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CEDAR FALLS — A group of Latino students from across Iowa visited the University of Northern Iowa campus last week for a preparatory college camp.
The camp, put on by Al Exito, or Latinos to Success, is an after-school program in 18 Iowa communities started to build knowledge, access, and opportunities for achieving higher education and career goals, developing leadership, and nurturing cultural identities. None of the groups are based in the Cedar Valley, but there is one active in the Hampton-Dumont middle and high schools.
The entirely free program helps high school students start their college plans through outlined pathways and timelines, a customized scholarship list and completed scholarship essays. About 60 students participated in the camp, which was held Wednesday through Friday.
Dawn Martinez Oropeza, Al Exito’s executive director, said the university camp started in 2013 after some of the group's high school students went to college and then realized they weren’t prepared. She said the students had not been exposed to college language and skills or prepared to leave their families. Another reason for the camp is the surprise students experience at the lack of racial/ethnic minorities when they move on to a college or university.
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“A lot of students who go to a university that is predominantly white … may not see a person of color for a whole day, and it’s a culture shock,” Oropeza said. “We talk about that issue: how to find your allies.”
Oropeza said the camp was hosted at UNI last year and she decided to return, saying the Cedar Falls university is one of the most Latino friendly campuses.
The camp invited multiple post-secondary institutions to participate such as Simpson, Central, Buena Vista, and Hawkeye Community colleges as well as the University of Iowa and Iowa State University.
Al Exito was started in 2005 as an eighth-grade girls program in Marshalltown. Oropeza said the group tackled issues such as high dropout rates and high pregnancy rates. Coming full circle, another Marshalltown student, Natalie Andrade and her friend started a group called Mujeres years later. The group focuses on feminist issues.
“(School) is sometimes difficult because there’s so many stereotypes about us … and they’re all negative,” Andrade said. “It’s pressure because it’s like, you’re the only Latina in the room. So you have to prove yourself extra, and people don’t really take you as seriously in classes.”
Andrade goes to Marshalltown High School, which is around 53% Latino, but said most of her teachers are white and she still feels like a minority.
With the lack of Latino teachers, Oropeza said one goal of the college camp is to connect students to mentors and adults who look like them.
The camp also addresses specific issues such as applying for student aid, what to do if a student is a part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program or if their parents are undocumented immigrants. Oropeza said Latino students going to college and succeeding is important.
“They’re the future of leaders and soon they’ll be voting, and hopefully make some change for women and Latinos,” Oropeza said. “They’re unstoppable." | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/education/college-prep-camp-focuses-on-latino-students/article_2617b528-845d-5493-9248-ab9e6b48e53b.html | 2022-07-10T09:21:45 | 1 | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/education/college-prep-camp-focuses-on-latino-students/article_2617b528-845d-5493-9248-ab9e6b48e53b.html |
WATERLOO — The Waterloo Public Library has announced activities happening for the week starting July 10:
Monday, 6-7 p.m., Bookaholics Book Club's virtual monthly meeting will be discussing "The Butterfly Effect" by Rachel Mans McKenny. To participate, email landerson@waterloopubliclibrary.org at least one day before the event to be sent the virtual meeting details. This is open to adults.
Tuesday, 10 a.m.-11 a.m., STEM Activities by AmeriCorps for second- to fourth-graders in Meeting Room AB, part of the Youth Summer Library Program.
Tuesday, 2-2:45 p.m. (ages 5-9) and 3-3:30 p.m. (ages 2-4), Breath, Bend, and a Book in Meeting Room AB, part of the Youth Summer Library Program. Gray Lane Studio’s Kelsey Hahn will teach basic yoga poses and mindfulness. She'll also read from the book "Yoga Bug: Simple Poses for Little Ones." Attendees are encouraged to bring a towel or yoga mat, and children must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Registration is required and limited to 50 people per session.
Tuesday, 5:30-7 p.m., Trivia Night for at the RiverLoop Amphitheater, part of the Adult Summer Library Program. Test your knowledge of local and worldwide trivia, with the overall theme focusing on the Summer Library Program: Off the Beaten Path. The amphitheater is at 225 Commercial St. In case of inclement weather, this program will be held in Meeting Room AB of the library.
Wednesday, 2-4 p.m., Finale Party – Because all good things must come to an end, help to send off summer programming in style with a movie and a craft in Meeting Room AB. As part of the Youth Summer Library Program, watch the new Disney movie "Encanto" and end the day with a movie-inspired craft.
Thursday, 5-6:30 p.m., Blacklight Party, part of the Teen Summer Library Program. Use neon paint to decorate a T-shirt in the dark and once it’s done you’ll see your glowing creations come to life. Participants supply their own T-shirt to decorate.
Friday, 6-8 p.m., Nerf Wars on the library’s second floor, part of the Teen Summer Library Program. Post-war pizza and drinks will be provided. Registration is required and will close Thursday at 7 p.m., when those planning to attend must have turned in a waiver signed by a parent or guardian. Limited to 50 participants. Waivers can be picked up at any library service desk. They can also be found online at tinyurl.com/NerfWarWaiver. The registration form can be found online at https://tinyurl.com/NerfWarRegister. | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/waterloo-public-library-announces-activities-for-this-week/article_d4be4486-143f-5da2-a138-9c9c77282125.html | 2022-07-10T09:21:48 | 1 | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/waterloo-public-library-announces-activities-for-this-week/article_d4be4486-143f-5da2-a138-9c9c77282125.html |
ATLANTIC CITY — Come Thursday, a large crowd of delegates will start arriving for the 113th annual NAACP National Convention, a weeklong event that will highlight rich pieces of the city's Black history while it draws thousands of visitors to the resort this summer.
Yolanda Melville, vice president of Atlantic City's NAACP chapter, said the return of the national convention here is the culmination of four years of hard work lobbying, organizing and prepping.
"We are all ecstatic that the convention is back in Atlantic City and can't wait for everything to get started on Thursday," Melville said.
Melville, a local attorney, was instrumental in getting the proposal off the ground — she ran into the chairman of the NAACP's National Committee, Michael T. Turner, at a Black Caucus in Washington, D.C., and first pitched the idea that this self-described "small town" was big enough for the national stage. Melville told Turner to keep Atlantic City in mind as a possible destination for the convention. Once the two of them talked, Melville brought the idea up to the president of Atlantic City's NAACP chapter, Kaleem Shabazz, and other NAACP members. After everyone agreed, they set out to win the bid.
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Atlantic City is no stranger to the NAACP Convention. The resort city hosted the 46th annual convention in June 1955. The five-day event took place at Atlantic City High School.
This time around, the convention is going to have a big presence in the city as Tropicana Atlantic City, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and the Atlantic City Convention Center will play host to a steady parade of conferences, lunches and events.
Larry Sieg, president and CEO of Meet AC, Atlantic City’s convention and visitor's bureau, expects about 8,000 people to attend and for the convention to bring over $9 million to the local economy.
At past NAACP conventions, notable political figures have attended and given speeches, such as the president and vice president, as well as prominent civil rights activists such as the Rev. Al Sharpton and Benjamin Crump. This year's convention falls in a midterm election year, and because of that, Melville said, "everybody who's anybody" could show up.
Melville was unsure whether President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris would make an appearance. They both attended the last in-person convention in 2019 in Detroit.
With this year's convention being the first held in person in three years, a large, enthusiastic turnout is expected.
ATLANTIC CITY — The Atlantic City Free Public Library opened its “Summer of Freedom” exhibit…
"Atlantic City is going to be hot, but in a good way," Turner said during a recent conversation with Shabazz and Melville posted on the city's NAACP YouTube channel. "With the pandemic, people have been stuck at home and haven't been able to get out quite as much. For two years people have been itching to get out and engage with others, so I think delegates and members of the general public are going to be excited for it."
The original blocks of rooms set aside for the delegates have already been taken, Shabazz said, so organizers have needed to work with area hotels to secure additional rooms.
Convention organizers also are working closely with the city and police to ensure security will be sufficient.
"We have coordinated law enforcement presence as well as private security. The delegates can rest assured that the security will be at the highest level for everyone," Shabazz said.
The city's interim police officer-in-charge, James Sarkos, said multiple law enforcement agencies will be in the city to help with security.
"The security effort will be a co-response between local, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies," Sarkos said.
Another aspect of the convention is showing Black youth what the NAACP has to offer. Maryam Sarhan, who is the community organizer for Atlantic City's NAACP chapter, has worked on getting local youth to the convention and hopes the event will have a big impact on them.
"When they get to see Black men and women from all over the country bring their initiatives forward to the delegates and attendees, I hope they can look at those people as role models and maybe aspire to be like them in the future," Sarhan said.
The importance of themes
Ever since its inception, each NAACP convention has had a specific theme.
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This year's theme is #ThisisPower. The various events throughout the convention will go over issues related to voting and reproductive rights, student debt and police reform. The NAACP also will use the convention as a time to lay out its policy agenda for the rest of this year and into 2023.
The last two conventions, held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had the themes #WeAreDoneDying and #FightingForward, and events at both highlighted racial justice.
Here's a rundown of some previous themes:
- The last in-person convention was in 2019 in Detroit, and the theme was "When We Fight, We Win." Police brutality, voter suppression and mental health were highlighted issues.
- In 2016, a crucial election year, the convention took place in Cincinnati. The theme was "Our Lives Matter, Our Votes Matter," as the convention highlighted killings of Black men and Black police officers.
- The 105th convention in 2014 took place in Las Vegas and emphasized voting. The theme was "All in for Justice and Equality."
- In 2013, the convention took place in Orlando, Florida, under the theme "We Shall Not Be Moved." The theme derived from the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, who was acquitted in the death in 2013 based on Florida's Stand Your Ground law. The law allows people to use deadly force when they believe it to be necessary to defend themselves.
A rich history
The first convention was held May 31, 1909, at Cooper Union College in New York City after the NAACP's founder, William English Walling, observed a series of riots and lynchings in Springfield, Illinois.
After seeing the violence, he called for a meeting with activists from all around the country to discuss and come up with ways to mitigate the violence.
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In attendance were civil rights activists W.E.B. DuBois and Ida B. Wells-Barnett along with more than 300 Black and white activists. On top of coming up with ways to alleviate the violence against African Americans, another goal of this first meeting was to secure the rights that are laid out in the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments.
At the end of this first meeting, the group decided to call itself the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. They would make these meetings a yearly occurrence, and with that the annual NAACP Convention was born with the goals of celebrating the achievements of African Americans, setting goals for the future and addressing ongoing issues within the community.
Wells-Barnett was the first keynote speaker at one of these conventions. Over the years, prominent U.S. figures have been invited to speak.
No matter the party, the current president is always invited by the organization to give a speech. The first president to speak at an NAACP Convention was Harry Truman in 1947, and on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, he pressed the federal government to put more of an emphasis on securing civil rights for African Americans.
This year, Washington might have a big presence as Biden and Harris were invited to attend as well as U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Bob Menendez, both D-N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy was invited to attend along with Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr.
If you go
The 113th NAACP convention will be held July 14-21 at the Atlantic City Convention Center and other sites in the area. The general public is welcome to attend the variety of workshops and events throughout the week. You don't need to be an NAACP member, although you do need to register. To do so, visit naacp2022-observer-nm.streampoint.com.
For more information, visit naacp.org/convention/schedule. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/naacp-national-convention-returns-to-atlantic-city/article_103fee80-fd64-11ec-81c1-7f93e229de4f.html | 2022-07-10T10:09:18 | 0 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/naacp-national-convention-returns-to-atlantic-city/article_103fee80-fd64-11ec-81c1-7f93e229de4f.html |
ROANOKE, Va. – Roanoke Police arrested Quintiy Steelman, 20 of Roanoke, after a shooting early Saturday morning.
On July 9 at about 2:45 a.m., Roanoke Police were notified of a person with a gunshot wound on Queen Avenue NW. Officers found a man with what appeared to be a non-life threatening gunshot wound inside a home in the area.
Roanoke Fire-EMS took the man to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for treatment.
Officers had previously responded to that address about an hour before, regarding a disorder. Police say the people knew each other and some of them left the scene after speaking with officers.
Police say Steelman arrived at the police department after 5:00 a.m. and is charged with Malicious Wounding and Use of a Firearm in Commission of a Felony.
Police say Steelman and the victim know each other and this appears to be an isolated incident. Within hours of his arrest, Steelman was granted a bond by the Roanoke Magistrate’s Office and released from the Roanoke City Jail.
Police say this remains an ongoing investigation. | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2022/07/10/arrest-made-after-shooting-in-roanoke-early-saturday-morning/ | 2022-07-10T11:05:55 | 0 | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2022/07/10/arrest-made-after-shooting-in-roanoke-early-saturday-morning/ |
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Voters in Castle Hills could determine the fate of $9.3 million in funding for street and drainage improvements in November if petitioners get their way.
Council had planned a vote on the issuance of the certificates of obligation on May 17, but it was put on hold after the city received the petition.
Kim Wynn, a resident who helped circulate it, said voters should have a right to decide because the move would add millions of dollars to the city’s debt.
“I have nothing against taxes spent for capital improvements, but I strongly disagree with a council making this decision on their own,” Wynn said. “We need taxpayer approval. That is what taxation with representation is all about.”
If the council opts for an election, it could delay the upcoming street and drainage projects — which were planned to start in early 2023 — to late spring or early summer, City Manager Ryan Rapelye said.
“The delay in this next round of issuance of (certificates of obligation) will have an impact on the city as a result of the cost of an election, potential escalation of cost of construction materials (and) interest rates on the rise,” Rapelye said.
Rapelye said holding an election in November will cost the city approximately $7,000, the same amount it allocates for its annual May council election.
Wynn said a notice the city put on its website didn’t specify whether a tax increase was needed to cover the debt incurred from the certificates of obligation, and no written or email notice was sent to residents.
But according to Andrew Friedman of SAMCO, the city’s financial adviser, and Jay Juarez, the city’s bond counsel, the city followed the proper steps, including notifying residents online, at City Hall and in the Express-News for two consecutive weeks. The notice included the projects and the amount of the certificates of obligation.
The city wants $7 million for the street and drainage improvements, and it wants $2.3 million to pay the interest over 20 years and the fees for the issuance of the certificates of obligation, Rapelye said. That would cover four drainage-improvement projects and the repair of 12 streets.
An ‘emergency’ need
Speaking at the May 17 City Council meeting, Wynn, citing an article posted on the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts website, said certificates of obligation are for emergency spending — such as rebuilding after a disaster — and the way they are used to go around voter approval led to state legislation in 2015 restricting their use.
“We all know that many streets need repairs, but council should not issue this type of debt for something that is not an emergency,” Wynn said.
Council members, though, argued that the need to fix or improve streets and drainage is urgent.
Alderman Kurt May said runoff created by drainage problems could endanger lives; the force of water could knock a kid into a culvert.
“That’s an emergency,” he said.
Mayor JR Trevino said there are streets and intersections that can flood quickly.
“We’re talking about safety,” Trevino said.
Alderman Jack Joyce said a few years ago a rut in the road caused his wife to crash her bicycle, cutting her face, elbows and knees.
“That was because of these lousy streets,” Joyce said. “So, we need to fix it.”
The cost of street-maintenance projects, like micro-surfacing, are covered through the city’s street maintenance fund, the money for which comes from a sales tax and a percentage from digital-billboard contracts in Castle Hills.
City Council approved a capital-improvements plan in 2018 that identified $24 million worth of needed street improvements and $16 million worth of drainage repairs. At the time, only 22 percent of the streets in the city were considered in good condition.
It is because of the progress the city has made that the number of streets in good condition has risen to about 64 percent today, Rapelye said.
City Council will vote at its meeting Tuesday whether to put the issuance of the certificates of obligation on the Nov. 8 ballot, as stated in the petition. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at Castle Hills City Hall, 209 Lemonwood Drive. | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Castle-Hills-street-funding-17294564.php | 2022-07-10T11:13:21 | 1 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Castle-Hills-street-funding-17294564.php |
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Odessa city officials are still investigating what caused a massive water line break that left the city without water for 48 hours last month. But they’ve shared one important detail: The water line was about 60 years old.
“Aging water systems are common throughout the country,” Thomas Kerr, Odessa’s utilities director, said during a news conference the day after the line broke. “It’s often difficult for municipalities to be able to afford to manage those systems as they age. That’s the situation we find ourselves in.”
The water outage in Odessa exposed the city to a reality that happens all over Texas and the nation — water supply systems have become increasingly more vulnerable to disasters.
In February, many Laredo residents had their water cut off due to a break in the 50-year-old pipes. In May, Bell County residents were asked to use 50 percent less water after a water leak. Last month, a water line break caused areas of College Station to flood, and officials said it was due to the dry conditions.
Last year, the American Society of Civil Engineers issued a report that gave Texas a C- in the quality of its drinking water. The report said the state’s water is “mediocre (and) requires attention.”
The report notes the importance of addressing water quality and availability to meet expected rising demand because of population growth in the state. According to the report, Texas’ population is projected to grow by more than 1,000 people per day during the next five decades — from 29.7 million in 2020 to approximately 51.5 million by 2070.
The report also states that many wastewater systems aren’t resilient enough to withstand extreme events.
According to the report, the number of sanitary sewer overflows more than doubled from 2,500 to nearly 6,000 between 2016 and 2019, and they’re a threat to Texas’ lakes, rivers and beaches.
Ken Rainwater, a professor of civil, environmental and construction engineering at Texas Tech University, said a lot of factors can cause critical infrastructure to fail, and in the case of water pipes, it could be anything from how old they are to what material they’re made from. Other factors are the conditions surrounding the pipes, including the area’s climate and whether they’re buried near high-traffic areas.
In an interview with the Odessa American, Kerr said 40 percent of the city’s pipes are made of cast iron and another 20 percent are made from iron-based materials.
According to Rainwater, cast iron was widely available and used after World War II when a lot of cities were growing their infrastructure. Now, because of the way the material degrades as it ages, Rainwater said it’s not used when pipes are upgraded or repaired.
While it’s likely that Odessa has replaced some of its old pipes in the past, Rainwater said it’s to be expected that cities with older infrastructure will be surprised now and then with breaks and failures.
“We’ve learned that cast iron pipes have lives of about 50 years, so (Odessa) got past 60 years,” he said. “But it’s like you deciding, ‘How long am I going to wait to change the tires on my car?’”
Water boil notices are a good indicator of how troublesome a city’s water infrastructure is becoming. Rainwater said when a water system is shut down, it takes time to start disinfecting and cleaning water again before it’s safe to use, which is typically why water boil notices are issued.
According to data from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, 2021 was the worst year for water boil notices in the last decade, with 3,866 reported. The high number of reports could be linked to the winter storm last year, when more than 14.6 million Texans’ water supply was disrupted by frozen or burst pipes. During that time, 1,655 water boil notices were issued.
On average in the last 10 years, East Texas has experienced more water boil notices than any other area per year. Harris County experienced an average of 130.09 water boil notices per year from 2012-22, the highest of any Texas county. By comparison, Travis County’s average was 42.27 boil water notices per year. Bexar County’s average was even lower — only 5.82 notices per year.
TCEQ said only 12 of Texas’ 254 counties had no listed notices in the last decade. The agency did not have additional information about why that is, noting that the information available is self-reported by each city’s public water officials.
Smaller cities, bigger challenges
Keeping the water healthy is an important function of a city’s infrastructure, and it’s a challenge in places like Idalou, a town of about 1,815 residents about 150 miles north of Odessa.
“Our main priority is funding for a water treatment plant,” said Idalou city administrator Suzette Williams. “Our best-producing well has a contaminant that exceeds the maximum level; and we’ve tried fixing it in the past, but we couldn’t keep up with the level.”
The contamination issue has been ongoing for about five years, but Williams said it’s been difficult to find the funds to get the town’s treatment plant. According to Williams, it’s been 12 years since the city issued a bond to citizens, and even then, that was for water and sewer improvements.
“The funding opportunities are not as easily accessible as maybe other larger cities that can issue larger amounts of debt to do a large project,” Williams said. “It’s a 20-year note, so we look at the climate of the economy, too, because whenever we add debt to our portfolio, that debt is passed on to the citizens, and that’s when we’re looking at utility rate increases to cover that bond payment.”
In March, Williams presented seven requests to the Lubbock County Commissioners Court as part of funding applications through the American Rescue Plan Act, which is expected to dole out about $5.7 billion for COVID-19 recovery to Texas. Williams’ requests were mostly related to water system improvements.
“Regardless of if we get funded through the county’s ARPA funds, this project has to go on,” Williams said. “If we have to look at issuing debt, that will be our next step.”
Residents “want to raise their families here, they want to have safe drinking water,” she added. “And they understand that there’s going to be some costs associated with it.”
Raising money for these projects is a hurdle for small communities, but rate increases are a feasible option. According to the Texas Water Journal, raising rates is the only low-cost means cities and utility boards have to secure the funds for needed upgrades in a short period of time.
Financing upgrades and repairs has become all the more difficult because of supply shortages and price increases in raw materials as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Perry L. Fowler, executive director of the Texas Water Infrastructure Network, said contractors who specialize in water systems are having a harder time giving their clients a precise estimate for repair work because of those uncertainties.
“Getting pricing guaranteed on certain items is difficult until you’re submitting a purchase order that day. So there’s a lot of risk that’s out there. It really requires a lot more planning and communication in some cases, and more funding,” Fowler said.
No silver bullet
President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which passed in November, promises to bring some much needed financial relief to Texas. According to the Texas Water Development Board, it has not received funds yet but is expecting to receive nearly $508 million this fiscal year.
Although the federal funds that will flow into the state are much needed aid, some experts say it’s not enough.
“People talk about it like it’s going to be this infrastructure renaissance, and frankly, I just disagree with that,” Fowler said. “Anybody who’s really familiar with it knows that that’s not necessarily the case. It’s more money, certainly. It might go to some communities that really need it, but it is not the silver bullet for our water infrastructure needs by any means.”
Another issue facing Texas’ water infrastructure is the ongoing drought. Texas is experiencing the worst drought in the last decade. About 80 percent of Texas has been facing drought conditions most of the year, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
“When it gets dry, the soil expands and contracts; and when it does that, it impacts everything underground,” Fowler said. “So if pipes are in conditions where the soil is expanding and contracting, especially if they’re old and brittle, they’re more likely to have potential failures. Which is why typically we do see more pipes breaking in the summertime in Texas.”
Last year’s winter storm also caused pipes to freeze and burst all throughout the state.
“Any severe weather conditions are going to potentially impact infrastructure, especially if the ground is shifting and things are moving around where you have facilities for water, wastewater systems. … It exposes your vulnerabilities,” Fowler said.
In colder states, water infrastructure is typically placed further underground to prevent freezing — something that Texas might need to consider in the future. In the meantime, Fowler said, infrastructure upgrades need to happen sooner rather than later.
“These projects can’t wait, that’s the problem,” he said. “If you delay investments, or you have a project that’s ready to go on the shelf, it’s going to cost more money if you go further down the road.”
Disclosure: Texas Tech University has been a financial supporter of the Texas Tribune. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism.
The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/The-Odessa-water-outage-underscores-a-growing-17295332.php | 2022-07-10T11:13:28 | 1 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/The-Odessa-water-outage-underscores-a-growing-17295332.php |
Friends, family of man killed by Dewey Beach police march for change, racial justice
"No justice, no peace!"
The chant echoed through downtown Milford as marchers took to the streets to demand accountability for the death of Rodney "Keef" Robinson, who was shot by a Dewey Beach police officer on March 19. His mother said he would have turned 22 next week.
Over 30 people gathered at the Riverwalk on Saturday afternoon, including many of Robinson's friends and relatives. They held their heads and signs high, marching through the rain as shop owners along North Walnut Street watched from their doorways.
BACKGROUND:Why friends and family are stunned by death of man fatally shot by Dewey Beach police
The march was organized by Jalyn Powell, a local activist who started the Sussex County-based Walk of Change in 2020 after noticing a lack of racial justice marches in southern Delaware. And while Saturday's walk was far from the first protest she set up, Powell said this one hit closest to home.
"It's one thing to fight for someone across the country, but it's another thing to fight for someone right in your backyard," she said.
DATABASE:Tracking gun violence in Delaware
Patrick Gallagher, the attorney representing the Robinson family, said the investigation process for civil rights violations is a long one. In the case of Lymond Moses, a Black man who was fatally shot by Wilmington police in January of 2021, the Department of Justice's ruling wasn't handed down for almost a year.
Gallagher said Robinson's family is seeking compensation and punitive damages against the white officer who killed Robinson. The officer has been put on paid administrative leave, and officials still have not said why he fired his gun while Robinson was running away.
This is not the first time the Dewey Beach Police Department has come under scrutiny. In a legal complaint filed on behalf of a man who was attacked by a Dewey Beach police officer in 2019 and then wrongfully accused of attempting to strangle the officer, Gallagher noted a "history of excessive force cases" within the department.
RELATED:They're banded together by police violence. Now, they're committed to accountability
Powell said seeing Robinson's loved ones come together Saturday to protest was "heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time." She was glad to see that "there's still people willing to fight;" while, at the same time, she recognized that they're having to join together "to basically fight for (their) humanity."
She urged attendees to carry this momentum beyond the march and go out to vote in the fall.
"We can chant all day long. We can gather together at rallies. But (change) starts at the polls."
For Robert Travis Howard, Rodney Robinson's uncle, the way to prevent future police brutality is through unity with the community. But for that to happen, officers must be "open enough to see people as humans ... and understand that training is important."
MORE:Why, despite lawmaker promises, police reform has gone nowhere in Delaware
His nephew's death "shattered" their family, Howard said. But in the almost four months since then, Howard said he's found a way to learn and "take the good" out of the situation — just like Robinson would have wanted him to.
"(Robinson) was a person of joy," Howard said. "Take that part and let it live through us and he will never die."
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/2022/07/10/protesters-still-seeking-justice-for-man-killed-by-dewey-beach-police/65370151007/ | 2022-07-10T11:30:40 | 0 | https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2022/07/10/protesters-still-seeking-justice-for-man-killed-by-dewey-beach-police/65370151007/ |
100 years ago
July 10, 1922: The citizens of DeWitt County were thrown into turmoil over the killing of 13-year-old "Jimmie" Fitzgerald. He was shot to death, and his father wounded, by a guard at the Illinois Central railroad in Clinton. Striking workers had gathered to meet an incoming train that was supposed to be loaded with non-union men. Three companies of state militia gathered to ensure no further trouble.
75 years ago
July 10, 1947: John F. Thompson, 72-year-old former professional balloon jumper, failed to satisfy an ambition to attempt a final leap from a huge hot air balloon. Thompson and a crew of helpers inflated a huge silk bag with air, but the ascension came to an abrupt end when ropes dangling from the contraption became entangled on high tension wires. "I wanted to do it just once more," the Watseka mechanic-carpenter explained after he landed.
50 years ago
July 10, 1972: A masked gunman got between $30 and $40 at Clark Super 100 Service Station, 806 S. Main St., police say. Attendant Wayne Bryant, 29 of Ellsworth, said the robber appeared to have part of a pillow case as a mask. He walked into the station, pulled a pistol and ordered him into a back room. He pulled $20 to $30 in bills from the attendant's shirt pocket and another $10 from the register.
25 years ago
July 10, 1997: The McLean County Historical Society's grounds at the former courthouse square in downtown Bloomington will be the site of an archaeological dig under the direction of Allison Weiss, its director of education, and Ed Jelks, retired professor of anthropology at Illinois State University. The four-day project will peel back the layers of the earth over the spot that once was the heart of the county's legal and political life.
Compiled by Pantagraph staff | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/history/100-years-ago-13-year-old-killed-amid-strike-unrest-in-clinton/article_15a05a36-ff94-11ec-8f2f-3b055fafc894.html | 2022-07-10T11:47:03 | 1 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/history/100-years-ago-13-year-old-killed-amid-strike-unrest-in-clinton/article_15a05a36-ff94-11ec-8f2f-3b055fafc894.html |
SAN ANTONIO — A man was killed after he was ejected from a car in a crash overnight on the south side of San Antonio.
It happened around 2:19 a.m. early Sunday morning on Villamain Rd. near Mission Rd. Police responded to the scene for reports of a major accident. When officers arrived, they found one man ejected from the car and a second man trapped inside.
The man who was ejected died at the scene. The second man was stuck inside the vehicle for a short time until firefighters were able to pull him out. He was taken to BAMC in unknown condition.
First responders had to use caution because there were live power lines on the ground near the car.
As of right now, it's not clear what caused the crash or if intoxication was a factor. No other injuries were reported and no other details were provided.
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Want to get in touch with someone at KENS 5? You can send a message using our Contacts page or email one of our team members. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/man-killed-after-being-ejected-from-vehicle-in-overnight-crash-san-antonio-texas-south-accident/273-48546a9f-874d-41ab-976d-20bf0bbfb2ef | 2022-07-10T11:56:33 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/man-killed-after-being-ejected-from-vehicle-in-overnight-crash-san-antonio-texas-south-accident/273-48546a9f-874d-41ab-976d-20bf0bbfb2ef |
An anniversary is meant to be celebrated. Doing so demonstrates the event was significant. It also gives us the chance to reflect and push forward. Importantly, an anniversary nudges us away from our daily work to honor and rejoice in its results.
For Josephine’s Modern American Bistro, twenty years of business has added up to some well-deserved praise. Diligent and happy patronage voted it Best Fine Dining this past year, and chef-owner Tony Consentino earned the title, Chef of the Year.
Alongside his wife Marlene, Consentino said, “We’re present on the premises every day with administration and cooking. Marlene takes care of the intangibles—hugs and behind the scenes help, adding warmth.” He attributes Josephine’s appeal to, “the atmosphere and consistency of customer service and food.”
Like the landmark it is, sitting above downtown Flagstaff, the bistro exemplifies a relational tie to the historic home in which it resides. The Craftsman home was once owned by John Milton and other noteworthy figures. Built in 1911 and faced with native, volcanic malpais, it is listed on the Register of Historic Places. Like the home, Josephine’s has stood the test of time as a treasure in the neighborhood.
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“We haven’t sat on our heels,” said Consentino.
This past year, Josephine’s enlarged its patio, installing new pavers and permanent umbrellas, heaters and a fire pit for an extended outdoor dining season.
Josephine’s serves upscale American fare with a southwest edge. The food is classy and classic, switching it up seasonally to keep guests intrigued.
To start, consider the crab cakes, dressed with lemon, cabbage cress and thinly-sliced ginger and served with avocado tomatillo sauce and spunky remoulade. The soft cakes hide a spike of heat, which benefit from sipping the Joel Gott Sauvignon Blanc. Or order as an entrée with cilantro rice and jicama slaw.
The phyllo-wrapped baked brie builds on baklava with chopped pistachios and orange cardamom, drenched in Black Canyon honey and scattered with berries.
For a mainstay, the slow-smoked, braised short ribs, topped with crispy onions is a generous plateful. Served over Gruyere and Swiss cheese risotto, the ribs are fork tender, swimming in sherry wine gravy adding an acidic note with caramelized onion. The Mondavi bourbon barrel aged cabernet pairs perfectly.
Leaning toward the lighter side? Try the seared Scottish salmon, sauced with lemon caper beurre blanc, shaved fennel, basil chiffonade and fried capers. Served with muffuletta mozzarella couscous, each morsel is a tantalizing mix of protein, zing, salt, sea and mystery. The menu suggests Gabbiano’s pinot grigio. Explore the wine list—it has been cited by Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence for years running.
For a finisher or delight with a glass of wine, the zeppoles are a bite of heaven. The ricotta beignet is semi-sweet with custard and raspberry coulis plus homemade berry jam—the most grown-up jelly doughnut.
Josephine’s finds strength in its staff. “I know, it’s cliché,” said Consentino, “but we’re a close-knit family.” Some are actually related, like front of the house manager Luis Hernandez, who has been on staff since high school, beginning as a busboy. Others have been around so long they have become family, like Manny Ramirez, chef de cuisine for the past dozen years. “Everyone loves Manny, and customers even give him presents.” Working as a team, Consentino suggests dishes and ingredients, while Ramirez improves on the idea. “It’s a brightness he provides.”
Recently, Josephine’s turned its focus to cocktails, benefitting from upscale product and purveyors’ workshops while trading on experts in mixology. Developing drinks with a gourmet approach via ingredients and garnishes yields smashing sippers, like the espresso martini with coffee liquors.
Soon, Josephine’s will introduce a Boles Aero trailer as service for cocktails on the patio. This vintage venue will pump the energy in the revamped space offering more reasons to stop in for a drink and small plates.
Though inflation is plaguing all of us, it impacts the restaurant industry doubly as guests struggle with budgets while procurement struggles to source quality ingredients at affordable prices. Consentino has found some of his favorite restaurants in other destinations have lowered standards, but he has pledged to maintain value.
Josephine’s honors Cosentino’s mother, who passed away shortly before the bistro opened in 2002. He said, “My mother was inspirational—not food-wise, but in cultivating a certain independence—saying to me, ‘don’t be afraid to get out and live.’”
The chef is carrying forward the legacy of families through Josephine’s. Over twenty years, it has been the place many chose regularly for celebrations or anniversaries. Some have lost their loved ones along the way, but still return to mark that special day and find solace in a meal at Josephine’s.
“Being family-owned, we have a tight connection to the community,” Consentino said. “I just like to cook and do the job at hand.” | https://azdailysun.com/news/local/matters-of-taste-josephine-s-modern-american-bistro-celebrates-their-20th-anniversary/article_1e0c5986-fe31-11ec-b53a-a3e8babfbf90.html | 2022-07-10T11:57:22 | 0 | https://azdailysun.com/news/local/matters-of-taste-josephine-s-modern-american-bistro-celebrates-their-20th-anniversary/article_1e0c5986-fe31-11ec-b53a-a3e8babfbf90.html |
Jay Groome had back-to-back quality starts in Double A to start the month.
The 23-year-old left-hander pitching for the Portland Sea Dogs in the Boston Red Sox system allowed one run on two hits and four walks, striking out seven in five innings, on July 2. He allowed one run on five hits and a walk in six innings Friday. He struck out seven.
In 16 games (14 starts), Groome was 3-4 with a 3.52 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 76²/³ innings.
In 57 career games (55 starts), Groome was 11-21 with a 4.50 ERA and 289 strikeouts in 240 innings. The Barnegat resident was drafted with the 12th overall pick by the Red Sox in 2016.
Here are updates on local players making their journeys through the minors, with their stats through Friday:
Triple-A
RHP Joe Gatto (St. Augustine Prep), 27, was 3-0 with a 7.26 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 31 innings through 26 appearances (one start) for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies).
Gatto, from Hammonton, was selected in the second round of the 2014 draft by the Los Angeles Angels. He spent the 2021 season in the Texas Rangers system. The Phillies signed him in December. In 183 career minor league games (87 starts), he was 36-34 with a 4.78 ERA, 478 strikeouts and three saves in 539 innings.
LHP Zach Warren (St. Augustine Prep), 26, now pitching for Lehigh Valley, was 0-0 with a 3.98 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 21 appearances and 20¹/³ innings in Double-A and Triple-A combined.
In 153 career games, Warren was 5-10 with a 3.17 ERA and 316 strikeouts in 215²/³ innings. Warren was selected in the 14th round by the Phillies in the 2017 draft.
Double-A
RHP Mike Adams (Holy Spirit), 27, pitching for the Reading Fightin Phils (Phillies), was 5-0 with an 8.05 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 23 games (34²/³ innings).
Adams, from Egg Harbor Township, was signed by the Phillies in January 2021 after he impressed scouts with his 98 mph fastball during a tryout. He is a co-owner of Baseball Performance Center in Pleasantville. He was 7-2 with a 6.01 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 67 career minor-league games (82¹/³ innings).
RHP Brett Kennedy (Atlantic City), 27, is pitching for the Sea Dogs since his contract with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League was purchased by the Boston Red Sox on May 24. In eight games (seven starts) with Portland, he was 2-4 with a 4.46 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 38¹/³ innings.
Kennedy hopes to return to the majors, where he made six starts for the San Diego Padres in 2018, going 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA. In six starts with the Ducks this year, he was 2-1 with a 3.03 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 32²/³ innings.
The Brigantine resident was selected by the Padres in the 11th round of the 2015 draft. In 108 career minor-league games (101 starts) with MLB-affiliated organizations, he was 34-32 with a 4.05 ERA and 478 strikeouts in 495¹/³ innings.
High-A
RHP Sean Mooney (Ocean City), 24, is pitching for the Cedar Rapids Kernels (Minnesota Twins), for whom he was 2-2 with a 2.54 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 11 games (nine starts) and 46 innings. He had last pitched June 25.
Mooney was selected in the 12th round of the 2019 draft by the Twins. He didn’t pitch in 2019 as he recovered from Tommy John surgery after a season-ending injury at St. John’s University. There was no minor-league season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 24 career games (21 starts), he was 2-4 with a 2.66 ERA and 132 strikeouts in 88 innings.
Single-A
LHP Daniel Nunan (Ocean City), 25, pitching for the Inland Empire 66ers (Los Angeles Angels), was 0-0 with a 4.07 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 16 games (24¹/³ innings). He had last pitched June 30.
The Egg Harbor Township resident was selected in the 12th round of the 2018 draft. In 32 career games (three starts), he was 2-2 with a 4.82 ERA, 66 strikeouts and two saves in 56 innings.
RHP Chase Petty (Mainland Regional), 19, pitching for the Daytona Tortugas (Cincinnati Reds), was 0-3 with a 3.38 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 15 games (10 starts) and 56 innings.
He was selected 26th overall in the 2021 MLB draft by the Minnesota Twins and traded in the offseason to the Reds. In 17 career games (11 starts), Petty was 0-3 with a 3.54 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 61 innings.
Rookie League
LHP Jake McKenna (Ocean City), 20, is listed on the roster for the FCL Phillies, a Florida Complex League affiliate of Philadelphia. He made his first appearance Thursday, allowing one run on three walks in one-third of an inning.
The Cape May Court House resident signed a minor-league deal in June 2020. In six career games (one start), he was 0-0 with a 15.63 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 6¹/³ innings.
PHOTOS: A look at local major and minor leaguers in 2022
I graduated from Rowan University in 2011 where I studied journalism. I covered local high school and college sports at the South Jersey Times and Vineland Daily Journal. I have been a sports reporter with The Press since July 2013
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Barnegat High School graduate Jay Groome in action with the Portland Sea Dogs, the Double-A team for the Boston Red Sox. In 16 games (14 starts), Groome was 3-4 with a 3.52 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 76²/³ innings. | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/jay-groome-off-to-strong-july-in-double-a-local-minor-league-update/article_1529ff06-ff2d-11ec-974d-0f2ffb18e547.html | 2022-07-10T12:02:32 | 0 | https://pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/jay-groome-off-to-strong-july-in-double-a-local-minor-league-update/article_1529ff06-ff2d-11ec-974d-0f2ffb18e547.html |
CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – Hundreds of people met at the State Capitol steps Saturday to protest the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Multiple signs and people were soaked in the rain, but still, officials came out to share their stories and people in the community say not even the rain could stop them from coming.
“It’s really important that we see all these people that we have today come out in the rain getting involved in something they believe in,” explained attendees Fiona Bechtel and Presley Jerrell.
The event was put on by many organizations. Planned Parenthood says they were overwhelmed by the turnout rate.
“We started organizing it a few weeks ago when the Supreme Court decision leaked. So, this has been in progress for several months,” said Alisa Clements, the Public Affairs Director for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. “It’s an amazing feeling to see so many people come out because they care and understand what’s at risk.”
She says now they’re waiting to see how things pan out before planning more protests for the future.
A consistent abortion rally goer was at the event and told 13 News this one felt different.
“I’ve been going to smaller protests, and I’ve been navigating with these people, and here, this feels like a movement because there’s more than just a couple people here. And it feels like the work that we’re doing is really working,” explained attendee, Sydney Scharberry.
The event ended with a march as people in attendance at the rally took to the streets around Charleston. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/abortion-rally-held-at-the-wv-state-capitol/ | 2022-07-10T12:04:33 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/abortion-rally-held-at-the-wv-state-capitol/ |
Over a year later, the Northeast Mississippi Coalition Against COVID-19 (NEMSCAC) wants to become visible in the community and address the full aspect of health.
The organization’s mission has been to vaccinate, engage and educate the community. Since that first mobile vaccine event in April 2021, it’s been a partnership between vaccine providers, which currently includes Twin Docs Healthcare, owned by Dr. Tia Beasley; Black-led organizations such as Project ELECT and the Mississippi Minority Farmers Alliance (MMFA); numerous volunteers, such as Eliza Pillars RN Association of Mississippi District 1 in Tupelo; and the community.
The coalition began with a desire to help underserved populations gain vaccine access. NEMSCAC co-founder and board member Tomika Townsend realized the need after her mother and family members had difficulty accessing appointments nearby, some travelling over 100 miles away to Greenwood to get vaccinated.
She contacted state Rep. Rickey Thompson and sparked the initial coalition connections. Thompson used his leverage in Jackson to contact then-State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs and the Mississippi State Department of Health.
“(Coalition members) were able to, in March, start saying the word or envisioning mobile vaccines,” said Dr. Vernon Rayford, the NEMSCAC board chairman and a physician.
What followed was over 2,300 COVID-19 vaccinations across North Mississippi and as far south as Scooba. The coalition has been to churches, schools, jails, football games and events, made home visits and vaccinated ages 5 and up.
“There’s nothing like seeing what you envisioned actually come to fruition,” Townsend said.
Lessons from the first year
NEMSCAC specifically aimed to reach rural populations, racial and ethnic minorities, and any other groups facing disparities. Meeting the underserved where they were with mobile vaccinations made vaccine access more feasible, Thompson said. It was a chance to become directly involved in providing solutions. Thompson, who is also a nurse, administered vaccines.
“It’s been very exciting to make sure that the population that wants to receive a vaccine, that they have access to it,” Thompson said.
Community feedback has been great, Townsend said. Knowing that many Black people are church-oriented, the group connected with pastors, who helped get the word out and hosted mobile vaccinations at their churches. That suppport and having Black physicians and nurses, people who often looked like the communities they served, helped garner trust.
Project ELECT is proud of the coalition’s work, said chairman Robert Hall. Their initial vision during the pandemic was to be an informational tool for the African American community. African Americans were disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 because of the higher rate of preexisting conditions such as hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and respiratory diseases among the population.
The organization’s health committee, led by Rayford and Dr. Eric Lewis, its treasurer and an orthopedic surgeon, provided education on COVID-19, safety and the effectiveness of the vaccine starting in December 2020. The biggest concern was vaccine hesitancy, but by January, they realized access was a bigger issue, Rayford said.
Since joining the coalition, the group’s focused on spreading information and providing physical support. It was good to see Project ELECT’s communication help vaccinate so many people, said Project ELECT chaplain OJ Salters.
“We’re going to be here to continue to support them in their efforts,” Hall said.
The past year taught Townsend to appreciate her community more. She was able to provide vaccines to her native Zion Springs. She even vaccinated her father, who initially was against it.
“It was really touching for me because as a little girl, I saw these people and they watched me grow up,” Townsend said.
Future vision
Now a nonprofit, NEMSCAC’s goal is to become visible in the community, not just giving shots, Rayford said.
In March, Toyota Mississippi provided a $165,000 grant to improve mobile efforts, which included the purchase of two minivans. It will continue working with different community groups like Vitalant, the local blood bank, and others through health fairs.
For Project ELECT, the coalition’s success has inspired their own efforts. The group wants to expand to other topics, such as crime intervention. Gun violence is a current concern, and the organization wants to talk with law enforcement on how to prevent it. They plan to continue to grow with the coalition to cover not just Lee, but multiple counties — and eventually the nation — Hall said.
One concern is tackling pre-existing healthcare challenges for racial and ethnic minorities, rural versus non-rural populations, the working poor and throughout Northeast Mississippi in general. It will also focus on the health impacts of issues such as a lack of access to the internet, healthcare and insurance; food insecurity; and housing instability.
“Even prior to the pandemic, there were still health disparities that needed to be addressed, and likely, if we’re able to shift our emphasis from the pandemic, those health disparities will become more of a focus,” Lewis said.
In the meantime, the work is not over. For its second year, NEMSCAC will still emphasize the continued safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.
As vaccine demand has decreased, the group has continued encouraging others to practice preventive measures. This year, NEMSCAC partnered with the Community Health Center Association of Mississippi. With a grant it received, the coalition can provide financial incentives for vaccines to encourage more people to get vaccinated.
Beyond the 2,300 shots, NEMSCAC wants to have positively impacted multiple times more through its overall efforts.
“I hope that people can look to the coalition and see us as a model for addressing our community issues through our community efforts. As a group of people brought together by COVID, we were able to accomplish something that none of us could have done individually,” Rayford said. | https://www.djournal.com/news/local/coalition-against-covid-19-reflects-on-first-anniversary-future-plans/article_68a5b80b-b3c6-5c5f-9a6d-75bb573203d1.html | 2022-07-10T12:05:15 | 1 | https://www.djournal.com/news/local/coalition-against-covid-19-reflects-on-first-anniversary-future-plans/article_68a5b80b-b3c6-5c5f-9a6d-75bb573203d1.html |
Josiah Davenport loves the Three Rivers Festival Parade – so much that he began camping out for a spot at 1 a.m. Saturday.
“I remember it always being busy, and we could never find seats,” he said. “And I remembered people getting there early.”
Davenport attended the Saturday parade with his mother, Deborah Smallback, and his son, Caleb Davenport, 16. The three were sitting on Berry Street until about 3 a.m. Then they moved in front of the library to get a better view of the parade, which wouldn’t start for another seven hours.
“I enjoyed just sitting downtown … it was about 68 degrees, so it was nice,” Davenport said of the overnight temperature. “But my favorite part of the parade was seeing everyone and stuff we haven’t been able to do.”
Although not everyone waited outside for as long as Davenport, members of the Fort Wayne community shared his enthusiasm as the Three Rivers Festival parade returned. The event had been canceled the last two years over COVID-19 concerns.
The 53rd annual parade’s theme was “Better Together.” Justin Shurley, the festival’s executive director, said there were about 80 participants. He expected about 30,000 viewers along the route.
“We’re all really excited,” he said before the event. “I know the community is, too … I think everyone is just excited to get together and be together again.”
Erik Felts grew up in Fort Wayne, and Saturday he made the trip from Indianapolis – where he now lives – for the event.
“I’ve come to the parade since I was a newborn all the way (to now), and I’m 39,” he said. “So, I’ve been coming almost every year.”
Felts attended this year’s parade with his two children and his parents, arriving downtown around 9 a.m. Even with a large crowd, he said it wasn’t difficult to watch.
“It feels awesome to be back in-person and getting some sort of normalcy with everything in life,” Felts said, “especially the parade and just being around people and celebrating.”
Tiffany Archer attended the event with her two sons, Noah, 11, and Elijah, 7. Archer said this was Elijah’s first year at the parade, and Noah’s second time.
“It was great,” she said. “I like to see all the crowds, and we were actually able to find a seat.”
The family arrived about 40 minutes before the parade began, and Archer said it was a little difficult to find parking, but they didn’t struggle to find a seat.
Elijah’s favorite part was getting candy from the marchers, and Noah really liked seeing performers from “Hairspray: The Musical,” which is put on by the Fort Wayne Summer Music Theatre.
Vanessa Rubio said the last time she remembers going to the parade was when she was a child.
“I guess I came a few years ago, but I was so tired that I don’t remember coming,” she said.
That wasn’t the case for Rubio this year. She said thought the parade was “really cool.”
Rubio liked seeing the veterans groups because she briefly served in the Navy. But her favorite parade participants were the local high school marching bands.
She particularly liked “getting to see who was better and how big they were compared to previous years.” | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/fort-wayne-crowds-enthusiastic-as-three-rivers-festival-parade-returns-after-hiatus/article_32c1b7d6-ffb2-11ec-bd9e-53b0a0f45626.html | 2022-07-10T12:27:09 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/fort-wayne-crowds-enthusiastic-as-three-rivers-festival-parade-returns-after-hiatus/article_32c1b7d6-ffb2-11ec-bd9e-53b0a0f45626.html |
One Knoxville SC claims division championship in blowout win
As his players huddled around their cell phones, pleading for the final whistle of a game happening on the other side of the mountains, One Knoxville head coach Mark McKeever was a few yards away, his back turned, his hand to his chin, waiting for one of two sounds from the dozens still gathered around the field at Maryville College: the deflating sighs of disappointment or a roar of joyous celebration.
The home side had already done its job to stay atop the USL League Two’s South Central Division. One Knoxville (12-1-1) dominated Southern Soccer Academy Kings (3-7-2), winning 7-1 – the team’s seventh straight victory during a run in which it has outscored opponents 23-3.
But the onus was on what was happening two hours away. The second-placed team in the division, Asheville City, was tied 0-0 heading into added time; a tie or a loss would make it impossible for it to leapfrog One Knoxville and claim the division title with a game remaining.
Players, assistant coaches, and fans paced. They shouted at their phones for the referee to blow the final whistle. And, when he did, they erupted in a Spanish chant heard at soccer venues around the world.
One Knoxville were South Central champions.
¡Olé Olé Olé!
“I was actually starting to think back to when we started talking to the ownership about this journey that we were ready to embark on,” said McKeever about his stoicism. “Where we were then, and where it’s led to now. All the conversations we’d had. It’s been a special journey. But I want more. I don’t want this journey to stop.”
McKeever, the defending USL League Two Coach of the Year who last year led the Des Moines Menace to the national championship, was hired by One Knoxville’s ownership group for the purpose of bringing title-winning soccer to the city. To do so, he assembled a team of best amateur and college players to do that: in his starting 11 against Southern Soccer Academy were six men who played on Des Moines’ all-conquering side in 2021.
“You always know when you play on the gaffer’s team that your first objective is the playoffs, and then it’s winning trophies and winning championships,” said Spaniard Dani Fernandez, who played for McKeever last season and scored One Knoxville’s third and fifth goals on Saturday night.
One Knoxville had clinched playoffs last weekend with a 2-0 victory away to East Atlanta FC. But against Southern Soccer, the club put on its most dominant performance of the season.
Yannick Kranz, a German midfielder from nearby Carson-Newman University, opened the scoring in the 13th minute. A trio of center-backs combined to score the next four. Finn McRobb, whose parents traveled from Scotland and were in attendance, scored his third goal of the season in the 20th minute. Captain James Thomas sent in a free kick from the right; the 6-foot-3 Scotsman rose to meet it with his forehead, sending an unstoppable shot past the goalie from the top of the six-yard box.
“A lot of times you’re just looking to get something on it,” McRobb said. “The delivery from crosses has been unreal. Jamesy, the skipper, has been brilliant recently whipping the balls in.”
The set pieces – whether long throw-ins, free kicks, or corners – were once again where One Knoxville was deadliest. In the 33rd minute, Fernandez scored on a header from a Zyan Andrade corner kick. Six minutes later, fellow Spanish defender Alberto Suarez rose to meet a Thomas cross for the night’s fourth goal.
Southern Soccer, who traveled with only 13 players after a COVID-19 outbreak in the squad, pulled a goal back in the 51st minute through Ethan Harrison.
In the 62nd minute, Fernandez scored his second of the night off a corner by Bernardo Monteiro. Encouraged by his teammates before the game, he celebrated like a matador in the corner, a nod to the running of the bulls at the Festival of San Fermín, currently taking place in Spain.
The final two goals of the night came from the Afrifa twins, Simon and Stephen, reunited by One Knoxville’s after two years spent playing for university teams. The Ghanaian-Canadian forwards combined in the 67th minute. Goalkeeper Ryan Troutman hit a deep 60-yard pass to Stephen, who took advantage of a slip from his defender to dribble into the box and cut the ball back to Simon. The slightly-taller Afrifa brother took a touch before striking the ball past the goalkeeper from close range for his first goal of the season.
“I know for sure my sister’s gonna be ecstatic about that,” said Simon, who will join his brother on Florida International University’s men’s soccer team this upcoming fall. “I know she’s gonna call me right away. She’s gonna post it everywhere.”
In the 91st minute, Stephen capped off the night, dribbling past three defenders to score his team-leading eighth goal. He celebrated, just as his brother had, by jogging to the corner to take a picture with some young fans who, during warmups, he promised to score a goal for. “They loved it,” he said, “and love’s going to help the team win.”
Entering the final regular season game against East Atlanta on Tuesday, with Southern Conference quarter- and semifinals expected to take place over one weekend from July 22–24 at a yet-to-be-determined site, McKeever expects nothing to change with how he, the coaching staff, and the players will approach the next leg of the journey.
“We’re gonna play every game like a cup final,” McKeever said. “If we’re doing that, then it means we’re all pushing forward. We’re always trying to strive to be better and better.”
His closing remarks on the South Central title didn’t deviate from that message. “This wasn’t exceeding expectations,” McKeever said. “It was meeting expectations. We were meant to win because we’re the best team in the division. The best team wins, simple as that. Hard work makes you successful.”
Brian Gabriel Canever is a soccer writer and co-host of the Knox Soccer Podcast. | https://www.knoxnews.com/story/sports/local/2022/07/10/one-knoxville-sc-claims-usl-league-two-south-central-division-championship/10023512002/ | 2022-07-10T12:27:14 | 0 | https://www.knoxnews.com/story/sports/local/2022/07/10/one-knoxville-sc-claims-usl-league-two-south-central-division-championship/10023512002/ |
“Elvis” is driving moviegoers to theaters – a fact not lost on vendor Joanna Kirkman.
So, the Fort Wayne used-goods hawker placed poster portraits of the King of rock ’n’ roll front and center Saturday.
“Yeah, we’ve sold a few already,” said the former BAE Systems employee, 45, who made a lifestyle change during the pandemic and quit her job. “I have a small child and my husband works, so it was just something we chose. Now, I’m doing this.”
The annual two-day flea market draws thousands as part of the Three Rivers Festival. The event continues today.
Tons of visitors Saturday enjoyed the beautiful weather while eyeballing a hodgepodge of goods, including furniture, clothing, jewelry, toys and a multitude of other doodads scattered about in tent stations at the park.
According to the The National Flea Market Association, more than 1,100 flea markets are active in the United States, comprising about 2.2 million vendors who ring up more than $30 billion in sales each year.
Kirkman has been at it only for a year or so and says she didn’t know what to expect. But traffic was steady Saturday.
“We get our goods from estate sales, auctions, garage sales … just about anywhere,” she said.
Retiree Sue Griffin, 77, is a flea market veteran, selling perfume, clothing, pipes, shoes and other items, including a pair of black-and-white Nike basketball leather high-tops.
“They’re like new because my grandson is growing so fast, he had to get a bigger size,” the Fort Wayne woman said of the size 12 shoes priced at $40. “He’s 6-foot-2 and isn’t on the high school basketball team. He’s a band geek.”
Lawton Flea Market promoter Steve Meyer said the event is more than 35 years old and grew out of a need to eliminate an unsavory element that frequented the Three Rivers Festival in its early days.
“There were bikers, prostitutes and stuff like that going on, so they started the flea market hoping to push them out,” said Meyer, who touts the event with his wife, Jenn. “It’s more like a family (atmosphere) now.”
Decatur retiree Kevin Burdette helps his partner, Carla Mattingly, each year at the market. One of the best things about pitching in is vendors get first dibs on goods, he said.
“We’re always buying from each other,” Burdette said. “We’re either taking things back to the booth or back home.”
Home.
That’s where Joe Neumann wanted to be, well in a way.
“I’d rather be golfing,” joked the 67-year-old who tried to wait patiently on his wife while she shopped. “I send pictures (on the phone) to show her what’s out here, but that’s not enough. She has to come, so I just wait on the sidelines for her. It’s not so bad.” | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/lawton-park-flea-market-dazzles-three-rivers-festival-visitors/article_080f59c2-ff98-11ec-9f38-8fc78d27b3f3.html | 2022-07-10T12:27:16 | 0 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/lawton-park-flea-market-dazzles-three-rivers-festival-visitors/article_080f59c2-ff98-11ec-9f38-8fc78d27b3f3.html |
During one of his final lessons in a high school classroom, Demario-Quintel Lonzer looked over maps that confirmed what he and many of his classmates already knew from growing up in Richmond: Most of the people living in poor neighborhoods are Black or Latino – just like at their school.
Many of the students at George Wythe High School know what it’s like to come from families struggling with housing and food insecurity, poor health and educational outcomes, and the feeling that politicians and authorities don't care what happens to them.
The teacher of that class, John Conroy, said his goal is to get students to think critically about how it got to be this way. He wants to empower kids to advocate for both themselves and their communities.
That’s why Conroy was proud when Demario told U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., during a visit to his elective Real Richmond class in February that he and his family have experienced homelessness — and that they still have trouble finding stable housing years later.
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Demario, who just a few weeks earlier got accepted into Hampden-Sydney College on a full academic scholarship, said he's afraid of what could happen to his parents and three siblings after he leaves.
“I’m just wondering if it’s going to get better finding housing in this community,” he told Kaine, a former Richmond mayor. “I don’t want anyone to go through what I went through.”
Demario's experiences highlight how gentrification and the growing lack of affordable housing has impacted the life of one Richmond family, but it is far from an isolated story. In a city that had the second highest eviction rate in the U.S. in 2016, and where 40% of the city's schools have not had a major renovation in 50 years, Demario and his family have personally experienced those realities.
His mother, Denae Lonzer, says those issues are similar to the problems that bedeviled Richmond when she was a student in city schools more than 20 years ago. Beyond housing and education, she knows firsthand how racial disparities in maternal health, lack of early childhood education, gun violence and mental health challenges can impact people.
One of her biggest fears, she says, is her children learning "how real" life can become if they're confronted with the same trials she has faced when they become adults.
Through it all, she's always tried to lift up her children and see the best in them. Demario says she is his inspiration.
When times were hardest for his family years ago, Denae often reminded Demario and his siblings that their whole lives are ahead of them.
While dealing with challenges all their lives, the family has lived in many parts of the city in an ongoing search for stable, affordable housing. It's taken them to Church Hill, Broad Rock Boulevard, Manchester and Highland Park.
Each of those neighborhoods, according to the maps Conroy showed his class, are ember red and orange, indicating high levels of poverty. In another map, the neighborhoods where Black households make up the majority are shaded lime green.
Where his family lives now — a three-bedroom house off of Richmond Highway, behind the Philip Morris cigarette plant — is no different.
There are other modest single-family homes surrounded by trees along their street, but the people here live off a long-neglected suburban highway that the city, in the name of racial progress and healing, recently stripped of an old Confederate title.
The six-lane roadway is lined with abandoned storefronts, Hispanic restaurants, fast-food chains, convenience stores, old warehouses and auto shops with lots full of used cars and junkers. Unlike the neighborhoods that aren't colored red and green in the maps from Conroy's lesson, there are no pharmacies or grocery stores along this stretch of road.
Rather than taking the school bus, Demario wakes up around 7 a.m. every day to catch a GRTC bus to class. It's part of a routine he developed as his family has moved a few times while he's been in high school.
He attended many different schools before he got to Wythe in ninth grade. He was almost expelled at a couple. When his family relocated to Northside a few years ago, Demario chose to stay at Wythe because it's where he found friends and teachers who supported him.
But he's decided to leave the city where he grew up. It wasn't an easy choice. But it's what he wants. To reach this point, he chose to get better.
'Time flies'
In the story that he tells about his life, there's old Demario and new Demario.
Says Demario: "Time flies. I never thought I would make it this far. I thought I would, like, be forgotten. I always thought I could be average. Now I feel like I want to be more. I want to be greater than myself.”
He chalks up his transformation to his closest friends and high school athletics, specifically football.
He found his three best friends at Binford Middle School: Deja, Jahquez and Josef. They would horse around and have fun at school. They liked playing many of the same video games, both old and new franchises like Fortnite, Super Mario and Sonic. They all shared an interest in anime shows like Dragon Ball Z, Naruto and One Piece.
“They are my best friends in the entire world – the universe. Without them I wouldn’t be here today," Demario says. “They showed me that you can be your own person.”
They are typical teenagers. They talk loudly, make dirty and inappropriate jokes, and poke fun at each other. It can sometimes come across as mean, but there's love between them. "You know we're family," Josef tells Demario.
And when Demario needed them, they stood up to his bullies. His friends encouraged him to have a spine. But the latter was hard for Demario, a young Black man who now stands at 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighs around 360 pounds.
He knew that getting into fights could land him in a heap of trouble. He was aware it could create problems for his mom. It happened before and he resolved to not go there again.
Their quartet split up at the end of middle school. While Demario went to Wythe, the other three enrolled at Thomas Jefferson High School.
'They miss his genuineness'
Demario spent his freshmen year focusing on school work and adjusting to a new school without his best friends. He decided to go out for the football team the following year. His large build suited him as a lineman on both offense and defense.
He said his first few practices were a bit awkward. He apologized to kids he knocked down. His coaches and teammates praised him, helping Demario overcome his timidness.
Entering high school, Demario struggled to socialize with his peers. His football coach Jimmy Hart said that may be hard for people to imagine now as he's matured and gained confidence.
"They miss the person by looking at him and thinking he should already be full of himself," he said. "They miss his genuineness."
His coaches say he's evolved into a leader, gassing up his teammates, often giving advice and words of praise or encouragement to his fellow athletes.
Conroy, who also coaches Demario on the track team, says he does the same in the classroom, even with kids he doesn't know well.
At his last track meet of the year, where he hit a new personal record throwing a shot put 35 feet, Demario talked easily with kids from other schools, some of whom also played football in the fall. They chatted about which schools had the worst field conditions and their favorite moments from the past season.
"Not a single day goes by where I don't encounter Demario checking in on people or helping them out," Conroy says. "I just know whatever he's doing ... whether it's a fun hobby, a volunteer thing or his job or career, he's going to be helping people the rest of his life because that's just who he is."
Demario says he plans to try out for the Hampden-Sydney football team and join as a walk-on. His mom proudly wears a team T-shirt often, but reminds him that his worth and confidence comes from more than being an athlete.
"I don't agree with the football at all. [Your] brain is too valuable," she tells him. "You give football too much credit. You brought yourself out of your shell."
'This boy is going to graduate'
Denae's four children mean the world to her. The choices and mistakes they make can frustrate her, but they are her everything.
She wasn't sure if her first child, Gianna, would make it when she was born premature, weighing only 1 pound, 3 ounces. Gianna spent 88 days in the hospital before Denae could bring her home. Many of Denae's relatives were afraid to hold such a tiny and fragile being.
It was a crucible for Denae, who had just graduated high school the year before and was three weeks from her 19th birthday when Gianna was born. Denae almost died too, nearly becoming one of the hundreds of Black women who die each year giving birth, at a rate three times higher than white women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Denae's confidence as a parent grew from there. She had two more children within the next few years, her boys Demario and Danny.
She started to fall into debt and dealing with financial problems because she had stopped working when Gianna was born, but she did what she could to scrape by and make a life with her kids. Even if she had to put aside aspirations of a music career, inspired by her years singing as a young girl, she found joy in being a mom.
It wasn't easy though, as she feared her children could be randomly shot while they were living in Whitcomb Court, one of the city's public housing communities.
Historically the neighborhood has been notorious for violent crime, especially in the mid-1990s, when the city recorded a high of 160 homicides in 1994. Last year there were six homicides there, tying Mosby Court, another public housing community, for the most slayings in a single neighborhood.
Gun violence hit close to home throughout Denae's life. She named her first son after a 16-year-old cousin who died in a shooting close to where they live now in South Richmond.
When Demario was born, Denae promised to make sure her boy would get to live the life that was robbed of Quintel.
After generations of other tragedies and inequities, Denae has faith that her son will break at least one cycle of the countless curses she said has befallen her family.
“This boy is going to graduate,” Denae says. “He’s going to accomplish something.”
Denae sheltered her children when they were growing up in the projects.
Even in such a hardened environment the kids could melt her heart. Even when they misbehaved, like the time they broke an antique dresser, she can’t help but laugh at the memory of Demario and his little brother Danny explaining that they had turned it into a pirate ship.
'It makes you feel not wanted'
Demario was 5 years old when he woke up one morning and half of the things in his house were gone.
Not sure where the television and some of his toys went, he grabbed his cherished plush plane and made his way outside. There he found what he was looking for thrown in what looked like a red cargo container. Someone stopped him from retrieving his belongings.
He clutched his "planey" even closer as his mom ushered him into their car and they left their things behind.
Denae says one of the worst parts about the eviction was losing baby pictures of her children. She also lost high school yearbooks and graduation photos, making it difficult now to show her children what she looked like when she was their age.
She says it was the worst moment of her life. "It makes you feel not wanted," she said of the experience.
After losing their home, Denae's family went on to living out of a car, her mother's house, motel rooms and a shelter in Petersburg. Denae didn't want to move her kids to the schools there, so she drove them to Richmond every morning. She always made sure that they got to school because she feared losing custody of them.
Public libraries and parks were a haven. They gave the family someplace to go. Computers with internet access to look for jobs. Books for the kids to read. Trees and playgrounds for fresh air and fun.
Denae says her partner of 14 years, Lewis Davis, the father of her youngest daughter, helped them get through it. Demario, who doesn't know his father, says Davis has been a positive influence and role model.
"My real dad is Lewis Davis. There's no one else that could fill that role," Demario says. "I don't tell him this, but I'm just glad he raised me."
Demario said his mother did all she could to make her kids happy. Even when money was tight, she would still buy them small gifts.
Going to bed on inflatable mattresses or in sleeping bags didn't matter as much whenever the whole family would play a Scooby Doo-themed game of Trouble she bought for Demario. At bedtime, she would read fairytales and tell stories. She told them about how the Lonzers used to own a barbershop in Richmond. She taught them about Martin Luther King Jr.
When things could not seem bleaker, she would put money and handwritten notes underneath their pillows so that they could sleep on their dreams. She prayed by her bedside for them to come true. She would remind her kids that their past would not determine their future, and that they can overcome difficult challenges.
"She always told us that we couldn't give up no matter what — that that's what being a Lonzer meant," Demario said.
'We got evicted'
Demario started kindergarten at Chimborazo Elementary School a few months after the authorities kicked them out of their home. It was his first time in a structured school setting, as his mom was unable to send him to preschool or a daycare program. His teachers and school administrators were soon calling home and sending reports about him misbehaving.
Demario said he would respond with rage when teachers told him he was doing something wrong. "I always felt like things could be taken away from me. I wanted to fight back. I felt like my anger could be a solution, but it really couldn't," Demario says now.
It took him years before he understood what happened to his family right as he was about to start school. "We got evicted. There's no way to sugarcoat it," he says. "I didn't know it at the time."
Unsure of what to do and at the insistence of school administrators who said Demario had made remarks about harming himself, Denae agreed to send him to the inpatient psychiatric care center at Tucker Pavilion when he was just 5 years old.
He was afraid and confused there.
"I remember the first day I was there. They strapped me down to a bed and I was trying to get out of it," he said. "They then injected me with something and I couldn't move. I was like in a wheelchair getting dragged from one room to another."
It was devastating the first time his mom came to see him. When he asked for his coat as the visit was ending, she told him he had to stay.
Demario's behavior improved little afterward.
When the family moved to a new home soon after, Demario started attending Laburnum Elementary School in Henrico County. Teachers there said he was still misbehaving and sought to remove him, Denae says. He allegedly struck the principal. He went back to Tucker.
It was during his second stay, when he was about 6 or 7 years old, his mom said, that doctors diagnosed him with Asperger's syndrome, which is now recognized as an autism spectrum disorder.
Demario said he's tried to forget those experiences in the hospital. But the feelings of shame and regret for the pain he caused his mother, and harm he may have inflicted on others, can't be erased.
"I lost my fight. I lost everything," he said of how he felt after leaving the hospital. "I just felt like if I kept my mouth shut, then I'd be fine. That's why right after I came out, I wanted to go back in because if I went back no one would have to worry about me at all."
"I could just be like a mark on the wall that everyone could forget."
Doctors gave Demario medicine to help him manage his anxieties and other symptoms. It helped in some ways but Demario started to feel it was holding him back when he was about 13.
His mom and the doctors agreed with his decision to stop taking the pills right before he entered high school.
'Make sure he keeps his scholarship'
Demario knew he would be applying to colleges at the start of his senior year.
He anticipated applying to Virginia Union University, as he has been in the college preparatory program Upward Bound there over the last couple years. His grandfather also attended Union, so he felt that his family and friends were expecting he might go there and stay in Richmond.
He kept an open mind, though, and applied to five more schools: Virginia Commonwealth University, Norfolk State University, Virginia State University, University of South Carolina and Hampden-Sydney College. He was accepted at each school.
Reviewing his college options, Demario grew enamored with the idea of going to a school in the country.
A Hampden-Sydney catalogue featuring scenic pictures of the college town, about 90 minutes west of Richmond driving, kept his attention.
The depictions of a university life that included fishing, camping and other outdoor activities reminded him of visits to the James River and summer wilderness camps he attended through after-school programs.
His mom cried when she learned that he earned a full scholarship there.
What made the decision to accept an offer far from home hard is that Demario grounds himself by caring for his loved ones and being around them.
When his friend Deja became anxious about how long it was taking Virginia Union to respond to her application, Demario offered to connect her with a counselor at the Upward Bound program. And when Jahquez learned that he could attend prom just days before the event, Demario had him come over to his house so that they could find a suit for him.
When Demario looks around at home, he sees his younger brother figuring out his own life path ahead of senior year. His little sister, Lenaiya, is about to start middle school. He wants to know they will be OK when he's not there.
There's also the natural apprehension that comes with moving to a different community.
The demographics of the all-male college with no more than 1,000 students share few similarities to the schools he's attended in Richmond. Teachers sometimes remind that it's been quite a few years since someone at Wythe enrolled at Hampden-Sydney, which holds the prestigious title of the country's 10th oldest college, founded in 1775.
The differences weren't much of a thought for Demario before he visited the campus with his mom. Seeing few other Black people and their interactions with prospective students and their families brought it to mind.
"I had a culture shock myself just walking around with the other parents. I think some of them got mad at me because I didn't ask about diversity," Denae says. "What they don't understand is that he made this decision. And this is the scholarship he has. A lot of them were nudging me saying, ‘make sure he keeps his scholarship.’"
'Do they need to ... form the Avengers?'
Demario's strength, one of his would-be superpowers if his life were a Marvel comic book or a Shonen Jump anime, comes from his mother.
"My mom is one of the strongest people I know, just pushing through all she's been through," he says. "She's always there for us. My mom's amazing."
Still, Denae has lived in Richmond long enough to see how systemic racism, mismanagement and politics have delayed the city from adequately maintaining or replacing old schools like Wythe, setting a poor example and sending a message to students and their families that they aren't worthy of investment.
She wonders whether people who might have the power and ability to help are refusing to do so, leaving it up to the those from underprivileged neighborhoods to do it on their own, even if they are disadvantaged because of circumstances that were shaped in part by, at worst, prejudice or, at best, apathy.
"Are they expecting all these children to be superheroes?" she says. "Do they need to go to all the projects and form the Avengers to end crime before they rebuild our schools?"
Those types of thoughts grow louder in her head when she has to figure out how she'll pay for food and gas when she's only got $100 left over after covering the $1,300 monthly rent.
It simply feels unfair.
She was working three jobs when she became pregnant with her first child. The national healthcare company where she's worked for nearly six years recently promoted her to the role of subject matter expert. But she and her husband still have a hard time making ends meet.
Even if they can find an affordable place to live, there's always a possibility that a landlord might not renew their lease to sell the house to an investor, who then might flip it at a higher cost and drive up home prices across the neighborhood. The average rent for a two-bedroom house the Richmond metro area last fall was $1,340. Two years ago it was about $1,130.
Demario says he's seen how that pressure affects his mother. She's not invincible, even if she says perseverance and resilience are not options for them. They need those traits to survive.
'You look so cool!'
Helping Demario put on the black suit jacket and jade green bow tie and vest he rented for prom, Denae quipped that her son would need some pointers and greater self-awareness if he is to have any hope of looking sharp in college.
"I'm going to get you a full-length mirror because I'm so scared," she said as she used folded over pieces of tape to remove specks of lint from his jacket.
She chastised him when he mistakenly called the pocket square that came with his suit "a napkin." Her fuse was shorter when he said the name of the venue wrong.
"Hippodrome! That's a historic building. You're going to need to get the name right," she said of the theater in Jackson Ward, where Demario and his friends danced and strutted on the same floor where legendary Black artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Richmond's own Bill "Bojangles" Robinson shaped the neighborhood's legacy as the "Harlem of the South."
"You look so cool!" his little sister Lenaiya said as their mom moved on to brushing and styling his hair.
Denae kept her attention trained on Demario as he asked if he could borrow a pair of his dad's sunglasses. "Do you remember when your brand new glasses floated down the river?" she said. Demario recalled the memory. "Mhm. Turn around," she replied as she finished primping him.
Three weeks later, Demario's family cheered as he approached the graduation stage on top of home plate at The Diamond. Smiling from ear to ear, Denae looked to her other son, Danny, and asked if he would be ready to graduate next year.
Denae fears that her children could go through the same hardships she went through. But in moments like these she's full of hope. "I prayed that they would be well rounded so they wouldn't have to make the decisions I did," she says. "I think the sky's the limit for Demario."
'It's going to be a lot of tears that day'
Demario pictures a few ways life can go from here.
He has fun imagining a professional football career starting with an unorthodox path to the NFL Draft or studying abroad in Japan. His primary ambition is to become a veterinarian, but he wonders what it would be like as a lawyer.
He wants his friends to graduate and succeed. He wants his parents to be happy. He also wants a good life for his teachers, so they can inspire and guide students like him to better lives.
Those are his dreams. It's OK if they aren't perfectly defined yet, he says, as he tries to take things one day at a time and cherish the moments with the people around him now.
For everything his mom, dad, friends and mentors have have given him, Demario feels he owes it to them to meet their expectations. He feels especially bound by duty to support his mom and make her proud.
He's learned that doing so means he must be brave and believe — both in her and himself — even if that means leaving a nest that she has worked tirelessly to keep together.
"Don't get me wrong. It's still scary. I'm still imagining the last goodbye hug when I go off to college. It's going to be a lot of tears that day, but I know I'm going to do fine," he says.
"If they have faith in me, I have faith in myself." | https://richmond.com/news/local/how-a-george-wythe-senior-chose-to-get-better-and-make-his-own-life-decision/article_d89db17b-0ec9-513a-997f-7106220c8cc5.html | 2022-07-10T12:44:43 | 1 | https://richmond.com/news/local/how-a-george-wythe-senior-chose-to-get-better-and-make-his-own-life-decision/article_d89db17b-0ec9-513a-997f-7106220c8cc5.html |
Recently I was walking my dog in the arboretum. When I left to head home, I crossed the street which leads to the on-ramp of West Wendover Avenue. As I crossed, I was hit by a turning car and was pushed backwards, landing on the street hitting my hip, elbow, and head. I lost hold of my dog's leash and scrambled to stand up again. Someone caught the dog's leash and asked if I needed help. This was Mr. and Mrs. Randy Garrett. They gave me some towels to put on the bleeding areas of my head and elbow and then offered to drive me to the hospital or to home. They drove me and my dog home and encouraged me to go to the hospital to have the bleeding from my head and elbow evaluated. I got my dog settled at home and then had a neighbor drive me to the emergency room at Wesley Long. I did not get their phone number or address, but I am truly grateful for their help as Good Samaritans.
Susan Carlyle
Greensboro
The Good Stuff publishes on Mondays. To submit an item, send an email to robyn.taylor@greensboro.com or address a note to The Good Stuff, News & Record, 3001 S. Elm-Eugene St., Greensboro, 27406. Please include your name and the town you live in. | https://greensboro.com/news/local/good-stuff/article_ebee8c92-fc52-11ec-b0f2-ef4fac9d0cf0.html | 2022-07-10T12:57:47 | 0 | https://greensboro.com/news/local/good-stuff/article_ebee8c92-fc52-11ec-b0f2-ef4fac9d0cf0.html |
We asked Gabriela Garrison, the Eastern Piedmont Habitat conservation coordinator for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, to share some of her favorite butterflies with readers last year. There were so many, she’s back with more. Here’s what she had to say:
I wrote an article last fall highlighting commonly seen butterflies in your neighborhood. There are many beautiful butterflies in North Carolina, so I’m back to share a few more! Before we proceed, let’s do a quick review of a butterfly’s lifecycle during the growing season: adult females lay eggs on a host plant; in the next stage, a caterpillar (also known as a larva) will emerge and start eating the leaves (and/or other parts) of that plant. Insects and native plants have co-evolved for millions of years, so it’s critical to have the appropriate plants to feed these caterpillars. Many butterflies may only have a few host plants, so if you do not have the associated species, a butterfly will not lay eggs. After going through several stages of growth, the caterpillar will transform to a chrysalis. Within weeks, a butterfly will emerge, and the cycle starts over. Here’s an interesting tidbit: If you plant the larval host for a specific butterfly you would like to see, there’s a good chance you will attract it to your yard! Disclaimer: Patience is a virtue in this situation because it might take time for those plants to be discovered.
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Gulf fritillary
(Agraulis vanillae)
Let’s start with one of the more striking butterflies: gulf fritillary (Agraulis vanillae). This brilliantly colored butterfly has orange (upper) wings with black markings and three white dots on each forewing. Much like another bright orange butterfly we are enamored with (who doesn’t love a Monarch?), gulf fritillaries also overwinter as adults in much warmer climates. Some don’t venture further south than Florida, but others will travel as far as Central and South America.
If you happen to have a passionflower vine (Passiflora spp.) in your yard, you’re also likely to have fritillary caterpillars, as that’s their host plant. There’s no denying that passionflower is one of those “happy” native plants that many gardeners want to label as invasive — but it’s not! So now you have a great reason to allow passionflower to run free in your yard. The cute, little black and orange caterpillars are totally worth it.
American snout
(Libytheana carinenta)
When I see this next butterfly, the American snout (Libytheana carinenta), I tend to think of it as dull in coloration. That’s probably because I often see its wings folded up, so I’m only seeing the gray underside of the wing. When its wings are open, the upper portion is brown with orange patches and white spots … a bit livelier. If you have hackberry trees (Celtis spp.), you are likely to find this butterfly as those are its larval host plants. We can’t overlook the most interesting feature of this unique butterfly: its “snout.” Honestly, it’s not really a snout. This butterfly has elongated mouth parts (also known as labial palpi) that give a snout-like appearance. When extended in tandem with their antennae, it almost looks like the stem on a leaf. In concert with the gray underwings, do you think this provides good camouflage as a dead leaf? If you answered yes, you are correct!
Gray hairstreak
(Strymon melinus)
The next butterfly is likely to be one of the most encountered hairstreaks in the state: gray hairstreak (Strymon melinus). Its upper wings are mostly gray with an orange spot on each lower wing and a black, tail-like structure. When I’m in the woods, I tend to see these flitting around quite often. Unlike gulf fritillaries and American snouts, gray hairstreaks have a variety of larval host plants, enabling them to frequent many types of habitats. A neat feature on this butterfly is that tail-like structure I mentioned. In combination with their orange spots, this butterfly has developed a nifty decoy to make predators believe their eyes and antennae are on the rear part of their body, enabling them to make a quick escape should the occasion arise.
American lady
(Vanessa virginiensis)
The American lady (Vanessa virginiensis) is a butterfly with a very majestic name. Of all the insects in the world, butterflies seem to have the most poetic and lyrical names. This is another beautiful, orange butterfly with brown markings and a black margin along its upper wings, as well as diverse patterns on the underside of the wing. In fact, the top and bottom of the wing look so different that it’s almost like you’re seeing two different butterflies. Take a close look at the underside, and you will see two eyespots that help differentiate it from its cousin, the painted lady (Vanessa cardui) who has four eye spots. Fun fact: caterpillars are the primary food source for most songbird nestlings. They are extremely rich in proteins and carotenoids. With that in mind, caterpillars must work hard to stay well hidden. American lady caterpillars have taken that to heart; they create nest-like structures at the top of their host plant by pulling leaves together with silk to shelter during the day. If you see something like that at the top of a plant, you might have a lady larva hanging out!
Luna moth
(Actias luna)
For the last insect, I’m going to make a slight deviation. I’m staying in the Order Lepidoptera, which houses both butterflies and moths. However, instead of a butterfly, I’m going to highlight the luna moth (Actias luna) because it is so spectacular. This magnificent moth is nocturnal but can still be spotted occasionally during the day. One of our largest moths, it is a wash of green and yellow with a long tail, eye spots on its wings, and wing margins that vary in color throughout the season. If you want to attract this moth, you have the option of planting several types of trees, including black walnut (Juglans nigra), hickory (Carya spp.), persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), and sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua). Interestingly, the luna moth does not eat as an adult. It lacks functional mouthparts and will acquire all the food it needs while in the caterpillar stage, usually lasting three to four weeks. As you can imagine, many adult lepidopterans are favorite foods for vertebrate and invertebrate predators alike. As such, the luna moth has developed clever defense mechanisms, including a small, hidden head and eye spots that are meant to fool those wily predators. Research has shown that luna moths twist their tails as they fly, likely to confuse a bat’s sonar capacity for hunting insects. In the larval form, caterpillars will raise their heads and make a clicking noise with their mandibles. For even more effect, they have the potential to regurgitate foul-smelling liquids to discourage unwanted interest.
We are quite fortunate in North Carolina to have a diverse array of butterflies and moths. Insect populations across the globe have declined significantly in recent years. There are many contributing factors, including habitat loss, fragmentation, pesticide use, and climate change. Every person can work toward reversing these trends by planting native species and minimizing and/or eliminating pesticides. Most importantly, your voice may be the most powerful tool in your arsenal to teach others about North Carolina’s natural resources, the threats they’re facing, and the steps that can be taken to protect them.
Gabriela Garrison has been the Eastern Piedmont Habitat conservation coordinator for the NC Wildlife Resources Commission since 2014. She works with developers, consultants, and government agencies to develop ecologically friendly technical guidance and minimize impact to wildlife in a developing landscape. She has a Bachelor of Science in zoology (with a minor in forestry) from N.C. State University and a Master of Science in wildlife science from Virginia Tech. Her love of bees, butterflies and other insects led to the formation of the NC Pollinator Conservation Alliance in 2017, a partnership composed of over 25 agencies and organizations dedicated to pollinator and habitat conservation across the state. For more information, visit www.ncpollinatoralliance.org. | https://greensboro.com/news/local/on-painted-wings-heres-whats-flying-around-in-nc/article_1b55a734-fc87-11ec-b192-4b4e6c7a51d2.html | 2022-07-10T12:57:53 | 0 | https://greensboro.com/news/local/on-painted-wings-heres-whats-flying-around-in-nc/article_1b55a734-fc87-11ec-b192-4b4e6c7a51d2.html |
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Rental units are becoming harder to find in Central PA, and a recent study is backing that fact up.
According to a study by RentCafe, Harrisburg is the second most competitive rental market in the entire country.
Miami-Dade County, Fla. is the only area with a more competitive market.
The average apartment is vacant for only 36 days in Central PA, with around 19 people competing for open units.
Danielle Hale with Realtor.com says Harrisburg’s numbers are reflective of what most of country is experiencing.
“Nationwide, we’re seeing that the rental market remains really competitive," said Hale.
Nearly 97% of apartments in larger complexes are occupied in the Harrisburg area. And 75% of those occupants are expecting to renew their leases.
Hale says the low vacancy rates are contributing to increasing rental prices.
“Because there aren’t a lot of empty units, landlords don’t have to be in a hurry to fill units," said Hale. "That means that they can set prices the way they want to set them.”
Dennise Hill with the Harrisburg Housing Authority says the lack of units and increased prices are taking its toll on residents residing in the city.
“It has become increasingly difficult for people to find affordable housing, not just in the city, but in the region as a whole," said Hill.
Hill says she’s in constant communication with local landlords about providing more units for residents at an affordable rate. She says its important to be able to provide enough housing for people who want to live in Central Pennsylvania.
“We have to find some solution to make sure that people who want to live in the city, and have a vested interest in our community, that they are able to stay here and are not being priced out of the city," said Hill. | https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/harrisburg-ranked-tough-rental-markets-in-united-states/521-5c273a23-eacd-44a1-ab08-b85009adf559 | 2022-07-10T12:59:50 | 0 | https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/harrisburg-ranked-tough-rental-markets-in-united-states/521-5c273a23-eacd-44a1-ab08-b85009adf559 |
If you like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain ... then this is your day. Yes, it’s Pina Colada Day, and if you need help celebrating, the internet has several thousand pina colada recipes. Or you can be like us and have a friendly bartender make you a cold one.
Bristol Progress Days wraps up today with the popular “Candy Parade” starting at 12:30 p.m. A live auction starts at 2:30 p.m., and live music at 5:30 p.m. The festival ends with fireworks tonight at dusk. Activities are in Hansen Park, at highways 45 and AH.
Play ball! The Kenosha Kingfish return to Simmons Field today, taking on the Battle Creek Bombers. It’s “Star Wars” Night, with a jersey auction — and perhaps some Stormtroopers! 4:05 p.m. For tickets and more information, go to Kingfishbaseball.com, call 262-653-0900, or go to the ticket office at Simmons Field, 7817 Sheridan Road.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church’s festival is back in Columbus Park, at 22nd Avenue and 54th Street. The festival is open 2 to 10 p.m. today. There’s also a Procession through the neighborhood, lining up in front of the church at 12:30 p.m., with a Benediction at 2 p.m. You know what to expect: Food, games, food, live music, food ... and MORE food!
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Huzzah! The Bristol Renaissance Faire is open for another season of making merry while wearing chain mail. The Faire celebrates the day in 1574 when Queen Elizabeth visited Bristol, England. If you see the queen, remember to use your best royal wave to greet her majesty. The Faire is open weekends through Sept. 5, located just west of I-94 at the Wisconsin/Illinois border. For more details, go to renfair.com/bristol/
The Racine Concert Band’s 100th season continues with a free 7:30 p.m. performance at the Racine Zoo, 2131 N. Main St. Jeanie Hatfield is the guest vocalist; band member Ryan Ringnalda plays a trombone solo. The concert takes place at the Kiwanis Amphitheater on the east side of the zoo grounds. The Walton Avenue and Augusta Street gates open for free admission to the concert at 7 p.m. Audience members are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets. There is limited seating at the concert venue. | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/todays-events-for-sunday-july-10/article_297ad882-ff18-11ec-8ca4-f38d6d019d25.html | 2022-07-10T13:17:18 | 1 | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/todays-events-for-sunday-july-10/article_297ad882-ff18-11ec-8ca4-f38d6d019d25.html |
The Kenosha Opera Festival, launched in the fall of 2019, is back in a big way this season, with two operas, a recital and even a night of bawdy songs at a local brewery.
All of that activity continues the mission of the opera festival’s founders, Nicholas Huff and Kaila Bingen, to “unstuff” opera.
“It’s been going great,” Huff said of their efforts to bring opera to the general public.
“We’ve got more ways to move that ball down the court this year,” he said, “including a Kenosha Opera Festival app with games on it.”
The app — developed by Bingen’s husband, Rick, a computer science professor at Carthage College — is free to download and features opera “fun facts” and games. (When we talked, the app was only available on Android systems.)
“We’ll be playing games on the app during intermission of ‘The Barber of Seville’ with the audience,” Huff said. “It makes the opera fun and energized, not snobbish, which is what we’re all about.” As a bonus: There will be prizes awarded during those “Barber” intermission games.
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Fellowship program
The Kenosha Opera Festival features four young members in the troupe’s fellowship program — two singers and a pianist.
“We’re proud that our program is completely free for these college-age students to attend,” Huff said.
The fellowship program includes workshops on singing, of course, but also offers practical guidance on such topics as how to file your taxes if you’re a freelance performer and how to use social media.
The “fellows” will be performing an opera, “Orfeo ed Euridice” (“Orpheus and Euridice”), based on the Greek myth.
In the story, Orpheus is promised that he may enter Hades and retrieve his wife, Euridice, from death on one condition: he may not look back to see if she is there for the entire journey from the underworld back to the land of the living.
The opera, composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, was first performed in Vienna on Oct. 5, 1762.
The opera is the most popular of Gluck’s works.
“It’s a full-length opera but is a short show,” Bingen said, adding that while the story is based on the classic Greek story “this version isn’t quite so tragic. We can’t leave everyone sad walking out of the theater.”
Note: The opera will be presented in Italian with English supertitles. This is a black-box production, accompanied by piano.
‘Barber of Seville’
This season’s main production is “The Barber of Seville,” Gioachino Rossini’s comedy, which premiered in 1816 and has remained popular ever since.
“It’s one of the most fun operas ever written,” Huff said. “Also, people kind of know this one — from the ‘figaro, figaro, figaro’ singing and some of the familiar arias in it.”
Audiences, he said, “should enjoy it because it is somewhat familar — and it’s just a hoot.”
The cast features this season’s six guest artists — who are coming to Kenosha from New York, Cincinnati, the Chicago area, Florida, Portland, Ore., and even from South Korea.
“We reached out in the opera world and received a lot of interest from all over,” Huff said of casting this year’s production.
The cast, he added, “are all great singers — real bangers.”
This opera — a frantic comedy about, yes, a barber in the city of Seville — features the classic opera plot devices of romantic pursuit, false identities and disguises.
“The show is filled with big personalities,” Bingen said. “All the cast members get to go really big on stage. The vocal fireworks will blow your hair back.”
Note: The opera will be presented in Italian with English supertitles, accompanied by an orchestra.
Guest artist recital
Before they perform on stage in the opera, those guest artists — Heeseung Chae, Max Hosmer, Edith Grossman, Stacey Murdock, Alex Boyd and Janese Pentico — will perform in a Friday night recital at First United Methodist Church, 919 60th St.
“This is a great opportunity to get up close and personal with this group of singers,” Bingen said. “The recital features a fantastic set list, and the church is a wonderful setting for the concert.”
The recital will feature “a teaser” for “The Barber of Seville,” along with songs from musical theater, plus a Mozart set and “Easter eggs” — arias that are routinely cut from operas.
“There will be opera and non-opera pieces, and music from all genres and from all periods,” Huff said.
Overall, the two are happy with the audience response to the opera festival’s productions and other events.
“We’re building up momentum, with everything from our YouTube Channel to our live productions,” Bingen said.
Huff added that our little local opera group is also “becoming more well-known in the opera world. That’s very exciting.” | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/watch-now-kenosha-opera-festival-hosting-public-events/article_2d5e4970-f95a-11ec-b5ae-b3f6a107e8a8.html | 2022-07-10T13:17:24 | 0 | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/watch-now-kenosha-opera-festival-hosting-public-events/article_2d5e4970-f95a-11ec-b5ae-b3f6a107e8a8.html |
WGTD (91.1 FM) is owned and operated as a public service of Gateway Technical College and is an affiliate of Wisconsin Public Radio. For an updated schedule, go online to wgtd.org. WGTD 91.1-FM’s “Morning Show” airs 8:10 to 9 a.m. weekdays.
Guests this week include:
Monday: Carole Douglis, co-author of “Climate Restoration: The Only Future that will Sustain the Human Race.”
Tuesday: Award-winning Illustrator Ed Steckley
Wednesday: Thomas Carr, head of Carthage College’s Paleontology Program, and oil painter Matthew Warren Lee, who has participated in field programs both as a volunteer and instructor
Thursday: Nan Calvert with Mieke And, an expert on edible native plants.
Friday: A preview of the Racine Theatre Guild’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods,” which opens this weekend. | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/wgtd-announces-morning-show-schedule-for-this-week/article_41283428-ff1a-11ec-b2de-53c3917a1854.html | 2022-07-10T13:17:30 | 0 | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/wgtd-announces-morning-show-schedule-for-this-week/article_41283428-ff1a-11ec-b2de-53c3917a1854.html |
Now more than ever, we need to make educated decisions about how to cast our votes.
That’s why the Star is changing our approach to election coverage. Our goal will be to provide tools that help voters understand who the candidates are, what they stand for, and the important issues each office handles.
We plan to publish candidate questionnaires, host online candidate interviews, invite guest opinion columns from candidates and more. Deciding what we wanted to do meant talking about what we should stop doing. And after much consideration, we decided we will not endorse candidates for the primary or general elections.
Readers consistently tell us they know which candidates they support for statewide elections and major local races because they have access to our news stories, as well as candidates’ social media, newsletters, and mass email. What they want is guidance on candidates and issues in the many down-ballot races that don’t get much attention, but play an important role in their daily lives. Pivoting away from endorsements gives us more time to focus on these races.
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Our decision to not endorse candidates doesn’t mean we won’t call out politicians when they push repugnant ideas or present worthy proposals. It just means we aren’t going to try to influence your vote. There may be exceptions, such as endorsing initiatives we feel strongly voters should approve or vote down.
Here are a few of the tools we will offer voters this election season:
We are compiling lists of ballot initiatives and candidates in local, state, and federal elections, as well as organizations and politicians who endorse candidates or initiatives. Those lists will be available on our website soon and we will update them as needed.
In the coming days, we will post a questionnaire for candidates on our website. When candidates fill it out, we will post their responses so voters can review them.
In April we began publishing an invitation for candidates to submit guest opinions about an issue they think is important. So far, we received and published 20 of them on the Opinion pages. As we receive more, we will update the collection, which is available on our website.
Starting in August, we will host interviews with local candidates for the general election on Zoom. Voters can attend the interviews and submit questions they want candidates to answer. Keep an eye out for notices about those interviews in the Opinion pages. We also are gathering livestreams of candidate debates hosted by the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission and Arizona PBS.
If you would like to comment on our plan for covering the elections or have a question you’d like us to include in the candidate questionnaire, email us at staropinions@tucson.com.
As a final note, you may have heard that Gannett, the newspaper chain that is a partial owner of the Star, is cutting back on opinion content. That is not the case with the Star. We will continue to publish daily opinion pages with local opinions and letters to the editor.
The members of the Star’s editorial board are publisher John D’Orlando, editor Jill Jorden Spitz, and opinion editor Curt Prendergast. You can reach them at staropinions@tucson.com. | https://tucson.com/opinion/local/from-the-editorial-board-our-new-election-plan-aims-to-help-you-decide/article_a17994d0-fd61-11ec-a01d-7397258552a1.html | 2022-07-10T13:29:05 | 0 | https://tucson.com/opinion/local/from-the-editorial-board-our-new-election-plan-aims-to-help-you-decide/article_a17994d0-fd61-11ec-a01d-7397258552a1.html |
The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Facing dramatic water shortage, the Arizona Legislature passed, and Gov. Ducey signed, a $1.2 billion allocation to identify new sources of water.
Two proposed ideas are building a desalination plant in Mexico to convert ocean water to fresh water or a pipeline to capture and transmit flood water from the Mississippi River. Neither of these solutions would be immediate or practical ways to alleviate water shortage. Better solutions exist.
Importing Mississippi flood water has been proposed and studied before. Pipeline completion would take years as court challenges slowed construction across state lines. Construction and delivery costs would be enormous, and the delivered water would not be adequate to address Central Arizona Project water shortfalls.
The second option of desalinating water also makes little sense. Converting salty ocean water to fresh water is enormously expensive and energy intensive. Creating desalinated water costs between $2,000 and $2,500 per acre-foot, while current CAP water is priced at a cost of about $140 per acre-foot, and desalinated water creates environmental issues.
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The additional costs of safely disposing of salt residue would need to be added, as would the cost of building a pipeline to transmit water hundreds of miles to higher elevations. Transmitting water would require either burning fossil fuels or building a nuclear power plant. The first exacerbates climate change while the second would take many years and cost billions of dollars. Desalination may make some sense for coastal cities; in Arizona it doesn’t. Addressing the water shortage requires practical, immediate, and cost-effective action.
The quickest way to mitigate water shortage is to increase the cost of water while reducing its use. No other solution will move us as quickly to reduce our water use. Using less water might bring us into line with the amount of water we can sustainably use and sustainably afford. That can be accomplished by using funds from the billion-dollar legislative allocation to subsidize more efficient use of water.
At the residential level, subsidizing the cost to xeriscape lawns and stop water leaks can reduce water usage dramatically. Las Vegas pays residents $3 per square foot to change from turf to xeriscaped landscapes designed to use less water. Additionally, they help connect homeowners with xeriscape landscape designers and landscape contractors experienced in the creation of such lawns that are both beautiful and designed for arid regions.
Arizona could easily afford to do the same with some of the billion-dollar allocation. Repairing dripping faucets, worn toilet flappers and other water leaks can save homeowners money on their water bills and reduce water usage dramatically at almost no cost to homeowners. A public education campaign coupled with assistance from knowledgeable workers who could help homeowners and landlords with those tasks would not be terribly expensive.
However, residential water use is far less than agricultural water use. The bulk of funds should be dedicated to reducing water use by agriculture.
Agriculture accounts for 70-80% of water usage in Arizona. Because water is cheap, farmers and ranchers have little incentive to reduce its use. Pricing water at its cost would change that. Five percent of Arizona farms use drip irrigation while 36% of California farms have converted to drip systems. Why the difference? Because California subsidized their farmers making the change to reduce their water usage. Low-cost or subsidized loans to install drip irrigation or other ways to reduce water use would be a quicker solution than a pipeline from the Mississippi or a desalination plant in Mexico.
Increasing the cost of water and changing water policy are the simplest and most cost-effective ways to address the water shortage. The knowledge and technology already exist. The money has already been set aside. The Tucson City Council is working on practical, cost-effective solutions to an immediate crisis. The state Legislature needs to do the same.
Mike Carran is a co-leader of the Tucson chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby. He has a long-time interest in environmental issues. He lives in Oro Valley. | https://tucson.com/opinion/local/local-opinion-lets-find-practical-and-immediate-solutions-to-water-crisis/article_2feb5418-fd6e-11ec-a750-1f7a6734b957.html | 2022-07-10T13:29:06 | 1 | https://tucson.com/opinion/local/local-opinion-lets-find-practical-and-immediate-solutions-to-water-crisis/article_2feb5418-fd6e-11ec-a750-1f7a6734b957.html |
WATERLOO — Nominations are being sought for the 20th edition of the Courier’s 20 Under 40 Awards.
Twenty Under 40 winners exemplify the best of what is yet to come in the Cedar Valley. That’s why The Courier has been presenting the awards every year since 2002.
The 20 Under 40 Awards go to 20 young business leaders who are dedicated to giving of themselves for the betterment of the community, as well as those closest to them. The program reaches across the Cedar Valley to recognize leaders of the future who are establishing themselves as people of profound influence.
The deadline for nominations is Aug. 6.
Shortly thereafter, a selection committee of representatives from the Cedar Valley business community will decide on the winners.
The recipients will be honored with feature stories about each winner in the November issue of the Cedar Valley Business Monthly.
They will be honored at an awards ceremony in November, and their stories will be published again in 20 consecutive weekday issues of The Courier over the December holidays.
Nominees must meet the following criteria to be considered for the award: dedication and success in their vocation; a role model in their career; demonstrates leadership in their business/community; active community and volunteer participation.
Nominations may be submitted by mail to 20 Under 40, 6915 Chancellor Drive Suite B, Cedar Falls IA 50613; or online at go.wcfcourier.com/20Under40.
Using sound to impact the human body in positive ways is an ancient practice, but modern science has shown that sound has a definitive impact on our brains and bodies. | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/courier-seeks-nominations-for-20-under-40-awards/article_440e9b87-7586-595a-a92e-9023d417435e.html | 2022-07-10T13:37:10 | 0 | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/courier-seeks-nominations-for-20-under-40-awards/article_440e9b87-7586-595a-a92e-9023d417435e.html |
CEDAR FALLS – Plans for the Cedar Falls Community School District’s proposed aquatics center will come before the Board of Education for possible approval Monday night.
Before any vote is taken at the 5:30 p.m. meeting inside the Community Center, 528 Main St., Superintendent Andy Pattee and Tim Turnis with Invision Architecture will present a project update.
A developer purchased the 0.59 acre lot at the corner of Ninth and Clay streets and is building a 'Cottage Court' with 12 one-bedroom detached units.
The “natatorium” – another name for a pool complex – will be built on the campus of the high school that’s currently being constructed in the 2700 block of West 27th Street.
Two pools, a larger one for competition and smaller one for training, will take up the bulk of the space in the new swimming facility adjacent to a new athletic stadium and the Tiger Performance Center.
The facility also includes an office, lifeguard meeting/training room, spectator seating, locker rooms and diving boards.
If the facility is approved and put out to bid next month, the district expects the construction contract will be awarded in September.
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Construction would begin in the spring and wrap up in about a year, according to the district.
Also up for approval is a permanent easement agreement with the University of Northern Iowa that would allow the school district to extend PE Center Drive through the university’s property to the new stadium parking lot.
Along the road will be a sidewalk/bike trail, a four-stall handicap parking area and a gate.
The West 27th Street and PE Center Drive (Greenhill Road) four-way intersection is being turned into a roundabout as part of the city’s massive reconstruction project coinciding with the construction of the new high school campus.
The city still expects a private fundraising group to raise $500,000 for the total estimated $5.25 million in improvements and enhancements.
In other business, the board will consider:
- Appointing a replacement for former member Brenda Fite, who resigned last month because of plans to relocate out of the area.
- Approving agreements involving a new Iowa Workforce Development Teacher and Paraeducator Registered Apprentice Program. The district’s apprentices would be reimbursed University of Northern Iowa tuition costs. Backed by American Rescue Plan Act federal relief funds, a state grant was awarded to the new Cedar Falls program, aiming to address a teacher and paraeducator shortage, for two school years, beginning Aug. 1 and ending June 30, 2024.
- Discussing the 2022-23 legislative priorities of the Iowa Association of School Boards.
- Approving a one-year contract with SuccessLink for the provision of mental health services to students. It stipulates that $127,720 will be the compensation balance for licensed mental health counselors. | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/education/cedar-falls-school-board-to-review-plans-for-new-aquatics-center/article_5b7c8290-f7b1-52d5-98fd-7be99fc0d949.html | 2022-07-10T13:37:16 | 0 | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/education/cedar-falls-school-board-to-review-plans-for-new-aquatics-center/article_5b7c8290-f7b1-52d5-98fd-7be99fc0d949.html |
WATERLOO — Waterloo Community Schools is receiving a $176,762 state grant to establish an apprenticeship program in health careers.
The Board of Education on Monday will accept the recently awarded Health Careers Registered Apprenticeship Program grant. The board meets at 5 p.m. at the Education Service Center, 1516 Washington St.
The apprenticeship program introduces health care opportunities to high school students, starting with certified nursing assistant positions. They could qualify for other paid health care jobs, as well, before graduating from high school.
Students enrolled in the Waterloo Career Center’s nurse’s aide program will be placed into care centers and hospitals in the area. The school hopes 30 students will become CNAs through the program.
During the meeting, which will be the first for new Superintendent Jared Smith, the board will also consider approving an $87,480 solid waste management contract with Republic Services, the lowest of two bids received. The other one was for $135,348.
The district operates an in-house program but is switching to an outside company. According to a board memo, the district’s garbage truck is at the end of its lifespan. Repairing it would cost more than a new truck, which would take 10-12 months to deliver.
In other business, the board will set an Aug. 8 public hearing on the proposed plans and specifications to renovate East High School’s east parking lot and consider approving bids. The project scope includes an asphalt overlay, a concrete ramp, stairs, sidewalk improvements and lighting upgrades. Bids will be opened Aug. 2.
The board approved an $85,000 asphalt overlay for the school’s north parking lot during a June 28 special session.
PHOTOS: Waterloo East vs Charles City regional softball
Since it became legal in Iowa in 1991, homeschooling has seen steady annual growth, though U.S. Census Bureau surveys showed a slight dip in the early months of the pandemic.
Brenda Fite called to attention the district’s strengths, but also decried an era in which America’s schools have no choice but to be built in preparation for armed intruders. | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/education/waterloo-schools-receives-grant-to-establish-health-careers-apprenticeship/article_cba5eac9-4777-5061-89ff-d6a0c97d4f35.html | 2022-07-10T13:37:22 | 0 | https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/education/waterloo-schools-receives-grant-to-establish-health-careers-apprenticeship/article_cba5eac9-4777-5061-89ff-d6a0c97d4f35.html |
ORLANDO, Fla. – One month after pleading guilty to one count of tax evasion, longtime U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown filed to run for Congress again.
The former Democratic congresswoman from Jacksonville was facing retrial after her conviction on 18 counts of fraud and corruption was overturned on appeal. As part of the plea agreement with the U.S. Justice Department, Brown was given time served and ordered to pay restitution to the IRS.
[TRENDING: Cocoa Beach commissioners approve proposal for 6-story tall pier resort | ‘Pulling luggage down the highway:’ Fatal crash causes major delays into Orlando International Airport | Become a News 6 Insider (it’s free!)]
News 6 anchor Justin Warmoth asked Brown on “The Weekly” what she would tell voters who might be skeptical of her recent legal troubles.
“What I would tell them is... it’s like a mission,” Brown said. “My pastor told me that all of the apostilles went through prison. I heard Martha Stewart say she didn’t go to prison; she went to camp. I went to camp, but you had to have an appointment to see me because I helped so many people get out.”
Brown joins a crowded field of candidates looking to succeed U.S. Rep. Val Demings in Florida’s 10th Congressional District -- a portion of whom she represented during her 24 years in Congress.
“Clearly, I have found that there are problems with our criminal justice system, and it needs to be changed,” Brown said. “I’ve been extremely helpful in transportation and veterans, and I will now include criminal justice. Keep in mind on (transportation and veterans) I will have seniority. That is crucial. When you go to Congress as a freshman you can do very little, and I don’t feel the United States Congress is a training ground.”
Watch the full interview in the video player above. | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/07/10/convicted-felon-former-us-rep-corrine-brown-on-why-shes-running-for-congress-again/ | 2022-07-10T13:52:33 | 1 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/07/10/convicted-felon-former-us-rep-corrine-brown-on-why-shes-running-for-congress-again/ |
A wrong-way driver died in an early Sunday morning crash on San Antonio's West Side and two others are in serious condition.
According to San Antonio police, around 2 a.m. officers spotted the driver heading east on the west bound lanes of Highway 151. The wrong-way driver crashed head-on into another vehicle at Callaghan Road.
Two victims were taken to Brooke Army Medical Center in serious condition.
The wrong way driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
Alcohol appears to be a factor in the accident, police said. The wrong way driver had an strong odor of alcohol while emergency medical personnel were attempting to save the driver's life. | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Wrong-way-driver-killed-in-overnight-crash-17295439.php | 2022-07-10T13:54:11 | 1 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Wrong-way-driver-killed-in-overnight-crash-17295439.php |
HAMMOND — With the hum of the helicopter above accompanied by the scream of sirens, squad cars race across the Region in pursuit of a fleeing suspect.
A flurry of communications burst through police radios simultaneously, calling out locations and maneuvers. As the suspect vehicle flies onto an interstate ramp, more police cars flood the lanes with flashing lights.
In the absence of a crystal ball, Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. and Lake County Chief of Police Vincent Balbo know exactly where the suspect is headed: west. It's not because of any clairvoyance possessed by the veteran officers but the number of times they have seen history repeat itself.
Martinez and Balbo said the aim of the Lake County Sheriff's Department carjacking blitzes is to keep crime from spilling across the state line and to push back criminals who would otherwise see nefarious opportunities in Indiana. They said that in order to do that, officers from across the county work together to saturate the streets twice a month, targeting various crime hot spots in the Region.
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This episode of Riding Shotgun with NWI Cops takes viewers behind the wheel when agencies across Lake County join for a blitz night.
Q: How did these blitzes come about, and how often do you do them?
Martinez: When I first took office, we started seeing an uptick in carjackings and a lot of crimes being committed here in Indiana. And one thing we noticed a lot is that in a lot of these pursuits we get into, they end up going back across the state line into Illinois. So we started doing overnight special operations and invited many police departments throughout the county to participate. And we started doing those about twice a month.
It has had a significant impact, and it has been successful in apprehending stolen vehicles, carjackers, violent offenders, convicted felons carrying handguns and drug traffickers. So these blitzes have been successful. We work along the state line to Hammond to around the St. John/Dyer area, and we also do overnight operations in the central part of the county.
Q: How would you describe the scope of the agencies involved?
Martinez: They’re from all over Lake County. We have state police and agencies up north like East Chicago and Hammond. Agencies from the central part of the county like St. John, Dyer, Munster and Schererville and also the east end with Merrillville and Crown Point. So it’s a joint operation in cooperation with other agencies, and it’s been amazing. They’ve really embraced our idea in doing overnight operations because it affects every single community here in Lake County. It’s not just a problem up north but all over the county — north, central and south. And we have had a significant impact on arrests and interventions, and it all deals with public safety. So we are very proud of what we are doing and of the other agencies assisting in these special operations.
Q: I also noticed some Illinois agencies and even federal agencies like the FBI and Homeland Security involved, if you are able to talk about that.
Martinez: So we started these special operations four years ago, and one of the problems we encountered was when we cross that state line, the other agencies on the other side of the border didn’t really know what to do. In reality, we had to extradite that subject back to Indiana, so we couldn’t just drive them back into Indiana.
So we worked to start having meetings and coordinating with Illinois State Police, and they have been great. They’ve been a great resource and a great partner to Lake County, and they’ve assisted us many, many times and we have a memoranda of understanding as well, so we will assist them in Indiana. But what they do when the pursuit ends in Illinois is that we can call the state police to assist us. They take custody of the subject and transport them to the local jail while our officers file the charges here in Indiana and start the extradition process so they can stand for prosecution here in Indiana.
Balbo: Going back to something you brought up earlier, this cooperation extends beyond the state line. When we schedule these nights, often the Chicago Police Department or the suburbs are doing similar operations on their side of the border. You came out the other night; there were two or three Illinois agencies out. They’re listening to our frequencies, and they know that they are very proactive here that we are doing these special operations. And I can’t think of a time — so many of our pursuits over the past 18 months have ended up in Illinois, and they’ve been there with us.
I can’t tell you how many agencies have said they wish they could do some of the things we’re doing and they really appreciate it. We are able to do this because the training. The sheriff being very specific about the fact that we are going to follow you wherever you go because we are not going to tolerate this activity in Lake County, and it really does resonate. There is a reputation: If you are coming over here, the police are going to come after you. Because that’s important — we are not just saying it, we’re following up our actions. But those agencies out of Illinois have been supportive and very helpful.
Q: How have you seen these blitzes build on camaraderie between departments?
Martinez: It allows all these other officers to work with different agencies. As the county sheriff and county police department, we already work a lot with different agencies, but officers in different patrol divisions in agencies in different jurisdictions get to work with different areas and officers of different cities. (They’re) all working for a common goal, which is to reduce the carjacking issues and the violent crimes that are coming from Illinois into Indiana and just working together to suppress that crime.
Balbo: Also, the sheriff set up an informal auto theft task force here in Lake County, probably about eight months ago, when we were at the height of the carjackings. It’s not a full-time commitment. It’s basically officers from several different departments focusing on auto thefts in their communities and all talk together. As sheriff pointed out, it’s not just a collaborative for uniformed officers, but these are not just crimes that happen in a vacuum. They’re very often organized crime. They’re related to gang activity and related to drug trafficking, so we are getting everyone involved. These officers are talking not just for the night we go out, but they’re talking throughout the month — they’ve developed relationships.
Remember, these young men and women are going to be the future of law enforcement in Lake County for the next 20 years. They’re going to be promoted and move through the ranks, and it’s really important that sheriff sends this message: that the Lake County Sheriff’s Department supports every agency in this county. It’s clearly that we are better working together, communicating together and we have really seen that evident in these operations.
Martinez: And we are in a new generation of law enforcement now, and we are taking advantage of that when it comes to technology. We have implemented close to 60 license plate reader cameras throughout the county. We are embracing that technology and working with other agencies in sharing that information, and we are also sharing information with other agencies. We are using the technology to apprehend not just carjackers but those who may be wanted on a warrant or someone who has just committed a crime. That information is inputted into the system and allows officers, not just on the special operations side but in day-to-day patrol, to have those alerts to apprehend those individuals as quickly as possible.
Q: What is the message you are trying to send with the blitzes?
Martinez: We are sending a message to everyone — criminals in Lake County and those across the state line — that we’re not going to tolerate that type of behavior. That we are serious and taking action. We will pursue you, we will chase you and we will catch you and we will prosecute you. Having said that, we will always take due regard of public safety. Do we chase or pursue every individual? No. There’s times where we do terminate a pursuit because we have to consider, does the crime outweigh public safety?
If we have enough information about who that individual is, we can always file charges on them and get them another day. But when it comes to carjacking, that’s something very serious. They’re using a threat of violence when carjacking someone. They’re using firearms. There’s been shootings and people killed because they were carjacked. And they’re not going to use that vehicle for joyriding. They’re using that stolen vehicle to commit other violent crimes like drive-by shootings or to commit other carjackings. So we take that crime very seriously, but we also have our officers highly trained in tactical driving techniques, and that is to end pursuits as quickly as possible with the training they receive. One of the trainings are PIT maneuvers, which is the precision immobilization technique. And that’s using the vehicles’ momentum. The technique the officers are trained to do is to spin the vehicle out to the side of the road controlled and boxing the vehicle in, ending the pursuit as quickly as possible.
Q: How do you prepare officers to handle pursuits?
Martinez: So when I first took office, I made it policy that every single officers will be trained in the PIT maneuver. We all know that the longer a pursuit goes on, the likelihood of someone getting hurt in an accident happening is much higher. So our goal to try and end the pursuit as quickly as possible. Besides the PIT maneuver, we also train in the rolling roadblock and using Stop Sticks. So there’s a lot of resources and training we give our officers to safely end every pursuit. We equipped the officers’ vehicles with the push bars and the PIT bars to minimize any damage to the police unit and, done properly, you get very minimal damage to it. There are many resources or trainings that we implement for our officers, including the Eagle Unit, the eye in the sky, so if we have to back up on a pursuit and let the helicopter start calling it out, we will do that as well.
There may be naysayers about why we chase individuals. There is nothing that says if we stop pursuing they’re going to slow down. And they’re going to continue to flee, and they’re probably going to carjack another vehicle to dump that vehicle that we are looking for and end up committing more crimes and end up putting others and public safety in jeopardy.
Q: How prevalent have carjacking reports been in the Region — has there been an increase?
Balbo: Our auto theft numbers are actually down in Lake County, and that’s because we have an outstanding auto theft unit, which has been one of sheriff’s priorities that have brought those thefts down in Lake County. But we are seeing a huge influx of rental car thefts, and by that, they’re legit going in using fraudulent identification, and they’re renting vehicles which end up being stolen. And we are seeing a lot of vehicles coming from Illinois. They think that state line protects them, but it absolutely does not.
Q: Have you seen an increase of people fleeing from law enforcement using a vehicle?
Martinez: So our numbers are down compared to last year, and that’s a good thing. But we still have a significant amount of pursuits that we get, and we pretty much always know where they’re heading too. I’d say 80% of the time they’re heading to the expressway. They’re heading west, heading into Illinois. But with the resources, training and equipment, we look to end it before it goes into Illinois. Shootings that happen with the suspects fleeing, they’re going into Illinois. So we still have a big number of pursuits. The last blitz we were out at that The Times road with us just a few days ago, we had four to five pursuits in the special operation. It seems every special operation that we are doing, we’re in vehicle pursuits going into Illinois. And these are pursuits of carjacked vehicles going into Illinois and pursuits of those in possession of weapons illegally or drugs.
Q: In the case of the person who led a chase onto I-94 in the Lansing area, potentially suspicious evidence was found. How do these arrests and traffic stops lead to other investigations?
Martinez: When we are looking at that particular case, the vehicle was not stolen but it fled from police, and we ended up in Illinois on Interstate 94 going northbound just around 159th Street. We used our techniques to end that pursuit safely and put out some spike strips, a PIT maneuver and a rolling roadblock that ended the pursuit. The subject was taken into custody. What did we have in that pursuit?
Well, he had drugs in the vehicle, and he had cash inside the vehicle as well. He had enough drugs there that is was dealing. But sometimes there’s a bigger picture than just that. When we’re doing the search of the vehicle, there’s a spent casing of 9 mm. So at some point, a firearm was discharged within that vehicle and the casing was ejected from the gun and ended up on the floorboard of the driver. It’s something we pass on to Illinois agencies and Indiana agencies, such as the description of the vehicle and the suspect to see if there’s any type of shooting or crime that occurred matching the description of the vehicle. So it’s a much bigger picture of just, well, someone fleeing and they had drugs in the vehicle. Sometimes there’s a lot more to it than what you get initially, and that’s why it’s always an ongoing investigation until we figure out what’s going on. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/watch-now-riding-shotgun-with-nwi-cops-in-pursuit-during-lake-county-carjacking-blitzes/article_50299f87-435c-54aa-a5ac-9004aeb719dd.html | 2022-07-10T13:58:10 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/watch-now-riding-shotgun-with-nwi-cops-in-pursuit-during-lake-county-carjacking-blitzes/article_50299f87-435c-54aa-a5ac-9004aeb719dd.html |
BALTIMORE — Members of a community development group gathered outside a vacant West Baltimore rowhouse on a cloudy winter morning, preparing for an auction, when a stranger in his 20s showed up with a New York accent and slicked-back hair.
‘It’s a cane. It’s a cane’: Sheriff’s footage released by attorney general shows man’s fatal encounter with Harford deputies
They had been eyeing the abandoned properties along a three-block stretch for years, hoping to reverse the declining homeownership rate in this predominantly Black neighborhood. Many of the once-grand rowhouses along that corridor are vacant and crumbling. They are among the more than 15,000 vacant houses in Baltimore that many investors and developers long avoided — often requiring so much money to fix that they weren’t worth buying — but not anymore.
The price of vacant homes in Baltimore is rising and more investors and developers are taking note.
The Coppin Heights Community Development Corp. scooped up four vacant rowhouses in a single block for less than $10,000 apiece at a March 2021 auction. But at January’s auction, Shay Mokai, the man from New York, outbid the competition, driving the price of the vacants up to $30,000, $40,000 and $50,000.
Shay Mokai of Infinite Homes talks May 23, 2022, in the 1400 block of McHenry Street about buying vacant homes to refurbish and rent in Baltimore. (Karl Merton Ferron/The Baltimore Sun)
The nonprofit community development group won only two bids for vacant homes — and had to bid $70,000 for one of them.
“Do you watch sports? Football? You know what a blitz is, right? That’s what it was,” said Meldon Dickens, the group’s deputy director. “It was a blindside blitz. The quarterback didn’t even feel it coming.”
The houses were auctioned by a nonprofit called One House At A Time, which works with a local auctioneer and the city’s Department of Housing and Community Development to sell vacant, foreclosed homes to the highest qualified bidder in a process called receivership.
From left, Donald Covington, chair of the Coppin Heights Community Development Corp. development committee; Tia Richards, CHCDC co-chair, and Meldon Dickens, deputy director, on May 10, 2022, in the 2700 block of West North Avenue. (Kim Hairston/The Baltimore Sun )
According to One House At A Time’s executive director, Pia Heslip, the median sales price of vacant homes auctioned in 2019 and 2020 was $17,000. She said that number jumped to $26,500 in 2021.
“Just like the housing market in general, we are seeing a similar uptick in prices and demand,” Heslip said via email. “Anecdotally, we are fielding more calls from interested investors new to the Baltimore market or the receivership process.”
The deaths of three firefighters battling a blaze in an empty rowhouse this January in the New Southwest/Mount Clare neighborhood brought renewed scrutiny to the city’s vacant housing stock. At that time, Democratic Mayor Brandon Scott said the city had just over 15,000 vacant homes, 90% of which are privately owned.
Several developers interviewed for this story believe the number of vacant homes is far higher than what the city says — possibly double or more.
Shay Mokai, who runs Infinite Homes, talks May 23, 2022, about his effort to purchase vacant homes on a block in which he owns several dwellings: the 1400 block of McHenry Street. (Karl Merton Ferron/The Baltimore Sun)
Mokai said he thinks his Infinite Homes can help the city solve its vacant housing crisis. With a series of more than two dozen LLCs, the firm has been buying up residential properties in Baltimore. Mokai said Infinite Homes has spent about $20 million buying property, with roughly 250 units split among 75 properties, including vacants.
Mokai did not disclose the investors in Infinite Homes. He said he worked in wholesaling and real estate management before coming to Baltimore.
“I’ve made people money before, so if you make people money, they trust you,” he said.
When it comes to buying vacant homes, Mokai said the most important thing is being able to buy the majority of a block to transform an area.
“We’re looking at just buying, buying, buying,” Mokai said. “We don’t really care where it is, what it is. If you give me 500 properties today, I will buy them. I would love to renovate 500 properties.”
Tom Coale, a Howard County attorney and board member of the Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership, a nonprofit that provides low-income housing, said it’s reasonable to be wary of outside investors, but they can do good work.
“The creation of safe, affordable housing and the replacement of these vacants with such housing is an unquestionably good thing,” Coale said.
It’s not easy, according to Brian Leibowitz, director of acquisitions at Dominion Properties, the renovation arm of a company that owns and manages more than 400 homes in Baltimore City. Dominion is selective about where it buys because Baltimore’s housing values vary wildly on a block-to-block basis, Leibowitz said.
He said Baltimore can appear deceptively cheap to outside investors who don’t understand that it can take far more money to fix up a vacant home than it will be worth.
“They just look it as value … ‘It’s so affordable, how can I lose?’” said Leibowitz, who doesn’t know Mokai or Infinite Homes and spoke generally. “In their mind, it is cheap. But in the world of Baltimore, they overspent.”
An investor can easily spend $200,000 buying, gutting and rehabilitating a vacant rowhouse, Leibowitz said, but that doesn’t mean it’s worth $200,000. If a neighborhood has shootings and drug deals instead of grocery stores and good schools, that newly renovated house may only be worth half of that initial investment, he said.
“I don’t see how anyone can afford to do that,” Leibowitz said.
According to Leibowitz, rehabilitating a vacant home typically costs $150 or $160 a square foot. Sometimes, Dominion can get that number down to $120 or $100 per square foot if the company is fixing up a large amount of houses, he said.
Mokai said it’s difficult for him to estimate cost as the conditions of Baltimore properties vary drastically.
“I hate that number,” Mokai said. “I hate that number because every property varies … I don’t like to give the exact number, but our average is looking at like $75 a (square) foot.”
Mokai spoke to The Baltimore Sun two blocks from the scene of the fire that killed the three firefighters, standing in front of a pair of vacant rowhouses that Infinite Homes has been renovating in the 1600 block of McHenry Street. Permits had been pulled for renovations and crews were going in and out of the buildings.
Two years ago, Mokai said, he was able to buy a shell — meaning no roof and sometimes not even floors — for $5,000, but it’s selling today for $20,000 or $25,000.
“People are just buying up. It’s going to be crazy down here eventually,” Mokai said. “Crazy meaning good.”
That’s a problem for Tia Richards, one of the leaders of The Coppin Heights Community Development Corp.
Richards said the nonprofit group has been guiding and nudging several vacant homes on West North Avenue through the receivership process, notifying the city that houses were vacant and monitoring them as they edged closer to public auction. It uses contributions and grants to fund its work.
When Mokai bought the four homes they had been targeting, he didn’t just disrupt their plans, Richards said; he potentially priced them out of future vacant homes in the area.
“Once they see that an auction took place previously and that someone was willing to bid $50,000 to $60,000 on a vacant, the next one, they are willing to bid more,” Richards said. “The (Coppin Heights Community Development Corp.) is using money that’s been allocated for this — for redevelopment in the neighborhood. The funds aren’t bottomless, you know? There’s a limit.”
She and Dickens spoke to The Sun inside the Walbrook Mill, a 65-unit, $21 million apartment building on West North Avenue that opened in 2020.
Osprey Development worked with the community development group and Neighborhood Housing Services to develop the complex, which Richards said will anchor this stretch of North Avenue. Coppin State University is nearby. The neighborhood’s only bank is in Walbrook Mill, and there are plans to open a food court with local vendors on the first floor.
“No one was paying attention or interested in redeveloping over here before, until now,” Richards said. “We have a lot of buzz right now.”
Dickens and Richards want developers to invest in Coppin Heights, but said those developers need to sit down with the community and plan the future of the neighborhood collaboratively.
Coale, the housing advocate, agreed. Renovating vacant rowhouses and rebuilding neighborhoods is great news, he said, but the city needs to ensure that current residents can build wealth from this development, too.
“The greatest tragedy would be for Baltimore to have an opportunity for reinvestment, and the residents of Baltimore not participating in that reinvestment,” Coale said.
Mokai has had a few conversations with the Coppin Heights group.
Dickens called him a “decent young man.”
Those talks have changed his thinking, Mokai said, and he’s exploring how to add homeownership opportunities to Infinite Homes’ business plan.
“I always knew it was an issue, but they really helped open up my head to it a little bit more,” Mokai said. “They showed me what their plans are … And after sitting with them, I sort of got to think(ing) how I can work it out with my investors … I’m not going to say we worked it out yet, but it’s in the works.” | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/baltimores-vacant-homes-draw-interest-from-investors/2022/07/10/764d418e-0050-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html | 2022-07-10T13:58:18 | 1 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/baltimores-vacant-homes-draw-interest-from-investors/2022/07/10/764d418e-0050-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html |
FREDERICK, Md. — Screeches of plastic against hardwood fill the room as a sweat-drenched skater flies around the edge of the track. Colorful makeup radiates above and below her eyes.
She skates up to the pack, where four skaters match her in blue and another four look ready for battle in bright orange. She meets the bodies in orange first, pushing through them before rapidly tapping her hands on her hips, signaling that no more points can be won.
The referee raises four fingers, the scorekeeper raises four fingers to confirm the point count, and the skaters leave the track.
The woman with war paint slumps onto the floor, lying on her back in front of a massive fan. She pulls off her helmet, designed to look like a brain with the letters “Zombabe” plastered across it.
The skater, whose name is Sarah Hawks outside of derby, joined the Frederick Roller Derby team in February. She has played since 2014, when she was still in high school.
Frederick Roller Derby is led by Jen Bennetch, aka Killadelphia, and Renee Yockelson, aka Robochop, who met on Hagerstown’s Mason-Dixon Roller Vixens team.
Bennetch joined the Vixens in 2011 and had been on the team for six years before Yockelson joined. During their first practice together, each of them was wearing bottoms with cats on them.
“We didn’t know each other, and we were just doing drills, and she was meowing at me,” Bennetch said.
Just a couple months after that interaction, the two became “inseparable,” Bennetch said — so much so, that Yockelson was the maid of honor at Bennetch’s wedding.
When the Roller Vixens didn’t return to bouts as soon as they’d wanted, Bennetch and Yockelson decided to start their own team, and Frederick Roller Derby was born.
The Game
FRD plays “flat-track roller derby,” a style that is played on a level floor with an oval track marked with tape and rope.
Since the game is a contact sport, safety is one of the first things that anyone learns before they start. Players wear thick knee pads, elbow pads, helmets and mouth guards while on the track.
New skaters start out in the “Fresh Meat” program and learn the basics of skating, stopping and falling. FRD currently offers rolling enrollment in their program, where doing everything safely is extremely important, according to Wallis Shamieh, who joined the Frederick Roller Derby in April.
Falling safely is one of the first skills they learn. The instinct is often to fall on your butt. But when playing derby, skaters have to learn to fall forward, onto their knee pads. Fresh meat start at different skills levels and must pass a safety test before they can play against other teams, Shamieh said.
Devon Atkinson, aka Devastation, said she immersed herself into the derby world. The cancer researcher came to volunteer or watch as much as possible but ended up joining in. She finished the “Fresh Meat” program in seven months. She used to skate before joining the team but said she still spent her first practice mostly on the floor. She played in her first bout on May 21.
The People
Hawks said the variety of roles on a team, and the fact that every body type can be useful in the game, is one of the amazing aspects of derby.
FRD’s team members come from many walks of life.
Erica Coronel, aka Kause of Trauma, served in the U.S. Army and now works as a surgical technician. After having her third child, Coronel was suffering from post-partum depression to the point where she almost committed suicide in 2013. She joined the Los Angeles Renegade Rollergirls to get herself out of the state of “shut down” she was in, as she put it. The game is her form of therapy and helps get her aggression out.
Bennetch and Coronel share the same favorite thing about the game: being able to hit other people.
“You just get to hit your friends in a safe way, and that’s really fun,” Bennetch said.
Laurene Carlisle started derby in 2010. Known in the derby world as Hell B. Elby, Carlisle’s day job is in education. She was on the previous Frederick team, Key City Roller Derby, which left the city in 2016. Unlike the current team, Carlisle said, they didn’t have support from the city. Team members were working full-time jobs and had what felt like a second job keeping the team together, she said.
She kept up her skating skills and endurance, so she was ready to join FRD and compete in bouts again. Even though Carlisle was still skating, she missed the team component and the challenge of various drills. “(In practice) there are moments you feel defeated and moments you feel accomplished,” she said.
Carlisle and Yockelson both skated for recreation long before they started derby. Carlisle got on skates as a Girl Scout and never stopped. Yockelson grew up skating.
Childhood is also where Yockelson found her derby name. When she was about 7, she and her brother were allowed to go to their first movie without their parents. There was no one there to stop Yockelson from wreaking havoc at the screening of “Robocop,” and the moment remains a fond memory. When she had to pick a derby name, “mutilating” the movie’s name was the obvious choice, she said.
Hawks’ derby name was also an obvious choice for her. “I love zombies, and I’m a babe,” she said. The NASA optical engineer said there is a lot of significance and history behind the perception of zombies. For her, they represent staying true to oneself and not becoming part of the “hive mind.”
The Community
Melissa Windsor, aka Juke of Windsor, started playing derby as a first-time mom in 2012. She needed a hobby and found a local derby team. Playing has given her an outlet and an “army of women” for anything she needs, Windsor said.
The local derby community is a small one with massive diversity in professions, race, size, age and lifestyle.
“(Derby) puts you in these situations, and you realize that underneath, we’re all just people,” Yockelson said.
Some skaters have gained a family in derby. Yockelson and Windsor started at the same time and have known each other for 10 years. Their families go on vacations together. Their kids have grown up together.
Alex Garipay, a recreation supervisor at the City of Frederick Parks & Recreation, was a huge part of providing space and marketing for the team, which practices at the Trinity Recreation Center on New Design Road.
“They just genuinely seem to enjoy hanging out with each other,” Garipay said.
Coronel was on a team in Pennsylvania, but FRD “felt like home” from the moment she joined, she said. Her husband is known as the team’s Derby Dad, and being part of the community has helped his mental health.
Hawks’ husband, who is transgender, wasn’t supported by their family but found acceptance in FRD. The team is helping them find their voice, Hawks said.
The Balancing Act
The team’s vibe and supportive environment is often credited to Bennetch and Yockelson. They lead the team’s coaching committee, which is responsible for working with new and veteran team members. The duo is a well-matched pair, according to Garipay. Yockelson comes up with the big-picture ideas and Bennetch works through the details, making sure that it happens.
Yockelson and Bennetch balance each other as leaders, but they also understand the need for balance in their own lives. Derby can take up a lot of time, but most team members have other commitments.
Lauren Parker, aka Grit N Barite, started playing derby in 2017 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Derby can definitely “consume” someone’s life if they allow it, she said. “You just want to participate in all the things, but at some point, you can’t. You have to reestablish a balance.”
Parker, who works as an environmental consultant, isn’t the best at maintaining a balance. COVID-19 shutdowns caused a “drought,” she said, and now she’s practicing with multiple teams and playing in many games. She knows sooner or later, she’ll have to slow down.
But sometimes life and derby intertwine.
Hawks and her husband have a life that is full of derby. The first time they met in person was at a bout, they got engaged at a bout, and their wedding was attended by many from the derby community, Hawks said. Plus, her husband is a head non-skating official for the team. They participated in some practices, and Hawks is ready to get them more involved in skating.
The Future
Hawks is ready for a bigger, badder team of skaters. She is part of the coaching committee, who is looking to provide more skill training. “We’re a rec league, but it’s not always the best for teaching fundamentals if we goof off,” Hawks said.
The team is also working toward gaining 501(c)(3) status, which would allow them to be recognized as a nonprofit charitable organization, according to Hawks.
FRD is also working to build up three teams: a recreational team, an All-Star team, which is more competitive, and a men’s team.
As FRD grows and gains popularity, they are also growing out of their home at the Trinity Recreation Center. During bouts, the seats are jammed together, and seating is extremely limited, in order to fit in the track and referee lane.
The team is actively recruiting through fliers, social media and other avenues. They host scrimmages, one of which will start at 4 p.m. July 9 at Hill Street Park, where anyone who has gear can participate, and anyone is welcome to come and watch.
“Having an outlet of going to a place and being physical and working as a team is a nice counter to normal life,” Parker said. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/maryland-city-now-can-boast-of-its-own-roller-derby-team/2022/07/10/7cccac52-0050-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html | 2022-07-10T13:58:24 | 1 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/maryland-city-now-can-boast-of-its-own-roller-derby-team/2022/07/10/7cccac52-0050-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html |
NORFOLK, Va. — There are two “Sierra was here” stickers at Colonial Avenue’s Cafe Stella, a bistro frequented by Sierra Jenkins before the young journalist was fatally shot in March outside a downtown Norfolk bar.
“It is like her spirit is still here,” said Ferebee, who was Jenkins’ best friend. “She came here a lot to do interviews. She kind of made Cafe Stella her home.”
Following Jenkins’ death, Ferebee used a logo created for Jenkins’ website to make stickers.
“I wanted to leave people with a piece of her that they could carry with them,” Ferebee said.
What started as a project to keep Jenkins’ memory alive among friends has taken on a new message as thousands of orange stickers have been passed out to strangers. Family and friends created an Instagram account to chronicle the sticker placements and now use it to raise awareness about gun violence, Ferebee said.
Roughly 50,000 stickers have been given out in the less than six months since Jenkins’ death. To date, the farthest reaching sticker was placed in Dubai. The plan is to eventually sell the stickers and funnel proceeds into a scholarship project in her honor.
“The idea was to see how far she could go,” Ferebee said. “In 25 years, Sierra accomplished more than people do in 65 years. Sierra would have gone so much farther in life.”
Jenkins, an education reporter for The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, was one of three people killed in a shooting early March 19 at Chicho’s Pizza Backstage in downtown Norfolk. The gunfire, then-police chief Larry Boone said, started after an argument over a spilled drink. Antoine Legrande Jr., 24, was arrested and charged with three counts of second-degree murder May 17, about two months after the shooting.
Prior to joining The Pilot in December 2020, she interned at Atlanta Magazine and CNN, and worked as a news assistant for CNN Health. Jenkins was particularly interested in social issues, always looking for stories that could create change.
This undated photo provided by Chris Taylor shows Sierra Jenkins, 25, a reporter with The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press newspapers in Virginia, who died Saturday March 19, 2022, following a shooting outside a bar in Norfolk, Va. (Chris Taylor/AP)
Ferebee said the stickers initially were placed by Jenkins’ family and friends, but quickly expanded to friends of friends and strangers.
“I was so excited for when I would find a sticker that I did not place,” Ferebee said, who placed 30 stickers around Norfolk and another 40 around Washington.
As the stickers have become more widespread, Ferebee said the messaging behind them has shifted to focus on gun violence prevention and awareness through the Sierra Jenkins Project.
The project is working to launch a website, from which sticker packs can be purchased. Moniquekia Thompson, Jenkins’ mother, crafted the mission statement, stating that the purpose of the stickers is to get people outside, to encourage purposeful traveling, spark gun violence awareness and assist in the restoration of humanity.
“More and more people are losing the regard for human life. This must stop,” Thompson said.
All proceeds from the website will go toward a scholarship fund to be awarded to college-bound high school students at Granby High School, Jenkins’ alma mater.
“Sierra Jenkins was passionate about education, reading, and writing. She intended to go back to school to obtain her master‘s degree but that dream was cut short due to senseless gun violence. It’s only right that we carry out her desire for others to succeed as well,” Thompson said in her mission statement.
The orange squares with a Jenkins-inspired avatar had traveled the world just two weeks after the young journalist’s death, with one making it all the way to Hawaii — placed by a person who had never even met Jenkins. The placement was shared with Ferebee on the Sierra Project Instagram page.
“They placed it on a pole overlooking a beach in Hawaii,” Ferebee said. “They did not even know her. They were talking about how her impact was felt and they wanted to be a part of the project.”
The post, which was shared on Instagram, reads: “Sierra, I hope you enjoy your view of the ocean, the island of Molokai growing and the humpback whales lazily breaching the water. I hope people who notice this little square of orange here wonder who you are and learn more about your too brief but extraordinary life.”
During a recent afternoon visit to Cafe Stella, another customer approached Ferebee to show her a “Sierra was here” sticker that she keeps in her wallet.
“Sierra was — no, she is — so loved. She would have never thought that her impact was this big. She was just passionately doing what she loves,” Ferebee said. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/orange-stickers-spreads-legacy-of-slain-virginia-journalist/2022/07/10/72eb121e-0050-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html | 2022-07-10T13:58:30 | 0 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/orange-stickers-spreads-legacy-of-slain-virginia-journalist/2022/07/10/72eb121e-0050-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html |
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — What do cats, coffee and community all have in common?
“Our vision is more like a community center for adoptable cats and people,” co-owner Kim Zettel said.
The café will function as a foster home for about 20 cats from local shelters and rescues, giving the cats regular socialization and the chance to find their forever homes.
“When you go into the shelters or rescues you might not see the (cat’s) personality shine,” Zettel said. “A lot of people go to shelters and adopt animals, only to realize that’s not the kind of cat they want. This will give potential adopters the chance to see what (the cats) look like in real time.”
Cat decorations line the walls of Cups and Claws Café Friday afternoon July 1, 2022. (Jonathon Gruenke/Daily Press)
She said there’s a big problem in Newport News with people dumping cats on the side of the road or returning them to shelters because the pet isn’t what they were looking for.
Zettel, a retired teacher, along with her husband and co-owner Philip Zettel, have been fostering cats and dogs from local animal shelters for years — they fostered more than 60 animals in 2021.
The idea for the café came from Philip Zettel, a 26-year Navy veteran and senior chief petty officer, joking that they should do something with “all of these darn cats.”
Visitors will have the option to just stop by for coffee or baked goods without visiting the cats, which will be housed in a separate room. Entry into the cat room will require a waiver and fee and includes coffee. The money from adoption fees for any cats adopted from the café will go back to the rescues.
The cat visiting room will have seating and several places for cats to lay and play. The room is equipped with a cat wall for climbing, cat trees and a catwalk hanging from the ceiling. The cats will also have a separate space to eat, use the litterbox and take a break from people when they need it.
In addition to caring for the cats, Kim Zettel wants to prioritize community by providing activities for people of all ages.
She’s working to build partnerships with local entities such as the library to offer children a chance to come read to the cats. Zettel is also planning to offer painting and yoga classes with the cats at the café.
“Newport News is very underserved with places for the older community,” Zettel said. “You don’t really have many places where the elderly community can come and just relax and enjoy themselves.”
Kim and Philip Zettel sit with cat, Louie, inside Cups and Claws Café Friday afternoon July 1, 2022. (Jonathon Gruenke/Daily Press)
She’s hoping the café will also draw college students and military members and their families who might feel lonely or be looking for a way to relieve stress.
“It’s really helpful to the animals — not just the people,” Zettel said. “There’s a duality in purpose.”
The café, which is located at 11006 Warwick Blvd, Suite 458, is slated to open in late July or early August, depending on permits.
“This isn’t just for cat lovers,” Zettel said. “It’s a place for people who want a unique experience.” | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-cafe-owners-want-community-to-socialize-with-cats/2022/07/10/6f88c8be-0050-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html | 2022-07-10T13:58:36 | 1 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-cafe-owners-want-community-to-socialize-with-cats/2022/07/10/6f88c8be-0050-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html |
Earlier on the show we talked about ways parents can cope when their recent high school student goes off to college in the fall. Now, we want to talk about ways younger siblings can cope.
Younger siblings can experience a wide range of emotions such as happiness, fear, sadness, relief, and anger when their older siblings head out to college. Some younger brothers and sisters are happy to have peace, which can mean no more arguing. While others are sad because they feel the emptiness in the house. Remember that they can experience a mix of emotions as well.
Some younger siblings have a more challenging time dealing when their older sibling goes to college. Some siblings have good relationships. Siblings can have a strong bond whether they hang out together. Some older siblings take care of their younger ones when their parents work. Others give their younger siblings advice. A younger brother or sister can feel the loss of companionship. It’s almost like losing a friend.
A great way to help younger siblings cope is to chat about what life will be like when a big brother or sister is in college. Make sure to have the conversation this summer, giving younger siblings time to adjust. Talk about how life will be the same and different. Talk about when they’ll be able to see them. Encourage your kids to stay in touch by phone, particularly texting. Just make sure that you adjust their expectations. Big brother and sister may not be readily available to respond immediately. They’ll balance class schedules, study schedules, work, new friends, and activities.
Share your thoughts on my Facebook page: Blanca Cobb – Body Language Expert. Write a message on my timeline, and I’ll get back to you. While you’re on my page, I’d appreciate it if you give my page a “like.” | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/blanca-cobb-siblings-college-transition/83-dee8021f-e9d6-40e8-8a0f-cd911b9777ab | 2022-07-10T14:25:41 | 0 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/blanca-cobb-siblings-college-transition/83-dee8021f-e9d6-40e8-8a0f-cd911b9777ab |
Northern Arizona Healthcare (NAH) recently announced a pledge to reduce its climate impact and “continuously improve” its sustainability initiatives, as part of a larger effort by the Biden administration.
It has committed to meet the administration’s goal of a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030 and reaching net zero emissions by 2050.
“Climate change is a serious issue, and health care organizations can’t ignore it. We must be a part of the solution,” said NAH President and CEO Flo Spyrow. “NAH is committed to this effort and we know that reducing carbon emission will be beneficial not only for NAH’s patients and the communities we serve, but also for future generations.”
The organization plans to take actions such as considering retrofitting existing facilities with sustainable options to increase energy efficiency, which it will also consider in future construction. According to a press release, NAH anticipates the proposed new campus for the Flagstaff Medical Center would “reduce energy consumption significantly."
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It is also reducing its carbon footprint through initiatives such as the Blue Wrap Project, which has reused around 60,000 pounds of surgical wrap that would otherwise be thrown away.
“The sustainability initiative brings together the healthcare industry in a commitment to reduce carbon emissions and make health care facilities more resilient to the effects of climate change,” according to an NAH release.
Climate change impacts, such as extreme heat, floods, wildfires, vector-borne diseases, can also have an impact on public health, with 200 medical journals naming climate change as the “number one threat to global public health” in Sept. 2021.
NAH is one of several companies and organizations nationwide joining this pledge as part of an effort led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Biden administration.
The health sector climate pledge has been developed by HHS’s office of Climate Change and Health Equity alongside the White House to focus the industry’s response to climate change. Organizations joining the effort also commit to creating detailed climate resilience plans for both their facilities and communities.
The White House announcement of the pledge states that the healthcare sector is responsible for 8.5% of U.S. emissions.
“Public health decisions have to be based on the realities of climate change, and we all need to do more to make that happen at the national level,” said ADM Rachel Levine, the Assistant Secretary for Health. “We’re seeing right now what extreme temperatures and more severe storms can do to human health, environmental quality and our physical infrastructure....Today’s announcement is just the beginning of a longer ongoing effort with partners from across the medical sector, which is exactly the kind of big response we need as a country.” | https://azdailysun.com/news/local/northern-arizona-healthcare-announces-climate-pledge/article_ab3a4332-fc7d-11ec-afc7-277739272ec2.html | 2022-07-10T14:38:27 | 1 | https://azdailysun.com/news/local/northern-arizona-healthcare-announces-climate-pledge/article_ab3a4332-fc7d-11ec-afc7-277739272ec2.html |
Ten years ago, I became a Girls on the Run coach. I thought I was signing up to help with a running group for girls. I didn’t know the program was so much more than that — or that the decision to become a coach would change my life.
At the time, I was two years into my journey with running. Running gave me a lot of confidence in my body that was nonexistent when I was a young girl and as I went through high school and college.
Unfortunately, as happens with so many young women, that lack of self-confidence turned into an eating disorder. Throughout my teens and early twenties, I cycled between disordered eating and bulimia, trying to shrink myself.
I started Couch to 5K in 2010 because runners were skinny and I desperately wanted to be skinny. I wanted to look “like a runner.” As I progressed through the program, I remember feeling excited about my development. Every week, the time I spent walking would decrease and the time I spent running would increase.
After I completed my first 5K nine weeks later, I felt something I had never felt before — pride for what my body accomplished that wasn’t tied to weight loss. That was a transformative moment for me!
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I started running more, running four miles and soon a 10K. I ran my first half marathon that fall, and eventually ventured into marathons and ultramarathons. I ran my first 100-mile race in 2015.
During this time, I also became a Girls on the Run coach. Every week, we taught the girls a new lesson to navigate societal pressures and gender stereotypes. As a coach, I was teaching girls the very life lessons I needed at that age.
I often wonder how different my life would be if I’d had a program like Girls on the Run when I was young, a program that said my value wasn’t tied to the size of my body and taught me how to recognize negative self-talk and turn it into positive self-talk.
Thankfully, I found running, which gave me a lot of the tools we teach at Girls on the Run. Soon after becoming a coach, I slowly saw my eating disorder and restrictive eating habits disappear. I truly believe that running and being a Girls on the Run coach transformed how I thought about myself.
Now I know that coaching for Girls on the Run gives me the opportunity to be the mentor I needed when I was at that age.
What kind of person did you need when you were young? Did you need someone to tell you it’s OK to be weird? That it’s OK to be shy or quiet? Did you need someone to help you navigate tough emotions? You can be that person for a girl, as a Girls on the Run coach. Join us this fall!
Kelly Teeselink is the council director of Girls on the Run of Northern Arizona and an avid trail runner.
Julie Hammonds (runner@juliehammonds.com) is coordinating editor for High Country Running. She invites submissions on any aspect of the local running scene. | https://azdailysun.com/sports/local/high-country-running-be-the-mentor-you-needed-as-a-girls-on-the-run-coach/article_cd8d903e-ffba-11ec-a70c-b36d7924be70.html | 2022-07-10T14:38:46 | 0 | https://azdailysun.com/sports/local/high-country-running-be-the-mentor-you-needed-as-a-girls-on-the-run-coach/article_cd8d903e-ffba-11ec-a70c-b36d7924be70.html |
The West Flagstaff Little League (WFLL) Majors All-Stars continued their postseason win streak Friday, defeating Show Low 12-2 in five innings in Show Low to win the District I championship.
WFLL scored nine runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a major advantage in the championship game. They scored two more in the third and a run in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 10-run lead and win via run rule.
Luke Huffmon led the way offensively, going 3 for 4 from the plate with three RBIs and two runs. Broden Custer went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a run, while also pitching all five innings. He struck out 10 batters and gave up just one walk.
WFLL advances to the state tournament next week, a small step in fighting for a berth in the Little League World Series later in the summer.
CLL wins 9-11 tournament
Continental Little League (CLL) 9-11 All-Stars advanced to the state tournament with a 13-11 walk-off win in the District I title game over WFLL in St. Johns.
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Tied 11-11 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Caleb Smith hit a two-run double to win in dramatic fashion.
Austin Clouse was the most productive offensive player for CLL, going 4 for 4 from the plate with a pair of runs and RBIs. Tekoa Ruiz went 2 for 3 with two RBIs and a run, while also drawing two walks.
CLL will play in the state tournament beginning next week.
FGSLL Majors All-Stars win first round
The Flagstaff Girls Softball Little League (FGSLL) Majors All-Stars won their first game of the state tournament, 12-2, in the opening round of the Arizona Little League Softball State Tournament, winning in five innings via mercy rule in Cottonwood.
FGSLL was set to play the defending-champion Cactus Foothills Majors All-Stars Saturday in Cottonwood.
Star Chasers 10, Force 6
The Flagstaff Star Chasers won their 11th straight game Friday night, defeating the Bay Area Force in the first of a three-game series at Coconino High School.
Flagstaff and Bay Area were tied, 4-4, after five innings, but a three-run sixth inning blew the game open and the Star Chasers ran away with the contest from there.
Elijah Henning went 3 for 4 from the plate, including a double and a triple, with two RBIs and two runs. Alex Harper went 4 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored.
Flagstaff has not lost a game since June 17. It was set to host Bay Area again on Saturday. | https://azdailysun.com/sports/local/local-roundup-wfll-all-stars-advance-to-state/article_1e4b7a84-ffbd-11ec-b9bb-afba2e5b690b.html | 2022-07-10T14:38:52 | 1 | https://azdailysun.com/sports/local/local-roundup-wfll-all-stars-advance-to-state/article_1e4b7a84-ffbd-11ec-b9bb-afba2e5b690b.html |
The chamber is led by a Board of 21 Directors, chosen from its membership. Each year, in September, about 1/3 of them are up for election, for a new three year term. So what does a board member do?
Your chamber board determines policies and sets goals aimed at improving the well being of our community. They team with other directors in developing a program of work, through the Chamber, that gives the community the greatest opportunity for growth and prosperity. You must believe strongly in the problem solving powers that are created when people are mobilized for action.
Board members are doers, not just policy makers. They lead by example. They all serve on at least one of the Action Teams, like Tourism or Business Development & Support , or Leadership Coos, or Transportation or the Legislative Action team, just to name a few. They encourage other members to actively participate as well. They ensure the Team has clearly defined objectives to meet its responsibilities and challenges. They also have fun.
Your community has succeeded as a result of people working together. Your Chamber of Commerce provides the perfect mechanism for continued community cooperation and success. As a director you have an opportunity—and an obligation—to move your Chamber and the community into an even more dynamic future.
So Chamber member, if this sounds like an exciting opportunity to you, throw your hat in the election ring. Give us a call and we will line you up with the nominating committee as it puts together its slate of new directors, next month, for the September election.
Remember Our Business is Helping your Business. And like us on Facebook.
(Timm Slater is executive director of the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. For more information on your Chamber, email timmslater@oregonsbayarea.org.) | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/the-chamber-minute-our-board-of-directors/article_7e53ad16-fd5b-11ec-9d13-6f55a0aae1eb.html | 2022-07-10T14:41:52 | 0 | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/the-chamber-minute-our-board-of-directors/article_7e53ad16-fd5b-11ec-9d13-6f55a0aae1eb.html |
LINVILLE — It would be easy to call it magical, this river of pulsing yellow-white light that washes waist high across a woodland floor.
It is tempting to say — as watchers sometimes will — that synchronous fireflies speak to us somehow.
And we do heed their call, drawn by the thousands to stare and to sigh at their sparkling nocturnal pageant every spring.
But these strobe-light dispatches in the dark are not for us.
Lightning bugs — all of them, not just the sought-after synchronous species so recently unveiled at Grandfather Mountain — have crucial work to do.
This is their end game. This is survival of the species.
****
This is a dramatic, illuminated mating call from the fast-flashing males — six or seven or sometimes eight swift sparks from the air, their neighbors catching the rhythm and spreading it across the night. Females, less populous and less frenetic, respond in their own time with two quick bursts, usually from ground level.
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The result is an hours-long phenomenon of brilliant light, sometimes sparkling, sometimes soaring through absolute darkness.
“I’ll never forget it,” says Quin Tarry, who drove from Durham to see the fireflies in action at Grandfather Mountain on a recent June night. “To watch nature taking place like that, it just blows my mind.”
John Caveny, director of education and natural resources with the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation, has more opportunity than most to marvel at North Carolina’s great outdoors. He describes the experience of watching synchronous fireflies this way: “I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been held speechless by something in nature, and this is one of them.”
The dance that dazzles observers is a biological tool for lightning bugs to locate one another during their short adult lives. They live less than a month in this fiery, flying form — after spending an entire winter or more as larvae, feeding on snails, slugs and the like. So time is short.
It’s a happy coincidence — for us, though maybe not for the rarest of the lightning bugs — that their courtship ritual, this not-quite-synchronized shimmer under the trees, creates a kind of real-life enchanted forest.
The synchronous firefly spectacle and others like it attract hordes of humans to dark mountain passes around this time every year.
When Grandfather Mountain opened ticket sales for the nature park’s first-ever June viewing of the lightning bugs, the firefly fervor was intense enough to crash the website. Some 11,000 people clamored for one of 600 spots.
In the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, tens of thousands a year enter a lottery for a chance to see the famous fireflies put on their annual show.
In recent years, when the lightning-bug-loving public discovered a population of blue ghost fireflies, a scarce species of the tiny twinkling invertebrate, the results proved perilous. Dupont State Recreational Forest near Brevard saw scores of nighttime tourists descend onto its most popular trails during the blue ghost mating period in 2015, many of them venturing off trail for a better look at the blue-glowing bugs. In the process, they damaged the habitat the vulnerable blue ghosts depend on.
“Basically, Dupont was overrun with people at night,” says Stephanie Bradley, education and interpretation manager at Transylvania’s County’s FIND Outdoors — where blue ghost firefly tours sell out within days come the spring viewing season “People were walking off the trails to get to them. They were stepping through the leaf litter, disturbing the habitat and killing females, which can’t fly.”
****
You don’t have to win a lottery to go outside and see something amazing after dark.
Something is going to glow this year — might be glowing right this minute — in your backyard, or pretty close to your backyard.
The common eastern lightning bug — sometimes called a big dipper — puts on its own show in spring and summer. You’ll recognize them at dusk by the J-shaped pattern they fly as they shine their yellow-green light.
Watch closer to the ground and in the grass for lighted female responses.
Pay attention and you might find different species of fireflies based on their different flash patterns.
The big dippers shine around four seconds apart. Some will only light once every 10 seconds. Others emit two bursts every five seconds or so.
The daring “flash bulb” firefly looks exactly like it sounds. And it has the added benefit of a chilling backstory. The “femme fatales” can mimic the flash patterns of others and, once they have the unsuspecting in their clutches, eat the other species. Some scientists say that’s likely less because of hunger and more out of a desire for consuming a certain chemical that protects her and her young from predators.
Near her home in Iron Station, Mitzi Patton caught sight of a fast, flickering beetle a few years ago and followed the glow to a ridge where she’d never paid much attention before.
“I looked up and it was a sea of all these little flashing lights,” she says.
It turns out Patton had discovered a pocket of “snappy syncs” — a species of synchronous lightning bug known for its near-constant nighttime blink during the late spring mating season.
“It’s not something you just see. You feel it inside you, the magic of all that happening,” she says.
North Carolina boasts at least 30 to 40 species of firefly, according to researchers.
“It helps you be motivated to get outside, even if it is nighttime, says Grandfather Mountain’s Caveny. "Once you kind of get used to it, you’re just going to see a different world.”
In his view, the lightning bug — a symbol of so many childhoods — is the perfect conduit for connecting with the outdoors.
“Most everyone, if they grew up in the South for certain, has spent time running around in a field or in a yard, catching lightning bugs and putting them in a Mason jar,” he says.
****
In lightning bug conversations, almost as common as the Mason jar memory is the recognition that we don’t see their lights in the same numbers now that we saw in our collective childhoods.
Part of the answer could be that grownups don’t spend much time in the yard as the sun goes down.
Even at Grandfather Mountain, staffers didn’t realize a show quite so spectacular was playing out in the woods after workers went home.
But fireflies are decidedly a species of concern, Caveny says. They’re not on any endangered species list, but it’s easy to see the threat.
“There are quite a few things that are up against them right now,” he says.
More firefly habitat — think forested areas and open fields — is being developed for residential and commercial use. Pesticides and herbicides affect all invertebrates — so lightning bug populations in agricultural areas could be suffering from the continued use of chemicals. And light pollution is also a major enemy of suburban firefly.
“As these developed areas are spreading out and there are night lamps and streetlights and stoplights and a light on every corner. It affects their ability to find each other and be able to mate,” Caveny says. “So they’ll either move off to another area or become locally extinct in certain areas.”
Cutting down on unnecessary light outside your house — floodlights that shine all night long, he’s talking to you — is one way to help ensure lightning bugs will stick around your yard.
Firefly fans can also employ a few of the tactics the pros at Grandfather Mountain use to encourage lightning bugs to stick around. Picking an area where you don’t have to mow often or you don’t have to cut the grass too short will help with habitat requirements.
So will leaving patches of leaves on the ground come fall — though be careful not to pile leaves so high as to completely bury the lightning bug larvae already on the ground.
“Just providing an oasis for them, whatever that means. It may not be much,” Caveny says.
“But you’d be surprised what will show up — not just fireflies, but other pollinators, bird species, just different critters that you may not commonly see — when you leave a little piece of your property available to kind of get wild.
“It’s really special to see.”
It would be easy to call it magical. | https://greensboro.com/news/local/blink-of-an-eye-north-carolina-fireflies-is-nature-taking-place-before-your-eyes/article_3b125efc-004f-11ed-9d86-ab1e74752482.html | 2022-07-10T14:42:24 | 1 | https://greensboro.com/news/local/blink-of-an-eye-north-carolina-fireflies-is-nature-taking-place-before-your-eyes/article_3b125efc-004f-11ed-9d86-ab1e74752482.html |
Gary Williams can still remember the experience as if it were yesterday.
Twenty-five years ago, Williams found himself in the winner’s circle on what was a historic day for horse racing in the Commonwealth.
That day, Sept. 1, 1997, was opening day at Colonial Downs, the first-ever day of pari-mutuel racing at the New Kent track. And in the fourth race on the program, a mile-long dash, Williams’ Hagley’s Hero won — garnish on what was already a momentous occasion for he and other local horse owners.
“That opening day was just spectacular, to be able to be here and race here in the state of Virginia, and be so close to home,” said Williams, who owns Garydale Farm, a horse training facility in Henrico.
And 25 years later, he and friend George Gregory are back at Colonial Downs once again. Their friendship dates back well before Colonial Downs opened — since the late 1950s estimates Gregory, a New Kent-based horse owner. Gregory joined Williams in the winner’s circle when Hagley’s Hero triumphed in 1997, and both have been regulars at Colonial Downs since.
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They’re both in their 80s now. But as they prepared for this summer’s set of races near their barn stalls on Thursday morning, the vigor they have for horse racing was written on their faces.
The bug bit both long ago. And they remain peers in a sport that doubles as a passion, heading into a meet with the track’s most race dates ever: 27, beginning on Monday.
“It's just one of those things. It gets in your blood,” Williams said of racing. “And it's in our blood.”
For Williams, it got there through a friend. The friend was a jockey, and Williams joked that he “made the mistake” of joining him at races. Williams became hooked.
The owner of the Richmond-based Total Printing Company, Williams bought what became Garydale Farm some six decades ago.
"Total Printing is work,” Williams said. “The horse racing business is entertainment and fun.”
Gregory’s father introduced him to the sport, and he obtained his first horse in 1957. It was something he, like Williams, loved.
The competitiveness of horse racing is the driver, Williams said. He and Gregory, who was a longtime farmer at his 578-acre Castle Farm in New Kent, may be friends but Williams made it clear that his goal is always to beat Gregory or whoever else he may be lined up against. According to Equibase, Williams has 246 total first-place finishes to his name.
“If you are a sports-minded person, you like the competitiveness,” Williams said. “And I just like horses and I like the competitiveness. So that's why I bought a farm. I train my own horses on the farm. And I do everything myself. And I'm a very competitive person."
He and Gregory were already longtime competitors by the time Colonial Downs popped up. The track’s opening was a blessing to them, Williams said — close by, when they were used to racking up miles driving to Maryland and West Virginia to race.
Hagley’s Hero had only won three of his previous 48 starts before Colonial Downs’ opening day in 1997. But, ridden by jockey Carol Rice, he established a clear lead and held it in a race that was reserved for horses bred in Virginia, finishing in 1:35.56.
“It was great to be able to race and perform here at Colonial,” Williams said.
In the years that followed, when it comes to meets at Colonial Downs, “We don’t miss any,” Williams said, referring to he and Gregory.
The two don’t spend a ton of time together outside of racetracks, though Gregory has trained horses on Williams’ half-mile training track at Garydale Farm. But, at Colonial Downs, the friends “unite as one,” Williams said.
The business of horse racing has changed much over the years. There were a lot of horse farms in the area at one time, Williams said. Those numbers have dropped. There was no racing at Colonial Downs from 2014-18, after former track owner Jacobs Entertainment surrendered its license to operate and before the track was sold in 2018, to what was then Revolutionary Racing.
“Hoping that Colonial Downs will get more [race] days and more people will buy farms and raise horses in Virginia,” Williams said. “Which will bring more help and riders to Virginia. And that's all we can hope for."
Churchill Downs is in the process of acquiring Colonial Downs’ parent company, a deal revealed earlier this year. That could lead to further evolution at the track — Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen told The Times-Dispatch in March that he foresees the track jumping to as many as 50 days of racing.
For now, this race season, Colonial Downs will go from 21 race days last year to a record 27 this year. Daily purses will average $600,000, and the meet will continue through Sept. 7. The $300,000 Virginia Derby and $200,000 Virginia Oaks will be contested on Sept. 6.
Williams plans to have seven of his horses at Colonial Downs this year and Gregory has one, Blue Bonnie.
"Colonial Downs has got the best facility that I've ever run at, I think,” said Gregory. “We've run all over.”
Williams is back at Colonial Downs after recovering from a heart attack suffered in January. But he wasn’t going to let something like that get in the way of racing, he said. He’s recovered and said he’s doing well now.
And so there he and Gregory were on Thursday, energetic, with the start of this year’s meet quickly approaching.
The passion for racing still burns bright in them, perhaps even more at Colonial Downs than at any other track.
“Colonial Downs is Colonial Downs. That's just the way it is,” Williams said. “Like going to Madison Square Garden. Madison Square Garden, whoever's playing there, it doesn't matter. It's the same thing." | https://richmond.com/sports/local/longtime-local-horsemen-williams-gregory-still-going-strong-at-colonial-downs-25-years-later/article_1659c7a0-4ab5-5332-acd6-a986d756f160.html | 2022-07-10T14:44:53 | 1 | https://richmond.com/sports/local/longtime-local-horsemen-williams-gregory-still-going-strong-at-colonial-downs-25-years-later/article_1659c7a0-4ab5-5332-acd6-a986d756f160.html |
An appeals court has ordered a new trial for a New Jersey man convicted in a stabbing death shortly after the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2018.
The court cited an assistant prosecutor's repeatedly calling the defendant a liar and also cited errors in the judge's instructions to the jury.
Supreme Life, 60, of Lumberton was sentenced to 20 years after he was convicted in Burlington County in March 2019 of passion provocation manslaughter in the death of Moriah Walker, 26, of Brooklyn, N.Y., and the attempted murder of another New York man.
Life, formerly known as Charles Hoskins, testified that as people were outside celebrating the Eagles’ February 2018 win, he teased his son, a Dallas Cowboys fan, and his son responded with an epithet about the Eagles. He said two New York men leaving a nearby party overheard the remark and attacked his son, and he acted in self-defense.
During the trial, Life acknowledged having lied in a statement to police, and the appeals court said that was fair game for prosecutors to point out. But the court said the prosecutor's repeated use of “derogatory epithets" was improper and the constant labeling of Life as a liar tipped the scales of justice against him.
The court also found fault with the judge's omission of certain instructions on how jurors could interpret self-defense as it relates to manslaughter.
“The combination of errors in this case, together with the prosecutor’s improper summation, require reversal of defendant’s convictions,” the court said in a decision issued Thursday.
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A spokesperson for the county prosecutor’s office told Nj.com Thursday that the decision is under review. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/new-trial-ordered-in-stabbing-death-after-eagles-super-bowl-win/3295046/ | 2022-07-10T14:45:50 | 0 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/new-trial-ordered-in-stabbing-death-after-eagles-super-bowl-win/3295046/ |
Police say they have the 15-year-old in custody responsible Saturday afternoon's deadly stabbing of a teen on a Manhattan train platform.
The 14-year-old victim was found on the northbound 1 line platform at the 137 St-City College station in Hamilton Heights around 3 p.m. Police said he'd been stabbed in the stomach.
Investigators believe the stabbing followed a dispute that started on the street and continued down into the subway station.
The situation escalated when the older teen allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed the other boy, before fleeing from the station, police said. The 14-year-old did not survive his injuries and was pronounced dead at St. Luke's Hospital.
A straphanger described the moment he came face-to-face with the 14-year-old boy on the verge of death.
"His lips were purple and his eyes were rolled back, and he was bleeding a lot of blood," the witness said, adding he saw a group of teen girls run out of the station. "They wanted to take his phone."
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NYPD officials said security video reviewed from the train station had captured the movements of the teens. A description of the wanted boy was distributed and helped transit officers spot the 15-year-old within hours and bring him in, police said.
Charges for the accused teen were still pending Sunday morning. Late Saturday, police said no other suspects were outstanding.
Over in the Bronx, Mayor Eric Adams reinforced the need for the city to expand summer youth programs to keep teens engaged and off the streets.
"Hearing about the stabbing really highlights why we need the lights on in schools like this, we need to find out what happened, we’re going to find out the person responsible," Adams said Saturday afternoon.
The MTA called the death a “a senseless and tragic incident” and said they are cooperating with NYPD investigation.
"This station is our lifeblood, it's one of the busiest stations on the 1 line," Barry Weinberg, Chair of Manhattan Community Board 9, said. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/nyc-subway-slaying-teen-in-custody-for-14-year-old-boys-stabbing-ny-only/3767906/ | 2022-07-10T14:53:53 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/nyc-subway-slaying-teen-in-custody-for-14-year-old-boys-stabbing-ny-only/3767906/ |
ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. — It was a time to celebrate at Beach Diner in Atlantic Beach Thursday as friends and family gathered to celebrate Navy veteran Bob Johnson's 102nd birthday.
"I sure didn't expect all this, it's really something," says Johnson.
Bob Johnson turned 102, but his age is only the beginning of his incredible accomplishments.
"I had an exciting Navy career," says Johnson, "I really did."
Johnson joined the Navy in 1937 and is the last surviving member of Admiral Byrd's expeditions to the Antarctic. The crew explored and mapped more than 500,000 square miles of Antarctica that had never been seen before.
"On Operation High Jump in 1946-47 three of us made a parachute jump," says Johnson. "You just take it as it comes, part of your duty I guess."
Johnson may downplay his trips to the end of the Earth, but the city of Atlantic Beach still made a proclamation in his honor.
Pictures of his explorations live on. Johnson has looked after a stuffed "Penguin Polar Pete" for nearly 80 years.
Also lasting the test of time is an American flag that flew in Antarctica when Johnson served. It has 48 stars, which was accurate for the time.
With his wife Mildred by his side, active duty members of the Navy came to show their respect for a man who blazed a trail nearly 80 years ago.
Just don't expect Johnson to make many southern expeditions any time soon.
"One time a person asked 'would you like to go back to the Antarctic'," says Johnson. "I told him why do you think I'm in Florida where it's warm."
A lifetime of memories from an explorer and member of our greatest generation. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/navy-veteran-celebrates-102nd-birthday/77-35feb01e-fdf2-4613-a68b-d1808bcac821 | 2022-07-10T14:59:00 | 0 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/navy-veteran-celebrates-102nd-birthday/77-35feb01e-fdf2-4613-a68b-d1808bcac821 |
FOLSOM, Calif. — Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews was welcomed at the Sacramento airport Friday by a crowd of cheering supporters.
"It's pretty surreal - having have my friends around, makes it feel a little more normal. I haven't been home in... well over a year, year and a half and nothing's really changed," Vargas-Andrews said Sunday.
He came home for the first time in 10 months following the devastating suicide bombing at the Kabul Airport. Vargas-Andrews lost an arm and a leg and has undergone 43 surgeries during his long recovery at Walter Reed Medical Center in Maryland.
The 23-year-old will be among those honored at the sold-out Folsom Rodeo show Sunday tonight. The event will also recognize the 13 service members killed during that attack, which includes 23-year-old Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee from Roseville.
RELATED: Sgt. Nicole Gee, Sacramento fallen Marine, remembered as ‘most loving and caring individual’
Vargas-Andrews was among the other 18 servicemembers who were injured in the blast. However for him, the emphasis is on the servicemembers who lost their lives in the attack.
"I don't view myself as a hero... I think I'm just a regular person. We're all doing, you know, a very chaotic job at a chaotic place. And fortunately, I was physically prepared to get blown up. It's the best way I can put it," Vargas-Andrews said.
He said that his physical fitness and health was the reason his body was able to sustain the injuries and survive.
"It kind of sounds like a joke, but it's really not," he said.
Vargas-Andrews said that he woke up about six days after the blast happened, and that his medical team told him that he shouldn't have been able to survive his injuries.
"All I could do is I could kind of talk a little bit... I can move my head - you know, my arm, my leg was gone. I've got a million machines and tubes everywhere, and like my left arm, I took some some ball bearings out here to my shoulder and whatnot in my my wrist and I was in a giant cast with like a foam block around it," he said.
After the injuries, Vargas-Andrews said it was hard not being able to do the normal things that he had always done before. However, while he said people might look at his efforts and recovery as amazing, he doesn't see it the same way.
"There's plenty of people who've been in my similar situation or worse. We've had to do the same thing, and it's just something I have to do. I can sit there and cry and, you know, not move on with my life or I can move on in my life," he said.
Now that he's back home, Vargas-Andrews intends to live his life the same way as before. He intends to continue weightlifting and shooting, and he's considered competing in the Paralympics. Another goal of his is to open his own gym.
"I'm missing half my organs and half my limbs, and, you know, I hope I can show people there's no reason not to go be successful in your own life. There's no reason not to go do the things that you want to do. I'm still doing things I want to do," he said.
The non-profit Warfighter Overwatch helped organize the events that will be honoring Vargas-Andrews and the other servicemembers. It's important event, because it keeps those servicemembers in people's memories.
"It's very easy for attention to be brought and the the support of communities and whatnot to be strong in the beginning, but you know, it dies off very quickly. And you know those 13 families and the friends of those 13, they're never going to forget it, you know? Hopefully, the rest of world won't either," Vargas-Andrews said.
WATCH ALSO: | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/tyler-vargas-andrews-folsom-kabul-bombing/103-3e576b03-33b0-490a-9f51-f004bfb662e0 | 2022-07-10T14:59:06 | 0 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/tyler-vargas-andrews-folsom-kabul-bombing/103-3e576b03-33b0-490a-9f51-f004bfb662e0 |
SAN ANTONIO — A wrong-way driver is dead after police say he crashed head-on into another car overnight, according to police.
It happened just after 2 a.m. on State Highway 151 at Callaghan Rd. on the west side of San Antonio. Police say a man driving an SUV was spotted going the wrong direction and just after officers observed him, he crashed head-on into another vehicle.
Two people, who were inside the car he crashed into, were taken to an area hospital in stable condition. The wrong-way driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Police suspect he was intoxicated. No age was given and the crash is being investigated.
No other details were provided and no other injuries were reported.
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Over the years, KENS 5 has worked to transform local news. Our cameras have been the lens bringing history into local viewers' homes. We're proud of our legacy as we serve San Antonians today.
Today, KENS 5 continues to set the standard in local broadcasting and is recognized by its peers for excellence and innovation. The KENS 5 News team focuses on stories that really matter to our community.
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Want to get in touch with someone at KENS 5? You can send a message using our Contacts page or email one of our team members. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/wrong-way-driver-to-blame-for-deadly-crash-police-say-san-antonio-texas-suv-accident/273-e54af766-a9f0-4a76-9f99-94ebc7866f59 | 2022-07-10T14:59:13 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/wrong-way-driver-to-blame-for-deadly-crash-police-say-san-antonio-texas-suv-accident/273-e54af766-a9f0-4a76-9f99-94ebc7866f59 |
Stacker collected information on the highest-paying jobs in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Jobs are ranked by average annual salary with information up to date as of May 2021.
In Dallas, the annual mean wage is $58,020 or 0.4% lower than national mean of $58,260, while the highest-paying occupation makes $362,730. Read on to see which jobs make the list.
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#50. Commercial pilots
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $120,230
– #35 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 1,750
National
– Annual mean salary: $115,080
– Employment: 42,770
– Entry level education requirements: High school diploma or equivalent
– Metros with highest average pay:
— San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($185,920)
— Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA ($184,260)
— Savannah, GA ($177,450)
#49. Medical dosimetrists
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $120,340
– #10 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 70
National
– Annual mean salary: $124,750
– Employment: 2,400
– Entry level education requirements: nan
– Metros with highest average pay:
— New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($144,120)
— Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD ($140,710)
— Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA ($140,300)
#48. Nuclear engineers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $120,560
– #12 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 110
National
– Annual mean salary: $121,760
– Employment: 12,670
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ ($153,790)
— Idaho Falls, ID ($143,500)
— Niles-Benton Harbor, MI ($141,090)
#47. Industrial production managers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $120,790
– #83 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 4,530
National
– Annual mean salary: $117,780
– Employment: 192,270
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($155,640)
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($153,860)
— Fort Collins, CO ($153,470)
#46. Environmental engineers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $121,180
– #9 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 480
National
– Annual mean salary: $100,220
– Employment: 42,660
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX ($131,700)
— San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($127,470)
— Idaho Falls, ID ($127,160)
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#45. Electronics engineers, except computer
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $124,540
– #15 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 4,470
National
– Annual mean salary: $115,490
– Employment: 107,170
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($152,060)
— Santa Rosa, CA ($138,480)
— Idaho Falls, ID ($136,310)
#44. Training and development managers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $125,910
– #40 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 970
National
– Annual mean salary: $128,800
– Employment: 35,830
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($180,360)
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($176,270)
— San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($166,410)
#43. Law teachers, postsecondary
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $126,450
– #14 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 160
National
– Annual mean salary: $130,820
– Employment: 14,110
– Entry level education requirements: Doctoral or professional degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI ($165,990)
— Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA ($152,750)
— Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI ($152,190)
#42. Medical and health services managers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $126,500
– #52 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 10,610
National
– Annual mean salary: $119,840
– Employment: 436,770
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($162,110)
— Vallejo-Fairfield, CA ($157,340)
— New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($156,370)
#41. Geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $128,250
– #10 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 600
National
– Annual mean salary: $103,550
– Employment: 23,620
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX ($161,290)
— Corpus Christi, TX ($156,870)
— Midland, TX ($156,270)
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#40. Public relations managers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $129,690
– #41 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 1,510
National
– Annual mean salary: $138,000
– Employment: 59,850
– Entry level education requirements: nan
– Metros with highest average pay:
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($183,410)
— Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ($182,890)
— Boulder, CO ($174,250)
#39. Database architects
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $130,640
– #19 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 1,520
National
– Annual mean salary: $121,840
– Employment: 50,440
– Entry level education requirements: nan
– Metros with highest average pay:
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($187,070)
— San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($161,830)
— Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA ($156,530)
#38. Pharmacists
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $131,250
– #65 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 6,310
National
– Annual mean salary: $125,690
– Employment: 312,550
– Entry level education requirements: Doctoral or professional degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($168,640)
— San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($163,840)
— Santa Rosa, CA ($158,420)
#37. Optometrists
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $132,390
– #47 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 780
National
– Annual mean salary: $125,440
– Employment: 38,720
– Entry level education requirements: Doctoral or professional degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Wilmington, NC ($198,370)
— Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT ($172,190)
— Norwich-New London-Westerly, CT-RI ($169,140)
#36. Compensation and benefits managers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $134,290
– #36 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 550
National
– Annual mean salary: $139,470
– Employment: 15,330
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($190,560)
— Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT ($187,770)
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($177,130)
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#35. Natural sciences managers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $134,440
– #56 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: data not available
National
– Annual mean salary: $156,110
– Employment: 74,760
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH ($222,360)
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($219,240)
— San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($216,750)
#34. Administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $134,600
– #6 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 110
National
– Annual mean salary: $104,160
– Employment: 13,840
– Entry level education requirements: Doctoral or professional degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Kansas City, MO-KS ($151,900)
— Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, CA ($148,800)
— Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN ($141,070)
#33. Purchasing managers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $136,440
– #33 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 2,040
National
– Annual mean salary: $134,590
– Employment: 69,310
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Trenton, NJ ($181,030)
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($177,010)
— New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($174,760)
#32. Sales managers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $137,040
– #66 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 16,220
National
– Annual mean salary: $142,390
– Employment: 453,800
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($198,960)
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($196,910)
— Boulder, CO ($182,820)
#31. Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $138,000
– #36 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 400
National
– Annual mean salary: $142,520
– Employment: 27,790
– Entry level education requirements: Doctoral or professional degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, CA ($225,610)
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($208,310)
— Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI ($200,980)
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#30. Human resources managers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $138,880
– #43 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 4,100
National
– Annual mean salary: $136,590
– Employment: 166,530
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($190,020)
— New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($186,930)
— San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($175,410)
#29. Physicists
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $142,750
– #21 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 230
National
– Annual mean salary: $151,580
– Employment: 20,020
– Entry level education requirements: Doctoral or professional degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD ($199,830)
— Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ ($195,300)
— Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX ($188,250)
#28. Dentists, general
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $146,710
– #265 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 3,520
National
– Annual mean salary: $167,160
– Employment: 108,680
– Entry level education requirements: Doctoral or professional degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Manchester, NH ($276,510)
— Salinas, CA ($234,410)
— Vallejo-Fairfield, CA ($229,800)
#27. Marketing managers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $147,610
– #48 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 7,740
National
– Annual mean salary: $153,440
– Employment: 278,690
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($210,280)
— San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($198,870)
— New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($191,310)
#26. Chemical engineers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $151,460
– #4 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 610
National
– Annual mean salary: $121,840
– Employment: 24,180
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX ($173,640)
— Anchorage, AK ($159,010)
— Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ ($152,820)
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#25. Computer and information research scientists
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $151,650
– #6 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 560
National
– Annual mean salary: $142,650
– Employment: 30,840
– Entry level education requirements: Master’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($209,890)
— Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ ($202,020)
— Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA ($183,750)
#24. Air traffic controllers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $154,180
– #2 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 750
National
– Annual mean salary: $127,920
– Employment: 21,230
– Entry level education requirements: Associate’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI ($158,210)
— Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX ($154,180)
— Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA ($153,770)
#23. Petroleum engineers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $158,210
– #8 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 1,290
National
– Annual mean salary: $145,720
– Employment: 22,100
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($214,700)
— Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA ($175,590)
— Anchorage, AK ($169,650)
#22. Computer and information systems managers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $159,010
– #34 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 15,980
National
– Annual mean salary: $162,930
– Employment: 485,190
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($228,030)
— San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($211,470)
— New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($202,800)
#21. Financial managers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $161,500
– #20 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 17,390
National
– Annual mean salary: $153,460
– Employment: 681,070
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($209,100)
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($201,330)
— San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($188,900)
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#20. Lawyers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $161,650
– #13 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 14,660
National
– Annual mean salary: $148,030
– Employment: 681,010
– Entry level education requirements: Doctoral or professional degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($231,200)
— San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($191,460)
— Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ($186,610)
#19. Architectural and engineering managers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $164,390
– #37 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 4,840
National
– Annual mean salary: $158,970
– Employment: 187,100
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($228,000)
— San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($206,050)
— Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, FL ($198,430)
#18. Health specialties teachers, postsecondary
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $172,760
– #10 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 5,770
National
– Annual mean salary: $133,310
– Employment: 191,830
– Entry level education requirements: Doctoral or professional degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT ($226,440)
— Jackson, MS ($202,690)
— Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, CA ($183,250)
#17. Nurse anesthetists
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $198,250
– #56 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 1,250
National
– Annual mean salary: $202,470
– Employment: 43,950
– Entry level education requirements: Master’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Springfield, IL ($298,890)
— Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA ($283,550)
— Ann Arbor, MI ($276,810)
#16. Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $213,010
– #12 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 5,580
National
– Annual mean salary: $198,190
– Employment: 81,310
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA ($255,250)
— San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($243,380)
— Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL ($242,540)
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#15. Podiatrists
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $219,920
– #2 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 110
National
– Annual mean salary: $158,380
– Employment: 8,840
– Entry level education requirements: Doctoral or professional degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— San Diego-Carlsbad, CA ($231,930)
— Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX ($219,920)
— Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA ($205,040)
#14. Family medicine physicians
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $226,070
– #169 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 2,660
National
– Annual mean salary: $235,930
– Employment: 102,930
– Entry level education requirements: Doctoral or professional degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Coeur d’Alene, ID ($336,820)
— Fond du Lac, WI ($336,140)
— Gainesville, GA ($330,930)
#13. Psychiatrists
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $227,830
– #67 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 330
National
– Annual mean salary: $249,760
– Employment: 25,520
– Entry level education requirements: Doctoral or professional degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($360,840)
— San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($360,740)
— Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN ($333,190)
#12. Neurologists
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $247,800
– #12 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 100
National
– Annual mean salary: $267,660
– Employment: 7,120
– Entry level education requirements: nan
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Trenton, NJ ($350,140)
— Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI ($348,500)
— Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ($346,670)
#11. Pediatricians, general
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $248,580
– #14 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 240
National
– Annual mean salary: $198,420
– Employment: 33,620
– Entry level education requirements: Doctoral or professional degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Austin-Round Rock, TX ($298,760)
— Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA ($298,320)
— Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX ($291,940)
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#10. Physicians, pathologists
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $271,160
– #20 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 170
National
– Annual mean salary: $267,180
– Employment: 11,010
– Entry level education requirements: nan
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Lexington-Fayette, KY ($351,450)
— Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA ($344,900)
— Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR ($341,360)
#9. Ophthalmologists, except pediatric
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $273,040
– #21 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: data not available
National
– Annual mean salary: $270,090
– Employment: 11,610
– Entry level education requirements: nan
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD ($356,830)
— Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA ($355,740)
— York-Hanover, PA ($344,470)
#8. General internal medicine physicians
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $281,160
– #50 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 570
National
– Annual mean salary: $242,190
– Employment: 58,260
– Entry level education requirements: Doctoral or professional degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Rockford, IL ($359,200)
— Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC ($350,330)
— Sumter, SC ($334,810)
#7. Anesthesiologists
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $285,230
– #29 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 450
National
– Annual mean salary: $331,190
– Employment: 31,130
– Entry level education requirements: Doctoral or professional degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Billings, MT ($367,320)
— Tallahassee, FL ($363,190)
— Fort Wayne, IN ($358,430)
#6. Radiologists
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $295,520
– #29 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: data not available
National
– Annual mean salary: $301,720
– Employment: 29,530
– Entry level education requirements: Doctoral degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI ($370,570)
— Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN ($358,680)
— Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH ($358,450)
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#5. Dermatologists
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $295,540
– #17 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 80
National
– Annual mean salary: $302,740
– Employment: 9,230
– Entry level education requirements: nan
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL ($352,500)
— Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ ($349,550)
— Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI ($340,840)
#4. Chief executives
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $296,480
– #3 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 1,570
National
– Annual mean salary: $213,020
– Employment: 200,480
– Entry level education requirements: Bachelor’s degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA ($313,440)
— Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX ($298,960)
— Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX ($296,480)
#3. Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $322,610
– #13 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 190
National
– Annual mean salary: $306,220
– Employment: 16,260
– Entry level education requirements: nan
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA ($366,650)
— Birmingham-Hoover, AL ($364,290)
— Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH ($354,880)
#2. Obstetricians and gynecologists
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $328,570
– #14 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 670
National
– Annual mean salary: $296,210
– Employment: 21,570
– Entry level education requirements: Doctoral or professional degree
– Metros with highest average pay:
— San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($377,980)
— Austin-Round Rock, TX ($375,200)
— Modesto, CA ($362,780)
#1. Cardiologists
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Annual mean salary: $362,730
– #4 highest pay among all metros
– Employment: 400
National
– Annual mean salary: $353,970
– Employment: 18,610
– Entry level education requirements: nan
– Metros with highest average pay:
— Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ($411,230)
— Cleveland-Elyria, OH ($365,880)
— Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA ($363,270)
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Banda music blasts from a Chevy Tahoe down the lot at South Plaza. The 5 p.m. traffic slowly piles up on Central Avenue as people try their best not to get into a crash with all the light rail construction. Then, Blu Erran pulls up to the plaza.
Erran was born and raised in south Phoenix, a rarity in a city that continues to rapidly change. Erran spent their youth on this side of town, spending their teenage years at their nana's house.
"I wish she still lived here," Erran said. "I want to buy this house."
At 23 years old, Erran is part of an ambitious generation of artists and entrepreneurs looking to leave their footprints on the identity and culture of Phoenix.
Making community and establishing relationship with like-minded people comes naturally to Erran.
Highlighting Phoenix's hidden talent
Erran has worn many hats over the past five years, but they could best be described as an event coordinator and art curator, managing more than 20 events in that time.
"I have done 'Player's Ball,' 'Homegrown,' 'Second Earth Experience,' 'Under Pressure,'" Erran said. "That one was completely done and created, but I just never got to share that with the public because of COVID."
The people highlighted at these events are largely Erran's friends, collaborators and local musicians, which they said is important because hey have seen how art institutions in Phoenix often neglect local talent.
"I love the art world. I love everything that comes with the art community, and how talented people can be. I feel like just being around artists are is very inspiring to me," Erran said.
They view these events as opportunities to curate their own art using space as a medium for their creativity.
A shared vision for the community
Erran has come so far by working odd jobs, at times multiple to make end meet, and directing some of those funds to creative endeavors.
"When I first started this it was difficult because things were gatekept so intensely." They described the landscape as inaccessible to many in her community: "If it's someone in my community who loves their art and you they need funds, they're not going to know even where to look."
This barrier has become an inspiration for artists in Phoenix to self-fund, creating a do-it-yourself mindset.
Liz Medrano is another artist in the this DIY art school, participating through painting, sketching and putting on her own shows. She met Erran first online where they both share their work. Later on they connected at a gallery showing last summer in Phoenix, and they clicked over their similar visions for the community.
"It was like we've been knowing each other for years," Medrano said, "which is something very rare because I'm kind of reserved as a person."
Medrano recently had an exhibition at The Greater Good barber shop which allowed her to explore more of the behind the scenes aspects of the work that goes into organizing events.
Aspirations for success in doing what they love has grown their friendship and respect towards each other’s work.
"I think we share the same excitement in bringing people together or bringing the same type of energy under one roof," Medrano said, noting that Erran's face lights up when they talk about it.
Leaving a mark on Phoenix's art scene
Erran does not plan on slowing down. There's a festival in downtown Phoenix in the works for later this year. With each new event, Erran seeks a larger footprint.
While Erran doesn't often think about how they will be remembered, they hope people can acknowledge the effort.
"I want to be known as a good person. I am very strong in my values," they said. "Whenever I think of larger festivals I can make money on, I'm also thinking of, 'OK, what type of nonprofits are surrounding my community that I can also donate to?'"
Erran wants to leave is a community with more opportunities than the one they grew up in.
"Although there's a lot of changes in south Phoenix," they said, "there's a lot of people that are scared and going through a rough time. We're building spaces where you get a break from that and also raise money for people that are in the south side."
Have a question you need answered? Reach the reporter at rromeroruiz@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @raphaeldelag.
Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today. | https://www.azcentral.com/mosaic-story/news/local/arizona-people/2022/07/10/south-phoenix-artist-cultivates-community/7831075001/ | 2022-07-10T15:16:40 | 0 | https://www.azcentral.com/mosaic-story/news/local/arizona-people/2022/07/10/south-phoenix-artist-cultivates-community/7831075001/ |
Well into their 20th outdoor season, Kenosha HarborMarket continues to offer an exquisite vendor lineup, ambiance and shopping experience.
Every Saturday this outdoor season over 100 vendor booths have lined, and will continue to line, Second Avenue and the adjunct Place de Douai. During the peak of the season, 130 booths will fill the space.
Of course, HarborMarket’s diverse vendor lineup will continue with produce, meat, poultry, eggs, cheese, flowers, prepared foods and beverages, baked goods, pantry staples, soap and body care products, arts and crafts and knife sharpening. As the local growing season really ramps up, so will the selection of local produce.
Local Produce
The long days of summer have arrived, as have the most bountiful time of the year for local produce. Expect Mirai sweet corn to arrive between late-July and mid-August at Piscasaw Gardens on Place de Douai and Van Laar’s Fruit Farm on the west side of Second Avenue. This corn is a customer favorite, and often sells out well before the end of the day. Customers are encouraged to shop early.
Churchill Orchards will continue to bring their own Michigan grown fruits and vegetables, including berries, peaches, plums, cherries and more every other week. Grown in the “fruit belt” of Michigan, and harvested mere days prior to the market, this fruit is fresh, ripe and unbelievably sweet.
Find heirloom varieties of produce, including rainbow carrots, garlic, greens, beets, beans, mushrooms, microgreens, turnips, zucchini, tomatoes, beets, peppers, fresh herbs and much more at several vendor booths. Later in the summer expect the melons, both watermelon and cantaloupe, to arrive. And, of course, find lush, beautifully arranged and sure-to-draw-compliments flower bouquets throughout HarborMarket every week.
Events and activities
HarborMarket isn’t just a place to shop — it’s a place to experience and savor. Live music is performed at booths on both Second Avenue and Place de Douai. Special performances by Puppet Underground and Kenosha Opera Festival are sprinkled throughout the season. Versiti continues to hold blood drives. Ample seating is in the adjacent green spaces.
Last, but definitely not least, the Kenosha Public Library Bookmobile is on-site every Saturday with both a bus full of books to check out and fun activities outside. Find them parked on 56th Street, just north of Place de Douai.
Plan on spending the day at “Kenosha’s Best Event” and enjoy the shopping, sounds, taste and of course scenic location. See you at the award-winning Kenosha HarborMarket, your weekly destination for shopping local and “open rain or shine” since 2003.
In an opinion delivered Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin ruled in favor of Chrystul Kizer, who in 2018 was accused of killing the man who had been sex trafficking her and other girls.
The City of Burlington's July 4 fireworks have been "postponed to a later date," the city said Monday afternoon, due to safety concerns related to expected storms. | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/community-newsletter-local-produce-events-and-activities-at-kenosha-harbormarket/article_ac108688-ff9b-11ec-9725-17896f7d4a18.html | 2022-07-10T15:36:29 | 0 | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/community-newsletter-local-produce-events-and-activities-at-kenosha-harbormarket/article_ac108688-ff9b-11ec-9725-17896f7d4a18.html |
TWIN FALLS — Two second-year students at the College of Southern Idaho will receive scholarships for the College of Southern Idaho Renewable Energy Systems Technology Program from Magic Valley Energy (MVE), an affiliate of leading energy company LS Power.
Marysol Cruz, a graduate of Blackfoot High School, will receive $1,000 toward the completion of her degree, and Mykah Bonaparte, a graduate of Twin Falls High School, will receive $500.
This is the second round of scholarships MVE has sponsored for students interested in renewable energy careers.
Cruz and Bonaparte said they decided to pursue renewable energy as a career because of their desire to be a part of a healthier planet.
“The potential for renewable energy is big,” Bonaparte said. “I feel like I am making a small difference to help our climate.”
Cruz said her desire to work outside and constantly learn new things is one of the reasons she decided to pursue renewable energy.
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“No matter the area of renewables I decide to specialize in, I am confident I will come out with experience and new knowledge for the next task I take on,” she said. “I feel like I could go anywhere with this degree.”
Cruz said winning this scholarship was relieving.
“I work and go to school and pay out of pocket for my school. This scholarship is such a relief. It will help so much. I’m so grateful,” she said.
MVE has proposed two wind projects in the Magic Valley on primarily public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The projects will bring approximately 40 well-paid, permanent job opportunities to the Magic Valley and have an estimated $23 million annual economic output after the two-year construction phase.
For those looking for a new career, CSI’s associate degree in Renewable Energy Systems Technology is usually completed within two years; however, CSI works with high school students and those who are already working in the industry but haven’t yet completed their degree requirements.
“Knowing that CSI has a fantastic program in place for wind technicians makes us even more excited to bring this opportunity to the Magic Valley,” Luke Papez, MVE Project Director, said. “Hiring local talent is a priority for us as we move forward.”
For first-time advising, registration, basic financial aid, and payment information, contact CSI Enrollment Services at enrollment@csi.edu or 208-732-6250.
“Having a workforce degree does wonders,” Eli Bowles, CSI Renewable Energy Instructor, said. “Even if you move out of the wind energy industry, having those base-level skills is phenomenal. Our students often go into wind, solar, maintenance, and food manufacturing. We have a 100% job placement. It’s an exciting industry for anyone who wants a challenge.”
For more information, please contact Amy Schutte at amy@hudsonandco.co | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/college-of-southern-idaho-students-receive-magic-valley-energy-scholarships/article_3700442c-fe20-11ec-a7aa-676bcae65584.html | 2022-07-10T15:42:06 | 1 | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/college-of-southern-idaho-students-receive-magic-valley-energy-scholarships/article_3700442c-fe20-11ec-a7aa-676bcae65584.html |
Rep. Dorothy Moon, R-Stanley, announced in a press release Thursday that she will run for chairperson of the Idaho Republican Party.
Moon, who narrowly lost her bid to be Idaho’s next secretary of state in the May primary, would replace current chairperson of the Idaho GOP, Tom Luna. Luna was elected to the position by members of the party at the GOP state convention in 2020 and is running for a second term.
The next chairperson will be elected at the last day of the Idaho GOP‘s convention in Twin Falls on July 16.
“I am committed to the conservative values that have made Idaho, and our Republic, great: protecting life, safeguarding our children, expanding our Second Amendment liberties, sensibly managing our natural resources and defending religious liberty,” Moon said in the release.
Moon was elected to the Idaho Legislature in 2016 after becoming politically involved with the tea party movement in 2009. She is part of a group of legislators with high marks from the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a conservative group that gives each legislator a score based on how they vote on particular bills during the legislative session. She has a 94% score based on the 2022 session.
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Moon said in the release that she would build a strong fundraising apparatus for the Idaho GOP and would work to keep Democrats from gaining power in Idaho. She also criticized her state party’s leadership.
“The Idaho Republican Party leadership is currently working from a tired and outdated playbook for fundraising, organization, and outreach. Their message has failed to resonate with young families and hardworking Idahoans looking for relief from grocery taxes and high prices at the pump,” Moon said in the release.
Moon graduated from Missouri State University with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and a master’s degree in resource planning, and has taught college students and directed a special education program in Challis. She moved to Idaho with her husband, Darr, in 1994. | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/idaho-rep-dorothy-moon-announces-candidacy-for-state-gop-chairwoman/article_00f66628-ff00-11ec-9d93-7f225679b135.html | 2022-07-10T15:42:12 | 1 | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/idaho-rep-dorothy-moon-announces-candidacy-for-state-gop-chairwoman/article_00f66628-ff00-11ec-9d93-7f225679b135.html |
Abortion rights advocates have noted that people in states like Idaho, which have outlawed nearly all abortions, will soon have to travel across state lines to terminate pregnancies. Planned Parenthood plans to open a new clinic just across the border in Ontario.
But an estimated 5,127 women in Idaho won’t have the option to seek abortion care out of state because of parole or probation, according to a report by the Prison Policy Initiative, a research and advocacy organization whose stated mission is to “expose the broader harm of mass criminalization” and “create a more just society.”
There were 4,346 women on probation in Idaho as of 2016, the initiative said. Another 781 were on parole. Idaho requires those women to obtain permission from their supervision officer before leaving the state.
“With the sole authority to approve or deny a trip across state lines for abortion care, a probation or parole officer might choose to prioritize their own personal beliefs about abortion over the desires of the individual under their control,” the report said. “They might also choose to delay the decision until it’s no longer possible — or safe — for the individual they’re supervising to terminate a pregnancy.”
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According to Boise State Public Radio reporting, Idaho has the highest female incarceration rate of any state in the country. In the Gem State, 110 per 100,000 women were incarcerated in 2020; a rate more than double the national average, according to the report.
More than 200,000 women are under probation or parole supervision in the states with abortion trigger laws, which outlaw abortions to varying degrees upon the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to remove a nationwide constitutional right to abortion.
The women whose access to abortion is restricted due to parole or probation are in addition to women for whom travel isn’t an option for cost or other reasons.
Idaho’s abortion trigger law has not yet taken effect; abortions remain legal until at least mid-August.
Two lawsuits are pending in the Idaho Supreme Court that challenge Idaho’s trigger law, which makes it a felony to provide or assist in an abortion, and another Idaho law that allows civil lawsuits against women who receive an abortion after their fetus has a heartbeat.
While it is possible to obtain abortion pills by mail through telehealth, providers located in another state who prescribe medication abortions for Idaho patients must have an Idaho license. Their license would be suspended or revoked under the trigger law. (The state waived the telehealth licensing requirement for the COVID-19 emergency, and that waiver expired July 1). | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/thousands-of-idaho-women-cannot-travel-for-abortions-due-to-parole-probation/article_4c5cc188-ff01-11ec-adfd-53580d46dbf8.html | 2022-07-10T15:42:25 | 1 | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/thousands-of-idaho-women-cannot-travel-for-abortions-due-to-parole-probation/article_4c5cc188-ff01-11ec-adfd-53580d46dbf8.html |
Work is expected to restart Friday on an Idaho Transportation Department highway rehabilitation project in Lincoln County.
Approximately 6 miles of U.S. Highway 93/U.S. Highway 26 from Marley Road to Jim Byrne Slough will undergo construction to improve both the safety and driving experience for motorists in the area.
“Earlier this year, before water was flowing in the irrigation system, crews replaced irrigation structures along the roadway,” Project Manager Tom Logan said. “Upcoming work will address the surface of the roadway.”
Construction this month will start with the removal of rock knobs along the highway in three areas south of Richfield.
“Removal of rock will even out the hilly profile of the roadway,” Logan said. “This will increase sight distance for motorists and improve safety.”
While this earthwork occurs, traffic will be reduced to a single lane. Temporary traffic signals will be in place and motorists should anticipate 4-5 minute delays when traveling through the area.
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The last phase of construction will involve milling and repaving the existing surface of the highway. During that portion of work, pilot cars and flaggers will be present to direct motorists during working hours – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Western Construction is the primary contractor on this project that is expected to be complete late summer. | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/work-to-resume-next-week-on-us-93-us-26-in-lincoln-county/article_d61f7b42-ff04-11ec-b7b4-4bdc094d8da0.html | 2022-07-10T15:42:31 | 1 | https://magicvalley.com/news/local/work-to-resume-next-week-on-us-93-us-26-in-lincoln-county/article_d61f7b42-ff04-11ec-b7b4-4bdc094d8da0.html |
ATLANTA — A man is recovering in the hospital after getting shot while trying to fight off a would-be purse snatcher in a parking deck off Peachtree Street in the heart of Midtown, Atlanta police say.
According to the lieutenant on scene, it happened when a married couple was leaving Soigne’ Garden, a restaurant in Midtown, early Sunday morning.
The couple, along with the woman's brother were approached by a man who tried to steal the woman's purse.
The two men attempted to fight him off and that's when the unknown suspect was shot. He was transported to the hospital in stable condition, police said.
Police have not released any further details about a possible suspect.
News happens fast. Download our 11Alive News app for all the latest breaking updates, and sign up for our Speed Feed newsletter to get a rundown of the latest headlines across north Georgia. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/peachtree-street-soigne-garden-shooting-midtown/85-87895092-eb2f-4916-8f70-9b21c8cb30c2 | 2022-07-10T15:42:52 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/peachtree-street-soigne-garden-shooting-midtown/85-87895092-eb2f-4916-8f70-9b21c8cb30c2 |
ATLANTA — Passengers on a Spirit Airlines flight were in for a bit of a scare when the plane landed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Sunday.
According to airport officials, the landing gear of the plane caught fire around 9:25 a.m. Atlanta Fire Rescue was able to put out the fire and it was towed to the gate.
There were no injuries reported and passengers did not have to evacuate.
Video on social media showed the plane with flames coming from near the tires and landing gear.
Passengers on the plane also posted video to social media where you could hear the flight attendants trying to keep the passengers calm -- explaining that an evacuation was not necessary.
In a statement to 11Alive, the airlines said they were thankful to first responders.
“Spirit Flight 383 from Tampa to Atlanta landed safely in Atlanta International Airport and upon landing one of the brakes overheated. The aircraft was towed to the gate where Guests safely deplaned without any injuries. Thank you to the Atlanta first responders for immediately meeting the aircraft. The plane will be temporarily removed from service for maintenance.”
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/spirit-airlines-fire-atlanta/85-ca716370-4aec-494c-aeb2-ac6ff4a8e34d | 2022-07-10T15:42:58 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/spirit-airlines-fire-atlanta/85-ca716370-4aec-494c-aeb2-ac6ff4a8e34d |
Five questions with ... Danette Bosh Alexander at Stark State College
Danette Bosh Alexander is the chair of the Education and Social Sciences Department, an associate professor of education and director of Kids' College at Stark State College.
She lives in Plain Township with her husband Amos "Chip" Alexander. They have two sons, Ted Lund Jr. and Jack Lund and one daughter Kate Lund. They also have two grandchildren Quinn and Axton.
"We also have a 2-year-old Sheepadoodle (English Sheep Dog and Poodle mix) named Barney," Alexander said.
She graduated Sandy Valley High School before going on to graduate from the Ohio State University with a bachelor's degree in family relations and human development, child development. She is also a graduate from Malone University, with a master's in curriculum, instruction and professional development; and is a doctoral candidate in the higher education program at the University of Toledo.
The four-week Kids' College, which Bosh Alexander has headed since 2014, is open to students in grades one through seven.
Meet Emily Miller:Five questions with ... Emily Miller of Country Cones
As the director of Kids’ College at Stark State, what do you enjoy most about hosting so many kids on campus?
I really enjoy the energy that young students bring to campus. Summer is supposed to be fun for kids, a break from the structured academic school year. But that doesn’t mean learning has to stop.
I really enjoy seeing kids engaged and exploring new ideas, revisiting favorite activities, and meeting new friends from schools other than their own. We draw from a variety of districts.
Why do you think it is important for a college campus to offer programming for children?
I love that our program gives kids the opportunity to see themselves on a college campus. In fact, we hear many times throughout the camp, "I go to college" or "My college is Stark State."
Our camp allows students to explore interests, strengthen how they see themselves as learners, and even explore potential careers. We try to provide a wide variety of classes to appeal to all kinds of learners — bookworms, tech kids, physically energetic, social bugs, curious explorers, and artists.
Our teachers are faculty members, elementary and middle school teachers, and experts in their field — students are learning from the best.
Meet Daniel Matea:Five questions with ... Daniel Matea, founder of Heart and Soles Ministries
Share a funny story or two (without mentioning names) about some of the learning that takes place during Kids’ College.
One thing that makes us smile every year is watching the kids learn to navigate campus.
Each student has a name tag lanyard with their class schedule and room numbers on the back. As they change classes, an often-new task to our younger students, they walk very intently the first few days as they look back and forth at their tag and the room numbers.
We stand in the hallways always ready to help them find their way — some kids want the help, but others want to figure it out on their own. The pride and confidence they build is just amazing.
The Hollywood Special Effects & Make-Up class gives kids the chance to use their imagination and create very realistic but obviously fake cuts, scars, etc. This class is taught by Dale Smith, former "Herky the Clown" from the Kelly-Miller Bros. Circus.
Kids learn how to layer latex and paint to create some very gross and dramatic "injuries" and other special effects. There is such a fascination — gory is cool to them, and they love grossing out their parents and us.
Meet Rita Oser:Five questions with ... Rita Oser who run Holleydale Farm
What are some of the favorite classes that kids keep coming back to and why?
Some of our perennial favorites are Balloon Man, Hollywood Special Effects & Make-Up, any of the computer classes, Brain Quest Challenge, 4 Square, Camp Out on Campus, Mixology, Games Galore, the Fire Fighter series, Pets & People, Sign Language, Journaling and LegoMania.
The kids love these classes because they are designed to be extremely hands-on and interactive. New this year are
- Seriously Sensational STEM Stuff (science, technology, engineering, and math) class where students will get to visit labs on campus and participate in experiments and activities
- FlexFactor explores manufacturing and entrepreneurship as kids identify a real-world problem and brainstorm solutions
- Two theater classes — That’s So Dramatic and Stage Performance and Comedy — introduce kids to the performing arts using a variety of short scripts
What are some of the favorite classes you have taken during your educational and professional careers and why did you enjoy them?
I loved my undergraduate courses on child development because I was fascinated with learning how kids learn, grow, and develop not just intellectually but also socially and emotionally.
As I pursued my master’s degree, I expanded into adult education with the same interest in understanding how to support learners of all ages. And most recently, in my Ph.D. program, my favorite experience was the International Summer Leadership Institute where our cohort spent nearly three weeks visiting Ireland, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands studying the structure of community college in Europe.
I even had the opportunity to present a workshop on Kids' College to our Dutch hosts while in Amsterdam.
Editor's note: Five questions with ... is a Sunday feature that showcases a member of the Stark County community. If you'd like to recommend someone to participate, send an email to newsroom@cantonrep.com. | https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/local/2022/07/10/five-questions-danette-bosh-alexander-stark-state-college/7715419001/ | 2022-07-10T15:43:16 | 0 | https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/local/2022/07/10/five-questions-danette-bosh-alexander-stark-state-college/7715419001/ |
She used to be spontaneous, outgoing and happy. She loved to bake her famous apple pies, jot down her thoughts in a blog and spend time with friends and family.
Now, nothing is the same.
Charity Reeves, a middle school teacher from Nebraska City, thought she would recover quickly after testing positive for COVID-19 in October.
She didn’t. In fact, she actually got worse.
Reeves, 47, suffers from post-COVID syndrome, also known as long COVID, which appears about four weeks after a positive COVID-19 test.
The syndrome impacts Reeves’ whole body. Brain fog, swollen limbs, nausea, headaches, insomnia, poor mental health and nerve pain now control her life, despite having a fairly easy time with the virus.
"I was so careful. I masked, I vaccinated and I sanitized obsessively. I didn't go anywhere,” she said. “Why did this have to happen?"
Sticky notes decorate her house, hanging from door frames, mirrors and tables — acting as small, colorful reminders with statements such as “blow the candles out,” “take your medications,” or “put the ingredients away.”
Reeves noticed the brain fog worsening when small things became harder to remember, but it wasn’t until she was cooking at home alone that she realized how bad her memory had gotten.
A migraine lingering above her left eye had kept her home from work. She put a pot of rice on the stove and walked away. Later, she heard the sizzling sound of the rice boiling over and attempted to mop up the starchy water with paper towels.
The towels ignited.
She wasn’t hurt, the fire was put out quickly and nothing was damaged, but she no longer trusted herself to use the stove or oven alone.
“It's kind of laugh or cry at this point and I've done a lot of crying. This just is not me,” Reeves said.
Brain fog has taken away more than just her independence in the kitchen — she’s stopped driving because of it too.
“It felt like I was in a video game when I was driving, things just felt like they were going past me. Like I wasn't really in control,” Reeves said.
Her symptoms go far beyond forgetfulness.
Reeves is constantly exhausted, leaving her with very little energy to make it through the day. Her low energy is matched with shortness of breath, which can make it difficult to walk up stairs, speak in long sentences or stand for lengthy periods of time.
Plus, she’s in pain.
In addition to headaches, Reeves also experiences nerve pain, which feels like electrical shocks shooting down her legs.
“It's just these tingly, shooting pains down my legs,” she said. “And my legs are so swollen with edema that my mobility is really affected. It's like I have these weights around my legs at all times.”
To manage her symptoms, Reeves wears compression wraps, keeps her feet elevated and tries to rest whenever possible.
The chronic pain, brain fog and lack of energy have greatly impacted Reeves’ mental health, too.
She's frequently feeling down on herself, isolated and embarrassed, all things she never used to be.
“It's really difficult to see the Charity that I knew, who was always so positive and upbeat, to not be herself anymore,” said Angie Rovetto, Reeves’ best friend of 35 years.
* * *
After a consultation with doctors at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Reeves was admitted into an outpatient program at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Omaha designed specifically for people suffering from post-COVID syndrome.
There, Reeves worked on retraining her body to work as it did before she was infected with COVID-19. She focused primarily on energy conservation, brain functionality and breathing exercises.
Reeves has also practiced driving in a simulator and worked on memorization in a mock grocery store.
Even with those steps, there’s no guarantee Reeves will ever return to how she was before COVID-19.
“They (doctors) said they don't know if it'll ever get better," she said. "They have no idea, because we're, like, right in the thick of it."
Research on long COVID is minimal — there’s no clear pattern or cause of the syndrome. Some patients were very sick with COVID-19 and possibly put on ventilators, while others had few symptoms at the time of infection, according to Allison Carson, speech therapy clinical supervisor at Madonna.
The post-COVID clinic, however, has shown promising results.
“We are seeing steady progress,” Carson said. “When we implement all these things and a patient has good carryover of what they're learning and they really do implement it into their daily life, they are seeing positive changes.”
Madonna’s outpatient post-COVID clinic in Omaha has had more and more people join the program in recent months, which Carson said is probably due to increasing knowledge of long COVID, causing people to realize what their symptoms are.
“I think finally there's an awareness in the community that there's someplace that these people can go,” Carson said. “Previously with COVID-19 being so new and novel, people didn't know how to attribute some of these symptoms that they were experiencing to COVID.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that one in five adult Americans who had COVID-19 now have long COVID.
However, Reeves has yet to meet another person also dealing with long COVID in the area, but Facebook groups have helped her connect with people across the world experiencing it.
“I know they're out there. And I know they're dealing with it, too,” she said.
* * *
Reeves loves her job.
The Nebraska City Middle School teacher has taught language arts at the district for 20 years. She was devastated when her condition worsened and working was no longer an option.
She tried to do as much as she could, but eventually her pain was so high and her energy so low that she had to sacrifice her paycheck.
Before starting at Madonna, she was working only half-days. But after her rehabilitation treatment began, she switched to working three days and spending the other two at Madonna.
Reeves and her husband, Rob, would make the 90-minute trip to Madonna twice a week for appointments that would last more than six hours, which meant a whole day's salary was gone for both of them.
Soon, however, she was more exhausted than ever and progress at Madonna had ceased. So Reeves made the decision to take an additional day off at school, now down to only getting paid for two days of work per week.
The loss of pay hit the Reeveses hard, and they’ve made sacrifices to pay bills, like ending their phone plans.
She's still waiting on a long-term disability insurance claim to be approved.
Reeves has been eligible for disability since January, but has yet to receive a check and was told that there is “no evidence of being physically unable to perform the duties of the job,” she said.
“It's frustrating. It's all I think about 24/7,” she said. “If you have a cast or something, it's clear you have a broken leg. That's what's wrong with you. But no one can tell just by looking at me, so I feel like I'm being judged. Or that they think I'm just being lazy. It's been hard mentally. It’s been hard in general.”
Reeves’ friends and co-workers set up a GoFundMe account to help the family pay its bills. The fundraiser has raised just more than $1,000, which was used in its entirety to help pay the mortgage.
Reeves hopes more people will come to understand post-COVID syndrome and how it can affect the lives of those dealing with it.
“People just need to have more empathy. You don't know what could happen,” she said. “It's very real and no one would choose to live like this.”
The Nebraska Republican Party fired its chairman Saturday amid GOP turmoil that stemmed partly from the hard-fought primary for governor. The day also included one arrest and a raft of resignations.
Steven A. Alexander was arrested Tuesday morning on suspicion of first-degree assault, manslaughter and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony in connection with the fatal stabbing of 26-year-old Austin Gress on Friday.
19-year-old Alexandor Eskra was driving a Subaru east in the inside lane of O Street near 37th Street around 9:30 p.m. Saturday when a westbound Ford Focus crossed the raised median and collided with Eskra's vehicle, according to police.
The 41-year-old has been charged with two counts of second-degree assault for her alleged role in the stabbing, which happened at 5654 Fremont St. on May 13, police said in court records.
The woman had been driving near 12th and A streets around 3:30 p.m. Sunday when she noticed a white sedan following her, the police said. An occupant of the sedan fired a gun at the woman's car, leaving six bullet holes.
Charity Reeves is shown Friday in her kitchen in Nebraska City. Reeves said her brain fog persists after recovering from the initial symptoms of COVID-19, and she has to rely on note cards to remind her of daily tasks such as turning off the stove. | https://journalstar.com/news/local/this-just-is-not-me-long-covid-upends-daily-life-for-nebraska-city-woman/article_935da876-ae23-5d0f-86f9-a144db8d4eb5.html | 2022-07-10T15:52:55 | 1 | https://journalstar.com/news/local/this-just-is-not-me-long-covid-upends-daily-life-for-nebraska-city-woman/article_935da876-ae23-5d0f-86f9-a144db8d4eb5.html |
CEDAR FALLS — The Summer Sizzler swim meet is filling the parking lot and the grounds at The Falls Aquatic Center this weekend.
More than 560 swimmers came from across the Midwest to compete in the four-day competition, hosted by the Black Hawk Area Swim Team. A total of 91 BLAST team members participated in the meet, ranging from ages 7 to 20.
Thursday night’s final race was canceled due to storms, and swimmers persisted through a rainy Friday morning. By 6:30 p.m., the skies cleared up and the sun was out, just in time for the “Dueling 50s” event, where the top eight boys and top eight girls faced off one-on-one.
Earlier in the day, swimmers of all ages competed in the 400- and 50-meter freestyle races, the 200-meter breaststroke, the 200-meter butterfly, the 100-meter backstroke and individual medley events.
John Butler, one of BLAST’s swimmers, finished second overall in the 400-meter freestyle. Butler, who will be a junior at Cedar Falls High School, said he was originally seeded 20th. Butler has been with BLAST for at least 10 years — or as he jokingly said, “too long.”
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The meet has a fun environment, he noted, especially due to the Lazy River Races. The Saturday night event is a crowd and participant favorite. Swimmers find partners, then use the slides and race against the current of the river.
Also excited for the Lazy River Races was Aldrich Elementary sixth-grader Maelyn Woltz. She achieved her best time drop, or personal best, in the 50-meter butterfly. Woltz first competed in the event Thursday night while it was raining.
When racing again Friday morning, she shaved off 1.5 seconds from her time. Woltz was very proud of the improvement.
Her favorite part of the meet is hanging out with her friends, she said, as well as enjoying the food stands on site.
Parents of swimmers from the Foxjets Swim Team of Eden Prairie, Minn., also were enjoying spending time with friends.
Their team brought around 40 kids to Cedar Falls. Kelly Auerbach, the mother of a 15-year-old swimmer, said they’ve been coming to the Sizzler meet for years. Kurt Guthmueller, another Foxjets parent, seconded her admiration for the meet.
“It’s a great meet and (BLAST) does a great job hosting it,” Guthmueller said. “It’s a favorite of the kids as an end of the season meet.”
The 800 to 1,000 spectators the event attracts also bring money into the Cedar Valley. A few of the out-of-towners’ favorite restaurants were Bobby Q’s Hawaiian BBQ and Newton’s Paradise Cafe. Another favorite is national chain restaurant HuHot Mongolian Grill – which parents and coaches say is perfect for loading up the swimmers with carbs. | https://wcfcourier.com/sports/local/sizzler-swim-meet-brings-in-hundreds-of-swimmers-spectators/article_972d8441-1f5d-5491-9e25-0c39b11bae8c.html | 2022-07-10T15:56:35 | 1 | https://wcfcourier.com/sports/local/sizzler-swim-meet-brings-in-hundreds-of-swimmers-spectators/article_972d8441-1f5d-5491-9e25-0c39b11bae8c.html |
BOISE — At Faces of Hope in Downtown Boise, staff and volunteers work diligently to care for members of our community that are facing some of their darkest times.
“We help victims that are dealing with domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, child abuse, sex trafficking and stalking,” said Paige Dinger, the executive director for Faces of Hope. She added its services include helping people with legal, medical and emotional needs while also connecting them to resources around the community.
Last year, the center served about 2,400 men, women and children in the Treasure Valley. According to Dinger, Faces of Hope saw a 28% increase in people using its services over the last year. Last month, they saw 18 new child abuse clients.
“I think what the community needs to know is it does happen — abuse does happen,” Dinger said.
That rise reflects problems rippling through the rest of the Gem State.
New data from the Idaho State Police Bureau of Criminal Identification’s “Crime in Idaho” report for 2021 shows the number of reported rape cases is up 11.83% compared to 2020. Cases of incest are also exponentially higher over the year with an increase of 833.33%.
Both crimes saw an all-time high in 2021 compared to the previous five years. In 2021, rape was the second most reported violent crime case in Idaho.
“Those are startling numbers that are huge figures,” Dinger said.
However, Dinger knows many crimes of sexual assault go underreported.
“We know that a lot of people are not contacting police and they’re having to deal with the shame and with this guilt,” Dinger said.
According to ISP’s data, 47.25% of reported cases of rape in 2021 were juveniles. Twenty-four of the 28 people who reported crimes of incest were under the age of 18.
Again, Dinger said that is not the whole picture of what is going on in the state. She said many cases go unreported when children and teens are involved.
“When you’re a child and you have to go and tell somebody that you’re being abused, there’s a lot of grooming that’s involved,” Dinger said. “That it makes it harder for that child to even feel like it’s okay to come forward.”
While under-reporting is a problem, it could potentially get worse.
“We’ve already had people come and have had some big emotions about what’s happening in our country right now,” Dinger said.
Idaho has a trigger law on the books that would ban abortions except when necessary to save the mother’s life or in cases of rape or incest. However, those cases have to get reported to the police.
Dinger and the leadership at Faces of Hope are not sure yet what type of impact this may have on the number of incest and rape cases being reported in the future.
“It is really hard to come forward,” Dinger said.
She said it’s important to remember places, like Faces of Hope, can help. People facing some of the darkest times in their lives do not have to do it alone.
“What I always tell people is, ‘If somebody reaches out to you, believe them, be an ambassador, come bring them to Faces,’” Dinger said. “Show them that you’re a supportive person, show them that they can trust you and bring them to Faces for help.”
Faces of Hope offers help with crisis counseling, forensic exams, medical care from partnerships from St. Luke’s and Saint Alphonsus, law enforcement reporting, legal resources, protection orders, safety planning and more.
Dinger urges people to use their free services if anyone is experiencing any type of abuse.
Faces of Hope is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. However, the center’s Forensic Exams and Law Enforcement is available 24/7 through emergency services. People in need of resources or more information can contact Faces of Hope at 208-577-4400.
They urge people to call 911 in an emergency.
Faces of Hope also work with other victim service centers around the Treasure Valley, like Advocates Against Family Violence (AAFV) in Caldwell and WCA in Boise. If there is a need and someone can not get through to Faces of Hope, Dinger urges people to contact these resources. For the AAFV’s hotline call 208-459-4779 and WCA’s hotline is 208-343-7025.
She also said people can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline for assistance at 1-800-799-SAFE. | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/believe-them-boise-victim-center-offers-help-as-cases-of-rape-incest-rise-in-idaho/article_98cc315c-4b6e-5067-bdec-5855c8d58929.html | 2022-07-10T16:00:51 | 1 | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/believe-them-boise-victim-center-offers-help-as-cases-of-rape-incest-rise-in-idaho/article_98cc315c-4b6e-5067-bdec-5855c8d58929.html |
SPRINGDALE, Ark. — The Springdale Police Department (SPD) responded to a shooting at Parsons Stadium in Springdale late Saturday, July 9, night.
When police arrived just before 11 p.m., a large crowd of people was fleeing the arena. Witnesses told investigators that a fight took place inside the arena and that someone had been shot.
Police found the victim, a man in his early twenties, with a gunshot wound in his upper torso. Witnesses gave police a description of the suspect, identified as 21-year-old Erik Navareyes, and said he had fled the arena.
Officers rendered first aid to the victim until paramedics arrived. Police say the victim, whose identity has not been released, was transported to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries.
A Be On the Lookout (BOLO) was issued for Navareyes.
The SPD received a call from Mercy Hospital in Rogers at 1 a.m. on Sunday, July 10 about a man at their facility stating he had been in a fight and he had shot someone.
Rogers Police Department had officers on standby with the suspect until SPD could arrive. The man was identified as Navareyes and was transported to SPD for questioning.
After being interviewed, Navareyes was charged with Attempted Capital Murder and transported to the Washington County Jail for processing.
No other information has been released at this time.
This is an ongoing investigation. Stay with 5NEWS for updates.
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To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com. | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/one-person-shot-at-parsons-stadium-springdale/527-2c69623a-6602-47fe-9e1b-d1be38eaef73 | 2022-07-10T16:06:49 | 0 | https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/one-person-shot-at-parsons-stadium-springdale/527-2c69623a-6602-47fe-9e1b-d1be38eaef73 |
The driver of a Chrysler 300 will be charged with manslaughter after a passenger in the car was ejected and died in an early Sunday morning crash.
San Antonio police said the incident occurred around 2:20 a.m. on the 9400 block of Villamain Road. The driver of the Chrysler was speeding, failed to drive in a single lane and veered off the road, according to police.
The vehicle crashed, taking out two wooden poles, a light pole and a tree.
The passenger was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
The driver of the Chrysler 300 was in serious but stable condition at a hospital. | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Passenger-ejected-dies-in-single-vehicle-crash-17295474.php | 2022-07-10T16:21:59 | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Passenger-ejected-dies-in-single-vehicle-crash-17295474.php |
BROWNS SUMMIT — A fiery car crash Saturday afternoon claimed three lives, including a Greensboro fireman.
The tragic incident occurred around 4:50 p.m. on N.C. 61 near Turner Smith Road in Guilford County.
Alexio Lattero, 16, of Gibsonville was traveling north on N.C. 61 when he inexplicably lost control of his 2012 Dodge Charger and struck a Jeep Cherokee driven in the opposite direction by Richard Norman Murrell.
The Charger caught fire, trapping a 15-year-old passenger and Anna Shyann Lattero, 26, of Reidsville. Both died at the scene.
Murrell, 58, a Greensboro firefighter assigned to Station 5 on Westover Terrace, also died at the scene. His 50-year-old wife, who was in the front seat, suffered life-threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital.
Lattero, whose injuries were also considered life-threatening, was taken to a hospital as well.
The State Highway Patrol is trying to determine the cause of the crash. | https://greensboro.com/news/local/fiery-car-crash-in-brown-summit-kills-three-including-greensboro-fireman/article_f380e27c-005b-11ed-ab30-0b71da6ebac0.html | 2022-07-10T16:22:21 | 1 | https://greensboro.com/news/local/fiery-car-crash-in-brown-summit-kills-three-including-greensboro-fireman/article_f380e27c-005b-11ed-ab30-0b71da6ebac0.html |
ATLANTA — Passengers on a Spirit Airlines flight were in for a bit of a scare when the plane landed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Sunday.
According to airport officials, the landing gear of the plane caught fire around 9:25 a.m. Atlanta Fire Rescue was able to put out the fire and it was towed to the gate.
There were no injuries reported and passengers did not have to evacuate.
Video on social media showed the plane with flames coming from near the tires and landing gear.
Passengers on the plane also posted video to social media where you could hear the flight attendants trying to keep the passengers calm -- explaining that an evacuation was not necessary.
In a statement to 11Alive, the airlines said they were thankful to first responders.
“Spirit Flight 383 from Tampa to Atlanta landed safely in Atlanta International Airport and upon landing one of the brakes overheated. The aircraft was towed to the gate where Guests safely deplaned without any injuries. Thank you to the Atlanta first responders for immediately meeting the aircraft. The plane will be temporarily removed from service for maintenance.”
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.wtsp.com/article/news/local/spirit-airlines-fire-atlanta/85-ca716370-4aec-494c-aeb2-ac6ff4a8e34d | 2022-07-10T16:23:10 | 0 | https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/spirit-airlines-fire-atlanta/85-ca716370-4aec-494c-aeb2-ac6ff4a8e34d |
GENESEE COUNTY, Mich. (WJRT) - Some current and former NFL players and local groups teamed up to host a free football camp for Flint children over the weekend.
The camp was held Saturday at Hamady High School in Mt. Morris Township.
The program was set up to help children learn football skills, go through drills, and build character on the turf. And organizers said about 100 children took part on the field.
Flint native and NFL veteran Brandon Carr said the idea is to help children realize their full potential, and that anything is possible.
"Throughout the course of life and journey just growing up as a Flint kid - just the optimism I grew up with and excitement of one day going bigger and beyond of what I see in front of me. And just going out and achieving those goals."
Carr said it was important to come back to the city and relay the same message.
"Let these kids know 'hey, you have some people in your corner supporting you.' At the same time - go out there and compete and fight for what you want to do and with your life." | https://www.abc12.com/news/local/flint-children-join-nfl-pros-at-football-camp/article_5662ebba-004d-11ed-a236-130ad7bf9c3c.html | 2022-07-10T16:35:02 | 0 | https://www.abc12.com/news/local/flint-children-join-nfl-pros-at-football-camp/article_5662ebba-004d-11ed-a236-130ad7bf9c3c.html |
NORMAL — The Normal Police Department is investigating reports of gunfire Saturday night at an apartment complex close to Illinois State University.
NPD Sgt. Jeff Longfellow said officers were called at 11:51 p.m. Saturday to The Lodge On Willow, 214 W. Willow St., after witnesses reported shots were fired. He added it wasn't fireworks, and an ISU Police Department officer heard the shots as well.
Longfellow said there are no reports of injuries or damage to property as of Sunday morning.
He also said detectives are continuing to investigate all possible leads.
Anyone with additional information on this incident is asked to call NPD at 309-454-9535. | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/normal-police-shots-fired-saturday-near-illinois-state-campus/article_269ff146-0068-11ed-b9f7-df9b71399f0e.html | 2022-07-10T16:42:31 | 1 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/normal-police-shots-fired-saturday-near-illinois-state-campus/article_269ff146-0068-11ed-b9f7-df9b71399f0e.html |
For American women, the 19th century was one of struggle and disappointment. But their decades of agitation and protest paid off with a major victory in the early part of the 20th century.
Passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on Aug. 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, in theory, granted women the right to vote nationwide. It would take over 40 years, however, for the amendment to become a reality for millions of Black women, thanks to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Long before any of these gains were secured, a group of Black women, some of the first to graduate from university, others among the ranks of housekeepers, worked to organize a club movement to address issues of equality and the desire to uplift their race. Those efforts led to the formation of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs (NACWC) in Washington, D.C., in 1896.
NACWC founders included some of the most renowned African American women and civil rights activists of the time, including Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Frances Harper, and Mary Church Terrell, (the organization’s first president).
The organization whose motto declared, “Lifting as we climb,” helped Black women and girls with concerns of general welfare, education, health, hygiene, and housing.
The NACW also raised funds to support kindergartens in public schools and homes for the elderly. The organizations also made aid to Black soldiers a high priority through its involvement in the American Red Cross during World War I. By 1916, the organization had over 300 clubs.
Here in Bloomington, many local Black women took up the charge, organizing clubs in support of World War I efforts and serving as officers of the various Club organizations. One headline in The Pantagraph in 1918 proclaimed, “Colored Women’s Red Cross Unit Sews every Saturday at the Sewing Shop.”
The Illinois Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, organized at Institutional Church in October 1899 in Chicago, was created with the motto of “Loyalty to Women and Justice to Children.” The first annual meeting was in 1900. Two Bloomington women, Nellie Henderson and Margaret Wyche of 527 W. Taylor St., were both life members of the organization.
On Aug. 22, 1918, the Illinois Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs held its 19th annual session at Wayman A.M.E. Church, then at 806 N. Center St., Bloomington. They reported that over 100 delegates representing 75 clubs in attendance.
The Pantagraph reported, “A chief feature of the afternoon session was a demonstration on the use of food substitutes.” Ada Wilson representing the Colored Women’s Club of Bloomington, prepared and served samples of gingerbread made of rice flour, and Victoria Thomas of the Domestic Art Club served samples of bran bread.
The convention opened the second day with religious services and committee reports, followed by elections.
The Illinois Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs elected Lillian Jameson of Peoria (formerly of Bloomington) president, and Margaret Wyche third vice president. Wyche is known for her service during the First World War.
Also, during the convention, much attention was given to the fact that Black club women pledged a whopping $5 million in the Third Liberty Loan campaign (which today would be worth approximately $85.9 million).
Elizabeth Lindsay Davis was appointed historian to author the story of the Illinois Federation. At the close of the session that week, a reception was held for the delegates at the resident of Emily Wilson, 313 S. East St.
The “uplift” of the race has always been a concern for the clubs as prescribed by the national organization. At the closing session of the seventh annual central district of the Illinois Federation of Colored Women on March 27, 1924, at Mount Pisgah Church in Bloomington, Sadie Jones spoke on behalf of the clubs.
In her remarks, she stated, “You have come to consider a few of the difficult problems that confront the nation in general, and the race and its struggle for just recognition in this commonwealth. You are here evidencing the truth, that in the betterment of social, economic, religious, industrial, and educational conditions, the women of our race have been an important factor.”
Many clubs formed locally over the years. The Colored Women’s Civic Club was organized in 1901 for the purpose of bringing women of the community together and fostering a greater interest in literature, philanthropy and social connections. Emma Smith was a successful businessperson and the club’s first president.
The Domestic Art Club, mentioned here earlier, was organized on Dec. 18, 1915, by Margaret Wyche. In "The Story of the Illinois Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs 1900-1922," Elizabeth Lindsey Davis noted, “Such a potent factor has the Domestic Art Club become in civic affairs that no important move for the relief or betterment of conditions among the colored people of their city, was made during or has been made since the war, without representatives of the Club first being consulted.”
Other local clubs that formed later include the Three C Club. This club was considered a social club that organized in Bloomington-Normal on Aug 8, 1908. The purpose of this social club was to host meetings and invite friends to discuss issues that African American women dealt with daily.
The 12-member club was based on Christian service and sought to inspire younger women who would hopefully follow their example. The Three C Club was one of the oldest social clubs for women established in this area.
Pioneer members of the club included Minnie Anson Baily, Clara Anson, Luttie Anson, Lucy Dabney, Alverta Duff and Catherine Stearles. The group was concerned with literary progress and current events. The club celebrated its 72nd anniversary at the Knights of Columbus Hall in 1980 but is no longer active.
Pretty impressive, given the times, for a small group of women successfully building a strong network of organizations dedicated to benevolent service across the nation. This American history of servant leadership is still held in high regard in the local Black community today. | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/history/black-women-s-clubs-worked-for-better-lives-in-us-bloomington-normal/article_56b79876-fda1-11ec-bd1d-87ac836f2799.html | 2022-07-10T16:42:37 | 0 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/history/black-women-s-clubs-worked-for-better-lives-in-us-bloomington-normal/article_56b79876-fda1-11ec-bd1d-87ac836f2799.html |
A popular New York City beach boardwalk became a crime scene overnight after a gunman opened fire on a what police officials describe as a pop-up party early Sunday morning.
At least five people were being treated at Brooklyn hospitals for injuries sustained from a shooting on Coney Island, police said.
Officials said the first reports of gunfire came in around 2 a.m., reporting the bloodied aftermath of a shooting near the boardwalk amphitheater.
Law enforcement sources describe a pop-up party near 21st Street, where a group had gathered around midnight with a DJ, speakers and lights.
First responders helped transport two women and a man to the hospital, one of whom was critically injured, according to police. Two others arrived at local hospitals by private means.
Police sources said the victims range in age from 19 to 36.
It's not yet clear if some kind of dispute broke out before the shooter opened fire on the crowd. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/5-wounded-in-shooting-during-coney-island-boardwalk-pop-up-party-nypd-ny-only/3767918/ | 2022-07-10T16:49:41 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/5-wounded-in-shooting-during-coney-island-boardwalk-pop-up-party-nypd-ny-only/3767918/ |
What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?
NBC New York took to the streets and asked people what their favorite flavor was -- out of more than 25 responses, Cookies and Cream was the overwhelming favorite.
In 1984, July was designated as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day. This year it will fall on July 17.
Some stores are offering discounts and much more in celebration of the tasty treat.
Here’s where you can find discounts near you:
Alden’s Organic
Alden’s Organic is aiming to give away 10,000 scoops. This month there are six more chances to win ANY FREE Alden’s Organic product, cake cones, and more. Alden’s is giving away scoops in the form of free coupons.
News
Carvel
According to Carvel, summer is the time to CARVELebrate. And what better way to do that than introducing a limited edition flavor - Brookie. If you haven’t already guessed, Brookie is fudgy brownie batter and chocolate chip cookie dough. Anyone who visits a Carvel shop on July 17 can take advantage of a buy one, get one free offer on a small cup or cone of Brookie soft serve or any other Carvel soft serve flavor.
DQ
Dairy Queen is celebrating National Ice Cream Day by giving customers $1 off any dipped cone on July 17 at participating DQ locations.
Baskin Robbins
Besides debuting a new flavor of the month, Baskin-Robbins is offering $5 off any purchase of $15 or more from July 17 through Saturday, July 23. Guests can use the code BECOOLER for online orders. If you’re shopping in-store, scan your Baskin-Robbins mobile app coupon during checkout. For Delivery, the discount is applied automatically at checkout on orders with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Postmates.
Whole Foods
Make some space in your freezer! If you’re shopping at Whole Foods from July 6 to July 19, you can get 25% off ice cream and frozen treats.
Museum of Ice Cream
The Museum of Ice Cream is giving away 1,000 free tickets to celebrate National Ice Cream Day. Visit the museum’s Instagram account to find out how to enter. Here’s a hint for entering: think of your sweetest ice cream memory.
Klondike
Klondike is celebrating their 100th birthday and they want to celebrate with you. Klondike’s “larger-than-life” birthday cake is being made by Buddy Valastro and there is a chance to win your own birthday cake.
To enter to win an ultimate Klondike birthday cake, post a photo or video of yourself doing one of the challenges and tag @klondikebar with #4aKlondike100Sweepstakes on Instagram.
On July 17, Klondike will pop up in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to give away free frozen treats to fans.
For more information, visit any of the individual sites. You can also check your local ice cream shops to see if there are any deals on frozen treats this month. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/july-is-national-ice-cream-month-check-out-these-sweet-deals/3765594/ | 2022-07-10T16:49:54 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/july-is-national-ice-cream-month-check-out-these-sweet-deals/3765594/ |
SAN ANTONIO — The world's most unpleasant smelling flower is about to bloom at the San Antonio Zoo. The corpse flower, which is native to the rainforests of Sumatra in Indonesia, is an endangered plant that can take more than ten years to bloom for the first time.
It is most famously known for the powerful rotting flesh odor it releases, which is why it was named the corpse flower. This is the first known instance of a corpse flower blooming right here in San Antonio.
“Get your nostrils ready,” said Tim Morrow, President and CEO of San Antonio Zoo. “Our team estimates the plant could bloom in the next 10 days! This is a rather rare occurrence and a very exciting moment for our community and conservation. We invite everyone to act fast to see and smell this piece of history before the short bloom watch window is up!”
The related video above was originally published September 13, 2020.
The stinky flower was moved on Friday for public viewing near the ‘Back From The Brink’ Whooping Crane habitat. You are welcome to join the bloom watch of the plant now until its peak blossom window is up, which could be anytime in the next ten days. The malodorous flower will remain blossomed anywhere from one to four days.
Follow San Antonio Zoo’s social media pages for updates on size and bloom watch.
“These plants are very delicate and typically give us signs when they are ready to blossom,” said Dr. Dante Fenolio, VP of Conservation & Research at San Antonio Zoo. “Once we see those indicators, we have around 24 hours until its incredible and rare reveal!”
The corpse flower reaches heights of up to eight feet tall and will generate its own heat, which allows the stench to travel even further. The powerful scent, reminiscent of a decaying corpse, is produced by more than 30 chemicals and attracts carrion beetles and flesh flies who pollinate the flower.
San Antonio Zoo plans to collect pollen and tissue samples from the bloom for genetic study, and compare it to others in its rapidly dwindling population.
Fewer than 1,000 corpse flowers are estimated to remain in the wild, with a sharp decline in the last century.
The corpse flower was a gift from The Huntington in California. | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/flower-known-for-smelling-like-rotting-flesh-blooming-at-san-antonio-zoo-texas-stinky-rotten-rain-forest-sumatra/273-efbd4756-df7f-4b4e-8986-5a099b6df108 | 2022-07-10T16:57:43 | 1 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/flower-known-for-smelling-like-rotting-flesh-blooming-at-san-antonio-zoo-texas-stinky-rotten-rain-forest-sumatra/273-efbd4756-df7f-4b4e-8986-5a099b6df108 |
FORT WORTH, Texas — Police are calling for help to find a man that was last seen in Downtown Fort Worth
According to the police department, 71-year-old Melvin Green has been diagnosed with dementia and police say his family fears that he may be lost.
He was last seen on Commerce Street around Fifth and Sixth Streets at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday.
Melvin Green is a Black man standing at 5 feet 10 inches tall. He has black hair, brown eyes and weighs about 180 pounds.
There's no description on what he was wearing before he went missing.
Anyone with any information on Green's whereabouts is encouraged to call the Fort Worth Police Department at 817-392-4222.
Other Dallas-Ft. Worth news: | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/missing-man-70-71-years-old-dementia-commerce-street-fort-worth-texas/287-6e692b1e-d6bf-403e-add1-0b244c32bbf0 | 2022-07-10T16:57:50 | 0 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/missing-man-70-71-years-old-dementia-commerce-street-fort-worth-texas/287-6e692b1e-d6bf-403e-add1-0b244c32bbf0 |
OAK RIDGE, Fla. – A man and a woman were hospitalized Sunday morning after being attacked by a dog in Oak Ridge, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said they responded to the area of Rose Boulevard and Tampa Avenue to find that a 46-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman suffered injuries to their upper extremities.
[TRENDING: Florida park temporarily closed due to ‘aggressive alligator,’ police say | ‘Pulling luggage down the highway:’ Fatal crash causes major delays into Orlando International Airport | Become a News 6 Insider (it’s free!)]
Both people were taken to the hospital and the dog was subdued by deputies, according to a statement given to News 6 by the sheriff’s office.
No other details have been confirmed, such as the exact time of the attack, if there were more victims or how the dog was subdued.
This is a developing story. Check back with News 6 for the latest updates. | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/07/10/2-hospitalized-after-being-attacked-by-dog-orange-county-deputies-say/ | 2022-07-10T17:00:46 | 1 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/07/10/2-hospitalized-after-being-attacked-by-dog-orange-county-deputies-say/ |
MOUNT DORA, Fla. – The Mount Dora Police Department on Sunday morning announced Palm Island Park had been temporarily closed because of an aggressive alligator.
According to a Facebook post made at 8:29 a.m., the department said it would provide another update once the park is reopened.
[TRENDING: Cocoa Beach commissioners approve proposal for 6-story tall pier resort | ‘Pulling luggage down the highway:’ Fatal crash causes major delays into Orlando International Airport | Become a News 6 Insider (it’s free!)]
Being July, it’s currently alligator nesting season, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Gators will typically begin to court one another starting in early April before mating season kicks off in May or June, followed by the laying of eggs that normally hatch from mid-August to early September.
Police have not said whether officers or any other officials believe the testy creature at Palm Island Park is a mother alligator sitting on dozens of eggs, but News 6 was given the following list of alligator safety tips by Gatorland at the onset of Alligator breeding season this year:
- Alligators can be very territorial, and many are on the move looking for mates.
- When water levels are low, this also puts alligators on the move.
- Use extra caution in the morning or evening hours in shallow water, as alligators may think the splashing is an animal at the water’s edge.
- Stay away from alligators you see in the wild and do not feed them.
- Remember, it is against the law in the State of Florida to feed or harass an alligator in the wild.
- Report any alligator concerns by contacting the FWC.
This is a developing story. Check back with News 6 for the latest updates. | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/07/10/florida-park-temporarily-closed-due-to-aggressive-alligator-police-say/ | 2022-07-10T17:00:52 | 0 | https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/07/10/florida-park-temporarily-closed-due-to-aggressive-alligator-police-say/ |
I was in a traffic accident once. My injuries were serious enough that I took to court the trucking company responsible. During cross examination the attorney representing the trucking company asked me, “Didn’t you say at the scene of the accident, ‘I’m fine’?”
I said, “I’ll tell you what happened. I had just loaded my favorite mule Bessie into the ... ”
“I didn’t ask you for any details,” the attorney said. “Just answer the question. Did you or did you not say, ‘I’m fine,’ at the scene of the accident?”
I said, “Well, yes, but I had just got Bessie into the trailer and I was driving down the road ... “
The attorney stopped my testimony and turned to the judge.
“Your Honor, I am trying to establish the fact that at the scene of the accident, this man told the highway patrol officer that he was fine. Now several weeks after the accident, he is trying to sue my client for his injuries. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer my question.”
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By this time, I could tell the judge was interested in what I had to say. She said, “I’d like to hear what Mr. Carpenter has to say about his favorite mule, Bessie.”
I said, “I had just loaded my favorite mule, Bessie, into the trailer and was driving her down the road when this huge semitruck and trailer ran a stop sign and T-boned my truck. I was thrown out of my truck into a ditch. Bessie was thrown out of her trailer into the ditch across the road from me. I was hurting badly and didn’t want to move. I could hear ol’ Bessie moaning and groaning.
“About then, a highway patrol officer arrived on the scene. He started over to me, but he heard Bessie groaning and went over to her. He looked at her for a moment, then pulled out his handgun and shot her.
“Then he came back across the road toward me with the gun in his hand and asked me, ‘How are you feeling?’”
Speaking of feeling fine. A new pot dispensary has opened on Santa Fe Avenue. The parking lot suggests business is brisk. I remember when a retail shop, Happy Trails, opened near the NAU campus. It sold bongs and pipes and other pot-smoking paraphernalia. A vociferous public forced the store to close.
Now pot is legal and abundant. What does that mean for the future? Nobody’s going to jail for possession. Previous pot convictions can be expunged. And nobody must rely on the man “who hangs out down on Alvarado Street by the Pioneer Chicken stand.”
I smoked pot years ago. That’s a sentence I never thought I’d write for the public. It serves as my bona fides as I express my uneasiness with this evolutionary step in society. Yes, of course, it is foolish to extrapolate from the personal to the universal, but I have to say, it is cause for concern. We shall see. | https://azdailysun.com/news/local/carpenters-column-feeling-fine-thank-you-for-asking/article_18b7776c-ff1d-11ec-9a54-f3a5abbaf8fe.html | 2022-07-10T17:06:05 | 0 | https://azdailysun.com/news/local/carpenters-column-feeling-fine-thank-you-for-asking/article_18b7776c-ff1d-11ec-9a54-f3a5abbaf8fe.html |
ATLANTA — Passengers on a Spirit Airlines flight were in for a bit of a scare when the plane landed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Sunday.
According to airport officials, the landing gear of the plane caught fire around 9:25 a.m. Atlanta Fire Rescue was able to put out the fire and it was towed to the gate.
There were no injuries reported and passengers did not have to evacuate.
Video on social media showed the plane with flames coming from near the tires and landing gear.
Passengers on the plane also posted video to social media where you could hear the flight attendants trying to keep the passengers calm -- explaining that an evacuation was not necessary.
In a statement to 11Alive, the airlines said they were thankful to first responders.
“Spirit Flight 383 from Tampa to Atlanta landed safely in Atlanta International Airport and upon landing one of the brakes overheated. The aircraft was towed to the gate where Guests safely deplaned without any injuries. Thank you to the Atlanta first responders for immediately meeting the aircraft. The plane will be temporarily removed from service for maintenance.”
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.wthr.com/article/news/local/spirit-airlines-fire-atlanta/85-ca716370-4aec-494c-aeb2-ac6ff4a8e34d | 2022-07-10T17:13:42 | 1 | https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/spirit-airlines-fire-atlanta/85-ca716370-4aec-494c-aeb2-ac6ff4a8e34d |
BRISTOL, Tenn. (WJHL) – A dive team from the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office recovered a body from South Holston Lake Sunday morning.
According to a report from the SCSO, they responded to a call at 6:49 a.m. at the boat ramp on Highway 421 in Bristol in regards to a person that was believed to have fallen into the lake while unloading a boat.
Investigators were able to speak to witnesses on a boat that described hearing someone yelling for help. Witnesses led responders to an area near the boat ramp where it was believed that the person unloading the boat could possibly be located, according to the report.
The SCSO dive team then recovered the body from the lake.
The identity of the individual has not been released at this time and no foul play is suspected. An investigation is ongoing at this time.
Click here to subscribe to WJHL’s email newsletter for more top stories like this. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/scso-body-recovered-from-south-holston-lake/ | 2022-07-10T17:22:43 | 1 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/scso-body-recovered-from-south-holston-lake/ |
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Hundreds of marchers took to downtown Wichita Saturday afternoon in support of abortion rights.
The crowd made a loop by City Hall, down Main and along Douglas. All the while urging the community to vote in the August 2 primary election.
The League of Women Voters of Kansas, one of the co-sponsors of the march, says the state will set the tone for other states expected to vote on the issue later this year.
For information on how to register to vote in Kansas ahead of the abortion amendment, click here. | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/womens-march-rally-in-downtown-wichita-in-support-of-abortion-rights/ | 2022-07-10T17:31:17 | 0 | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/womens-march-rally-in-downtown-wichita-in-support-of-abortion-rights/ |
KANAWHA COUNTY, WV (WOWK) — Crews are on the scene of downed power lines caused by a tree falling.
Metro 911 officials say this happened in the 4400 block of Washington St. W within Charleston city limits.
They say crews have the road shut down and AEP and the Department of Highways have been notified.
Residents in the area are currently without power, according to dispatchers.
The Dunbar Fire Department is on the scene. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/tree-falls-on-power-lines-in-kanawha-county-knocks-out-power-closes-road/ | 2022-07-10T17:35:49 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/tree-falls-on-power-lines-in-kanawha-county-knocks-out-power-closes-road/ |
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A boy injured and blinded by gunfire received a special experience, thanks to the Louisville Zoo.
Six-year-old Malachi Roberts joined Future Healers Got Zoo Buddies at the Louisville Zoo on Saturday and got the chance to have an encounter with animals including a tortoise and a rhinoceros.
He told onlookers his favorite moment was the rhinoceros.
“I like how he feels,” he said.
The Future Healers Got Zoo Buddies program was an initiative created to explore the healing and therapeutic power of animals with young kids in the community who have experienced secondary trauma from violence.
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RELATED VIDEO | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/future-healers-zoo-buddies/417-1f4ba051-ef3e-4bd1-bfbf-97a1bc19511f | 2022-07-10T17:38:47 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/future-healers-zoo-buddies/417-1f4ba051-ef3e-4bd1-bfbf-97a1bc19511f |
COLORADO, USA — The Adams Park trailhead in Routt National Forest is usually signified by a brown and yellow sign similar to those seen on public lands throughout the United States.
Other brown and white markers inform would-be trail users about allowable methods of travel: dirt bikes, four-wheelers, horses and by foot.
But on the Fourth of July, the trail snaking uphill through well established aspens and towering fur trees on the way to the 50th annual Rainbow Family Gathering of Light was dotted with signs every hundred feet or so.
Some placards posed deep questions about life and the meaning of it all. Others gave directions to various camps or advertised community meals, hours of group meditation and even twice-daily 12-step program meetings. Some said almost nothing of substance at all, with one simply declaring, "This is a good sign."
One scrap of paper tied around a tree trunk with a shoelace asked those passing by the same question on the minds of many in local communities since the self-proclaimed non-organization of non-members announced they were headed to Routt County.
"Why did you come here?" it read.
In the Main Meadow of the gathering on Independence Day, a shirtless man with long silver hair sat in the grass with his partner, watching the celebration of dancing and drumbeats unfolding before them. He said his name was Kadag, giving an alternative moniker that many at the gathering refer to as their "Rainbow name."
Kadag traveled to Northwest Colorado from Chico, California, where he is a father and business owner. After attending his first gathering in 1992, he tries to get to the event every year, "if life makes it possible."
"It's a declaration of interdependence," Kadag said. "Living on the land, you know how to care for one another. You get into an environment like this and you see love, you see random acts of kindness all the time, everywhere, from folks you wouldn't expect it from."
"That renews my faith," he continued. "Coming out here to pray for peace in the cathedral of Mother Nature."
— Gathering's peak
At the center of the gathering was the distinct aroma of body odor mixed with marijuana and burning sage. The U.S. Forest Service estimated there were about 10,000 people camping in the woods near Adams Park on Monday, the day the annual gathering of hippies was expected to hit its peak.
It's a far cry from the 30,000 some had predicted for the groups' return to Colorado 50 years after the first meet-up near Grand County's Strawberry Lake in 1972. Still, many that frequent the yearly event say it is the largest they have attended.
The Forest Service reacted by mobilizing a National Incident Management Team to work with the so-called Rainbows, with many of the officials having worked previous renditions of the rendezvous. While maintaining it is an unauthorized, illegal gathering, Forest Service officials devised a detailed plan for how the group will minimize the impacts to the resource rich area of the forest.
The Rainbow Family contends the group has no leaders and there is no broad organization. Instead, people "plug in" where they can offer help, as much or as little as they choose.
Some Rainbows have been in the area for weeks building makeshift water and sewer infrastructure, backwoods kitchens and small spaces of community that offer tea, small trinkets to trade and a sense of open-mindedness that strives to make people from all walks of life feel welcome.
Another group of Rainbows planned to stay well after the gathering ended on Thursday, July 7, to tear down these structures, rehabilitate muddy trails and spread native seeds over various paths created by thousands traipsing through the Main Meadow — the central hub of the gathering.
While the Rainbows' track record over 50 years is mixed, Russ Bacon, forest supervisor for the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, said they have generally been "very good at rehabilitation."
The Adams Creek Trail — an already established route connecting multiple trailheads on Routt County Road 80 — showed visible signs of the increased wear. Hundreds of tents were strewn throughout the forest and meadow, some clumped in colorfully named campsites and others off on their own among the trees.
One attendee, who gave her Rainbow name Sunflower, said in a country with so many divisions among its citizens, it was crazy more people didn't descend on the forest to pray for peace.
"Everything's free," Sunflower said. " If you need anything, someone will get it to you. Everyone says, 'I love you.' People walk by and say, 'You're my brother.' People are just incredibly kind."
"Currency is money, but what if the currency was kindness? What if we could all just be kind to everyone," she continued. "That's what I think Rainbow is about."
— Calm or chaos
Angst over the gathering has been building since June 14 when the group announced it would come to Routt County. Still, many of the rumors cycling through social media locally have lacked evidence.
So far, this year's gathering has led to less law enforcement involvement than 2021's gathering in New Mexico, which saw more than 600 enforcement actions.
As of July 3, Forest Service Law Enforcement have issued about 450 citations related to vehicles, damage to natural resources and narcotic possession in addition to a wide variety of other actions.
Alcohol isn't allowed in the gathering outside of an area referred to as A Camp near where most attendees park. Attendees say there is a faction of gatherers that are more about partying than peace, but they largely stay in this area, away from the center of the action.
Gatherers claim most drug use in the main gathering involves marijuana — which is illegal in the national forest despite it being legal in Colorado — and psychedelics like acid and mushrooms. Still, law enforcement reports other drug use like methamphetamines, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl.
In the days ahead of the Fourth of July, attendees say the Forest Service has had a stronger presence both on roads to the gathering and in parking areas. These infractions have been processed in a makeshift court in the woods presided over by a judge from Denver.
But on the Fourth, law enforcement was more relaxed as some Rainbows joked they were "grilling out" for the holiday. Still, a pair of federal officers came through in the afternoon to ticket vehicles improperly parked in an area reserved for the Forest Service.
When law enforcement is on the trail, gatherers shout "six" to notify others of their presence. Still, a gatherer from South Dakota who identified herself as Kersten said she hasn't seen many officers during the week she has been in Adams Park.
"They know this is our peace day," she said, referencing the Fourth of July. "We've been here the whole time and there hasn't been one hiccup."
— Prayer for Peace
The central part of the Rainbow Family Gathering happens on the Fourth of July, when thousands of attendees start the day in silence. They greet each other with smiles and largely communicate with hand signals, though many still talk in hushed tones.
Kadag said this is an attempt to replicate the solitude and peace nature provides.
As noon approached, attendees dressed in a range of attire — from colorful costumes to nothing at all — started to gather in an area referred to as the prayer circle on the north end of the Main Meadow.
As more and more people encircled a sawed-off aspen trunk that had been stood up in a clearing and scribed with various messages for peace, a soft "Om" chant rose above the sound of the breeze through the meadow.
This continued for about a half-hour, with the occasional cheer from an "anxious hippie," as the ritual waited for children at the gathering to march into the center of the circle.
While people continued to "Om," a bearded man walked around slipping small pieces of frankincense into people's pockets. A naked man with a purple eye drawn on his forehead sifted through the crowd, occasionally locking hands with fellow Rainbows.
When the "Om" faded, a chorus of "All we are saying is give peace a chance," crescendoed — lyrics borrowed from John Lennon's 1969 anti-war protest song. Then suddenly, the grouping of several thousand people erupted in celebration. Some formed smaller circles with people singing songs, banging drums and dancing.
The entire ritual is a callback to the first gathering in 1972. Gathering attendee Harold Bustamante said he is working on a book about the first people that prayed for peace at the top of Table Mountain above Strawberry Lake.
The gathering included diverse groups of people then and now, said Bustamante, emphasizing that military veterans like him have always been part of the gathering. Inclusivity is key, he said.
"Everyone is welcome. Whatever race, whatever culture, whatever political party they are a part of," he said. "Interdependence is what we call it. Everyone is a sovereign human being coming together to create a village, a community the way native people have done it for thousands of years."
Amid the celebration, one older attendee turns to a younger one to welcome his "brother."
"We've been waiting for you," the man said. "We're happy you made it."
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Latest from 9NEWS | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/rainbow-familys-50th-annual-gathering/73-4316dce8-8cf3-4f94-b3a8-4c2491ee909e | 2022-07-10T17:38:53 | 0 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/rainbow-familys-50th-annual-gathering/73-4316dce8-8cf3-4f94-b3a8-4c2491ee909e |
After the red carpet is rolled out at Pinnacle Bank Arena later this week, more than 225 cars will roll across it — almost all of them high-value American horsepower hauled in from around the Midwest.
Four Corvettes so far. Five Trans Ams. Nine Camaros. A pair of Mercedes and a BMW. A Monza and a Maverick. A pickup built in 1928, and another in 2014.
“Classic cars. Antique cars. Special-interest cars,” said Dave Hanner, co-owner of Minnesota-based Remlinger Collector Car Auctions. “There’s a little bit of something for everybody.”
He predicted the Friday-Saturday auction could top $3 million in sales, with some of the cars — like a ’57 Chevy, a ’69 Corvette and a couple of Trans Ams from Dave Hall’s shop — expected to sell for more than six figures. But others could go for less than $5,000, he said.
Hanner has sold cars here before. In 2019, he teamed up with Hall of Lincoln’s Restore A Muscle Car to fill the Lancaster Event Center with nearly 300 cars.
* Remlinger Collector Car Auctions will accept cars to sell through Thursday afternoon. Call 507-450-3173, go to remlingerauctions.com or take your car to the arena Wednesday or Thursday.
The Nebraska Republican Party fired its chairman Saturday amid GOP turmoil that stemmed partly from the hard-fought primary for governor. The day also included one arrest and a raft of resignations.
Steven A. Alexander was arrested Tuesday morning on suspicion of first-degree assault, manslaughter and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony in connection with the fatal stabbing of 26-year-old Austin Gress on Friday.
19-year-old Alexandor Eskra was driving a Subaru east in the inside lane of O Street near 37th Street around 9:30 p.m. Saturday when a westbound Ford Focus crossed the raised median and collided with Eskra's vehicle, according to police.
The 41-year-old has been charged with two counts of second-degree assault for her alleged role in the stabbing, which happened at 5654 Fremont St. on May 13, police said in court records.
The woman had been driving near 12th and A streets around 3:30 p.m. Sunday when she noticed a white sedan following her, the police said. An occupant of the sedan fired a gun at the woman's car, leaving six bullet holes. | https://journalstar.com/news/local/hundreds-of-classic-cars-to-take-stage-at-auction-at-pinnacle-bank-arena/article_4c267931-dade-5e3c-8f8e-b6567153d929.html | 2022-07-10T17:39:41 | 1 | https://journalstar.com/news/local/hundreds-of-classic-cars-to-take-stage-at-auction-at-pinnacle-bank-arena/article_4c267931-dade-5e3c-8f8e-b6567153d929.html |
The Board of Directors of the Kenosha Community Foundation has announced the awarding of scholarships to 16 students for 2022 from a series of different scholarship programs.
Gundlach Scholarship
The two recipients, who will each receive a $3,500 Herman and Virginia Gundlach Scholarship, are:
Kennedy Martinez, a graduate of Tremper High School, who plans to attend Carthage College.
Kiara Rios, a graduate of Reuther High School, who plans to attend the University of Wisconsin (UW) –Whitewater.
Over the last six years (2017-22), 41 Kenosha County students have been awarded Gundlach scholarships to students who plan to pursue a two-year or four-year degree at an accredited Wisconsin college or university. Since the scholarship fund’s inception in 1996, the foundation has awarded over $350,000 from the Herman and Virginia Gundlach Scholarship Fund to Kenosha County students.
Bradford Class of 1961
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The following five 2022 graduates of the Mary D. Bradford High School, are recipients of the Bradford High School Class of 1961 Scholarships:
Abigail Johnson, who plans to attend UW-Green Bay.
Christopher Lyons, who plans to attend UW-Whitewater.
Jordan Rudden, who plans to attend Concordia University.
Nathan Olson, who plans to attend Blackhawk Technical College.
Mylan Smith, who plans to attend Gateway Technical College.
Carlos Zavala, who plans to attend Gateway Technical College.
In 2016, members of the Bradford High School Class of 1961 established a scholarship fund at the foundation to benefit students graduating from their alma mater and who plan to pursue a two-year or four-year degree at an accredited Wisconsin college or university.
Clay Davison Legacy
Established in 2019, the Clay Davison Legacy Scholarship is awarded to Kenosha area students pursuing a post-secondary education degree in a mental health-related field of study. This year’s two recipients, each of whom will receive a $1,700 scholarship, are:
Gina Eschbach, a graduate of St Joseph’s Academy, who plans to attend UW-Parkside.
Tristin Jantz, a graduate of Westosha Central High School, who plans to attend UW-Stevens Point.
Rizzo Family Memorial
The 2022 recipient of the Rizzo Family Memorial Scholarship is Alec Schabowsky, a graduate of Bradford High School, who plans to study at UW-Madison in the fall of 2022.
The Rizzo Family Memorial Scholarship Fund was established by the Rizzo children in 2020 in memory of: their father, Dr. Vincent C. Rizzo; their mother, Mary C. Rizzo; and their uncle, Dr. Michael J. Rizzo. This is the second year that the fund awarded the scholarship, which goes to a resident of Kenosha County who is or will pursue post-secondary school studies in a health-related field.
Colleen Deininger Aviation
The first recipients of the Colleen Deininger Aviation Scholarship, each of whom will receive $2,500, are:
Sarah Hamilton, who is currently attending Gateway Technical College.
Katherine Rauscher, a graduate of Wausau East High School, who plans to attend the University of Michigan-Houghton.
Colleen Deininger was a dedicated wife, mother, pilot, businesswoman, women’s rights activist, teacher and golfer. The scholarship was established in December 2021 by Colleen’s daughter, Calla Ricciardi and son, Curt Deininger, to help other women learn to fly.
Fellman Family
The first recipient of the Fellman Family Scholarship is Chad Helmke, a graduate of Indian Trail Academy, who plans to attend UW-Madison.
The scholarship, established in 2019 by Kenneth Fellman, the president of the Kenosha Community Foundation’s Board of Directors, is to be awarded to a student athlete in their senior year at a Kenosha County public high school who plans to attend UW-Madison. Preference is given to students who plan to study Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) or business-related fields.
KTEC Alumni
The first recipients of the Kenosha School of Technology Enhanced Curriculum (KTEC) Alumni Scholarships are:
Samuel Arnold, a graduate of Bradford High School, who plans to attend UW-Madison.
Dayanara Giles, a graduate of Reuther High School, who plans to attend UW-LaCrosse.
The scholarship is awarded to KTEC alumni who attended the school for at least the 7th and 8th grade. | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/kenosha-community-foundation-awards-scholarships-to-16-students/article_4bdebe48-fe0f-11ec-bf90-c7839d511262.html | 2022-07-10T17:46:45 | 0 | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/kenosha-community-foundation-awards-scholarships-to-16-students/article_4bdebe48-fe0f-11ec-bf90-c7839d511262.html |
U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wisconsin, will be the guest on the Kenosha County Substance Abuse Coalition’s podcast, “Avoiding the Addiction Affliction,” on Wednesday, July 20.
The podcast can be seen at https://saveliveskenosha.org/podcast/.
During the previously recorded conversation, Steil emphasized the need to pass permanent federal legislation that makes fentanyl and all of the various fentanyl analogs sold on the street permanent Schedule 1 drugs. Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined by the U..S Drug Enforcement Administration as “drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”
Steil spoke about the dozens of people from Kenosha and Racine counties who have died in the past year of fentanyl overdose, many of whom had no idea the drugs they were taking contained fentanyl. He also spoke about controlling the flow of these illegal drugs coming across the country’s borders.
“What is needed,” Steil said, “is an ‘all of the above approach’ that combines education and prevention to stem the demand for street drugs with law enforcement efforts to get the drugs off the streets and treatment options for those affected by their use of the drugs.”
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It one of a series of podcasts that has focused on the ongoing opioid epidemic in Wisconsin and the United States. Other guests speaking about the opioid crisis have included a law enforcement officer, a young man who was formerly homeless and is now in recovery, a man who lost his younger brother to an overdose, and two mothers whose sons died in their college dorms after ingesting drugs that contained fentanyl.
For more information, contact the coalition via email at kcsac@saveliveskenosha.org.
‘I know I need to stop using, but my brain just won’t let me': Stories of addiction and loss
Fueled by trauma, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and given deadly effect by the dangerous opioid fentanyl, the rate of fatal opioid overdoses in Wisconsin has never been as high as it is today. Here are stories of six of those who died.
Sarah Caldwell, 32, died from an overdose involving heroin in July 2020.
Auriel McNutt, 27, died from an overdose involving fentanyl in June 2020.
Steven Welnetz, 21, died from an overdose involving fentanyl in November 2021.
Erin Kjellstrom, 27, died from an overdose involving fentanyl in May 2020.
Abraham Bendorf, 20, died from an overdose involving fentanyl in February 2021.
Isaac Weires, 19, died from an overdose involving fentanyl in December 2020. | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/steil-to-address-fentanyl-concerns-on-kenosha-county-substance-abuse-coalition-podcast-july-20/article_c9112c6c-ffad-11ec-8be2-5b584c28ada7.html | 2022-07-10T17:46:51 | 0 | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/steil-to-address-fentanyl-concerns-on-kenosha-county-substance-abuse-coalition-podcast-july-20/article_c9112c6c-ffad-11ec-8be2-5b584c28ada7.html |
BALTIMORE — A man shot and killed during a confrontation with people cleaning windshields for cash at a downtown Baltimore intersection "should have just kept driving" instead of swinging a baseball bat at one or more of them, the man's father said Friday.
Timothy Reynolds, 48, of Baltimore, was driving through an intersection near the city's Inner Harbor on Thursday afternoon when he had a heated interaction with so-called squeegee workers, parked his car and came back with a baseball bat, Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison told reporters.
He "swung the bat at one or more of those squeegee workers. In return, one of the squeegee workers pulled out a gun and fired, striking this male victim," Harrison said. He added that police didn't know if Reynolds hit anyone with the bat.
The man's father, Carroll Reynolds, told the Baltimore Sun that he learned of his son's death several hours after the shooting. The elder Reynolds had spent Thursday evening watching his grandson play baseball.
"He should have just kept driving," Carroll Reynolds repeatedly said during an interview, shaking his head in disbelief.
Squeegee workers, also known as squeegee kids, consist mostly of teens from low-income neighborhoods who clean drivers' windshields at intersections in exchange for money. Some drivers in Baltimore have complained about them.
The workers ran away after the shooting, Harrison said. No arrests were announced as of Friday afternoon.
City officials said there would be increased police patrols at intersections frequented by squeegee workers.
"We are not going to tolerate acts of violence regardless of who is committing them," Mayor Brandon Scott told reporters on Friday. "If you're assaulting motorists, if you're damaging their cars, we are going to arrest you."
The police commissioner said Friday that detectives were still looking for evidence, including video, related to the deadly shooting.
"We are combing through a lot of evidence right now in search of the person who shot the victim," Harrison said.
Reynolds, who was white, was pronounced dead at a hospital.
He had three children, earned a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University and was an engineer. | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/family-stunned-by-man-killing-in-squeegee-confrontation/65-64c6697d-89ac-4276-aac0-f2afe2bd1028 | 2022-07-10T17:53:43 | 1 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/family-stunned-by-man-killing-in-squeegee-confrontation/65-64c6697d-89ac-4276-aac0-f2afe2bd1028 |
AUSTIN, Texas — Two pets were killed and four residents were displaced after a house fire in northwest Austin early Sunday morning.
The Austin Fire Department reported the fire just after 2 a.m. at a two-story house in the 4700 block of Marblehead Drive. The fire began on an exterior deck before spreading to the house.
AFD said four residents, including two adults and two kids, were displaced, while two pets were killed.
The cause of the fire was accidental, from an undetermined ignition source on the back patio.
Firefighters said the fire was knocked down around 2:30 a.m. as crews continued to overhaul.
No other information is available at this time.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/marblehead-drive-house-fire/269-43157273-4671-4d7e-9945-2868d74ba269 | 2022-07-10T17:53:49 | 0 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/marblehead-drive-house-fire/269-43157273-4671-4d7e-9945-2868d74ba269 |
ATLANTA — Passengers on a Spirit Airlines flight were in for a bit of a scare when the plane landed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Sunday.
According to airport officials, the landing gear of the plane caught fire around 9:25 a.m. Atlanta Fire Rescue was able to put out the fire and it was towed to the gate.
There were no injuries reported and passengers did not have to evacuate.
Video on social media showed the plane with flames coming from near the tires and landing gear.
Passengers on the plane also posted video to social media where you could hear the flight attendants trying to keep the passengers calm -- explaining that an evacuation was not necessary.
In a statement to 11Alive, the airlines said they were thankful to first responders.
“Spirit Flight 383 from Tampa to Atlanta landed safely in Atlanta International Airport and upon landing one of the brakes overheated. The aircraft was towed to the gate where Guests safely deplaned without any injuries. Thank you to the Atlanta first responders for immediately meeting the aircraft. The plane will be temporarily removed from service for maintenance.”
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.kvue.com/article/news/local/spirit-airlines-fire-atlanta/85-ca716370-4aec-494c-aeb2-ac6ff4a8e34d | 2022-07-10T17:53:55 | 1 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/spirit-airlines-fire-atlanta/85-ca716370-4aec-494c-aeb2-ac6ff4a8e34d |
CALIFORNIA, USA — The largest grove of giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park was closed Friday and hundreds of people ordered evacuated nearby as a wildfire burning through dense forest became the latest in recent years to threaten the world’s largest trees.
A team was being sent to the Mariposa Grove to wrap some of the massive trunks in fire-resistant foil to protect them as the blaze burned out of control, said Nancy Phillipe, a Yosemite fire information spokesperson.
More than 500 mature sequoias were threatened but there were no reports of severe damage to any named trees, such as the 3,000-year-old Grizzly Giant.
The cause of the fire was under investigation and the rest of the park remained open as nearly 300 firefighters tried to control the flames with the help of two water-dropping helicopters and an air tanker dumping flame retardant, Phillipe said.
The giant sequoias, native in only about 70 groves spread along the western slope of California's Sierra Nevada range, were once considered impervious to flames but have become increasingly vulnerable as wildfires fueled by a buildup of undergrowth from a century of fire suppression and drought exacerbated by climate change have become more intense and destructive.
Lightning-sparked wildfires over the past two years have killed up to a fifth of the estimated 75,000 large sequoias, which are the biggest trees by volume.
There was no obvious natural spark for the fire that broke out Thursday next to the park's Washburn Trail, Phillipe said. Smoke was reported by visitors walking in the grove that reopened in 2018 after a $40 million renovation that took three years.
The grove, which is inside the park's southern entrance, was evacuated and no one was injured.
The fire had grown to 466 acres (188 hectares) by Friday evening, authorities said.
Evacuation orders were issued Friday for the grove along with the nearby community of Wawona — which is surrounded by the park — and the Wawona Campground, where about 600 to 700 people were staying in a campground, cabins and an historic hotel.
A fierce windstorm ripped through the grove a year-and-a-half ago and toppled 15 giant sequoias, along with countless other trees.
The downed trees, along with massive numbers of pines killed by bark beetles, provided ample fuel for the flames, but winds Friday were calm and the fire was not spreading rapidly.
The park has used prescribed burns to clear brush around the sequoias, which helps protect them if flames spread farther into the grove.
"When the unwanted fires hit those areas, it tends to slow the rate of spread and helps us gain some control,” Phillipe said.
In the Sierra foothills, 80 miles (128 kilometers) to the northwest of the Yosemite fire, some evacuation orders were lifted as containment grew to 70% on the Electra Fire that had burned 7 square miles (18 square kilometers).
The fire broke out near Jackson on Monday and temporarily forced about 100 people celebrating the July 4th holiday along a river to seek shelter in a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. facility.
The National Weather Service Sacramento says parts of the foothills and the Sierra, including Lake Tahoe, will be impacted by smoke from the Washburn Fire and the Electra Fire in Amador County.
Fire Map
This wildfire map was created using data from NASA, NGA, USGS and FEMA.
WILDFIRE PREPS
According to Cal Fire, the 2021 fire season started earlier than previous years, but also ended earlier, as well. January 2021 saw just under 1,200 acres burned from nearly 300 wildfires. Fires picked up in the summer when the Dixie Fire burned in five Northern California counties — Butte, Plumas, Shasta, Lassen and Tehama. The Dixie Fire started on July 13 and wasn't contained until Oct. 25, burning nearly 1 million acres. It has since become the second-largest wildfire in state history and the largest non-complex fire.
Overall, 2.5 million acres were burned in 2021 from 8,835 wildfires. Over 3,600 structures were destroyed and 3 people were killed.
If you live in a wildfire-prone zone, Cal Fire suggests creating a defensible space around your home. Defensible space is an area around a building in which vegetation and other debris are completely cleared. At least 100 feet is recommended.
The Department of Homeland Security suggests assembling an emergency kit that has important documents, N95 respirator masks, and supplies to grab with you if you’re forced to leave at a moment’s notice. The agency also suggests signing up for local warning system notifications and knowing your community’s evacuation plans best to prepare yourself and your family in cases of wildfires.
Some counties use Nixle alerts to update residents on severe weather, wildfires, and other news. To sign up, visit www.nixle.com or text your zip code to 888777 to start receiving alerts.
PG&E customers can also subscribe to alerts via text, email, or phone call. If you're a PG&E customer, visit the Profile & Alerts section of your account to register.
What questions do you have about the latest wildfires? If you're impacted by the wildfires, what would you like to know? Text the ABC10 team at (916) 321-3310.
Watch more from ABC10: Amid recent drownings this summer, here's some water safety tips | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/washburn-fire-yosemite-mariposa-grove-maps-updates/103-7ab7a4f3-d93a-44e4-b5d6-2e6bf7728764 | 2022-07-10T17:54:01 | 1 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/washburn-fire-yosemite-mariposa-grove-maps-updates/103-7ab7a4f3-d93a-44e4-b5d6-2e6bf7728764 |
Less than two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled abortion is not a Constitutional Right, more than 50 people protested in downtown Coos Bay, saying the decision will harm women across the nation.
Ashlee Francis brought her son, Dakari Trask, to the event because she is concerned about friends and family in other states.
"I'm here to protest and show support to the areas going through Roe vs. Wade issue right now and have the absolute bans,' Francis said. "We're from Arizona, and they're trying to have a full abortion ban."
Francis said she made the difficult decision to have an abortion after Dakari was born because she wanted to be able to give him the life he deserves. She said every woman should have the right to decide on their own.
"It is a super important choice and should not be taken lightly," she said. "Every woman out there should be able to make their own choice."
Davion Trask, Dakari's dad, joined Ashlee in protesting. He said banning abortion could be dangerous and cost women their lives.
"Safety, No. 1," he said when asked why he joined the protest. "If they can't make the decision themselves, they're going to have to make it an unsafe manner."
Davion said he fully supports a woman's right to choose when it comes to abortion.
"For us, being able to control our own manner was important," he said. "People always want to make a law that doesn't concern them. It's only a decision for a woman."
Alycia Rose came to the protest with I Dissent. She said her concern was the Supreme Court was stripping away many rights, not just the right to an abortion.
"We're here today to protest our human rights," she said. "It started our with the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, and it expanded quickly to all human rights. They want to take away gun rights from states, they want to end Miranda rights, they want to take away Native American rights to their land."
She said the protest was a way to make a difference, but she said she urges people to go even further.
"We need to write to all legislative figures," she said. "We need to contact the White House, we need to contact all legislators here in Oregon, but other states as well. There are Facebook pages to help."
Rose said she is planning to start a chapter of the National Organization of Woman for Southern Oregon to provide another resource.
Charlotte Hutt also joined the protest, saying human rights cannot be stripped away like they have been in recent weeks.
"I have children and grandchildren and they have families and they need to be able to live and not have undue burdens placed upon them," Hutt said. "I want them moms safe and healthy. Dobbs was wrongly decided. They misread the 14th Amendment. Alito ignored that abortion was common and was safe when the Constitution was written. Their originalism is fake."
In fact, Hutt said, stripping abortion rights moves the U.S. back to its darkest days.
"At the time of the Constitution, the only women who didn't have the right to abortions were slaves," she said. "Free women owned their bodies. The court has decided wrongly. We need to get the truth out."
Hutt said human rights should never be stripped from people, warning it is a dangerous slope.
"I had rights that are being taken away," she said. "I was young when I saw a 15-year-old being taken away in a straight jack. I saw girls bleeding in the bathroom. My mother, who was a staunch Republican, was a strong supporter of abortion rights."
Hutt said she has little confidence in the Supreme Court, so she urged lawmakers to take a stand.
"We need Congress to write some laws," she said. "Something must be done."
Rose said protestors would continue to hit the streets as long as necessary to return rights to the people. | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/dozens-protest-harmful-abortion-ruling/article_8e2ce538-fd6d-11ec-9bc2-47dd43f26b6f.html | 2022-07-10T18:01:56 | 0 | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/dozens-protest-harmful-abortion-ruling/article_8e2ce538-fd6d-11ec-9bc2-47dd43f26b6f.html |
FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is commending one of their own for saving the life of a 3-month-old infant in Fort Myers last month.
On June 18th, Deputy Michelle Wilson responded to Fuchsia Road after learning the infant was not breathing.
When Deputy Wilson arrived, she found the infant, Wylder, turning blue, not breathing, and without a pulse, according to LCSO.
Deputy Wilson immediately took action and began chest compressions until a pulse was established.
EMS arrived and quickly brought Wylder to Golisano Children’s Hospital and was admitted into the NICU.
Fortunately, Wylder is home and recovering.
Without the heroic actions performed by Deputy Wilson, Wylder may not have survived the medical event. | https://nbc-2.com/news/local/2022/07/10/3-month-old-infant-saved-by-lee-county-deputy-in-fort-myers/ | 2022-07-10T18:09:27 | 1 | https://nbc-2.com/news/local/2022/07/10/3-month-old-infant-saved-by-lee-county-deputy-in-fort-myers/ |
Philadelphia police said a man is dead after being shot in the city's Chinatown neighborhood early Sunday morning.
Officers found the victim shot in the lower back on the 1000 block of Cherry Street around 3:45 a.m., police said. Medics declared him dead shortly after.
Police said they made an arrest and discovered a gun nearby.
The man is believed to be in his mid-20s, investigators said, but no other identifying information was immediately available.
NBC10 was on scene as investigators focused on a second-floor apartment above a business on Cherry Street. Detectives could be seen through the windows.
As of Sunday morning, there were at least 280 homicides in Philadelphia this year, down 4% from the same time last year which was ultimately the deadliest in the city on record.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/man-killed-in-chinatown-shooting-person-in-custody/3295039/ | 2022-07-10T18:27:44 | 1 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/man-killed-in-chinatown-shooting-person-in-custody/3295039/ |
BETHESDA, Md. — Investigations are underway into several weekend incidents of apparent arson and vandalism at churches in Maryland, authorities said.
Dozens of firefighters responded to an alarm at the church around 2 a.m. and quickly extinguished the fire, according to the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service.
The fire involved several pews in the main church area, Pete Piringer, a spokesman for the agency, tweeted. No injuries were reported.
In a statement about the fire, a spokesperson from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said the archdiocese was shocked by the incident but that they are a “resilient community of faith.”
Earlier in the weekend, a fire was set at a Methodist church that was broken into, according to fire officials. Also Saturday, investigators found damaged headstones and broken wood pieces scattered around the vicinity of Wildwood Baptist Church, WJLA reported. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/officials-investigate-vandalism-fires-at-maryland-churches/2022/07/10/1bdd040c-007b-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html | 2022-07-10T18:32:05 | 0 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/officials-investigate-vandalism-fires-at-maryland-churches/2022/07/10/1bdd040c-007b-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html |
An excessive heat warning and heat advisory are in effect for both Sunday and Monday
Sunday's high is expected to reach 104 degrees and Monday's high is forecast to reach 106.
NWS meteorologist Mack Morris said this weekend could be the hottest it’s been all summer, warning that it’s best to avoid outdoor activity between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Winds could gust as high as 20 mph, the weather service said.
There is a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4 p.m. today.
The National Weather Service said hot temperatures will continue into Tuesday, with a heat advisory possible. | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Heat-wave-in-S-A-getting-hotter-temperature-17295558.php | 2022-07-10T18:36:46 | 0 | https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Heat-wave-in-S-A-getting-hotter-temperature-17295558.php |
More sharks are being spotted in the waters off Long Island, a trend that is likely to continue — and experts say that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Cleaner oceans, warmer water temperatures and a resurgence of bunker fish that sharks feed on are seen as factors, according to experts. Detection, from drones to helicopters, also has improved and reports are easily spread through social media.
“There are a lot more sharks than 10 or 15 years ago,” Christopher Paparo, manager of Stony Brook University’s Marine Sciences Center, told Newsday. “We’re spotting sharks, whales and dolphins here. In the 1960s, we did not have sharks, whales and dolphins.”
Shark attacks in the area have been very rare until recently, with an average of about one reported per 10 years for the last century, Newsday reported. Two lifeguards suffered bites and a third person was bitten in what possibly was a shark attack, within the last two weeks, the newspaper reported.
The United States recorded 47 unprovoked shark bites in 2021, a 42% increase from 33 incidents reported in 2020, according to records kept by Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File
In Suffolk County, lifeguards use binoculars to scan the waters for fins cresting the surface or large schools of fish that attract sharks.
Two years ago, lifeguards at Smith Point launched two water scooters to investigate after seeing activity a mile from shore. They eventually had to clear the beach after an 18-foot (5.5-meter) great white shark, which had been feeding on a whale carcass, came with a quarter-mile of the beach.
News
It was the first time in more than 30 years that a shark sighting prompted that response, Keith Kolar, the assistant chief of the county's lifeguards, told Newsday. The second time occurred after a lifeguard was bitten this month.
Experts say the increase in the number of sharks is a sign that conservation efforts have succeeded in helping restore ecological balance to the oceans, after overfishing, pollution and a movement to kill sharks partly inspired by the 1975 movie “Jaws” reduced their numbers.
Smaller sharks, which are seen closer to shore more often than larger ones, help keep prey species in check, and many shark types are scavengers that keep the ocean cleaner and healthier.
More encounters between people and sharks could swing public sentiment the other way, however.
“I’m very concerned that the perception I fought against for a couple of decades will change,” Bob Hueter, chief scientist for OCEARCH, a global nonprofit that conducts research on sharks, told the newspaper. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/long-island-seeing-more-sharks-experts-say-its-a-good-sign/3768043/ | 2022-07-10T18:37:43 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/long-island-seeing-more-sharks-experts-say-its-a-good-sign/3768043/ |
ATLANTA — Neighbors in one Midtown neighborhood woke up to find several cars on their street had shattered windows.
Atlanta Police responded to Vedado Way on Sunday morning where 18 vehicles "sustained damaged windows," police said.
"Officers were able to get in contact with some of the vehicles owners who confirmed their vehicles windows were damaged but no items of value were taken," police said in a statement. "Investigators are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident."
Neighbors spent the morning cleaning broken glass from their cars along the quiet street.
Police added that on Saturday night in the city, there were 27 calls for service involving vehicle break-ins. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/car-breakins-vedado-way-midtown-atlanta/85-1e0a4ef1-5f81-4d52-bc66-d36f164fcffa | 2022-07-10T18:45:25 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/car-breakins-vedado-way-midtown-atlanta/85-1e0a4ef1-5f81-4d52-bc66-d36f164fcffa |
SAN ANTONIO — The world's most unpleasant smelling flower is about to bloom at the San Antonio Zoo. The corpse flower, which is native to the rainforests of Sumatra in Indonesia, is an endangered plant that can take more than ten years to bloom for the first time.
It is most famously known for the powerful rotting flesh odor it releases, which is why it was named the corpse flower. This is the first known instance of a corpse flower blooming right here in San Antonio.
“Get your nostrils ready,” said Tim Morrow, President and CEO of San Antonio Zoo. “Our team estimates the plant could bloom in the next 10 days! This is a rather rare occurrence and a very exciting moment for our community and conservation. We invite everyone to act fast to see and smell this piece of history before the short bloom watch window is up!”
The related video above was originally published September 13, 2020.
The stinky flower was moved on Friday for public viewing near the ‘Back From The Brink’ Whooping Crane habitat. You are welcome to join the bloom watch of the plant now until its peak blossom window is up, which could be anytime in the next ten days. The malodorous flower will remain blossomed anywhere from one to four days.
Follow San Antonio Zoo’s social media pages for updates on size and bloom watch.
“These plants are very delicate and typically give us signs when they are ready to blossom,” said Dr. Dante Fenolio, VP of Conservation & Research at San Antonio Zoo. “Once we see those indicators, we have around 24 hours until its incredible and rare reveal!”
The corpse flower reaches heights of up to eight feet tall and will generate its own heat, which allows the stench to travel even further. The powerful scent, reminiscent of a decaying corpse, is produced by more than 30 chemicals and attracts carrion beetles and flesh flies who pollinate the flower.
San Antonio Zoo plans to collect pollen and tissue samples from the bloom for genetic study, and compare it to others in its rapidly dwindling population.
Fewer than 1,000 corpse flowers are estimated to remain in the wild, with a sharp decline in the last century.
The corpse flower was a gift from The Huntington in California. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/flower-known-for-smelling-like-rotting-flesh-blooming-at-san-antonio-zoo-texas-stinky-rotten-rain-forest-sumatra/273-efbd4756-df7f-4b4e-8986-5a099b6df108 | 2022-07-10T18:45:31 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/flower-known-for-smelling-like-rotting-flesh-blooming-at-san-antonio-zoo-texas-stinky-rotten-rain-forest-sumatra/273-efbd4756-df7f-4b4e-8986-5a099b6df108 |
ATLANTA — The Kemp family is mourning the loss of the first lady's mother, they shared on social media. She was 92.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp called Jeane Argo a "cherished" member of their family and a "wonderful" mother to first lady Marty Kemp.
In a statement posted online, Marty Kemp said her mother "carefully tended to all those she loved."
"Jeane Argo's grandchildren affectionately called her by the nickname "goose." Today, she spread her wings to fly to heaven," Marty Kemp said. "We take comfort in knowing we will be with her again in that joyous place one day, and until then, we will cherish her memory and continue to be inspired by her love and beauty." | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/gov-brian-kemp-mother-in-law-dies/85-28111007-e8b2-4f6f-8dcd-abf333c9bc20 | 2022-07-10T18:45:37 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/gov-brian-kemp-mother-in-law-dies/85-28111007-e8b2-4f6f-8dcd-abf333c9bc20 |
PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga. — Police in Gwinnett County are investigating a homicide at a QuikTrip in Peachtree Corners, they said.
Officers said it happened in the parking lot at the gas station on the corner of Peachtree Parkway and Peachtree Corners Circle on Sunday afternoon.
"Officers are currently interviewing potential witnesses and awaiting detectives and members of the Crime Scene Unit," police said in a statement.
No further details were made available, but police said it appears the victim is a male.
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/peachtree-corners-qt-murder/85-7a485040-49ca-4daa-a281-9a7b720eb0ea | 2022-07-10T18:45:43 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/peachtree-corners-qt-murder/85-7a485040-49ca-4daa-a281-9a7b720eb0ea |
SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. — Authorities in Spalding County are asking residents in one part of town to "shelter in place" Sunday afternoon as they search for armed suspects from an earlier vehicle pursuit, they said.
The sheriff's office said around 1 p.m. that the area they are focusing on is around West Ellis Road, Landing Way and Moon Road.
"Shots have been fired and subject is armed," the alert said. "Shelter in place."
They later said that deputies are searching for two white men and a white female, but provided no further details.
The sheriff's office is asking residents to call 911 if they observe any suspicious person or activity.
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/spalding-county-police-chase/85-cee2c933-9217-448a-94d2-9045141cffb6 | 2022-07-10T18:45:49 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/spalding-county-police-chase/85-cee2c933-9217-448a-94d2-9045141cffb6 |
CALDWELL — Canyon County has received notice that its insurance policy will not be renewed, according to communications obtained through public records requests.
The county has been enrolled in insurance from the Idaho Counties Risk Management Program, according to a copy of the most recent policy included as part of the records request. But the insurance company sent a letter to the county dated May 23, saying that the company’s board had decided to “non-renew” the county’s policy, and mentioned “numerous factors including adverse claim development and increasing risk exposures.” The county’s current policy will end at 12 a.m. on Oct 1, 2022, the letter said.
ICRMP is an insurance provider that covers various public entities in Idaho, including school districts, cities, and other counties, said Tim Osborne, executive director of the insurance company.
Canyon County Public Information Officer Joe Decker said the county’s elected officials are not able to offer comment at this time due to the ongoing situation.
“We are working to evaluate all options, including potential renewal with ICRMP and the potential acquisition of replacement coverage,” Decker said via email in a provided statement. “More information will be forthcoming when available.”
In a letter dated June 2 and addressed to Osborne and the board’s trustees, the county’s board of commissioners appears to informally appeal the non-renewal, saying, “the abruptness and comprehensiveness of this total separation, and the lack of warning or opportunity to cure any perceived issue, is shocking.”
“Although your notice alludes to ‘numerous factors’ that informed the decision, they are not identified with a specificity that would allow us to state any specific basis for our disagreement,” the letter reads.
“We are concerned that the interests and practical realities associated with governing the second-most populous county in Idaho, with approximately 1,000 employees and a budget in excess of $100,000,000 are markedly different (in scale if not substance) than those represented or routinely addressed by the Board of Trustees,” another part of the letter reads.
Canyon County officials also express concern in the letter that documentation provided about the county’s “loss history” is not accurate. The letter cites issues such as 25 of the claims being “unrelated to the county,” “the false equivocation of nuisance settlements with actual misconduct,” and “the costs associated in pursuit of legal strategies not dictated by the county.”
The letter also contends that Canyon County did not have representation in the decision because the District III seat on ICRMP’s board is vacant. County officials said in the letter that they would like the insurance company to “rescind” the letter, or amend it so that the county’s participation could continue through September 2023, at which time the policy would end, or be renewed “with mutually understood and agreeable terms.”
Tim Osborne, executive director of ICRMP, said in a phone interview that he could not elaborate on the reasons that the board voted to non-renew the policy. He said that his office is working to coordinate a meeting with Canyon County officials to go over the “documentation” of the reasons the board voted to non-renew. After that meeting, Canyon County officials could request a meeting with the board in open session about how to move forward, he said.
Osborne confirmed that the District III trustee’s seat is vacant following the death of Chairman Mark Shigeta. However, Shigeta was an active participant in the discussions leading up to the vote, Osborne said.
“I can say that Mark was involved with all of the decisions leading up to the non-renewal of Canyon County, and the board vote to non-renew Canyon County was unanimous,” Osborne said. Shigeta died about a week before the vote, he said. “If Mark had disagreed, he can make a vote, but the board would have outweighed him anyway on that.”
Materials included with the public records request showed that Commissioner Leslie Van Beek was already examining the county’s relationship with ICRMP and the county’s insurance agency, Hartwell, appearing to be exploring the possibility of replacing one or both.
In an email dated Oct. 6, 2021, Van Beek listed topics for inclusion in a “general” board meeting whose second item was “Reevaluation of the County’s risk management provider (ICRMP) and the RFP process – EO discussion.” “RFP” generally stands for “request for proposal,” and is a description of a project or service an entity wants that they will be accepting bids for. “EO” generally stands for “elected official(s).”
But in an email dated June 9, 2022, Smith wrote to Canyon County elected officials, including Van Beek, saying that Van Beek “is working outside of her legal authority by soliciting a competitor to compete with Hartwell (she states it’s to compete with ICRMP.)”
Smith goes on to say that Van Beek “doesn’t understand the difference between ICRMP and Hartwell after all this time in office and the different services they provide related to the County’s insurance.”
Hartwell is an insurance agency that helps customers interested in buying insurance get quotes from different insurance companies and choose the policy that is right for them, Osborne said. ICRMP is the insurance company insuring the county, while Hartwell is the insurance agency the county has used, he said.
In an email dated Sept. 30, 2021, a representative of Redman Insurance wrote Van Beek an email in which she says she is following up from a conversation in which Van Beek told her “Canyon County would be issuing an RFP for insurance services.”
Van Beek replied the next day, saying, “there is a lot of interest in reevaluating our contract with ICRMP.”
ICRMP was formed 37 years ago because it was difficult for counties and other public entities to secure insurance that “was stable and consistent for them,” Osborne said. Another advantage of ICRMP is that the insurance is comprehensive, whereas public entities going through other insurance providers may need to “piecemeal” several policies between several companies, he said.
However, some entities that have had a policy through ICRMP have sought other insurance options, he said. Other options are finding a different insurance company to provide coverage, or self-insuring, Osborne said. In the second option, an entity typically has to budget millions of dollars into a loss payment fund to cover any liability-related claims that arise, he said. Ada County uses this type of plan, he said. | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/canyon-county-receives-non-renewal-notice-on-its-insurance-policy/article_bf31dcc8-783d-521a-8077-ac81510f1eb7.html | 2022-07-10T18:50:26 | 1 | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/canyon-county-receives-non-renewal-notice-on-its-insurance-policy/article_bf31dcc8-783d-521a-8077-ac81510f1eb7.html |
BOISE — This summer, Idaho Power has a new program to protect people in its service area from wildfire.
The company identified the parts of its service area most vulnerable to wildfire, said Jon Axtman, engineering and reliability senior manager with the company. Those nine areas could be subject to having their power turned off during extreme weather as part of the company’s new Public Safety Power Shutoff program.
The program is a “last resort” tool in the company’s efforts to mitigate wildfire risk, Axtman said.
A MULTI-PRONGED APPROACH TO WILDFIRE MITIGATION
In 2019, Idaho Power leadership noticed a trend — the frequency and intensity of the west’s wildfires was increasing, Axtman said. To help get ahead of the issue, the company developed a wildfire mitigation plan to protect people and structures in its service areas.
The company’s efforts include trimming vegetation back from power lines and wrapping the base of power poles with wire mesh, said Sven Berg, communication specialist with the company.
To create the designated shutoff areas, the company hired a consultant to examine the potential for wildfire in an area, as well as the number of structures that could be affected, Axtman said. The consultant did this by mapping weather and wildfire history across the company’s service territory, as well as building locations, Axtman said. The consultant then modeled where ignitions from overhead power lines could occur, and accounted for the type of vegetation in those areas, Axtman said.
For example, areas with more tree canopy are more predisposed to larger wildfires compared to grasslands, he said.
“It really helped us understand and helped produce data to show how fire behavior would exist in different areas,” Axtman said. “We used that data to help us really understand the risk levels throughout our service territory, and these nine zones are really the highest of those risk areas that we modeled.”
THE NINE MOST VULNERABLE AREAS COULD SEE POWER SHUTOFFS
Each of the nine areas has been given a name based on its location. Two of the closest areas to the Treasure Valley are the Wilderness Ranch-Clear Creek area, located west of Highway 21, and the Placerville-Star Ranch area, which includes most of Placerville, as well as some surrounding areas.
The buildings in these areas are mostly residential, and include a high concentration of second homes, Berg said. But there are also a decent number of people who make their primary residence in these areas, Axtman said.
Atmospheric scientists who work for Idaho Power use weather stations in those zones to generate forecasts, Axtman said. They keep a close watch on conditions that could bolster wildfires, such high temperatures, low humidity, dry vegetation, and winds higher than 50 miles per hour, he said. Wind speeds that high are rare in the service area, Axtman said.
WHAT CUSTOMERS NEED TO KNOW
Such forecasts could help the company inform residents of plans for a shutoff in a given area, he said. The company has already communicated with residents through mailers, Axtman said, and they have a new rapid notification system that can send texts and voice calls to alert residents of imminent shutoffs. In general, they hope to be able to provide an average of one-to-two days of advance notice for planned shutoffs, he said.
Customers can visit the company’s website to see a map of the nine areas that could be subject to shutoffs, and they can input an address to see if their property is located within one of the areas, Berg said.
How long a shutoff could last varies, Axtman said. Once weather conditions have settled and it is safe for a shutoff to end, crews will patrol the area to determine whether any maintenance needs to happen, Axtman said. The most common type of work following an event is removing tree branches and limbs that have fallen into power lines, Axtman said. Depending on the size of the shutoff area, a safety patrol can take from a few hours to up to 12 hours to inspect, he said.
“It depends on the weather event, and it depends on the type of damage that we find, you know, after we do the safety patrol and how much work we need to do before we can restore power,” Axtman said.
So far, the company has not had to implement a shutoff. The window for potential shutoffs is from May 10 through Oct. 20, Axtman said. | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/under-new-idaho-power-plan-power-shutoffs-possible-in-specific-zones-to-prevent-wildfire/article_20dc23a5-79d3-5447-8671-8df107437b11.html | 2022-07-10T18:50:33 | 0 | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/under-new-idaho-power-plan-power-shutoffs-possible-in-specific-zones-to-prevent-wildfire/article_20dc23a5-79d3-5447-8671-8df107437b11.html |
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