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Worcester parents push for new homework policy that gives ‘study break’ days

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:57 GMT

A group of parents in Worcester are pushing for a new homework policy that gives ‘study break’ days.The parents will propose a plan that would give students homework-free days, which they argue would boost students’ social, emotional, and mental health. The National Education Association has done several studies on how to get students’ hooked on homework. They say students in kindergarten should not have homework at all, and they have endorsed the 10 minute rule, or 10 minutes of homework a night per grade level. The association also recommends connecting assignments to the real world and making sure they have a specific purpose so students are learning and not just working.

Gallery: St. Mary’s 58-47 victory over Old Rochester High School

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:57 GMT

St. Mary's 58-47 victory over No. 3 Old Rochester at Quincy High School

Where might Ravens QB Lamar Jackson end up amid NFL free agency? Here are his potential suitors, ranked.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:57 GMT

The start of NFL free agency on Wednesday saw its share of frenzied activity — quarterback Aaron Rodgers announcing his “intention” to play for the New York Jets led the way — but there was one notable exception.The only news on Lamar Jackson was that there was no news. Unless you count the Ravens quarterback dancing around in some large red boots in a video he posted to Instagram and teammate Marlon Humphrey saying on Twitter that none of his own tweets about Baltimore’s signings or other free agency moves had anything to do with Jackson.“He is his own agent and he definitely not telling me anything cause he know I’ll tweet it,” Humphrey wrote.While Ravens backup quarterback Tyler Huntley’s future became a little more clear when he was given a right-of-first-refusal tender by Baltimore on Wednesday, only continued speculation remains over Jackson’s negotiations with the Ravens or other teams. Still, moves by other organiza...

Sewage spill leads to Oceanside Beach closures

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:57 GMT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. --- A sewage spill at the La Salina wastewater facility was reported at 10 a.m. Wednesday as crews were struggled with a runoff from the latest rainstorm, which flooded into the treatment plant.“We did have a wastewater spill at our la Salina plant. We, for notification purposes, had to put out signage to close the beach,” said Lindsey Leahy, the Oceanside Water Utilities director. San Diego rainfall totals: This area received over 5 inches of rain in two days Estimating thousands of gallons of sewage flowing out of the Loma Alta Creek, inspectors are currently reporting high bacteria levels at Buccaneer Beach. The Ocean was a soupy brown color and most people kept their distance. “I’ve never seen that color. It looks like someone changed the color of the ocean," said Ben Hansen, a local resident. "It looks pretty nasty."There is an obligatory 72-hour beach warning for surfers and swimmers after a rainstorm. In this case, however, water regulators will also be te...

Train hauling corn syrup derails in Arizona; no injuries

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:57 GMT

TOPOCK, Ariz. (AP) — A freight train carrying corn syrup, not hazardous materials, derailed in western Arizona, near the state’s border with California and Nevada, BNSF Railway said.The train derailed Wednesday evening near the town of Topock, Anita Mortensen, a spokeswoman for the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said, adding that she was not aware of any spills or leaks.“BNSF Railway can confirm that a train carrying corn syrup derailed,” spokesperson Lena Kent said in a statement to media outlets. “There were no injuries as a result of the derailment and preliminarily reports indicate there are no hazardous materials involved.”Kent did not immediately return messages from The Associated Press on Thursday morning.The derailment comes amid heightened attention to rail safety nationwide following a fiery derailment last month in Ohio.In Arizona, Mortensen had earlier said the train was carrying hazardous materials. The derailment occurred near milepost 9 of Interstate 40, Mortensen sa...

Credit Suisse shares soar after central bank offers lifeline

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:57 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Credit Suisse shares surged Thursday after the Swiss central bank agreed to loan the bank up to 50 billion francs ($54 billion) to bolster confidence in the country’s second-biggest lender and blunt concerns about the international financial system following the collapse of two U.S. banks. Credit Suisse announced the agreement before the Swiss stock market opened, sending shares up as much as 33% before they settled at a 25% gain, to 2.13 francs, in midday trading. That was a massive turnaround from a day earlier, when news that the bank’s biggest shareholder will not inject more money into Credit Suisse sent its shares tumbling 30%, dragging down other European banks. European banking stocks also rose modestly Thursday.The Swiss National Bank said Wednesday that it was prepared to back Credit Suisse because it meets the higher capital and liquidity requirements imposed on “systemically important banks,” adding that the problems that have hit some U.S. banks don’...

Haas dismisses a report alleging it broke Russian sanctions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:57 GMT

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (AP) — The Haas Formula One team has dismissed a report claiming its parent company broke sanctions by providing machinery to Russia as “simply false.”Haas F1 responded in a statement Thursday to a report by American broadcaster PBS on Tuesday alleging that the Haas Automation company had provided machines and parts to Russia. This would have been in violation of U.S. export control and sanctions regulations after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.“That story is simply false, both in its overall impression and in many of its particular statements,” the Haas F1 team said in a statement. “The 18 machines referenced in the story left the Haas Automation factory prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”Haas added that it completely terminated its relationship with Abamet Management — its independent distributor for Russia and Belarus — on March 3, 2022, soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.“Since that date, Haas has not sold ...

Poland plans to grant Ukraine’s request for fighter jets

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:57 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s president says his country plans to give Ukraine a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets, becoming the first NATO member country to fulfill the Ukrainian government’s increasingly urgent requests for warplanes. President Andrzej Duda said Thursday that Poland would hand over four of the Soviet-made warplanes in the coming days and the rest need to be checked and would be supplied later. Duda did not say if other countries would be making the same move, although Slovakia has said it would send its disused MiGs to Ukraine.While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pleaded for Western supporters to share fighter jets, NATO allies have expressed hesitancy.The Associated Press

Applications for jobless aid in U.S. fall last week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:57 GMT

Fewer Americans applied for jobless claims last week as the labor market continues to thrive despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool the economy and tamp down inflation.Applications for jobless claims in the U.S. for the week ending March 11 fell by 20,000 to 192,000 from 212,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week moving average of claims, which flattens out some of week-to-week volatility, fell by 750 to 196,500, remaining below the 200,000 threshold for the eighth straight week.Applications for unemployment benefits are seen as a barometer for layoffs in the U.S.About 1.68 million people were receiving jobless aid the week that ended March 4, a decrease of 29,000 from the week before.Matt Ott, The Associated Press

Italy retrial ordered for Americans in killing of officer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:57 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italy’s highest court has ordered a retrial for two American citizens who were convicted in the slaying of an Italian police officer during a sting operation gone bad.The Court of Cassation late Wednesday threw out the guilty verdicts against Finnegan Lee Elder, now 23, and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 22, both convicted in the stabbing death of the 35-year-old caribiniere during a plainclothes operation in July 2019 while the Americans, teens at the time, were on vacation in Rome.The court will issue its reasons for the verdict in the coming weeks, and instruct an appeals court on the precise issues to examine in a new trial. Elder’s lawyer, Roberto Capra, expressed satisfaction at the decision, saying a new trial would open the possibility of recalculating the sentence. “It confirms a topic we raised from the first day: That Elder was not aware of having in front of him a law enforcement agent. The dynamics of the events exclude this fact,” Capra told reporters. He expressed...