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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Several area school districts’ TCAP score results show that more than half of their third graders will need to retake the English/ Language Arts (ELA) portion of the TCAP exam.
New state legislation went into effect this school year, requiring third graders to score proficiently on the ELA portion of their TCAP exam in order to move on to the next grade level.
News Channel 11 was provided percentages of third-grade students who met the required score in ELA by the following school districts:
- Bristol City Schools – 50.7% of third-grade students scored proficient or advanced
- Elizabethton City Schools – 49.7% of third-grade students scored proficient or advanced
- Hawkins County Schools – 32.3% of third-grade students scored proficient or advanced
- Johnson City Schools – 65% of third-grade students scored proficient or advanced
- Johnson County Schools – 29.2% of third-grade students scored proficient or advanced
- Kingsport City Schools – 45.4% of third-grade students scored proficient or advanced
- Unicoi County Schools – 29.2% of third-grade students scored proficient or advanced
- Washington County Schools – 49.1% of third-grade students scored proficient or advanced
Many school districts spent Monday reviewing those scores, communicating with parents and coordinating for students to retake the exam. Under Tennessee’s third-grade retention law, students who are approaching the passing score must either meet the required score upon a retest, go to summer school or receive tutoring next school year in order to advance to the fourth grade.
If a student scored in the below category and does not receive the score needed, they must both go to summer school and be tutored next year to advance to fourth grade.
Kingsport City Schools had its last day of the school year Friday, and officials have been working to communicate with anxious parents and students.
“Right now, we’re really focusing in on that individual student contact because we know parents are anxious about this,” said Assistant Superintendent for Kingsport City Schools Andy True. “Kids are anxious about this.”
True informed News Channel 11 that 45.4% of third graders met or exceeded the state expectations. He said he expects about 21% of students will have better results once they retest.
“We are communicating with parents, making sure that they have that information,” said True. “To know exactly what their situation is with their child and know what those next steps can be.”
Washington County Schools has used a teacher work day to start coordinating with parents after sorting through the numbers.
“It’s all been discussion up to this point, but now with the data, now it’s action,” said Washington County Director of Schools Jerry Boyd.
In Washington County Schools, 50.9% of third-graders did not meet the required score. But like Kingsport City Schools, Boyd said his results show that many students were close, and he believes more will meet the mark after retesting.
“We anticipate a good number of students on this abbreviated third-grade ELA retake test to overcome that threshold,” said Boyd.
Both Kingsport City Schools and Washington County Schools begin their retest process Tuesday. They are both scheduled to begin summer school on June 5.
Multiple school districts told News Channel 11 that they are looking at appeal and exemption options for students who did not receive proficient or advanced scores. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/hundreds-of-tri-cities-third-graders-to-retake-tcap-numbers-say/ | 2023-05-23T00:11:54 | 0 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/hundreds-of-tri-cities-third-graders-to-retake-tcap-numbers-say/ |
DANVILLE, Va. – It has been one week since Caesars opened a temporary casino in Danville, and people are still flocking to try their luck.
Nearby businesses say there had been some discussion over whether or not the casino would be a good thing, but one shop says they’re already seeing the benefits.
Foxglove is a clothing store just down the road from Caesars.
They said the first few days, there was a boom in traffic and business to the area - drawing more people to their store.
“There are a lot of naysayers out there no matter what. It could be the second coming of Jesus and they’d still have something negative to say about that, so I think this will get Danville over the hump. I really do, I think this is the push we need to get over that hill,” secretary and treasurer of Foxglove John Mason said.
Caesars is still working on building a permanent casino for the future. | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/05/22/danville-casino-brings-traffic-to-local-businesses/ | 2023-05-23T00:14:17 | 0 | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/05/22/danville-casino-brings-traffic-to-local-businesses/ |
DANVILLE, Va. – Danville is mourning the loss of a 16-year-old that was shot and killed Sunday.
Police responded to a call at Perdum Woods Apartment Complex shortly after 2 p.m. and found the teen, as well as a 19-year-old victim with non-life threatening injuries.
Shortly after, police arrested 20-year-old Kyon Herbin in Burlington, North Carolina.
He’s charged with second-degree murder and malicious wounding.
Police held a ‘H.E.A.R.T’ walk Monday - which stands for heal, engage after recent trauma.
They walked around the complex, speaking with residents and offering resources to help work towards healing.
These resources include things like counseling to help people cope with the trauma.
“We’re not here for information gathering. We’re here to talk to people about whatever they may need. And surely after an event like this, there are people that are hurting, so we want to be able to give them whatever help they need,” public information officer for the Danville Police Department Matt Bell said.
The names of the victims have not yet been released by the department.
Police say this is the third homicide in the month of May, and the fourth this year. Most have been closed with an arrest. | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/05/22/danville-police-hold-heart-walk-after-shooting-death-of-16-year-old/ | 2023-05-23T00:14:23 | 1 | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/05/22/danville-police-hold-heart-walk-after-shooting-death-of-16-year-old/ |
Whether you’re a year-round griller or more of a seasonal barbecuer, now is a good time to take a look at your grill and decide if it needs replacing ... but do you know what to look for?
If your grill is still under warranty, fixing something, like a broken igniter, is a no-brainer. If it’s not, here’s Consumer Report’s advice:
“Get a cost for the parts that need replacing. Add it up and if it’s more than about half the cost of a new grill, it might be worth considering splurging,” Paul Hope with CR said.
Here are the five things CR says to look out for – number one, a firebox that’s cracked or rusted through.
“Not only is it not gonna cook well, but it’s also unsafe,” Hope said.
CR said there really is no fix for a damaged firebox. You’ll need to replace your grill.
Number two: if a burner is pumping out uneven or yellow flames — that means there’s a clog and your grill isn’t getting as hot as it could.
CR said to clean the holes in the burner tubes with a toothpick.
If the flames go back to blue, it’s fixed. If not, you can try new burners.
Number three: grates that are flaking or cracked.
“Flaking grates need to be replaced because it can actually break off and get into your food,” Hope said.
Number four, cracked hoses and connectors.
“If you’ve got a leaking or cracked hose, replace it immediately. The last thing you want is a gas leak near an open flame,” Hope said.
Finally, an iffy ignitor.
“An igniter is a part you want to replace immediately when it starts to falter because gas can build up inside the grill,” Hope said.
If you decide your grill needs replacing, CRhas tested more than 500 models.
A few standouts for price and performance: a model from even Embers and the Cuisinart 5 Burners Dual Fuel available at Walmart.
Consumer Reports said when cleaning your grill — don’t use a wire grill brush because the small sharp bristles can break off, stick to the grates and then to your food, and accidentally be swallowed. | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/05/22/five-ways-you-can-tell-if-you-need-a-new-grill-consumer-reports/ | 2023-05-23T00:14:29 | 0 | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/05/22/five-ways-you-can-tell-if-you-need-a-new-grill-consumer-reports/ |
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When Shimirimana 'Shim' Eliya gets his degree at Texas A&M University Department of Dental Hygiene on Friday, it will be the end of a long road that started half a world away in Africa.
"I was born in Tanzania in a refugee camp," Eliya said. "Most people look at me and they see the perfect smile. They don't know the pain behind it."
Eliya said without knowledge about dental health or access to care, he developed gum disease and tooth decay as a child.
'I would be staring at the sky in my bed wondering, does everybody feel this way? Does everybody go through this pain," Eliya recalled. "Like needles in the skin!"
When Eliya's family moved to Forth Worth, he said he noticed there wasn't education in his community about dental health or how to prevent problems before they required a dentist.
"So when Shim goes out into the profession, he brings a very unique perspective to the underrepresented and underserved refugees in our country," TAMU Executive Director of Dental Hygiene Leigh Ann Nuric said
Last year, Eliya was part of a mission trip to Africa to bring free dental care to refugees, like he once was.
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"When you go back and just see the red dirt and kids playing around, you think to yourself, that was me," Eliya said. "I just want to give them the tools I wasn't given when I was younger."
"It's a full circle moment," Nuric said. "Because he was one of the people who came for dental care, who stood in line and waited for the American dentist...to be one of the healthcare professionals that provided care for the people in that country that came and stood in line really hit my heart."
Eliya wants to work in public dental health, helping underserved communities. | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/refugee-experience-led-grad-to-study-dental-hygiene-at-tamu/3262891/ | 2023-05-23T00:15:22 | 0 | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/refugee-experience-led-grad-to-study-dental-hygiene-at-tamu/3262891/ |
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Contact Us | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/15-year-old-bitten-by-shark-at-jersey-shore/3571303/ | 2023-05-23T00:15:49 | 0 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/15-year-old-bitten-by-shark-at-jersey-shore/3571303/ |
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Contact Us | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/listen-911-call-of-teen-attacked-by-shark-at-stone-harbor-beach/3571358/ | 2023-05-23T00:15:55 | 0 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/listen-911-call-of-teen-attacked-by-shark-at-stone-harbor-beach/3571358/ |
NASHWAUK — Mesabi Metallics is making several last-ditch efforts to win back state mineral leases it lost two years ago. It's getting a letter of support from the Itasca County Board of Commissioners; running TV commercials urging viewers to write letters; and filing a motion for a preliminary injunction in federal bankruptcy to try to stop the state from awarding the mineral leases to Cleveland-Cliffs later this week.
Judge Craig Goldblatt will consider the motion at a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware on Tuesday, May 23, two days before the Minnesota Executive Council is set to vote on granting the leases to Cliffs, which intends on using the ore to keep its Hibbing Taconite facility open.
“Mesabi will suffer irreparable harm if it does not obtain a preliminary injunction before May 25, 2023 to enjoin (Cliffs) from entering into certain mineral leases,” attorneys for Mesabi wrote in a May 12 filing requesting the court expedite its motion for an injunction.
In a May 15 letter to Judge Goldblatt, Kristin Morrison, an attorney representing Cliffs, questioned the timing of the motion.
“Mesabi’s motion appears timed to cast doubt on the state of Minnesota’s clear rights to enter into leases for the state-held mineral properties in Nashwauk, Minnesota with any party other than Mesabi when the State Executive Councils meets on May 25, 2023,” Morrison wrote.
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Earlier this month, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources recommended the Minnesota Executive Council award all of the leases to Cliffs, saying it would be in the state's best interest and that the company has a proven track record of completing projects. The council is chaired Gov. Tim Walz and made up of the state's constitutional officers.
Mesabi once held the leases, but the DNR terminated them in May 2021 after the company failed to meet a last-chance requirement set by the state after years of missed lease requirements and deadlines.
Despite appeals by Mesabi, the agency’s lease termination was upheld by a judge in State District Court in St. Paul, the Minnesota Court of Appeals and the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Since 2007, iterations of Mesabi — the former Essar Steel Minnesota project that has had multiple owners, managers and names — has floundered through construction stoppages, bankruptcies, missed deadlines, late payments and other legal battles. The project sits half-finished.
Mesabi maintains it could complete its direct-reduced iron pellet plant by 2026, but it will likely need some of the state leases in Nashwauk to make the project work. Both Mesabi and Cliffs have private mineral leases adjacent to the state leases.
While Essar walked away from the bankrupt project in 2015, leaving behind $1 billion in debt, the company reentered the picture after settling some $260 million of debt and is now Mesabi’s parent company. | https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/mesabi-metallics-seeks-injunction-to-stop-state-from-awarding-leases-to-cleveland-cliffs | 2023-05-23T00:18:29 | 0 | https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/mesabi-metallics-seeks-injunction-to-stop-state-from-awarding-leases-to-cleveland-cliffs |
AUSTIN, Texas — Austin's police chief said now that Texas DPS troopers are no longer helping APD with its staffing shortage, once again, fewer officers are able to respond to emergency calls.
“I have a finite number of officers that I'm able to deploy,” said Chief Joseph Chacon. “We have backfill personnel that are coming in from other units and other ranks to answer emergency calls. It's just not enough.”
Austin's Public Safety Committee got an update on data from APD's partnership with state law enforcement on Monday. That partnership recently ended because Gov. Greg Abbott decided to deploy DPS troopers to the border, taking them away from Austin.
The briefing comes more than a week after troopers left the city.
On Monday, officials with the City said in areas where DPS was asked to deploy, they saw reduced calls for service, reduced response times and reduced violent crime. When crime dropped in certain areas, they deployed the troopers elsewhere within the city, and calls for service, response times and violent crimes increased in the areas where they were previously deployed.
Councilmembers asked when the partnership would return. DPS leaders say even though there's no specific date set, the partnership isn't over.
“This weekend there was a planned takeover and we sent the troopers in to assist Austin PD," said Texas DPS Deputy Director Vincent Luciano. "Even though we're committed other places, we'll be responsive to anywhere in the state."
Officials with APD said right now, they're waiting to get data on what these figures have looked like after DPS's departure from the city. | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/austin-police-department-texas-dps-partnership-update/269-bdb1244c-9141-43d7-9d6d-980fd39eded1 | 2023-05-23T00:23:25 | 0 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/austin-police-department-texas-dps-partnership-update/269-bdb1244c-9141-43d7-9d6d-980fd39eded1 |
AUSTIN, Texas — Austin police and Texas DPS troopers responded to a hotel in the Rainey Street district on Monday afternoon.
The incident happened at the Homewood Suites on East Avenue.
Officers were inside the hotel, going from floor to floor, possibly looking for someone.
The Austin Police Department said it received an "unknown urgent call" at the hotel around 2:30 p.m.
“This is an ongoing investigation. As this is still early on, we are not able to provide more information at this time,” APD said. | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/police-dps-hotel-east-avenue/269-8e6fce41-5ecf-454f-86cb-9672829f426d | 2023-05-23T00:23:31 | 1 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/police-dps-hotel-east-avenue/269-8e6fce41-5ecf-454f-86cb-9672829f426d |
Manitowoc Boys & Girls Club director to step down as search begins for next leader
Jody Kasten has served as director of the Manitowoc club since Nov. 1, 2022.
MANITOWOC - Boys & Girls Club of Manitowoc County is in search of its next leader.
Jody Kasten, who has served in the role since Nov. 1, 2022, recently announced she is leaving in June for another position.
“My passion for people to support one another for positive change in our communities goes with me as I feel called to another position,” Kasten said in a news release.
Kasten has spent the past six months increasing the momentum of community engagement with the club in Manitowoc.
According to Greg Lemke-Rochon, CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Fox Valley: “Jody’s contributions have helped the Manitowoc club serve kids in meaningful and lasting ways. She will certainly be missed and (we) wish her well as she continues her commitment to serving others in her new role.”
With a strong and dedicated local staff, and support from its parent organization, the Boys & Girls Club of the Fox Valley, the Manitowoc club will continue to provide a place for youth to belong, supporting them in realizing their full potential as responsible, caring and productive adults.
The Boys & Girls Club of Manitowoc County, at 3651 Dewey St., opens its doors daily after school and during summer break as a place for youth ages 6-12 to be encouraged by caring adults. The club provides meals and activities focused on academics, staying active and exploring the arts. Being a primarily community-funded organization, financial barriers do not prohibit any youth from belonging to the club. The organization hopes to expand soon to add programming for 13- to 18-year-olds. Learn more at bgcmanitowoccounty.org.
Read more:
- Boys & Girls Club opens: More than 20 years and $2 million in the making, Manitowoc's new Boys & Girls Club finally opens its doors
- Best burger:Where’s the best place to get a burger in Manitowoc? Here are the top spots according to readers.
- Weekly dose: Two Rivers native plays New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, plus more news | https://www.htrnews.com/story/news/local/2023/05/22/jody-kasten-steps-down-as-manitowoc-boys-girls-club-director/70243366007/ | 2023-05-23T00:23:39 | 1 | https://www.htrnews.com/story/news/local/2023/05/22/jody-kasten-steps-down-as-manitowoc-boys-girls-club-director/70243366007/ |
AUSTIN, Texas — A drastically different version of a school funding bill that’s being used as a last-ditch effort to enact a voucher-like program in Texas was approved by the Senate’s education committee Monday and could get a vote in the full chamber later this week.
The committee, led by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, voted 9-3 along party lines to advance its version of House Bill 100.
The fix is an attempt to avoid a special session after Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to call for one if he didn’t get a school voucher bill he liked. But that scenario might be difficult to avoid, with some House members furious at the Senate’s revisions and vowing not to let the new version of the bill become law.
The House’s original version of the bill, authored by Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, only intended to allocate $4.5 billion in new funding for schools to give teachers modest raises and balance their budgets as inflation diminishes the value of the money they get from the state.
The Senate turned it into a 133-page omnibus bill that incorporates several provisions of other bills that didn’t make it through the legislative process. Most notably, the Senate version would establish education savings accounts, the voucher-like program that died in a House committee last week. The bill now costs $3.8 billion, with about half a billion going to the voucher program.
The Senate’s version of HB 100 would give parents who opt out of the public school system up to $8,000 in taxpayer money per student each year through these accounts. The funds could be used to pay for a child’s private schooling and other educational expenses, such as textbooks or tutoring.
Unlike the bill that died in the House committee, the Senate’s version of the voucher-like program would be open to most of Texas’ 5.5 million students — including those already in private schools — with a priority given to students who attend a school that received a C or lower in the state’s accountability rating.
The new version of HB 100 would also increase the basic allotment, the minimum money that schools get per student, by $50. That amount is currently $6,160. The bump is a smaller increase than the $90 that the House initially proposed and would not be adjusted for inflation as the original bill called for.
Mandy Drogin, campaign director of an education initiative for the conservative think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation, said in a statement that the new bill is a win for everyone involved in education.
“Parents are empowered to make the best education options for their children — whether that’s a simplified cross-district transfer process or utilizing an [education savings account], parents have the tools that they need at their fingertips,” Drogin said. “At the same time, HB 100 increases teacher pay and improves public school funding, creating a true win-win-win for everyone.”
But Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, said the upper chamber is playing politics with critical funding — and offering a measly increase to the basic allotment in exchange for vouchers.
“Fifty dollars is an insult, and they’re trying to make fools out of us,” she said. “We won’t pass a full-on voucher.”
Hinojosa expects lawmakers won’t reach an agreement on the bill and will have to be back for a special session later this year. For now, a bump to school funding — which many districts desperately hoped for at the beginning of the year — hangs by a thread.
“There is a full-on assault on our public schools by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick,” the leader of the Senate, Hinojosa said. “I’m not just a no; I’m a hell no on that bill.”
Earlier this session, Senate lawmakers tried to pass a voucher program open to most Texas children through Senate Bill 8, authored by Creighton. It would’ve established a similar program as the one outlined in HB 100, but the House Committee on Public Education changed the scope of the program by limiting its eligibility to only certain students, like those with disabilities or those who were enrolled at a campus that recently got a failing grade in the state’s accountability rating. The change was an attempt to make education savings accounts more palatable for House members who oppose school vouchers.
That version of the bill never got a vote in the House’s Public Education Committee. Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Killeen, chair of the committee, told The Texas Tribune last week that he questioned whether it was worth bringing the bill up for a vote after Abbott’s threat to veto that version of the bill.
Some Republicans have tried to pass voucher-like programs for decades with no success, historically hitting the same wall: the Texas House. But the bill’s supporters felt they had a shot this time around as they thought some parents’ frustration with health restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic and the way race and gender identity are taught in schools — something Republicans have seized on in the last couple of years — would give them the swell of support needed to get vouchers over the hump.
In the House, Democrats and rural Republicans have formed a coalition to defeat such programs, fearing they would siphon funds away from public schools, which serve as important job engines and community hubs across the state.
The Senate’s latest play is seen by some as an effort to hold school funding hostage, essentially telling the House that if members want more school funding, the lower chamber has to agree to pass vouchers.
The basic allotment has not changed since 2019, and raising it has been a priority for school officials after the pandemic rattled their finances and inflation diminished the value of the money they get from the state. At the beginning of the legislative session, school districts expressed hope that lawmakers would direct a portion of the state’s historic $32.7 billion surplus to help them.
But trading vouchers for funding is a bargain some schools are not willing to make.
“So you want me to make a deal with the devil? Absolutely not. I’m not making that deal,” said Stephanie Elizalde, superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District.
King, the author of HB 100, told the Tribune last year that he would stand against voucher-like programs.
“If I have anything to say about it, it’s dead on arrival,” he said. “It’s horrible for rural Texas. It’s horrible for all of Texas.”
King did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Other provisions
The new bill would also raise the portion of the state dollars that school districts are required to use to pay for teacher raises from 30% to 50%. The rest can be used for other school expenses, such as maintaining school buildings and buying school supplies. The small increase would likely not help provide substantial pay increases or make a significant impact on school budgets.
HD Chambers, executive director of the Texas School Alliance, an organization of 45 school districts in Texas that educate 41% of the state’s K-12 students, said the Senate is “holding any meaningful improvements to our school finance system hostage until they get ESA vouchers, which ultimately is unfair to Texas students and teachers in our public schools.”
“This bill positions private schools as an alternative for families unhappy with their public schools,” Chambers said. “However, the reality is that Texas has not made the investments in public education that would enable schools to fully meet the needs of every student.”
The revised bill also adds provisions from other bills that either died or have yet to be voted on. It would expand and give more funding to the Teacher Incentive Allotment, a program that promises to pay teachers up to six-figure salaries if they meet certain performance requirements. About 13,000 teachers, or about 4% of the state’s educators, are part of the program.
The latest version of the bill also increases the base amount of money that teachers should make depending on their experience. And it seeks to tackle the state’s teacher shortage by allocating funds to help school districts pay for more teacher residencies, which are programs that place would-be teachers in classrooms with mentors for about a year, teaching them how to do the job before hiring them as full-time educators the following year. According to the National Center for Teacher Residencies, teachers who go through residency programs are more likely to stay in the profession, with 86% still teaching in the same school after three years.
In addition, the bill would allow teachers to send their children to pre-K for free in the districts where they work, if the service is available. Pre-K is not mandated in Texas, but the state helps cover the cost only for students who don’t speak English, are homeless or have parents who are active members of the military. Teachers’ children are not included.
HB 100 would also waive the costs of certain teacher certification exams when people take them for the first time.
The bill would add funding for school districts to rehire retired teachers who, if they can be convinced to return to the profession, are seen as a promising workforce that can help stem the teacher shortage.
Finally, the bill seeks to allocate $300 million in special education funding.
Disclosure: Texas Public Policy Foundation and Texas School Alliance have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-senate-committee-revises-school-funding-bill-last-minute-bid-voucher-program/287-26762d57-0035-4e9f-bce5-cea86317d5cb | 2023-05-23T00:25:43 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-senate-committee-revises-school-funding-bill-last-minute-bid-voucher-program/287-26762d57-0035-4e9f-bce5-cea86317d5cb |
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said they are investigating burglaries at three of their fire stations.
Deputies said two vehicles were broken into at Station 27, which is located off of Novella Eliza Lane. At Station 55, which is off of Greenway Professional Court, investigators said one vehicle was burglarized and another vehicle stolen. Deputies said it was a 2020 Ram 1500.
Some of the items taken include employee ID cards, credit and debit cards, and ammunition.
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The Sheriff’s office said at Station 81, located off of South Econ Trail, a car was broken into and a wallet was stolen, along with Orange County Fire Rescue credentials.
Orange County wasn’t the only county impacted.
Seminole County’s fire chief said they had burglaries at three of their fire stations Sunday.
Jon Divita, the Seminole County Professional Firefighters Union President, described what happened to the vehicles and said, “anywhere from just opening the doors, to damaging, breaking windows, and completely going through all their personal belongings, and stealing whatever they can get their hands on.”
The Apopka Police Department also told News 6, they too, had several vehicles broken into at two of their fire stations.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/05/23/thieves-targeting-vehicles-at-orange-seminole-county-fire-stations/ | 2023-05-23T00:29:13 | 1 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/05/23/thieves-targeting-vehicles-at-orange-seminole-county-fire-stations/ |
Editor’s note: Details of the allegations in the probable cause affidavits released by court officials may be disturbing to some readers.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — New court documents in the case against an Oregon couple accused of chaining up a child in their house were released by court officials on Monday.
The first probable cause affidavit, which was filed by an officer with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office who was sent to help with the Department of Human Services’ Child Protective Services investigation, states 67-year-old Ana Miranda repeatedly locked up a child she is related to with a chain and two padlocks to prevent the child from taking food and drinks from the kitchen.
The child would be chained to either the kitchen table or in the bathroom, which Miranda admitted to, according to the court documents, which added the child also had food withheld while all the other siblings were treated normally.
The second probable cause document revealed an interview with Miranda’s husband, 74-year-old Charles “Randy” Ward, and states he witnessed the crimes and that he had bought the chain and lock, which Ward claimed was for the fence post in their yard.
However, another witness who was interviewed told authorities that originally, Miranda had used a bike lock, but when the child had figured out the code, she had asked Ward to buy the new chain and two locks from Home Depot, according to the court documents.
The interviewee also said that they witnessed Miranda beat the child on several occasions by beating the child with a belt, scratching the child and pulling the child’s hair, the affidavit stated.
The child had to ask permission to use the bathroom while locked up and when Miranda wasn’t fast enough, the child was forced to urinate on themself on several occasions, according to the court documents.
Miranda said the child would steal things, including “toys from school, and water, candy and soda at night in the house,” according to the court documents.
The court documents stated Miranda admitted to chaining the child up for “one to two hours a day, once or twice a week” for several weeks, but multiple witnesses alleged that the chaining had been going on much longer.
Both Miranda and Ward were set to appear in court on Monday morning and both face charges of first-degree criminal mistreatment. | https://www.koin.com/local/washington-county/ana-miranda-charles-ward-child-abuse-accusation-court-documents/ | 2023-05-23T00:30:31 | 0 | https://www.koin.com/local/washington-county/ana-miranda-charles-ward-child-abuse-accusation-court-documents/ |
BEAVERTON, Ore. (KOIN) — Facing a $10 million budget shortfall for the next fiscal year, the City of Beaverton is looking at cutting jobs as federal pandemic dollars dry up.
Among the possible job cuts are library positions and emergency preparedness jobs.
City leaders also told KOIN 6 News there is a $1 million shortfall in the library budget as personnel costs increase.
A total of 18 jobs could be eliminated — and some are already vacant.
Librarians were told 8 positions are being considered in the cuts, part of a plan that also includes reducing the number of days the branch library at Murray and Scholls is open.
Two out of the 3 emergency management positions are on the chopping block, and one of them was already set to expire this year.
Claudia Steiner Fricker, a longtime volunteer and instuctor with the community emergency response team told KOIN 6 News emergency management city staff are critical for life and safety. They’re in charge of more than 500 volunteers that make sure the city is ready for everything from earthquakes to staffing cooling centers.
A city spokesperson told KOIN 6 News inflation and expenses are creating the budget shortfall by paying into the state’s Public Employees Retirement Systems.
Federal COVID relief money is no longer flowing in.
The Beaverton City Budget Committee will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday to discuss recommendations for the entire city council. | https://www.koin.com/local/washington-county/beaverton-facing-10m-shortfall-considers-job-cuts/ | 2023-05-23T00:30:37 | 1 | https://www.koin.com/local/washington-county/beaverton-facing-10m-shortfall-considers-job-cuts/ |
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The 24-year-old man who police said was critically injured after a shooting in the Metzger neighborhood on Thursday morning has died, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday.
The victim has been identified as Pedro Antonio Prieto-Lopez of Tigard. His family has been notified of his death, according to officials.
“Antonio was a thoughtful gentle giant with an infectious laugh. He was incredibly smart, and passionate about fitness, anime, and making sure the people in his life knew how much he loved them. His passing is an unspeakable tragedy that touches many lives. We implore anyone with knowledge about his death to please contact the police,” Prieto-Lopez’s family said.
Early Thursday morning, deputies from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting report at Southwest Hall Boulevard and Southwest Locust Street, where they said they found Prieto-Lopez with severe gunshot injuries.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office Violent Crimes Unit is investigating. Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to call 503-846-2524. | https://www.koin.com/local/washington-county/tigard-man-dies-after-shooting-in-metzger-neighborhood-officials/ | 2023-05-23T00:30:43 | 1 | https://www.koin.com/local/washington-county/tigard-man-dies-after-shooting-in-metzger-neighborhood-officials/ |
Q: How important is flea and tick prevention in northern Arizona?
A: Northern Arizona is an arid climate that, luckily, is not conducive to the proliferation of many parasites. However, this doesn’t mean we don’t have parasites; it just means we have pests specific to this region.
Your location is the most critical aspect to consider when looking at the parasite control needs for your pet. This is also important for anyone who travels with their pet, as the recommendations for northern Arizona are quite different than the recommendations for other parts of the United States.
In northern Arizona, we definitely have ticks, and your pet can get ticks year round, even if you’re not taking them outside your own backyard. Tick infestations do not require contact with other dogs, and just because you cannot see the ticks doesn’t mean they’re not there. We diagnose tick disease in many animals even when the owners are convinced they’ve never seen a tick!
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The problem with tick bites is that ticks can carry any number of diseases, including Ehrlichia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Lyme disease, to name a few. In fact, there are likely many more tick diseases that we have not even identified yet.
Luckily, it can take up to 48 hours of feeding before a tick will transmit the organisms that cause tick disease. This means that if you have your pet on good tick prevention, the ticks will not transfer the diseases.
Tick disease can be devastating and lead to lifelong medical issues. That's why all pets in northern Arizona should be on flea and tick prevention.
There are many products on the market, and some are not very effective. Others can be very harmful to your pet, so I recommend consulting your veterinarian before using any product on your pet.
Most tick prevention is also flea prevention; however, the good news is that northern Arizona does not have much of a flea problem. However, fleas are a huge issue in the rest of the United States, so keeping your pet protected at all times is highly recommended.
Q: How important is heartworm prevention for my dog if I live in Northern Arizona? I've heard that it is not essential because of where we live. Is that true?
A: Heartworm disease is caused by a parasitic roundworm called Dirofilaria immitis. It is prevalent in all 50 states, with the eastern and southeastern states seeing year-round parasite transmission. In northern Arizona, Dirofilaria immitis has been found in our coyote population, which can then spread to our pet dog population.
This parasite gets transmitted into the bloodstream of dogs through mosquito bites. Once the organism is in the bloodstream, it will go through multiple life cycles to turn into an adult worm that will end up living in your dog's heart, lungs, and blood vessels. If not treated, these worms will become so numerous that they will cause obstruction of the vessels and eventually cause heart and lung failure.
Heartworm is a profoundly severe and devastating disease and should not be taken lightly. Treatment is expensive and dangerous, and there can be severe side effects to trying to rid the pet's body of the parasite.
Most dogs that have a high worm load die from the disease. Fortunately, there is an easy way to prevent infection from heartworm, and it only requires giving your dog a monthly heartworm preventative. It becomes confusing when you live somewhere that doesn’t have mosquitos year round because transmission during the months without mosquitos is exceptionally low to non-existent.
The recommendation is that you give the monthly heartworm prevention every month, all year round. This protects your dog from unwanted exposure when you might not expect it or when you travel. It is better to be safe and have your dog protected than chance them getting the parasite.
The other good news is that not only is heartworm disease easily prevented, but most heartworm preventions also act as a monthly dewormer against GI parasites. Your dog can be infected by intestinal parasites year-round, so monthly deworming is highly recommended. The bottom line is that all dogs should be on monthly heartworm prevention year-round, no matter where they live. | https://azdailysun.com/news/local/ask-the-vet-the-importance-of-flea-and-tick-prevention/article_d014dca4-f8ca-11ed-ac25-f7c14dbc6601.html | 2023-05-23T00:39:19 | 0 | https://azdailysun.com/news/local/ask-the-vet-the-importance-of-flea-and-tick-prevention/article_d014dca4-f8ca-11ed-ac25-f7c14dbc6601.html |
Forest managers are keeping an eye on a small fire within the Red Rock Ranger District, the Coconino National Forest announced Monday afternoon.
Smoke from the fire, currently just a quarter-acre in size, was reported Saturday, but poor weather and the remote area the fire is located in prevented forest officials from confirming the blaze.
It is located within the Secret Mountain Wilderness area about 4.5 miles west of Slide Rock State Park.
Dubbed the Miller Fire, forest officials report that the blaze is “smoldering at a low intensity in heavy dead and down fuels.” The fire was confirmed at about 10:30 a.m. on Monday.
“Due to the lack of accessibility and potential thunderstorms, [fire fighters] are monitoring the fire and developing strategic plans,” a media release from the Coconino National Forest stated.
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No structures are threatened by the fire, although smoke may be visible, according to the Coconino National Forest.
The fire has also caused no road or trail closures, but forest officials are asking visitors to avoid the fire area. | https://azdailysun.com/news/local/coconino-national-forest-monitors-quarter-acre-fire-west-of-slide-rock-state-park/article_ac82c7f8-f8ff-11ed-a24d-278a41789217.html | 2023-05-23T00:39:25 | 0 | https://azdailysun.com/news/local/coconino-national-forest-monitors-quarter-acre-fire-west-of-slide-rock-state-park/article_ac82c7f8-f8ff-11ed-a24d-278a41789217.html |
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FDOT: Busy Daytona Beach intersection will see lane closures, repairs over next 2 weeks
Motorists who use the busy intersection of International Speedway and Clyde Morris boulevards in Daytona Beach can expect to encounter roadwork and partial closures overnight over the next two weeks.
The Florida Department of Transportation announced work will start at 7 p.m. Monday. The roadway will be reopened at 7 a.m. Tuesday, and follow a similar schedule on weeknights through Friday, then resuming on Tuesday, May 30 until Saturday, June 3, if not sooner.
"In April, an old drainage pipe caused a settling in the roadway, and we had to do an emergency repair then. This new work that starts (Monday) is for the permanent repair of that," said Cyndi Lane, public information director for FDOT's District 5 based in DeLand.
The intersection sees nearly 60,000 vehicles daily, according to Volusia County traffic counts. Its four corners consist of Halifax Health's main campus, Mainland High School, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a shopping plaza. | https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/volusia/2023/05/22/fdot-daytona-intersection-lanes-to-be-closed-weeknights-until-june-2/70245304007/ | 2023-05-23T00:45:29 | 1 | https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/volusia/2023/05/22/fdot-daytona-intersection-lanes-to-be-closed-weeknights-until-june-2/70245304007/ |
Officials break ground on SunRail's DeLand station, part of a $42.8 million expansion
Cyclists in full gear, local residents, public officials, and media packed a SunRail train from DeBary to DeLand on Monday morning to mark the groundbreaking of a new station.
The SunRail train glided to a stop at the Amtrak station at 2491 Old New York Ave. next to the grounds where the new SunRail DeLand station will be built. The train ride was a special event arranged just to bring visitors to the event on the existing rail track ― but it will be a while before riders can enjoy the trip to DeLand on SunRail.
A band played jazz as people departed the train and mingled before the event, which drew a crowd of about 250-300. Elected officials, Florida Department of Transportation officials, including Secretary Jared Perdue, and community leaders from Volusia County, DeLand, DeBary, and beyond attended.
"Thank you for all coming today as we officially break ground on the new DeLand station, a major step forward to realizing the original vision: 17 stations in the SunRail commuter rail system across Central Florida," FDOT District 5 Secretary and SunRail CEO John Tyler said.
Commission votes for DeLand extension:Now what?
The new station is expected to be finished in the summer of 2024, and it's expected to bring an economic benefit in addition to expanded transportation options. It is also planned as the last northern stop on the SunRail system.
Volusia County Manager George Recktenwald said he expects to see investment in new housing and businesses near the DeLand station, as has happened along the line in other areas.
"For the county, it's a direct tie into this mass transit system that serves all of central Florida. As traffic continues to grow, this will be another option, of course, to get down into central Florida and hopefully, central Floridians in those urban areas come up here and enjoy DeLand," he said.
SunRail stretches about 50 miles and connects Volusia County with Orlando as well as Seminole, Orange, and Osceola counties, according to the Florida Department of Transportation. The system has 16 stations from Poinciana, which is south of Orlando, to DeBary in West Volusia.
Service is offered Monday through Friday.
While the numbers fluctuate, the SunRail system currently has about 4,000 riders per day on average, FDOT spokeswoman Cindi Lane said. Officials expect ridership to increase to 6,000 a day on average by the end of the year.
The system has also seen a big increase in leisure ridership, she said.
Lisa Kapp, of DeBary, took advantage of the special SunRail trip to DeLand on Monday with her bicycle in tow. Kapp said she and her husband enjoy using SunRail to explore the area.
"Probably my favorite ride was when we did a progressive food day," she said. "So we rode it to Maitland; we had soup. And then we rode it to Orlando; we had our main course. And then we found another place ― had our main dessert. And we did it all with the bike and SunRail."
Years ― and millions ― in the making
The Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission's Governing Board works with FDOT on the SunRail system and is made up of leaders from Orlando and Volusia, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties. The leadership of SunRail is expected to fully transition to the Commission in a little over a year, and the regional partners will work out their costs as part of the transition plan, according to Lane.
SunRail is funded through a combination of federal, state, and local funds, including a hefty contribution from Volusia County government. The DeLand expansion is expected to cost $42.8 million, and construction will be led by Herzog, the contractor.
The county took on over $11.2 million in debt to help fund Phase 2 of SunRail, and the county plans to assume responsibility for annual maintenance and operation sometime in 2024 until 2036, according to county spokesman Clayton Jackson. The county's annual expense for its portion is estimated to be $8 million to $10 million.
SunRail launched in 2014 with 12 stations between DeBary and Sand Lake Road, according to FDOT. The southern part of Phase 2 opened in 2018 with four stations between Meadow Woods and Poinciana.
Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower, who is vice chair on the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission, said at first he was not excited about SunRail because of the high cost per rider. But he said he changed his mind after studying transportation. He said the system helps bring economic development and better quality of life.
"This is a future that's going to be the future of America. We're starting it here. (The) Southeast is not known for train service. We're going to make it known for train service," Brower said. | https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/volusia/2023/05/22/sunrails-deland-station-is-officially-under-construction/70243400007/ | 2023-05-23T00:45:35 | 1 | https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/volusia/2023/05/22/sunrails-deland-station-is-officially-under-construction/70243400007/ |
DETROIT, Ore. — A couple of weeks ago, businesses in Detroit, Ore. were a little worried their season might not start on time or happen at all. Water levels were so low, boats couldn't even float on the lake. But snowmelt and recent heavy rain put those worries to rest.
We're still a week away from Memorial Day's unofficial start to summer, but Detroit Lake is already open for the season.
The city of Detroit had a good winter, with heavy snow all the way up through mid-April. But a cold and wet spring delayed the melting of some of the mountain snowpack Detroit depends on until a couple of weeks ago.
Lucas Lunski, who manages Detroit Lake Marina, said he was getting a little nervous about the start of the season.
"We left April 27 and nothing was floating," Lunski said. "When we came back May 1, it was fully floating again."
He said that it means everything to him that the lake is full again, because without a full lake, the marina can't open and businesses in Detroit suffer.
Lunski said Detroit got help from two sources: the Army Corps of Engineers, which released some water downstream of the lake, and Mother Nature.
"There was so much snow around," Lunski said. "I mean, there was so much snow here in the middle of April and once it got warm, it started to melt off and that's what saved us at the end."
The rise in water levels is a boost for the small town, which depends on tourism dollars. The town is still rebuilding nearly three years after wildfires burned down much of the town.
Joe Connor lost his BBQ restaurant during the Labor Day weekend fires of 2020 and now works out of a food cart. He said the town is moving in the right direction. He said property values have tripled since the fires broke out, pointing to new construction as proof that the town is slowly coming back.
"There’s one development that was in the plans to be built before the fire," Connor said. "Luckily, they didn't start before the fire, but that was the first big neighborhood to go in." | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/detroit-lake-levels-high-enough-open-season/283-a00e0ec9-7649-40f8-be99-d5041530312f | 2023-05-23T00:53:13 | 0 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/detroit-lake-levels-high-enough-open-season/283-a00e0ec9-7649-40f8-be99-d5041530312f |
PORTLAND, Ore. — A judge on Monday sentenced a man to two years in prison for starting a fast-moving grass fire that destroyed two buildings and damaged several others in 2019.
Allen Singerhouse apologized to the people whose property was destroyed or damaged. He also thanked the prosecutor for her professionalism. Singerhouse even thanked the police detective who interrogated him after his arrest all those years ago. Singerhouse said the detective counseled him and helped him turn his life around for the better.
Singerhouse started the fire on August 26th, 2019 at an abandoned driving range near Northeast 85th and Siskiyou, not far from McDaniels High School. The fire spread quickly due to the wind that day. One townhome and one building were destroyed. Several other townhomes and buildings were damaged to the tune of $2 million.
PHOTOS: Fire in NE Portland
Detectives said surveillance videos helped them identify Singerhouse as the suspect. He pleaded guilty in early May. A judge sentenced him to two years in prison.
A crime like this typically results in a four to five year prison sentence, but the prosecutor and defense attorneys say Singerhouse, who was addicted to meth at the time, never intended for the fire he started to get out of hand like it did. Additionally, Singerhouse has done a lot to better himself and he is remorseful for his actions.
"I'd like to apologize to those impacted by my reckless decisions that day," Singerhouse said in court. "Those poor decisions destroyed property and put innocent lives in danger, not only the homeowners but the firefighters in general and for that I'm truly sorry. I thank God nobody was injured that day."
Singerhouse says when his two year prison sentence is over he plans to live an active role in his community, specifically his recovery community. | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/fast-moving-grass-fire-2019-portland/283-e6e3aa9f-aae3-4442-9181-3e0dba06813b | 2023-05-23T00:53:19 | 1 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/fast-moving-grass-fire-2019-portland/283-e6e3aa9f-aae3-4442-9181-3e0dba06813b |
BRIDAL VEIL, Ore. — Memorial Day weekend is almost here, marking the unofficial start of summer, and many people will be looking for ways to get outside. If visiting Multnomah Falls is on your to-do list, you will soon need to buy a permit.
Starting this Friday, May 26, permits will be required for each vehicle that accesses Multnomah Falls by taking Interstate 84 and the parking lot near exit 31. Permits cost $2 and can be purchased online. They include a one-hour time slot that can be reserved up to two weeks in advance, though visitors can stay longer than an hour. Permits will be required between 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day through Monday, Sept. 4.
There will also be a limited number of permits for same-day pickup at the Gateway to the Gorge Visitor Center in Troutdale and the Cascade Locks Historical Museum. Those permits will be free, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT).
Visitors who take a shuttle or travel by bike do not need to purchase permits.
Unlike last summer, timed-use permits will not be required this year to travel through a stretch of the Historic Columbia River Highway, nicknamed the Waterfall Corridor. ODOT implemented a permit pilot program that aimed to reduce congestion along the highway. The agency said the pilot program was a success, but they cannot run the program and staff it without dedicated funding.
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See a typo in this article? Email web@kgw.com for corrections | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/multnomah-falls-permit-requirement/283-5563ac79-f426-4deb-ab25-aeef68f05f6d | 2023-05-23T00:53:25 | 0 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/multnomah-falls-permit-requirement/283-5563ac79-f426-4deb-ab25-aeef68f05f6d |
ALBANY, Ore. — Oregon State Police have released the names and ages of the victims in last week's crash on Interstate 5 north of Albany that left seven people dead and three injured.
The victims were all in a van that had pulled over behind a parked semi truck while traveling northbound on the afternoon of May 18. A second semi truck left the road and smashed into the back of the van, pushing it into the first semi truck.
The driver of the second truck, Lincoln Clayton Smith of California, was arrested on charges of DUII, reckless driving, manslaughter and assaults. A district attorney said Smith refused a field sobriety test and was unable to focus and answer basic questions, the Salem Statesman Journal reported. The prosecutor also said Smith acknowledged taking “speed” the day before the crash and was in possession of methamphetamine, according to the paper.
The van occupants were all farmworkers who had been traveling at an hour when agricultural laborers typically commute home, the state's farmworkers union said Saturday.
The four surviving van occupants were hospitalized, and three of them remain hospitalized as of Monday with serious injuries, OSP said. The names, ages residences, and conditions of the victims are as follows:
- Adan Garcia Garcia, 40, of Woodburn — minor injury
- Hector Galindo, 45, of Gervais — serious injury
- Maria Flores Martinez, 60, of Salem — serious injury
- Jose Eduardo Solis Flores, 41, of Gervais — serious injury
- Eduardo Lopez, 31, of Gervais — deceased
- Alejandro Jimenez Hernandez, 36, of Gervais — deceased
- Josue Garcia Garcia, 30, of Salem — deceased
- Luis Enrique Gomez Reyes, 30, of Woodburn — deceased
- Javier Suarez, 58, of Woodburn — deceased
- Alejandra Espinoza Carpio, 39 — deceased
- Juan Carlos Leyva Carrillo, 37, of Woodburn — deceased
"All of these hardworking immigrants in this vehicle....7 of their lives taken away. The purpose of them being here was to better their lives, and it was taken away," said the daughter of one of the victims at Smith's arraignment on Friday.
The driver of the parked truck in front of the van, 36-year-old Eduard Netesov of Gresham, was uninjured, police said. | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/oregon-i5-crash-farmworkers/283-741b3d92-83e3-439e-8742-4a09297d45eb | 2023-05-23T00:53:31 | 1 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/oregon-i5-crash-farmworkers/283-741b3d92-83e3-439e-8742-4a09297d45eb |
POTTSVILLE, Pa. — The Pottsville Senior Center on North Centre Street transformed into a concert venue. Kicking off a week-long celebration of Older Americans Month.
Sister Mary Jane Hahner tells Newswatch 16 she's made stopping by the Pottsville Senior Center part of her daily routine.
“And in my retirement, I dance every morning. And then I walk downtown, I get a newspaper here, and I form a community, a connection with these good people of Pottsville,” she said.
And Hahner is not the only one who comes to the center on a daily basis.
Debbie Downey from Girardville first got involved with the Pottsville Senior Center as a volunteer. And as she got older, she transitioned into a participant.
“When people retire, they tend to do nothing, and this makes you do something. You laugh, you dance, you exercise, you eat, you name it, we do it here,” she added.
“Some of them have lost their spouses, others are retired from the community, but you never retire from being a human and just touching somebody,” Sister Hahner mentioned.
The senior center in downtown Pottsville is one of four in Schuylkill County that's run by Diakon Community Services.
The non-profit hopes that celebrating Older Americans Month serves as a reminder that life doesn't stop when you retire.
“I think God forbid that's why a lot of people pass away because they see it as the end. It's not the end, for me, it's the beginning. You know your kids are grown, and it's time to have fun,” Downey explained.
Diakon Community Services will be traveling to the rest of their locations throughout Schuylkill County this week to put on more Senior appreciation days.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/schuylkill-county/schuylkill-county-celebrates-older-americans-month-pottsville-senior-center-sister-mary-jane-hahner-debbie-downey-diakon-community-services/523-724a681b-3d91-4b86-94bc-794ce25738c1 | 2023-05-23T00:55:08 | 1 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/schuylkill-county/schuylkill-county-celebrates-older-americans-month-pottsville-senior-center-sister-mary-jane-hahner-debbie-downey-diakon-community-services/523-724a681b-3d91-4b86-94bc-794ce25738c1 |
WYOMING COUNTY, Pa. — Flames tore through Gin's Tavern near Factoryville Friday afternoon, destroying the popular restaurant that served customers for decades.
Sandy Kostick says the loss of their family business is still hard to process, "Every day gets worse. The shock wears off, and reality hits you."
The fire also destroyed a salon connected to the building and an upstairs apartment where employee Mary Jane Frable lived.
Sandy says they'll be able to rebuild, but she feels bad for everything that Mary Jane and the salon owner lost.
"Worried about her, she's staying with her daughter right now, and we are a wealth of support for her and Shannon's Salon," said Sandy Kostick, Gin's Tavern.
It didn't take long for the community to step in and help; a GoFundMe for Mary Jane has already exceeded its goal.
Donation jars have also started to pop up in several businesses, including The Great Produce Experience Farm Stand.
The farm stand's operator, Susanne Green, says she wanted to do what she could to help the employees.
"A lot of folks nowadays are just living paycheck to paycheck, or tips to tips, and we're just doing what we can do," said Susanne Green, The Great Produce Experience Farm Stand.
Other restaurant owners in the area have also opened their doors, offering employees a job in the meantime, including Dino & Francesco's Pizza & Pasta House in South Abington Township.
"I feel like anyone would be willing to help if they're going through tough times, so I would hope that somebody would do it for us, so I'm glad that Mike and Mary Jo decided to do that," said Katelin Walton, Dino & Francesco's Pizza & Pasta House employee.
Sandy says they are overwhelmed by the support and look forward to the day they can welcome the community back through their doors, "We've never expected anything like this to happen to us, and we don't know what to say. Our community, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else."
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/wyoming-county/community-rallies-for-gins-tavern-employees-factoryville-sandy-kostick-susanne-green-katelin-walton/523-42696fe1-4b77-4101-ab45-eafa0e4ff1b7 | 2023-05-23T00:55:15 | 1 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/wyoming-county/community-rallies-for-gins-tavern-employees-factoryville-sandy-kostick-susanne-green-katelin-walton/523-42696fe1-4b77-4101-ab45-eafa0e4ff1b7 |
BUTLER, Tenn. (WJHL) – Little Milligan Elementary held its final 8th-grade graduation ceremony on Monday, celebrating its final class of eighth-graders.
Earlier this year, the Carter County Board of Education approved a consolidation plan that will turn Little Milligan Elementary into a pre-k through 5th-grade campus. Up until now, they’ve been operating as a pre-k through 8th-grade campus. In the next school year, 6th through 8th grades will move to Hampton Elementary.
Families, students, faculty and staff filled the gym to honor the eleven graduating 8th graders.
Many of the 8th graders are excited to move on to high school. However, others are having mixed emotions about leaving Little Milligan.
“Weird,” said James Mains, an 8th-grade graduate. “It makes me happy, but it is kind of sad too.”
“Here it feels like home,” said grad Chase Davenport. “This place is very special to me and many of the people, everybody knows each other. Everybody knows each other as family. And it’s just very sad to see this place go.”
“Kind of nervous,” said Chloe Lee, 8th-grade graduate. “I have a lot of babies here. A lot of little kids that I’ve gotten close to, so it’s hard to leave them. Pretty good. You know, I got to open up a new chapter in my life, but it is a little hard, a little heartbreaking. But I’m ready, I think.”
“I’m really excited but also it’s kind of sad that I’m in the last class to graduate from here,” said grad Baileigh Mathews.
Many of the 8th graders have attended Little Milligan since pre-k, but some recently moved to the school. Emily Pope moved here from Florida last year.
“When I first came to the school last year, I always thought that, ‘Oh, they’re not going to like me because I’m new and all that,” said Pope. “But then when I got used to the school in the beginning of this year, I learned to just not pay attention to that. Just to think about what makes you happy and then that can help you push through.”
Rylee Layne also moved to Little Milligan from Florida. She transferred in the 6th grade.
“So, I haven’t been here forever, but when I got here, I could tell everyone was really tight and everyone was like family,” said Layne.
Layne said she appreciates the small school community.
“You get to ask for one-on-one help,” said Layne. “But when you’re in Florida, you have to schedule that out, you can’t really ask questions. You’re kind of forced to learn quick. And here you get to go slow and get close to people.”
Little Milligan principal, JR Campbell, says he’s sad to see the 8th graders go but is hopeful for the future of the school.
“I’m thinking that with our small number of kids, this is a perfect place for a kid to go to school,” said Campbell. “And I think once the word gets out, our enrollment may be going up.”
He says he believes this because they’re losing upper grades. He said a couple of classes that the outside modular buildings held will now be moved inside the school building.
“We cover from the North Carolina line down to Doe Valley,” said Campbell. “We’ve got kids here from Hampton and kids from all over.”
6th through 8th-grade sports will also come to an end at Little Milligan. Campbell says they’re known for their basketball teams and their players.
“We’ll miss that for the community to come participate and watch the basketball games,” said Campbell. “You know, in Carter County, basketball’s big and that’s what we do in Carter County, we play basketball and some of our students were on the state championship team in Hampton that just won this year and we’re real proud of them.”
Before leaving, the 8th graders left some advice for younger students.
“Don’t let reputation bother you,” said Pope. “Don’t let other people think that they’re better than you, because if they’re trying to look down on you and trying to make you feel like you’re smaller than them, that makes you bigger than them. Because you can overcome them.”
Chloe Lee said not to let anyone judge you.
“If you let people judge you, then you can start believing it [judgment] yourself,” said Lee. “And you can start going down the wrong path, the way I did before I had teachers help me become a better person.”
The Carter County consolidation plan also intends to close Keenburg Elementary. Students there will go to Central and Hunter Elementary Schools. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/little-milligan-elementary-celebrates-students-in-final-8th-grade-graduation-ceremony/ | 2023-05-23T00:59:36 | 0 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/little-milligan-elementary-celebrates-students-in-final-8th-grade-graduation-ceremony/ |
SEATTLE — A breast cancer survivor who was wrongfully fired from her job has won in a King County court.
“I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019,” said Linda O’Brien.
Two months later, O’Brien would find out it was stage four breast cancer. Her oncologist said she could continue to work full-time as a financial coordinator for two doctors who own Orthodontic Excellence and other clinics across western Washington.
“I didn't have to have chemo, I didn't have to have surgery or radiation. I take a couple of pills, we starved off the cancer,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien continued to work full-time while undergoing treatment.
“I did that to try to take the least amount of time off from work as possible, so not to disrupt the practice,” she said.
The lawsuit says after her diagnosis, O’Brien’s employers became hostile and even told other employees they were going to fire her.
In October 2019, O’Brien had shingles due to a weakened immune system from treatment and asked to work from home to protect a pregnant co-worker. Two days later, she was fired via email.
“I lost a group of people that I thought were supporting me. I am a single woman. I don't have anybody else's income to fall back on. It was a very, very scary place to be,” O’Brien said.
She also lost her health insurance. O’Brien knew she was wrongfully terminated.
“I didn't want to go into litigation, but I couldn't sit by and let somebody treat me as if I didn't matter because I do matter. We all matter,” O’Brien said.
That’s where Elizabeth Hanley, an attorney for Schroeter Goldmark & Bender stepped in and filed a discrimination suit.
“These laws are really critical because most people at some point in their working careers, especially since people are working longer are going to have some sort of illness,” Hanley said.
Hanley said, unfortunately, cases like Linda’s are common.
“Even if you have a serious illness or something that's affecting you, you have the right to still have a full life,” Hanley said.
Hanley said if you find yourself facing a serious illness, notify your employer and if they offer accommodations, work with them, but she said most importantly there are state laws that protect workers who file discrimination suits.
“If an employee raises a case of discrimination like Linda did, other employers are never allowed to retaliate against them or deny them employment opportunities,” Hanley said.
This week a jury sided with O’Brien and awarded her $3,263,230 in total damages.
“For a King County jury to say 'Look, no, this was a perfectly high-functioning employee who was doing her job and according to evidence was doing it really well.' We’re going to tell your employer this is a person of value. That does a lot in terms of restoring someone’s belief they are valuable,” said Hanley.
“The fact that they deliberated for 90 minutes tells you they knew what was right and what was wrong. They chose to do the right thing and that was wonderful. I'm so grateful for each and every one of them for doing that for me,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien hopes her story will help others come forward.
“Don't lose faith, and stand up for yourself because you're worth it. Everybody's worth it,” O’Brien said. | https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/cancer-survivor-wins-millions-discrimination-suit-wrongful-termination/281-cfb87797-b82d-409c-8cbf-5cd55111136c | 2023-05-23T01:02:28 | 1 | https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/cancer-survivor-wins-millions-discrimination-suit-wrongful-termination/281-cfb87797-b82d-409c-8cbf-5cd55111136c |
ATLANTA — As the last week of school approaches in many Atlanta area school districts, families are eagerly anticipating the start of summer break. However, for families struggling to make ends meet, summertime meal programs are crucial to ensure their children do not go hungry during the break.
Local preparations are already underway to address the anticipated increase in need this summer.
The Atlanta Community Food Bank has experienced a 40 percent increase in demand over the past 18 months. Staff expects the numbers to rise once school is out.
"During the pandemic, everyone knows anyone involved in food banking saw record numbers. But ironically, we're back close to the amount that we were distributing during the pandemic," Kenny Hill said.
Hill, the chief supply chain officer at the Atlanta Community Food Bank, highlighted the growing issue of food insecurity across Georgia. He explained that the rising cost of groceries has stretched people's budgets, making it difficult to afford essentials like eggs.
The recent period of high gas prices and the expiration of extended federal SNAP benefits have also contributed to more families turning to food banks and their partners for assistance.
"We're leaning into our relationships to make sure that we're able to continue to provide for those families and our service area that are in need," he said.
The warehouse at the Atlanta Community Food Bank is packed with orders for various food pantries. CEO Kyle Waide emphasized the financial strain of maintaining operations, stating that they currently spend close to $2 million every month solely on purchasing food. This represents a fourfold increase from pre-pandemic times.
"Close to 200,000 households are accessing food from our network every month. And those households are really diverse. So it is certainly impacting families with children really significantly. And that's going to increase as we get into the summer," Waide said.
Waide also highlighted the importance of school meals, which many children rely on, and the absence of which becomes a burden on families' budgets during the summer break. Feeding America estimates that one in eight children in the United States is facing hunger, underscoring the severity of the issue.
To combat this problem, Chris Minor from the Gwinnett County Department of Parks and Recreation explained that its annual summer meals program is attempting to address the increasing need. The demand for meal assistance skyrocketed during the pandemic, then dipped slightly, but is now on the rise again due to inflation and other factors. As a result, the department is preparing for a high number of hungry kids in need of support.
Gwinnett County will have 21 sites offering free meals starting from May 31 until Aug. 2, aiming to provide nourishment to those in need.
The Atlanta area's food banks and community organizations are working tirelessly to ensure that children have access to nutritious meals throughout the summer break. Their efforts are vital in combating food insecurity and supporting families who are facing financial challenges.
More information about Gwinnett County's Summer Meals Program can be found here. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/atlanta-community-food-bank-summertime-prep/85-f30d1476-3bf4-4faa-8f4a-34bff58476c7 | 2023-05-23T01:03:08 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/atlanta-community-food-bank-summertime-prep/85-f30d1476-3bf4-4faa-8f4a-34bff58476c7 |
ATLANTA — There's a lot of ongoing controversy surrounding Atlanta's future public safety training facility to be built in Dekalb County.
The focus is usually on how police will use the facility, but Atlanta Fire and Rescue is also depending on the new amenities.
For now, Chief Rod Smith says they're leasing an outdated and rundown community building with classrooms.
"It is absolutely embarrassing for us to hire members to come in and say, 'You're going to work for the biggest. You're going to work for the best,'" Smith said, "And to bring them into somewhere like here."
Everyone who went inside had to put on a safety suit and a mask. The current facility was built in the 1950s. The conditions were deplorable, from the ceiling tiles barely holding on to the junk on the floor.
"We had recruits that were complaining of respiratory issues," Smith said. "We sent them to the doctor. And the doctor simply said, 'Do not enter the building again.'"
Smith says their other facility was built in the 1960s. Currently, there's nowhere to train drivers for their emergency vehicles. Because of how outdated the facilities are, Smith says it sends firefighters to places like Gwinnett and Douglasville to train.
Mike Mclaughlin is a captain with Atlanta Fire and Rescue and works with recruits.
"We can't really train in high-rises, because our high-rise building is condemned," McLaughlin said. "So, we have to find different ways to try to simulate that kind of training."
Atlanta is full of high rises now. Mclaughlin says every day, staff arrive at 6 a.m., spending an hour trying to figure out how to train 1,284 people. Smith says it has also been tough to recruit and keep firefighters. Currently, there are 224 vacancies.
Truman Oetting is also a captain at Atlanta Fire and Rescue.
"It's difficult," Oetting said. "We're always constantly looking for a new place to train to try to pull off what we're trying to do. So, we spend a lot more time on the planning side instead of the training side."
Smith said because firefighters work alongside police officers, the new facility will help them do their jobs better together.
"It will improve the services overall to the City of Atlanta -- allowing us to train more members, train them to a higher level, and making sure that they have the latest and greatest technology available to them," Smith said.
Smith says it takes 14 to 16 months to train staff. The hope is that the new facility will benefit recruitment with classrooms, modernized buildings, and physical space for hands-on training. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/atlanta-fire-rescue-conditions-of-current-training-facility-cop-city/85-ff2583ad-2df7-44ad-8b28-100f35de5cfb | 2023-05-23T01:03:14 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/atlanta-fire-rescue-conditions-of-current-training-facility-cop-city/85-ff2583ad-2df7-44ad-8b28-100f35de5cfb |
BROOKHAVEN, Ga. — For the first time in the city's history, a Brookhaven Police officer fired their gun Monday while trying to arrest a suspect, according to the department.
Lt. Jake Kissel with the Brookhaven Police Department said the officer was responding to a disorderly person call at a nearby hotel before 4:45 p.m. Monday.
Hilton Garden Inn employees had called in an emergency after trying to kick a man out of the bar after he threatened them, according to Kissel. The man had been drinking there but was not a guest, police said.
An officer found the suspect walking down Ashwood Dunwoody Road and tried to stop him. The man did not listen to police commands, and according to Kissel, it escalated into a physical struggle and the officer fired their gun. No one was hurt. Police could not say if the man had a weapon.
"There was property damage sustained," he said. "The incident took place in someone's driveway."
It all unfolded in a neighborhood not far from Montgomery Elementary School and Murphey Candler Park. Police continue to collect evidence near Oconee Pass as they launch the department's internal investigation.
Kissel said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is aware of the shooting but believes it will remain an investigation within the BPD.
The man has been detained; the officer involved is back at headquarters.
BPD issued an alert warning of the increased law enforcement at Ashford Dunwoody Road at Oconee Pass. Kissel said it was in effort to keep the public aware and safe, adding that the situation is now "contained."
This is a developing story. Check back often for new information.
Also download the 11Alive News app and sign up to receive alerts for the latest on this story and other breaking news in Atlanta and north Georgia. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/brookhaven-police-presence/85-1c6665d8-5d29-4d48-a1dd-870da6bb68c0 | 2023-05-23T01:03:20 | 0 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/brookhaven-police-presence/85-1c6665d8-5d29-4d48-a1dd-870da6bb68c0 |
The Bismarck Mandan Chamber EDC is seeking nominations for its annual 20 Under 40 awards.
Deadline is May 31 and nominations can be submitted at www.bismarckmandan.com/20under40.
For more information, contact Cathryn Sprynczynatyk by calling 701-223-5660 or emailing cathryn@bmcedc.com. | https://bismarcktribune.com/business/local/bismarck-mandan-chamber-edc-seeking-nominations/article_ae871b5c-f8e7-11ed-b299-f7808dc666e3.html | 2023-05-23T01:03:31 | 1 | https://bismarcktribune.com/business/local/bismarck-mandan-chamber-edc-seeking-nominations/article_ae871b5c-f8e7-11ed-b299-f7808dc666e3.html |
BUHL — Honor Flight recipient Bill Pryor was in a limousine a few miles away from the city park, where on Sunday afternoon a surprise celebration awaited.
Pryor, 86, a veteran who served in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years, had spent the weekend in Washington, D.C., with other veterans touring war memorials as part of the Honor Flight program.
A crowd, which included city and county officials, representatives from Idaho's congressional delegation, first responders, pep band members, and lots of relatives and members of the public were at the Buhl park, getting last-minute instructions from organizer Marvin Barnes, of Joining Forces in Magic Valley, on how things were going to play out during the welcome of the hometown hero.
The band would play the U.S. Air Force song while Pryor, returning from his visit from Washington, would be escorted by the American Legion color guard to the newly built shelter in the park. The crowd was asked to stand and yell "like you just won the state lottery.”
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Things went as planned.
The crowd was loud, proclamations were read, and after the ceremony, well-wishers stood in line to shake Pryor’s hand or give him a hug.
In addition, Pryor was given a Quilt of Valor, and Barnes, through the help of a base historian at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, located a 55-year-old newspaper article that included a photo of him.
Pryor, who reached the rank of technical sergeant, was in charge of aircraft maintenance. Ironically, mechanical problems on an airplane during a layover in Phoenix delayed the celebration by an hour.
Pryor will also be receiving a flag that flew over the nation’s Capitol.
But was the celebration really a surprise?
“I knew something was going on,” admitted Pryor, but thought it would be a low-key kind of thing at his Buhl home.
Of the extravaganza at the park, he was almost at a loss for words.
“I don’t know what to say,” he said.
He did have a good time visiting war memorials in Washington with other veterans, one of which was 102 years old.
“I feel grateful,” said Pryor, who was slightly sunburned from the weekend trip.
The Quilt of Valor presentation was among the most touching parts of the ceremony. The program presents veterans and active service members a quilt as a way to show appreciation for their service and sacrifice. Despite the day's 90-degree temperature, Pryor looked peaceful with his red, white and blue quilt.
Margi Rahr of Magic Valley explained that with each quilt comes comfort and healing.
“Love, caring and gratitude flows from our hands into the quilt,” Rahr said.
The Honor Flight program takes veterans to Washington, D.C., to see the memorials that commemorate their service. He left Friday morning from the Boise Airport, as the first "lone eagle" from Twin Falls County. Most veterans in Magic Valley who participate in Honor Flights fly out of Salt Lake City.
The Honor Flight Network has flown more than 244,000 veterans to the Washington memorials since 2005. | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/hometown-hero-gets-big-welcome-in-buhl/article_98293d06-f8d1-11ed-a513-d3aa5db7430d.html | 2023-05-23T01:03:37 | 0 | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/hometown-hero-gets-big-welcome-in-buhl/article_98293d06-f8d1-11ed-a513-d3aa5db7430d.html |
A Gooding County man — last seen near a Twin Falls RV park — has been reported missing.
Roger Driesel, 58, left a Gooding County home in a gray or silver SUV with unknown individuals on May 15, leaving behind personal items including his phone and wallet. He was reportedly seen in the Rock Creek RV Park area of Twin Falls on Thursday, where he carried on a conversation about his tattoos, police say.
Driesel is known to be a loud talker, and may show signs of dementia or PTSD.
If you have information of his whereabouts, contact the Gooding Police Department or SIRCOMM at 208-324-1911. | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/missing-gooding-man-might-have-been-last-seen-in-twin-falls/article_d949f7bc-f8f9-11ed-b7b2-e30b1525da65.html | 2023-05-23T01:03:43 | 1 | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/missing-gooding-man-might-have-been-last-seen-in-twin-falls/article_d949f7bc-f8f9-11ed-b7b2-e30b1525da65.html |
After a busy and dangerous weekend, one incident involving an individual whose foot was almost cut off by a boat propeller on Murtaugh Lake, the Twin Falls Sheriff’s Office is urging safety on southern Idaho’s waterways.
Memorial Day weekend will be here soon, and Sgt. Ken Mencl predicts more people will be boating, jet skiing and paddleboarding.
“Not only can you have a fun, enjoyable day on the water,” Mencl said, “but you can do it without getting a citation.”
Last week, seven citations were issued, many of them due to lifejacket violations.
In the Murtaugh Lake incident Saturday afternoon, an individual who was riding on the bow of the boat fell off when the driver turned sharply. The propeller then struck the individual.
“It nearly caused an amputation,” Mencl said, and the individual was airlifted to a Utah hospital.
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The Idaho Parks and Recreation Department urges people in boats to be properly seated to help prevent them being thrown overboard.
The county search and rescue team was also called to help with an Elko County, Nevada, incident involving a church group that was kayaking Saturday afternoon on Salmon Falls Creek near Jackpot.
Three of the seven people — two of them in their 80s — ran into difficulty in the fast-moving creek and capsized. Fortunately they made it to the shoreline and were rescued by members of the Jackpot Fire Department.
“It was very fast, very dangerous,” Mencl said of the water conditions.
The person leading the group had heard that a kayaker the week before reported good water conditions. On Saturday, however, twice as much water was running in the creek, which was running at 1,000 cfs.
Checking with the Bureau of Reclamation’s website can help water enthusiasts determine water conditions, Mencl said.
The sheriff’s office will be patrolling on Memorial Day.
“Lifejackets are a big deal,” Mencl said. Last weekend, patrols found some boaters without them.
While adults don’t have to be wearing them, children under 15 need to have them on. Even for paddleboarders.
And while it is not illegal for boat operators to consume alcohol, they cannot be intoxicated, using the .08% blood alcohol content as a standard. Mencil urged caution with alcohol use, saying it can lead to dehydration and risk-taking behavior.
And if a waterway is congested, it’s best to find another location so as not to add to unsafe conditions, he said.
For more boat safety tips, visit the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation website at https://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/. | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/officials-urge-boat-safety-after-dangerous-weekend/article_d8b4ee5e-f8f6-11ed-ad2c-bf4064b46fd8.html | 2023-05-23T01:03:49 | 0 | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/officials-urge-boat-safety-after-dangerous-weekend/article_d8b4ee5e-f8f6-11ed-ad2c-bf4064b46fd8.html |
'Canal killings': Bryan Miller speaks at last, but offers no apologies or new clues
Bryan Miller addressed a Phoenix court on Monday, three decades after he murdered Angela Brosso and Melanie Bernas.
"I am not looking for sympathy today," Miller told Judge Suzanne Cohen, who must decide whether to sentence him to death or life in prison for the two murders committed in the early 1990s.
He said he could not imagine the pain experienced by the family and friends of Brosso and Bernas. But this acknowledgment of their suffering — and a stated desire that his words not compound it — was as far as Miller went.
He accepted the verdict, he said, and hoped it provided "some measure of relief."
But he did not apologize for killing Brosso and Bernas.
Nor did he shed any light on the circumstances of their deaths. With no known witnesses to either murder, all that is known about each young woman's final moments is what has been pieced together from forensic evidence.
"I wish I could provide answers to the questions you have," Miller said. "I have learned new things about myself in this process, and while I don't have all the answers, I hope to find some."
For subscribers:The man accused in the Phoenix canal killings goes to trial 30 years after 2 women died
The two murders, 30 years ago
Miller was convicted of murdering the two women 10 months apart, killing Brosso in November 1992 on the eve of her 22nd birthday and Bernas, who was a 17-year-old high school student, in September 1993.
Each young woman was out cycling along Phoenix canals when they were attacked. They both died from a forceful stab wound to the back and were mutilated and sexually assaulted after death.
Brosso's body was found on the morning of Nov. 9, 1992, in a field just east of the apartment block where she lived with her boyfriend. She had been decapitated and subject to a knife attack so frenzied her torso was all but cut in two. Her head was found 11 days later in the Arizona Canal where it flows by Metrocenter.
Brosso's body was also found in Arizona Canal, not far from where Brosso's head was located, on the morning of Sept. 22, 1993. She had carvings across her chest and a cut across her neck and had been dressed in a turquoise bodysuit.
DNA evidence suggested the same man was responsible for both murders, but with no suspect to match it to, the case ran cold for two decades. Miller was arrested in January 2015 after new forensic analysis led police to him.
He pleaded guilty for reasons of insanity and told experts he could not recall the murders.
But after a lengthy bench trial, which ran in fits and starts in the Maricopa County Superior Court, he was found guilty last month.
In the weeks since, the state has pursued the death penalty, while Miller's attorneys have sought to persuade Cohen he should receive a life sentence.
'I know I am different'
On Monday, Miller spoke for just over 2 minutes.
He stood flanked by his defense attorneys as he addressed Cohen from the lectern, his voice firm and, for the most part, unwavering.
His words were an allocution statement — an opportunity to address the judge prior to sentence — not testimony. Miller was neither sworn in nor questioned by anybody.
He said he was sorry with regard to his daughter, who was 15 when he was arrested and charged with murder in 2015. Miller raised her as a single father after gaining full custody around 2008.
"She means the world to me and if there's anything I can do to make this part of her life easier, I will do it," he said. "I was not a perfect father, but I tried my best."
"I am sorry for the damage this experience has caused her. I miss her."
'Zombie Hunter':Judge hears about Bryan Miller's persona
Miller also talked about his childhood and experiences with his mother, a topic that dominated the trial, and declared he "wanted to learn more" about himself.
"I know I am different. I didn't understand completely why. I thought it had to do with what my mother did to me," he said. "Growing up, I was scared. I was lost. I was confused. I was not allowed to express myself."
"I want to get help in trying to open up the parts of me I know I have shut out."
There was more he could say, he added, but "this has gone on long enough".
Closing statements on Miller's sentence will begin Wednesday. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2023/05/22/canal-killings-bryan-miller-finally-speaks-court/70245734007/ | 2023-05-23T01:07:30 | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2023/05/22/canal-killings-bryan-miller-finally-speaks-court/70245734007/ |
Ex-convict indicted in death of woman stabbed 15 times on Phoenix desert trail
An ex-convict has been indicted on a first-degree murder charge in the death of a woman who was attacked from behind and stabbed 15 times while walking on a desert trail in northeast Phoenix last month, authorities said Monday.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced the grand jury indictment and said it is reviewing the case to determine if prosecutors will pursue the death penalty for 22-year-old Zion William Teasley.
It wasn’t immediately known Monday if Teasley has a lawyer yet who can speak on his behalf.
Phoenix police said the body of 29-year-old Lauren Heike was found April 29 near a hiking trail about a half-mile from her home, but it’s believed she was killed the day before.
According to court documents, Heike had defensive wounds on her hands and arms from fending off her attacker, and she may have also been chased over or through a barbed wire fence.
What happened?Lauren Heike, 29, was killed in north Phoenix. Here's what we know about the murder investigation
Homicide investigators believe the attack was random and without provocation after Teasley allegedly followed her on the trail. But a possible motive for the killing remains unclear.
Teasley was arrested May 4 after police said they used DNA evidence collected at the scene plus surveillance video to connect him to the case.
Arizona Department of Corrections records show Teasley served 16 months in a state prison in Eloy for armed robbery and other felonies and was released in November 2020. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2023/05/22/zion-teasley-indicted-stabbing-phoenix-hiker-lauren-heike/70245759007/ | 2023-05-23T01:07:36 | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2023/05/22/zion-teasley-indicted-stabbing-phoenix-hiker-lauren-heike/70245759007/ |
CALIFORNIA, USA — This story was originally published by CalMatters.
California is grappling with a $31.5 billion budget deficit. Gov. Gavin Newsom denied public transit agencies a lifeline in his latest spending plan, and time is running out.
But transit officials and their supporters in the Legislature aren’t giving up hope yet that the state will offer at least some aid. And Friday, the California Transit Association delivered a plan for how individual agencies should ask for money — and how they would be held accountable for how they spend it.
Transit agencies are seeking $5.15 billion in operating funds over the next five years — warning that without substantial cash, they’ll fall deep into a financial pit caused by a continued decline in ridership since the pandemic and the drying up of federal funds.
Without some kind of financial infusion, Muni — San Francisco’s bus system — may have to start cutting bus lines this summer. Other transit systems are issuing similar dire forecasts.
If services are cut, commuters will be impacted, as will working people who can’t afford their own cars — and certainly not electric vehicles. Increased use of public transit is key to reducing carbon emissions and reaching the state’s climate goals championed by Newsom and Democratic leaders.
But in his updated budget plan unveiled this month, the governor committed only to working with the Legislature to find a solution.
“You can’t do everything,” he said at his May 12 budget briefing. “It’s about balancing other priorities.”
The state Senate wants to make public transit a priority. In its spending proposal, it included the $5.15 billion as “bridge funding.” Supporters say the money can come from a mix of sources that already support transit and would reduce general fund revenue by only $213 million.
TransForm, an advocacy group focused on transit and housing inequities, said it was disappointed in Newsom’s decision.
“The $2.5 billion needed to save Bay Area transit is less costly, in terms of dollars, people, and the planet than the $5 billion in additional transportation costs that will be paid by the people who can least afford it,” said Zack Deutsch-Gross, TransForm policy director.
The budget negotiations are well underway, with a June 15 deadline for the Legislature to pass a budget to keep collecting pay.
Call for help too late?
At a town hall on May 12, Assemblymember Phil Ting, a Democrat from San Francisco and chairperson of the Assembly budget committee, said transit agencies should have been better prepared, and should have “sounded the alarm earlier.”
“Having said that, we are where we are. We can’t change the past,” Ting said.
He said that legislators in the Bay Area Caucus that he leads are focused on the issue and are committed to making sure agencies don’t go over the “fiscal cliff.”
“We know that once these agencies have to stop service, it’s very difficult to turn it back on,” he said.
Ting said that given the budget shortfall, the goal is to help get agencies to solid enough ground to pursue a local ballot measure for long-term financial sustainability.
But he also said that for the state to help, transit representatives needed to present a spending plan and demonstrate accountability.
On Friday, the California Transit Association, which represents agencies throughout the state, responded with its proposal, which includes an 18-month deadline to report how funds are spent. Sent to Newsom and legislative leaders, the blueprint is based on recovery plans previously created by the Bay Area’s regional transportation commission and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority, as well as a bill this session from Burbank-area Democratic Assemblymember Laura Friedman on transit oversight.
The association also noted that its proposal won’t solve all of the underlying issues.
“As we advance this accountability and reform framework, we continue to elevate that significant external challenges will continue to impact agencies’ budgets, operating environments, and ridership levels, including, the hollowing out of downtown cores, the housing crisis, and rise in violent crime,” it said in a statement.
The proposal, however, doesn’t satisfy concerns from some lawmakers, including state Sen. Steve Glazer, who has been vocal in his criticism of BART oversight. BART officials previously responded to some of those concerns, saying the “fiscal cliff” has more to do with the agency’s financial model rather than specific expenses and missteps.
“I thought it was an April Fool’s joke delivered in May,” Glazer told CalMatters of the association’s proposal. “Self-policing is not accountability.”
Meanwhile, agencies have already begun to make some changes to boost ridership, including BART ramping up service on its most popular line between Antioch and San Francisco, and L.A. Metro ramping up both homelessness services and microtransit.
But those changes aren’t cheap.
Bevan Dufty, a member of the BART board of directors, said in April: “We really can’t cut our way out of this.” | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/calmatters/california-public-transit-is-pleading-for-state-aid/103-f6a36475-be9a-4e8c-9f57-51e56aa42c6d | 2023-05-23T01:10:28 | 0 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/calmatters/california-public-transit-is-pleading-for-state-aid/103-f6a36475-be9a-4e8c-9f57-51e56aa42c6d |
CALIFORNIA, USA — This story was originally published by CalMatters.
When Cyn Gomez arrived on UC Berkeley’s campus as a second-year student in fall 2022, they realized they’d taken the benefits of online learning for granted. Their depression and anxiety, in addition to their learning disabilities, made the transition to in-person classes difficult. So they turned to the university’s Disabled Students’ Program, seeking accommodations that would excuse some class absences and provide them access to recorded lectures.
But it took Gomez almost three weeks to schedule and undergo an intake appointment with a disability specialist. By the time the office had approved Gomez’s accommodations, the first two months of their sophomore year had already gone by.
The experience left them discouraged and reluctant to recommend the Disabled Students’ Program to other students dealing with similar challenges.
“It’s frustrating to want to direct people that are struggling to a resource that they’re not going to be able to access for a long time,” Gomez said. “It’s like giving false hope.”
Disabled students across the University of California are facing long wait times and staffing shortages as they seek accommodations from their universities’ disability services. A UC workgroup is considering pursuing a goal of providing one disability specialist for every 250 disabled undergraduate students. But the recommendations are not yet final, and all eight undergraduate campuses who shared their student-to-specialist ratios with CalMatters reported numbers falling short of that target, with schools reporting specialists’ caseloads of up to 600 students.
As schools struggle to recruit and pay for the disability specialists responsible for reviewing and approving individuals’ housing and academic accommodations – which can include note-taking services, on-campus transportation, additional time for exams and more – disabled students say the delays in service have left them academically and emotionally drained. In response, the UC Student Association is requesting more aid from the state for the 2023-24 fiscal year and beyond in order to hire more than 100 additional specialists.
Staffing shortages can derail students’ classes, especially on a 10-week quarter system, said Marvia Cunanan, a UC Santa Barbara student who’s helping to lead the student association’s campaign for more state funding.
“The quarter system is really fast. And two weeks without accommodations, or three weeks without accommodations, you’ve already had two quizzes or an assignment that you needed extended time for,” said Cunanan, who is autistic and was diagnosed with ADHD in their first year at UCSB. Cunanan said they rely on extended time on tests, flexibility on long-term assignments, note taking services and the use of text to speech software. “Without those things arranged, it could really impact someone’s academic career.”
In the 2020- 21 school year, 7% of UC students received accommodations from their campuses’ disability services, up from 5% in the 2017-18 school year. Some campus directors report increases over the past two decades in the number of disabled students they serve that have exceeded centers’ hiring rates.
The rising demand for services stems in part from greater support for disabled students in K-12 schools, which made it easier for them to pursue higher education, said Adam Kasarda, director of UC Irvine’s Disability Services Center. At the same time, as the stigma around disabilities has decreased over time, more students have felt empowered to pursue accommodations, he said.
UC Irvine’s center currently registers 2,700 students, up 300 from last academic year, Kasarda said.
“They’re not in sync,” he said. “Student numbers have always outpaced staff.”
Staff shortages across campuses
Frank Granda considers himself lucky. The second year political science and international studies student at UC Irvine said it took him about a month to receive academic accommodations when he reached out to the university’s Disability Services Center the summer before his first year – but some of his peers have faced much longer wait times.
“They’re basically running us on a shoestring budget,” Granda said. “They’re doing the best they can, I get that; this just can’t go on for long.”
UCI’s Disability Services Center tries to schedule appointments with students within three to five business days of their request, Kasarda said, but it currently faces staff shortages: Only four of its seven specialist positions are currently filled, leaving each specialist to serve an average of 460 students.
Caseloads are similar at UC Santa Barbara’s Disabled Students Program, where the number of students receiving accommodations has more than quadrupled since 2005, to around 2,500, but the number of disability specialists has only risen from three to five, said Director Gary White. Recruiting and retaining staff members has been an ongoing challenge as specialists’ pay has not kept up with the rising cost of living in California, White said.
While student advocates report that disability services’ resources and staff are strained across the UC, some campuses face greater shortages than others. Among the system’s nine undergraduate campuses, only UC San Diego declined to provide a staffing ratio for its disability services program.
At UC Merced, the campus’s single disability specialist serves 350 undergraduate and graduate students from a cubicle in a library hallway. As students crowd in the hallway waiting for their appointments, the setup lacks privacy, which deters some from coming in, said Ravneel Chaudhary, a fourth-year psychology major who is currently seeking accommodations for his mental health.
“There are students that I know that have not reached out (for services) because they just thought the process was too tedious,” Chaudhary said. “Having more staff would lower wait times and make it truly accessible.”
At UC Berkeley, Gomez said they think specialists’ stress has limited their ability to advocate for students’ needs. Gomez’s specialist denied their request for recorded lectures after they underwent surgery earlier this semester, they said. As a result, Gomez said, they missed over two weeks of lecture content that they are still trying to recover.
“I think I could have gotten those recordings if they weren’t so overbooked or overworked,” Gomez said. “There is room for more equity.”
Carolyn Swalina, acting assistant director for accommodation services at UC Berkeley’s Disabled Services Program, said by email statement that the university has recently added four new disability specialists. Specialists aim to schedule intake appointments with students within two weeks, while also offering drop-in office hours, she said. But each one still serves about 470 undergraduates at a time.
Universities’ responsibilities
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, universities are required to provide disabled students with equal access to opportunities on campus. But it’s not always clear if – and how – universities are meeting their legal requirements, said Rachel Moran, a Distinguished and Chancellor’s Professor of Law at UC Irvine School of Law whose expertise is in education law and policy.
While universities cannot create unreasonable delays when providing students’ accommodations, there is no clear standard for how long these delays can be, Moran said. The main question, she said, is whether a delay was so severe that it denied a student access to educational services. What can be considered a reasonable delay often depends on the context of an individual’s situation, she added.
Beth Ribet, a UCLA lecturer in disability studies, said the UC has underinvested in disability services, adding that she believes it is only a matter of time before the UC has to confront its shortcomings in the form of student protests or legal action.
When caseloads are high, specialists may resort to outright rejecting students’ accommodation requests instead of working with them to find solutions that will fulfill the university’s obligations under the disabilities act. Thus, staff shortages have not only resulted in long wait times, but also a failure by the university to provide reasonable accommodations, she added.
“I do believe that there’s a fairly widespread pattern of disability civil rights violations within the University of California,” Ribet said. “It’s alarmingly common.”
UC spokesperson Ryan King declined to comment on Ribet’s specific concerns. Campus disability services are paid for with a combination of state dollars, gifts and student fees, he said, and funding varies by campus.
“We are committed to ensuring that every student has the resources and support necessary to pursue their education and participate in their university community, which is why we continue to listen to our disabled students, improve campus accessibility, and provide academic support,” he said.
Complicating the situation, there is no clear consensus on what the ratio of students receiving accommodations to specialists should be. At the UC Regents’ January meeting, Pablo Reguerín, a UC Davis vice chancellor and member of the university’s disability workgroup, said the group plans to recommend a ratio of one specialist for every 250 undergraduates registered with disability services, and one for every 150 graduate students.
But the UC Student Association argues this ratio underestimates the true number of individuals needing accommodations. Not all students with disabilities may proactively seek services, the student association argues, pointing to data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicating that nearly 1 in 5 undergraduate students reports having a disability.
The association has requested $36 million in state funding for disability services – enough, it says, to hire more than 200 additional disability specialists across the university and pay them competitive salaries.
When disability specialists have heavy caseloads, it affects their ability to provide other services besides approving accommodations, students and disability services staff said. Cunanan, the UC Student Association representative, said they’d like to see specialists provide career counseling, mentorship, and training for faculty on how to make their classrooms more accessible for disabled students.
“When our staff are overworked and these services are understaffed and they’re facing high turnover, we don’t have the opportunity to develop that type of relationship with the specialists,” Cunanan said.
UCSB’s Gary White said that with caseloads of 500 students each, specialists on his campus are unable to dedicate themselves to other work, such as supervising peer programs or holding good-luck gatherings before finals for disabled students.
“500 is like, ‘Wow, that’s not too much,’ but it’s huge. It is absolutely huge,” White said. “There are numbers, and then there are the actual duties and responsibilities that we can do to make sure that a student is accommodated. It goes beyond the numbers.”
Budget request
The California Senate included an additional $19 million for disabled student services at UC in its budget plan for 2023-24. The full Legislature must discuss and approve a budget for the upcoming fiscal year by June 15; the funding was not included in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal.
On Monday, UC students urged an Assembly subcommittee on education finance to also support funding for disabled student services. Cunanan was one student who provided testimony at the hearing.
“Many people of color like myself are often identified as having a disability later in life, newly entering the world of academic accommodations in our college career,” Cunanan said. “But does the UC employ enough specialists who acknowledge this reality? … Who know our surgery schedules or transportation needs and can coordinate hybrid access to our classes? The answer is no.”
At the January UC Regents meeting, the workgroup presented an update on its work, including a recommendation that the UC increase the staffing of disability services to ensure that students can book and receive appointments within two to four business days.
However, some regents criticized the update as being overly brief and lacking urgency. Regent Ana Matosantos asked the workgroup to identify and move forward with “no-regret” investments that could address the immediate needs of disabled students, while Regent Maria Anguiano said she was disappointed with the UC’s almost three-year timeline for establishing the workgroup and collecting data on disabled students.
“There just feels like there’s a lack of urgency on the issues at hand here,” Anguiano said. “How are we going to move this forward more quickly?”
At UC Berkeley, some changes are already underway. The Disability Cultural Community Center, dedicated to providing a safe space for disabled students, faculty and staff to connect with one another, opened in October 2022 with plans to offer community events, career counseling and other resources.
Eden Potgieter, a fourth-year political science student, said the center helped them cope with the frustration they sometimes felt as a disabled student at Berkeley. The long wait times at UC Berkeley’s Disabled Students’ Program had negatively affected their mental health, they said, even discouraging them from attending class at times.
“It just makes me feel like I don’t belong inside of a classroom or on campus,” Potgieter said.
According to the UC’s 2020 Undergraduate Experience Survey, 74% of disabled students agreed that they felt like they belonged at their respective campuses, compared to 86% of students without a disability.
Potgieter called the new Disability Cultural Community Center “a step in the right direction” that can provide valuable opportunities for students to meet and support one another through the process of navigating accommodations.
“It’s nice to be able to go there and to socialize and for other people to understand,” Potgieter said.
Tagami is a fellow with the CalMatters College Journalism Network, a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. This story and other higher education coverage are supported by the College Futures Foundation. | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/calmatters/students-say-uc-disability-services-understaffed/103-8a456498-4609-45df-b5e5-4d8f2e269d7e | 2023-05-23T01:10:34 | 1 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/calmatters/students-say-uc-disability-services-understaffed/103-8a456498-4609-45df-b5e5-4d8f2e269d7e |
CALIFORNIA, USA — This story was originally published by CalMatters.
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to make it easier for California to build big things. He unveiled a plan to make it happen, Friday.
At an 1,100 acre solar farm near Patterson in Stanislaus County, Newsom announced a package of legislative proposals and signed an executive order aimed at speeding big infrastructure projects. He aims to limit the time opponents can jam projects up in court with challenges under the California Environmental Quality Act, the law known as CEQA (and pronounced see-kwa).
Buoyed by an influx of federal dollars and motivated by the need to dramatically reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, Newsom’s “CEQA-reform” proposal is likely to be cheered by industry groups, construction unions and even some climate activists.
He said the plan was about more than the urgency of climate change, but about rebuilding the public’s faith in the state’s ability to commit to and accomplish big things.
“As someone who’s all in on high-speed rail…all I can think about is, ‘what if?’ ‘What if we had these principles before we laid out that project?’” he said, referring to the $128 billion, much-delayed rail project. “I may not have had to drive down here today. I may have been on that rail.”
California isn’t short on what the governor might call “big hairy audacious goals.” The state has a plan to harvest all of the state’s electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045. The Newsom administration adopted a plan to phase out the sale of gas-guzzling cars, shifting the state’s appetite for driving onto the electricity grid. Proposed projects on water — to store it, to strip it of saltwater, to keep it at bay as sea levels rise and rivers top their banks — abound.
To meet those goals, California needs to build, potentially at a scale that would dwarf even the boom times of the 1960s. At a breakfast gathering of big business representatives in Sacramento on Thursday, the governor stressed that the state is ready to spend $180 billion over the next 10 years, much of that money coming from the federal government.
“The question is, are we going to screw it up by being consumed by paralysis and process?” Newsom asked.
Several leading organizations quickly issued statements expressing skepticism about Newsom’s proposal to modify the state’s landmark environmental law. Their leaders wanted to see more details than his office disclosed this week.
“We need to meet the state’s climate goals with smart, carefully considered projects, not knee-jerk construction that bypasses the necessary protections that keep us safe,” said Aruna Prabhala, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.
Have questions about Newsom’s big proposal? Here’s what we know.
Q: What is the governor actually proposing?
A: Details are still sparse, but his executive order, a summary of 11 bills released by his office, a separate report put out by administration infrastructure adviser Antonio Villaraigosa and Newsom’s remarks speak to the following goals:
- Streamline environmental planning by coordinating among different local, state and federal agencies;
- Limit the amount of time courts have to weigh environmental challenges to nine months;
- Provide more funding to agencies to speed up reviews;
- Cut back on the number of documents that each review requires;
- Carve out more exemptions in the law to allow favored projects to skip certain environmental reviews.
Some of these changes would broaden provisions already included in state law. The nine-month limit on environmental litigation, for example, already applies to renewable energy projects, certain housing and even major sports stadiums.
“I love sports,” Newsom said. “But I also love roads. I love transit. I love bridges…why the hell can’t we translate that to all these other projects?”
Q: Is Newsom’s ‘CEQA reform’ plan a big deal?
A: To hear Newsom say it, this is a very big deal.
“If we get nothing else done in the next three years, this may be one of the most consequential things that we can actually deliver,” he said on Thursday.
For decades, California’s deliberate — or as critics argue, glacially slow and unpredictable — permitting process has been a hallmark of its environmental policy. At the heart of that process is the California Environmental Quality Act.
California lawmakers passed the law in 1970, riding a new public consciousness of environmental conservation and protection. It was a bipartisan sentiment. The governor who signed the law was Ronald Reagan while President Richard Nixon signed its federal counterpart that same year.
At the time, the chief environmental concerns were local and growth-related: The incursion of development into green spaces and sensitive ecosystems; the widespread use of pesticides; the pollution of rivers and the befouling of oceans; littering.
Business interests have decried “CEQA abuse” for decades. Now that climate change is the chief environmental concern of the day, some liberals are on board with “permitting reform” bandwagon, too. They argue the state needs to build at an unprecedented scale to decarbonize its electricity grid and transportation networks.
Jennifer Hernandez, a land use and environmental attorney in San Francisco, said she was cautiously optimistic that the changes the governor spoke about would speed litigation.
In particular, the governor’s comments regarding addressing what constitutes an administrative record under the environmental law, could go far, she said.
When a civil lawsuit is filed under the environmental law, the first thing that occurs is preparation that can take months to more than a year to gather. That’s because the administrative record is broadly defined, she said. It can include emails, text messages by officials and other pieces of information that may not strictly pertain to the environmental impact of a project, she added.
“The administrative record was defined about 20 years ago, to include internal agency communications, even emails about whether you want pizza for the meeting,” Hernandez said.
Q: What types of projects will be affected?
A: In the executive order, Newsom called out a few spending areas specifically: “transportation, energy, hydrogen, environmental remediation, broadband, water, the CHIPS and Science Act (for semiconductor development), and zero-emission vehicles.”
Newsom named two major water proposals as examples of the kinds of projects that could benefit from the package: the Sites Reservoir in the Sacramento Valley and a tunnel that would funnel water under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Osha Meserve, an attorney in Sacramento who has represented opponents of the tunnel, said rigorous environmental review is justified when it comes to projects like the tunnel, which has been the focus of disagreement and legal challenges for decades.
“If you’re going to go across four counties and build the largest new infrastructure project in the whole state, then yes, you’re going to need some detailed environmental reviews,” Meserve said.
Jerry Brown, the executive director of the Sites Project Authority (and not the former governor of the same name), said the governor’s proposed CEQA reform could advance the process of acquiring a water right for the proposed Sacramento Valley reservoir by about six months.
“That means we get into construction sooner, means we finish construction sooner,” he said “We’re talking about a project here where a year delay costs about $100 million.”
Q: What about housing?
A: Newsom didn’t mention housing prominently at his press conference.
His administration is urging local governments to permit more than 2.5 million new units over the next eight years. Among pro-housing advocates, the environmental law is often cited as an unwelcome impediment — both because opponents can sue and delay projects and because the mere prospect of a lengthy legal battle can result in fewer and smaller housing projects being proposed.
Asked about housing by a reporter, Newsom noted that some of the broad changes to permitting and record-keeping policy will speed up the construction of new homes, along with everything else.
Q: Will the plan harm the environment?
A: Not if you ask the governor, it goes without saying.
“I care deeply about what the environmental community believes and thinks, but at the same time I care deeply about the progress we’re promoting here today,” he said today.
Newsom had some backing from at least one major green group: Environment California, a nonprofit that often stakes out a centrist position on climate-related policy.
“We need to work harder, better, faster, stronger to build five times as much clean energy every year,” the group’s director Laura Deehan said at today’s press conference.
But it’s not clear whether the state’s broader environmental community will be as enthused.
In a statement, Sierra Club California director Brandon Dawson said that the group is still reviewing the idea, but expressed serious reservations. “We acknowledge the governor’s desire to promote clean infrastructure, but this proposal needs a lot of work,” he said.
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, the executive director of the group Restore the Delta, lashed out at the governor following the release of the order.
“We have never been more disappointed in a California governor than we are with Gov. Newsom,” she said in a statement.
Q: What are the odds this goes anywhere?
A: It’s too early to tell.
The governor’s office released bill language late Friday afternoon and lawmakers in general have yet to read the details.
Senate leader Toni Atkins in a written statement said climate change demands the state “move faster to build and strengthen critical infrastructure,” but noted only that she looks “forward to working with our colleagues in the Assembly and administration to ensure we can do so responsibly.”
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon in a written statement similarly said he would “work with our partners in the Senate as well as the governor to craft responsible proposals to meet California’s infrastructure needs.”
Newsom can at least count on the support of the Legislature’s Republicans.
“California Senate Republicans have been advocating for CEQA reform for years,” GOP Leader Sen. Brian Jones from Santee, said in a statement. “We are thrilled that Gov. Newsom is finally taking action.”
The current law has its defenders. Chief among them are environmentalists and environmental justice advocates who see it as a vital tool to check unfettered development and pollution.
Also among CEQA’s supporters: neighborhood groups who often use the law to stymie big, noisy projects in their backyard and organized labor groups, who have found it to be a useful way to block projects in order to extract union-friendly concessions.
Newsom appears to have at least part of that latter group in his camp. At today’s press conference, the governor was flanked by hardhat wearing carpenters, laborers and electricians. Among the biggest applause lines: The projection, unverified, that this proposal will lead to the creation of 400,000 new jobs. | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/gavin-newsom-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-build-roads-dams/103-946c1b82-e28d-460c-99f0-affaf5417350 | 2023-05-23T01:10:40 | 1 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/california/gavin-newsom-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-build-roads-dams/103-946c1b82-e28d-460c-99f0-affaf5417350 |
Death of 7 farmworkers in I-5 crash highlights often overlooked danger
After seven farmworkers were killed last week in a fatal collision outside Albany, advocates are calling for increased road safety efforts for agricultural workers.
Transportation incidents have been the largest killer of farmworkers in the United States.
The Mexican Consulate in Portland said in a statement on social media that all seven victims were agricultural workers from Mexico. PCUN, Oregon's farmworker union, also said the van's 11 passengers were farmworkers.
"At this time, families are asking for safer roads for workers commuting after a hard day's work," PCUN executive director Reyna Lopez said in a statement.
Saif, Oregon's worker's compensation insurance company, will cover funeral costs and pay for families to send remains home, according to several farmworker aid organizations.
Officials have not yet released the names of any of the victims.
The driver of the semi that hit the passenger van, Lincoln Smith, is facing charges of DUII, reckless driving, assault and manslaughter.
Transportation a deadly threat to farmworkers
This is not the first time in recent history that agricultural workers have been killed on Oregon roads during their workday.
Three farmworkers were killed and 10 more injured in 2019 driving home from working at a Christmas tree farm near Salem. A pickup truck hit the workers' van, which was carrying 15 passengers and a driver, as the van turned left at an intersection.
Nationally, "transportation incidents," including tractor accidents, accounted for the most farmworker deaths in 2020, according to data from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
And transportation is the second-deadliest hazard for Oregon agricultural workers, according to the most recent data from Oregon's occupational fatalities report. Forty-six farmworkers were killed in transportation incidents between 2010-2020. The first is "contact with objects and equipment, which killed 67 workers during that same period.
Winter is technically the most dangerous season for farmworkers on the road, according to the Department of Labor and data from Oregon Department of Transportation. But spring and summer in the Willamette Valley are busy times for the area's agricultural industry. More farmworkers are on the roads commuting to and from work as harvest season ramps up, PCUN said.
There have been 172 fatalities on Oregon roads so far this year, according to data from the Oregon Department of Transportation. Six hundred people died in vehicle collisions last year.
Support incoming
Several farmworker advocacy groups, including PCUN, Oregon Human Development Corporation, Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action and AWARE food bank are working with the victims' families and with each other to offer support.
OYEN Emotional Wellness Center is offering free counseling to family members impacted by the accident.
A centralized GoFundMe is in the works for victims' families, but details have not yet been released.
The Statesman Journal will share any support efforts as they are unveiled.
Shannon Sollitt covers agricultural workers through Report for America, a program that aims to support local journalism and democracy by reporting on under-covered issues and communities. Send tips, questions and comments to ssollitt@statesmanjournal.com. | https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/05/22/farmworkers-killed-in-deadly-i-5-crash-support-danger-roads-transportation/70244477007/ | 2023-05-23T01:11:58 | 0 | https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/05/22/farmworkers-killed-in-deadly-i-5-crash-support-danger-roads-transportation/70244477007/ |
Grand Ronde tribal matriarch Kathryn Harrison dies at 99
This article was originally published in Smoke Signals, the newspaper of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
Grand Ronde tribal matriarch Kathryn Harrison walked on Sunday, May 21, 2023, at the age of 99.
Harrison was a key participant in the tribe’s early 1980s restoration efforts and was one of five tribal members who testified before the U.S. House of Representatives on Oct. 18, 1983, in support of restoring the tribe to federal recognition. The tribe’s federal recognition had been terminated 29 years earlier in 1954.
After the tribe was restored on Nov. 22, 1983, she continued her service to her people, serving on Tribal Council from 1984 to 2001. During her time on Tribal Council, she served as secretary, vice chair and six years as tribal chairwoman. She never lost a Tribal Council election and was the first woman to serve as tribal chair.
During her time on Tribal Council, she helped guide the tribe into gaming through the signing of a compact with Oregon Gov. Barbara Roberts in July 1993. She also suggested the tribe start endowment funds to benefit education, health care, economic development, and social and cultural programs. Those funds continue to be an important economic resource to this day for the tribe.
Harrison was born Kathryn May Jones on March 28, 1924, in Corvallis to Harry William Jones and Ella Flemming. Her father was Molalla and her mother Eyak. Her grandparents were George A. Flemming Sr. and Elena Kal’Tane and Billy Jones and Philomene Nellie Jones. Her name honored her great-great-aunt, Molalla Kate.
Her parents walked on when she was 10 years old from a flu epidemic and she was raised in an abusive foster care environment. She eventually graduated from Chemawa Indian School in Salem in 1942.
Read more:Chemawa Indian School families seek answers, healing through federal investigation
She married Frank Harrison and had 10 children before enrolling at Lane Community College in Eugene. In the mid-1970s, she became the first Native American graduate of the college’s nursing program and worked at Sacred Heart Hospital in Eugene and then Lincoln City Hospital. She then became an alcohol rehabilitation counselor for the Confederated Tribes of Siletz on the Oregon coast.
She returned to Grand Ronde in 1980 with Restoration experience under her belt, having helped the Siletz Tribe secure federal recognition in 1977.
By 1982, Harrison was a lead community organizer for the Grand Ronde Restoration effort, mustering support for federal recognition and convincing opposition groups of the inherent justice of Restoration.
In October 1983, Harrison, Marvin Kimsey, Jackie Colton and two of Harrison’s children – Frank and Karen – traveled to Washington, D.C.
“It has taken a lot of hard work, depressing and discouraging at times, but there’s always been the feeling that, as extensions of our ancestors, this restoration effort is the carrying out of their vision – and so we could always reach back to their strength and wisdom,” she testified before Congress. “We are not only looking at strengthening our culture, we are also interested in working for economic betterment, and so by helping ourselves, we are helping the total community.”
Because of her service to her tribe and Indian Country, Harrison received many honors in her lifetime.
Upon her retirement from Tribal Council in 2001, 400 people attended an event at Spirit Mountain Casino to honor Harrison. Attendees included former Gov. Kate Brown, who was a state senator at the time, and former Gov. Vic Atiyeh.
Her name was inscribed on the Wall of Honor at the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., in 2001.
She also received the prestigious Tom McCall Award, created to recognize outstanding contributions from individuals who mirror the spirit and service shown by the former Oregon governor, in 2001.
“What Kathryn has done for Grand Ronde, Native Americans and the people of Oregon has been a guiding light for us all,” said then-Stop Oregon Litter and Vandalism executive director Jack McGowan in November 2001. “Kathryn Harrison manifests the best we can be as people and as Oregonians.”
She was the first Native American recipient of the Oregon History Maker honor in 2012 given out by the Oregon Historical Society. She also received the Betty Roberts Women in Leadership Award from Emerge Oregon, a Portland-based training program for Democratic women that same year.
Harrison received honorary degrees from Portland State University in 2003, the University of Portland in May 2013 and Willamette University in Salem in May 2014.
She became the first Native American to serve on the board of directors of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City in 2018. During Harrison’s tenure as Tribal Council chair, the tribe and museum reached an agreement in 2000 regarding Tomanowos, or the Willamette meteorite. The agreement settled a claim to Tomanowos filed by the Tribe under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
Most recently, the Corvallis School District renamed one of its elementary schools after Harrison in May 2022.
“We haven’t reached our potential yet, and we probably never will in my time and I hope that is true,” Harrison said about the Grand Ronde people in 2001. “I think for our children we are leaving the right tools for them to follow and to use.”
During an interview for the tribe’s 25th Restoration celebration held in 2008, Harrison said, “We are living out the dreams of our Elders and our ancestors.”
In her latter years while confined to a wheelchair, Harrison remained a revered fixture at tribal events, attending Spirit Mountain Community Fund check presentations, an occasional Tribal Council or General Council meeting and many cultural events. One of her most recent public appearances was attending Bruce Thomas’ retirement party held at Spirit Mountain Casino on May 4.
She resided at the Adult Foster Care lodges in Grand Ronde.
Harrison had 10 children: Frank Harrison, Tom Harrison, Ray Harrison, Roger Harrison, David Harrison, Patsy Pullin, Jeanette Harrison, Kathy Coley, Diane Harrison and Karen Askins. She is survived by numerous relatives.
At the time of her passing, Harrison was the oldest tribal member at the age of 99. That distinction now passes to Lorene Belle Smith, who is 98.
Funeral services are pending and tribal offices closed for the day on Monday, May 22, after the news was announced.
"Words cannot express the magnitude of sadness and loss that we’re experiencing with the passing of our beloved Tribal Elder Kathryn Harrison," the tribe posted on its governmental Facebook page. "She dedicated her life to the service of others and contributed a great deal to Indian Country and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. May we honor her, and her legacy, as we carry what she started into the future."
Dean Rhodes is the editor of Smoke Signals. | https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/05/22/grand-ronde-tribal-matriarch-kathryn-harrison-dies-oregon/70245922007/ | 2023-05-23T01:12:04 | 0 | https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/05/22/grand-ronde-tribal-matriarch-kathryn-harrison-dies-oregon/70245922007/ |
Oregon Route 226 reopened about halfway between Scio and Crabtree due to crash
Cherrill Crosby
Salem Statesman Journal
This article was updated at 4:15 p.m. Monday
Oregon Route 226 has reopened about halfway between Scio and Crabtree following a vehicle crash into a power pole, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation.
ODOT said the highway was closed while crews restored a power pole struck and line. | https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/05/22/oregon-route-226-closed-between-scio-and-crabtree-crash-power-pole/70245593007/ | 2023-05-23T01:12:10 | 0 | https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/05/22/oregon-route-226-closed-between-scio-and-crabtree-crash-power-pole/70245593007/ |
Pick your genre: Oregon State Fair announces concert series lineup
Eight shows from rock to county are scheduled for the 2023 Oregon State Fair Umpqua Bank Concert Series, and advanced ticket sales begin at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 25.
The 157th Oregon State Fair kicks off Friday, Aug. 25, and runs through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 4.
The concert lineup was announced Monday, with the following dates and descriptions:
- Friday, Aug. 25 – platinum-selling rock gods, Bush
- Monday, Aug. 28 – chart-topping country star, Justin Moore
- Tuesday, Aug. 29 – America's favorite band, The Beach Boys
- Wednesday, Aug. 30 – best-selling Christian rock band, Skillet
- Thursday, Aug. 31 – Sirius XM Presents I Love the 90’s with Vanilla Ice, Rob Base, Color Me Badd, Tone Loc, and Young MC
- Friday, Sept. 1 – alternative rock renegades, X Ambassadors with special guest, Oregon indie rockers, Typhoon
- Saturday, Sept. 2 – sassy spitfire alternative-country darling, Elle King
- Monday, Sept. 4 – multi-platinum Grand Ole Opry member, Chris Janson
"No matter your musical taste, the Oregon State Fair has something for everyone," state fair CEO Kim Grewe-Powell said in a release announcing the lineup. "We know a lot of people will be excited for Sirius XM’s I Love the 90's concert on August 31, featuring rap and pop sensations Vanilla Ice, Rob Base, Color Me Badd, Tone Loc, and Young MC. We are also bringing back fair favorite, The Beach Boys — along with award-winning and chart-topping artists from Country, Rock, and Pop genres."
Concert tickets are available only on oregonstatefair.org via the ticket seller FunCard, with no service fees. Reserved tickets start at $50 and include free fair admission. VIPPlus Suite Seats tickets cost $125 and include free fair admission, plus a souvenir lanyard, priority entrance, special food service, access to a VIP beverage bar, and a reserved seat in the premium center section.
A limited selection of free seats are available for each show with paid fair admission on a first-come, first-served basis, while space lasts.
All concerts will be held at the L.B. Day Amphitheater, seating capacity 8,900. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and shows begin at 7:30, except for the Chris Janson concert, with doors opening at 3:30 p.m. and show beginning at 4:30 p.m.
Capi Lynn is a senior reporter for the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips to her at clynn@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6710. Follow her work on Twitter @CapiLynn and Facebook @CapiLynnSJ. | https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/05/22/pick-your-genre-oregon-state-fair-announces-concert-series-lineup/70244906007/ | 2023-05-23T01:12:16 | 1 | https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/05/22/pick-your-genre-oregon-state-fair-announces-concert-series-lineup/70244906007/ |
UPDATE: 7:55 p.m. Monday May 22, 2023
Weir Police Chief Dillion Cates says Joey Ryan Simmons is now in custody.
He says Simmons was arrested without incident on MS Highway 12 in a traffic stop.
Simmons was booked into the Choctaw County Jail on a charge of attempted statutory rape.
ORIGINAL STORY
WEIR, Miss. (WTVA) — Authorities continue searching for a man wanted for an alleged child sex crime in Choctaw County.
The Choctaw County Sheriff’s Office is working to arrest Joey Ryan Simmons who is wanted for the felony charge of enticement of a minor.
Someone last saw him at approximately 8:50 p.m. on Main Street in Weir. He is 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 145 pounds. Authorities don’t believe he’s armed.
Anyone who sees him should not approach him but call 911 instead. | https://www.wtva.com/news/local/child-sex-crime-suspect-in-custody/article_2fad45f2-f8b2-11ed-b0fb-9ffd56634e60.html | 2023-05-23T01:16:54 | 0 | https://www.wtva.com/news/local/child-sex-crime-suspect-in-custody/article_2fad45f2-f8b2-11ed-b0fb-9ffd56634e60.html |
31-year-old Maryland woman dies after rear-ending dump truck Monday morning in Glasgow
A 31-year-old woman from North East, Maryland died after crashing into the back of a dump truck in Glasgow Monday morning, according to Delaware State Police.
The woman's name has not yet been released.
OFFICER CHARGED:Millsboro officer charged with using drugs from department's evidence locker
State police said that the woman was driving in a Hyundai Sonata directly behind a Peterbilt dump truck full of gravel stone in the right lane of U.S. Route 40 eastbound near Cpl. Stephen J. Ballard Way. The truck began to slow down for a traffic light at 9:33 a.m., according to police, but the woman did not and rear-ended the truck.
The woman was taken to the hospital, where police said she later died. The driver of the dump truck, a 59-year-old man from Colora, Maryland, was not injured.
Police said Route 40 was decreased to one lane between Cpl. Stephen J. Ballard Way and Delaware Route 896 for about two hours.
Send story tips or ideas to Hannah Edelman at hedelman@delawareonline.com. For more reporting, follow them on Twitter at @h_edelman. | https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2023/05/22/delaware-route-40-crash-in-glasgow-monday-leaves-maryland-woman-dead/70245650007/ | 2023-05-23T01:23:01 | 0 | https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2023/05/22/delaware-route-40-crash-in-glasgow-monday-leaves-maryland-woman-dead/70245650007/ |
DALLAS — A local nonprofit that works to help provide meals for thousands of students every day had to temporarily stop its operation.
Thieves vandalized the HVAC system at Hunger Busters, causing its refrigeration system to be inoperable.
“Our entire HVAC system had been ripped out and gutted,” said Dr. Latame Phillips, CEO of Hunger Busters.
Workers arrived at the organization’s Sylvan Road site in West Dallas on Sunday and noticed some people had stolen some items inside and vandalized areas of the building.
“This garage door had been wedged," Phillips said as he walked around the property to inspect the damage. "We could tell somebody had wedged it open.”
The industrial cooler was reading 76 degrees, Phillips said. Normally, it would be under 32 degrees. HVAC system condensers were stolen and copper wiring was ripped out, according to Phillips. Thousands of dollars worth of food had to be thrown out.
“Whoever did it doesn’t understand exactly what we do," Phillips said. "We take care of the community, and they’ve always taken care of us,”
Hunger Busters’ workers and volunteers are typically in the kitchen during the week. They form assembly lines to make and package fresh meals that are distributed to about 3,500 children across 11 Dallas ISD campuses five days a week. Workers said those meals are the only dinner options some of the students may receive.
Phillips grew emotional when asked what he’s been telling local schools and its partners, which isn't that the crime has forced Hunger Busters’ operation to temporarily shut down.
”I’ve been telling them just that we were vandalized and what you rely on for us to do every day we can’t do,” Phillips shared.
White this week’s food program has been compromised due to the crime, Hunger Busters is scrambling to figure out what to do for those children, families, and organizations who rely on its fresh meal program.
The group estimates the damage is at least $40,000. The Dallas Police Department is investigating.
“We’re going to bounce back." Phillips said. "This isn’t something that’s going to be a death sentence for us. The community needs us, and we understand the impact that we have on the students' and families' lives. But right now, we just really need a lot of financial help.”
Anyone interested in assisting Hunger Busters or donating to the organization could visit https://www.hungerbusters.org/. | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/copper-thieves-target-steal-from-nonprofit-that-feeds-thousands-of-children/287-6c8cdc56-9e73-4ba8-b62d-bd4e4f39b80f | 2023-05-23T01:23:40 | 1 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/copper-thieves-target-steal-from-nonprofit-that-feeds-thousands-of-children/287-6c8cdc56-9e73-4ba8-b62d-bd4e4f39b80f |
AUSTIN, Texas — Zhengang Cheng has lived in North Texas for 17 years. For the first time this year, he found himself compelled to drive to Austin to protest five bills that were introduced during the 88th legislative session.
He calls them discriminatory, including Senate Bill 147. "It's damaging and dangerous," said Cheng.
The original bill was written to ban governments, businesses and citizens of China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from buying real estate in Texas. After more than 100 people testified, including Cheng, the bill was changed to remove the four specified countries.
As an immigrant from China who has made Texas his home, Cheng said, "With a bill like this, you are categorizing this whole group as suspects."
WFAA reached out to state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, who authored SB 147. Her office said, in part, "due to the heavy schedule in these final days of session, Senator Kolkhorst is not available for request."
In the past, Kolkhorst said her bill was a measured response to a real security threat that other states have also moved to address.
However, Texas state Rep. Gene Wu said the bill targeted innocent people who had nothing to do with the actions of a foreign government.
"It's racist. It's really, really racist," Wu said. He said this is generational racism.
But this time, Wu was impressed by the uproar of the Asian community in response to these bills. "The response from the community was historic. It was record-breaking. We had protest. We had marches that were the first by the Asian community in the state's history," said Wu.
With little time left in the 88th legislative session, the bills are effectively dead. Wu said people like Cheng made a difference. "Just being angry at home does nothing. You have to go out and talk to your elected officials. You have to go out and protest and be loud and be recognized and have it understood that you oppose something."
Cheng considers this a win, but he knows it isn't the last of discriminatory bills. He plans to be back in Austin again. | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas-bill-bans-chinese-citizens-buying-real-estate-wont-move-forward-asian-community-rallies/287-e7210520-78fc-4787-9a62-39db33c210a6 | 2023-05-23T01:23:46 | 1 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas-bill-bans-chinese-citizens-buying-real-estate-wont-move-forward-asian-community-rallies/287-e7210520-78fc-4787-9a62-39db33c210a6 |
DALLAS — Even as school vouchers, also known as education savings accounts, do not appear to have the votes to pass the state legislature right now, a poll by the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation and WFAA shows a majority of Texans want to expand school choice and allow parents to use tax dollars to send their children to private school.
The survey of 1,000 registered voters released on Monday, shows 58% support the concept, known legislatively as Senate Bill 8, while 42% oppose it.
“Texans tend to support the socially conservative bills that state and legislative leaders are pushing this year,” said Dr. Mark Jones, TxHPF Director of Research and Analytics. “While these bills generate a very contentious debate and some fierce opposition, they are supported by fairly wide margins when you look at all Texas voters.”
Supporters rebranded school vouchers as education savings accounts this legislative session and introduced them as Senate Bill 8. The concept remains the same, where parents of some Texas students get to use public tax dollars to send their child to a private school.
It’s a priority for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott but suburban and rural Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives continue to reject the idea, like they have for years, fearing the impact it could have on public schools in their districts.
Still, the TxHPF/WFAA poll shows 70% of Black voters back the ESA option, 59% of Hispanic voters do, as well, along with 55% of white Texans.
The survey had a margin of error of 2.09%.
Reducing the state’s unsustainable property taxes was another priority going into this legislative session that has yet to be solved.
With seven days left before state lawmakers adjourn the 88th regular legislative session, the TxHPF/WFAA poll shows extensive support for both the House and Senate proposals – signaling that homeowners want lawmakers to do something to lower property taxes.
Texas has the seventh highest property taxes in the United States, according to HomeAdvisor. The majority of local property taxes pays for public schools. The rest is broken up to city and county government, public hospitals, municipal utility districts and more.
In the survey, when forced to choose between the Senate’s property tax bill, SB 3, and the one in the House of Representatives, HB 2, 85% of Texans said they support SB 3, which will raise the homestead exemption from $40,000 to $70,000 for those under 65 and the exemption would increase to $100,000 for people 65 and older.
The House version, which would lower the annual appraisal caps from 10% to 5% for residential property and extend this benefit to commercial property, has 86% support.
“Texans certainly support property-tax relief,” said TxHPF President Jason Villalba, a former Republican state representative from Dallas. “There is more support for expanding the homestead exemption than there is for lower appraisal caps, but both ideas are very popular. Given the significant burdens that high property taxes place on Texas families, it should come as no surprise that both the Senate and the House tax proposals receive strong bipartisan support. The data from this report makes that clear.”
In addition, the TxHPF/WFAA poll also found:
-- 60% of Texans oppose (38%) House Bill 2127, which would preempt some local regulations.
-- Older Texans belonging to the Baby Boomer/Silent Generation (74%) and Generation X (67%) are much more likely to oppose HB 2127 than Millennials (42%) and Generation Z (35%)
-- 67% of Democrats and Independents oppose HB 2127 as do 51% of Republicans.
-- 65% of Texans support Senate Bill 20, which would allow for the removal of district attorneys that have a blanket policy of refusing to prosecute entire classes of crimes under Texas law.
-- 85% of Republicans support SB 20 compared to 66% of Independents and 43% of Democrats.
The survey was conducted between May 8 and May 17.
Methodology: The distribution of the registered voters based on their ethnic/racial self-identification is 58% white/Anglo, 23% Hispanic/Latino, 13% Black/African American and 6% with a mixed or other ethnic/racial identity. The gender distribution of the population is 53% women and 47% men. In regard to generations, 37% of the population belongs to the combined Silent Generation (born between 1928 and 1945) and Baby Boomers (1946-1964) cohort, 25% to Generation X (1965-1980), 27% to the Millennial (1981-1996) generation and 11% to Generation Z (1997-2005). The partisan identification of this population is 43% Republican, 42% Democrat, 12% Independent and 3% Unsure. Among the respondents who voted in the 2020 presidential election, 51.3% voted for Donald Trump, 46.9% for Joe Biden and 1.8% for minor party candidates. | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-poll-school-vouchers-education-savings-accounts-majority-support-txhpf-wfaa-survey/287-fa46c1c6-47d8-481b-8bad-95504bafcb88 | 2023-05-23T01:23:52 | 0 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-poll-school-vouchers-education-savings-accounts-majority-support-txhpf-wfaa-survey/287-fa46c1c6-47d8-481b-8bad-95504bafcb88 |
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Contact Us | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/good-samaritan-saves-officer-from-chokehold-attack-in-deptford-mall/3571308/ | 2023-05-23T01:25:33 | 1 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/good-samaritan-saves-officer-from-chokehold-attack-in-deptford-mall/3571308/ |
A man later died from his injuries after a shooting that took place in West Philadelphia Monday evening.
At 5:12 p.m. on the 200 block of Horton Street an 18-year-old man was found with a gunshot wound to the head, police said.
Police transported the victim to the hospital where he was pronounced dead at 5:32 p.m., according to the police.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
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SkyForce10 was over the scene and dozens of evidence markings could be seen in the streets and police were on the scene.
There have been arrests made at this time and there is no further information from authorities.
Local
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This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates as they become available.
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/man-dead-after-fatal-shooting-in-west-philadelphia/3571404/ | 2023-05-23T01:25:40 | 0 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/man-dead-after-fatal-shooting-in-west-philadelphia/3571404/ |
Planning to travel on the Atlantic City Expressway for Memorial Day weekend? Well travelers will be in for a treat since tolls will be free on May 26.
Chickie’s and Pete’s has teamed up with South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA) and the Atlantic City Expressway to kick-off the summer once again by paying travelers tolls Memorial Day weekend.
On Friday, May 26 from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Chickie’s and Pete’s will be paying tolls, cash and EZ Pass, for all drivers at the Eastbound Egg Harbor, New Jersey Toll Plaza Exit.
“Free Toll Friday has become one of my favorite summertime traditions,” Chickie’s & Pete’s Chairman and CEO Pete Ciarrocchi said. “It’s a great way to thank all those who have supported us over the years and kick off the summer in a fun way.”
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Free tolls aren’t the only thing the restaurant and SJTA are offering to kick off the summer. Also on Friday, from noon to 5 p.m. Chickie’s and Pete’s will be offering free orders of its world famous Crabfries from its food truck at the Frank S. Farley Plaza.
There will also be complimentary food and drinks from other well-known names such as Hershey’s Ice Cream, Mars and Monster Energy Drink.
The Furry Farm will also be there with the sanctuary and zoo animals for children to play with.
In honor of the holiday, Chickie’s and Pete’s also has partnered with The Patriot Fund, which provides resources and supports veterans returning from duty.
Ciarrocchi chose Memorial Day weekend to pay the tolls as a way to honor his family’s military tradition.
“My Dad and my uncles were all in the military,” said Ciarrocchi. “In fact, my Uncle George, who was my restaurant mentor, won the Silver Star for bravery. He was quite the guy, and I couldn't think of a better way to honor him.” | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/traveling-between-philly-and-nj-for-memorial-day-enjoy-a-free-toll-on-chickies-petes/3571347/ | 2023-05-23T01:25:46 | 1 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/traveling-between-philly-and-nj-for-memorial-day-enjoy-a-free-toll-on-chickies-petes/3571347/ |
PHOENIX — Taxpayers in metro Phoenix are approaching a milestone in their financial pain from a 2013 racial profiling verdict over former Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s immigration crackdowns: In roughly a year, those ongoing costs will exceed a quarter of a billion dollars.
The bill is projected to reach $273 million by the summer of 2024, officials were told Monday before they approved a tentative budget that included $38 million in legal and compliance spending for the racial profiling lawsuit during the coming fiscal year.
A decade ago, a federal judge concluded the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office had profiled Latinos in Arpaio’s signature traffic patrols that targeted immigrants, leading to massive court-ordered overhauls of both the agency’s traffic operations and its internal affairs department.
Under Arpaio, who was voted out as sheriff in 2016, the internal affairs operation was heavily criticized for biased decision-making. It now suffers from a crushing backlog of more than 1,900 internal affairs investigations under Arpaio’s successor, Sheriff Paul Penzone.
The overwhelming majority of the spending goes toward hiring employees to help meet the court’s requirements and a separate staff who work on behalf of the court to monitor compliance by the sheriff's office with both overhauls.
The taxpayer spending is expected to continue until the Maricopa County sheriff’s office has fully complied with overhauling its traffic enforcement and internal affairs operations for three straight years. Although three of the agency’s four compliance scores are near or at 100%, the sheriff’s office hasn’t yet been deemed fully compliant.
Late last year, Penzone was found in civil contempt of court for noncompliance with the internal affairs overhaul.
Before Penzone was elected, Arpaio was found in both civil and criminal for disobeying a 2011 order to stop his immigration patrols. He was spared a possible jail sentence when his misdemeanor conviction was pardoned by then-President Donald Trump in 2017.
Raul Piña, who serves on a community advisory board set up to help improve trust in the sheriff’s office, said the agency has made improvements since the court started supervising it.
“But the big pillar -– racial profiling -– that continues,” Piña said. “Until you wrap your arms around the big issues, compliance and the monitoring does not go away. And you still have the costs. If there is not a moral imperative to fix it, there is financial imperative to get us out of this bottomless pit.”
Attorneys who pressed the case against the sheriff’s office have criticized the agency for traffic-stop studies since the profiling verdict showing deputies often treat drivers who are Hispanic and Black differently than other drivers, though the reports stopped short of saying Latinos were still being profiled.
Penzone’s officer didn’t respond to a request for comment on the vote for more compliance funding.
As he has in the past, Arpaio – who famously broke the longtime local police tradition of staying out of immigration enforcement – blamed Penzone for the costs.
“Am I sorry for what I did — doing my job enforcing the illegal immigration laws?” Arpaio said. “No.”
Arpaio’s immigration patrols, known as “sweeps,” involved large numbers of sheriff’s deputies converging on an area of metro Phoenix — including some Latino neighborhoods — over the course of several days to stop traffic violators and arrest other offenders.
Arpaio led 20 of the large-scale patrols from January 2008 through October 2011. Under Arpaio’s leadership, the agency continued doing immigration enforcement in smaller, more routine traffic patrols until spring 2013, leading to his criminal conviction.
Lydia Guzman, a Latino civil rights advocate and longtime Arpaio critic, said it isn’t fair to blame Penzone for the agency’s deep problems.
“I think that, at the end of the day, what caused all this was Joe. We would have never been in this bind. Maricopa County could have been flourishing with all sorts of wonderful (government) programs if the Melendres case did not exist,” Guzman said, referring to the profiling case by its proper name. “I blame Joe.”
Up to Speed
Catch up on the latest news and stories on the 12News YouTube channel. Subscribe today. | https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/arizona/phoenix-taxpayers-will-wind-up-paying-over-quarter-billion-dollars-in-joe-arpaios-racial-profiling-case/75-5dd471c3-a045-409b-96db-9b5fb7d54655 | 2023-05-23T01:28:07 | 0 | https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/arizona/phoenix-taxpayers-will-wind-up-paying-over-quarter-billion-dollars-in-joe-arpaios-racial-profiling-case/75-5dd471c3-a045-409b-96db-9b5fb7d54655 |
Finding a pool to relax in might be tougher for many people during this year’s Memorial Day weekend activities.
Because of a lack of lifeguards, public pools are delaying opening dates, shortening hours and closing some days.
Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation plans to open Northside and McMillen parks’ pools June 3, Deputy Director Chuck Reddinger said. The department hasn’t set hours and days of operation yet. Northside is at 2400 Parnell Avenue and McMillen is at 3901 Abbott St.
The New Haven-Adams Township Parks and Recreation Department also plans to open Jury Pool next weekend, but it will be closed Mondays. Waiting until after Memorial Day gives more time to get staff, said Mike Clendenen, parks superintendent.
The indoor Helen P. Brown Natatorium, which is open all year and part of the Fort Wayne Community Schools district, is cutting hours.
“We’re all in the same boat,” Clendenen said.
Jenny Barney, supervisor of the aquatics department for Fort Wayne Parks, said applicants for lifeguard jobs has dwindled the last seven to eight years, which is a national trend.
That’s a drastic change from when Barney started as a lifeguard in 1997.
“It was crazy how many guards we had,” Barney said. “We would turn people away.”
Barney said the local parks department had 18 lifeguards last week but need at least 24 to safely open both pools.
In the past, lifeguards often started when they turn 16 or as an attendant at 15 and returned every summer, she said.
Now many teens complete internships their sophomore year of college instead of senior year, she said. As a teacher, Barney also knows some high schoolers are on the road with travel sports, and she hears working isn’t a top priority for kids, she said.
Clendenen said siblings of lifeguards used to apply, but that also isn’t happening.
“I think it’s a trend,” Clendenen said. “A lot of kids don’t need to work.”
Many 17- and 18-year-olds don’t have driver’s licenses to get to jobs and don’t care, he said. As of last week, Jury Pool had close to the 18 to 20 lifeguards it needs, but the parks department is also searching for 60 to 70 seasonal employees for admission, swim lessons and concessions.
This year, Jury Pool is expected to close at 7 p.m., an hour earlier than it did last year, Clendenen said.
Liz Caywood, director of the Helen P. Brown Natatorium, said her facility used to open at 5 a.m., but now opens at 9:30 a.m. or later. The natatorium needs 35 lifeguards and has about 13 for the year-round facility.
“It used to be a status job,” Caywood said.
The natatorium opens to the public, and it also hosts the swim and dive teams from the Fort Wayne district, all the parochial schools and Canterbury School, she said. It also gives swim lessons.
“We’ve actually had to cut back on some of our offerings this year,” Caywood said.
All three pools offer paid training. Jury Pool uses Red Cross training, while the Fort Wayne facilities use Ellis & Associates. Caywood said the Ellis’ training is internationally recognized, and people can go on to Disney resorts or Gaywood Resorts (Opryland) with the training.
Although lifeguards are usually high school or college students, the pools hire all ages.
Caywood said the natatorium has a lifeguard in his 60s, and Barney said the Fort Wayne parks department has hired 65-year-olds and had a woman who did it into her 70s.
The natatorium pays $13 an hour to start and up to $15, Caywood said. Shifts can last for eight hours or about two.
Jury Pool lifeguard pay went from $12.50 an hour last year to $14 this year, Clendenen said. As seasonal employees, lifeguards can work up to 70 hours a week.
College students have liked that in the past, Clendenen said. But having Mondays off seems to be a draw now.
At Fort Wayne, the pay starts at $15 an hour and goes up to $17, Barney said. However, they’re also offering an incentive of up to $600 if lifeguards meet requirements through the season.
Those interested in the lifeguard jobs can apply at:
www.cityoffortwayne.org/jobs-with-the-city/posting/1758/lifeguard.html
www.newhaven.in.gov/269/Jury-Pool
www.fortwayneschools.org and use the word natatorium in the browse job listings search bar under the employment tab area. | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/lifeguard-shortages-affect-local-pool-openings-and-hours/article_c0031620-f8eb-11ed-a0e0-bbde0cf8a690.html | 2023-05-23T01:29:20 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/lifeguard-shortages-affect-local-pool-openings-and-hours/article_c0031620-f8eb-11ed-a0e0-bbde0cf8a690.html |
HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. — A large gas leak Monday evening in Hernando County caused a couple of road closures in the area, officials say.
Hernando County Fire Rescue said in a tweet crews were on the scene at the intersection of U.S. 98 and the Suncoast Parkway.
As a result of the gas leak, U.S. 98 is closed east and westbound. Suncoast Parkway southbound off-ramp at U.S. 98 is also closed.
The county's fire hazmat team is also at the location of the incident as they conduct air monitoring and use a drone to assess the leak. Authorities say the roadways will remain closed for an extended time frame and drivers are asked to use alternative routes. | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/hernandocounty/gas-leak-hernando-county-road-closures/67-4903106f-8c67-4efb-8615-2ebcef15914f | 2023-05-23T01:37:13 | 1 | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/hernandocounty/gas-leak-hernando-county-road-closures/67-4903106f-8c67-4efb-8615-2ebcef15914f |
IDAHO, USA — The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) warns Idahoans that black bears are beginning to emerge from their winter dens. The department added that, the bears emerge very hungry and in order to keep both people and bears safe, people need to secure all food and garbage sources.
"After emerging from hibernation, black bears are on a quest to eat between 15,000 – 20,000 calories a day to build up their fat reserves, which means they are constantly searching for food," IDFG stated. "Bears can smell food for miles. After leaving their winter dens, bears begin to search out food sources by using their extremely keen sense of smell. In fact, it is believed that a bear's sense of smell is seven times better than a bloodhound's and is often measured in miles."
According to IDFG, after hibernating, bears immediately begin scouring for food. The department stated that all Idahoans, but especially people living in the Wood River Valley need to make sure their trashcans are secure.
"Allowing bears to become comfortable living in your neighborhood could be a death sentence - for the bear. While a bear in your yard might be exciting, you must do your part to keep the bear wild," IDFG stated. "Relocation of a food-conditioned bear is not an option. Often, the bear returns to where it was trapped because it knows there is a food reward waiting for them. Moving this bear might also just transfer the problem to another community or campground in the backcountry."
IDFG added that bears are very smart and will learn quickly if they are welcome or not. One way to get a bear to leave your property is to haze them, meaning a person can yell loudly, bang on pots and pans or clap hands loudly, all from a safe distance.
The department also gave tips on how to keep bears away from residential areas:
Secure household garbage in a garage or locked shed where bears cannot gain access to the garbage.
Don't put your garbage curbside until the morning of pickup.
Use bird baths, instead of bird feeders.
Don't leave pet or livestock food outside where a bear can find it.
Put an electric fence wire around chicken coops and beehives.
Watch more coverage of this story
Ongoing coverage of the University of Idaho investigation can be found in our YouTube playlist: | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/local-after-long-winter-black-bears-are-emerging-from-their-winter-dens/277-9a7eaf58-f37e-4626-bd44-9ae0ab9e6380 | 2023-05-23T01:39:36 | 1 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/local-after-long-winter-black-bears-are-emerging-from-their-winter-dens/277-9a7eaf58-f37e-4626-bd44-9ae0ab9e6380 |
IDAHO, USA — A group of Idaho students have created the Eve Devitt Fund, a scholarship and travel fund for transgender and non-binary youth in Idaho. The fund is named after Boise High School junior, and transgender activist, Eve Devitt and was created in response to Idaho passing HB 71, a bill that banned gender-affirming care for minors.
"I'm so incredibly honored to have this organization named for me, and I am grateful that I've grown up in a community that has never stopped supporting me — that's something that a lot of transgender kids don't have," Eve Devitt said. "I can only hope to give that same love and support to other trans kids across the state, and I think this fund will do just that. When we empower youth activists, particularly LGBTQ+ activists, we can lift everybody up."
According to a press release, the fund is a nonprofit that will give an annual scholarship of $2500 to Idaho students who have done "significant work to advance human rights." The fund will also give assistance to transgender youth and their families to cover the cost of travel of having to go out-of-state for gender-affirming care. People can donate, apply for the scholarship or assistance on the website, evedevittfund.org.
Local activist Shiva Rajbhandari is helping launch the fund by pledging $10,000 from his own college savings over the next four years.
"This is about putting your money where your mouth is. When HB 71 was passed, plenty of people, me included, posted their support for our trans and non-binary siblings on social media," Rajbhandari said. "Now, we're asking Idahoans to take a stand in solidarity with our LGBTQ+ youth and put $10, $100, or $1000 cash down to make their lives better."
Four students also sit on the nonprofits founding board. Lauren Legarreta, a senior at Boise High; Phoenix McCoubrey, a senior at Borah High; Shiva Rajbhandari, a senior at Boise High and Ella Weber, a senior at the University of Idaho.
"This organization will do a lot of good," Lauren Legarreta said. "Not only can we provide life-saving resources for trans and non-binary youth and recognize student activists for their work, but also we can show that Idahoans stand with our LGBTQ+ community and that we will never back down in the face of fascism."
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/local-eve-devitt-fund-local-students-create-a-scholarship-travel-fund-for-transgender-and-non-binary-youth/277-de1c2e17-62c5-4747-b640-9422e161a8c5 | 2023-05-23T01:39:42 | 1 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/local-eve-devitt-fund-local-students-create-a-scholarship-travel-fund-for-transgender-and-non-binary-youth/277-de1c2e17-62c5-4747-b640-9422e161a8c5 |
BOISE, Idaho — State Superintended of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield (R-Idaho) voiced strong support for parental rights and school choice Monday in a Grove Hotel ballroom, equally balancing her approach on future choice expansion with the definition of "school choice" itself.
Efforts to implement educational saving accounts (ESA) received attention through the 2023 legislative session; however, no such bill worked through the statehouse to become law. Under the proposed ESA efforts, a portion of 'per student' funding would follow students to the school of their choice, rather than the district of which they reside.
Legislation through the session, including Sen. Tammy Nichols' (R-Middleton) Senate Bill 1038 (SB1038), would have allowed public dollars to pay for a student's private school tuition. SB1038 failed on the Senate floor.
"I think that [school choice and ESA programs] have been conflated in a way that we think that the only way to accomplish school choice is to have an ESA or a voucher," Superintendent Critchfield told KTVB after the event. "Idaho is school choice. Parents can make any educational choices for their child. Education is not regulated in Idaho. Everything about it encourages choice."
Critchfield quickly pointed to public charter schools, magnet schools, alternative schools, and homeschool as choices outside regular public school district boundaries.
"I think as that became more clear and more evident, particularly in the legislature, that it shifted away from 'we need more school choice' to 'look at all the ways that we are already supporting school choice,'" Critchfield said. "What makes sense for us? What kind of need is there? What are parents really looking for? And then, how do we do that in a way that doesn't damage our public schools?"
KTVB previously reported the state's funding formula for public school districts is moving away from an enrollment-based model to an average attendance-based model. Idaho temporarily moved their funding formula based on enrollment through the COVID-19 pandemic amid historically low attendance figures.
Returning to an attendance formula will act as a budget cut forcing some districts to downsize, according to the Nampa School District and the Twin Falls School District.
The Idaho State Legislature increased public K-12 school funding by 16.4% in the 2023 legislative session; however, districts are not recording pre-pandemic attendance yet. This results in districts not being able to access 100% of their budgets.
"And due to that, we're going to lose millions of dollars," NSD Superintendent Gregg Russell said. "If your districts operating at 91-92% attendance and you have 100% of students, you're losing eight or 9% of your budget."
Critchfield acknowledges this formula change and how it could impact certain school districts. In response, she is interested in changing Idaho's funding system.
"The current formula for funding our schools is more than 30 years old, and our classrooms look different, our needs are different, the resources are different. We've added more money, and it's a completely different landscape," Critchfield said. "I'm looking forward to convening some folks this summer, particularly, our leaders in the legislature, and our education partners with the goal of bringing something forward on how we modernize the funding for our students."
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/local-idaho-state-superintendent-critchfield-talks-state-legislature-school-choice-and-esas/277-1eab9d16-b831-4f92-ba96-44df083961b8 | 2023-05-23T01:39:48 | 0 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/local-idaho-state-superintendent-critchfield-talks-state-legislature-school-choice-and-esas/277-1eab9d16-b831-4f92-ba96-44df083961b8 |
ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Della DalCol said she initially placed pride flags in her front yard in Issaquah to share a message to the community, and with her own children.
"I think, for a lot of people, for so long we had to hide who we were, and we don't have to hide anymore - and for me that's what the flags represent," DalCol said. "And for me the flags represents my home as a safe place for those in the community, if they do need help they know where to go."
DalCol said flags were taken out of her yard and put into a nearby creek last year. She dismissed the incident, thinking it was teenagers. She replaced them with larger flags.
Last week, the flags taken from her yard.
She said she posted about it on NextDoor, asking if anyone had seen anything. She received a large outpouring of support.
"I actually had parents come up to me and say to me how important the flags were for them and their kids as they walked through their neighborhood, so their children who were queer knew they were supported within the community," DalCol said. "And that was really touching to me - that just me hanging a flag could do that for someone. And even for my own children just to know, you don't have to hide who you are."
Issaquah police confirmed a report of the incident was submitted, and said they are still gathering information.
"What I've learned from this is that simple little actions like flags are a big impact to a lot of people," DalCol said. "I just thought I was putting them up for myself and my family and it really served the community as a whole which was wonderful and that's not gonna stop." | https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/issaquah-pride-flags-stolen-from-yard/281-4c562d7d-ea5f-42ca-b2b2-ca566b440bea | 2023-05-23T01:42:11 | 1 | https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/issaquah-pride-flags-stolen-from-yard/281-4c562d7d-ea5f-42ca-b2b2-ca566b440bea |
SEATTLE — Train derailments in Washington state have more than doubled in the last ten years.
On Monday, a group of transportation leaders got together in Seattle to discuss recent legislation they believe will reduce the number of derailments, and increase safety.
"Everything runs on the American Railroads," said Herb Krohn who is a train conductor and the Washington State Legislative Director for the transportation union, SMART-TD. "We keep America's freight moving and the commodities moving,"
"What people don't realize is that no one is monitoring the freight on a freight train," said Krohn. He said employees are concerned for their safety specifically because of workforce cuts in the maintenance department.
"We're concerned about not only our safety and the safety of our brothers and sisters that we're working with, but the public and the communities that we're moving our trains through," said Krohn.
There have been 52 Class One railroad derailments in King County in the last seven years.
"Forty trains pass through Seattle every day. During the last three months, over 8,000 cars filled with crude oil have been transported through King County," said Andy Collins who is the battalion chief of the Seattle Fire Department.
According to Washington Senator Maria Cantwell, as the amount of crude oil passing through Washington state has increased, so has the number of derailments.
"Even if a train isn't carrying crude oil, derailments do have the potential to cause harm," Cantwell said.
Cantwell said the bipartisan Railway Safety Act of 2023 would prevent many derailments. The bill would require the use of defect-detecting sensors, make two-person train crews mandatory, give aid to first responders cleaning up and tell cities when hazardous material is being transported.
"It is a weak point here and there are a lot of weak points in America's rail system," said Krohn. He went on to say if nothing is changed, it's likely another catastrophic event could happen.
"It's not a question of if, it's a question of when," said Krohn.
KING5 reached out to BNSF Railway to see what it thought of the Railway Safety Act and is still waiting for a response.
The full Senate still needs to consider the legislation and that date hasn't been set. | https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/train-derailments-washington-new-legislation/281-5326ed45-18af-4698-a32a-e98267349e6a | 2023-05-23T01:42:17 | 0 | https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/train-derailments-washington-new-legislation/281-5326ed45-18af-4698-a32a-e98267349e6a |
Krispy Kreme has something sweet in store for 2023 grads.
On Wednesday, May 24, grads can wear their class of ‘23 gear – hats, shirts, jackets, or even their grad cap and gown – to Krispy Kreme and get a free original glazed dozen, the company said.
Krispy Kreme said the dozen will come in a special “dough-ploma” wrapped box at participating shops.
We’re told this is the fourth consecutive year the company has honored graduating seniors with free dozens.
Officials say the offer is valid while supplies last, and no purchase is necessary. To see if a location near you is participating, click here to find their phone number and get in touch. | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/05/23/krispy-kreme-to-offer-2023-grads-free-dozen-on-may-24/ | 2023-05-23T01:45:19 | 1 | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/05/23/krispy-kreme-to-offer-2023-grads-free-dozen-on-may-24/ |
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — In this day and age, people have been writing fewer checks and opting to buy things online instead— but that also comes with risks.
We've reported on several scams lately and they all have one thing in common. People aren't who they say they are and unsuspecting victims have lost money because of it.
One Little Rock woman explained that for her it started on Mother's Day when several people started showing up at her door expecting to pick up items they bought online. Though she explained that she was not selling anything, and the victims and money spent are quickly adding up.
"Someone had given them my address. So they came to claim the property that they purchased. And I thought it was an isolated incident," Little Rock resident, Toni Barnas said.
More and more people kept showing up on Toni Barnas' doorstep.
"Almost 20 People have come to my home all paying upwards between $250 to $40," Barnas explained.
People have traveled from other nearby cities to pick up their items, ranging from pet supplies to furniture.
Barnas said most of the people have paid for their items through Facebook or Cash App.
"Most have been very kind and understanding that they're a victim and on the victim as well since my address is being used," she said.
She's ready for it to stop. So far, she said the total cost spent has been around $2,000.
"We reached out to the police, we found a report with a telephone reporting number. But there was really nothing more that they could do," Barnas said.
Kayla Irons traveled from Conway to pick up a dog kennel that her kids paid for on Cash App and ended up walking away with nothing.
"At this point, I was pretty irritated. And kind of you know, who is this person? What's the story? I was told to pick up the kennel here, you know," Irons explained.
Now, she's been a little more careful when shopping on Facebook Marketplace.
"It's a good reminder, it's a good reminder to just proceed with even greater caution," she said.
Barnas even put a sign on her front door to tell people they've been scammed, in case she's not home.
"Having all these people that I don't know come to my property is a bit unnerving and I'm concerned something is going to happen because someone's going to be upset," Barnas described.
Attorney General Tim Griffin said we should all be suspicious of brand-new Facebook profiles, avoid deals that seem too good to be true, and not send money to people you don't know.
"Something's going on and something needs to be done," Barnas said.
We did reach out to Little Rock Police and were told they can't do much about this scam. Though the Attorney General said if you're a victim of this, you should report it to the platform you used to pay and file a complaint with his office.
You can file a complaint by calling Tim Griffin's office at (800) 482-8982 or by clicking here. | https://www.thv11.com/article/news/local/facebook-marketplace-scams/91-9f171957-9e24-4b26-b239-f529565580c3 | 2023-05-23T01:46:22 | 1 | https://www.thv11.com/article/news/local/facebook-marketplace-scams/91-9f171957-9e24-4b26-b239-f529565580c3 |
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William Penn High School students celebrate prom at the DuPont Country Club
68 PHOTOS | https://www.delawareonline.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2023/05/13/william-penn-high-school-prom-dupont-country-club/11822161002/ | 2023-05-23T01:49:06 | 1 | https://www.delawareonline.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2023/05/13/william-penn-high-school-prom-dupont-country-club/11822161002/ |
MERRILLVILLE — In an effort to engage the community and strengthen relationships with residents, the Merrillville Police Department is hosting a community night May 25.
It's scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. at the Dean and Barbara White Community Center, 6600 Broadway.
The event provides an opportunity for residents to receive safety tips while learning how the Police Department operates.
“The Merrillville Police Department believes that it is extremely important to work with our community and have a good relationship with them,” Investigations Cmdr. Matthew Vasel said. “Together, we can make Merrillville a better and safer community.”
Vasel said the Tactical Team, Detective Bureau and patrol officers are among the units that will be involved in the community night.
Residents can also meet with the school resource officer to learn how the Police Department collaborates with the Merrillville Community School Corp. to help keep schools safe.
People are also reading…
The K-9 Unit will be featured, and police administration will host a question-and-answer session that starts at 7 p.m.
“We will also be handing out information about our new online reporting system,” Vasel said. “Please come join us and learn more about your Merrillville Police Department.”
The department thanks Strack & Van Til and Chick-fil-A, who are sponsoring the event and providing refreshments. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/merrillville-police-host-community-night/article_e9003a34-f4c3-11ed-b7f2-b345b0a3ab79.html | 2023-05-23T01:50:17 | 0 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/merrillville-police-host-community-night/article_e9003a34-f4c3-11ed-b7f2-b345b0a3ab79.html |
Entrepreneurs will be able to pitch their best ideas at the 2023 Starke Tank Countywide Business Pitch Competition this summer.
The Starke County Economic Development Foundation is soliciting contestants for the annual contest, which will take place at 3 p.m. Aug. 20 at the Knox Community High School. The winner will get startup capital and a leg up in opening or growing their business.
As the name suggests, it's modeled after the long-running ABC reality show "Shark Tank," which has now aired for 14 seasons.
Now in its fourth year, Starke Tank originally focused on North Judson and grew into a countywide competition. Contestants no longer have to hail from Starke County but must either operate a business there or be willing to if they win. It's open to small businesses that have not yet been launched or that were started or changed hands within the past three years.
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Last year, Irelynd Alexis Boutique in downtown Knox took home the first prize of $12,000. Bone Boss Game Calls won the $6,000 second-place prize.
Local businesses, banks, utilities, governments and real estate agents donate the prize money and door prizes that are given away to audience members.
“Our sponsors recognize that a vibrant small business community is critical to Starke County’s growth and continued success,” SCEDF Executive Director Lisa Dan said. “We hope to make this year’s Starke Tank our biggest and best yet.”
Anyone can enter the contest free of charge. They will get free coaching from an Indiana Small Business Development Center advisor and must participate in a dress rehearsal before the event.
“Starke Tank provides great exposure for the participants and the sponsors,” Dan said. “Audience members will learn about each business, and the sponsors will be featured in the event program as well as at the venue.”
For more information, call 574-772-5627, email mperren@scedf.biz or visit scedf.biz.
NWI Business Ins and Outs: Pierogi stand, Brown Skin Coffee and Alpha Family Resale opening; Ixxa and Dan's Pierogies updating
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NWI Business Ins and Outs: Unbeatable Eatables, DRIPBaR Crown Point, Taco Depot and Flashback Antiques open; Da Burger House closes | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/starke-tank-countywide-business-pitch-competition-to-give-entrepreneurs-leg-up/article_00ee688c-f8bb-11ed-ad25-b77efc0591f6.html | 2023-05-23T01:50:23 | 0 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/starke-tank-countywide-business-pitch-competition-to-give-entrepreneurs-leg-up/article_00ee688c-f8bb-11ed-ad25-b77efc0591f6.html |
U.S. Steel closed on $240 million more in financing to bankroll the construction of a second mini mill in Arkansas.
The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker, one of the Calumet Region's largest employers, long focused exclusively on integrated steelmaking like at the mills along the Lake Michigan lakeshore in Northwest Indiana until it acquired mini mill operator Big River Steel for $1.4 billion in 2021.
It's now expanding its mini-mill operating in the south, where it's building Big River 2. The new $3 billion mill is under construction in Osceola, Arkansas.
U. S. Steel lined up $240 million in unsecured Arkansas Development Finance Authority environmental improvement revenue bonds to help finance the project. They have a coupon rate of 5.7% and become mature in 2053.
The steelmaker will have to pay interest on a semiannual basis.
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“The $240 million Green Bonds transaction that closed today, together with $290 million of Green Bonds issued in 2022 concludes the financing available through the Arkansas Development Finance Authority for Big River 2,” U.S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt said.
The bonds will help fund the flat-rolled steel mill that will recycle and process scrap steel into finished steel products. It will have two electric arc furnaces, an advanced casting and rolling line, finishing lines and 3 million tons of steelmaking capability a year. U.S. Steel asserts it will be "the most advanced steelmaking facility in North America."
U.S. Steel said it will help the company meet its sustainability goals as it will release 70% to 80% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than a traditional vertically integrated mill
Combined with the original Big River mini mill, it will form a steelmaking complex with 6.3 million tons of annual steelmaking capacity. Gary Works, U.S. Steel's flagship mill, can make up to 7.5 million tons of steel products a year.
NWI Business Ins and Outs: Pierogi stand, Brown Skin Coffee and Alpha Family Resale opening; Ixxa and Dan's Pierogies updating
Open
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Renovated
New mural
Opening
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Coming soon
Coming soon
Expanded
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219 News Now 5/19/23
NWI Business Ins and Outs: Unbeatable Eatables, DRIPBaR Crown Point, Taco Depot and Flashback Antiques open; Da Burger House closes | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/u-s-steel-closes-on-240-million-in-financing-for-arkansas-mini-mill/article_0e3e5f10-f8bb-11ed-a607-47c13f57ebf3.html | 2023-05-23T01:50:29 | 0 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/u-s-steel-closes-on-240-million-in-financing-for-arkansas-mini-mill/article_0e3e5f10-f8bb-11ed-a607-47c13f57ebf3.html |
CVS has announced plans to close one of its Lincoln locations next month.
"We’ve made the difficult decision to close our store in Lincoln at 4808 O St. on June 15," Matt Blanchette, a CVS spokesman, said in an email.
The pharmacy chain sent a letter to customers saying that prescriptions on file at the 48th and O store will be transferred to the CVS location at 7002 O St., although Blanchette said those customers can transfer their prescriptions to another CVS location or another pharmacy.
The company announced last year that it planned to close about 900 locations nationwide by the end of 2024. Blanchette did not respond to a question about whether additional store closures are planned in Lincoln and/or Nebraska.
The location at 48th and O streets, which opened in the fall of 2010, was the first new location CVS built in Lincoln. It inherited four locations when it bought the Osco chain in 2006, and it replaced all four of those locations -- 66th and O streets, 48th and Van Dorn streets, 56th Street and Nebraska Parkway and 14th and Superior streets -- with new buildings. The company also built new locations at 27th Street and Old Cheney Road. and 16th and South streets.
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CVS also has pharmacies in the Target stores at 48th and O streets and 40th Street and Yankee Hill Road.
Blanchette said the the company, "will continue to provide the community with outstanding service" at the eight remaining locations. | https://journalstar.com/news/local/business/cvs-closing-lincoln-location-next-month/article_2eca1f3c-f8c3-11ed-8908-b7d03c53ec1a.html | 2023-05-23T01:50:53 | 0 | https://journalstar.com/news/local/business/cvs-closing-lincoln-location-next-month/article_2eca1f3c-f8c3-11ed-8908-b7d03c53ec1a.html |
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Birmingham Fire and Rescue is on the scene of a house fire that left one person dead Monday night.
According to BFRS, crews responded to reports of a house fire in the 2400 block of 40th Avenue North at 7:07 p.m. It is confirmed that one person died in the blaze.
The fire is currently under control, but crews are still checking the perimeter for hot spots. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Stay with CBS 42 as this is a developing story. | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/1-dead-in-birmingham-house-fire-2/ | 2023-05-23T01:52:16 | 1 | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/1-dead-in-birmingham-house-fire-2/ |
EDITOR’S NOTE: A replay of this game will be available by 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 23.
WINFIELD, WV (WOWK) – Winfield Youth Baseball is back in action with this year’s playoffs on Monday, May 22, 2023.
Tonight’s game is between the Twins and the Dodgers. Brought to you by The Roof Doctor and Bolt’s Lawn Care. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/winfield-youth-baseball-playoffs-twins-vs-dodgers/ | 2023-05-23T01:54:44 | 1 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/winfield-youth-baseball-playoffs-twins-vs-dodgers/ |
HEMLOCK, Mich. (WJRT) - Saginaw County school communities are grieving Monday after a crash claimed the life of a high school senior and badly injured three other teenagers.
The crash happened in the early morning hours of Saturday on 7 Mile Road in Bay County's Frankenlust Township. Investigators believe speed and alcohol were factors in the crash.
The crash claimed the life of 18-year-old Dax Burk, who was a senior at Hemlock High School and only days away from graduation. Two students who attend St. Charles schools were badly injured.
Memorials for Burk were set up outside Hemlock High School and at the crash scene on 7 Mile Road.
Michigan State Police say a pickup truck carrying four teenagers was heading south on 7 Mile Road, when the driver went off the road into a ditch partially filled with water. The truck slammed into a driveway culvert.
Burk, who was riding in the front passenger seat, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The 18-year-old driver from Saginaw, a 15-year-old from Saginaw and a 16-year-old from St. Charles, all males, were badly injured and remained in area hospitals Monday.
Police believe the teens were returning from a party north of Bay County when they crashed. Investigators believe speed and alcohol were factors in the crash.
Hemlock Public Schools Superintendent Don Killingbeck released a statement, saying "our hearts break. The family and friends of Dax Burk continue to be in all of our thoughts and prayers."
Counselors were on hand at Hemlock schools Monday.
Two of the teens injured are students at St. Charles Community Schools.
"This is a tough situation," said St. Charles Superintendent Mark Benson.
He said the two districts, along with the Saginaw Intermediate School District, have been working together to make sure anyone who needs help coping with the tragedy gets it during this graduation season.
"We've assembled a crisis support team that is there to support the staff and students throughout the day, and as needed they have gone and visited them," Benson said.
Michigan State Police will continue investigating the crash. | https://www.abc12.com/news/local/hemlock-schools-mourn-high-school-senior-killed-in-weekend-crash/article_d5cc2f2a-f8e4-11ed-9442-7b45bf7df28d.html | 2023-05-23T01:55:29 | 1 | https://www.abc12.com/news/local/hemlock-schools-mourn-high-school-senior-killed-in-weekend-crash/article_d5cc2f2a-f8e4-11ed-9442-7b45bf7df28d.html |
A controversial plan to house formerly homeless people at a vacant hospital resurfaced Monday at Dallas City Hall, despite loud opposition from neighbors and from the Dallas County commissioner who represents the area.
The former University General Hospital building on South Hampton Road, in the middle of a residential area, was purchased by the city for $6.5 million in January 2022 without any prior public conversations with neighbors.
The 12-acre site is right beside a public library that is connected to an elementary school. It is surrounded by homes.
Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia said she has spoken with city officials about the plan.
“I made it very clear from the beginning that I would not support this type of development,” Garcia said.
Loud opposition from neighbors was obvious at an October 2022 public meeting on the project.
City officials said it would not be a homeless shelter. It would be renovated to provide permanent supportive housing units for formerly homeless people with on-site services. They hoped to see additional supportive housing constructed on vacant land at the site in the future.
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An advisory committee was formed by surrounding residents. Most of them wound up opposing the project. Two of the advisory members spoke with NBC 5 Monday.
“We were supposed to have what was called a good neighbor agreement about what was going to go in there, how it was going to be controlled, or handled. None of that has come true,” neighbor Christine Ann said.
After the October public meeting, opponents said they were led to believe the project had been placed on hold pending additional community input.
“They were going to pull it and let the neighborhood decide, the people in the neighborhood decide what should happen there. And then we didn’t hear a word. We heard nothing,” Ann said.
Advisory Member Cathy Lauer said she is not surprised to hear the project is still being pursued at city hall.
“I understand the drill if you will. So, I wish I could say I am surprised but no. I mean, I’m cynical about it all. They’ll tell you one thing to your face and then in the back, I feel they’re going to do what they’re going to do.” Lauer said.
The Dallas City Council Housing and Homeless Solutions Committee heard the plan Monday to seek $17.7 million in the 2024 public improvement bond referendum to renovate the building.
Homeless Solutions Director Christine Crossley said the bond money would be intended to send a message to help attract other housing investment at the site.
“The city is committed to partnering with public and private entities, to leverage this funding into developing the campus holistically over several years,” Crossley said.
The $17.7 million figure was determined by an estimated $15 million cost plus 18% design fee.
Another $2.36 million would be included in the homeless solutions bond money request to update and expand the city-owned Bridge homeless shelter downtown.
Garcia said the Hampton Road site would be an excellent location to develop affordable single-family for-sale housing. She said neighbors have told her they would support that.
“I think it’s just crazy that they are still trying to put a homeless shelter facility forward in this spot,” Garcia said. “When the neighborhood speaks, we elected officials should listen.
Garcia said a mental health facility being developed near Interstate 30 is a good example of selecting a proper location.
Opponents of the Hampton site have said they support city help for homeless people, just not in this location.
“It’s going to change the complexion of that neighborhood completely,” Lauer said.
Dallas City Council Member Carolyn King Arnold, the only member to vote against the hospital purchase, did say Monday that more community engagement is needed for the homeless support plan. None of the city council members tried to stop the plan. | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/controversial-hampton-road-homeless-housing-resurfaces-at-dallas-city-hall/3262981/ | 2023-05-23T01:56:48 | 1 | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/controversial-hampton-road-homeless-housing-resurfaces-at-dallas-city-hall/3262981/ |
Kyu Cho had a generous spirit and joyous belly laugh that delighted his friends. His wife, Cindy Cho, was quieter, described by those who knew her as sweet and kind. Together, the parents of two young sons complemented each other perfectly, strong in their faith and devoted to family and friends.
“That’s what I keep hearing in my head when I think of them: Just Kyu laughing so deeply and Cindy just kind of shaking her head and laughing along,” said their friend, Phyllis Myung. “Every interaction I ever had with them, we were always laughing so hard.”
Cindy and Kyu grew up in Texas. They met while pursuing their careers as young adults in Boston — hers as a dentist, his as an attorney. Wanting to be near their families, they decided it was time to return to Texas when they started a family of their own.
The couple and their sons — 6-year-old William and 3-year-old James — were not far from their Dallas home when a gunman opened fire at an outdoor mall as they shopped earlier this month in the suburb of Allen. Kyu, 37, Cindy, 35, and James were among the eight people killed that sunny Saturday afternoon. The family's only survivor was William, who was wounded.
Those killed represented a multicultural cross-section of the increasingly diverse area. Authorities haven't yet established the motive of the gunman, who was killed by a police officer, but they have said he was a neo-Nazi who left a trail of online posts describing his white supremacist and misogynistic views.
The tragedy that befell the Cho family touched so many that a GoFundMe page quickly raised over $1.8 million before being closed. With William home from the hospital, family members said in a statement that they are focused on making sure he “leads a happy, healthy life with his extended family who love him dearly.”
Cindy and Kyu, who met through their Boston church, “really, really wanted to have kids,” Myung said.
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“It was a common thing to see one of them holding one of the kids at our church,” said Myung, who worshipped with them in Boston. “They were really ready to be parents.”
Thomas Huang, another friend from their church, said the phrase that always came to mind when he would see Kyu and Cindy together was “relationship goals.”
“Even though Cindy was definitely a little bit more on the introverted side and Kyu was more extroverted, they kind of had this balance where it was like this perfect synergy of that energy,” Huang said.
For instance, he said, Kyu was more into dancing than his wife, but at their wedding, she worked to get people on the dance floor.
“She really made an effort to dance and kind of get people into it because she knew that Kyu loved to dance and wanted to get everyone involved and get everyone excited about it,” Huang said.
Both “had incredible strength,” he said, and were like older siblings to many.
“Everywhere they’ve gone, every stage of their lives, they’ve just impacted people in such deep and profound ways,” Huang said.
Kyu, who worked as an immigration attorney at Porter Legal Group, was born in South Korea and raised in Dallas, according to the law firm’s website, which said he had “a deep pride, respect, and appreciation for the American Dream.”
He graduated with his bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 2007, then graduated in 2010 from the Ave Maria School of Law in Florida, the website said.
Cindy, who grew up in College Station and Houston, graduated with her bachelor's degree from the University of Texas in 2009, then graduated in 2013 from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio School of Dentistry.
The dentistry school's dean, Dr. Peter M. Loomer, said Cindy — whose name was Cindy Kang before she married, the name she went by when practicing dentistry — was “a kind and caring student, always doing the best to help improve the health and lives of her patients.”
A Facebook post from Thrive Dental and Orthodontics, where she once worked, said she was “the sweetest, most beautiful soul with the kindest heart.”
Growing up, Cindy loved reading and was serious-minded when she needed to be, said David Kim, whose family went to the same Korean church as her family in College Station. He said the families stayed close even when Cindy's family moved to Houston, where they would still meet up for outings to places like the old AstroWorld amusement park.
“She’s just a sweet soul,” Kim said.
Kyu was not only skilled in the art of taekwondo but also could play everything from classical music to Coldplay on the piano, his friends said. Friend Young Min Kim said he was someone who could talk to anyone.
Adam Dame, Kyu's roommate all four years at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, said he knew within a week or two of meeting that he'd “hit the roommate lottery.” Kyu, he said, had an “infectious, big laugh.”
“I always wanted to make him laugh because I just loved hearing it,” Dame said. “He filled you with a lot of joy.”
Myung said both Kyu and Cindy worked to make sure people felt “included and cared for and seen.” She said that as she grieves, she comforts herself with the hope she will see her friends again in heaven.
“I think that's the only thing that's helping the grief, is to know that one day we'll all be laughing together again,” Myung said. | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/couple-killed-at-allen-mall-shooting-along-with-3-year-old-son-had-perfect-synergy/3263036/ | 2023-05-23T01:56:54 | 0 | https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/couple-killed-at-allen-mall-shooting-along-with-3-year-old-son-had-perfect-synergy/3263036/ |
BLOOMINGTON — Bloomington police are looking for a potentially armed and dangerous fugitive wanted in connection with a 2020 homicide.
James D. Moon, 24, is wanted on multiple McLean County warrants for murder (five counts), mob action, aggravated discharge of a firearm and obstructing justice. Moon's bond on these warrants is $3 million, meaning he must post $300,035 to be released from jail.
"Moon should be considered armed and dangerous if spotted," police said in a statement issued Monday evening.
He is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 140 pounds. Police also issued two images of him.
Police said he remains on the run for his role in an Oct. 12, 2020, homicide in Bloomington. Two other men were arrested in connection wit the case in April 2021, and James Moon was charged but at large at that time.
If you have information on Moon's whereabouts, contact Detective Ty Klein at 309-434-2366 or tklein@cityblm.org. Anonymous tips may be sent via smartphone by texting the number 847411 and the word "BPDTIPS" with a space followed by your tip information.
Jaleel D. Johnson, 20, of Bloomington died the afternoon of Oct. 12, 2020, at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center, Bloomington, of a single gunshot wound to the head, McLean County Coroner Kathy Yoder said previously.
Police said Johnson and two other men who were critically injured, were shot that afternoon in the 1600 block of Iowa Street on Bloomington's west side. One of the wounded men was a co-conspirator who was shot in the back by accident in the incident and was subsequently charged in the case, authorities said.
Photos: Emergency crews train on air disaster readiness at Bloomington airport
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Contact Roger Miller at (309) 820-3233. Follow him on Twitter: @pg_rmiller | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/bloomington-police-seeking-armed-dangerous-murder-suspect/article_52c0c9aa-f8fe-11ed-a71e-237a9671b23e.html | 2023-05-23T01:57:47 | 1 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/bloomington-police-seeking-armed-dangerous-murder-suspect/article_52c0c9aa-f8fe-11ed-a71e-237a9671b23e.html |
PFLUGERVILLE, Texas — The Pflugerville Police Department has launched an investigation after a man was found dead at a home on Saturday, May 20.
Around 12:30 p.m., officers responded to a check welfare call in the 700 block of Camp Fire Trail. Upon entering the home, officers found the man dead.
Police said this is an isolated incident and there is no known threat to the public.
There is an active investigation and no other details are available at this time, according to police.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Pflugerville Police Department at 512-990-6700 or cidtips@pflugervilletx.gov. Information can also be submitted on the City’s website. | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/pflugerville-death-investigation-campfire-trail/269-b55b211b-e746-4262-ae36-d4af9f767f4e | 2023-05-23T01:59:49 | 0 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/pflugerville-death-investigation-campfire-trail/269-b55b211b-e746-4262-ae36-d4af9f767f4e |
DES MOINES – Cooler-than-normal temperatures and relatively dry weather helped Iowa farmers to 4.8 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending Sunday, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Farmers were still planting corn, soybeans, and oats this week, although planting activities were nearing completion.
“Damp conditions early last week eventually gave way to warmer and drier weather, which allowed many farmers across the state to wrap up planting,” said Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. “While the haze from the Canadian wildfires will dissipate by mid-week, forecasts show the warmer and drier conditions will stick around all week.”
Topsoil moisture condition rated 5% very short, 20% short, 71% adequate and 4% surplus. Subsoil moisture condition rated 7% very short, 25% short, 65% adequate and 3% surplus.
Ninety-five percent of Iowa’s expected corn crop has been planted, nine days ahead of last year and 12 days ahead of the five-year average. Sixty-five percent of the corn crop has emerged, six days ahead of last year and four days ahead of the average. Eighty-four percent of Iowa’s expected soybean crop has been planted, just over a week ahead of last year and nearly two weeks ahead of normal. Forty-three percent of soybeans have emerged, eight days ahead of last year and six days ahead of average. Ninety-four percent of the expected oat crop has emerged, eight days ahead of normal. Eleven percent of the oat crop has headed, nine days ahead of last year and 10 days ahead of the average. Oat condition improved to 80% good to excellent.
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Eight percent of the state’s first cutting of alfalfa hay has been completed. Hay condition declined to 66% good to excellent. Pasture condition rated 58% good to excellent. Reports of livestock turned out to pasture were received again this week, overall livestock conditions are good.
Weather summary
Canadian wildfire smoke was pervasive over Iowa on several days of the reporting period as a less active storm track brought widespread, though below-normal rainfall. Most of Iowa’s weather stations reported deficits of at least an inch with northeast and southwest stations slightly wetter. Temperatures were below normal across portions of western and northern Iowa with near-average conditions over the rest of the state; the statewide average temperature was 60.7 degrees, 2.1 degrees below normal.
Weekly rain totals ranged from no accumulation at western and northern Iowa stations to 3.04 inches at Lamoni Municipal Airport. The statewide weekly average precipitation was 0.29 inch, while the normal is 0.92 inch. Airports in Ames and Waterloo reported the week’s high temperature of 85 degrees on the 18th, on average 12 degrees above normal. Atlantic (Cass County) reported the week’s low temperature of 34 degrees on the 20th, 17 degrees below normal. | https://globegazette.com/news/local/corn-planting-nearly-complete/article_0cd49500-f8dd-11ed-a17b-8773a7eb102d.html | 2023-05-23T01:59:49 | 1 | https://globegazette.com/news/local/corn-planting-nearly-complete/article_0cd49500-f8dd-11ed-a17b-8773a7eb102d.html |
Judge hears arguments against sheriff, employees in trio of lawsuits
A judge is expected to rule soon on a trio of lawsuits filed by former Alachua County Sheriff’s Office employees against Sheriff Clovis Watson Jr. after a hearing on Monday.
Attorney Bobi Frank spoke on behalf of the three employees at the hearing, saying Watson repeatedly violated state law by denying her clients' rights to due process while on the brink of suspension or termination.
A fourth separate case, in federal court, also claims he has discriminated against employees based on their skin color. That lawsuit is still pending.
“I am hoping that justice will prevail,” Frank said. “I have full confidence.”
More:Former sheriffs critical of Sheriff Clovis Watson Jr.'s handling of employee's send-off party
More:3 ACSO officers file lawsuits against Sheriff Watson. Judge orders answers
Watson was absent from the hearing which lasted less than two hours and drew a crowd of around 30 people. Attorney Robert Rush represented the sheriff.
Overall, Frank argued there was a severe lack of due process in the discipline of these three employees that has caused irreparable harm to their lives. Alleged misconduct varies by case and includes not properly reviewing complaints and not allowing employees to defend themselves during the investigation process.
Much of the discussion centered around the Florida Bill of Rights and the section Frank called the “officers’ bill of rights.” Frank argued that Watson violated the process outlined in the law, including a portion that says law enforcement agencies shall create their own methods for reviewing complaints and then follow that method.
Rush, however, argues that any potential violations during the termination or disciplinary process were internal policy violations rather than statutory ones, and therefore not a violation of the employees’ rights.
“There’s nothing in the bill of rights that says every complaint must be investigated,” he said. “There is in fact a significant distinction between rights and policies.”
The complaints
In one case, Capt. Rebecca Butscher argues that she was recommended for termination following a disagreement with a former deputy who was recently promoted above her to major.
Butscher was reprimanded for being "insubordinate" based on her “body language and tone,” the court filing states. The determination was at the sole discretion of Maj. Lance Yaeger, who had the initial disagreement with her.
The lawsuit states that Yaeger and Watson violated the officers' bill of rights multiple times by continuously not allowing Butscher to defend herself from the accusations. She was ultimately suspended and given a year of probation within the agency.
The second case involves Sgt. William “Frank” Williams, who made a social media post expressing his concern for staffing levels and Watson’s continued reorganization efforts of the department.
Watson, who has about 300 employees, has moved around, changed the title or demoted nearly 200 workers since taking office, records show. Some of those reassignments include longtime decorated officers being placed on night-shift duty, removed from their longtime roles or transferred to other departments where they have no prior experience.
Significant jumps in rank have also become common practice under Watson’s leadership, as lower-ranked officials have seemingly skipped more experienced officers within the agency by bypassing the competitive and testing processes.
Despite the vast changes, data suggests that staffing woes within the agency and crime have only increased.
In February, the sheriff’s office had more than 100 vacant positions, including shortages at the jail and on patrol. Data also shows Alachua County had one of the highest crime rates per capita in the state last year. Crime had also increased from the year prior.
“I’m just exhausted from constantly being disappointed by this administration," Williams wrote on Facebook. "I’m done suppressing my feelings and my own mental health just to avoid retaliation. Quite literally, this is no different than a domestic violence relationship. I’ll probably find myself transferred or disciplined in some fashion because of this, but I don’t give a f---. I’m tired of my friends, nah family, being treated poorly.”
Williams was suspended soon after his post.
An internal investigation report found that the sergeant violated the department's social media policy, was insubordinate and disrespectful to his chain of command. Fellow officers, however, gave Williams glowing reviews and said he was one of the best leaders they had worked with on the force and painted him as a passionate member of the team who cares for the well-being of his fellow officers.The report shows that Williams met with investigators and said he needed a chance to review all the information before moving forward. The administration, however, ordered the investigation to play out without ever interviewing Williams, the report states.
On March 7, Watson wrote that Williams had "outrageous criticism behavior" that warranted termination.
Williams's lawsuit states that he wasn't awarded due process and was not given a chance to defend himself from the allegations.
Third lawsuit and federal case
Sgt. Kevin Davis, who filed suit against Watson on Monday, was also suspended for his social media use and likewise argues his due process was skipped over.
But Davis, a white male with 23 years of experience, has taken his issues further by filing a discrimination lawsuit against Watson where he accuses the county’s first Black sheriff of letting race play a pivotal role in his employment decisions.
He, as well as other ACSO employees who spoke with The Sun, said Watson requires an image of applicants prior to making decisions on hires, promotions and transfers. He argues that more qualified and higher-ranked employees are regularly skipped over for promotions based on the color of their skin.
Davis argues in the federal lawsuit that he was not promoted for being white and that his civil rights were violated.
The growing frustrations among Watson's staff and the lack of answers didn't stockpile overnight.
In November, The Sun reported that Watson suspended another employee who asked county commissioners for clarification after learning the sheriff opted not to give all agency workers raises, despite being given funds to do so. He claimed the employee shared false information about him, though he provided no specifics.
The employee, who was facing termination, also hired Frank as her attorney and ultimately kept her job. The former jail director, who campaigned for Watson in 2020, also left the agency after expressing frustration with constant restructuring and low staffing levels. | https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/local/2023/05/22/sheriff-clovis-watson-defends-case-against-employees-in-court/70244840007/ | 2023-05-23T02:00:13 | 1 | https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/local/2023/05/22/sheriff-clovis-watson-defends-case-against-employees-in-court/70244840007/ |
A third wave of layoffs is taking place at Disney, expected to end with more than 2,500 staff being fired, according to CNN.
The layoffs come after the company announced last week that it was canceling its $1 billion Lake Nona project and closing its Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser resort hotel.
It also follows the first round of layoffs in March and a second wave in April.
While it’s not yet known which divisions will be impacted by the latest round of layoffs, CNN reported that the total number of jobs cut would is predicted to be over 6,500, nearly reaching the 7,000 goal set by Disney CEO Robert Iger.
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Iger announced the 7,000 job-cut figure back in February, which is part of a reconfiguration project planned to help cut back on about $5.5 billion in costs to the company.
According to CNN, the labor cuts make up 30% of the overall figure, as 50% will be taken from marketing operations and another 20% will come from decreased spending on technology, procurement and other expenses.
“Our new structure is aimed at returning greater authority to our creative leaders and making them accountable for how their content performs financially,” Iger said earlier this year.
News 6 has reached out to Disney for comment and is awaiting a response.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/05/23/report-disney-expected-to-sack-over-2500-in-third-round-of-layoffs/ | 2023-05-23T02:00:34 | 1 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/05/23/report-disney-expected-to-sack-over-2500-in-third-round-of-layoffs/ |
WACO, Texas — Midway ISD announced that Krystle Moos, a high school chemistry teacher, has been named a state finalist in the 2023 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) on Monday, May 22.
The PAEMST recognizes mathematics or science teachers who exemplify immense dedication and outstanding services as educators.
Moos had to go through a tough application that measured her abilities to not only teach, but to motivate her students as well.
The President will recognize up to 108 teachers each year after a national selection committee reviews the state finalists and picks one teacher from every content area in each state.
Moos would receive $10,000 from the National Science Foundation and get an opportunity to attend a series of networking and developmental activities in Washington D.C. if she is selected.
For more information, visit here.
Also on KCENTV.com: | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/midway-high-chemistry-teacher-named-state-finalist-in-national-presidential-awards-program/500-a0cd2694-b942-47c0-bc80-ecfdd1539a0b | 2023-05-23T02:16:59 | 0 | https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/midway-high-chemistry-teacher-named-state-finalist-in-national-presidential-awards-program/500-a0cd2694-b942-47c0-bc80-ecfdd1539a0b |
MIDLAND, Texas — A gender reveal was being celebrated in Midland before a drunk neighbor plowed their car into a group of people.
Jessica Estrada was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and driving while intoxicated, and by a miracle no one was severely injured.
"She came over to hurt somebody, we all believe that," said Zachery Throckmorton, the owner of the house and neighbor of Estrada.
Estrada walked into the house during a gender reveal party angry, uninvited and intoxicated.
"We finally got her outside, and as she came outside, she started just getting even more aggressive and she finally ended up walking home," said Throckmorton.
Estrada got home, got into her car, backed up and drove straight into the group of people on the driveway.
"Pointed her car towards our driveway and just stepped on the gas," said Throckmorton.
The crash injured Throckmorton's children and their family friends they were having the gender reveal for.
"Which in return threw my buggy into my Toyota, and then rolled over my 2-year-old son," said Throckmorton. "Our friend, which is pregnant, she was holding my 1 and a half year old son. She hit her, threw her about five and half feet."
Throckmorton also suffered two fractured vertebrae, putting him out of work for six weeks.
None of the injuries were life-threatening, but it was still an extremely traumatic experience.
"I mean, it's an emotional rollercoaster," said Throckmorton. "I mean, you've got grown people having nightmares, and I mean not sleeping."
The family is still wondering what would make someone do something like this.
"I mean it was completely intentional, there was no accident, there was no 'oops, I'm sorry I did it,'" said Throckmorton "She knew what she was doing. She might have been just completely gone, obliterated, but she knew exactly what she was doing."
After the crash, Estrada exits her car waving her hands. Right now, the family just wants to make sure they are safe.
"File restraining orders, file safety precautions, so if she does get out, what's going to stop her from coming right back across the street," said Throckmorton.
The family also said they have thousands of dollars in damages from Estrada hitting their car, buggy and items in their garage. | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/drunk-neighbor-plows-car-into-group-of-people/513-97cf5263-38c9-4ec4-9902-b533d5f76cfe | 2023-05-23T02:20:07 | 0 | https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/drunk-neighbor-plows-car-into-group-of-people/513-97cf5263-38c9-4ec4-9902-b533d5f76cfe |
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — In this day and age, people have been writing fewer checks and opting to buy things online instead— but that also comes with risks.
We've reported on several scams lately and they all have one thing in common. People aren't who they say they are and unsuspecting victims have lost money because of it.
One Little Rock woman explained that for her it started on Mother's Day when several people started showing up at her door expecting to pick up items they bought online. Though she explained that she was not selling anything, and the victims and money spent are quickly adding up.
"Someone had given them my address. So they came to claim the property that they purchased. And I thought it was an isolated incident," Little Rock resident, Toni Barnas said.
More and more people kept showing up on Toni Barnas' doorstep.
"Almost 20 People have come to my home all paying upwards between $250 to $40," Barnas explained.
People have traveled from other nearby cities to pick up their items, ranging from pet supplies to furniture.
Barnas said most of the people have paid for their items through Facebook or Cash App.
"Most have been very kind and understanding that they're a victim and on the victim as well since my address is being used," she said.
She's ready for it to stop. So far, she said the total cost spent has been around $2,000.
"We reached out to the police, we found a report with a telephone reporting number. But there was really nothing more that they could do," Barnas said.
Kayla Irons traveled from Conway to pick up a dog kennel that her kids paid for on Cash App and ended up walking away with nothing.
"At this point, I was pretty irritated. And kind of you know, who is this person? What's the story? I was told to pick up the kennel here, you know," Irons explained.
Now, she's been a little more careful when shopping on Facebook Marketplace.
"It's a good reminder, it's a good reminder to just proceed with even greater caution," she said.
Barnas even put a sign on her front door to tell people they've been scammed, in case she's not home.
"Having all these people that I don't know come to my property is a bit unnerving and I'm concerned something is going to happen because someone's going to be upset," Barnas described.
Attorney General Tim Griffin said we should all be suspicious of brand-new Facebook profiles, avoid deals that seem too good to be true, and not send money to people you don't know.
"Something's going on and something needs to be done," Barnas said.
We did reach out to Little Rock Police and were told they can't do much about this scam. Though the Attorney General said if you're a victim of this, you should report it to the platform you used to pay and file a complaint with his office.
You can file a complaint by calling Tim Griffin's office at (800) 482-8982 or by clicking here. | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/facebook-marketplace-scams/91-9f171957-9e24-4b26-b239-f529565580c3 | 2023-05-23T02:28:44 | 0 | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/facebook-marketplace-scams/91-9f171957-9e24-4b26-b239-f529565580c3 |
MIDLAND, Texas — UPDATE: A man has been arrested for murder in connection to the death of Madeline Pantoja.
According to an arrest affidavit, the Midland Police Department was dispatched to the Palladium Museum Place Apartments on a check welfare/attempt to locate call on May 11.
Officer Leible would go on to speak with multiple people close to Madeline Pantoja. They all described to the officer their last time speaking with Madeline and when communication with Madeline ended.
According to all these people, the last time they heard from Madeline was on May 10. One of the conversations was about going swimming and hanging out at the pool in the apartment complex on May 11 around 6 p.m.
When the people arrived, Madeline was not picking up any of the numerous calls made to her. The people also went to her apartment to see if she would answer the door, which was unsuccessful as well.
Pantoja's boyfriend, Mario Chacon Jr., was called by one of these people, who said that he was very evasive and did not seem too concerned that Madeline had not been heard from. Chacon said he was with his dad all day on May 10 and kept repeating that response, which the person involved found odd.
Chacon also said he was taking anger medication and was not able to drive to try and prove he did not leave his house all day. The people who talked to the officer then went to the maintenance staff to get into Madeline's apartment, where they found Madeline's purse, keys, dog and vehicle parked in the lot.
They said that there were things not found or left in weird places compared to what Madeline typically does, including a missing black table where she would eat her food and the fact that her dog's food and water bowl was empty, along with a mess in the puppy pads.
Officer Leible also went to the apartment and found a mop with dirty water sitting next to the front door. The officer noticed the floor to be sticky. The people interviewed revealed to the officer that Chacon did have his own keys to Madeline's apartment.
Officer Leible spoke to neighbors who said they heard screaming and yelling around 1:30 a.m. on May 10, and that it was between a male and female. The neighbors said this yelling had happened before and that they typically try to tune it out.
On May 12 at 12:05 a.m., Chacon was asked to do an interview, which he voluntarily agreed to do. He told MPD that he physically saw Madeline last on May 9, and talked to her over the phone for the last time around 9 p.m. on May 10.
Around 10:50 a.m. on May 12, officers responded to another check welfare at the same location as Madeline's apartment.
The officers went to the apartment of Madeline and made entry. They discovered a hole in the bathroom door and a hole in the door that leads to the bedroom, which had hair attached to the damaged door. They also found no bed comforter and a dark red stain on the bed sheet, but no Pantoja.
Based on the evidence found in the apartment, MPD believed this activity was likely foul play. Chacon was interviewed around 5:45 p.m. on May 12. The interview was non-custodial and Mario was advised that he could leave if he wanted.
Chacon told the officers that he forgot to tell them that he went to get drinks with his cousin who lived in the same complex as Madeline. Mario drove his pickup and picked up his cousin.
After going out, he dropped his cousin back off and received a call around 11:06 p.m. from his cousin saying that he made it to his address. Mario said he stayed at the address and was the only person to drive the pickup in the month of May.
The affidavit said that according to security camera footage, there was a pickup near an oil company off Montgomery that was close to Madeline's complex. Based on the photographs and footage of the pickup, it was made clear they matched, and the footage shows a time stamp of 1:59 a.m. A flock camera also shows the license plate of Chacon in the area of South County Road 1160 at 3:22 a.m.
This led to MPD coming up with the time frame of evidence being from around 12:26 a.m. to 3:37 a.m. On May 18, Chacon was interviewed again and was told that MPD found lies in his timeline of events. Chacon said ok and asked to leave the interview since it was a non-custodial interview. Chacon also declined an offer for a polygraph test.
On May 13, a search warrant was submitted for cellular records for AT&T Wireless. On May 20, MPD obtained those cellular records, which were then sent to Texas Ranger Cold Allen. Upon looking into these records, Ranger Allen found a one-mile area around East County Road 190 and South County Road 1138 in Midland County.
A search was conducted in the area and human remains were found within the one-mile area. MPD Detectives corroborated jewelry that Madeline was known to wear on the remains. These remains will now go to the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Officer for positive identification and autopsy.
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After ten days of Madeline Pantoja being missing, Saturday afternoon Mario Juan Chacon Jr. was taken into custody in connection to the Missing Person case, according to Midland Police.
Earlier Saturday, Midland Police found remains, identified as Madeline Pantoja, in the area approximately 3 miles east of County Road 190 and County Road 1160.
According to the Midland County Sheriff's Office detainee roster, Chacon was charged with first degree murder.
According to a press release released by the City of Midland, at approximately 3:30 p.m. today, Midland Police Department detectives arrested 24-year-old Mario Juan Chacon for the charge of murder in connection with the death of Madeline Pantoja.
The Midland Police Department initiated an extensive investigation and search on May 11, 2023, after Madeline was reported missing.
An autopsy will be performed in Dallas County, and the investigation is ongoing.
Next of kin has been notified.
Pantoja went missing on May 10; her keys, phone, purse and dog being left in her apartment.
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The Midland Police Department held a press conference Friday afternoon with an update on Missing Person Madeline Pantoja, who's been missing since May 10.
Mayor Lori Blong said the Police Department is working tirelessly on the investigation, and that due to it being an active investigation, they can't answer any questions.
She said there is no reason to believe there is a public threat to Midland.
The Chief of Police Seth Herman took the podium and said that since the initial report, the police department have worked 24 hours a day to solve this.
He said they have search about 60 square miles of remote property using human assets, drones and manned aircraft. They've also had over one dozen search warrants to search for Pantoja.
They've interviewed about 25 people so far and have also received over 20 tips from the public.
If evidence should suggest foul play, criminal enforcement actions should be taken without delay.
The police department advises the public shouldn't interfere with the investigation and engage in their own investigations, which could impede locating Pantoja. Any interference by any parties in their investigation will result in necessary charges to the charges.
They also said that there is now a $20,000 reward for anyone who provides information that leads to the location of Pantoja.
She was last seen at 11:00 p.m. on May 10 at 1711 West Francis. There is no clothing description, and her phone and vehicle are still at her apartment.
People can call MPD at 432-685-7108 if they have any information. We will continue to update this story as we receive more information. | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/midland-police-department-asks-for-help-finding-missing-person/513-2f0ff809-0a36-4f08-a4b9-fe770998108f | 2023-05-23T02:28:51 | 0 | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/midland-police-department-asks-for-help-finding-missing-person/513-2f0ff809-0a36-4f08-a4b9-fe770998108f |
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — "It would set us off into, most economists are saying this would set us off into a pretty strong recession if not an economic depression," says Benjamin Toll about the effect of the US government defaulting on its billions of dollars in debt.
Toll is an Assistant Political Science Professor at Wilkes University.
But why is that possible? Well, in order to get a better idea, we asked Toll to first explain what a debt ceiling is.
"A debt ceiling is not deciding whether or not we can choose to spend money, it's whether or not we can pay the bills that we have already accumulated," Toll explained.
It would be like if you and your family paid to remodel your home on a credit card, and now you're deciding to pay the credit card bill or not.
"So the debt ceiling is whether or not we're willing to continue to spend the money on the bills on the purchases that we've already made as a country," added Toll.
So now Toll says the argument in Washington is whether the debt ceiling should be tied to spending cuts.
"So it's sort of this arbitrary, not required thing that we have created. And now we are playing political games with it every time we come up to what would be another debt ceiling limit," said Toll.
So if the debt ceiling isn't raised, what would a default mean?
"That would make it mean that it would be more expensive for the government to take on loans. It would make the dollar be less powerful than what it is right now on a worldwide scale," Toll explained.
For you and me? It could cause the stock market to drop--hurting retirement accounts and more.
"We already are having high-interest rate mortgages right now, high-interest rate car loans, that's going to increase even more which will probably obviously the result increase inflation again," said Toll.
If there's no compromise this week, we could start feeling the effects of default as soon as June 1st.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/luzerne-county/breaking-down-a-government-default-on-debt-benjamin-toll-wilkes-university-government-money-politics-economy/523-23056656-21a9-42c4-826d-873148f75399 | 2023-05-23T02:39:39 | 1 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/luzerne-county/breaking-down-a-government-default-on-debt-benjamin-toll-wilkes-university-government-money-politics-economy/523-23056656-21a9-42c4-826d-873148f75399 |
MIFFLINBURG, Pa. — For the Mifflinburg Hose Company, one picture marks a moment 125 years in the making.
"This year will be 125 years of service to our community, and we wanted to get as many guys together as we could, and I think we did ok," said Fire Chief Steve Walter, Mifflinburg Hose Company.
Chief Steve Walter says the department is made up of 85 active members.
Each is a volunteer, something Walter says the company doesn't have much trouble finding.
"If you look in the picture, you'll see many three-generation families here, so five to six people in a family serving this community through the years that's kind of how we kept, kept going the way we have," said Chief Walter.
At only 16, Josiah Dewar is the company's youngest volunteer.
"I've gotten nothing but encouragement and all that sort of thing. It means a lot. My family hasn't been involved in emergency response, but I'm really affected by that sort of stuff, so I'm really glad that I get to have the chance," said Josiah Dewar, Mifflinburg Hose Company.
Most of the firefighters are men, but that didn't stop Allison Shively from following in the footsteps of the many first responders in her family.
"I just wanted to join as soon as I could, I didn't want to watch anymore. I wanted to actually help, so I joined, as well as my husband my dad was in it, my brother's now in it, so it's kind of a family affair," said Allison Shively, Mifflinburg Hose Company.
With the success of the first 125 years, members of the department say they are eager to see what the next century or so has to offer.
"The future is these young kids. We have some 16-year-olds, and we have some guys who are in their 80s, but they've done their time, and now it's time for the young guys to step up," said Chief Walter.
"I hope to see it go on for another 125 or more," added Dewar.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel. | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/union-county/fire-department-celebrates-125-years-of-service-mifflinburg-hose-company-union-county-steve-walter-fire-chief-josiah-dewar-allison-shively/523-5c6cf2b5-3c13-42c7-af4e-c8292468188e | 2023-05-23T02:39:45 | 1 | https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/union-county/fire-department-celebrates-125-years-of-service-mifflinburg-hose-company-union-county-steve-walter-fire-chief-josiah-dewar-allison-shively/523-5c6cf2b5-3c13-42c7-af4e-c8292468188e |
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A $995,000 agreement between the Midland Development Corp. and Bush Tennis Center for the building of an indoor athletic center will come before the Midland City Council on Tuesday.
On May 1, the Midland Development Corp. approved a promotional agreement with the Bush Tennis Center to help with the construction of the ACE Athletic Center in northwest Midland. The center will include indoor basketball courts, an indoor turf field and a high-performance training facility.
“The MDC’s disbursement of funds is contingent upon the Bush Tennis Center securing $11.2 million in total commitments from all public and private sources by Dec. 31, 2024,” a city document states.
The agreement also states that if the Bush Tennis Center fails to complete the project by Dec. 31, 2025, the center shall repay the funds to the MDC upon receiving written demand from the MDC.
With the building of the ACE Athletic Center and the indoor athletic center planned for the Scharbauer Sports Complex, Midland will have basketball and volleyball courts available for Midlanders to use and for sports tourism possibilities.
Note: The Midland City Council will meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday inside Council Chamber at City Hall, 300 N. Loraine St. | https://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/midland-city-leaders-vote-mdc-s-deal-bush-18112874.php | 2023-05-23T02:40:33 | 0 | https://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/midland-city-leaders-vote-mdc-s-deal-bush-18112874.php |
ATLANTA — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he had a productive debt ceiling discussion with President Joe Biden late Monday at the White House, but there had been no agreement yet as Washington D.C. strains to strike a budget compromise and raise the nation's borrowing limit in time to avert a potentially chaotic federal default.
The clock continues ticking, with just 10 days to go. If Biden and McCarthy don't agree on how to raise the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling by June 1, the nation's bills could go unpaid.
Financial advisor and President of Longevity Financial Bradley J. Rosen explained that this could impact millions of Americans, including veterans and people with money invested in the stock market.
"It could be disastrous," he said. "People relying on social security, you’re not going to get a check or it may get delayed for some time. Veterans, you’re not going to get paid either: our military, government employees, sorry, you’re not getting paid either.”
Rosen explains that the last time the U.S. was in this position was in 2011. While a deal was reached hours before the deadline, it had already affected the financial market. He says the difference this time around is that the U.S. is seeing a tougher economic landscape.
"Right now we're already dealing with high inflation, high interest rates. We've got the war in Ukraine," he said. "We've got enough on our plate as an economic landscape that adding this on top of our back -- this is not just putting another straw on the back, as they say. This would be like dropping a huge boulder."
He adds that analysts are already seeing the markets changing this time around.
"Moody's, who does a lot of the ratings of financial institutions, has analytics that say if this doesn't get done and it doesn't get done pretty quickly, even after June 1, you could see the economy retracting by 4%, which is significant," he said. "You could see the stock market potentially going down one-fifth of its value and you could see 7 million jobs lost. Again, these are analytics. These are not certainties, but these are assessments that help us to understand what's going on."
To lessen that potential impact, he recommends keeping an eye on the markets, always have at least six months' worth of savings, and having a diverse portfolio by owning stocks from different industries and countries.
"It's pretty disastrous when millions of Americans are not going to have enough money to pay their bills, put food on their tables, put cooling or heating in their homes, pay for the education for their families," he listed.
Congress has yet to fail when previously faced with debt-ceiling deadlines. Millions of Americans hope that streak continues. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/debt-ceiling-negotiations-impact/85-35a575cd-410d-4c1b-9922-626cce01c13d | 2023-05-23T02:43:41 | 0 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/debt-ceiling-negotiations-impact/85-35a575cd-410d-4c1b-9922-626cce01c13d |
GAINESVILLE, Ga. — A woman who made fake claims to police that she fought off kidnappers is now facing charges herself.
The Gainesville Police Department said the 35-year-old reported the kidnapping on May 18 in Downtown Square. Officers immediately started investigating the claims, GPD said.
"Using high tech digital evidence and security cameras, investigators were able to track nearly every move of (the woman)," police said. "Sadly, this incident brought forth false public fear and panic to our community."
After debunking the woman's reports, police filed charges. She's now accused of making false statements and causing false public alarm -- both felonies. She's also facing a charge for reporting a false crime, police said.
"Many people went to social media to share the false narrative that was provided by (the woman), thus creating more false public fear. We encourage the public to look towards verified outlets for information," the department said.
GPD said it will always provide information to Gainesville residents if it involves public safety. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/gainesville/gainesville-fake-kidnapping-report/85-d3a424ab-3610-4040-b6f2-186177deca1b | 2023-05-23T02:43:47 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/gainesville/gainesville-fake-kidnapping-report/85-d3a424ab-3610-4040-b6f2-186177deca1b |
AUGUSTA -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine is throwing its support behind a proposed bill to create new landmark privacy protections in Maine.
According to the organization, LD 1705 would let people choose whether to share certain information online and ensure that information is stored safely and used appropriately.
The ACLU of Maine's Policy Director Meagan Sway testified in support of the bill Monday, saying it's needed to keep private companies from profiting off of people's personal information.
"If we want to have a strong privacy law that actually gets enforced, we need to have consequences for when the law is broken. And with sensitive data like biometrics, we want to make sure there are consequences," Sway said.
The bill is one of the ACLU of Maine's four priority bills for the current legislative session. | https://www.foxbangor.com/news/local/aclu-of-maine-gets-behind-bill-to-boost-privacy-protections/article_cd3561fe-f909-11ed-a9b3-2ff4bd076dfc.html | 2023-05-23T02:49:39 | 0 | https://www.foxbangor.com/news/local/aclu-of-maine-gets-behind-bill-to-boost-privacy-protections/article_cd3561fe-f909-11ed-a9b3-2ff4bd076dfc.html |
Each year around this time my family starts looking at the calendar for the magical date when we will head up to Lake Michigan.
My husband, Ed, and Teddy, our 9-year-old Lab, love the cooler temperatures. Our 4-year-old cat, Pip, enjoys running from window to window in our condo “chasing” the seagulls. I adore the artist galleries we visit.
Then there’s the water. Three of us are crazy about it. In fairness, Pip hasn’t had the opportunity to explore the lake.
About eight years ago, we introduced Teddy to swimming, but it wasn’t exactly a day at the beach.
Labs are known to love water, but while Teddy may have been built for swimming with his thick tail, webbed feet and waterproof coat, he was hesitant and unsure when we first tried to teach him.
Dogster magazine describes five steps in teaching dogs to swim. I rolled my eyes when I saw them recently, realizing Ed and I had bungled the first two.
We never thought, for example, to practice walking Teddy in and out of Lake Michigan or getting him in and out of a boat. But according to petmd.com, if Teddy ever were to get tired or panicked, knowing how to get on dry land or the boat’s deck would give him comfort and security.
And, as petmd.com reminds us, don’t simply assume your dog will love the water or want to learn to swim just because he’s from a water breed. (The website also advises that before spending a day around any type of outdoor water, be sure to check with local nature officials for any harmful creatures or parasites that may be lurking.)
Which brings us back to Dogster’s steps that I wish we would have read before taking Teddy on his first outdoor water experience:
Step 1: Go at your pooch’s pace. Let your dog play at the water’s edge.
Step 2: Encourage him to move slowly into deeper water. If he starts to look uncomfortable, usher him back to shallower depths.
Step 3: Continue to encourage your dog into slightly deeper water using lots of praise until he is swimming. Introduce floating and water-safe toys to encourage him to stay and play.
Step 4: Use treats and toys to lure your dog back to where he can get out of the water. This shows him how to safely find his way to dry land.
Step 5: Remain close to your dog during the swim session. If your dog seems to get worried, encourage him back to an area shallow enough for him to stand.
We were so excited to teach Teddy to swim that we blew through steps one and two, clambered onto the boat, jumped into the water and started swimming.
Unfortunately, Teddy didn’t share our excitement. He hesitated to get in the boat and Ed had to lift him in. Then he didn’t want to get in the water and again Ed had to lift him.
We did better with the other steps, showing Teddy how to get back into the boat as well as staying close to him as we tried to teach him. But missing the first two steps stressed him — and us.
Fortunately, we learned from our mistakes and Teddy gave water another shot. Now he loves to swim in Lake Michigan as much as we love to swim with him.
Just another reason we can’t wait to get up there.
SAFETY REMINDER
Don’t forget: A dog flotation device is essential for boating. Rough water, strong currents and/or fatigue could make a dog life vest a dog lifesaver.
Karin Spicer is a member of The Dog Writers Association of America. She lives in Greene County with her family and two furry pets who inspire her. She can be reached at spicerkarin@gmail.com.
About the Author | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/dont-just-assume-your-dog-can-swim/3GYY4MXVS5H6BONPCRTD2KPIMQ/ | 2023-05-23T02:49:56 | 0 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/dont-just-assume-your-dog-can-swim/3GYY4MXVS5H6BONPCRTD2KPIMQ/ |
On Monday, Uber launched a new kind of account specifically for teenagers in 14 cities across the country, including Dayton, Cincinnati and Columbus.
According to a release from the company from earlier this month, the feature is part of its family profile feature, where multiple Uber accounts are linked together. The company said this lets families pay for rides and deliveries from a central account, as well as receive location and order updates.
Uber said that teen accounts are “built for parents and caretakers of 13-17 year olds” to get teens from place to place.
It also said the accounts would only be able to use “experienced and highly-rated drivers,” and would include features like “Verify My Ride,” “RideCheck,” audio recording, and live trip tracking.
It also said parents could contact the driver during the trip, contact Uber’s support team or report issues on behalf of the teen. Safety features can’t be turned off, though the teen has to opt into audio recording.
Teen accounts will be able to take trips that start and end in the greater metropolitan area of any city where teen accounts are live. Teens can bring other riders with them, but only if those riders are 13 or older and have the permission of a parent or guardian.
About the Author | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/uber-launches-teen-accounts-in-dayton-other-cities/EY5YRVHU5FHQNF5VRNNIW56EWU/ | 2023-05-23T02:50:02 | 1 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/uber-launches-teen-accounts-in-dayton-other-cities/EY5YRVHU5FHQNF5VRNNIW56EWU/ |
LAWRENCE, Ind — The city of Lawrence has a new police chief.
Curtis Bigsbee was announced as chief Monday, replacing Chief Gary Woodruff, who is moving toward retirement.
“I believe the time is right to step aside, and for a new Chief to assume leadership of the department,” Woodruff said. “I have discussed this transition with Mayor Collier, and he has accepted my decision.”
Woodruff has served nearly 40 years in law enforcement.
“It is the honor of my career to be appointed as Chief of Police for the citizens of Lawrence. Among my top priorities is to engage our youth, while also focusing on community involvement, which I believe will assist in achieving our greatest goal of reducing crime along with improving the safety and the quality of life for all of our citizens,” Bigsbee said.
Bigsbee's term as chief begins immediately.
Bigsbee has been deputy chief with Lawrence Police Department for ten years and has been with the department since 2005. Prior to that, he served in the Indiana National Guard from 1997 to 2005, where he was deployed on a NATO Peacekeeping Mission in Kosovo.
“Chief Bigsbee delivers much needed renewed energy to our department, while ensuring we maintain critical continuity moving forward. Chief Bigsbee is a proven leader who is exceptionally well-suited to lead LPD as we continue meeting the challenges law enforcement agencies face in today’s environment,” Woodruff said in a release. | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/curtis-bigsbee-appointed-lawrence-police-chief/531-af6d6535-2c9f-4a11-b2c4-176c38e798d4 | 2023-05-23T02:52:35 | 1 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/curtis-bigsbee-appointed-lawrence-police-chief/531-af6d6535-2c9f-4a11-b2c4-176c38e798d4 |
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Contact Us | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/police-investigating-blast-caught-on-camera-at-the-jersey-shore/3571324/ | 2023-05-23T02:57:05 | 0 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/police-investigating-blast-caught-on-camera-at-the-jersey-shore/3571324/ |
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Contact Us | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/woman-pulled-over-by-police-imposter-investigators-say/3571326/ | 2023-05-23T02:57:11 | 1 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/woman-pulled-over-by-police-imposter-investigators-say/3571326/ |
PROSPER, Texas — Police in Prosper are searching for an 18-year-old who they believe could be in danger.
Police said Aylin Figueroa was last seen at her home in the 400 block of North Coleman Street on Thursday, May 18.
She was reported missing on Monday, May 22, according to police.
She's described as being 5-feet tall and weighing 130 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair.
Further details, such as the last clothing she was seen wearing, were not immediately available.
Anyone who may have information is urged to call Prosper police at 972-347-2226 or 9-1-1. | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/missing-18-year-old-prosper-texas-believed-in-danger-police-say/287-d6436ee2-f1cf-403b-a4f5-9fae9f099f3e | 2023-05-23T03:08:04 | 0 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/missing-18-year-old-prosper-texas-believed-in-danger-police-say/287-d6436ee2-f1cf-403b-a4f5-9fae9f099f3e |
PHOENIX — A motorcyclist has died after a crash on Loop 202, according to authorities.
The Department of Public Safety said the two-vehicle crash happened on Loop 202 near Buckeye Road Monday afternoon.
The identity of the motorcyclist has not been released. The individual was not wearing a helmet, according to DPS.
This is a developing story; additional details will be added as they become available.
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How big is Maricopa County?:
Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.
The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.
The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States. | https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/valley/man-killed-in-motorcycle-crash-loop-202/75-de05c5b7-065e-4b1e-954b-c125cea8e2b5 | 2023-05-23T03:08:09 | 0 | https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/valley/man-killed-in-motorcycle-crash-loop-202/75-de05c5b7-065e-4b1e-954b-c125cea8e2b5 |
ROCKLIN, Calif. — Rocklin is mourning a beloved father who died while trying to help some ducklings cross an intersection. First responders tried to save him after he was hit by another driver, but he died on the scene.
People are calling Casey Rivara a hero, and there’s a growing memorial where people are leaving behind flowers and dozens of rubber ducks to remember him.
"Both lives were ruined. His and the person who hit him, so I think it's terrible,” said community member Diane Myerson.
Police said a teen driver was headed east on Stanford Ranch Road when they hit and killed Rivara while he was trying to save baby ducks.
"He was doing something nice and he ended up dying for it. Nobody thinks that they get out to help an animal or a person that they're going to be killed,” said Myerson.
According to a GoFundMe page, Rivara was driving his children home after their swim practice when he saw the mother duck and ducklings struggling to cross. Rivara was also an employee at Maria Montessori Charter Academy.
The owner of the Rocklin Flower Shop across the intersection where he lost his life said she’s noticed more accidents at the intersection after the coronavirus pandemic.
"Lots of people moved as a family to enjoy the area. It's getting really crowded, and unfortunately, some people don't pay attention when the animals pass, (or where) kids are going. We need to watch more for people,” said Roya Rouhizadeh.
She plans on taking her concerns to the next city council meeting in hopes of preventing a similar tragedy.
"We need one of those signs that says ‘no turn’ because turning when the other light is green has been so dangerous. Myself or my husband, we’ve all been in that situation. We're turning and suddenly somebody comes to cut you off,” said Rouhizadeh.
The community wants Rivara’s family to know they were touched by what he did, and they recognize his act of kindness.
"I just feel terrible. Heartbroken. Terrible and I can't imagine, I can't imagine their loss,” said Myerson .
Rocklin police said the driver stayed at the scene of the accident. No arrests have been made, and the accident is still under investigation. | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/rocklin-mourns-man-hit-helping-ducks-cross-road/103-4d8f98ca-4751-481a-b591-59763ce57df1 | 2023-05-23T03:13:36 | 0 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/rocklin-mourns-man-hit-helping-ducks-cross-road/103-4d8f98ca-4751-481a-b591-59763ce57df1 |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento City Unified School District is required to make changes to ensure all students have access to an education.
The changes include reducing the disproportionate discipline rate of students with disabilities, especially Black children. It’s all part of a settlement in a discrimination lawsuit between the district, students and a Black-led organization.
Three students, along with a community organization named the Black Parallel School Board, filed the lawsuit against the district in Sept. 2019.
They accused the district of segregating students with disabilities — particularly Black students —from their peers without disabilities. They also claimed students with disabilities were placed in separate classrooms or schools, and that those students faced “excessive and exclusionary discipline” for behavior caused by their disabilities.
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“We experienced the excessive discipline,” said LaRayvian Barnes.
She has a son with autism in the school district and says her family struggled for years to find a supportive learning environment, but now that’s changed.
“Our kids can be educated with their peers in general education and not segregated and separated,” said Barnes.
The district reached a settlement with the students and the Black Parallel School Board, Friday.
“It seeks action on reducing the disproportionate discipline,” said Mona Tawatao, the legal director for the Equal Justice Society.
The settlement requires “an independent monitor” to review existing data on the district’s special education and school discipline practices. An action plan must be implemented to ensure all students have equal access to a quality education.
“It focuses on reducing segregation, education of students with disabilities away from their classmates. The Americans with Disabilities Act says you're not supposed to do that,” said Tawatao.
The Sacramento City Unified School District released the following statement:
"The Sacramento City Unified School District announced Monday an agreement to foster greater accountability and improve Special Education services and school disciplinary practices for all students, particularly those with disabilities.
The agreement settles a lawsuit brought by Black Parallel School Board (BPSB) in 2019 alleging segregation of special education students and other exclusionary practices, which disproportionately impacted Black/African-American students. At the time the lawsuit was brought, the SCUSD Board of Education determined that the shared interest in serving and improving the educational experience of students with disabilities and specifically Black students with disabilities justified immediately seeking to cooperate with BPSB and its attorneys to reach a productive settlement.
“This is an important day for the future of Sac City Unified and our commitment to meeting the social, emotional and academic needs of all students, and uniquely so, our Black/ African-American students with disabilities. We are proud of the work the District has already done to be more inclusive and less punitive and we look forward to partnering with Black Parallel School Board to produce better student outcomes moving forward,” said SCUSD Superintendent Jorge A. Aguilar.
The agreement with BPSB calls for the appointment of an independent monitor to create an action plan to drive the implementation of policy, procedure, and data practices, with the intended direct benefit to special education students of the District, and in particular Black students with disabilities – although the improvements resulting from the action plan will undoubtedly benefit all SCUSD students.
“The independent monitor will help us better identify areas for improvement within the system and correct the implicit bias and exclusionary discipline that can disproportionately and negatively impact students with disabilities,” said Aguilar.
“The settlement announced today represents a step forward in our district’s quest to increase equity while improving outcomes for all students, particularly our students with disabilities,” said SCUSD Board President Chinua Rhodes. “Our students benefit from community partnerships that reinforce district-wide accountability for progress toward shared goals. We appreciate the Black Parallel School Board’s deep concern for Sac City Unified students and the collaboration that led to this agreement.”
In addition to the large-scale action plan resulting from the settlement, there are additional short-term measures that will take place on a quicker timeline, including:
- A Town Hall meeting conducted jointly by the District and BPSB to discuss the settlement and its goals;
- The passage of a Board of Education Resolution on Recognition of the Rights of Students with Disabilities;
- A commitment to specific data review practices; and
- Further implementation of existing de-escalation practices and training.
The District appreciates the collaboration of Black Parallel School Board and its attorneys in working through the settlement process in this case – which took many years, largely due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The end result is an agreement with the best interest of Sac City Unified students in mind, and especially some of the District’s most vulnerable."
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WATCH ALSO: | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento-city-unified-discrimination-lawsuit-settled/103-ead74977-9c14-473b-8e72-78cd6b4d97fb | 2023-05-23T03:13:42 | 1 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento-city-unified-discrimination-lawsuit-settled/103-ead74977-9c14-473b-8e72-78cd6b4d97fb |
ROANOKE, Va. – A new video posted to Gov. Youngkin’s personal Twitter account is raising the eyebrows of some political experts.
Dr. David Richards, University of Lynchburg Political Science Chair, said the video seems like any other campaign video we’re used to seeing.
“My initial reaction is man that looks like a presidential announcement. I think what we’ve seen over the past few weeks is an opening that Youngkin can exploit in some way,” Richards said.
Dr. Brandy Faulkner with Virginia Tech had a very similar reaction watching the video for the first time.
“It seemed to come out of nowhere unless he could be hinting that he too intends to seek the Republican nomination,” Faulkner said.
This week is gearing up to be a big one in terms of the GOP primary as other candidates are officially throwing their names on the ballot. U.S. Senator Tim Scott officially announced his campaign in South Carolina on Monday. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is also hinted to announce his campaign sometime this week.
While Youngkin’s video does not explicitly state that the presidency is the goal, it does paint a very “presidential” picture, with statements like, “We can usher in a new era of American values.”
The video was paid for by Spirit of Virginia, Youngkin’s Political Action Committee. Chair of the committee and Senior Advisor to Youngkin, Dave Rexrode, gave this statement in regard to the video:
“Gov. Youngkin is 100 percent focused on Virginia, as he’s repeatedly made clear. This was a video highlighting his remarks at the Reagan Library recently, where the Governor spoke about how Virginia was one of the bright lights of our nation’s future.”
Chair of the committee and Senior Advisor to Youngkin, Dave Rexrode
Spirit of Virginia also told 10 News the video is meant to allow viewers to know what type of leader Gov. Youngkin is. They say it’s going to matter in the competitive state Senate and delegate races. However, the video doesn’t mention Virginia, even once.
“It seems awfully broad and generic. He’s not talking about Virginia per se. He’s not talking about making Virginia a better place, he’s talking about making America a better place,” Richards said.
There have been rumors of Gov. Youngkin eyeing a potential Vice-Presidency too. Richards doesn’t believe in the rumor.
“The vice president angle to me doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. If anything I think Youngkin is just trying to sort of say ‘Hey, I’m still here, remember me. You may not hear a lot between now and 2024 but look out for 2028′,” Richards said.
You can watch the full video below.
It’s time to usher in a new era of American values. It’s our turn to choose life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. pic.twitter.com/IH8enVaL5B
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) May 18, 2023 | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/05/23/political-experts-react-to-gov-youngkins-campaign-video/ | 2023-05-23T03:16:52 | 0 | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/05/23/political-experts-react-to-gov-youngkins-campaign-video/ |
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