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School board votes to keep suspension in place for Londonderry, NH varsity cheer team while investigation into alleged toxic culture continues

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:47 GMT

Members of the school board in Londonderry, New Hampshire on Monday voted to keep a suspension in place for the town’s high school varsity cheer team for the time being after allegations surfaced about a toxic culture in the cheerleading program.The allegations came to light two weeks ago, detailing what school administrators called “a toxic and pervasive culture of bullying, harassment and discrimination.” In a letter to families, administrators said the culture encompassed the entire cheerleading program, including the coaching staff, student athletes and parents.Weeks later, tempers flared this week as the situation came up for discussion at a school board meeting and as parents shared their thoughts.“This is a disgrace to this district,” one person said. “To put out a press release like that before you even started an investigation and put these girls into harm’s way is ridiculous,” one other person said. “They were cyberbullied like nobody’s business.”School administr...

California governor signs law barring schoolbook bans based on racial, gender teachings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:47 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Monday to ban school boards from rejecting textbooks based on their teachings about the contributions of people from different racial backgrounds, sexual orientations and gender identities. Newsom called the measure “long overdue.” “From Temecula to Tallahassee, fringe ideologues across the country are attempting to whitewash history and ban books from schools,” Newsom said in a statement. “With this new law, we’re cementing California’s role as the true freedom state: a place where families — not political fanatics — have the freedom to decide what’s right for them.”The bill takes effect immediately.The topic of banning and censoring books has become a U.S. political flashpoint, cropping up in statesaround the country. Many of the new restrictions enacted by conservative-dominated school boards have been over textbook representations of sexuality and LGBTQ+ history.The California bill garnered heightened attention...

Container shipments plummet at Port of Vancouver in step with falling consumer demand

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:47 GMT

The number of shipping containers passing through Canada’s largest port fell sharply in the first half of the year, driven down by weaker consumer demand and a sputtering economy.Container volumes at the Port of Vancouver fell 14 per cent in the first six months of 2023 compared with the same period a year earlier, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority said Monday.In a phone interview, interim CEO Victor Pang said the figures reflected a stalling economy, which contracted slightly in the second quarter.“There’s some economic softness, overall and for Canada. And you’re seeing that through our container numbers,” Pang said, noting that the decline was not unique to Canadian ports.Consumer goods volumes fell 12 per cent year over year, a decrease driven mainly by lower demand but also overstocked inventories, he added.Shipments of construction materials and auto parts also slumped, while movement of finished vehicles revved up as supply chain kinks smoothed...

You’re behind on rent and your landlord wants you out. Now what?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:47 GMT

As per Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act (RTA), if a tenant doesn’t pay rent, it follows that a landlord has the right to evict them.But there are steps a tenant can take to avoid losing their home and the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) can exercise its discretion when considering the case.Monica Moran-Venegas, staff lawyer at Kensington Bellwoods Community Legal Services says the first step is to keep communications lines with the landlord open and work at setting up a payment plan if possible.“Make a realistic payment plan, something that you can actually complete. If your income is $2,000 a month and your rent is $1200 — no, you can’t afford to pay an extra $500 over the next two months,” she says.“You have to eat, you [may] have kids — whatever it is. And longer payment plans with smaller payments are way better than just feeling like, ‘oh, I’m going to get this done really quickly.'”Moran-Venegas says even if the landlord...

Record number of migrant buses arrive in Chicago in single weekend; city discusses its response

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:47 GMT

CHICAGO — As the city works to keep up with new migrant arrivals, a record number of buses in a two-day period, arrived in Chicago over the weekend.Between Saturday and Sunday, the city received 12 total buses, including seven on Sunday alone. 12 buses carrying migrants arrive in Chicago over the weekend “On top of the 12, we had 16 buses earlier in the week, so a total of 28 buses and 24 flights at O’Hare because we get two flights from San Antonio daily,” said Cristina Pacione-Zayas, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s first deputy chief of staff.“As you can tell, there is a significant increase, and we actually got word that the border was not going to be closed on Sunday and that’s why we were going to have some additional buses coming,” Pacione-Zayas said. “This is definitely a different phase, a different level of intensity with respect to the frequency of buses and how many buses are coming in multiples, coupled with the flights.”New data shows since the end of Aug. 2022, more than 15...

'We complied': More North Side armed robberies reported, including near DuPaul and Loyola universities

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:47 GMT

CHICAGO — Several armed robberies occurred on the North Side late Sunday night, according to Chicago police.One robbery happened around 11 p.m. in the 900 block of West Armitage. Police said a 42-year-old woman was walking on the sidewalk when four males exited a white SUV and took her purse at gunpoint. Chicago police investigate several armed robberies overnight Around 15 minutes later, a 31-year-old man was robbed of his cell phone and wallet in the 1700 block of West Hubbard. At around 11:20 p.m., a couple was walking in the 600 block of West Armitage when they were robbed by the same group of their phones and a wallet.Nearly 20 minutes later in the 1400 block of North Halsted, a 27-year-old, who said she was walking home from a concert at the Salt Shed, was robbed with her boyfriend.One said she saw the white SUV pull up on the wrong side of the street, the woman, named Maria, said she knew what was coming."Three guys got out, at least one of m...

Midway Mondays: It isn’t time for the Bears to hit the panic button … yet

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:47 GMT

Sprinkler splashes may be turning to fireplace ashes, but let’s pump the breaks on hitting the big red button and claiming the Chicago Bears are finished.Sure, the Bears walked into Arrowhead Stadium Sunday afternoon and were eviscerated, 41-10, at the hands of the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. Deep dive: The Kansas City Chiefs beatdown of the Bears Yes, their performance was so lackluster that Taylor Swift took center stage by halftime, who sat perched in box seats, driving speculative rumors through the roof about a possible budding romance between her and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce as she watched on with his family.Talk about being at the right place at the right time! Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce leaving Arrowhead together after the game. #Bears #ChiefsKingdom #NFL pic.twitter.com/wrMoDszOme— Jarrett Payton (@paytonsun) September 25, 2023Some Bears fans may even want to draw upon Swift’s lyrics to describe their experience on Sunday.“And you want t...

Thundery downpours threaten big rain totals — increased sun to warm temps with inland 80s as September closes this weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:47 GMT

DROUGHT IN THE MIDWEST AND ON THE GULF COAST HAS SLOWED THE FLOW ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, ALLOWING SALT WATER TO INFILTRATE DRINKING WATER SUPPLIES IN LOUISIANA COMMUNITES NEAR NEW ORLEANSIt's been a rough summer weatherwise in Louisiana. This summer was the third driest and the hottest on record in the state—a situation which provoked a series of wildfires. This turn of events marks a sea change from 2021's parade of land-falling hurricanes which saw CAT 4 Hurricanes Ida and Laura roar off the Gulf of Mexico—each with 150-mph sustained winds. Of those storms, tropical weather expert Dr. Jeff Masters, founder of Weather Underground and blogger with Yale Climate Communications newsletter, reported, "Ida had a damage cost of $78.7 billion (CPI adjusted) and killed 96 people from the Louisiana coast to the Northeast. Laura's coastal strike amounted to $26 billion in damage (CPI adjusted) and claimed 42 lives)." And, who will ever forget devastating Hurricane Katrina's catastrophic hit...

Alderpeople, police discuss recent crime on Northwest Side

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:47 GMT

CHICAGO — Neighbors on the Northwest Side came together Monday evening to learn more about what's being done to reduce crime in their neighborhoods after several recent robberies.The meeting was organized by 1st Ward Ald. Daniel La Spata and 26th Ward Ald. Jessie Fuentes comes on the heels of a busy week of crime in the city. 'We complied': More North Side armed robberies reported, including near DuPaul and Loyola universities On Saturday night, there were half a dozen armed robberies reported in just a couple of hours. Last Tuesday evening, three armed robberies in and around Humbolt Park were reported in just 15 minutes."There's been multiple arrests but unfortunately the offenders get given back to their parents because they're juveniles," Sgt. Luis Gonzalez of CAPS 25th district said.Chicago police said they're using license plate readers, cell phone data and helicopters to help their investigations, but they need more information from neighbors."When crimes happen in our comm...

Travis Kelce jersey sales increase nearly 400% after Taylor Swift attends Chiefs game: report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:47 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) — Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift caused an immense whirlwind after the music superstar was spotted at Arrowhead to watch the tight end play on Sunday. In fact, Kelce saw a nearly 400% increase in jersey sales after Swift's appearance, Fanatics told TMZ Sports. "Yesterday, Travis Kelce was one of the top 5 selling NFL players and saw a nearly 400% spike in sales throughout the Fanatics network of sites, including NFLShop.com," Fanatics said. Swift's impact cannot be understated. While Kelce is one of the most popular players in the league, prior to Sunday's game against the Bears, Kelce was outside the top 10 in jersey sales. Viral video captures Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift leaving Kansas City stadium together The pairing has caused quite a spectacle—especially after being seen leaving the game together—not just across Kansas City, but all over. In a video captured by WGN's Jarrett Payton, Kelce and Swift could be seen walking side by side after the Chief's 41...