Open Newswire

On an isolated stretch of Texas coastline, conservation groups have acquired more than 3,000 acres of nearly pristine prairie to preserve as habitat for endangered whooping cranes, one of the rarest birds in North America. Groups this month announced the $8 million purchase of two tracts in rural Calhoun County, halfway between Houston and Corpus […]

دونالد ترامپ، رئیس جمهوری آمریکا اعلام کرد که ایالات متحده در حال حمله تلافی‌جویانه شدید به مواضع داعش در سوریه است.

A COVID spike in gun violence led federal officials to pour money into violence prevention efforts. It appeared to work in cities like Baltimore, where homicides plummeted. But with federal funding threatened, advocates worry about what's next.

O ex-procurador da Operação Lava Jato Deltan Dallagnol ealizou o pagamento de R$ 146 mil em indenização ao presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, obedecendo à condenação por danos morais pela apresentação de um PowerPoint que apresentava o então ex-presidente como centro da suposta organização criminosa investigada pela força-tarefa. O comprovante de depósito foi entregue […] Deltan paga indenização a Lula por PowerPoint da Lava Jato apareceu primeiro no Brasil de Fato.

วาไรตี้โชว์ ฟังสบายๆ สำหรับวันหยุดสุดสัปดาห์ เริ่มด้วยการประมวลข่าวในรอบสัปดาห์ รายงานเกี่ยวกับชุมชนไทยในอเมริกา หรือเรื่องน่ารู้ต่างๆ ส่งท้ายด้วยรายการบันเทิง วิจารณ์ภาพยนตร์และเพลง

Public health, explained: Sign up to receive Healthbeat’s free national newsletter here. It’s been six weeks since ByHeart Inc. began recalling its popular organic baby formula amid a nationwide outbreak of infant botulism – and nearly two years since children started becoming infected across the country. Here are four things to know about the latest developments in the outbreak investigation and formula recall. Some good news: No new cases of sick infants discovered in the past week The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced this week that the identification of new infant botulism cases linked to ByHeart infant formula has slowed, with none identified during the past week. The number of infants known to have been sickened in the outbreak remains at 51 – and all of them required hospitalization. The infants live in 19 states. There have been no deaths. The most recent date a child started showing signs of illness was Dec. 1, according to the FDA. The lack of new cases is an encouraging sign. ByHeart did an initial, limited recall of its formula products on Nov. 8, followed by a recall of all of its products on Nov. 11. But it can take up to 30 days after an infant ingests botulism spores for the bacteria to start growing in the child’s immature gut and produce a toxin that causes symptoms, such as constipation, poor eating, loss of head control, difficulty swallowing and breathing, and potentially respiratory arrest. And ByHeart formula remained on the shelves of some stores for weeks after the recall. (More on this below.) Some bad news: The discovery that babies started being sickened two years ago Until recently, federal health officials had said the earliest outbreak illnesses began in August. But they’ve now identified children who were fed ByHeart formula who were hospitalized with infant botulism as far back as December 2023. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expanded its outbreak case definition to include any infant with botulism who was exposed to ByHeart baby formula at any time since the product first went on the market in March 2022. Initially, investigators were focused only on infants sickened since Aug. 1, 2025. When they looked at earlier infant botulism cases, they identified 10 additional children who consumed ByHeart products and fell ill from December 2023 through July 2025. Those cases are included in the 51 total outbreak cases. While no cases have been identified before December 2023, the investigation is ongoing, and the FDA said it “cannot rule out the possibility that contamination might have affected all ByHeart formula products.” Federal officials and ByHeart say they are still investigating how botulism bacteria spores got into ByHeart formula. FDA issues warning letters to retailers that kept selling recalled ByHeart formula Retailers across the country continued to sell ByHeart infant formula for weeks after the recall began on Nov. 8 and was expanded to include all products on Nov. 11. State and local food safety officials along with FDA inspectors performed more than 4,000 spot-checks of retail stores across the country to ensure recalled ByHeart’s formula was no longer being sold. Yet they continued to find ByHeart products on store shelves at more than 175 locations in 36 states, the FDA said. However, those checks of retail stores, Healthbeat reported last month, were slowed by FDA delays in sharing ByHeart product distribution lists with state and local officials. The FDA says it hasn’t received any reports of recalled ByHeart formula still being on store shelves since Nov. 26. At a Target store in Arkansas, state inspectors on Nov. 20 discovered ByHeart single-serve “anywhere pack” sticks on a shelf with a promotional “Sale!” sign offering a $2 discount more than a week after all of the company’s products were recalled because of botulism risks. This week the FDA called on food industry officials across the country to improve their compliance with protecting the public from recalled products. The FDA also announced it sent formal warning letters on Dec. 12 to corporate officials at Target, Walmart, Kroger, and Albertsons Companies for failing to remove ByHeart products from their store shelves. At a Target store in Arkansas, state inspectors on Nov. 20 discovered a promotional “Sale!” sign offering a $2 discount off recalled ByHeart single-serve “anywhere pack” sticks from Nov. 16 to Nov. 22, according to the FDA’s warning letter to the company. Investigators found recalled ByHeart formula on Target store shelves across 20 states from Nov. 12 to Nov. 20, the FDA’s letter said. Workers at Target stores – as well as those at Walmart stores in 21 states, Kroger stores in 10 states, Albertsons Companies’ stores operated under various names in 11 states – gave state and local inspectors a variety of explanations for the presence of ByHeart formula in stores after the recalls were launched, the letters say. Explanations included that store associates weren’t aware of the recall and that there was confusion over which specific lots were recalled. Workers also told investigators that there were failures to remove all of the recalled products from shelves and that stocking of shelves occurred when recalled products arrived after the recall notification, the warning letters say. The four companies have 15 days to respond to the FDA warning letters with steps they are taking to address violations or provide information supporting why they believe they haven’t violated the law. In a statement to Healthbeat, Walmart said: “We take all reports of inaction seriously and will respond to the letter.” The company said it “moved swiftly” to issue a sales restriction and remove the product from its stores and online platform. Albertsons Companies said they have procedures to address product recalls and that ByHeart products have been removed from their stores. Target and Kroger did not immediately respond to Healthbeat’s requests for comment on their warning letters. Food safety groups call for botulism testing, investigation of recall delays The ByHeart formula recall and outbreak has “exposed dangerous deficiencies” in the nation’s food inspection and regulatory systems, according to a letter sent to the heads of the FDA, CDC and Department of Health and Human Services by the Safe Food Coalition, whose members are national food safety advocacy groups. The five-page letter calls for a range of reforms to strengthen food safety inspections and regulations and improve the speed of recalls. It also urges fully funding food safety work and illness surveillance systems at the CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. Citing Healthbeat’s reporting, the coalition is calling for the FDA to investigate bureaucratic delays in releasing to state food safety regulators the names of retailers that received ByHeart’s recalled products. It’s a lengthy process “that can and must be streamlined not just with respect to recall communication, but for all communication with state regulators,” the Dec. 8 letter said. The Safe Food Coalition letter, among its many recommendations, also calls for the FDA to declare contamination with Clostridium botulinum to be a hazard that requires prevention and must be addressed in manufacturers’ food safety plans. And it urges the FDA to conduct a nationwide sampling program to test infant formula for this type of bacteria, which causes infant botulism. “I think it’s critically important that the agency go out there in the field and do a survey of all the infant formula out there to reassure consumers and to understand whether this is a broader problem,” Sarah Sorscher, director of regulatory affairs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told Healthbeat. Other groups in the Safe Food Coalition that signed the letter include the Center for Food Safety, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports, Government Accountability Project, the Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security at George Washington University, and Stop Foodborne Illness. Federal officials have not yet replied to the coalition’s letter. “HHS is in receipt of the letter and will respond directly to the requestors,” HHS said Friday in an email to Healthbeat. “FDA acted quickly to protect the public, issuing multiple warnings alongside the firm’s initial and expanded recall,” HHS said in its email. The FDA has previously not responded to Healthbeat’s questions about delays in sharing ByHeart’s product distribution lists with local and state food safety regulators. HHS said Friday that the FDA began conducting its own recall effectiveness checks “at the corporate level of large retailers” on Nov. 10 – two days after ByHeart announced its initial recall of two batches of formula. The FDA didn’t receive ByHeart’s product distribution lists from the company until Nov. 12, the day after the company expanded the recall to all products, HHS said. The list was shared the same day with a subset of state food safety regulators who had information-sharing agreements on file with the FDA, the HHS said. HHS acknowledged that the FDA had to go through a process to obtain exceptions for local and state regulators that lacked information agreements and “where such sharing of commercial confidential information would be otherwise prohibited under the Trade Secrets Act.” Healthbeat reported last month that according to the Association of Food and Drug Officials – whose members are state and local regulators – the FDA didn’t start fully sharing ByHeart’s product distribution lists with all state and local officials until a teleconference held at 6 p.m. on Nov. 14 – nearly a week after the formula was linked to the outbreak and the company had launched its initial recall on Nov. 8. HHS did not say how many states had information sharing agreements with FDA that allowed them to receive the distribution lists on Nov. 12. The department only said a “majority” of the 50 states and the District of Columbia have the agreements. Alison Young is Healthbeat’s senior national reporter. You can reach her at ayoung@healthbeat.org or through the messaging app Signal at alisonyoungreports.48

The five bills are the largest overhaul to Ohio’s property tax system in decades, and come in response to surging real estate values that have led to spikes in property owners’ tax bills. The post DeWine signs bills overhauling property taxes, cutting taxes by billions  appeared first on Signal Cleveland.

María José Prieto contó que tuvo un peligroso accidente mientras transitaba en scooter por la vía pública. Se trató de una caída que le produjo varias lesiones. La actriz utilizó sus redes sociales para contar su experiencia, donde además compartió algunas imágenes de sus heridas, mayormente moretones y sangrado leve. Según explicó, el accidente se … Continua leyendo "María José Prieto sufrió peligroso accidente en scooter: "Un camión dobló sin señalizar"" The post María José Prieto sufrió peligroso accidente en scooter: "Un camión dobló sin señalizar" appeared first on BioBioChile.

Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest news on Chicago Public Schools. When Anna Vilchez became principal at Steinmetz College Prep four years ago, she had to quickly turn to an unexpected crisis. Since 2018, the high school on Chicago’s Northwest Side had teamed up with the nonprofit Northwest Center as part of Sustainable Community Schools, a partnership between the school district and its teachers union. High-needs campuses and partner nonprofits receive about $500,000 a year to expand family outreach, wraparound student services, and after-school programs. But as Vilchez took over, Steinmetz and Northwest Center were poised to part ways. Their visions for the program were at odds. Meanwhile, the nonprofit struggled to spend the money it received through the initiative. Vilchez set out to salvage the partnership. As Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union gear up to expand the program from 20 to 70 schools in the next two years, their leaders say the initiative has been a boon to high-poverty campuses. It has allowed them to enlist key support staff, offer more programs, and give their communities more of a voice in school decisions. But a Chalkbeat analysis of program spending showed schools and especially their community partners have left more than $6.6 million on the table since 2018. The initiative has also faced leadership and staff turnover, and tensions between schools and their nonprofit partner, which — along with the pandemic’s disruption to its rollout — could help explain why the model hasn’t yet given the 20 pilot schools an edge in improving student outcomes, as a Chalkbeat analysis of academic and school climate metrics found. Clear goals and firm leadership are key to realizing the promise of the community school model, said William Corrin, an expert at the think tank MDRC. “For Chicago, this juncture seems really critical,” he said. “We’re about to create more community schools. So what could we do to set ourselves up to do it better?” ‘There was no blueprint’ for Chicago’s community schools Steinmetz, in a grand building in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood, was exactly the kind of school the district and union were looking for when they negotiated a 20-campus Sustainable Community Schools pilot that started in 2018. A neighborhood campus that serves predominantly low-income Latino students, including many English learners, the school was also already a community hub, with a health clinic and a Parent University. Deja Kirk, a senior at Steinmetz College Prep High School, sings in the school’s recording studio on Dec. 9, 2025, in Chicago. The space is used by students in the music program to create and record original work as part of the school’s STEAM initiatives. Steinmetz teamed up with local nonprofit Northwest Center for its successful bid to join the program. Then COVID hit, disrupting the rollout. Here, as on other campuses, turnover and some resistance from educators and staff have been key hurdles. Jesse Livingston, the resource coordinator with Northwest Center (formerly the Northwest Side Housing Center), said teachers have seen programs and reform efforts come and go over the years, leaving them skeptical that this latest initiative would last. Some have also balked at the idea of engaging students, parents, and the nonprofit in more school decisions. “Our biggest challenge has been adult buy-in,” he said. “Every school community wants to function as a village, but there’s conflict and a clique mentality and old gunky energy.” Earlier on, the school and the nonprofit also didn’t see eye to eye on what the program should accomplish and struggled to understand how the other did business. Angel Hernandez, at the time the school’s program coordinator who also had experience working at a nonprofit, tried to mediate. Lack of guidance and training were big issues, he said. “There was no blueprint,” Hernandez said. “You just had to figure it out as you went along.” Money for community schools initiative left on the table Northwest Center, like other community partners in the program, receives about half of the $500,000 allocated to Steinmetz. But records obtained by Chalkbeat show the nonprofit, and others in the program, are not spending all the money. Livingston said unfilled positions and midyear turnover as well as the district’s cumbersome reimbursement process for vendors have been key challenges. “We’ve gotten better every year,” he said. Data show the nonprofit left more than $142,000 unspent in the first year working at Steinmetz, while last year, they used all but $45,000. Chalkbeat found money went unspent at many of the other 20 schools, though last year they came closer to using all of it. At Beidler Elementary, the school and its partner, Blocks Together, have failed to spend more than 45% of their overall SCS funding so far, which the district attributed to “operational challenges rather than a lack of need.” The union in its last round of contract negotiations won a provision allowing schools to carry over up to $300,000 in unspent SCS dollars to the next year. Spending and staffing data Chalkbeat obtained shows in more recent years, campuses in the program used the money to pay for relatively few staffers. Some principals said rising salary and benefit costs have meant the dollars don’t stretch nearly as much as they did in 2018. The district did not provide data on school staff hired by partner nonprofits. Across the city from Steinmetz, Farragut High School on the Southwest Side used Sustainable Community Schools money to pay for valuable positions, including a college and career coordinator and a youth intervention specialist, principal Virag Nanavati said. But even as the school dipped into non-SCS funds to pay for these staffers, its partner, Enlace Chicago, left more than $75,000 unspent the year before Nanavati started alone. At the time, that meant the money stayed with the district instead of flowing to the school. Nanavati says the nonprofit struggled to staff after-school programs and ran some that were poorly attended. The nonprofit also hired a resource coordinator, an assistant to the resource coordinator, and two counselors, even as the school had to cut staff because of budget woes. Enlace did not respond to a request for comment. The school and Enlace worked to rethink the spending, Nanavati said, pitching in for holiday celebrations that have brought in prospective families and other residents. Farragut also expanded its after-school offerings, offered attendance incentives, and launched a credit recovery program during the school day — initiatives he credits with a dramatic increase in the school’s graduation rate this year. “Your lead partner needs to understand that it’s not their money,” he said he told a principal at one of the 16 schools joining the program this fall. “It’s money to serve students that they help manage.” Overcoming tensions to honor the community schools model In the weeks after she started at Steinmetz, Vilchez spent an entire day with staff at Northwest Center, talking about how to work better together and avert the looming breakup. Vilchez says the partnership with Northwest Center is strong now. The nonprofit oversees the school’s Parent University classes, from yoga to financial literacy to suicide prevention, as well as student after-school programs. It also connects families with key resources, including foreclosure prevention, workshops for first-time home buyers, and help enrolling in public benefits. District officials say they are trying to better prepare schools and partners to work together as 16 new campuses transition into it this school year. The district has spelled out clearer staffing and spending expectations, and provided more training to both schools and nonprofit staff, said Autumn Berg, the district’s community schools initiative director. “There’s always going to be struggle in partnerships,” she said. “It’s a lot like being married. You have to figure out how to work together. You have to figure out how to communicate.” Galadryel Arroyo, a senior at Steinmetz College Prep High School, is pictured on Dec. 9, 2025, in Chicago. She is a member of the school’s mural club, which is part of its STEAM programming. Vilchez says the program is paying off at Steinmetz. The school’s restorative justice work powered by Sustainable Community Schools led to a reduction in more serious student misconduct and suspensions. The say in decisions the model gave students and parents boosted a sense of connectedness to school. This fall, a districtwide student survey captured that greater sense of belonging, she said. But there is still a lot to do, particularly in improving student outcomes. Vilchez said she welcomes the greater focus from the district on how the program is affecting academic and other metrics. “I just hope that they honor what the SCS model is about — giving schools autonomy and flexibility to meet the needs of that specific community,” she said. Mila Koumpilova is Chalkbeat Chicago’s senior reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Mila at mkoumpilova@chalkbeat.org.

Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest news on Chicago Public Schools. Principal Anna Vilchez takes pride in how much Steinmetz College Prep has to offer: More than a dozen student-led after-school programs, from photography to DJing. A 3D printer-equipped engineering lab. Some 30 classes each month through its Parent University. These offerings are paid for through Chicago Public Schools’ Sustainable Community Schools initiative, a joint effort by the district and its teachers union that has given high-poverty schools about $500,000 annually to team up with community nonprofits to provide wraparound support. Vilchez is grateful for the boost. But she also wants to see more gains in the school’s attendance, graduation rate, and test scores — growth similar community school programs have powered in other cities. A Chalkbeat analysis of student outcomes at the 20 schools in the program since 2018 suggests the investments have not yet led to widespread improvement in how likely students are to attend school regularly, graduate from high school, or pass key reading and math tests. This is partly due to the pandemic’s disruption to the rollout, but also a lack of clear goals and guidelines, tensions between schools and their nonprofit partners, and money left unspent, Chalkbeat found. Nevertheless, Chicago Public Schools is more than tripling the number of Sustainable Community Schools to 70 by 2027. The expansion will cost $35 million annually — a major investment at a time when the district is wrestling with budget deficits. Supporters, including Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, say the initiative transforms some of the city’s most disinvested campuses into service-rich neighborhood hubs, bringing needed programs and support staff often seen as givens at higher-income schools. “Schools are successful when every single child has everything that they need,” Johnson said last summer when he announced 16 additional campuses joining the program. “The success of a school is not just based on student outcomes.” But critics say the district should have ensured the model is delivering measurable results before enshrining the expansion into its latest teachers contract. District officials say they are spelling out clearer expectations and giving more guidance to schools, especially the 16 schools joining the initiative this school year. “We’ve learned that giving schools money and partnering them [with nonprofits] does not give them the foundation of how to actually transform their school,” said Autumn Berg, the district’s community schools initiative director. “It took us a long time to get there.” On traditional metrics, Sustainable Community Schools do not outperform Before Steinmetz became a Sustainable Community School in 2018, the campus — which serves predominantly low-income Latino students — had few enrichment programs. And it never consistently gave students and parents a say in what it offered. That changed with the program, which now funds a range of after-school activities, including an after-school K-pop dance club founded by junior Miguel Hernandez. Hernandez, who came to the school as a freshman English learner, is now taking college-level arts classes at Columbia College. He credits much of his growth to the club. “I created a great bond with a lot of people,” he said. Miguel Hernandez, a junior at Steinmetz College Prep High School, practices a dance routine on the school’s auditorium stage on Dec. 9, 2025, in Chicago. Hernandez founded the school’s K-pop dance club and is now taking dual-enrollment dance classes at Columbia College Chicago. Hernandez’ experience reflects a community school promise: Engaging programs created with input from families give students a reason to go to school and do better in their classes. But the model hasn’t yet given most Sustainable Community Schools an edge in attendance and achievement. Chalkbeat compared student metrics over time at the 20 pilot schools to those at 29 campuses that applied to the program but didn’t get in, which have an almost identical average poverty rate to the pilot group and also serve almost exclusively Black and Latino students. The analysis also looked at about 300 campuses with poverty rates of at least 80%, the minimum required to apply to the program. Student outcomes shifted similarly in all three groups since 2018, with the SCS schools seemingly getting little academic boost from the program’s investments. Absenteeism shot up comparably during the pandemic and has remained well above pre-COVID levels, with Sustainable Community Schools struggling slightly more than other high-needs schools. A district analysis last school year obtained by Chalkbeat did find that among students who regularly attend after-school programs at the 20 Sustainable Community Schools, chronic absenteeism was 13 percentage points lower than for their peers in the same school. The pilot schools have also had consistently higher graduation rates than the campuses that didn’t get into the program. But over time, those campuses improved slightly more and narrowed the gap. When it comes to test scores, all three groups saw the same trends on the SAT and the Illinois elementary proficiency test. The Sustainable Community Schools have seen marked reduction in suspensions and, after a COVID-era uptick, in behavioral incidents. But so did other high-poverty schools. On a University of Chicago-designed student and staff survey called 5Essentials, measures of school connectedness and climate have declined districtwide post-COVID. But the 20 pilot schools experienced a steeper drop than other high-needs schools, with almost half getting a rating of weak or very weak in the most recent year for which data was available. And even as program supporters have held it up as a possible antidote to declining enrollment, the 20 Sustainable Community Schools have lost more than a fifth of their enrollment since 2018, while districtwide enrollment dipped about 11%. Students move between classes at Steinmetz College Prep High School in Chicago on Dec. 9, 2025. The school is expanding its STEAM curriculum as part of the district’s Sustainable Community Schools program. At Steinmetz, absenteeism, academic outcomes, and enrollment largely followed these pilot groups trends, with a sharper drop in suspensions than other high-poverty campuses. In recent years, the community schools model has gained traction nationally, though the Trump administration recently cut some community schools grants. Research has shown well-implemented programs can yield measurable student gains. Isaac Opper, a University of California, Los Angeles and RAND School of Public Policy expert who helped evaluate New York City’s community schools program implemented before the pandemic, said that several years in, that initiative had produced attendance gains, graduation rate increases, and modest but notable test score improvements. “If you are seeing no difference, one story is that Sustainable Community Schools isn’t working,” Opper said. “Another is that it is working, but so are other things the district is doing.” But there are outliers. Several schools in Chicago’s initiative have seen student outcomes markedly improve and enrollment stabilize. What they appear to have in common: consistent leadership through the seven years of the program, teacher and staff buy-in, and a clear vision for how to make the most of the added dollars. At Richards High School on the Southwest Side, enrollment is up, graduation rate increases are outpacing the district’s, and absenteeism, though still high, has dipped below pre-pandemic levels. Metcalfe Elementary on the Far South Side saw improvements in test scores and attendance. Its 5Essentials rating rose to the highest possible. Metcalfe Principal Stephen Fabiyi says the program has helped support smaller class sizes in the early grades and a robust, well-attended after-school program that blends enrichment and academic help from the school’s teachers. Getting family input on programs and curricula boosted engagement. “My kids would have a snowball’s chance in hell of being successful in school without Sustainable Community Schools,” Fabiyi said. With Sustainable Community Schools expansion, a promise of more accountability Monique Redeaux-Smith, a former CPS teacher who now works at the Illinois Federation of Teachers and co-chairs the district’s Sustainable Community Schools task force, says that at these high-needs schools with histories of disinvestment, the program is “trying to rebuild after a series of hurricanes.” “I’m not worried about not seeing outcomes,” she said. “I know from having conversations and from seeing and talking to these schools and school stakeholders often that it is making a difference in the experience that young people are having every day.” The model just needs more time, Redeaux-Smith said. Mayor Johnson echoes that sentiment. When pressed about the program’s outcomes, he has brushed aside critics, arguing metrics like test scores have been historically abused to justify disinvestment in neighborhood schools and even their closures. The STEAM Makerspace at Steinmetz College Prep High School is shown on Dec. 9, 2025, in Chicago. The space is used by students for hands-on projects in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math as part of the school’s STEAM program. Dwayne Truss, a former school board member who says he’s a fan of community schools generally, says the Sustainable Community Schools program shouldn’t be growing so much given the lack of measurable results and budget crisis, he said. “It would seem that you would wait until you have the data before you that says this is the greatest thing since sliced bread and go forward with this massive expansion,” Truss said. District leaders say they are working to harness the lessons of the program’s rollout as Chicago grows it in the coming years. CPS and the union have agreed to bring in outside experts to evaluate the program and its outcomes this school year. Officials say there are clearer expectations for the schools and partners, and a longer, more supportive transition into the program. And the district is pushing for a new process whereby schools that don’t meet a set of performance goals — still under discussion — could lose half and eventually all of their SCS funding. Vilchez and other principals say they hope the new push to better track results won’t take away flexibility and the ability to let families and local communities shape the model’s priorities. At the same time, they want the program to power student gains. “I am committed to owning our data,” Vilchez said, ”and working to improve it.” Mila Koumpilova is Chalkbeat Chicago’s senior reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Mila at mkoumpilova@chalkbeat.org.

A former Brown student and longtime mental health journalist says that how institutions respond after traumatic events can shape mental health outcomes for years to come.

O ministro Alexandre de Moraes, do Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), autorizou nesta sexta-feira (12) o ex-presidente Jair Bolsonaro a deixar a prisão para realizar uma cirurgia no Hospital DF Star, em Brasília. A saída não será imediata. A defesa do ex-presidente deverá informar a data prevista para o procedimento.  Notícias relacionadas: PF conclui que Bolsonaro precisa de cirurgia de hérnia. Moraes nega recurso de Bolsonaro contra condenação por trama golpista. Bolsonaro está preso na Superintendência da Polícia Federal (PF), onde cumpre pena definitiva de 27 anos e três meses de prisão pela condenação na ação penal da trama golpista.  A autorização foi concedida pelo ministro após laudo da PF confirmar que o ex-presidente é portador de hérnia inguinal bilateral e necessita de uma cirurgia "o mais rápido possível.  A perícia foi realizada, na quarta-feira (17), na sede do Instituto Nacional de Criminalística, em Brasília. O procedimento foi determinado pelo ministro após a defesa pedir autorização para a cirurgia e solicitar prisão domiciliar em razão do estado de saúde.  Prisão domiciliar Na mesma decisão, Moraes negou novo pedido de prisão domiciliar a Bolsonaro. O ministro disse que o ex-presidente pode receber atendimento médico particular sem autorização judicial e há uma equipe da PF para atendê-lo em caso de emergência. “O réu está custodiado em local de absoluta proximidade com o hospital particular onde realiza atendimentos emergenciais de saúde - mais próximo, inclusive, do que o seu endereço residencial - de modo que não há qualquer prejuízo em caso de eventual necessidade de deslocamento de emergência”, disse Moraes.

Almino Affonso vê lição na punição a militares em 2025 e detalha bastidores, como a traição do general Kruel e o financiamento norte-americano à direita Prisão de militares golpistas em 2025 é ‘lição retrospectiva’ ao Brasil, diz último ministro vivo do governo João Goulart apareceu primeiro no Brasil de Fato.

(The Center Square) - Colorado environmental leaders approved landmark water protections in reaction to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that they believed weakened regulations in Western states. The bipartisan Water Quality Control Commission convened to pass stream and wetland protections that come as the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency pushes for further federal deregulations. “These rules create a robust program for protecting Colorado waters – including wildlife habitat, recreation opportunities, the role that waters play in flood mitigation, cleaning water and actually increasing water supplies,” said Joro Walker, senior attorney at Western Resource Advocates. She also represented wildlife hunting and angling groups in the WQCC process. “All those values that Colorado waters bring to the citizens of the state are essentially being protected by this program.” Walker told The Center Square. The WQCC meeting comes in the middle of a years-long scramble to address critical threats to the Colorado River’s supply. The river provides water to an estimated 40 million people between Colorado, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Mexico and tribal nations. The water is used primarily for agriculture, as well as municipal needs. The nine-person WQCC summit was organized by a 2024 state law, House Bill 1379, which passed the Arizona Senate unanimously with two excused votes and the House with 80% approval. The bipartisan mandate nearly fell apart after nearly 16 months of meetings and public hearings with industry leaders, water providers, farmers and environmental advocacy groups. Just days before the Dec. 8-10 meeting, industry leaders argued the environmentalists were trying to manipulate the law. The new water regulations came in reaction to a landmark 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Sackett v. EPA. It found that the 53-year-old Clean Water Act, foundational to water protections across the U.S., only applied to streams or wetlands that flowed year-round. The specifically worded rule had huge impacts in Western states, such as Colorado, where most water flows seasonally, largely due to snowmelt. “That understanding of the Clean Water Act promises to have a significantly profound effect on particularly western states, or let's say states in the interior West, like Nevada,” said Walker. Under Trump’s second term, the EPA has pushed to dissolve environmental regulations, putting Western water under further pressure. Walker told The Center Square that an estimated 97% of Colorado wetlands and 68% of stream miles will no longer be protected under the updated Clean Water Act. But Colorado’s new state-level regulations would almost entirely cover what the federal government dropped. “The Colorado legislature recognized how important it is to protect waters of the state,” Walker said. Regulation exceptions for waters related to farming and industry, similar to existing regulations before the Sackett decision, will remain. “By 'protect,' it does not mean that there's no development allowed in these waters,” said Walker. Despite the threat to states across the interior West, Walker said she was not too confident most states would follow Colorado’s lead. “Some states won't expand their permitting programs,” said Walker. “Some states don't have the resources or the expertise to do that.” New Mexico has begun the process to adopt similar state-level water regulations, with rule-making set for summer 2026. “I hope that other states will follow suit when they recognize just how important this level of regulation is to the interests of its citizenry,” said Walker. “I mean, what kind of economic activity or quality of life can you have without water?” While sometimes only seasonal, waterways connect. In Colorado, many find their way to the Colorado River. “One of the things that this Colorado program is helping to secure is that the water that eventually makes its way into the Colorado River will be cleaner,” said Walker. She added later, Wetlands also improve flows, not just water quality – but also water quantity. Colorado is doing its part to protect the Colorado River with this program.” The Colorado River, as the region’s main water source, currently faces an historic 25-year drought that threatens many major Western cities. Roughly half of Denver’s water comes from Colorado River tributaries, according to Denver Water. The drought has been characterized by low river flows – 30% lower than a century ago – and excessive water consumption by the seven states and Mexico that the river runs through. One month prior to Colorado’s WQCC summit, the seven Colorado River states missed a federal deadline in November to submit a first draft plan for new, reduced water usage guidelines. The federal government has told the Colorado River parties they must now reach a preliminary decision by Feb. 14. “We will find a way forward; long-term partners always do, but the path ahead may require us to evolve,” said Gene Shawcroft, president of the Colorado River Water Users Association. Colorado River states met at the annual CRWUA conference this week in Las Vegas to work on the soon-approaching deadline. Again, no decision was made on the Colorado River’s future.

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice began releasing thousands of records Friday related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, but questions remained over whether officials will meet the requirements of a law overwhelmingly backed by both Republicans and Democrats and signed by President Donald Trump. The department posted four data sets of images and documents […]

بازداشت‌ شرکت‌کنندگان مراسم خسرو علیکردی؛ تصویب قطعنامه حقوق بشری علیه جمهوری اسلامی

La Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos ordena al Estado mexicano a continuar las investigaciones por el feminicidio, evaluar las políticas de atención y prevención de violencia contra las mujeres, y adoptar las medidas normativas pertinentes para garantizar los derechos de los hijos e hijas menores de 18 años de edad de víctimas de feminicidio La entrada México es responsable por el feminicidio de Lilia Alejandra, hija de Norma Andrade: CoIDH aparece primero en LADO B.

Na inauguração da ponte Internacional da Integração Brasil-Paraguai, em Foz do Iguaçu, no Paraná, na fronteira com o país vizinho, o presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva lamentou que há países que, ao invés de pontes, constroem muros. “Tem gente querendo fazer guerra para não permitir que o outro passe pro seu lado. Nós aqui, sul-americanos, paraguaios e brasileiros, queremos dizer ao mundo que nós somos da paz”. A Ponte da Integração tem 760 metros de extensão e um vão-livre de 470 metros, o maior do continente, além de duas pistas simples com 3,6 metros de largura cada. A ponte liga Foz do Iguaçu à cidade paraguaia de Presidente Franco. Notícias relacionadas: Lula inaugura ponte que liga Tocantins e Pará sobre o Rio Araguaia. Brasil e Paraguai retomam em dezembro negociações sobre Itaipu. Lula defende que catadores tenham mais acesso à serviços públicos. Lula disse que o presidente do Paraguai, Santiago Peña, vai inaugurar a parte da obra no país vizinho no sábado (20). O presidente brasileiro garantiu as presenças de equipes da  Polícia Federal (PF), da Polícia Rodoviária Federal (PRF) e da Receita Federal. Ele explicou que a implementação gradual do tráfego tem relação com a infraestrutura do lado paraguaio.  Lula afirmou que há entusiasmo pelos dois países porque a via vai possibilitar o incremento do comércio. “Vão transitar bilhões de dólares de interesse da economia brasileira e de interesse da economia paraguaia”, afirmou Lula. Investimento  A estrutura do tipo estaiada é sustentada por duas torres de 190 metros de altura, o equivalente a edifícios de aproximadamente 54 andares. A obra, que contou com recursos do Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento (PAC), teve investimento de R$ 1,9 bilhão dos dois países e terá o tráfego liberado de forma gradual. Nessa primeira fase, para caminhões sem carga nos dois sentidos. A obra financiada pelo governo brasileiro foi com recursos da Itaipu Binacional na ordem de R$ 712 milhões. Desse total, R$ 372 milhões foram destinados à construção da ponte estaiada, enquanto R$ 340 milhões foram aplicados nas obras da Perimetral Leste até novembro de 2025.  O governo explicou que o modelo foi tripartite, com a participação do Departamento Nacional de Infraestrutura de Transportes (DNIT) como órgão proprietário. O governo do Paraná foi o executor e Itaipu Binacional, como responsável pelo repasse dos recursos. A estrutura tornou-se prioridade estratégica, integrada ao PAC, em 2012. Foram lançados os editais de licitação em 2012 e 2014, além da condução de todo o processo de licenciamento ambiental e projetos de engenharia que resultaram na licença ambiental emitida pelo Ibama em fevereiro de 2017.  Após a estruturação institucional que definiu Itaipu como agente financiador em 2018, a construção teve início em 2019 até a conclusão física, em outubro de 2023. O evento marcou a entrega da segunda ligação viária sobre o Rio Paraná entre as duas nações, seis décadas depois da inauguração da Ponte da Amizade. Hoje, a única conexão viária entre os dois países na região recebe um fluxo diário de 100 mil pessoas e 45 mil veículos, segundo a Receita Federal. Ponte da Integração Brasil–Paraguai - Foto: Ricardo Stuckert/PR A nova rodovia reorganiza o fluxo de veículos pesados na região, contribui para a mobilidade urbana e a segurança viária. Com 14,7 quilômetros de extensão, a via conecta a BR-277 à ponte, desviando o tráfego de caminhões do centro urbano de Foz do Iguaçu.  Segundo o governo federal, a entrada em operação ocorrerá de forma gradual para garantir a segurança e a adaptação dos órgãos de fiscalização. Na etapa inicial, a travessia será apenas para caminhões descarregados, conhecidos como “em lastro”, seguindo horários específicos coordenados pela Receita Federal e Polícia Rodoviária Federal.  Os ônibus de turismo fretados serão autorizados a trafegar "em breve". A liberação total para veículos de carga está prevista para ocorrer entre o fim de 2026 e o início de 2027, condicionada à conclusão do Corredor Metropolitano del Este, no lado paraguaio, que garantirá a plena infraestrutura de acesso.

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice began releasing thousands of records Friday related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, but questions remained over whether officials will meet the requirements of a law overwhelmingly backed by both Republicans and Democrats and signed by President Donald Trump. The department posted four data sets of images and documents […]

LEXINGTON — A University of Kentucky law professor who was removed from his teaching duties after posting an online petition calling for military action against Israel appeared in federal court Friday as a judge weighs allowing him to return to the classroom.  Ramsi Woodcock, the professor, filed the lawsuit in November, seeking to be returned […]