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This school reopened quickly after COVID. Kids’ reading was still behind

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

COLUMBUS, Kan. (AP) — Students spread out in their rural Kansas classroom, answering questions with a partner about invaders atop elephants attempting to sack Rome more than 2,000 years ago.“Do you want to read?” one of the third graders, Parker, asked his partner after the lesson on the Punic Wars. “Because I’m not really good.”Bekah Noel told her students to jot down answers for their partners if they needed extra help writing or spelling. Halfway through the school year, with some of her students reading nearly 200 words per minute and others struggling to sound out around 10, she has had to make a lot of tweaks like this.Exiting from the pandemic, the assumption might be that Noel’s students should be among the least scathed. The tiny, 900-student school system in Columbus pivoted to remote learning briefly in March 2020 before going back in person that fall, initially without masks. While some U.S. students spent a year or more learning online, pandemic school in rural Kansas w...

Nuggets in command of NBA final, top Heat 108-95 for 3-1 series lead

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — The mission for the Denver Nuggets was clear: Come to Miami, get two wins and head back home with a chance to finally become NBA champions.It’s officially there for the taking.The 47-year wait for Denver might be over as soon as Monday, with Nikola Jokic and his Nuggets now just one win away from getting the title that he’s wanted for so long. Aaron Gordon scored 27 points, Jokic added 23 and the Nuggets beat the Miami Heat 108-95 on Friday night to take a 3-1 lead in the NBA final..“We haven’t done a damn thing yet,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “We have to win another game to be world champions.”Bruce Brown scored 21 off the bench for the Nuggets, who won their fifth straight road game to grab complete command. They’ll have three chances to win one game for a title. Two are in Denver and a raucous atmosphere is expected in Monday’s Game 5.Jamal Murray of Kitchener, Ont., had 15 points and 12 assists — his fourth consecutive double-digit assist ...

Runway closed at Tokyo’s Haneda airport after 2 planes bump into each other

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Two passenger planes bumped into each other on a runway at a major Tokyo airport Saturday but no injuries were reported, Japanese media reports said.A Thai Airways International jet headed to Bangkok accidentally hit an Eva Airways plane headed to Taipei at Haneda airport and the runway was subsequently closed and some flights were delayed, the reports said.Footage broadcast by TBS TV News showed two commercial jets stopped on the same runway.The airlines, the airport and Japan’s Transport Ministry were not immediately available for comment and did not answer repeated calls.The cause of the accident was not clear.A winglet on the Thai Airways plane appeared to have been damaged, according to photographs and media reports. Winglets are the vertical projections on the tip of the wing that reduce drag.The Associated Press

IQF frozen Whole Raspberries and Antioxidant Blend recalled for norovirus risk

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall for two kinds of Alasko brand IQF frozen fruit due to a possible norovirus contamination.The recall covers IQF Whole Raspberries and IQF Antioxidant Blend in one and five kilogram packages.The affected raspberries have a best before date of Aug. 15, 2024, and the Antioxidant Blend’s best before date is Oct. 11, 2023.The frozen fruit was distributed throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario.There have been reports of illnesses linked to the fruit, and the CFIA is conducting a food safety investigation, which may lead to the recall of other products.The agency notes that people with norovirus illness usually develop symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach cramps within 24 to 48 hours, but possibly as early as 12 hours.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2023.The Canadian Press

Cracked floors, bowed walls: Many warnings but no action at Iowa building before deadly collapse

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — So many people knew something wasn’t right at the 116-year-old Davenport apartment building.The structural engineer who documented the shaky wall. The head of a masonry company who wouldn’t let his workers onto the site. The city inspector who threatened to close some units. A downtown official who called 911 and asked firefighters to take a look. And tenants who told of cracks in their floors and walls.But no one ordered residents out, and it was only when a section of the six-story brick, steel and concrete building tumbled to the ground on the afternoon of May 28 that everyone seemed to connect the dots. Three men were dead, about 50 tenants were left homeless without their possessions and the city was faced with one of its taller buildings at risk of crumbling in the heart of its downtown.Asked days after the collapse why residents hadn’t been warned, Davenport Mayor Mike Matson said, “I don’t know that anyone can anticipate a building collapsing.” Tenant...

Nebraska Legislature as reality TV, featuring filibuster and culture war drama

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Mention televised legislative debates, and what may come to mind are stuffy, policy-wonk discussions broadcast by C-SPAN. This year’s Nebraska Legislature was more like a reality TV show, with culture-war rhetoric, open hostility among lawmakers, name-calling, yelling and more. Many Nebraskans couldn’t get enough of it. “It was addictive,” said Jamie Bonkiewicz, 41, of Omaha. “If I wasn’t there, I was streaming it every day, just to hear what would come out of those senators’ mouths.”Watching on television, streaming on computers and phones, following along in their cars, Nebraskans seemed captivated by what was easily one of the body’s most acrimonious sessions on record.“Watching the Nebraska Legislature is like watching the worst train wreck that won’t end and the hits just keep coming,” Megan Moslander of Omaha tweeted when lawmakers triggered a constitutional challenge by combining restrictions on abortion and trangender health care into a...

Pride is back in Boston as parade returns after quarrel over inclusivity

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The biggest Pride parade in New England returns to Boston after a three-year hiatus Saturday, with a fresh focus on social justice and inclusion rather than corporate backing.About 10,000 marchers signed up before registration was shut down, according to organizers. Employee groups are welcome to march, but corporations aren’t. “We really did start by looking forward to how we could best serve the LGBTQ community in greater Boston and really all across New England,” said Jo Trigilio, vice president of Boston Pride for the People.One of the oldest Pride events in the country, this year’s parade will travel a bit shorter route than in past years, beginning at Copley Square and ending at Boston Common with a festival for families, teens and older community members. A second event for the over-21 crowd will take place on City Hall Plaza and include alcohol, a disc jockey and dancing.This marks Boston’s first Pride parade since 2019. The hiatus began with ...

Kiszla: Nikola Jokic watches with Nuggets Nation as teammates carry him to within one victory of championship dream come true

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

MIAMI —  For 56 years, from the first game the Rockets rolled out that red, white and blue ABA basketball to the first time Nikola Jokic’s magic made us believe it was no longer an impossible dream, everybody who loves hoops in Colorado has been waiting for this day.The Nuggets are coming home to claim a championship.And you better believe there’s no stopping them now.Denver beat the Heat 108-95 to take a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals and move one victory away from the first championship in franchise history.“Let’s go Nuggets!” chanted feisty fans from Colorado, shaking South Florida with Rocky Mountain thunder, while staging a takeover of the Kaseya Center.And on this Friday night, the Nuggets did it without Jokic being their most dominant player.“We are not scared of the moment,” Jokic said.Although Jokic finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds, he did not score in the final 18 minutes, 29 seconds, of Game 4. sitting in foul trouble dur...

PHOTOS: Denver Nuggets beat Miami Heat in NBA Finals Game 4

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

The Denver Nuggets beat the Miami Heat 108-95 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Friday, June 9, 2023. Game 5 moves back to Denver on Monday night with the Nuggets one win away from their first NBA title.Related ArticlesDenver Nuggets | Kiszla: Nikola Jokic watches with Nuggets Nation as teammates carry him to within one victory of championship dream come true Denver Nuggets | Keeler: How did Nuggets’ Aaron Gordon beat the Heat in NBA Finals? By being coolest shooter of Game 4. Denver Nuggets | Nuggets-Heat Game 4 superlatives: Denver on verge of NBA championship thanks to non-Jokic minutes late Denver Nuggets | Gritty Nuggets stymie Heat in fourth quarter to take commanding 3-1 lead in NBA Finals Denver Nuggets | Nuggets 3-pointers: Bam Adebayo, that flop you pulled on Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic deserved a yellow card

Authorities arrest man after high-speed chase in L.A.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:46 GMT

A man was arrested after a dangerous high-speed chase in Los Angeles near Boyle Heights on Friday. During the pursuit, the suspect was driving a reported stolen light-colored Hyundai Elantra. Sky5 video shows the driver swerving through several lanes at high speeds over 100 miles per hour, barely missing other cars on the freeway. The driver then exits the highway, pulls into a dead end in an apartment complex and jumps out of the car. He was detained by California Highway Patrol authorities after a brief pursuit on foot.