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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency expressed preliminary support on Thursday for the end of New Hampshire’s vehicle inspection and emissions testing program, which ceased early this year. The agency shared two proposals on Thursday. One would grant New Hampshire’s petition to withdraw from the Ozone Transport Region, a regional air pollution organization; another would remove […]

Announcing a pause on more than $1 billion in Medicaid funding to Minnesota and California last month, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz accused state officials of being too lax about fraud, citing among other things the results of a provider verification process in Minnesota and the rapid growth of a California home care program. But he left out important context in both cases. The post Oz’s Medicaid Fraud Claims About California and Minnesota Lack Context appeared first on FactCheck.org.

Game night host Lou Harry combed through more than 500 new games to find the top dice-rolling goods. The post 14 of the best, non-intimidating games of Gen Con 2026 appeared first on Mirror Indy.

Num encontro obscuro com 60 governos, Trump lança nova cruzada. Ingredientes: suscitar fantasmas como a Internacional Antifa; ampliar a guerra cultural ultraconservadora e implodir o direito internacional. Objetivo: eternizar direita na América Latina The post Doutrina Donroe: a próxima etapa appeared first on Outras Palavras.

"The problem is significant enough that we are now conducting a formal survey of our membership to document the full scope of housing instability and homelessness among city workers. That should concern anyone who relies on city services—which is everyone." The post Opinion: Who Can Afford to Work for New York City? appeared first on City Limits.

Городской совет Вестминстера обсуждает запрет на «вертикальное потребление алкоголя» в пабах, пишет The Guardian. В его юрисдикцию входит один из самых оживленных районов ночной жизни Лондона, Вест-Энд, который включает в себя Сохо.

The League of Women Voters is hosting an informative discussion Aug. 8 in Fort Worth.

Don’t stay cooped up this Leo Season; let out your inner lion at some of these creative and energetic Southern California destinations. The post 5 SoCal escapes to launch Leo Season appeared first on Good Info Newswire.

Sign up for Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter to get the latest reporting from us, plus curated news from other Colorado outlets, delivered to your inbox.Officials in Montezuma-Cortez, a small school district in southwestern Colorado, could have chosen a new elementary reading curriculum from more than 20 state-approved options. Instead, with little public discussion this summer, they picked one called Bluebonnet. It’s described as being “built for Texas students” and has drawn fierce criticism from some Texans for containing Biblically infused lessons. Kindergartners learn about the days of Creation in the Book of Genesis. First graders learn about the Parable of the Prodigal Son and fifth graders learn about Biblical allegories in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” by C.S. Lewis. The curriculum adoption in Montezuma-Cortez is the latest chapter in an ongoing debate about what kind of religious content belongs in American public schools. It also raises questions about why a low-performing district is using a controversial reading curriculum that wasn’t vetted by state evaluators and didn’t go through a public review process or school board vote. Montezuma-Cortez leaders picked Bluebonnet because the district recently adopted a school reform model from the Houston school district, which approved Bluebonnet this summer. Houston Superintendent Mike Miles, a former Colorado charter school founder, created the school improvement model Montezuma-Cortez is using. Called “New Education System,” it emphasizes explicit teacher-led instruction, keeping students engaged, and training for teachers and principals. With the help of consultants, Montezuma-Cortez will use the reform strategy at its three elementary schools starting this fall. Colorado is a local control state and school districts don’t have to use state-approved reading programs, but most do. A spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Education said districts that don’t use state-approved curriculum must ensure the programs are evidence-based and meet state academic standards. Superintendent Eddie Ramirez and six of seven Montezuma-Cortez school board members didn’t respond to requests for comment about Bluebonnet. Justin Schmitt, the district’s executive director of academic success, offered to talk by phone on Tuesday, but didn’t respond to follow-up emails to schedule the interview.Board member Mike Lynch said by email Tuesday that the district is following Houston’s lead on curriculum because of that district’s “rapid and phenomenal turnaround history.” “I want that outcome for my district,” he said. Students in Houston schools that are part of the New Education System made significant gains on state tests in the last few years. Lynch said he doesn’t know if Bluebonnet is evidence-based or how well it matches Colorado standards. “In my opinion, we need to concentrate on teaching our kids how to read and do math,” he said. “Then we can worry more about matching the Colorado standards.”Lynch also said he didn’t have enough information to form an opinion about Bluebonnet’s Biblically infused lessons. “There is a difference between containing references from the Bible and teaching the Bible. There is also … number of occurrences, or degree of infusion,” he said. “I don’t know about those facts yet.”Controversial from the beginningThe State of Texas developed Bluebonnet a few years ago by adapting an existing reading curriculum from the company Amplify. Despite criticism from religious scholars and advocates for church-state separation, Bluebonnet was narrowly approved by the Texas State Board of Education in 2024. Texas districts aren’t required to adopt it, but they get financial incentives from the state if they do. Mark Chancey, a religious studies professor at Southern Methodist University, said the problem with Bluebonnet is not that it includes religion but that its treatment of religion is not well done. It mischaracterizes some Bible stories, presents some too literalistically, and gives scant attention to religious traditions outside of Christianity, he said. A second grade lesson on Esther, a Persian queen from the Bible, suggests she acted based on her faith in God and portrays her as a champion of non-violence for helping save the Jews. But Chancey said the Book of Esther famously doesn’t mention God and that Bluebonnet fails to mention that Esther promotes killing enemies of the Jews at the end of the Bible story.Chancey said some Biblical content in Bluebonnet is not appropriate for the grade where it’s introduced. “Is a 5-year-old going to say, ‘I’m so thankful that we’re learning about a creation story from Genesis for the sake of cultural literacy, but I understand that people interpret this differently, and not everybody accepts that it’s scientifically and historically accurate,’” he said. “I don’t think many 5-year-olds are going to think that way,” he said. Brent Strawn, a religion and law professor at Duke University, said knowing Bible stories and passages can give students a more nuanced understanding of everything from Shakespeare’s plays to pop music to common idioms, like “the apple of my eye.” “You could make a case that reading the Bible, having some familiarity with the Bible, could help you as a kind of interpreter of cultural references,” said Strawn.But he also worries that this rationale can be used to bring Biblical content into public schools when the real goal is to instill children with Christian values and beliefs. “I’m … in favor of all Christian values. I’m an ordained minister,” he said, “But the question is whether that’s legal, and most people would say that’s not legal according to the establishment clause of the Constitution.”That clause bars the government from promoting or prescribing one religion over others.Strawn has not reviewed the Bluebonnet curriculum. A sudden pivot, little public discussionWhen officials in the 2,200-student Montezuma-Cortez district adopted Houston’s school improvement model last spring, the goal was to improve elementary students’ academic performance. One of three district-run elementary schools performs well above the state average on state literacy and math tests, but the other two perform far below. District leaders originally planned to use a Colorado-approved reading curriculum as part of the improvement effort: Core Knowledge Language Arts. The school board approved a curriculum-use agreement with the Houston district in May that referenced that program. But when Houston opted, despite opposition from some parents and faith leaders, to switch to Bluebonnet in June, Montezuma-Cortez officials quickly followed suit with no school board vote.The two curriculums are related but not the same. Bluebonnet was developed from Core Knowledge Language Arts as its foundation but has been adapted over time, said Kristine Frech-Barstow, senior vice president of corporate communications at Amplify, by email. As a result, the curriculums are different and Colorado’s approval of Core Knowledge Language Arts doesn’t ensure Bluebonnet would also be approved, she said. Ericka Burns, a consultant from the Colorado Springs-based firm Education Partners, said during a July 21 Montezuma-Cortez school board meeting that using the same curriculum as Houston makes it easier to use Houston’s school improvement model, but that it’s not necessary. “​​We implement the instructional model regardless of curriculum,” she said. Education Partners will receive $300,000 to help Montezuma-Cortez with the school improvement effort. Bluebonnet materials include numerous mentions of Texas history and civics. For example, kindergarten lessons talk about the Texas flag, the Texas state capital building, the Texas Pledge of Allegiance, and famous Texans like Sam Houston.In June, the Texas Education Agency announced it’s spending $8 million to fix thousands of errors in the curriculum, including typos, formatting problems, and copyright violations. Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

One of the arguments made for legalizing marijuana has little to do with marijuana itself. Instead, it is presented as another potential source of tax revenue. That approach misses a much larger point, though. Governments are almost always searching for additional money to support additional spending. Whether the proposed tax is on marijuana, gambling, vaping, […]

Explore new art exhibits or purchase handmade art at local markets.

The hospital system’s board of trustees voted to close the Damariscotta hospital’s birthing center on Thursday. It promised no additional closures in the next two years.

El Tribunal Noveno de Sentencia ordenó una evaluación médico-forense al fundador de elPeriódico antes de resolver su solicitud para salir del país por motivos de salud. Aunque el Ministerio Público no se opuso al permiso, las juezas decidieron esperar un dictamen del Inacif para tomar la decisión. Por Alexander Valdéz  El periodista y fundador de ... Read more The post Tribunal ordena informe del Inacif para resolver solicitud de viaje de  Zamora  appeared first on Prensa Comunitaria.

La formación de Abascal aleja por ahora el fantasma de la ruptura con los populares, después de que reconocieran que sus comunidades “cumplirán la ley” y aceptarán el traslado a la Península de los menores migrantes llegados a Ceuta en su mayor crisis migratoria.

Падзеі 7 жніўня ў Беларусі, сьвеце, гісторыі.

Democrats from Colorado are urging U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring a floor vote on a measure to ban members of Congress, the president and vice president from trading stocks.  The letter signed by more than 30 House Democrats follows the July passage of the Stop Insider Trading Act, which would restrict members of […]

El parque dejó de recibir visitantes hace meses. Sin embargo, Solei, Oceanía, Mincho, Diego, Squalo, Flex, Apolo, Solomon y Satu siguen allí. Los nueve delfines permanecen en las instalaciones que la empresa turística Dolphin Discovery operaba en Ventura Park, en Cancún. Allí comparten algo más que las albercas de concreto donde viven en cautiverio: varios […]

Montana is among the first states enforcing new federal Medicaid work requirements. Because homelessness isn't an automatic exemption, advocates fear people with the greatest health needs could lose coverage over paperwork and bureaucratic hurdles. The post Medicaid work rule leaves homeless people in the cold appeared first on Montana Free Press.

漢光42號實兵演習6日進入第2天，北部地區重點為淡江大橋首度封橋阻絕演練。淡江大橋6日晚8點夜間封閉 配合漢光42號實兵演習阻絕演練封橋10個小時。法新社6日報道，在模擬中國潛在入侵戰略，台灣封鎖了一座戰略橋樑，工兵部隊在橋上設了三道防線。

汉光42号实兵演习6日进入第2天，北部地区重点为淡江大桥首度封桥阻绝演练。淡江大桥6日晚8点夜间封闭 配合汉光42号实兵演习阻绝演练封桥10个小时。法新社6日报道，在模拟中国潜在入侵战略，台湾封锁了一座战略桥梁，工兵部队在桥上设了三道防线。