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Ballot initiative to nix MCAS graduation requirement hits highest signature count this election cycle

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:57 GMT

The ballot initiative to toss out the MCAS graduation requirement reached 135,000 signatures ahead of the deadline, the Massachusetts Teachers Association and allies announced Wednesday — the most signatures collected by any initiative this election cycle.“The people are letting us know that all students deserve an education that is well-rounded and focused on students – not a one-time test score,” MTA Vice President Deb McCarthy said.The MCAS petition was one of several ballot initiatives to meet the Wednesday deadline to collect 75,000 signatures and move forward to being placed on the November 2024 general election ballot.Educators, parents and advocates behind the MCAS initiative met on the steps of the State House on Wednesday morning to announce the signature count and walk the last 20,000 signatures over to Secretary of State Bill Galvin’s office.The question would end the use of the test as a graduation requirement, not nix the test altogether. The un...

Massive police response to shooting on UNLV campus, students told to run, hide, fight

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:57 GMT

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) -- Las Vegas police are reporting a suspect in the UNLV campus shooting Wednesday is dead. Metropolitan police responded to reports of an active shooter at the UNLV campus before noon and said "There appears to be multiple victims at this time." Maryland Parkway is closed to traffic near UNLV and drivers are urged to stay away from the area.UNLV Police sent out a social post about the shots fired in the BEH (Beam Hall) building. They told students and faculty to evacuate to a safe area. RUN-HIDE-FIGHT is what campus police posted and sent to students.One UNLV student spoke with 8 News Now. Officers from every police agency responded to the active shooting call.Beam Hall is the home of the Lee Business School and is near the Student Union building.This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Degrassi lands three-part docuseries that will school fans in its enduring legacy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:57 GMT

TORONTO — Production is underway on a three-part documentary that promises a crash course on the history of Degrassi.WildBrain Ltd., which owns the rights to the Canadian-made teen franchise, says it has commissioned a TV project that aims to explore the backstory, creation and obsessive fandom of the show’s many iterations.While a release date hasn’t been set, the creators say the documentary will feature behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with cast members, crew and fans.The project is being directed by Lisa Rideout whose previous work includes “Sex with Sue,” about Canadian sex educator Sue Johanson, and the Netflix music docuseries “This is Pop.”Originally co-created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood, Degrassi began in 1979 as a run of CBC after-school specials known as “The Kids of Degrassi Street,” and spun off into “Degrassi Junior High” and “Degrassi High” in the 1980s.Across its six series and four d...

48 Haitian migrants have been detained on an uninhabited island west of Puerto Rico

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:57 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — U.S. federal authorities said Wednesday that they detained 48 Haitian migrants who were abandoned by smugglers on an uninhabited island between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.U.S. Customs and Border Protection said park rangers on Mona Island alerted authorities to the arrival of 41 men and seven women.Haitian migrants are increasingly being dropped off on the rugged island surrounded by treacherous waters as they flee poverty and gang violence consuming their country.In June 2022, at least five Haitian migrants died and 68 others were rescued after authorities said smugglers dropped the group off in waters near Mona Island.The Associated Press

New GOP-favored Georgia congressional map nears passage as the end looms for redistricting session

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:57 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia special session to redraw congressional and legislative voting district maps is likely to end Thursday after a House committee on Wednesday advanced a Republican-favored congressional map that targets Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath’s current district.However, the wrangling is unlikely to end there, with those who brought the challenges that overturned the current maps likely to argue in court that Georgia’s Republican-controlled General Assembly has violated the federal court order that directed them to produce new maps.The House Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee, with little debate, voted 9-4 on Wednesday to send the congressional map to the full House for a vote. The plan, which passed the state Senate 33-22 on Tuesday, seeks a wholesale reconfiguration of a suburban Atlanta district now represented by McBath. Lawmakers were called into special session after U.S. District Judge Steve Jones ruled in October that Georgia’s congression...

Opening month of mobile sports betting goes smoothly in Maine as bettors wager nearly $40 million

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:57 GMT

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Bettors wagered nearly $40 million in Maine during the first month online sports betting became legal, with the state’s tribes, two vendors and state government receiving benefits, officials said.All told, $37.5 million was spent in Maine on online sports bets from Nov. 3 to the end of the month, according to the Gambling Control Unit, part of the Maine Department of Public Safety.Milt Champion, director of the Gambling Control Unit, said the rollout went smoothly with only a handful of complaints and no spike in calls to a hotline for people with gambling problems.“Everybody’s behaving, and it’s really nice,” he said Wednesday.Democratic Gov. Janet Mills gave exclusives rights to online sports betting to federally recognized Native American tribes in the state, providing an olive branch after she scuttled a proposal for greater sovereignty for the tribes in 2022. Existing casinos, meanwhile, are allowed to conduct in-person betting. Most of t...

Biden’s campaign will not commit yet to participating in general election debates in 2024

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:57 GMT

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — President Joe Biden’s campaign is not yet committing to general election debates next year, the latest sign that a staple of modern White House campaigns may not be in play in 2024. Quentin Fulks, Biden’s top deputy campaign manager, told reporters Wednesday that the president’s reelection campaign would “look at the schedule” that the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates released last month but the focus for now is on assembling a national campaign footprint.“We will have those conversations,” Fulks said at a Democratic news conference at Wednesday’s Republican presidential primary debate site in Alabama. “But right now,” Fulks said, “our focus is on making sure we continue to build out a campaign and infrastructure that’s going to be able to be competitive in 2024.”Pressed again, Fulks shifted the focus to Trump and the GOP’s “divisive primary, where their front-runner is not attending debates,” adding that Biden’s team “is focusing on what we nee...

Gaza protests prompt California governor to hold virtual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:57 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom won’t host an in-person Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the state Capitol this year because of concerns that protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza would disrupt the annual event.Instead, the Democratic governor and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, will host the event in a pre-recorded ceremony that will be released Wednesday.“As we continue to see protests across the country impacting the safety of events of all scales -– and for the safety and security of all participating members and guests including children and families -– the ceremony this year will be virtual,” the Governor’s Office said in a statement. The tree lighting ceremony, which Newsom’s office said dates back to the 1930s, appears to have originally been scheduled for Tuesday, according to a permit posted online by the California Highway Patrol. Barriers went up around the tree this week in front of the west steps of the state Capitol....

‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ named best film of 2023 by National Board of Review

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — “Killers of the Flower Moon” was named the best film of the year by the National Board of Review, adding to the early awards-season haul of Martin Scorsese’s Osage epic. The National Board of Review, a long-running organization comprised of film enthusiasts and academics, also on Wednesday named Scorsese best director and Lily Gladstone best actress. That follows recent honors for the film and for Gladstone from the New York Film Critics Circle and the Gotham Awards. “Killers of the Flower Moon is a stunning masterpiece from one of our greatest filmmakers, Martin Scorsese. The NBR is proud to award this complex, important, and deeply resonant epic as our best film and Scorsese as our best director,” Annie Schulhof, president of the board, said in a statement. Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” was also roundly honored by the group, which named Paul Giamatti best actor, Da’Vine Joy Randolph best supporting actress and David Hemingson’s script be...

MPs to vote on sending Speaker Fergus video controversy to committee

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:42:57 GMT

OTTAWA — The House of Commons is debating whether to have a committee determine if Speaker Greg Fergus should be punished for a video message he filmed that was played at a political party convention.Fergus apologized for the video, in which he appeared in his ceremonial robes and thanked the former interim leader of the Ontario Liberals, after it was played at that party’s convention last weekend.Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer is moving to have a parliamentary committee study the issue, saying the Speaker is supposed to serve an explicitly non-partisan role.Fergus’s deputy, Chris d’Entremont, is allowing the motion to be debated in the Commons this afternoon.The Speaker has said he was asked to record a video message for an intimate gathering to honour John Fraser, who he called a long-standing friend.The Quebec MP told members of Parliament that he regrets the video was used in other ways, and said it should not be seen as partisan to recognize a colleag...