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Schoolkids in 8 states can now eat free school meals, advocates urge Congress for nationwide policy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:01:33 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — When classes resume after Labor Day, Amber Lightfeather won’t have to worry about where her children’s next meals will be coming from. They’ll be free.Minnesota, New Mexico, Colorado, Vermont, Michigan, and Massachusetts will make school breakfasts and lunches permanently free to all students starting this academic year, regardless of family income, following in the footsteps of California and Maine. Several other states are considering similar changes and congressional supporters want to extend free meals to all kids nationwide.Lightfeather, who has four kids who attend public schools in Duluth, Minnesota, said her family has sometimes qualified for free or reduced-price meals but would have had to pay in the upcoming school year if Minnesota had not made the change. Her earnings as a hospital worker and her husband’s as a tribal employee would have put them over the limit. Last year, the family was paying over $260 a month for school ...

Tens of thousands expected for March on Washington’s 60th anniversary demonstration

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:01:33 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Martin Luther King III, along with his wife, Arndrea Waters King, and their 15-year-old daughter, Yolanda, have developed a set of traditions for this time of the year. Each August, they rewatch the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s rapturous address to the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Even if the civil rights icon’s legacy is closer to the Kings than it is for most other families, they see march anniversaries as a teaching moment.“We are like any other family, in the sense that we want to teach our daughter about this moment in history,” Arndrea said. “And then we also try to connect it with movements or people that are doing things in the present.”This year, the Kings will join an expected crowd of tens of thousands of people, who are gathering Saturday at the Lincoln Memorial in the nation’s capital to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the late reverend’s “I Have A Dream” speech.The event is convened by the Kings’ Drum Major Institute and the Nat...

Beloved wild horses that roam Theodore Roosevelt National Park may be removed. Many oppose the plan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:01:33 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The beloved wild horses that roam freely in North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park could be removed under a National Park Service proposal that worries advocates who say the horses are a cultural link to the past.Visitors who drive the scenic park road can often see bands of horses, a symbol of the West and sight that delights tourists. Advocates want to see the horses continue to roam the Badlands, and disagree with park officials who have branded the horses as “livestock.”The Park Service is revising its livestock plans and writing an environmental assessment to examine the impacts of taking no new action — or to remove the horses altogether.Removal would entail capturing horses and giving some of them first to tribes, and later auctioning the animals or giving them to other entities. Another approach would include techniques to prevent future reproduction and would allow those horses to live out the rest of their lives in the park.The horses h...

Ramaswamy faces curiosity and skepticism in Iowa after center-stage performance in GOP debate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:01:33 GMT

PELLA, Iowa (AP) — Vivek Ramaswamy has charged back into Iowa, stoking curiosity and skepticism after his attention-grabbing performance in the first Republican presidential debate. The charismatic 38-year-old businessman was met Friday by hundreds of GOP activists in small central cities near Des Moines, with more events planned in the coming days. He is drawing new interest from Republicans who will participate in the nation’s first caucuses next year, but also apprehension from attendees at his events and pointed criticism from a former GOP governor. Much of the negative feedback is about his foreign policy ideas, notably his argument that the U.S. should stop providing arms and funding to Ukraine as it fights Russia’s invasion.“I like that he’s young and energetic, and wants to tear the whole thing down,” said Thomas Bean, a 23-year-old who attended a morning event south of Des Moines. He was referring to Ramaswamy’s goal of reducing the federal bureaucra...

Barnett's big boot helps Westlake to 31-21 win over Ridge Point

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:01:33 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — One of the longest field goals in Texas high school football history helped lift the Westlake Chaparrals to a 31-21 win over Fort Bend Ridge Point on Friday at Mercer Stadium in Missouri City.After missing a kick earlier in the game, Chaps kicker Spencer Barnett booted a 59-yard field goal with 6:18 left in the game to give Westlake a two-score lead, fending off a furious second-half comeback by the Panthers. REPORT YOUR SCORE: We'd love to post your team's score on our website, but we need your help to do it. Email the score of your game to [email protected] and we'll get it on our websiteRidge Point had a chance to get the game back within one score, but a bobbled hold by their field goal team led to a turnover on downs with 1:56 left. Westlake was able to run the clock out after that."We've seen him do it in practice, so we knew he could it," Westlake head coach Tony Salazar said. "We had a light breeze at our back, and I knew he'd redeem himself. He was going to st...

Texas high school football scores for Friday, August 25

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:01:33 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The first Football Friday of the year in Texas was quite a doozy.Westlake's Spencer Barnett booted a 59-yard field goal to help the Chaparrals win 31-21 over Fort Bend Ridge Point and Vandegrift took care of Dripping Springs 27-7 in another marquee game featuring area teams.REPORT YOUR SCORE: We'd love to post your team's score on our website, but we need your help to do it. Email the score of your game to [email protected] and we'll get it on our websiteWeiss hammered Round Rock 37-7 and Lake Travis hung on against Arlington Martin 13-6 after a scoreless first half. Stony Point went into House Park and beat the Austin High Maroons 24-21 and Georgetown topped Copperas Cove 37-7.Scores from teams in the KXAN viewing areaBastrop 29, Kyle Lehman 15Blanco 27, Poth 23Brentwood Christian 40, Temple Central Texas Christian 21Cameron Yoe 45, Lago Vista 21Cedar Park 29, Cedar Ridge 7Connally 40, Marble Falls 14Flatonia 49, Shiner St. Paul 26Georgetown 37, Copperas Cove 7Granger...

5 hospitalized in Pasadena shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:01:33 GMT

Five people were hospitalized after a shooting in Pasadena on Friday night.Pasadena Police responded to reports of gunshots heard on the 100 block of E. Orange Grove Boulevard around 7:33 p.m.Arriving officers found five injured victims at the scene, all in serious to critical condition, police said.Four people were transported by fire crews to a local hospital. The fifth victim transported themself to the hospital, police said.Authorities believe the shooting may have been caused by some sort of fight breaking out. No suspect information was released and no arrests were made so far.Neither the victims' ages nor identities have been released.Details remain limited and the events that led up to the shooting are unclear. Police have been dispatched and are investigating the sceneThis developing story will be updated.

49ers preseason finale: Brock Purdy powers offense but kicker issues arise

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:01:33 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Brock Purdy looks ready to again transform the 49ers into a high-scoring offense, from what his surgically repaired elbow showed through training camp and Friday night’s preseason finale.How the Niners convert point-after attempts or field goals, however, is suddenly of great concern.The 49ers’ two kickers are injured, some two weeks before the regular season opens in Pittsburgh, a notoriously dodgy place to kick.It wasn’t enough that rookie Jake Moody’s rough initiation into the NFL world continued with a quadriceps injury in practice this week. Veteran Zane Gonzalez could not come to the rescue, as a pregame calf injury kept him out of the 23-12 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.Thus, the 49ers restored to Mitch Wishnowsky, their punter and usual holder. He failed to convert the point-after kick following Purdy’s 5-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and that wasn’t surprising considering he missed 2-of-4 point-after trie...

Spencer Strider denies Logan Webb run support as SF Giants fall to Braves

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:01:33 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — The Atlanta Braves have one of the most explosive offenses in baseball. And Logan Webb had to face them in back-to-back starts.All told, he didn’t throw many bad pitches in his Friday night outing, but the Braves don’t need gifts to make their offense sing. With yet another night without run support, Webb couldn’t hold Atlanta down and the Giants were beat 5-1 to open up this three-game series at Oracle Park.With that, the Giants lose 13 of their last 18 games, inching them closer to a .500 winning percentage with a 66-62 record. San Francisco was 12 games over .500 on Aug. 5, now their playoff chances are dwindling by the night.Webb was hitting his spots, but the Braves’ hitters had a knack for beating him there. In the first inning, Michael Harris III hit a sinker inside at his hands into the right field stands to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead. Harris struck again in the fourth with a single and stolen base on catcher Blake Sabol. He scored ...

Missing man believed to be in Suisun City or Fairfield

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:01:33 GMT

(KRON) -- The Suisun City Police Department is searching for a man who has not been seen since Wednesday. Robert Louis Jackson, 33, is believed to be recently injured and in need of medical attention, according to his family. Jackson was last seen at about 5 p.m. Wednesday in the area of Sunset Avenue and Railroad Avenue in Suisun City. In addition to SCPD, the Solano County Sheriff's Office and Fairfield Police Department searched the area for Jackson on foot and in the air. He is believed to be on foot at a homeless encampment in either Suisun City or Fairfield, police said.Anyone who has information about Jackson's whereabouts is asked to call (707) 421-7373.