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Letters: Recognize the hard work of staff often “in harm’s way” in our schools

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:51 GMT

Recognize the hard work of deans often “in harm’s way”Re: “Staffers wounded in shooting at East,” March 23 news storyJerald (Mason) and Eric (Sinclair), I am so saddened that you endured such a tragic event on March 22. As a past DPS administrator, I have had to search students; that is unnerving at best. I don’t remember ever conducting a search without one of my many wonderful deans with me. I’m sure you met last Wednesday’s request without thinking twice.Deans are often the first people teachers and administrators call when they need assistance with a student. They are the first ones out to lunch duty and at after-school dismissal. They are called on to supervise athletic contests and other school activities. They hold conferences with parents. They try to repair harm through the restorative justice process. They regularly put themselves in harm’s way. I think those who don’t work in schools are beginning to get a glimpse of a dean’s workload after t...

Teen shot, killed near Lancaster park

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:51 GMT

A teenager is dead after he was shot while riding a bicycle in Lancaster Tuesday night.The 18-year-old was cycling near Tierra Bonita Park at 30th and Kettering streets at about 8:30 p.m. when he was shot, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said in a news release. Deputies found the unnamed victim suffering from gunshot wounds to the upper torso, and he was declared dead at the scene.Investigators have learned that before the shooting, the teen had been in a confrontation with several other people at the park, one of whom "fired several gunshots at the victim, striking him in the upper torso," the release said.The attackers were last seen fleeing the shooting scene on foot through the park.Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the LASD Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. To provide information anonymously, call Crime Stoppers by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477) or visit lacrimestoppers.org.

Head of Nashville school in shooting would 'run to' danger

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:51 GMT

The head of the Christian elementary school in Nashville who was killed in a shooting there on Monday was described by friends as smart, loving and a rare female leader within a male-led religious culture. “If there was any trouble in that school, she would run to it, not from it,” Jackie Bailey said of her friend Katherine Koonce, head of The Covenant School. “She was trying to protect those kids … That’s just what I believe.”Koonce was one of six people killed in the shooting in Tennessee, including three 9-year-old children identified by police as Hallie Scruggs, Evelyn Dieckhaus and William Kinney. Also killed were Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher, and Mike Hill, 61, a custodian.In a video statement released Tuesday evening, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said Peak was supposed to have dinner with his wife, Maria, after filling in as a substitute teacher at Covenant.“Maria woke up this morning without one of her best friends,” Lee said, adding that Peak, Koonce and his wife had o...

Tastemade’s ‘Struggle Meals’ Is Back Saving More Money In The Kitchen

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:51 GMT

The Tastemade cooking series Struggle Meals hosted by Emmy winner Chef Frankie Celenza returns to the streaming channel on Thursday, March 30 with a lively lineup of kitchen hacks to help keep costs and dishwashing down.Although overall inflation is starting to cool, shoppers haven’t seen much relief in terms of grocery prices. Nearly every food group costs more than it did a year ago: grade A eggs are up 138%; margarine is up 43.8%; butter sticks are up 38.5%; all-purpose flour is up 34.5%; and spaghetti and macaroni noodles are up 31.3%, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report.Season eight features tips like how to use spring greens when they are in season and prices are at their lowest, no-cook meals for when it’s too hot to use a stove or oven, and summer cookout recipes. It kicks off with a genius one-pot pasta recipe where all the ingredients (including healthy greens) all cook together in one pot (recipe below).Celenza shared some tips with L.A. Weekly ...

81-year-old Colorado man confesses to killing wife and daughter with ax, police say

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:51 GMT

An 81-year-old man in Englewood has been arrested on suspicion of killing his wife and daughter with an ax after he called police and reported they had been murdered, police said.About 6 p.m. Saturday, Reginald Maclaren called police and said that his wife and daughter had been “murdered,” that he knew the suspect and the suspect had used a hammer, according to an Englewood Police Department news release.Officers responded to 901 Englewood Parkway and found Maclaren inside the residence. Officers also found “two victims inside large trash cans” in the living room/kitchen area, the release said. “Both victims had substantial injuries and showed no signs of life.”Englewood detectives, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office responded to the grisly scene and a homicide investigation ensued.“During the course of this investigation, it was determined that the victims were both killed with an ax,” police said. One victim was dismembered with a saw.Div...

Powerball jackpot winner drops $4 million on California home, his second luxury real estate buy

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:51 GMT

California’s first lottery billionaire has dropped $3.983 million on a Japanese-inspired home in Altadena.The property is on a corner two-third-acre lot, slightly over three miles from Joe’s Service Center, the Mobil gas station on Woodbury Road and Fair Oaks Avenue, where Edwin Castro purchased his winning ticket. It s the second luxury home Castro has purchased since coming forward in February as the winner of November’s record-breaking $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot.His other big-ticket buy is a $25.5 million Hollywood Hills mansion perched over the Chateau Marmont. But unlike that snazzy new mansion previewed last summer in Robb Report, this 4,361-square-foot, five-bedroom, five-bathroom house at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains is “highlighted by its simplicity and attention to detail and contemplative atmosphere,” the listing reads.Japanese-style landscaping surrounds the house, which wraps around a courtyard and what the listing describes as a “zen patio completed by a ...

Rare beetle species named after former California governor, Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:51 GMT

BERKELEY — Scientists are naming a rare species of beetle in honor of former California Gov. Jerry Brown after finding one at his ranch.Bembidion brownorum was last seen in 1966, but it hadn’t been named or described until one was collected near a creek on Brown’s ranch in Colusa County, about an hour’s drive northwest of Sacramento, the University of California, Berkeley announced Monday.This 2021 photo, courtesy of Bembidion expert David Maddison, a professor of integrative biology at Oregon State University, shows a specimen of Bembidion brownorum discovered by UC Berkeley entomologist Kipling Will while sampling for insects near Freshwater Creek on former Gov. Jerry Brown’s Colusa County ranch in Colusa County, Calif. The Bembidion brownorum species had not been observed by scientists in more than 55 years. The beetle will be named after former California Gov. Jerry Brown after Will found it on Brown’s property. The beetle will be named the Bembidion brownorum. The h...

Saratoga High School leaders speak at county anti-hate incident panel after racist incident

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:51 GMT

Four months after a racist incident shook the school community, Saratoga High School students and staff recounted their experience responding to the situation at a countywide panel on hate incidents on school campuses.Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District Superintendent Bill Sanderson, trustee Theresa Bond and Saratoga High students Sarah Thomas and Aneri Shah spoke during the Santa Clara County School Boards Association’s panel March 22, attended by representatives from all districts in the county.Last November, school officials found a Black doll hanging from a noose tied to a tree in the main quad of campus. The school is working with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office to identify who hung the doll via security camera footage.Dolls were also found at Prospect High School and Redwood Middle School last year. The Sheriff’s Office said the investigation is open and ongoing.Sanderson said in an email at the time that the “horrific incident” is not representative of...

Saratoga declares state of emergency during latest storm

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:51 GMT

In the latest intense storm that swept through the Bay Area, Saratoga saw hurricane-speed winds that downed trees and branches that blocked streets, downed power lines and damaged property.Saratoga City Council declared a state of emergency at a special meeting Monday to make it easier for the city to get emergency supplies and resources or request financial assistance.The powerful storm March 13-15 had winds that peaked at 97 miles per hour at high elevations and 40-50 miles per hour in lower elevations. Another storm passed through March 21-22, and rain fell for the third Tuesday in a row March 28.“Unfortunately, once again we’re seeing an impact on resources, an impact on our community, ” said City Manager James Lindsay.Damage from the two most recent storms totaled around $200,000, Lindsay said. Approximately three-quarters of those costs came from the removal of downed trees or the damage caused by them.The seemingly never-ending series of storms has weakened soil stabili...

Senate moves to repeal president’s Iraq war power authority

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate moved toward a vote Wednesday to repeal the 2002 measure that greenlighted the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, which would end more than 20 years of authorization for U.S. presidents to use force in that country and return those war powers to Congress.The Iraq War ended years ago, and repeal would not be expected to affect any current military deployments. About 2,500 U.S. troops remain in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government and assist and advise local forces.The bipartisan legislation would also repeal the 1991 authorization that sanctioned the U.S.-led Gulf War.Lawmakers in both parties are increasingly seeking to claw back congressional powers over U.S. military strikes and deployments, and some lawmakers who voted for the Iraq War two decades ago now say that was a mistake.Iraqi deaths are estimated in the hundreds of thousands, and nearly 5,000 U.S. troops were killed in the war after President George W. Bush’s administration falsely claimed...