-American women trying to make a difference in our community."
NutriHub is open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call 219-472-8488 or find the business on Facebook.
Joseph S. Pete
Open
Brass Valley Vapor Company opened a few months ago on U.S. 30 in Valparaiso.
The vape shop is located at 1354 W Morthland Drive in Valpo Valparaiso. It offers a wide selection of vaping supplies, including "disposables, mods, salts, e-liquids, batteries and chargers, pods, coils, and delta products."
Brass Valley Vapor Company is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday and 12-6 p.m. Saturday.
For more information, call 219-242-8335.
Joseph S. Pete
NWI Business Ins and Outs: Nothing Bundt Cakes, Basecamp Fitness, Northwest Health doctor's office opening; Fresh to Order closed
The business news you need
Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. | https://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/dino-day-roars-into-schererville/article_22484a40-8777-5db1-98bb-ba9b328101b1.html | 2022-06-24T16:51:29 | 0 | https://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/dino-day-roars-into-schererville/article_22484a40-8777-5db1-98bb-ba9b328101b1.html |
SCHERERVILLE — New Chapter Real Estate has opened a brokerage in Schererville.
The real estate firm is located at 1316 Eagle Ridge Drive, in the same building as the BMV.
Broker/owner Jessica Kisch founded the firm, which brokers the sale of residential real estate across Northwest Indiana.
"I was doing $25 million in production," she said. "Financially, it made more sense to open my own office. It's a smaller-run company but built on the same values as everybody else."
The 2,000-square-foot office will be able to accommodate up to 25 agents but many have been working from home during the coronavirus pandemic.
"It's a perfect location with tons of foot traffic," she said. "It's centrally located and there's a beautiful pond out back. We're excited to be part of Schererville."
Kisch focuses on Munster, Highland, Griffith and the Tri-Town area. But the firm represents all of Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper, Newton, Pulaski and Starke counties.
"Business has been good even with interest rates rising," she said. "That's affecting price points. It's leveling out and slowing down a little but the market has been good. It's definitely Ilinois. There's been an exodus into Indiana."
New Chapter Real Estate focuses mainly on residential real estate but dabbles a little in commercial properties.
"I had worked for 20 years as a bank manager and then for two years as a closer for a title company," she said. "When my ex-husband passed away, I wanted to be more available for my children. It combined my other two careers. I jumped in. Now I've been doing it for over six years and I love doing it. I love working with people and watching people's dreams come true. It's called New Chapter since every sale is a new chapter in their life store. Behind every single transaction is a story"
The firm plans to eventually open a second office in Porter County.
"My long-term goals are to be an ethical agent focused on the client experience," she said. "The most important thing as a company is to be ethical and tuned into the client experience. I've been successful in this business because of honestly formed relationships and because I take good care of clients and treat them like family or friends. We will be there to guide them through the process. We're not there to just make a commission check. We're there to get them to where they want to be."
The firm also donates $100 from the closing of every transaction to the charity of the client's choice.
The office is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and by appointment.
For more information, call 219-227-8454, visit www.newchapterre.com or find the business on Facebook.
NWI Business Ins and Outs: Nothing Bundt Cakes, Basecamp Fitness, Northwest Health doctor's office opening; Fresh to Order closed
Coming soon
Closer to customers
'A lot of visibility'
Closed
Coming soon
Now open
First Indiana location
Under renovation
Closed
Closed
Available for rent
WATCH NOW: Riding Shotgun with NWI Cops — Patrolling Lowell with Cpl. Aaron Crawford
Joseph S. Pete is a Lisagor Award-winning business reporter who covers steel, industry, unions, the ports, retail, banking and more. The Indiana University grad has been with The Times since 2013 and blogs about craft beer, culture and the military.
"Centennial Park has become a regional, destination type of park. The fees were set at a price point to be attractive for visitors but to also capture funds to help offset their impact on the park."
"It's gratifying to be able to help a military family, especially at a time when people in this country say 'thank you for your service' as lip service."
The 12/20 landscape of Dunes Highway and the largely parallel U.S. 20 highway in Gary's Miller neighborhood have been undergoing a major transformation as many decrepit old buildings get demolished. | https://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/new-chapter-real-estate-opens-office-in-schererville/article_7563c3d7-f632-5024-97f7-c65ebcaacb5b.html | 2022-06-24T16:51:36 | 0 | https://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/new-chapter-real-estate-opens-office-in-schererville/article_7563c3d7-f632-5024-97f7-c65ebcaacb5b.html |
LAPORTE — A Florida man found unresponsive behind the wheel of his running vehicle had consumed a nearly fatal amount of alcohol, according to LaPorte County police.
Ronald Lamparski, 57, initially denied consuming any alcohol and then told the officer he drank a couple of beers, according to the incident report.
He was taken into custody and faces several drunken driving charges after a blood alcohol test revealed a level of 395 mg/dL, which is near the potentially lethal level, police said.
Lamparski was found unresponsive in his vehicle around 4:30 p.m. Sunday in the parking lot of the Speedway gas station at 5905 N. U.S. 35, police said.
An officer reportedly had to knock on the vehicle window several times to wake Lamparski, who smelled of alcohol and fell into the officer when stepping out of his vehicle, police said.
Lamparski said he consumed two beers in Crown Point before driving to his current location, according to police, and a bottle of alcohol, which was mostly consumed, was found in his vehicle.
Police said they obtained a search warrant for a blood test after Lamparski refused to cooperate.
Gallery: Recent arrests booked into LaPorte County Jail
Porter/LaPorte County Courts and Social Justice Reporter
Bob is a 23-year veteran of The Times. He covers county government and courts in Porter County, federal courts, police news and regional issues. He also created the Vegan in the Region blog, is an Indiana University grad and lifelong region resident.
The man was shot about 11:35 p.m. Sunday outside the Save gas station in the 3200 block of West Fourth Avenue in Gary, according to the Lake County coroner's office and police. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/man-passed-out-behind-the-wheel-found-with-near-fatal-alcohol-level-region-police-say/article_7398fd67-f116-5063-aa20-a06acd1b378b.html | 2022-06-24T16:51:48 | 0 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/man-passed-out-behind-the-wheel-found-with-near-fatal-alcohol-level-region-police-say/article_7398fd67-f116-5063-aa20-a06acd1b378b.html |
Since last summer, Elon Musk’s tunnel-digging firm has been looking to collaborate with cities along the fast-growing Interstate 35 corridor to build an underground transportation loop connecting Austin and San Antonio.
The series of projects would rely heavily on tax dollars — yet The Boring Co. has been working with local officials largely in secret.
“TBC and I are most useful operating in the background, not in the front of the parade,” Brian Gettinger, the company’s head of business development, said in Aug. 17 email to Kyle City Manager Scott Sellers.
Gettinger outlined the company’s master plan in the email, obtained by the Express-News through an opens record request: It wants to build separate tunnel systems linking Austin, Kyle, San Marcos, New Braunfels and San Antonio, with several stations along the way.
He said the system’s path likely would follow I-35’s right of way.
The company’s plan to ease transportation between Austin and San Antonio metros — which are quickly coming together to form the nation’s next major mega-region, along the lines of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in North Texas — isn’t the first for the corridor.
For two decades, transit advocates had looked to the Lone Star Rail District to create an alternative for commuters to the frequently clogged I-35. The Texas Legislature created the district in 1997 to build a passenger rail line between San Antonio and Austin. But the project died in 2017 when it became clear that Union Pacific Railroad wouldn’t agree to share its rail line between the two cities.
In an email sent from Gettinger to Sellers on Aug. 17, 2021, The Boring Co. executive said the firm was looking at “potentially resurrecting the Lone Star rail concept in a different form.”
Gettinger told Sellers that with recent “leaked articles” in Austin and San Antonio about company’s potential plans, “there is enough in public space for you to start having ‘what if’ conversations with folks.’”
“Just don't implicate me or TBC directly,” Gettinger added.
He was apparently referring to an Aug. 6 column in the Express-News that revealed the company’s early talks with San Antonio and Austin officials about potential loop projects.
The Boring Co. is based in the Austin suburb of Pflugerville, not far from the headquarters of Tesla.
Musk, the electric-vehicle maker’s chairman and CEO, moved Tesla from to Austin from California’s Silicon Valley late last year. The publicly trade manufacturer operates a sprawling, $1.1 billion plant that currently manufactures Model Y cars on about 2,500 acres near Austin.
Another Musk concern, privately-held commercial rocket company SpaceX, operates a bustling spaceport near Brownsville in South Texas and a rocket-testing facility near Waco.
The Boring Co. is the youngest, smallest and most secretive of the three companies backed by the world’s richest man.
And since last summer, its progress along the I-35 corridor has been mixed.
Yet, it’s gotten a warm reception in San Antonio — at least with the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority, a Bexar County-created agency whose mission is to fund and develop area transportation projects.
Starting point?
The Boring Co. is in talks with the Alamo RMA about potentially building an underground loop between San Antonio International Airport and downtown. The company would shuttle passengers back and forth in electric Tesla sedans through single-lane tunnels.
The company estimates it would cost as much as $298 million, with most of the funding coming from an RMA-issued bond that would be repaid with revenue generated from the project. Musk’s firm would kick in between $27 million and $45 million, according to an RMA document.
The Boring Co. first approached San Antonio officials a year ago, at about the same time it reached out to other cities along the I-35 corridor, to discuss a tunnel loop project.
While the Alamo RMA latched onto The Boring Co.’s airport-to-downtown plan, San Antonio city officials took a pass on the firm’s proposals.
“We had an opportunity to explore the proposal last year and determined that this is not a priority for the City of San Antonio,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in an emailed statement in March. “We are always willing to consider innovative economic development opportunities, but our public transportation dollars should be focused on mass transit options.”
The Boring Co. received a warmer reception in Kyle, an Austin suburb.
Responding to Gettinger’s Aug. 17 email, Sellers said the company’s plans for a transportation loop system “looks solid” and that Kyle would “love a connection” to downtown Austin and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
He also told Gettinger to keep him apprised of the overall plan and what the cost would be to Kyle for a station so the city could “begin identifying a location and funding plan.”
“Please let us know what our next steps should be,” Sellers wrote.
Neither Gettinger nor Sellers responded to multiple requests for comment. The city of Kyle is contesting an Express-News request for communications between city officials and The Boring Co., appealing to the Texas attorney general’s office.
Gettinger introduced Boring Co. officials to leaders in Kyle, San Marcos and New Braunfels a year ago. In an email, he pitched the firm’s expertise at “constructing tunneled infrastructure for transportation (transit, vehicular and pedestrian), utilities (water, wastewater, stormwater, fiber) and freight.”
Sellers forwarded the email to city council members. Councilwoman Yvonne Flores-Cale wrote back, “That is borderline bad azzzz.”
Last month, Kyle council members chose the company over Florida-based Southland Contracting, a tunnel firm with at least 13 completed pedestrian, rail and car tunnel projects across the U.S., to build a $3 million pedestrian underpass as part of the city’s 80-mile Vybe trail project.
But Flores-Cale seems to have cooled on the Musk company. She cast the sole vote against selecting it for the project.
It’s unclear whether talks between Kyle officials and the company about a tunnel project — that could become a leg of an Austin-to-San Antonio loop — moved beyond early conversations.
The city of San Marcos also was initially enthusiastic about working with the company on a city project. According to emails between San Marcos Assistant City Manager Joe Pantalion and Gettinger, the parties discussed the possibility of digging a $2.5 million pedestrian tunnel in between San Marcos City Hall and the library last year.
Gettinger inquired about using “the Texas Mobility Fund or other programs” to foot the bill for the project.
But the city ultimately determined it was too expensive.
“The City of San Marcos had preliminary discussions with the Boring Company, who approached the City to express interest in a pilot program that included building a tunnel,” city spokeswoman Nadine Bonewitz said in an email to the Express-News. “However, once preliminary costs were shared with the city, that concept was abandoned last summer and conversations have ceased.”
What’s next?
It’s unclear what the secretive Boring Company’s next steps will be. But the emails between Gettinger and city officials show that the company is looking for taxpayer funding, both from state and local sources, to further its goal of constructing a tunnel transportation system in Central Texas.
In an introductory email a year ago, Gettinger said, “Elon has challenged us to tunnel (ten times) faster (1 mile a week) and for less than $10 (million) a mile for a 12 foot diameter tunnel and we have already delivered on this goal with a people mover system for the Las Vegas Convention Center.”
That’s the only major transportation project the tunnel maker has completed to date. It’s a 1.7-mile, $52.5 million loop under the Las Vegas Convention Center that transports people in Teslas in a single underground lane. That’s in addition to two private test tunnels in California.
Earlier this month, Las Vegas city council OK’d The Boring Co.’s application to extend the convention center loop to downtown.
Musk founded The Boring Co. in 2017 with the goal of building transportation tunnels across the United States. It was his response to what he called Los Angeles’ “soul-crushing” traffic gridlock. But the company’s planned tunnel project in Los Angeles has stalled.
Plans to build several other major tunnel loops — between New York City and Washington, D.C., Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, and from downtown Chicago to O’Hare International Airport — also have gone dark.
Annie Blanks writes for the Express-News through Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. ReportforAmerica.org. annie.blanks@express-news.net. | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Secretive-Elon-Musk-firm-wants-to-build-17263481.php | 2022-06-24T16:56:30 | 1 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Secretive-Elon-Musk-firm-wants-to-build-17263481.php |
A protest is scheduled in San Antonio on Friday evening in response to the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Roe v. Wade, which ends constitutional protections for abortion rights in America.
Protesters will gather at 6:30 p.m. at the Federal Courthouse at 214 W. Nueva St. Mujeres Marcharán Coalition and other abortion access allies will lead the rally.
Related: What the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling means for Texas women
Demonstrators will “demand free, safe, and accessible abortions for all without exception,” according to a Mujeres Marcharán Coalition news release.
The organization’s leadership did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Mujeres Marcharán is taking leadership in defending abortion rights in San Antonio,” according to the news release. “We send a signal to our city, to Texas, and to federal officials that we are in opposition to SB8, this Supreme Court ruling, and any other legislation or ruling that limits a person’s access to free, safe, and accessible abortions without exception.”
Related: Here's which Texans would be most affected by a total ban on abortion
Last month, hundreds of locals rallied in front of the Federal Court House after Politico leaked a draft opinion that showed a majority of Supreme Court justices agreed to vote to overturn down Roe v. Wade.
The Texas abortion ban is set to begin 30 days from Friday, outlawing nearly all abortions starting from conception. It includes narrow exceptions for pregnant women at risk of dying or suffering “substantial impairment.” Pregnancies that result from rape or incest, or that show severe fetal abnormalities, are not exempted.
timothy.fanning@express-news.net | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/san-antonio-abortion-protest-tonight-17263494.php | 2022-06-24T16:56:31 | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/san-antonio-abortion-protest-tonight-17263494.php |
TEXAS, USA — Texas politicians, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke, are reacting to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The historic 6-3 decision puts an end to 50 years of the constitutional right to abortion.
In a statement, Abbott applauded the court's decision.
"The U.S. Supreme Court correctly overturned Roe v. Wade and reinstated the right of states to protect innocent, unborn children," Abbott said. "Texas is a pro-life state, and we have taken significant action to protect the sanctity of life. Texas has also prioritized supporting women's healthcare and expectant mothers in need to give them the necessary resources so that they can choose life for their child."
Abbott went on to describe women's health laws that he has signed, including ones "that extended Medicaid health care coverage to six months post-partum, appropriated $345 million for women's health programs, and invested more than $100 million toward our Alternatives to Abortion program."
"Texas will always fight for the innocent unborn, and I will continue working with the Texas legislature and all Texans to save every child from the ravages of abortion and help our expectant mothers in need," Abbott said.
O'Rourke said in a statement that winning the Texas governor race is "the only way to overcome today's decision."
“The Supreme Court has sent this back to the states, and our state’s current governor has outlawed abortion beginning at conception with no exception for rape or incest," O'Rourke said. “If you care about protecting a woman’s freedom to make her own decisions about her own body, health care, and future, join this campaign and help us win.”
On Twitter, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he's closing his office and making June 24 an annual holiday.
"SCOTUS just overruled Roe & Casey, ending one of the most morally & legally corrupt eras in US history," Paxton's tweet reads. "Praise the Lord."
In an official statement, Paxton said both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey have no constitutional basis.
"Today, the question of abortion returns to the states," Paxton said. "And in Texas, that question has already been answered: abortion is illegal here. I look forward to defending the pro-life laws of Texas and the lives of all unborn children moving forward.”
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called the Supreme Court's decision "nothing short of a massive victory for life," saying "Roe was wrong the day it was decided, and it has been wrong every day since then."
"What this decision does is leave abortion policy up to the states and returns power to the American people—which is exactly how questions of abortion were handled before Roe," Cruz said in part. "This is a momentous day, and yet the fight for life doesn’t end with the Dobbs decision. It simply begins a new chapter. I’ve been proud to stand for life in the U.S. Senate, and I will continue to do so as we navigate the path ahead."
Republican Sen. John Cornyn said, "the court has restored one of the core principles of our Constitution with this landmark ruling."
"This decision correctly returns the authority of states to decide the limits on abortion and will save countless innocent lives," Cornyn said. "I commend the Justices for not bowing to the vicious intimidation campaign waged by the radical Left. I join Texans in celebrating this historic victory for life and the rule of law.”
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick tweeted that the decision marks, "A very historic day and a GIANT win for life!"
Hannah Roe Beck, co-executive director of the Texas Democratic Party, said in a statement that the party will continue to fight.
“Today’s decision is a blaring, five-alarm call to action," Beck said. "It is more important than ever that we send to Washington true, fearless leaders who are ready to fight to codify abortion at the federal level. It is more important than ever that we elect Beto O’Rourke as governor, flip the Texas Legislature, and elect Democrats up and down the ticket who will overturn Greg Abbott’s draconian and brutal laws imposing the will of a tiny minority on the entirety of our state."
From the other side of the aisle, Matt Rinaldi, chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, said in a statement that the Roe v. Wade decision marks "a historic day which Republicans and Pro-Life advocates have waited for a generation."
"It will be remembered in history as the day the United States of America reversed one of the most unjust, damaging and plainly incorrect judicial decisions in it's history," Rinaldi said. "Thankfully, the left's egregious attack on our government institutions failed, and justice was done."
Texas is one of at least 13 states with so-called "trigger laws" set to take effect following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Learn more.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-politicians-react-scotus-roe-v-wade/269-39dfc892-f756-4b5a-b212-56f5be5ef286 | 2022-06-24T17:02:00 | 1 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-politicians-react-scotus-roe-v-wade/269-39dfc892-f756-4b5a-b212-56f5be5ef286 |
Northwest Louisiana reacts the historic overturn of Roe v. Wade
On Friday morning the Supreme Court ruled that Americans no longer have a constitutional right to abortion. For nearly five decades reproductive rights have been protected under Roe v. Wade.
This decision instantly shifts the focus of reproductive rights to the states.
Louisiana's "trigger law" which was updated and signed by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards on June 21, makes abortion in Louisiana illegal immediately upon the decision of the Supreme Court.
Senate Bill 342 allows abortions for medical futility and ectopic pregnancies but excludes pregnancies formed from rape and incest.
This bill will exempt pregnant women from prosecution but doubles the 2006 penalties for doctors or others who terminate a pregnancy. These penalties can result in a maximum fine of $100,000 and 10 years in jail.
Local reaction
Hope Medical Group for Women
"We are suspending performing abortions as we decide our next step. As you can imagine, we have devastated patients already here today so we are concentrating on them and assisting them with their options," said Kathaleen Pittman, Administrator for Hope Medical Group for Women.
Mike Johnson
null“Today is an historic and joyful day. After nearly a half century, the Supreme Court has finally corrected its egregious error and returned the fateful policy decision over legalized abortion to the people and their elected representatives—where it has always belonged. No real ‘constitutional right’ to abortion ever existed. The Court invented it out of thin air. House Republicans will continue to stand for the sanctity of human life and hold the Biden Administration accountable for any future attempt to impede the policy decisions of pro-life states."
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry
“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad. Today, along with millions across Louisiana and America, I rejoice with my departed Mom and the unborn children with her in Heaven! The Supreme Court has finally returned to the Constitution and delegated power back to the people. Our State’s representatives, held accountable by their constituents, should – and now again can – determine abortion policy not the federal government," said Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry. "As the chief legal officer for our State, I will continue defending Louisiana’s pro-life laws and working to ensure the health and safety of women and their babies.”
Bill Cassidy
null“Today’s decision recognizes that an unborn child has a right to life. Being pro-life means being pro-mothers, pro-babies, and pro-healthy futures—a philosophy I carry with me in the Senate. This is a deeply emotional issue for many Americans, no matter which side one stands, but it is now up to individual states to enact their own policies.”
Concerned Women for America of Louisiana
"It's a day to celebrate! The overturn of Roe v. Wade restores Louisiana's right to protect the life of unborn babies across the state from abortion."
Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast
“Planned Parenthood believes every single person deserves access to sexual and reproductive health care no matter their income, state of residence, immigration status or zip code. Our health centers remain open and we will continue to do everything we can to ensure all people get the sexual and reproductive health care they need,” said Petrice Sams-Abiodun, PhD, Vice President and Strategic Partnerships-Louisiana for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast.
Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.
Ashley White and Greg Hilburn contributed to this arti | https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2022/06/24/local-look-historic-overturn-roe-v-wade/7722361001/ | 2022-06-24T17:03:03 | 0 | https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2022/06/24/local-look-historic-overturn-roe-v-wade/7722361001/ |
Jobbie Nooner lake party gets a boost after two down years
Gull Island — The Jobbie Nooner party on Lake St. Clair is getting a boost Friday with clear skies and hot weather, a sharp departure from last year's rain-soaked event.
The 48-year-old annual tradition of playing hooky from work to party on the water was benefiting from clear skies and temperatures forecast to hit near 90 degrees.
The marine division of the Macomb County Sheriff's Office is patrolling the area, among others.
"We will have several boats on the water today as the weather is beautiful, and we expect a lot of boat traffic," Macomb County Sheriff's Sgt. Renee Yax said Friday, adding that officers also will use jet skis.
In 2021, parts of Metro Detroit got hit with torrential rains that caused flooding in portions of Wayne, Washtenaw and Macomb counties. Fewer than a quarter of the normal 10,000 people who flock to Gull Island and the surrounding waters showed up, Yax said last year.
Attendance was also down in 2020, when the weather was sunny but Michigan was about five months into the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Jobbie Nooner, held near the mouth of the St. Clair River at Lake St. Clair, was started in 1974 by auto workers who described themselves as “jobbies."
The event, which is held on the last Friday of June, annually draws about 10,000 boaters and more than 100,000 people. A Jobbie Nooner 2 occurs the first Saturday after Labor Day.
slewis@detroitnews.com | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/macomb-county/2022/06/24/jobbie-nooner-lake-party-gets-boost-after-two-down-years/7710603001/ | 2022-06-24T17:05:28 | 0 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/macomb-county/2022/06/24/jobbie-nooner-lake-party-gets-boost-after-two-down-years/7710603001/ |
Whitmer, Nessel vow to continue abortion rights fight; conservatives hail high court ruling
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer lambasted the U.S. Supreme Court's decision overturning the half-century-old landmark abortion rights decision as a "sad day in America" and vowed to "fight like hell" to make abortion accessible in Michigan.
"However we personally feel about abortion, health — not politics — should drive important medical decisions," Whitmer said Friday in a statement.
More:What loss of Roe means for women who want abortions in Michigan
Reactions poured in Friday from politicians and special interest groups across Michigan following the Supreme Court ruling that overturned the legal right to abortion granted in the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.
In a 6-3 decision, the court's conservative majority issued a ruling on Friday morning in a case involving a Mississippi abortion law, effectively gutting the constitutional protections for abortion and paving the way for individual states to ban the procedure.
Abortion opponents rejoiced at the decision, which had been anticipated since early May after a draft of the decision was leaked from the high court.
"The court’s decision rightly returns power to the state level, and in the days ahead, it is critical that we continue the important work of standing for the sanctity of life," U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, said in a statement.
Abortion continues to be legal in Michigan because of a state judge's earlier ruling that halted enforcement of a 1931 law criminalizing abortion in almost all cases, except to save the life of the mother. There's no exception in the 1931 law for abortion in cases of rape or incest.
Who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade
Republican-nominated Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett joined Justice Samuel Alito in the majority opinion overturning a half-century of the right of women to terminate a pregnancy. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote a concurring opinion in the 6-3 decision to uphold the Mississippi law at issue in the case while disagreeing with the majority's reasoning.
Reactions:
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
Whitmer, a Democrat, reiterated her commitment to fighting the 1931 law, which has its roots in an 1846 abortion ban that predates the constitutional right of women to vote by nearly six decades.
The Whitmer administration filed a lawsuit challenging the law earlier this year and a temporary hold has been put in place that will keep the law from going into effect until the state Supreme Court rules on the case.
"... We need to clarify that under Michigan law, access to abortion is not only legal, but constitutionally protected.
"The 1931 law would punish women and strip away their right to make decisions about their own bodies," Whitmer said, criticizing Republican state legislators for defending the ban and proposing additional legislation that would further criminalize abortion.
U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar
On the other side of the aisle, U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Midland, celebrated the decision saying Roe vs. Wade had been "wrongly decided."
"This is one of the most wonderful days in the history of our country and today’s ruling will save millions of lives,” Moolenaar said in a statement touting his pro-life voting record.
"I have always believed that future generations will look back on permissive abortion as a moral stain on our country’s history and today’s decision will begin healing the errors of the past."
Planned Parenthood of Michigan
During a news conference immediately after the Dobbs decision, Sarah Wallett, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood of Michigan, reiterated that abortion remains legal in Michigan.
"People will be harmed because of this decision, without a doubt," Wallett said. “Abortion is health care. Not being able to access health care is devastating."
Wallett pointed to the U.S.’s high levels of maternal mortality, levels that are even worse for women of color.
“Having an abortion is safer than than continuing a pregnancy and going through childbirth," she said. "This decision removes that option from people.”
Planned Parenthood’s clinic remains open, Wallett said, and patients will continue to receive care there. She said that she expected to see patients coming in from other states as well, places like Ohio and Wisconsin, where “significant bans” will immediately be put in place.
“We expect those patients to need access to care,” Wallett said. “We’re preparing to help support them and see as many patients as we can.”
Paula Thornton Greear, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Michigan, said Friday’s decision was the result of a “small but very vocal faction of the country.” She said that the country was entering “a new chapter in health care,” but that it would not change her organization’s commitment to care.
“We are going to meet this moment and to continue meeting this moment,” she said. “It’s going to take all of us. It’s going to take the fine people at Planned Parenthood of Michigan and it’s going to take the voices and support of people across the state.”
Right to Life Michigan
Barbara Listing, the president of Right to Life Michigan, said the conservative justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade "are on the right side of history today.”
“We stand by our justices and thank them for their courage and wisdom in overruling a law that has plagued our society for the past 50 years," Listing said in a statement.
Listing urged “pro-abortion activists" to accept this decision and reiterated their commitment to uphold Michigan's abortion ban.
“We know that one day Michigan’s 1931 abortion law will be enforced again...we will continue to peacefully work towards this through the legal system,” she said.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel
In a statement following the ruling, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said the decision sets a dangerous precedent by reversing "50 years of settled law" and would create extraordinary upheaval in the American legal system.
"The overturning of Roe is not just the loss of a right; it is the erosion of our status as equal citizens under the law," Nessel said.
"Now we must do what our courts have failed to do: we must act to ensure that women are not permanently relegated to second-class citizens in this country."
Nessel said she would use the full weight of her office to continue fighting for a woman's right to choose.
Michigan State Medical Society
The Lansing-based organization that represents physicians said the high court's ruling sets up a debate over "very real and practical public policy decisions" regarding health care decisions made between women and their doctors.
Kevin McFatridge, chief operating officer of the Michigan State Medical Society, said the "deeply personal" physician-patient relationship "must be respected and protected at all costs."
The Michigan State Medical Society opposes "the potential criminalization of physicians and their patients in making health care decisions," McFatridge said.
"Physicians and their patients should be free to consider, discuss, and pursue medical procedures guided by a physician’s best medical judgment and a patient’s physical health and safety," he said.
KRuble@detroitnews.com
hharding@detroitnews.com | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/06/24/whitmer-nessel-vow-michigan-abortion-rights-fight-conservatives-hail-supreme-court-ruling-roe/7722296001/ | 2022-06-24T17:05:34 | 0 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/06/24/whitmer-nessel-vow-michigan-abortion-rights-fight-conservatives-hail-supreme-court-ruling-roe/7722296001/ |
TEXAS, USA — Texas politicians, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke, are reacting to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The historic 6-3 decision puts an end to 50 years of the constitutional right to abortion.
In a statement, Abbott applauded the court's decision.
"The U.S. Supreme Court correctly overturned Roe v. Wade and reinstated the right of states to protect innocent, unborn children," Abbott said. "Texas is a pro-life state, and we have taken significant action to protect the sanctity of life. Texas has also prioritized supporting women's healthcare and expectant mothers in need to give them the necessary resources so that they can choose life for their child."
Abbott went on to describe women's health laws that he has signed, including ones "that extended Medicaid health care coverage to six months post-partum, appropriated $345 million for women's health programs, and invested more than $100 million toward our Alternatives to Abortion program."
"Texas will always fight for the innocent unborn, and I will continue working with the Texas legislature and all Texans to save every child from the ravages of abortion and help our expectant mothers in need," Abbott said.
O'Rourke said in a statement that winning the Texas governor race is "the only way to overcome today's decision."
“The Supreme Court has sent this back to the states, and our state’s current governor has outlawed abortion beginning at conception with no exception for rape or incest," O'Rourke said. “If you care about protecting a woman’s freedom to make her own decisions about her own body, health care, and future, join this campaign and help us win.”
On Twitter, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he's closing his office and making June 24 an annual holiday.
"SCOTUS just overruled Roe & Casey, ending one of the most morally & legally corrupt eras in US history," Paxton's tweet reads. "Praise the Lord."
In an official statement, Paxton said both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey have no constitutional basis.
"Today, the question of abortion returns to the states," Paxton said. "And in Texas, that question has already been answered: abortion is illegal here. I look forward to defending the pro-life laws of Texas and the lives of all unborn children moving forward.”
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called the Supreme Court's decision "nothing short of a massive victory for life," saying "Roe was wrong the day it was decided, and it has been wrong every day since then."
"What this decision does is leave abortion policy up to the states and returns power to the American people—which is exactly how questions of abortion were handled before Roe," Cruz said in part. "This is a momentous day, and yet the fight for life doesn’t end with the Dobbs decision. It simply begins a new chapter. I’ve been proud to stand for life in the U.S. Senate, and I will continue to do so as we navigate the path ahead."
Republican Sen. John Cornyn said, "the court has restored one of the core principles of our Constitution with this landmark ruling."
"This decision correctly returns the authority of states to decide the limits on abortion and will save countless innocent lives," Cornyn said. "I commend the Justices for not bowing to the vicious intimidation campaign waged by the radical Left. I join Texans in celebrating this historic victory for life and the rule of law.”
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick tweeted that the decision marks, "A very historic day and a GIANT win for life!"
Hannah Roe Beck, co-executive director of the Texas Democratic Party, said in a statement that the party will continue to fight.
“Today’s decision is a blaring, five-alarm call to action," Beck said. "It is more important than ever that we send to Washington true, fearless leaders who are ready to fight to codify abortion at the federal level. It is more important than ever that we elect Beto O’Rourke as governor, flip the Texas Legislature, and elect Democrats up and down the ticket who will overturn Greg Abbott’s draconian and brutal laws imposing the will of a tiny minority on the entirety of our state."
From the other side of the aisle, Matt Rinaldi, chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, said in a statement that the Roe v. Wade decision marks "a historic day which Republicans and Pro-Life advocates have waited for a generation."
"It will be remembered in history as the day the United States of America reversed one of the most unjust, damaging and plainly incorrect judicial decisions in it's history," Rinaldi said. "Thankfully, the left's egregious attack on our government institutions failed, and justice was done."
Texas is one of at least 13 states with so-called "trigger laws" set to take effect following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Learn more.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-politicians-react-scotus-roe-v-wade/269-39dfc892-f756-4b5a-b212-56f5be5ef286 | 2022-06-24T17:06:34 | 1 | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-politicians-react-scotus-roe-v-wade/269-39dfc892-f756-4b5a-b212-56f5be5ef286 |
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Wyoming will have “well in excess of $40 million annually” to cover the cost of school lunches in the absence of federal funding, state Treasurer Curt Meier says.
But that amount, he said, is a “separate question” from the approximately $300 million annual deficit in funding for K-12 education that the state already faces.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Brian Schroeder said in a statement Wednesday that he would reject $40 million in annual federal funding for school lunches rather than have Wyoming schools comply with new federal nondiscrimination policy requirements.
Wyoming's top schools official says the state "will not comply" with federal requirements to change non-discrimination policies and called on the state to reject federal money tied to lunch programs.
On May 5, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service announced that it would reinterpret the prohibition of discrimination based on sex in Title IX to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The change requires any organization that gets money from the Food and Nutrition Service to “investigate allegations of discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation” and “update their non-discrimination policies and signage to include prohibitions against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation,” according to the USDA’s statement. Organizations could risk losing federal funding if they don’t comply.
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Schroeder denounced the USDA’s reinterpretation of its nondiscrimination policy in a statement almost a month later. He said the move was part of the federal government’s “ever-relentless agenda of social engineering” and emphasized that schools would have to comply with the new requirement to get federal funding for school lunches. The next week, the Wyoming Department of Education said in a statement that the superintendent stood by his words.
A blistering statement from Wyoming's schools superintendent is again fanning the flames of debate over gender identity and sexual orientation.
On Wednesday, Schroeder issued another statement calling for Wyomingites to reject this federal funding and “appeal to their local legislators concerning the liberating prospects of severing our dependence on federal dollars.”
In language that hasn’t been seen before from a Wyoming schools superintendent, Schroeder said in the statement that he and others “categorically reject gender ideology.”
“Washington has shown its hand, and will never stop at forcing its woke agenda and ever-changing value system on people who refuse to embrace it,” he said in the statement. “Be fully assured, this is not the end — they will be back (i.e. boys in girls sports, forced usage of pronouns, etc.).”
He said that Meier and “a host” of state leaders had told him Wyoming has enough money to cover the cost of school lunches.
Gov. Mark Gordon’s spokesperson and the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office did not respond to the Star-Tribune for comment before deadline.
Wyoming should have enough money to cover the cost of school lunches for at least a two-year budget cycle, according to Meier.
Wyoming’s April revenue update shows that revenues so far exceed what was forecast in January by about $120 million across several of the state’s accounts. A chunk of that comes from unexpected spikes in price and production of oil, gas and coal. Legislative Service Office Co-Chairman Don Richards said that amount will probably increase even more when the next report comes out in July.
What comes after the first biennium is less certain.
“We cannot allow children’s safety and well-being to become casualties of politicking in this state," one retired educator said of the Wyoming superintendent's statements on federal sexual orientation and gender identity policies.
The $40 million that Wyoming would need annually to pay for school lunches would be in addition to the approximately $300 million annual deficit in funding for education that the state is already grappling with.
Sen. Wendy Schuler, R-Evanston, the main sponsor for a bill this past legislative session that would have banned transgender women from competing on female sports teams, said she couldn’t imagine that Wyoming would be able to come up with money for school lunches given that the state has “a hard enough time right now with education funding.”
That’s what she told Schroeder when he talked with her about school lunch funding, she said.
“If you come up with a silver bullet, then sure, I’m all for looking at different options. But even though I may not agree with the USDA, you just don’t mess with school lunches for kids.”
Senate Revenue Committee Chairman Cale Case, R-Lander, said the state would probably have to change its school funding model to accommodate the new expense. He added that this probably wouldn’t be easily accomplished. (Schroeder didn’t reach out to Case for his opinion on funding for school lunches).
Meier also said he thinks changing the state’s funding model would be a “hard one to crack.”
But the situation isn’t “all doom and gloom,” according to Meier; Wyoming has investment revenue to lean on, and “there’s a lot of hope” in the potential for revenue from the uranium and wind industries, for example.
But a strong uranium industry is a long way off, and it’d be hard for wind energy to generate a level of revenue that’s comparable to those from oil, gas and coal.
In any case, schools can’t have that $40 million per year for lunches unless the Legislature approves it. With elections coming up, it’s hard to predict how likely that would be.
Schroeder also hasn’t mentioned in any of his statements on the nondiscrimination policy requirements whether he has thought about funding for other school expenses that are currently paid by the federal government. Wyoming Department of Education Spokesperson Linda Finnerty said Schroeder is traveling and won’t be available for further comment until Monday.
In the 2020-2021 school year, Wyoming schools received about $234,448,000 in total federal funding, according to the Wyoming Department of Education. (That amount includes COVID money). The department was not able to get back to the Star-Tribune by deadline with the total amount of federal funding for Wyoming schools this academic year.
Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, said Wyoming “really, really (needs) to know what the impacts of federal funding are,” including how much schools rely on federal funding and what that money actually pays for.
“I’m generally supportive of Wyoming going straight out of federal funding,” he said, adding that he was optimistic about Wyoming’s ability to make up for the loss of federal funding. (Schroeder had also reached out to Driskill about funding for school lunches).
Several other legislators did not respond to the Star-Tribune by deadline for comment.
Money aside, the decision around whether or not Wyoming will pick up a potential slack in federal funding leaves one group in the dust; the LGBTQ+ kids that the reinterpreted nondiscrimination policies are meant to protect.
“I don’t necessarily like the federal government dictating things to us, but I also think there’s an overreaction to this whole transgender issue,” Case said.
“It’s really important for these kids, and I think we need to be more supportive of them.” | https://trib.com/news/local/education/can-wyoming-pick-up-the-slack-if-it-rejects-federal-money-for-school-lunches/article_41929792-f343-11ec-9508-23f30d886a22.html | 2022-06-24T17:10:36 | 0 | https://trib.com/news/local/education/can-wyoming-pick-up-the-slack-if-it-rejects-federal-money-for-school-lunches/article_41929792-f343-11ec-9508-23f30d886a22.html |
DENVER — After Friday's Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, access to abortion will remain legal in Colorado.
After the court's ruling, decisions about abortion access revert to each individual state. In anticipation of such a ruling, the Colorado General Assembly passed a bill this year, which Gov. Jared Polis signed, that guarantees certain reproductive rights in Colorado.
The bill passed the state House by a vote of 40-24 on March 14 and the Senate by a vote of 20-15 on March 23.
> Video above: What the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade means for Colorado
Under the Reproductive Health Equity Act (HB22-1279), which was signed into law on April 4:
- Individuals have a right to use or refuse contraception.
- Pregnant women have a right to give birth or to have an abortion.
- A fertilized egg, embryo or fetus does not have rights under the laws of the state.
This law doesn't mean the abortion issue is a done deal in Colorado. The law could be reversed by a future state ballot issue or by a state legislature.
One of the sponsors of the Colorado bill, House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo, said Friday morning that the "fight isn't over."
"We knew overturning Roe vs. Wade was a real possibility, which is why I lead the charge on the Reproductive Health Equity Act to protect abortion because we trust people to make their own, private medical decisions," Esgar's statement said in part. "It was signed into law in Colorado, but our fight isn’t over. We must continue our efforts to protect access to abortion in Colorado and support the countless individuals who will have to travel to our state for an abortion or carry unsafe pregnancies to term.”
Fifteen other states besides Colorado, plus the District of Columbia, have protected access to abortion in state law.
Thirteen states have trigger laws — laws on the books that allow the ban to go into effect immediately or in short order if Roe is overturned. Other states with conservative legislatures are likely to try passing partial or full bans on abortion.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
RELATED: Who voted against Roe v. Wade?
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Politics | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/colorado-access-abortion-legal/73-52a8624f-1975-4f28-bb68-87906b45e605 | 2022-06-24T17:14:59 | 1 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/colorado-access-abortion-legal/73-52a8624f-1975-4f28-bb68-87906b45e605 |
MOUNTVILLE, Pa. — Investigators with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office are seeking help in identifying a suspect accused of trying to pick up two fraudulent prescriptions at a Lancaster County pharmacy earlier this month.
According to authorities, the pictured suspect tried to pick up the prescriptions June 16, at Sloan's Pharmacy in Mountville.
The prescriptions, for the antibiotic Azithromycin and the antihistamine Promethazine with codeine, were electronically filed at the pharmacy and purportedly written by a doctor from Oklahoma City for a patient in Columbia, according to investigators.
Staff at the pharmacy confirmed that the Oklahoma City doctor listed in the electronic filing did not write the prescriptions, and investigators say they were unable to find any evidence that the patient named on the prescription actually exists.
On the same day the prescriptions were filed, the suspect came to the pharmacy to pick them up, but staff at the pharmacy informed him they would not fill them, investigators say.
The suspect then left the store and was seen entering the passenger side of a white sedan, possibly a Ford Fusion, bearing Pennsylvania registration that possibly included the last four digits "5431," according to investigators. There were at least two other occupants in the vehicle, witnesses reported.
Anyone with information on this or similar incidents is asked to contact Agent David Heffner with the Office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General at (717) 648-6419 or dheffner@attorneygeneral.gov. Callers can remain anonymous. | https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/lancaster-county/fraudulent-prescription-investigation-sloans-pharmacy-mountville/521-27d29ab3-46b3-4cb6-8fb6-ad3126c0246c | 2022-06-24T17:16:35 | 1 | https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/lancaster-county/fraudulent-prescription-investigation-sloans-pharmacy-mountville/521-27d29ab3-46b3-4cb6-8fb6-ad3126c0246c |
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Black bears are rarely aggressive towards people, but sometimes they are and it can lead to a bear being euthanized or relocated.
There have been several cases of bears being put down across East Tennessee over the past two weeks.
The U.S. Forest Service confirmed Thursday that an aggressive bear at a Carter County campground was captured and euthanized after reports of bears entering the campground and taking food and garbage.
Last week, a bear was euthanized in Sevier County after it scratched a 90-year-old woman. Another bear was put down after it tore open a tent at a Great Smoky Mountains National Park campground and caused superficial wounds to a woman and 3-year-old child.
So how do wildlife officials decide whether to euthanize or relocate a nuisance bear? The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, or TWRA, uses a Bear Nuisance Matrix.
“It was developed with input from bear biologists, managers, and professionals that takes bear behavior into account and offers appropriate responses,” TWRA spokesperson Matthew Cameron said.
The matrix is based on two factors: a bear’s behavior (or level of conflict) and its food source.
Cameron used the bear that injured the 90-year-old woman as an example.
“Because the bear made human contact and caused serious bodily injury, we referred to the matrix which places this bear under Level 4 and calls for an attempt to be made to euthanize it,” Cameron said. “Also, after the bear injured the woman on her porch, it charged another area resident who shot and injured it before a wildlife officer euthanized it.”
Cameron also noted the bear was active during the day, in very hot temperatures, and a necropsy revealed pasta noodles and other human foods in its stomach.
The matrix also allows some bears to be relocated instead of euthanized, but relocation is often unsuccessful.
“In these instances, TWRA staff may be able to trap or chemically immobilize a bear, tag it for future identification, and relocate it to remote areas within the Cherokee National Forest,” Cameron said. “Unfortunately though, relocating nuisance bears typically just passes the problem on to someone else as they typically engage in the same nuisance behaviors that caused them to originally be moved.”
Recent research showed that relocated bears are usually dead within a year due to euthanasia because of aggressive behavior, being struck by a vehicle, or from public land hunting, Cameron said.
The TWRA lists the following things people should know about bears:
- While black bears are usually tolerant of humans, they should always be treated as wild animals, whether in residential or backcountry areas.
- Black bears are rarely aggressive towards people and typically go out of their way to avoid contact, however as human development continues and bear numbers increase, occasional interactions will be unavoidable.
- Black bears are extremely powerful animals whose behaviors can be unpredictable.
- Black bears are very curious animals and this should not be confused with aggression.
- Startled bears will often confront intruders by turning sideways to appear larger, make woofing and teeth clacking sounds, salivate, lay their ears back and slap the ground with their paws. These are warnings for you to leave the area.
- Bears will often stand on their hind legs to get a better view or a better sense of hearing and smell.
The agency also offers these guidelines for minimizing unnecessary and potentially dangerous encounters:
- Never feed or approach bears!
- If a bear approaches you in the wild, it is probably trying to assess your presence.
- If you see a black bear from a distance, alter your route of travel, return the way you came, or wait until it leaves the area.
- Make your presence known by yelling and shouting at the bear in an attempt to scare it away.
- If approached by a bear, stand your ground, raise your arms to appear larger, yell and throw rocks or sticks until it leaves the area.
- When camping in bear country, keep all food stored in a vehicle and away from tents.
- Never run from a black bear! This will often trigger its natural instinct to chase.
- If a black bear attacks, fight back aggressively and do not play dead! Use pepper spray, sticks, rocks, or anything you can find to defend yourself. If cornered or threatened, bears may slap the ground, “pop” their jaws or “huff” as a warning. If you see these behaviors, you are too close! Slowly back away while facing the bear at all times.
More information about bears and bear safety can be found on TWRA’s website and bearwise.org. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/why-do-some-bears-get-euthanized-instead-of-relocated-twra-explains/ | 2022-06-24T17:17:48 | 1 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/why-do-some-bears-get-euthanized-instead-of-relocated-twra-explains/ |
DALLAS — A first-time event is coming to Dallas that will give people the chance to get to know more about a breed of dog they might be interested in adopting.
Dallas' first American Kennel Club Meet the Breeds event is happening at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Saturday, June 25, and Sunday, June 26.
This two-day educational event gives attendees the opportunity to meet and play with a variety of different dog breeds while learning about responsible pet ownership and how to find the best breed for their lifestyle with help from experts.
Denton's Emily Rose is an American Hairless Terriers breeder, and many of her dogs compete in sports competitions.
"I have a strong focus on really socializing my dogs," Rose said. "We do puppy culture, and I start training my puppies as soon as they're three weeks old."
Along with Rose, Sandi Myers is also a member of the American Kennel Club, as she is the owner of a miniature dachshund, Sammy, who is a therapy dog. Sammy frequently visits hospitals and libraries to help kids with their reading.
"It brings me great joy to volunteer in our community and bring him around," Myers said. "He goes to libraries and children read books to him. It helps them with their reading skills because he's a nonjudgmental listener. And he's a great listener."
Both Auli and Sammy will be at the Meet the Breed event in Dallas. Attendees will be able to meet and play with different dog breeds in booths that depict each breed's country of origin, historical purpose and function.
"What's going on this weekend is what we like to call an educational canine extravaganza," Brandi Munden said, who is the vice president of public relations and communications for the American Kennel Club.
The event is open to the general public. Admission is $20 for children and $30 for adults. There is also upgraded VIP admission available.
“We are thrilled to bring this event to Dallas,” American Kennel Club Executive Secretary Gina DiNardo said. “Dallas is known for its dog shows, and we’re so excited to introduce such a dog-friendly city to this unique event where they can see their favorite breeds and learn about new ones.”
For more information or to buy tickets, you can click here. | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/first-meet-the-breed-american-kennel-club-dallas/287-d74584ed-e4a4-42c4-be18-4280cdf2c930 | 2022-06-24T17:22:53 | 0 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/first-meet-the-breed-american-kennel-club-dallas/287-d74584ed-e4a4-42c4-be18-4280cdf2c930 |
ARKANSAS, USA — Local leaders reacted to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization taken on Friday, June 24, 2022.
The Supreme Court decision ends nearly 50 years of federally guaranteed access to abortion and will have long-term consequences for reproductive health.
Statements from local leaders:
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson
"For decades I have said Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided. Today, the Supreme Court overturned the abortion ruling and returned the issue to the states. Arkansas is a pro-life state, and we are able now to protect life."
Congressman Steve Womack:
“The dignity and value of each human life has been upheld. This decision rightfully restores the American people’s ability to protect babies and recognizes the science-backed truths of the humanity of the unborn. The Supreme Court’s duty is to follow the Constitution and enact jurisprudence based in fact. Today, reason—not bullying and intimidation tactics—prevailed. Arkansans celebrate knowing the innocent lives and morality at the heart of this case have been given a voice.”
Congressman Markwayne Mullin:
“The Scales of Justice have weighed in favor of life,” Mullin said. “This is a historic day in our country. The sanctity of every life has prevailed and the unalienable rights prescribed by our forefathers have been restored. I am grateful for the system of checks and balances that allows for judicial review of prior decisions. And I am grateful as well for the affirmation of States’ rights, allowing states like Oklahoma to elevate life.”
Congressman Bruce Westerman:
"I am ecstatic to see the U.S. Supreme Court today rectify its 1973 decision by reversing Roe v. Wade and sending the issue of abortion back to the States," said Rep. Westerman. "Life is a right. Abortion is not. Our system of government is not based on unelected judges creating a right that doesn’t exist in the Constitution. A new day has dawned in America, and many innocent lives will be saved in the years to come. Make no mistake, we must help struggling women and ensure they have every resource they need throughout and after pregnancy. Women will always have choices. As many as two million U.S. families are looking to adopt at any given time, while roughly 700,000 abortions are performed each year. Each of these precious lives could have a family ready and willing to provide a loving home. I look forward to a day when all Americans reject the horrors of abortion in their own states to ensure the right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for every child."
U.S. Senator John Boozman:
“This is a long-awaited, consequential day for our nation. The Supreme Court’s decision to affirm there is no constitutional right to indiscriminately sacrifice the lives of children in their mothers’ wombs is the culmination of decades of work to correct the tragic, deadly lie that unborn babies are expendable and undeserving of protection. I’m pleased to have helped confirm justices to our nation’s highest court who are committed to interpreting the Constitution in a manner that is consistent and true to its intent and meaning. With this ruling, the American people will finally have the opportunity to enact their will on this issue instead of unelected judges in Washington, D.C. I am proud of Arkansas’s steadfast commitment to defend the sanctity, dignity, and value of every human life, including vulnerable children who deserve our compassion and care.”
House Speaker Charles McCall:
“Decades of steadfast prayer and unwavering legislative efforts to protect the lives of the unborn have finally prevailed. Overturning Roe v. Wade justifies the long battle by Oklahoma House Republicans and pro-life allies nationwide to return this matter to the duly elected representatives of state legislatures to decide.
With Roe overturned and Oklahoma’s several proactive, pro-life policies already in immediate effect, the stage is set for Oklahoma to be America’s most pro-life state.
For close to 50 years, the silent cries of the millions who lost their lives before even having a chance to live have been heard through the voices of those of us fighting for their rights. The pro-life movement won, securing those yet unborn the future and promise that comes with being born in the United States of America."
Oklahoma Attorney General, John O' Connor:
“After almost 50 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has wiped one of the most horrifying opinions in American history from the books. It has courageously done so in the face of intimidation, leaks, violence, and even an assassination attempt,” Attorney General O’Connor stated. “Roe not only took away over 60 million lives, it also barred Oklahomans and all other Americans from protecting our unborn children. We should help every woman facing a crisis pregnancy, but not at the cost of the innocent child’s life. This is truly a day for celebration and thanksgiving.”
Alliance Defending Freedom General Counsel Kristen Waggoner:
“The Supreme Court’s decision is a major victory for unborn children and their mothers. Laws across the country can now affirm that life is a human right and ensure women have greater access to the support and resources they need and deserve. We now turn to the states to ensure that unborn children and their mothers are protected from the gruesome reality of abortion, and that they receive the care and resources they need to flourish. Mississippi asked the court to overturn Roe because that case was egregiously wrong and had no basis in constitutional text, structure, or history. Additionally, Roe’s changing standards have long been unworkable, which is why so many pro-life laws ended up in court. It also failed to account for changing science, which demonstrates that life begins at conception. Today is a day of celebration, but the battle continues, as states either respect or shirk their responsibility to protect the life and health of women and children.”
Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat:
“Today is a solemn day and today is an overwhelming joyous day – solemn as we remember the 63 million lives terminated and joyous because of answered prayers. Those of us in the pro-life movement have long dreamt of this day, and we have been ridiculed for believing the day would ever come. The work, the prayers, the advocacy that countless dedicated men and women have done since the egregious decision was handed down on January 22, 1973, has come to fruition. Praise God!
“Oklahomans overwhelmingly value life. As a state we are extremely well positioned to be able to protect life from its beginning to its natural end. We have enacted laws that anticipated this day and now Oklahoma can fully protect life.”
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr.
“In the strongest way possible, I condemn today’s SCOTUS opinion that strips women’s constitutional rights to make decisions about their bodies. This was settled law in our country for half a century, and today’s ruling mistakenly leaves the question of access to abortion up to individual states, of which 13, including Arkansas, have trigger laws to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade was overturned. There are issues that should not be left to individual states to decide. A woman’s right to privacy about her reproductive health should be the law of the land in every state in this country." | https://www.thv11.com/article/news/local/local-leaders-react-scotus-decisions-dobbs-jackson-womens-health-organization-womack-boozman/527-4321b0d2-4583-4f25-8f6c-9f8e5528d827 | 2022-06-24T17:24:04 | 0 | https://www.thv11.com/article/news/local/local-leaders-react-scotus-decisions-dobbs-jackson-womens-health-organization-womack-boozman/527-4321b0d2-4583-4f25-8f6c-9f8e5528d827 |
A Tokio man has been sentenced to life in prison for the death of a 5-year-old and the abuse and neglect of other foster children placed in his home.
Erich Longie Jr., 44, in March 2021 pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, child neglect and three counts of child abuse. An autopsy showed the 5-year-old had been beaten multiple times, according to U.S. Attorney Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl. The child’s sibling was hospitalized for more than a month for bruising consistent with abuse and heart failure caused by malnutrition, officials say.
Authorities charged Longie after Bureau of Indian Affairs agents in May 2020 found the 5-year-old’s body in the basement of the home of Longie and his wife, Tammy Longie, on the Spirit Lake Reservation. The children were placed in the Longies’ care by Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services in July 2019.
Two biological children also were abused with objects and hands, Puhl said.
Tammy Longie, 48, in January pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, child neglect and three counts of child abuse. She will be sentenced Aug. 9. | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/tokio-man-gets-life-sentence-in-child-death-abuse-case/article_53600dcc-f3d1-11ec-a921-0bd16bc55091.html | 2022-06-24T17:28:24 | 1 | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/tokio-man-gets-life-sentence-in-child-death-abuse-case/article_53600dcc-f3d1-11ec-a921-0bd16bc55091.html |
A moose is on the loose in Bismarck.
Reports surfaced Thursday afternoon of a moose wandering around the city.
“We rely on reports from the public because a moose can be hard to find," North Dakota Game and Fish Warden Cory Erck said.
The moose was first reported near 19th Street and Thayer Avenue. Game and Fish received another report Thursday evening, that the animal had crossed State Street and was heading toward the Capitol grounds.
Erck advises the public to leave the animal alone. The size and aggressive nature of moose can make them dangerous if provoked. Wednesday's heat also stressed the animal, he said.
Game wardens and Bismarck police are leaving the animal alone in hopes that it will wander out of town by itself.
The moose sighting comes after several sightings over the past week of a mountain lion in central Bismarck.
Reach Zachary Weiand at 701-250-8244 or zachary.weiand@bismarcktribune.com. | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/moose-spotted-in-bismarck-public-advised-to-leave-animal-alone/article_4d8fba0c-f3cf-11ec-baee-b76eef614147.html | 2022-06-24T17:28:31 | 0 | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/moose-spotted-in-bismarck-public-advised-to-leave-animal-alone/article_4d8fba0c-f3cf-11ec-baee-b76eef614147.html |
The two outside southbound lanes on Bismarck's Seventh Street from 300 feet south of Avenue B through Rosser Avenue will be closed to traffic starting at 7 a.m. Monday for traffic signal work. The middle two lanes will remain open.
The lane closure will be in place for about three weeks. This is the first phase of the project. The work area eventually will progress south on Seventh Street.
Motorists can expect congestion during peak traffic hours and are advised to seek alternate routes.
Separately, Broadway Avenue between 12th Street and 14th Street has reopened after completion of water main work.
For more information, go to www.bismarcknd.gov/streets. | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/traffic-signal-work-set-on-seventh-street/article_6cd7f068-f3df-11ec-949a-6b35acb76b84.html | 2022-06-24T17:28:37 | 1 | https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/traffic-signal-work-set-on-seventh-street/article_6cd7f068-f3df-11ec-949a-6b35acb76b84.html |
One year ago, the Coos History Museum started a new tradition by celebrating Juneteenth for the first time.
During that first celebration in 2021, the museum partnered with the Equal Justice Initiative to place a memorial marker at the museum that remembers the lynching of Alonzo Tucker. One of the reasons for placing the marker was to face a checkered past.
But during the second Juneteenth celebration last weekend, the museum learned the impact of staring down racism in the history of Coos Bay may have had an impact statewide.
In 2021, Taylor Stewart, the founder of the Oregon Remembrance Project, joined more than 200 people at the museum to help place the memorial marker for Tucker. This year, he was in Oregon City, but he sent a message to the volunteers who started it all a year ago.
:I am currently in Oregon City, continuing our tradition of Juneteenth as not just a day of reflection, but a day of action," Stewart wrote. "Similar to last year’s Coos Bay Juneteenth celebration, Oregon City will be honoring the memory of a man named Jacob Vanderpool, the only known person expelled from Oregon under the state’s Black exclusionary laws. Located in Oregon City, Jacob Vanderpool was a business owner and was forced to leave Oregon in 1851 after a competing white business owner reported him to authorities. Even though Oregon’s Black exclusionary laws were not meant to expel African Americans from the state, just prevent them from settling here, the judge, who was presiding over the case and staying at the hotel of the man who pressed the charges, sentenced Jacob Vanderpool to be exiled from the state of Oregon. Jacob Vanderpool was then forced to leave behind his life in Oregon City, never again returning to the state of Oregon."
Stewart wrote that the Juneteenth celebration in 2021 was the impetus for similar efforts in other communities, such as Oregon City.
"Coos Bay’s efforts to reconcile the lynching of Alonzo Tucker has inspired Oregon City to memorialize and continue the story of Jacob Vanderpool," Stewart wrote. "We will attempt to place a historical marker where his business once stood and develop a recruitment and retention plan for people of color in the community as our way to honor the memory and experience of Jacob Vanderpool. His story will live on long after 1851 and will be used as an impetus for improving the lived experience of people of color in his community today. Oregon City will follow in the footsteps of Coos Bay by adding these new chapters and just ending to the story of Jacob Vanderpool."
But. Stewart said, Oregon City is not the only community following in Coos Bay's footsteps.
"Oregon City has not been the only community to be inspired by Coos Bay since last year’s Juneteenth ceremony," Stewart wrote. "The community of Grants Pass has begun their own historical reconciliation on their history as a sundown town. Sundown towns were communities that purposefully excluded African Americans from living in, and sometimes simply passing through, their community through a culture of fear, violence, and intimidation. The goal in Grants Pass is to rewrite the ending to the story of a sundown town and create an ending where a formally exclusionary community can become one of the communities most committed to inclusivity because of its history."
Stewart praised the museum and the volunteer Juneteenth Committee that faced its future a year ago and continues to celebrate the impact Black community members have had and still have in Coos Bay.
"By simply asking the question, 'How do you reconcile a lynching,' I’ve learned alongside you that there are three r words within this idea of reconciliation—remembrance, repair, and redemption—and, that in order for us to get to that last r word of redemption, we need to have the courage it takes to undertake the first two," Stewart wrote. "The unveiling of the Alonzo Tucker historical marker was more than just a retelling of history, it was also the making of history as over 600 people, double that who were at the 1902 lynching, gathered in-person and virtually at the ceremony to add this new chapter to Alonzo Tucker’s story."
While placing the Tucker marker was an important step for the Coos History Museum, it was only the first Juneteenth celebration that promises to continue into the future. Over the weekend, the museum hosted a two-day celebration.
On Saturday, the museum partnered with Oregon Black Pioneers to place a historical marker at the Beaver Hill site near Coquille.
Zachary Stocks, executive director of the Oregon Black Pioneers, said the Beaver Hill site shows the impact the Black community had during early Oregon.
“At Oregon Black Pioneers, we are especially interested in illuminating the experience of Black Oregonians who made a life for themselves and their families in remote parts of our state," Stocks said. "The Beaver Hill story illustrates how people of African descent have made every corner of Oregon their home, in spite of legal and social exclusion. A single reference to a handful of Black miners at Beaver Hill inspired us to learn more. In the process, we learned that in time, Beaver Hill likely had the second largest Black population in Oregon, behind only Portland, and was home to some of Oregon’s earliest Black Masonic lodges, Black baseball teams and integrated schools. We celebrate the diversity of this mining community and the courage of all its residents.”
On Sunday, officially Juneteenth, the museum hosted a ceremony remembering the historic moment on June 19, 1865, when Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced the freedom of all slaves thanks to the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Pres. Abraham Lincoln.
Annis Cassells read sections of the book "On Juneteenth," by Annette Gordon-Reed, and Jamar Ruff read the Emancipation Proclamation during the ceremony. That was followed by music, food and fun as the Coos Bay continued a new tradition and honoring and remembering the current and past impact of Black community members. | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/coos-bay-celebrates-juneteenth-for-the-second-time/article_c648a852-f26f-11ec-90be-ef03f7aae780.html | 2022-06-24T17:29:40 | 1 | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/coos-bay-celebrates-juneteenth-for-the-second-time/article_c648a852-f26f-11ec-90be-ef03f7aae780.html |
On June 17, at approximately 4:30 a.m., OSP Fish & Wildlife Troopers received information that a young buck deer was shot at the Reedsport Public Boat Launch parking lot in the town of Reedsport. Investigation revealed that the deer was shot on-site with a handgun at approximately 3 a.m. The city was extra busy at this time, as a chainsaw carving competition and a rock and gem show were occurring over the weekend. Several people were camped nearby in campers and trailers.
OSP Fish & Wildlife Troopers are seeking public assistance identifying the subject in the attached pictures who is suspected to have shot the young buck and left it to waste. Reedsport Police Department and Reedsport Public Works are assisting with the investigation.
OSP Fish & Wildlife Division is urging anyone with information about this case to call the Oregon State Police Tip-line at 1-800-452-7888, *OSP (*677), or email at TIP@osp.oregon.gov. Please, reference case number SP22-147967
Report Wildlife and Habitat Law Violators
The Turn In Poachers (TIP) program offers preference points or cash rewards for information leading to an arrest or issuance of a citation, to a suspect, for the unlawful killing of wildlife, and or waste of big game. Cash rewards can also be awarded for turning in people who destroy habitat, illegally obtain licenses/tags, and for the unlawful lending/borrowing of big game tags. Learn more: https://www.oregon.gov/osp/programs/fw/Pages/tip.aspx
PREFERENCE POINT REWARDS:
* 5 Points-Mountain Sheep
* 5 Points-Rocky Mountain Goat
* 5 Points-Moose
* 5 Points-Wolf
* 4 Points-Elk
* 4 Points-Deer
* 4 Points-Antelope
* 4 Points-Bear
* 4 Points-Cougar
Oregon Hunters Association (OHA) Cash Rewards:
* $1,000 Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goat, and Moose
* $500 Elk, Deer, and Antelope
* $300 Bear, Cougar, and Wolf
* $300 Habitat Destruction
* $200 - Illegally obtaining Oregon hunting or angling license or tags
* $200 - Unlawful Lending/Borrowing Big Game Tag(s)
* $100 Upland Birds and Waterfowl
* $100 Game Birds or Furbearers
* $100 Game Fish and Shellfish
Oregon Wildlife Coalition (OWC) Cash Rewards:
Birds
$500 Hawk, Falcon, Eagle, Owl, Osprey
All other protected avian species: see category below for listed species
Mammals
$500 Cougar, Bobcat, Beaver (public lands only), Black bears, Bighorn Sheep, Marten, Fisher, Sierra Nevada Red Fox
Species listed as “threatened" or “endangered" under state or federal Endangered Species Act (excludes fish)
$1,000 (e.g. wolf, wolverine, kit fox, red tree vole, Canada lynx, sea otter, Columbian white-tailed deer, California brown pelican, western snowy plover, California least tern, northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, short-tailed albatross, streaked horned lark, yellow-billed cuckoo, leatherback sea turtle, olive ridley sea turtle, Oregon spotted frog, green sea turtle, loggerhead sea turtle) | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/fish-wildlife-seeking-public-assistance-identifying-poaching-subject/article_26ab3506-f271-11ec-bcb2-f76a97281567.html | 2022-06-24T17:29:46 | 1 | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/fish-wildlife-seeking-public-assistance-identifying-poaching-subject/article_26ab3506-f271-11ec-bcb2-f76a97281567.html |
BLOOMINGTON — Bloomington police say a driver was killed in a crash that happened early Friday morning, minutes after the vehicle did not stop when being pulled over. The driver has not been named.
According to a press release from the Bloomington Police Department, officers saw a car go through two red lights on Market Street around 1:25 a.m. on Friday. The car was involved in a minor crash at Market and Lee and continued driving. The driver of the other vehicle was not injured.
Bloomington police attempted to pull the original vehicle over, but the car did not stop. Police ended the attempt at Oak and Mulberry, the release said.
Another person called police at 1:27 a.m. Friday saying there was a vehicle fire at Locust and White Oak. When officers arrived on scene, they found the vehicle that had not stopped when pulled over engulfed in flames after crashing into a power pole and bringing down utility lines.
Bloomington Fire Department put out the fire. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Bloomington Police and the McLean County Coroner's Office are investigating the crash.
Contact Connor Wood at (309)820-3240. Follow Connor on Twitter:@connorkwood | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/accident-and-incident/police-driver-dies-in-early-morning-crash-in-bloomington/article_d4d8bbb6-f3da-11ec-b8b9-2f85565974bb.html | 2022-06-24T17:33:52 | 1 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/accident-and-incident/police-driver-dies-in-early-morning-crash-in-bloomington/article_d4d8bbb6-f3da-11ec-b8b9-2f85565974bb.html |
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Local | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/local/hoboken-may-lower-citywide-speed-limit-to-20-mph/3742909/ | 2022-06-24T17:34:23 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/local/hoboken-may-lower-citywide-speed-limit-to-20-mph/3742909/ |
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