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Michigan school district bans backpacks over safety concerns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:49 GMT

FLINT, Mich. (NewsNation) — Public schools in Flint are enforcing a policy banning backpacks, including those made of clear plastic material, amid concerns over firearms, weapons and threats.The Flint Board of Education voted 7-0 to ban backpacks for the remainder of the school year. The new policy allows small purses for personal items, clear plastic bags for gym clothes and lunchboxes "within reason." They'll also be subject to searches. Flint Community Schools Superintendent Kevelin Jones said, "Things have changed," and it's the only way to move forward. “For the most part, the majority of our families are putting in measures before something happens," he said. Student misbehavior spikes since return of in-person classes Jones said backpacks make it easier for students to hide weapons.This new policy comes amid the ongoing debate and discussions of how to keep kids safe while in school was reignited after a gunman shot and killed six people, including three 9-year-olds, at a p...

Texas Medicaid ads accidentally printed on Philadelphia buses

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:49 GMT

Editor’s Note: The video above shows KXAN News Today’s top headlines for May 3, 2023.AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Advertisements for Texas Medicaid have been spotted on the backs of public buses in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and images of the ads have shown up on Twitter. The ads are real, but they got there by mistake, said a spokesperson for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or SEPTA, which operates the buses.“We think it was a mistake with the printer where the creative content for Pennsylvania and Texas got mixed up,” said Andrew Busch, director of media relations for SEPTA. “Texas HHSC did not pay for advertising on SEPTA.”The incorrect ad – which says "Stay covered with Texas Medicaid" and provides a Texas Health and Human Services Commission phone number – looks nearly identical in format to a Philadelphia medical assistance ad. A Texas HHSC spokesperson also confirmed to KXAN the Texas agency did not create or pay for the advertisements.Busch provided the correct ...

Round Rock, Dripping Springs highlight Central Texas teams in area HS softball playoffs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:49 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas high school softball playoffs are in the area round beginning Thursday, and there are a handful of Central Texas teams still left playing.In Class 6A Region IV, District 25 champs Round Rock and District 26 winner Dripping Springs moved on after bi-district victories. The Dragons topped Del Valle, the fourth-place team from District 25, in a one-game playoff 3-1 and the Tigers swept two games against Stony Point to advance. Round Rock faces Schertz Clemens for a best-of-three series in Wimberley starting at 6 p.m. Friday with the second game at 10 a.m. Saturday. They'll play a third game if they have to shortly after that.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newslettersThe Tigers are also playing a game in Wimberley, but they'll take on San Antonio East Central at 5 p.m. Thursday to open their series. Friday's game is set for 4 p.m. in Marion with the if necessar...

Is ERCOT ready for the coming summer?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:49 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- As temperatures continue to warm during this spring season it won't be too much longer before Central Texas begins its annual string of 90°+ days that eventually become days when the afternoon highs reach 100° and higher.It's during this time when concerns begin to surface by many regarding "the grid". On Wednesday, May 3, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and the Public Utility Commission of Texas held a press conference updating Texans on the status of the grid ahead of the approaching summer. Their reports were based on information from ERCOT's Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy (SARA) and the Capacity, Demand, and Reserves (CDR) reports. They offer a broader insight into how prepared the grid is.Part of the Texas grid Courtesy: Getty ImagesPUC Chairman Peter Lake says a number of scenario analysis was done that included both best-case and worst-case scenarios. The SARA finding indicated the ERCOT grid is ready for this summer, tha...

Willie Nelson among 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:49 GMT

(AP) — Missy Elliott, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Chaka Khan, “Soul Train” creator Don Cornelius and the late George Michael have all been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, with Kate Bush also finally reaching the top of that hill.The Cleveland-based institution announced Wednesday the artists and groups entering the hall as the class of 2023, a list that includes The Spinners, Rage Against the Machine, DJ Kool Herc, Link Wray, Al Kooper and Elton John's longtime co-songwriter Bernie Taupin. Willie Nelson has two birthdays. Here's why “When you can go from Link Wray, who was one of the early influencers, to Missy Elliott and Kate Bush and The Spinners and Rage Against the Machine and Willie Nelson, you have a very diverse body of work. What we are always trying to show is that rock ‘n’ roll is a big tent and a lot of people belong,” said Joel Peresman, president and CEO of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation ahead of the unveiling.Elliott, the first female ra...

The foods you should be freezing, and how long they actually keep

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:49 GMT

The drive to prepare a meal can come in waves. You braise short ribs for hours on Sunday and struggle to gather the will to make ramen on Thursday. On those nights, it helps to have a freezer full of, well, braised short ribs. It’s cheaper than takeout, requires nearly no energy to reheat and feels like an act of care, past you taking care of present you.The freezer is the best source of fully cooked dishes, homemade meals that need only to be heated through and, of course, desserts for sweet cravings. (It also remains a smart place to store many ingredients.)And it’s as simple to stack up dishes in your freezer as it is to understand what keeps best and when to eat it.What can I freeze?You can freeze anything, although some foods are better suited and all start to diminish in taste, texture and scent over time. So it’s not exactly a matter of can, but should.How water turns into ice largely determines what freezes best. As fresh ingredients with a lot of water freeze, their cell wa...

Silenced transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr: What to know

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:49 GMT

HELENA, Mont. — The latest high-profile instance of one party in a statehouse deciding who can be heard during legislative debate has ended for now after a judge denied a transgender lawmaker’s bid to get back onto the Montana House floor and the Legislature adjourned.First-term Democratic Rep. Zooey Zephyr had been prevented from speaking on the chamber floor by the House speaker since April 20, when she refused to apologize for telling colleagues who supported a ban on gender-affirming care for youths that they would have “blood” on their hands.Her silencing drew hundreds of protesters last week to the Montana Capitol. From the House gallery, Zephyr’s supporters chanted, “Let her speak!” as Zephyr raised a microphone in defiance. Police in riot gear cleared the gallery and arrested seven people for trespassing. Zephyr was voted off the House floor for violating its rules of decorum.She challenged the move in court, but hours before lawmakers adjourned late Tuesday, state District ...

St. Paul’s West Side Boosters’ Cinco de Mayo celebration will feature low rider car show, dozens of vendors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:49 GMT

As a bridge inspector for the city of St. Paul, Brad Goff gets up close and personal with corners of the city others quite literally speed over. And as a member of Rollerz Only, the largest low rider car club in the world, he’s learned to navigate the same corners with bouncy hydraulics.On Saturday, Goff will show off his wheels during a Cinco de Mayo celebration at Parque de Castillo, 149 Cesar Chavez St., featuring a low rider car, low rider bicycle and motorcycle contest. The event, organized in coordination with the West Side Boosters youth athletics club, will anchor a day’s worth of festivities, including two performance stages, 45 vendor booths, 10-12 food trucks, bounce houses and more.“It’s a gathering,” said Goff, who was recruited by community members in September to help keep the car show alive even as other aspects of the West Side’s annual Cinco de Mayo celebration have gone on hiatus for four years running. “We didn’t ha...

Nicholas Goldberg: Blasphemy laws are blasphemy to principles of freedom

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:49 GMT

It’s not nice to insult someone’s religion. It’s offensive to deny, denigrate or mock people’s gods or prophets, beliefs or rituals. I shouldn’t do it and neither should you.But let’s say we do. We should not be imprisoned, lashed or put to death for it.That seems like a pretty basic rule of thumb, built on established, widely accepted principles of human rights and freedom of expression.But try telling that to officials in Pakistan, who in mid-April arrested a Chinese man working on a dam project and imprisoned him on charges of “blasphemy” for insulting God and the prophet Muhammad. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death.That sounds utterly crazy to me. But in Pakistan, a Muslim country that has been growing more deeply conservative and religious in recent years, it has long been the law.Some reformers have sought to moderate that zeal. But instead, Pakistan recently toughened its rules.Under a new law passed in January by the ...

'It was huge': Capital Region cancer patient reacts to VT removing residency requirement for Medical Aid in Dying

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:36:49 GMT

CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Vermont has become the first state in the country to change its Medical Aid in Dying Law to allow terminally ill out-of-state residents to end their lives. Republican Governor Phil Scott signed the bill that removes the residency requirement on Tuesday. NEWS10’s Anya Tucker spoke with a Capital Region woman who says the option is giving her some peace of mind as she faces her own cancer diagnosis. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Cassandra Johnston says it was around the holidays when she got the news from her doctors. "So, the day after Thanksgiving last year, I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. So, from there they came up with a very aggressive treatment plan.” She says that the plan includes surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. "The doctors are hopeful. They think that it’s being effective. But we don’t know for sure,” she said.Johnston, who lives in Rexford, New York says she fel...