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You Paid For It - Push for state audit of Francis Howell School District

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. - The Francis Howell School District in St. Charles County is due to release what could be a stunning internal audit this week on the tens of millions it spent over budget for school improvements.The audit is intended to explain some spending questions, like the construction project at Francis Howell North High School, which was supposed to cost $86.3 million but instead ended up costing nearly $164.7 million.The internal audit will be released at Thursday’s public school board meeting. It’s intended to explain just how the spending of Proposition S funds was so far off track. Top story: Hermann officer dead, 1 injured after Sunday shooting Prop S was a $244 million tax measure passed by voters to improve schools in the district, with the biggest being the high school.When the cost of the development was unattainable, it threatened funds for other projects that had to be put on hold because there wasn’t enough money.One school board member is not satisfied ...

Former Rep. Pat Schroeder, pioneer for women’s rights, dies at 82

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

WASHINGTON — Former U.S. Rep. Pat Schroeder, a pioneer for women’s and family rights in Congress, died Monday night. She was 82.Schroeder’s former press secretary, Andrea Camp, said Schroeder suffered a stroke recently and died at a hospital in Florida, the state where she had been residing.Schroeder took on the powerful elite with her rapier wit and antics for 24 years, shaking up stodgy government institutions by forcing them to acknowledge that women had a role in government.Her unorthodox methods cost her important committee posts, but Schroeder said she wasn’t willing to join what she called “the good old boys’ club″ just to score political points. Unafraid of embarrassing her congressional colleagues in public, she became an icon for the feminist movement.Schroeder was elected to Congress in Colorado in 1972 and became one of its most influential Democrats as she won easy reelection 11 times from her safe district in Denver. Despite her seniority, she was never app...

Protests outside Orange County elementary school after 10-year-old girl target of alleged racist remarks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

Family and supporters of a 10-year-old girl who was allegedly the target of racist remarks by another student have been protesting outside an Orange County school. While they say school officials are not treating the incident seriously enough, there were others at the protest unhappy about how the girl’s mom has handled the situation.  Jasmine Harris claims her daughter, Paris, who is Black, was subjected to a racist comment earlier this month by a fellow student, a 10-year-old Latino boy, at Santiago Elementary School in Santa Ana. "The principal called me while I was at work, she told me that at lunch...Paris was just playing with her friends...and this little boy just came up to her, swinging a jump rope at her, trying to hit her, telling her, ‘Go back to work, you slave,’” Harris told KTLA.  She says that she got even more upset with school administrators when she asked what they planned to do about the situation and officials said they could not tell her what would be...

Seedy Saturday returns to Kingston

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

Kingston’s biggest seed swap and purchase event returned last weekend after a three year hiatus due to COVID.The event held at St. Luke’s Church was smaller than Kingston Area Seed System Initiative (KASSI) was used to prior to the pandemic, but KASSI Chair Cathie Christie said it was great to have it back in person in any capacity.“I just felt like we were together as a community and we were together with the seeds,” Christie said.“It was a beautiful day.”The event was scaled back, with just two local seed farms on hand in Verona’s Bear Root Gardens and Kitchen Table Seed House from Wolfe Island, along with Master Gardeners to give advice to those getting their hands on seeds.It was hosted by KASSI along with their sister organization Ratinenhayénthos, who care for the Kenhteke Seed Sanctuary in Tyendinaga. The two organizations are responsible for caring for and “growing out” seeds from the Heirloom Seed Sanctuary that were ent...

Aurora to bring back police chases in certain circumstances

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — A violent weekend and crime trend in Aurora have the police department set to make changes on chases to send a message to criminals. There were five shootings in Aurora over the weekend without a single arrest made. It’s a trend that has the police chief ready to make policy changes. A policy change that’s already in the works is to bring back police chases to crack down on catching criminals. ‘Unusual pink coloring’ seen in treated water sent into Clear Creek Interim Police Chief Art Acevedo said the department is in the final stages of this policy change. He said it's aimed at warning criminals they’re going to be held accountable, and running will no longer be an easy way out“Too many agencies in this state and this country are not chasing criminals, and they think they can flee and the police are going to let them go. That's going to change in Aurora. So I would tell these crooks, don’t be hanging out here, because unlike other agencies in big cities, th...

Englewood library reopens after meth shutdown

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) — The library in Englewood reopened Monday after being closed for more than two months. The library shut down in January after traces of methamphetamine were found in the bathroom. Test results in the bathroom exceeded state thresholds for meth contamination. Family of slain teen speaks out after violent weekend Security has been upgraded. Detectors are going up in the bathroom. Access to the building has been reduced to the south side only. "We hope that these enhanced security measures will help reduce some of the challenges we’ve had," said Christina Underhill, director of Parks, Recreation and Library. Among those showing up to check out books: resident Jeff Graf. “Oh, I’m so glad it’s open. It’s a relief. It offers so much," Graf said. Underhill said Englewood has been working with other libraries along the Front Range that have also been dealing with meth discoveries to come up with safety and security measures.

Family of slain teen speaks out after violent weekend in Denver metro

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Rigoberto Esparza, 18, was the victim of a deadly shooting in the Montbello neighborhood Saturday morning.This was one of several shooting investigations in the metro area from this past weekend. Neighbors say he was shot outside of a house party, where several dozen people were at the time of the shooting. No one else was shot and neighbors say they heard several rounds of gunfire. Gun measures advance through Colorado legislature The rental property where he died is where family members held a memorial and balloon release Monday night.“He was just a happy kid, a loving father,” Joann Gabaldon said. She’s Esparza’s aunt, who spoke with us before the gathering. “He might’ve been at the wrong place at the wrong time,” she added.Monday night, Esparza’s mother issued a passionate plea to the public to stop the violence.“This is not fair. They took somebody’s son, father, brother, grandbaby, nephew. He was somebody to us and we loved him more than life itself,” his mo...

Helping consumers snack mindfully

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

Every day, people seeking a healthier lifestyle can encounter different recommendations about what foods and beverages they should have or avoid. However, little guidance may be seen on why and how to eat or drink to get the most out of the eating experience. One approach is shifting the thinking from the what, to the why and how — this approach is called mindful eating.Rimi Obra-Ratwatte, European lead nutrition strategy at Mondelēz InternationalAs one of the largest snacking companies in the world, we at Mondelēz International embrace the important role we have to play in empowering consumers to snack more mindfully. This is integral to our purpose of ‘helping people to snack right’. Snacking is part of everyday living. It can provide fuel for energy or a boost to jump-start your day. It can also simply be a treat. People are looking for snacks that fit their busy lifestyles. They want convenient and delicious snacks they feel good about eating, while also seeking balance whe...

Stephen Schaefer’s HOLLYWOOD & MINE

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

To have staying power in showbiz you need to keep stretching. At least that seems to be the plan for the versatile, Oscar-nominated Anna Kendrick.  She scored opposite George Clooney in a smart drama (‘Up in the Air’), sang beautifully in a trio of ‘Pitch Perfect’ comedies and has subverted her usually sunny cinematic presence with her current, emotional abuse drama ‘Alice Darling.’  Next: Directing (and starring in) ‘The Dating Game.’  Kendrick spoke with the HERALD about ‘Alice’; here are excerpts from that conversation:Anna Kendrick as Alice in the thriller, “Alice, Darling.” (Photo courtesy of Lionsgate)Q: I see that you spent your fall making your directing debut with ‘The Dating Game’ and you are also producing and starring. It’s an incredible but true story about serial killer Rodney Alcala. Your character Cheryl Crawford ‘wins’ a date with, we discover, this madman.  It sounds terrific and has been sold around the world already. Was that a dream come true time? S...

‘Boston Strangler’ stars give voice to women who cracked the case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:14:54 GMT

A notorious serial killer in the early 1960s, the Boston Strangler terrorized the city, sexually assaulting and strangling 13 single women.Now, “Boston Strangler,” a new film streaming Friday on Hulu, re-examines the case from the perspective of the two women who broke gender stereotypes and cracked the case.Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) and Jean Cole (Carrie Coon) battled the male, white establishment in their daily paper, the Journal American, the police department and the legal system to draw attention to what was happening on Boston’s streets..“I discovered these reporters were first to discover and actually gave him his name,” writer-director Matt Ruskin offered.Noted Knightley, “This is a revisiting, an interesting way of telling the story of a serial killer from the point of view of these two women. It’s really fascinating that you have such a famous case and the two women who coined the phrase ‘the Boston Strangler’ have been completely erased from that hi...