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Gov. Pritzker signs Illinois anti-book banning bill into law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:29 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday signed into law a bill that he says will make Illinois the first state in the nation to outlaw book bans.Illinois public libraries that restrict or ban materials because of “partisan or doctrinal” disapproval will be ineligible for state funding as of Jan. 1, 2024, when the new law goes into effect. The bill closing the Illinois property tax loophole may help residents buy abandoned homes “We are not saying that every book should be in every single library,” said Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, who is also the state librarian and was the driving force behind the legislation. “What this law does is it says, let’s trust our experience and education of our librarians to decide what books should be in circulation.”The new law comes into play as states across the U.S. push to remove certain books in schools and libraries, especially those about LGBTQ+ themes and by people of color. The American...

When will you have to start paying your student loans again? Education Department explains

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:29 GMT

(NEXSTAR) - While federal student loan borrowers are still in a bit of limbo as the Supreme Court continues mulling President Joe Biden's debt relief plan, the Department of Education has offered a bit of clarification regarding impending payments. Borrowers haven’t been required to make regular payments on their debt since March 2020 when then-President Trump started the freeze in response to the COVID pandemic. It’s been extended multiple times since, including the most recent extension issued by Biden in November, which he called the final such move.  Biden vetoes measure overturning student loan forgiveness plan As part of the debt bill Biden signed earlier this month, the pause can't be extended again. Since then, it hasn't been clear when exactly borrowers would be on the hook again for payments. That changed Monday when the Education Department shared new information. "Student loan interest will resume starting on Sept. 1, 2023, and payments will be due starting in Oct...

Adult in critical condition after reported UT West Campus stabbing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:29 GMT

Editor’s Note: The video above shows KXAN News Today’s top headlines for June 12, 2023AUSTIN (KXAN) — One person was taken to the hospital Monday with critical, life-threatening injuries after a reported stabbing in West Campus near the University of Texas at Austin, Austin-Travis County EMS told KXAN.Austin Police said it responded to a shooting/stabbing hot shot call around 11:53 a.m. near West 22nd 1/2 Street and Rio Grande Street. APD said it was an ongoing investigation.University of Texas police said it assisted with an aggravated assault investigation at that location, according to UTPD's social media. One man was detained, UTPD said."Neither suspect nor victim are UT-affiliated. Due to the speedy apprehension, there was no threat to our UT campus community," UTPD said in the post.One person was taken to the hospital Monday with critical, life-threatening injuries after a reported stabbing in West Campus near the University of Texas, Austin-Travis County EMS said. (KXAN photo...

1 in 5 Central Texas kids go to bed hungry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:29 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Summer break is not always a good thing for all Central Texas families with food insecurity on the rise."Last summer, district-wide, we served about 20,000 meals," Chris Weddle, Del Vale ISD executive director of communications, said. ‘They were eating one meal a day’: More college students face food insecurity Del Valle ISD is one of many districts in Central Texas that offers free meals during the summer, not only to students but to community members, as well."During the school year a lot of our families depend on our school meals and that is really an extension of that into the summer," Weddle said. "We are very proud to be able to open up five of our locations for summer meals for anyone in the community 18 and under to come."Bahar DiFranco, who has three kids in Del Valle ISD, said she's happy to see these programs."It allows us time to be together, the kids like coming to the school," DiFranco said. "It helps financially because then I don't have to think abo...

Nicholas Kristof: The revolution on your plate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:29 GMT

In 1971, a half-dozen graduate students at Oxford University held what was perhaps the first protest of the modern animal rights movement. They insisted that respecting animals was a moral imperative.And the world changed.No, not right away. But one of those students, a young Australian philosopher named Peter Singer, turned his ideas into a transformative 1975 book, “Animal Liberation,” that was initially mocked for overreach. “The animal movement was still widely seen as crackpot,” Singer recalls.Yet to anyone who thinks that ideas are irrelevant in a practical age, think again. His arguments stirred a slow-motion revolution that has changed the way we treat other animals.Singer has just issued a new edition of the book, updated and titled “Animal Liberation Now.” It’s a monument to the remarkable spread of the ideas he articulated in 1975. At least nine states and the European Union now ban veal crates, hen cages or tight stalls for sows. The top supermarket chains in America hav...

East Metro girls lacrosse player of the year: Lakeville South’s Emily Moes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:29 GMT

Lakeville South is the defending state champion, undefeated and the top seed heading into this week’s girls lacrosse state tournament, where it will kick off quarterfinal play at 5 p.m. Tuesday against Elk River/Zimmerman at White Bear Lake Area High School.The Cougars are quickly developing a dynasty of sorts. The success is all built off a philosophy of teamwork on both ends of the field.“That’s the kind of offense and defense we play at South, just kind of that mentality of it’s not a singular person scoring a goal or making a good play,” senior attack Emily Moes said. “It’s a team doing it together.”That’s the mantra the program has possessed for years. Of course, mindsets and approaches only stick if they’re represented by a team’s best players. Which is why Lakeville South has been so successful with its ways.Moes lives that philosophy.“She moves the ball, she gives it to other people, she drives and draws attention,” Cougars coach Joel Tornell said. “She’s a part of our team ...

Asylees in Albany want work, not a handout

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:29 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) - Confusion still lingers in the Capital Region about the services being provided to the recent asylees that have reached Albany. NEWS10 breaks down the confusion as the asylees are trying to acclimate to their new home. Capital Region community centers ready to help Asylees When the first busses of asylees made it to our neighborhood, members of Capital District LATINOS say there was confusion amongst our city and county leaders from the beginning.“We found out that buses had just arrived, and we had not been notified we were not told what time of day. They arrived late at night. And so that was kind of the beginning of a very dysfunctional communication,” said Dan Irizarry, Chairman of the Board, Capital District LATINOS.Some think the asylees are using area resources. Greg Sheldon, the founder of Eden’s Rose Foundation, says that is simply not true.“They haven't received the permission to work so they can't cover their own basic needs and then the governme...

Young girl rushed to fire station, hospital after shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:29 GMT

ST. LOUIS - A 5-year-old girl is being treated for a gunshot wound at a local hospital after being shot Monday afternoon.According to a spokesperson for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the shooting happened around 4:35 p.m. in the 1600 block of McLaren Avenue.The victim was shot in her right side. She was brought to a nearby fire station for immediate help. EMS then took the girl to the hospital.She was said to be conscious and breathing.This is a developing news story and will be updated later as more information becomes available.

Rockies’ Kris Bryant “frustrated” by injuries but he ignores critics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:29 GMT

Kris Bryant admits he’s frustrated by his injuries. But the Rockies’ high-priced outfielder said he’s doing his best to tune out criticism about his inability to stay on the field.Since signing a seven-year, $182 million contract in mid-March of 2022, Bryant has spent more time in the training room than on the playing field. With Bryant on the roster, the Rockies had played 229 games entering Monday night’s game at Boston. Bryant, 31, had played in 92 of those (40%).A back injury, followed by plantar fasciitis and a heel bruise in his left foot, limited him to 42 games last season. He played in 50 of Colorado’s first 67 games this season but has been on the injured list since May 31 with what the club says is a left-heel bruise.Bryant, however, said Sunday that the plantar fasciitis still “comes and goes.”“Definitely, it’s frustrating, for sure, when you want things to feel one way, but they don’t,” he said. “I’m keeping a ...

Climate change supercharging wildfires in California, researchers say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:29 GMT

Human-caused climate change is largely responsible for an explosion in wildfire damage in California over the past quarter century and the problem is only going to get worse in coming years, according to a study from the University of California.Researchers found that between 1996 and 2020, wildfires consumed five times as much land in California as they did in the 25 years prior from 1971 to 1996.“The 10 largest fires in California history have all occurred in the past two decades, and five of those have happened since 2020,” said Amir AghaKouchak, a UC Irvine professor of civil and environmental engineering. “Through our study, it has become clear that [human-caused] climate change is the major driver of this increase in wildfire damage.”Burnt vehicles are seen in Greenville, Calif., after the Dixie Wildfire Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Eugene Garcia)For a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from several UC schools used climate mod...