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DeSantis sues Biden administration over university accrediting system

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:36 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that the state has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration and the U.S. Department of Education over accreditation agencies, which control federal aid for students.The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale federal court, challenges a federal law that requires colleges and universities to submit to private accreditors to qualify for federal funding. It targets the U.S. Department of Education, Secretary Miguel Cardona and other federal officials.DeSantis, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said refuses “to bow to unaccountable accreditors who think they should run Florida’s public universities.”“We’re asking the court to find this arrangement to be unconstitutional,” DeSantis said.Under federal law, the private accrediting agencies decide which universities and colleges are eligible for approximately $112 billion in federal funding. The agencies provide a standard of re...

AMBER Alert canceled after 4-year-old girl found safe in western Mass. following alleged kidnapping

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:36 GMT

Massachusetts State Police say a 4-year-old girl who was allegedly kidnapped by her non-custodial, biological mother in Springfield has been found safe in Berkshire County.According to an update from the MSP Twitter account just before noon, authorities say Cortana Goncalves was found safe in Cheshire, Mass.An AMBER Alert was activated at 11:30 a.m. after MSP officials said Goncalves was kidnapped in Springfield by her biological mother, Brandee Arnold, 32, who was last seen in Blandford, Mass. around 9:30 a.m. on the Mass Pike.In another update, MSP spokesperson Dave Procopio said Goncalves was found unharmed and with her mother.“The child and mother were located by MSP patrols inside a trailer at a trailer park on Fifth Avenue in Cheshire,” Procopio stated. “The mother/suspect, BRANDEE ARNOLD, 32[,] is in custody and will be transported to Springfield Police, who have jurisdiction over the kidnapping incident.”

Wife of missing submersible pilot is a descendant from Titanic couple who perished

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:36 GMT

(CNN) — Wendy Rush, the wife the executive who piloted the submersible that has been the subject of a desperate search after it went missing during a dive to the Titanic wreckage, has a personal connection to the ship.Rush is the is the great-great granddaughter of retailing magnate Isidor Straus and his wife, Ida, who were part of the group of more than 1500 people who died during the Titanic’s maiden voyage, according to New York Times archive records.The couple were fictionalized by Lew Palter as Isidor and Elsa Raven as Ida in the Oscar-winning 1997 film “Titanic,” directed by James Cameron.An image from the 1997 movie “Titanic.” Credit: Paramount PicturesWhile several of the scenes focusing on them in the movie were cut, a scene featuring the characters clutching each other on a bed as the ship went down became notably memorable.In reality the couple, who were traveling first class back home to the United States from their native G...

Portion of Green Line to close for 12 days in July to replace track where trolley derailed last week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:36 GMT

A defective stretch of the Green Line near Packard’s Corner in Allston will be closed for 12 days in July in order for crews to fully replace the track, the MBTA announced Thursday.Shuttle buses will replace Green Line trains between Kenmore and Boston College from July 17 through July 28, more than a week after the Sumner Tunnel’s summer-long closure goes into place, presenting even more challenges to Boston’s transit network.The project on the Green Line’s B Branch already had been scheduled for this summer, but officials say they decided to accelerate the timeline after a trolley derailed near Packard’s Corner on June 12.Roughly 30 passengers were aboard when the derailment occurred that afternoon before safely exiting the westbound train, without injury.“The recent derailment is a stark reminder that we have work to do, and accelerating this work when schools are out is the best way to address a long-standing issue,” MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said in a release. “This 12-d...

China formally protests Biden’s depiction of its leader as an out-of-touch ‘dictator’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:36 GMT

By SYLVIE CORBET and ELLEN KNICKMEYER (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — China said Thursday it had registered a formal protest over President Joe Biden’s reference to Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a “dictator,” while Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stressed the critical importance of the two rival powers maintaining relations despite their disagreements.Biden’s remarks at a 2024 reelection fundraiser Tuesday opened a new rift just after Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a visit to Beijing that was meant as a step toward stabilizing ties and improving communications with China.Biden called the Chinese president a dictator, depicted him as out-of-touch during last winter’s tumult over a Chinese spy balloon, and dismissed China as having “real economic difficulties.”China’s embassy in Washington said it had delivered a formal protest, with Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng telling senior White House and State Department officia...

Get an AMBER Alert? ‘Kidnapped’ Springfield-area girl has already been located, Massachusetts State Police say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:36 GMT

Within a half hour of phones buzzing throughout Massachusetts, the 4-year-old Springfield girl the State Police issued an Amber Alert for has been located.Cortana Goncalves, who the State Police said was kidnapped by her “non-custodial biological mother” at a family gathering earlier Thursday morning, was located just before noon at a mobile home park on Fifth Avenue in Cheshire.The child was found with the mother, Brandee Arnold, 32, inside a trailer in the park. Arnold was arrested by the State Police troopers and will be transported to the custody of the Springfield Police Department, which has jurisdiction over kidnapping, according to the Massachusetts State Police.The State Police issued the Amber Alert sometime after 11:20 a.m., and it showed up on this reporter’s phone at around 11:45 a.m.State Police say that Arnold took Cortana away from a family gathering Thursday morning against the specifications of her custody agreement.“Arnold has previously ma...

7 hospitalized, 80 to 90 fans injured by hail at Louis Tomlinson concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:36 GMT

A severe solstice hailstorm inflicted bloody cuts and broke concertgoers’ bones amid mayhem at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison on Wednesday night — among other severe-weather impacts along Colorado’s urban Front Range — raising anxieties about future extreme weather and the challenge of providing warnings as early as possible.At least seven people were hospitalized with injuries sustained at the Louis Tomlinson concert. The injuries requiring hospitalization included cuts and broken bones, according to West Metro Fire Rescue postings on Twitter.Between 80 and 90 other people who suffered lacerations and bruises were treated by paramedics and medical personnel at the venue, West Metro Fire officials said.UPDATE: Red Rocks hail storm- 7 people transported to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. A total of 80 to 90 people treated on scene. Injuries include cuts and broken bones. Sporadic hail still coming down in Morrison area. @StadiumMedical p...

An inside look at 'The Friends Experience'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:36 GMT

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Fans of a 90s sitcom that's imprinted the hearts of many will soon have an opportunity to relive those nostalgic moments in a new interactive experience.It all starts at the Central Perk cafe, where "Friends" Rachel Green, Monica Geller, Phoebe Buffay, Joey Tribbiani, Chandler Bing and Ross Geller have spent many hours hanging out with mugs of caffeine in hand.But this coffee shop isn't located at on W86th St. between Columbus Ave. and Broadway in New York City. Instead, this gathering place can be found just north of Long Beach at 4661 Silva St. in Lakewood. This rotating house in San Diego is a spinning spectacle Dubbed "The FRIENDS Experience," fans can immerse themselves in the world of that quirky friend group by exploring interactive set recreations. For instance, there will be a chance to plop down on that iconic orange couch inside Central Perk. After that, fans can head on over to Rachel and Monica's apartment to talk life and love in their kitchen. ...

‘Debris field’ found during search for missing Titanic submersible: U.S. Coast Guard

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:36 GMT

The search for a submersible carrying five people took a grim turn Thursday as the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that a “debris field” was discovered by a remotely operated vehicle near the wreck of the Titanic.The brief coast guard statement said experts were evaluating the find, but no other details were released.The submersible Titan, operated by U.S.-based OceanGate Expeditions, lost contact with surface vessels on Sunday morning as it was nearing the famous shipwreck during a 3,800-metre dive that usually takes about two hours.Since then, a massive international search effort has been assembling about 700 kilometres southeast of Newfoundland. The search reached a critical stage Thursday as the small vessel’s air supply was believed to be running low, but that looming deadline assumed the submersible was still intact.American authorities have said “banging sounds” were detected in the search area on Tuesday and Wednesday, though the cause was unclear.As the search...

May home sales inch higher with record-few on the market and biggest annual price drop since 2011

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:36 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes edged higher in May and the national median sale price posted its biggest annual drop in more than a decade, even as the supply of available properties sank to an all-time low.Existing home sales rose 0.2% last month from April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.3 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That’s slightly above what economists were expecting, according to FactSet.Sales sank 20.4% compared with May last year. That marks 10 consecutive months of annual sales declines of 20% or more. The annual drop was steepest in markets across the West and Northeast, where sales slumped more than 25%. The national median home price fell 3.1% from May last year to $396,100, the NAR said. The year-over-year decline is the biggest since December 2011, when the housing market was still on the mend following the mid-2000s housing bust.The latest housing market figures are more evidence that even with pric...