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Breaking down the Blueprint: The challenges school districts face in meeting students’ behavioral health needs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:00 GMT

This content was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.Lori Morrow says for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform plan to work effectively, schools must ensure students receive the mental health services they need.Morrow, the mother of two children and education advocate from Prince George’s County, said school-based health centers should be created and staffed with mental health professionals accessible for students and their families, especially in rural and underserved communities.“We want kids to be in school. It’s a lot easier to be in school when you’re healthy,” said Morrow, who served her last day Friday as a member of the state Board of Education. “COVID has taken a toll on everybody. We need to have the right mental health…support so that our teachers can focus on education and teaching curriculum.”As part of the Blueprint process, education officials in all of M...

Young man died after fall at a Rocky Mountain waterfall

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:00 GMT

ESTES PARK, Colo. (AP) — A 25-year-old Rhode Island man died after falling and being pulled underwater at a waterfall in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday, according to the National Park Service. The man from Providence has not yet been publicly identified and his body was recovered Sunday evening, officials said. Rocky Mountain National Park covers over 400 square miles (1,036 square kilometers) of rugged mountains and high tundra, drawing typically over 4 million hikers annually. The deceased man fell at West Creek Falls, on the east side of the park. The body was moved to the Larimer County Coroner, on the northern edge of Colorado, who will determine the cause of death. At this time of year, rivers, streams and waterfalls are dangerous cold and swift, said the National Park Service, warning visitors to stay a safe distance from quick-flowing waters. Source

Instalan en Guatemala las primeras audiencias de revisión de las votaciones ordenadas por la Corte de Constitucionalidad

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:00 GMT

(CNN Español) — Las Juntas Electorales Departamentales y la Junta Electoral del Distrito Central de Guatemala instalaron este martes las primeras audiencias de revisión de los escrutinios y las actas finales de los comicios del pasado 25 de junio. Al evento asistieron los fiscales electorales de los partidos políticos que participaron en las votaciones generales.Las audiencias de revisión las ordenó el sábado la Corte de Constitucionalidad tras analizar un recurso de amparo que interpusieron nueve partidos políticos ––incluidos el de la candidata Sandra Torres y el del presidente Alejandro Giammattei–– por supuestas irregularidades en el proceso.El Tribunal Supremo Electoral de Guatemala (TSE) dio plazo hasta este jueves para que se lleven a cabo las audiencias de revisión, aunque defendió el proceso. Mientras tanto, la Corte de Constitucionalidad mantiene la suspensión de la oficialización de resultados.La OEA enviará una misión de observación al proceso de revisión de los re...

Kaylee Ramos: Senior at St.Thomas Aquinas High School discovers her voice to be opera-level

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:00 GMT

When you think about beautiful voices: Adele, Beyonce, Ariana, and Mariah come to mind.But after meeting one senior at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale.I’m adding Kaylee to my list, her family and now school have all discovered she has an opera-level voice.Just like Shireen, there are voicesKaylee Ramos: [Sings] “That thing”And then there’s a voice.17-year-old, St. Thomas Aquinas High School senior, Kaylee Ramos, has the latter, to say the least. Not like it’s hard or anything.Kaylee Ramos: “I lift my diaphragm, that’s what my teachers have always taught me but for me, it’s like comfortable for me, like it just comes out.”Alex Miranda: “Do you surprise yourself sometimes, like, what was that?!”Kaylee Ramos: “It does happen.”Alex Miranda: “Who me??”Enter theater director Ms. Garrard.Elizabeth Garrard: “She came in her sophomore year. First audition: Addams family and just ...

Smoke billows over downtown Hartford after fire erupts in building

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:00 GMT

HARTFORD, CT. (AP) — Thick, gray smoke billowed from downtown Hartford, Connecticut, Tuesday as firefighters tried to quickly douse a fire in the city’s Frontier building.The fire erupted around 3 p.m. at the 10-story building, amid flash-flood warnings prompted by thunderstorms sweeping through the area.By late afternoon, crews extinguished the blaze at the building, which houses a telecommunications company.The cause of the fire was still under investigation, but officials said it started in a storage unit.Photos from the scene showed smoke streaming out of grates on the outside of the building’s bottom floor.There were no injuries, officials said.

Kremlin open to talks over potential prisoner swap

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:00 GMT

MOSCOW — The Kremlin on Tuesday held the door open for contacts with the U.S. regarding a possible prisoner exchange that could potentially involve jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, but reaffirmed that such talks must be held out of the public eye.Asked whether Monday’s consular visits to Gershkovich, who has been held behind bars in Moscow since March on charges of espionage, and Vladimir Dunaev, a Russian citizen in U.S. custody on cybercrime charges, could potentially herald a prisoner swap, Kremlin spokesmanDmitry Peskov said that Moscow and Washington have touched on the issue.“We have said that there have been certain contacts on the subject, but we don’t want them to be discussed in public,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. “They must be carried out and continue in complete silence.”He didn’t offer any further details, but added that “the lawful right to consular contacts must be ensured on bo...

Man, woman killed in ‘apparent murder-suicide” in Raynham

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:00 GMT

Tatiana Tavares, 30, may have used her final moments in life to report her own murder to police.Both Tavares, of Raynham, and another resident of the home at 80 Ruth Ellen Road called into Raynham Police just after 2 a.m. Tuesday to report a shooting.But when police and paramedics arrived, according to the Bristol DA’s office, both Tavares and Scott Swale, 43, of Easton, were dead.The pair “had been engaged in a hostile year-long on again, off again relationship,” DA spokesman Greg Miliote said Tuesday evening.While Miliote said that the investigation is “active ongoing,” he said preliminary evidence suggests that Swale forced his way into the home by shattering a sliding glass door and then proceeded upstairs to Tavares’ bedroom. There, he shot Tavares in the chest while she was in bed and then shot himself in the head, the DA’s office said.Man arrested as accessory to New Bedford murderPolice arrested Sterling Robinson, 24, of New Bedford, as an accessory after the fac...

Revelers across the US brave heat and rain to celebrate Fourth of July

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:00 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Revelers across the U.S. braved heat and heavy rain to take part in Fourth of July activities Tuesday — celebrating the nation’s founding with parades, fireworks and hot dog eating contests at a time of lingering political divisions and concerns about the country’s future.In Boston, people dodged raindrops to nab a coveted space on the grassy oval in front of the Hatch Shell along the Charles River ahead of the traditional Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular. Hundreds of thousands of partygoers typically line both sides of the river for the fireworks spectacular that follows a concert.At another longstanding celebration, fans of competitive eating crowded to watch Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest held in the Coney Island section of New York City.Heavy downpours interrupted the contest, but after the pause, Joey “Jaws” Chestnut swallowed 62 franks and buns in 10 minutes.“What a roller coaster, emotionally,” Chestnut said. The 39-year-old f...

IAEA chief will visit Japan’s tsunami-wrecked nuclear plant before radioactive water is released

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:00 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — The U.N. nuclear chief is to visit Japan’s tsunami-wrecked nuclear power plant Wednesday after the agency affirmed the safety of a contentious plan to release treated radioactive water into the sea.On his way to the Fukushima Daiichi plant, a highlight of his four-day Japan visit, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi will join government and utility officials to hear the concerns of mayors and fishing association leaders and to assure them of the plan’s safety.The IAEA, in its final report released Tuesday, concluded the plan to release the wastewater — which would be significantly diluted but still have some radioactivity — meets international standards and its environmental and health impact would be negligible.But local fishing organizations have rejected the plan because they worry that their reputation will be damaged even if their catch isn’t contaminated. It is also opposed by groups in South Korea, China and some Pacific Isl...

‘Smallville’ actor released from prison for role in sex-trafficking case tied to cult-like group

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:00 GMT

The television actor Allison Mack, who pleaded guilty for her role in a sex-trafficking case tied to the cult-like group NXIVM, has been released from a California prison, according to a government website.Mack, best known for her role as a young Superman’s close friend on “Smallville,” was sentenced to three years behind bars in 2021 after pleading guilty two years earlier to charges that she manipulated women into becoming sex slaves for NXIVM leader Keith Raniere.Online records maintained by the Federal Bureau of Prisons said Mack, 40, was released Monday from a federal prison in Dublin, California, near San Francisco. Her release was first reported by the Albany Times-Union.Mack avoided a longer prison term by cooperating with federal authorities in their case against Raniere, who was ultimately sentenced to 120 years in prison after being convicted on sex-trafficking charges.Mack helped prosecutors mount evidence showing how Raniere created a secret society that included brainw...