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Jefferson County school board closing 2 more schools

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:52:00 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- On Thursday night, the Jefferson County school board voted to close two of its smallest schools: Arvada K-8 and Coal Creek Canyon in Golden.The district estimates more than 500 students and 97 staff members will be impacted by the closures, which are planned to happen in the 2024-25 school year. Officials cited two decades of declining enrollment because of shifting demographics as the reason for the move. 12-year-old bias-motivated stabbing suspect had hit list, Nazi fascination Board President Stephanie Schooley issued the following statement on behalf of the Jeffco Board of Education:"In the spring of 2022, this Board tasked Superintendent Dorland with creating a comprehensive plan for consolidating schools following two consecutive years of emergency closures of elementary schools in the spring, with enrollment too low to sustain a program for the following school year. Two decades of declining enrollment and shifting demographics had caught up to Jeffco in wa...

13-year-old Hialeah boy arrested in alleged fatal stabbing of mother

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:52:00 GMT

A 13-year-old boy was taken into custody at an apartment complex in Hialeah in connection to the fatal stabbing of his mother, police said.According to Hialeah Police, officer’s responded to the juvenile’s 911 call confessing to the murder from inside Apartment 201 along the 200 block of West 79th Place, late Thursday night.“Right now, we’re all in disbelief,” said Hialeah Police Lt. Eddie RodriguezPolice said the teen called 911 at 11:31 p.m.“He called right away; he called after he did it and pretty much turned himself in over the phone, I guess you could say,” said Rodriguez. When officers arrived at the apartment, they instructed the teen to come out with his hands up. A neighbor’s cellphone was recording as he was immediately taken to the ground. As the teen was cuffed by one officer, the rest entered the unit.“Now that 13-year-old, has been taken into custody, he is facing some very serious charges,” Rodriguez said. A...

Mother from Newton with two children serving in Israeli military shares her story

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:52:00 GMT

Flowers and food are left at Anna Itkis’ Newton home as her son and daughter are serving in the Israeli military and as Itkis’ community looks for ways to support her.Itkis’ 20-year-old son, Ben, is currently serving in Israel’s army. Her 23-year-old daughter, Esther, is a reservist and was called into action. Itkis recently spoke to 7NEWS, sharing her story as the was between Israel and Hamas continues.“I’m not composed at all,” Itkis told 7NEWS. “I have these swings — one moment I feel okay, it’s all going to be fine, and then the next morning it’s just horrible.”Itkis said these two of her four children moved to Israel and became citizens. So, it’s their duty to defend the country. Watching and hearing about the killings of innocent people in Israel, Itkis said she supports what her children are fighting for. “My grandparents were slaughtered in Belarus when the Germans came in,” she said. “We always talked about it as if it was something in the past and here it h...

3 issues for Chicago White Sox to address after a coaching staff shake-up, including overcoming a lineup power struggle

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:52:00 GMT

The Chicago White Sox will have their third hitting coach in as many seasons after announcing Friday that José Castro would not return in 2024.It’s one of several changes to the coaching staff.Longtime first-base coach Daryl Boston will not be back while assistant hitting coach Chris Johnson and bullpen coach Curt Hasler have been offered positions in the Sox player development system.Castro replaced Frank Menechino as hitting coach in 2023. He joined the Sox after being the assistant hitting coach for the Atlanta Braves from 2015-22.The shake-up at hitting coach positions come after the Sox ranked near the bottom in the American League in several offensive categories, including 12th in hits (1,308) and batting average (.238), during a 61-101 season.Here are three issues offensively for the team to address.1. The Sox must produce more power.Luis Robert Jr. hit a liner near Pesky’s Pole in the ninth inning of a Sept. 23 game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Par...

Battenfeld: RFK Jr. could be Democratic spoiler in 2024 presidential race

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:52:00 GMT

Democrats should dismiss Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at their own peril.Kennedy’s independent bid for president could pose a major threat to Joe Biden and Democrats – no matter what party activists are saying now that it hurts Republican Donald Trump more.Kennedy could become a major spoiler, drawing away disaffected conservative and moderate Democrats and voters enamored with the Kennedy name from the Democratic ticket.It’s why Kennedy’s siblings, including former Massachusetts congressman Joe Kennedy II, have condemned their brother in such strong terms. Some family loyalty.“The decision of our brother Bobby to run as a third party candidate against Joe Biden is dangerous to our country,” said the letter by Rory Kennedy and signed by three more siblings, Kerry, Joe II and Kathleen. “Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment. (The) announcement is deeply saddening for us. We denounce his candidacy and believe it is perilous f...

‘The game is still the same’: Veterans, psychologists give young Orioles advice for baseball playoff debuts

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:52:00 GMT

It was only about a month into his big league tenure when Orioles rookie Jordan Westburg got a memorable piece of advice from 10-year veteran Aaron Hicks.Westburg had just rocketed a pitch down the third base line in the ninth inning, with the Orioles trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-3 on July 18. For a moment, after his feet crossed the bag at first, he contemplated sprinting for second. But he thought better of it, and stayed put.With the Orioles so far behind, the play would prove virtually meaningless. The O’s lost by that same score just a few batters later. But the play meant something to Hicks.“After the game, Aaron Hicks came up to me and he was like, ‘Hey, man, our style of baseball is aggressive here. I think you should have gone for it,’ Westburg said.For an Orioles team packed with young big leaguers, those tidbits of guidance will perhaps become even more important — particularly when they come from the few current Orioles with post...

Sen. Chuck Schumer will lead bipartisan delegation to Israel amid war with Hamas

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:52:00 GMT

Dave Goldiner | New York Daily News Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will lead a bipartisan delegation to Israel this weekend amid the widening war between the Jewish state and Hamas.Schumer, a Democrat, will jet to Israel to show support just days after the Islamist group killed 1,000 Israelis in the worst terror attacks in decades — and the Jewish state strikes back hard.“The United States stands with Israel, a message that should go out in America and particularly in Israel,” Schumer said Friday. “People should know they are not alone as they fight this scourge of terrorism, which could affect any country in the world.”Schumer did not say which lawmakers would accompany him on the quickly planned trip, but said it would include Republicans and Democrats.He cut short a trip to Asia when the terror attacks took place last weekend.Schumer plans to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with opposition leader Benny Gantz, who has joined an emergency war cabinet...

US oil production hits all-time high, conflicting with efforts to cut heat-trapping pollution

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:52:00 GMT

United States domestic oil production hit an all-time high last week, contrasting with efforts to slice heat-trapping carbon emissions by the Biden administration and world leaders.And it conflicts with oft-repeated Republican talking points of a Biden “war on American energy.”The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration reported that American oil production in the first week of October hit 13.2 million barrels per day, passing the previous record set in 2020 by 100,000 barrels. Weekly domestic oil production has doubled from the first week in October 2012 to now.With the United Nations and scientists saying the world needs to cut carbon emissions — from burning coal, oil and natural gas — by 43% by 2030 and down to zero or close to it by 2050, several developed countries across the world are dangerously producing more, not less, fossil fuels, experts say. “Continuing to expand oil and gas production is hypocritical and not at all consistent with the global call...

Judge denies bid to prohibit US border officials from turning back asylum-seekers at land crossings

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:52:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge on Friday denied a bid by immigration advocates to prohibit U.S. officials from turning away asylum-seekers at border crossings with Mexico if they don’t have appointments on a mobile phone app.The ruling is a victory for the Biden administration and its approach to creating new pathways to enter the United States, while, at the same time, making it more difficult for those who don’t follow prescribed methods to seek asylum.More than 263,000 people scheduled appointments on the CBP One app from when it was introduced in January through August, including 45,400 who were processed in August. The top nationalities of those who scheduled appointments are Haitian, Mexican and Venezuelan. The app has been criticized on the right as too permissive and on the left as too restrictive.CBP One has become “the sole mechanism to access the U.S. asylum process at a (port of entry) on the southern border,” attorneys for Al Otro Lado and the Haitian Brid...

Virginia statehouse candidates face questions about residency requirements

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:52:00 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia state lawmakers are required to live in the district they represent, as well as in any district they might be seeking to represent. If they move out of their district, the state constitution says they are out of office.Those requirements, combined with political maps that took effect this year, have created a headache for some candidates.At least two sitting lawmakers seeking reelection in new districts say they are living either with or in the home of a relative rather than with their immediate family, in order to meet the residency requirements.But for one of those two, Democratic Del. C.E. “Cliff” Hayes, a private investigative company’s findings that were provided to The Associated Press by the House Republican caucus raise questions about that claim.Hayes said Friday that he’s following the rules. He reported to state officials earlier this year that he was living in a Chesapeake home that’s in both the 77th District, which he currently...