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Biden says teaching should not be ‘life-threatening’ job

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:48 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden honored the nation’s best teachers Monday, saying they go above and beyond by providing food and supplies out of their own pockets and often find themselves “explaining the unexplainable, from banned books to duck-and-cover drills.” “Teaching should not be a life-threatening profession,” Biden said, referencing deadly school shootings that plague the United States. “And educators should not need to be armed to feel safe in the classroom.” He spoke at a Rose Garden event that honored the Council of Chief State School Officers’ 2023 teachers of the year from each state. Tulsa, Oklahoma, math teacher Rebecka Peterson was named overall teacher of the year. Biden spoke of the challenges of the modern-day teacher, including gun violence and a growing movement from the right to ban books in classrooms, particularly those that reference gender and sexual identity. Attempted book bans hit an all-time high in 2022.“I never thought...

Fort Wayne cop in fatal crash had 4 previous on-duty crashes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:48 GMT

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — A Fort Wayne police officer whose vehicle fatally injured a pedestrian in a crosswalk was disciplined for four previous crashes while on duty, the department said Monday.Sgt. Joshua Hartup was suspended for a car crash in 2007, and he received letters of reprimand for crashes in 2000, 2005 and 2019, the police department said in a news release.The department’s “hearts go out to the family, friends and colleagues” of Henry Najdeski, the man who was struck by Hartup’s unmarked vehicle while crossing a street just before 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, police spokesman Jeremy Webb said in a statement.Najdeski, a partner in a law firm, died Saturday, his online obituary said.Hartup took a blood test at the scene of the crash and returned to work the following day. Police have begun internal and criminal investigations.Indiana State Police are assisting in the case, Webb said.Hartup said in a statement Monday that as he was completing a turn at an intersection Wednesday, “I ...

Kansas has new anti-ESG law amid raft of culture war vetoes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:48 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials won’t be allowed to use environmental, social and governance factors in investing public funds or deciding who receives government contracts because the state’s Democratic governor is allowing a Republican measure to become law without her signature.Gov. Laura Kelly’s decision Monday came after she vetoed more than a dozen other anti-transgender, anti-abortion and culture war measures approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature. She nixed a bill Monday that would have allowed parents to remove their public school students from lessons or activities that offend them and another measure that Kelly said could have led to prison terms for some people helping immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. The new anti-ESG law, taking effect July 1, is part of a larger push from conservatives across the U.S. against what they see as “woke” practices pushing liberal climate or diversity goals. At least nine states have enacted such law...

Court denies request to lift gag order in Idaho killings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:48 GMT

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request by 30 news organizations to lift a gag order in the criminal case of a man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death. The high court did not weigh in on whether the gag order, which prohibits attorneys, prosecutors, law enforcement agencies and others involved in the case from talking to the news media, violates the First Amendment rights of a free press. Instead, the unanimous Idaho Supreme Court justices said the news organizations should have brought their request to the magistrate judge who issued the gag order.“This Court has long respected the media’s role in our constitutional republic, and honored the promises in both the Idaho Constitution and First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” Justice Gregory Moeller wrote in the decision, going on to quote a ruling from a federal case that said responsible press coverage, “guards against the miscarriage of justice” by subjecti...

Cuba cancels events, rations sales as fuel shortages worsen

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:48 GMT

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s fuel shortages have increased dramatically with authorities suspending activities, including a concert by the country’s national symphony, as well as rationing gasoline sales and moving some universities’ classes online. Cubans have experiences shortages of all kinds of goods amid the recent economic crisis but the cancellation of activities because of fuel shortages had not been reported previously. The cancellations come following days of long lines to get gasoline at filling stations. Experts say the lack of gasoline and diesel is not due to a lack of crude oil — Cuba produces about half of what it needs and buys the rest from other countries – but to the difficulties refining it. “There is no lack of crude oil in Cuba,” said Jorge Piñón, senior research fellow at the University of Texas at Austin’s Energy Institute. He said Venezuela is selling Cuba a similar amount of crude or even slightly more than it did last year. Cuba has also r...

Carlson latest in string of high-profile Fox News oustings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:48 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Tucker Carlson has been ousted by Fox News, where he hosted the conservative cable network’s most popular program. He is the latest high-profile Fox News personality to be forced out by the network, which just last week agreed to pay nearly $800 million to settle a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over false election claims. Here’s a look at other notable people who had a successful run at Fox before their abrupt departures.___ROGER AILESAiles built Fox News Channel from scratch and ran it for nearly two decades, but he was ousted as chief executive in 2016 following allegations that he forced out a former anchor who rejected his sexual advances.The blustery executive transformed the cable news business and simultaneously changed the national political conversation. Top-rated Fox News and Fox Business, which he also ran, provided a flashy television home for conservatives who felt left out of the media and enabled the rise of former President Donald T...

PHOTOS: Northern Lights spotted above Illinois skies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:48 GMT

WEST UNION, Ill. (WTWO/WAWV) — A major mass coronal ejection on Sunday afternoon made its way toward Earth just in time to interact with the atmosphere late into the night. The strength of this geomagnetic storm reached so far south that Illinois could few the aurora borealis. It is very unusual for the spectacle to be seen so far south.Ryan Pinkston shared the following images with WTWO. These images of the northern lights were captured using a 30-second long exposure above West Union, Illinois at approximately midnight (CDT).Image of the aurora borealis seen above West Union, Ill. (Courtesy Ryan Pinkston)Image of the aurora borealis seen above West Union, Ill. (Courtesy Ryan Pinkston)Image of the aurora borealis seen above West Union, Ill. (Courtesy Ryan Pinkston)Image of the aurora borealis seen above West Union, Ill. (Courtesy Ryan Pinkston)Image of the aurora borealis seen above West Union, Ill. (Courtesy Ryan Pinkston)Image of the aurora borealis seen above West Union, Ill. (C...

Victim identified in deadly shooting at south Austin homeless encampment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:48 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Police released the name of the victim involved in an April 20 shooting in south Austin.APD said officers initially responded to reports of gunshots at a homeless encampment in a wooded area near the 4900 block of West U.S. Highway 290 around 11 a.m. MAP: Where have Austin’s homicides occurred in 2023? The 911 caller told police someone stopped them and told them that someone had been shot within the camp, APD said. Police found 27-year-old John Powers. He was pronounced dead at the scene.Several persons of interest have been identified by investigators, the release states. This case is being investigated at Austin's 25th homicide this year, APD said.Police said a reward of up to $1,000 may be available for any information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information should call the Austin Police Department at 512-974-TIPS. You can submit tips anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-4...

Teen accused of fatally running down pedestrian, 70, with stolen car in St. Cloud

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:48 GMT

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — A Sauk Rapids teen is facing first- and second-degree murder charges in the hit-and-run death of a 70-year-old man in St. Cloud on Friday.Israel Muyaya Madimba, 16, was the driver of a stolen car that struck and killed Norbert John Olmscheid, according to the Stearns County attorney’s office.Madimba appeared before Stearns County District Judge Kris Davick-Halfen on Monday. Bail was set at $2 million, or $1 million with conditions.Davick-Halfen ordered criminal proceedings suspended pending an examination of Madimba’s mental competency, according to county attorney’s office.According to the criminal complaint, Madimba called 911 and told authorities he had run over a person with his vehicle.Officers obtained a taped statement from Madimba, who admitted he stole the vehicle from the St. Cloud YMCA, according to the complaint.Madimba told police he saw Olmscheid walking on the sidewalk, and decided to run him over. Madimba said he turned onto the s...

North Dakota governor signs law banning nearly all abortions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:48 GMT

By TRISHA AHMED (Associated Press/Report for America)North Dakota on Monday adopted one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country as Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed legislation banning the procedure throughout pregnancy, with slim exceptions up to six weeks’ gestation.In those early weeks, abortion would be allowed only in cases of rape, incest or medical emergency, such as ectopic pregnancy.“This bill clarifies and refines existing state law … and reaffirms North Dakota as a pro-life state,” Burgum said in a statement.Last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide has triggered multiple state laws banning or restricting the procedure. Many were met with legal challenges. Currently, bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy are in place in at least 13 states and on hold in others because of court injunctions. On the other side, Democratic governors in at least 20 states t...