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New SLPS superintendent Dr. Keisha Scarlett gets to work

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:40 GMT

ST. LOUIS - The St. Louis Public School District has a new superintendent. Dr. Keisha Scarlett is now on the job.She was appointed on February 1. She was assistant superintendent in the Seattle Public School District.Scarlett says she's spending her first 100 days on a listening tour, learning the district's values and priorities. She discussed her three big goals for the district Wednesday night on FOX 2 News at 6. Two lives lost: Did 911 fail during St. Louis storm? "One of them is having safe and welcoming schools that are inclusive for all students, our diverse students - ensuring we have high levels of academic achievement and students have multiple opportunity pathways," Scarlett explained.Dr. Scarlett shared that her third goal is to have a system of excellent schools throughout the district. She replaces Dr. Kelvin Adams who retired last December after 14 years of service.

Power restored for 116,000 Missourians after weekend storms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:40 GMT

ST. LOUIS - 116,000 people in Missouri who lost power in last weekend's storms have had their power restored.About 4,000 Ameren Missouri customers are still in the dark. Boy drowns in the Lake of the Ozarks on July 4th More than 1,800 workers are working Thursday morning to get those people reconnected.

The next step towards sustainable peace

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:40 GMT

The 18th goal is being realized! Today, the efforts of conflict-affected states to restore world order—a visible geopolitical struggle to reflect the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution in a new order—encourage countries to be more sensitive in their foreign policy, writes Mazahir Afandiyev.In 2020, having restored historical justice as a result of the Second Karabakh-Patriotic War, Azerbaijan liberated its lands that had been under occupation for 30 years, put an end to the unfair treatment by the centers of power, and ensured its state interests. At the same time, Azerbaijan restored territorial integrity and sovereignty by destroying armed groups operating illegally.There is no doubt that, along with friendly countries that rejoice in Azerbaijan's military successes and demonstrated potential at the international level, countries that have recently tried to become an obstacle to these successes have clearly begun to manifest themselves. Today, the Republic of France, w...

Single-family residence in Palo Alto sells for $2.5 million

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:40 GMT

1032 Maddux Drive – Google Street ViewA 1,004-square-foot house built in 1952 has changed hands. The property located in the 1000 block of Maddux Drive in Palo Alto was sold on June 21, 2023. The $2,450,000 purchase price works out to $2,440 per square foot. This single-story house has three bedrooms and one bath. Inside, a fireplace enhances the ambiance of the living area. Additionally, the house is equipped with a one-car garage. The lot of the property covers a substancial area of 5,600 square feet, complete with a pool for outdoor enjoyment.Additional houses have recently been sold nearby:A 1,355-square-foot home on the 3200 block of Morris Drive in Palo Alto sold in February 2023, for $2,858,000, a price per square foot of $2,109. The home has 3 bedrooms 1 bathroom.On Otterson Court, Palo Alto, in August 2022, a 1,608-square-foot home was sold for $2,600,000, a price per square foot of $1,617. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.In March 2023, a 1,987-square-foot home on L...

Pajaro Valley winter flood victims file claims against local governments

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:40 GMT

WATSONVILLE — Approximately 500 residents of North Monterey County and South Santa Cruz County have filed claims against local governments and agencies over what they view as negligence in preventing the devastating floods that occurred in the area between December and March.The claims were made against Monterey County, Santa Cruz County, the city of Watsonville, the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency and the Monterey County Water Resources Agency. They are the first step before a civil lawsuit is filed.The claims argue that the agencies failed “to properly maintain, manage, inspect, supervise, repair and operate Pajaro River, its tributaries and surrounding bodies of water, and all flood control systems, including, but not limited to levees, stormwater pump systems, and other measures that were or should have been put into place to protect against flooding.”One of the claimants was Watsonville resident Sonia Corrales, who was forced to live in her garage with her parents, chil...

Opinion: Court rewrote the law so it could stop student loan forgiveness

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:40 GMT

In striking down the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness program, the Supreme Court ignored one of the most basic principles of law: When the text of a law is clear, it must be followed unless it is unconstitutional.A federal statute, the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 (HEROES Act), explicitly authorizes the Secretary of Education to “waive or modify” student loan obligations. That is exactly what President Biden did in his loan forgiveness program, but the court, ruling 6-3, decided that he lacked authority under the law to take this step, which would have helped more than 40 million people.In the early days of the COVID pandemic, then President Donald Trump used the authority under this statute to suspend the need for most borrowers to repay student loan obligations. Biden, on taking office, continued this relief. He then made it permanent, providing up to $20,000 of forgiveness of student loans for those who qualified.Two lawsuits were ...

California Marine veteran killed while fighting for Ukraine, family says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:40 GMT

While backpacking through eastern Europe, Ian “Frank” Tortorici met a girl and fell in love — both with the Ukrainian woman who would become his fiancée, and her home country.So, when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the former Marine from Lake Forest quit his job with the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement and flew to Kyiv, where he enlisted in the Ukrainian International Legion.Trained as a paramedic, the Orange County native survived more than a year of battles from Irpin to Zaporizhzhia. While on leave from the front, however, Tortorici, 32, was killed last week at a central Kramatorsk restaurant during a Russian missile attack, according to his family.“He never got wounded. He never got hurt on any of the operations, with the exception of one concussion,” his father, Jon Frank, told the Southern California News Group in a phone interview on Tuesday, July 4. Then, “he was killed on leave eating in a restaurant by a Russian collaborator, who called in a (missile) str...

LA County Sheriff’s Department calls video of deputy tackling woman ‘disturbing,’ opens inquiry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:40 GMT

By STEFANIE DAZIO | Associated PressLOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County sheriff says a bystander’s cellphone footage showing a deputy violently tackling a woman while she filmed a man being handcuffed, then pepper-spraying her in the face, is “disturbing,” and community groups on Wednesday called for the department’s new chief to hold his agency accountable.The June 24 incident in the city of Lancaster follows several cases that have drawn scrutiny to the department amid allegations of excessive use of force by its deputies. It’s also testing the reform efforts of the new sheriff, Robert Luna, a former Long Beach police chief who has vowed to overhaul the nation’s largest sheriff’s department since taking it over in December after defeating incumbent Alex Villanueva.Two involved deputies were pulled off field duty, Luna said during an afternoon news conference, and could face discipline ranging from letters of reprimand all the way up to dismissal if misconduct is found. He didn’t ...

Photos: Disneyland crews install ‘Big Hero 6’ towers on San Fransokyo bridge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:40 GMT

Crews have begun installing the twin towers of San Fransokyo’s Shinto shrine-inspired Golden Gate bridge as Disneyland continues the transformation of the Pacific Wharf dining area into a tribute to the “Big Hero 6” film.Photos show the steel framework of the distinctive San Fransokyo Square bridge taking shape at the entrance to the rethemed food court at Disney California Adventure, according to Disney Geek.More views of the ongoing work on San Fransokyo bridge at #DisneyCaliforniaAdventure. #BigHeroSix#dapsmagic pic.twitter.com/ddTVdLzROd— Daps Magic (@DAPs_Magic) June 30, 2023Disneyland employees signed their names and messages to the steel cross beams before the bridge uprights were installed, according to MousePlanet.“This will all be covered when the bridge is eventually painted, but it’s a nice touch,” according to MousePlanet.Disneyland employees signed their names and messages to the steel supports of San Fransokyo’s Shinto shrine-inspired bridge at Disney California...

Walters: Pandemic closures weakened low-achieving California schools

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:40 GMT

Gov. Gavin Newsom is fond of rattling off statistics that prove, he claims, California’s enviable status as a national, or even global, leader in all things wonderful.He tends, however, to cherry pick his numbers rather than provide a full picture, as a recent Sacramento Bee analysis of his economic assertions on national television demonstrates.However, there’s one aspect of California society – perhaps its most important – that Newsom excludes from his episodes of braggadocio: how the state is educating nearly 6 million public school students.The sad fact is that California’s students fare poorly vis-à-vis those of other states when it comes to basic skills in language and mathematics, as underscored in a newly published report by the Public Policy Institute of California.California kids were lagging behind even before Newsom and other officials shut down schools during the COVID-19 pandemic and, the PPIC studies show, educational proficiency plummeted during the closures.When sta...