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Bill to restrict youth access to ‘sexually explicit’ public library books advances in Louisiana

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:12:32 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Activists in Louisiana are voicing concerns over a bill advancing through the GOP-controlled Legislature to restrict children and teens’ access to public library books deemed “sexually explicit,” saying the proposal could be used to target LGBTQ+ content.Around the country this year, lawmakers have debated banning gender-affirming care for minors, restricting bathroom access of transgender students and determining what shouldn’t be discussed in school curriculums. Now, legislators are facing questions about what material should be accessible in public and school libraries, often focusing on books with LGBTQ+ themes. Louisiana’ s bill, which advanced out of a legislative committee Tuesday and is headed to the full House for debate and possible final passage, would require public libraries to create a card system that would prevent children from checking out “sexually explicit material” unless they have parental approval. Additionally, the bil...

Durham police say child, 3, has drowned in Ajax

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:12:32 GMT

A three-year-old child is dead after drowning in Ajax on Tuesday, police confirm.Durham Regional Police officers responded to a drowning call in the Rossland Road West and Harwood Avenue area.The child, whose gender was not revealed, was pronounced dead at hospital.“At this time we are requesting privacy for the family,” police said. “Our thoughts are with the family and all emergency personnel.”No further details were immediately available.More to come

The most popular college majors aren't the highest-paying – these degrees are, study finds

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:12:32 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – When it comes to choosing a major in college, a recent study found that there are sizable differences in pay depending on the field of study.The HEA Group, founded by Michael Itzkowitz, a former Education Department official under Obama, compared Department of Education data and looked at average salary numbers four years after students graduated with an undergraduate degree."We hope our data remains helpful for those considering college. It’s important that wherever students attend—and whatever field of study they choose to pursue—they leave knowing it was worth it," Itzkowitz tweeted.The study found that some of the most popular college bachelor's degrees don't always lead to high-paying jobs. A Washington Post report found that nearly two in five U.S. college grads regretted their choice of majors, with that number nearly half for those in the humanities or arts. The most common undergraduate degrees awarded in Illinois In fact, only three of the top ten most popula...

Yellowstone rangers forced to kill bison calf after man 'disturbed' it

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:12:32 GMT

MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. (NEXSTAR) – Authorities are asking for anyone with information to come forward after a man allegedly interacted with a newborn bison calf that later died in Yellowstone National Park. Park officials say the man approached the calf, which had been separated from its mother when the herd crossed the Lamar River, on Saturday, May 20. He was seen pushing the calf away from the river and onto a nearby roadway. According to Yellowstone visitors, the calf then walked up to and followed cars and people. Park rangers tried "repeatedly" to reunite the bison calf with its herd but "these efforts failed," Yellowstone officials said Tuesday. These are America’s deadliest national parks: data "The calf was later killed by park staff because it was abandoned by the herd and causing a hazardous situation by approaching cars and people along the roadway," authorities wrote in a news release. Now, park officials are asking anyone who visited Lamar Valley during the evenin...

Van Leeuwen recalls 4K+ ice cream pints due to undeclared nuts

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:12:32 GMT

BROOKLYN (PIX11) — Van Leeuwen Ice Cream is recalling 4,096 pints of its Brown Sugar Chunk with Cookie Dough & Brownies French Ice Cream because it may contain undeclared walnuts, a known allergen. The recall affects 14-ounce pints of the ice cream marked with lot number 23P102 with a Best By date of April 12, 2025, according to Van Leeuwen. Both of these are displayed under the pint's bottom. Target removes some LGBTQ merchandise from stores after threats to workers The pints were sold at retail stores nationwide.Van Leeuwen, which is based in Brooklyn, says it learned of the labeling error after a customer complaint and that the cause is being investigated. The company says the recall does not affect any other Van Leeuwen products.Customers should return these items where they were purchased for a full refund.(Van Leeuwen via U.S. FDA)(Van Leeuwen via U.S. FDA)If you have any questions, you're asked to call Van Leeuwen at (215) 824-6613 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST or by email...

Texas Attorney General Paxton under investigation for whistleblower settlement

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:12:32 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- Texas House lawmakers tasked with investigating legal and ethical violations announced Tuesday they are investigating the Office of the Attorney General.The House General Investigating Committee has been investigating Attorney General Ken Paxton's legal settlement with whistleblowers since March. Early this legislative session, Paxton requested the legislature approve $3.3 million of state money so his office could pay a settlement to employees that were terminated after they raised ethical concerns about Paxton's conduct. Four former top aides sued Paxton for wrongful firing and retaliation after they accused him of using his office to help Nate Paul, an Austin-area real estate developer and Paxton campaign donor.In a public hearing Tuesday afternoon, the committee issued a letter directing the attorney general to preserve all documentation relating to the matter."Please immediately suspend all of your destruction policies for all documents... relating the above...

Jurors still needed in trial of Austin police officer accused of murder

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:12:32 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — More jurors are still needed for the trial of an Austin police officer accused of murder in a 2020 deadly shooting, according to one of Christopher Taylor's defense attorneys. The trial was expected to begin Wednesday, but when KXAN checked in on jury selection Tuesday evening, Taylor's attorney Ken Ervin said they did not end the day with enough jurors to proceed to trial, and will have to bring an additional jury panel in Wednesday morning.Jury selection began Monday, but an error led to that jury panel's dismissal. Taylor, 31, is accused of shooting and killing Michael Ramos, 42, during a confrontation with police in a south Austin apartment complex parking lot. APD officer heads to murder trial in Michael Ramos shooting Ervin told KXAN the doors to the courtroom were locked while the state was conducting jury selection Monday morning, which is not allowed. The judge was unaware this had happened. Ervin said if the error was discovered after the fact, any trial...

GOP debt ceiling negotiators say day ended with 'significant gap' between sides

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:12:32 GMT

Republican negotiators are warning that a “significant gap” remains between the White House and GOP lawmakers on a deal to raise the debt ceiling with nine days to go until June 1 — the day the Treasury Department has said the U.S. could default.The fundamental issue is topline discretionary spending levels, GOP negotiators Reps. Garret Graves (R-La.) and Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) said in extensive comments to reporters late Tuesday afternoon.“There is a significant gap between where we are and where they are on finances,” Graves said. “Unless and until the White House recognizes that this is a spending problem, then we’re gonna continue to have a significant gap.”McHenry echoed that the “fundamental issue of spending still remains inside the room and outside the room.”The debt ceiling bill House Republicans passed last month calls for capping fiscal year 2024 federal funding at fiscal year 2022 levels as part of an effort to cut spending, which Democrats have rejected. The White Hou...

Douglas County school board member Elizabeth Hanson resigns during public meeting

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:12:32 GMT

Douglas County school board member Elizabeth Hanson resigned Tuesday evening, stepping down before the board was set to vote on changes to the district’s equity policy — one of several areas in which Hanson and the conservative majority have had sharp differences.“There are some egregious things that are happening on the board right now,” Hanson, who was elected in 2019, told The Denver Post. Her resignation, which is effective immediately, comes months before her term was set to end in November.“As a Board of Education, every decision that we make should be grounded in how are we making our district better for our students and our employees and this board is sadly failing both,” Hanson told the board when announcing her resignation.She said “the last straw” was her colleagues’ recent refusal to settle a lawsuit that accused directors of violating Colorado’s open meeting law last year when they prepared to fire former Super...

Flyers distributed to protest scheduled Pride event at North Hollywood elementary school

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:12:32 GMT

“Keep your kids home and innocent.”That’s part of the message included in a flyer being distributed in North Hollywood to protest a Pride event scheduled at Saticoy Elementary School next month. The flyer has upset some parents and educators who believe it is spreading a message of intolerance.“We respect everyone, but some things are appropriate for children that age, and some things are not,” said George Dzhabroyan, who is among the Saticoy parents opposed to the Pride event. “Hopefully the message gets across and people understand that parents should be the primary contact of what their children should be exposed to and shouldn’t be exposed to.”A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Unified School District says the June 2 event will include an assembly and teachers will read students a book titled, The Great Big Book of Families, which highlights diversity.The district says parents can allow their child to skip the program.A flyer being distributed in North Hollywood protests a sched...