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Conservative trustees choose ‘Mighty Banyans’ for Florida college mascot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:52 GMT

The New College of Florida trustees dominated by conservatives appointed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis chose a new mascot Thursday for the Sarasota school: The Mighty Banyans.The tree mascot will replace one that has been in use since 1997, which is the mathematical formulation of the Null Set. That’s usually expressed as “( )” and was viewed by many students, faculty and alumni as perfectly suited to the quirky, historically progressive college that doesn’t use traditional grades.This new mascot features a brown, fierce-looking banyan tree with “arm” branches raised in a muscular flex pose. It does retain the Null Set brackets as eyebrows and sports a leafy hairdo. New College is adorned with banyan trees big enough for a person to climb inside on its bayside campus.“It needed to be something uniquely New College,” said interim President Richard Corcoran.Among many changes under the new trustees, New College is upgrading its sports teams to include b...

32 Mississippi school districts still under federal desegregation orders

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:52 GMT

LEXINGTON, Miss. (AP) — There are 32 school districts in Mississippi still under federal desegregation orders, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division’s assistant attorney general said Thursday. Enforcing the open desegregation orders fit into a broader body of civil rights work launched in Mississippi that is examining jails, police departments and hate crimes in the state, according to Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Referring to the U.S. Supreme Court decision that outlawed segregation of public schools across the country, she said the Justice Department is ensuring school districts provide Black students in Mississippi with equal access to education programs.“In our ongoing efforts to fulfill the promise of Brown vs. Board of Education, we currently have 32 open cases with school districts here in Mississippi,” Clarke said. “And in each of those cases, we are working to ensure t...

UN warns of new threat to global food security after Russia limits Ukraine grain shipments

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:52 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Warning of a new threat to global food security, the United Nations said Thursday that Russia is limiting the number of ships allowed to pick up Ukrainian grain at Black Sea ports in its campaign to get Kyiv to open a pipeline for a key ingredient of fertilizer to get to world markets.U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric expressed serious concern that only 33 ships departed from Ukrainian ports in May, half the number compared to April, and exports of grain and other foodstuffs totaled just 1.3 million metric tons last month, less than half the amount of the previous month.He said Russia informed the center in Istanbul coordinating the arrivals, departures and inspections of ships involved in the Black Sea Grain Initiative “of its decision to limit registrations in the port of Yuzhny as long as ammonia is not exported, and currently it’s not.”Ammonia is a key ingredient for fertilizer and Moscow wants Ukraine to open a pipeline from the Russian city of Togliatti to...

AP obtains records shedding new light on Jeffrey Epstein’s jail suicide and frantic aftermath

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:52 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Two weeks before ending his life, Jeffrey Epstein sat in the corner of his Manhattan jail cell with his hands over his ears, desperate to muffle the sound of a toilet that wouldn’t stop running.Epstein was agitated and unable to sleep, jail officials observed in records newly obtained by The Associated Press. He called himself a “coward” and complained he was struggling to adapt to life behind bars following his July 2019 arrest on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges — his life of luxury reduced to a concrete and steel cage.The disgraced financier was under psychological observation at the time for a suicide attempt just days earlier that left his neck bruised and scraped. Yet, even after a 31-hour stint on suicide watch, Epstein insisted he wasn’t suicidal, telling a jail psychologist he had a “wonderful life” and “would be crazy” to end it.On Aug. 10, 2019, Epstein was dead.Nearly four years later, the AP has obtained more than 4,000 pages of docum...

Family mourns 2 young boys killed by gunfire as they played in Pennsylvania yard

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:52 GMT

LEBANON, Pa. — Relatives of two young boys killed by gunfire as they played with kittens in the backyard of their Pennsylvania home were mourning them Thursday as authorities announced two men were charged with their slayings.Brothers Jesus and Sebastian Perez-Salome, ages 8 and 9, and a third victim were killed Tuesday night in Lebanon. An adult and a teen were charged in the shooting, and police said they were seeking a third suspect.In a phone interview Thursday from his home in Puerto Rico, the children’s uncle Felix Muniz Torres said their mother was working at a nearby convenience store when she heard the shots ring out.She ran over to find them shot, he said. Her other child, who is 13, was fortunately at a school event.“She’s in shock and is unable to speak coherently,” Muniz Torres said.He described his nephews as “very innocent and polite,” always together playing, mostly with their superhero figures.“They were very close,” he said. Alex Torres Santos, 22, and a 16-year-ol...

Movie review: ‘Past Lives’ is a gorgeous meditation on love, chance – and the choices we make

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:52 GMT

Two minutes away, the Uber app promises at one point in “Past Lives.” And if you’re like me, you may find yourself — perhaps for the first time in your Uber-riding life — hoping that promise is a bald-faced lie.Because you’ll want more minutes, many more, for the couple presumably about to be separated by that Uber, even though they’re simply staring at each other on the street, saying absolutely nothing.This is but one small moment of playwright Celine Song’s gorgeous, achingly wistful feature debut. But it highlights her striking confidence as a filmmaker. Time and again, Song, who both writes and directs here, makes the unflashy, understated choice — and in so doing, darned near breaks our hearts, with a tale that feels universal yet rich in detail, urgent yet unrushed. And if, also like me, you suddenly feel tears forming, they may surprise you, precisely because nobody’s been trying to force them.We begin with a trio chatting in a New York bar — a woman flanked by two men...

Nevada GOP sues to hold presidential caucus over primary in 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:52 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Nevada Republican Party is suing the state in an effort to maintain its party-run caucuses, even as Nevada shifts to a presidential primary system beginning in 2024.Nevada lawmakers ditched the presidential caucus model in 2021, passing a law that says all major political parties with more than one candidate must hold their primary on the first Tuesday in February. The move pushed Nevada closer to the front of the presidential nominating calendar, upending decades of political tradition.The Republican Party, which has most recently kept Nevada’s caucuses as its fourth contest, opposed the change.Now, GOP leaders in the Western state are seeking a court order that would shield their party from holding a state-run primary on Feb. 6. The lawsuit — filed in Carson City by Republican National Committeewoman Sigal Chattah, who ran unsuccessfully last year for state attorney general — names Nevada and Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar as defendants.In a statement, the N...

Group wants to use Daley College as temporary housing for migrants in Chicago

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:52 GMT

CHICAGO -- Residents in a Chicago southwest neighborhood will get the chance to voice their opinion about the use of the facility at a meeting scheduled organized by 18th Ward Alderman Derrick Curtis Thursday evening.According to OEMC, nearly 10,000 migrants from Central and South America have arrived to Chicago since late august. At least 700 migrants are still waiting for their placement at a shelter or respite center.The city doesn’t have the space to house them currently, so hundreds of migrants have been living at Chicago police stations. Chicago City Council approves $51M aid for migrant care In an effort to address this issue, a group of Latino alder people have suggested Daley College on the 7500 block of South Pulaski Avenue in Chicago's Ford City neighborhood to be used as a temporary housing shelter site.The group said there are four buildings not in use and won’t interfere with the college’s programming, as well as it could potentially house about 600 people.WGN have r...

Jaylon Johnson won't be away from Bears OTAs for long

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:52 GMT

LAKE FOREST — One of the most talked about players not at Halas Hall at the moment for the Bears' voluntary offseason training activities talked about why he's been absent on Thursday.Jaylon Johnson also made it clear he won't be away for long. "I'm going to be there for sure next week," said the fourth-year cornerback on the "Keyshawn, JWill & Max" show on ESPN Radio on Thursday.Many were eager to know why Johnson, who is one of the best young players on the team, hasn't been in Lake Forest to work out with his teammates. This also comes as the cornerback is coming up on the final year of his contract that he signed after the Bears drafted him in the second round in 2020.Matt Eberflus offered few details other than to say that the hand injury that landed him on IR late in the 2022 season was healed.Johnson provided more clarity on his absence during the interview on ESPN Radio on Thursday. "I know I had a lot of things off the field going on. I have my daughter in Fresno, Calif...

Empower Brands recalls juicers after dozens of injury reports, including severe cuts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:52 GMT

(WHTM) – Empower Brands is recalling hundreds of thousands of juicers due to laceration and ingestion hazards, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)."The juicers can rupture during use, striking consumers and posing a laceration hazard," the CPSC warns, adding that they may also leave small particle shavings in the juice, "posing an ingestion hazard to consumers." Tillamook recalling mislabeled ice creams that may contain wheat, soy Empower Brands is recalling around 469,000 of the Power XL Self-Cleaning Juicers, the company announced Thursday.The recall involves PowerXL models:Model SHL96UPC 7-52356-83067-0Model SHL90-SCUPC 7-52356-83138-7The model number and UPC codes are printed on the bottom of the model SHL 96 and on the back of the SHL90-SC juicer.Empower Brands is aware of 261 reported incidents, 47 of which included injuries. Some people had cuts so severe that the required emergency treatment and required stitches. Other consumers sought medical help ...