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Students in shortchanged Pennsylvania school districts plug away while lawmakers dither over funding

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nylla Miller didn’t dwell on the shortcomings of her education when she spoke at her high school graduation. Instead she talked about all she and her classmates had accomplished. They had achieved at high levels even in cramped classrooms with no air conditioning that got stuffier as the summer months approached — a reversal from earlier in the year, when the heat wasn’t working and it was almost too cold to focus. Athletes had set new records, even on a dirt track that doesn’t meet state standards.Miller praised the Penn Wood High School Class of ’23 on a hot June morning in Hagan Arena at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia without saying much about all the ways the Pennsylvania public schools had failed them. She told her fellow graduates and their families that they were “the flyest class ever to do it.”“We have left our mark, not only here, but in every room that we have entered,” she said.But overcoming adversity was more than just a graduation ...

Saturday Forecast: Mostly cloudy, chance of isolated storms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

Saturday: Mostly cloudy & chance of iso. thunderstorms. Decreasing air quality with more Canadian wildfire smoke returning. SSW 10-20 mph. Highs mid 80s, a bit cooler by the lakeSaturday Night: Slight chance of showers/thunderstorms then clearing. WNW 5-15 mph. Lows in the upper 60s outlying areas, low 70s in the city.Chicago Weather | Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center's Forecast (wgntv.com)Sunday: Clouds & sun with chance of iso. PM thunderstorms. WSW 10-20 mph. High 84, cooler lakeside.Chicago Area Radar | WGN TVExtended outlook calls for a bit cooler on Monday with highs in the upper 70s with partly cloudy skies. Low 80s with a mix of clouds and sun on Tuesday. Chance of showers/t'storms returns to the forecast for Wednesday with highs in the mid to low 80s. 

Is it possible to increase your Powerball jackpot odds?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

(NEXSTAR) - With yet another large lottery jackpot brewing — this time, a $875 million Powerball jackpot — it’s tempting to want to try your luck.But, in a game when you’ll be facing potentially millions of other players, are there any ways to sway your odds of landing the record-setting Powerball prize? First, it’s important to understand what your odds at the jackpot really are. Any ticket has a 1 in 292.2 million chance of matching the winning jackpot numbers, Powerball officials say. You’re more likely to be attacked by a shark (1 in 3.7 million, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History) or being struck by lightning (less than 1 in a million), or even both on the same day, than winning big.  Not sure how to play Powerball? Here’s what you need to know Still, there are some methods lottery players swear by to improve their chances of winning the major payout. Among those are selecting certain numbers. Data shows there are some numbers that are draw...

APD investigating homicide in west Austin 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Saturday, the Austin Police Department said it was investigating a homicide in west Austin.APD said officers were at an apartment complex in the 3500 block of North Capital of Texas Highway southbound.A public information officer is expected to hold a briefing later Saturday morning, according to APD.This is a developing story. Check back with KXAN for more information.

David Brooks: ‘Human beings are soon going to be eclipsed’?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

Recently I stumbled across an essay by Douglas Hofstadter that made me happy. Hofstadter is an eminent cognitive scientist and the author of books like “Gödel, Escher, Bach” and “I Am a Strange Loop.” The essay that pleased me so much, called “The Shallowness of Google Translate,” was published in The Atlantic in January of 2018.Back then, Hofstadter argued that AI translation tools might be really good at some pedestrian tasks, but they weren’t close to replicating the creative and subtle abilities of a human translator. “It’s all about ultrarapid processing of pieces of text, not about thinking or imagining or remembering or understanding. It doesn’t even know that words <em>stand</em> for things,” he wrote.The article made me happy because here was a scientist I greatly admire arguing for a point of view I’ve been coming to myself. Over the past few months, I’ve become an AI limitationist. That is, I believe that while AI will be an amazing tool for, say, tutoring chi...

Fargo police officer dies, two others in critical condition following street shootout

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

FARGO — A Fargo Police officer has died, two other officers are in critical condition, a suspect has died and another civilian was seriously injured following a street shootout on Friday, July 14.That information was released at 11:43 p.m. Friday night in a City of Fargo news release. It also said the Fargo Police Department would hold a press conference at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, July 15, to provide more information.The identities of those involved is not being released as the process of notifying family members is ongoing, the release said. It said the Fargo Police Department “acknowledges and appreciates the community’s support during this difficult time.”Dozens of police officers and sheriff’s deputies gathered solemnly outside the emergency room at Sanford Medical Center on Friday evening.By 9 p.m., a procession of first responders left the hospital and traveled to the Cass County coroners office at 1220 25th St. S., mere blocks from the initial shooting near 25th...

‘Rabbit Fire’, other fires forcing evacuations in Riverside County 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

Fire crews are continuing to battle several large fires in Riverside County. The largest one, the “Rabbit Fire”, broke out in the area of Jack Rabbit Trail and Gilman Springs Road east of Mystic Lake on Friday and quickly spread to over 4,500 acres by 6 a.m. Saturday morning. According to fire officials, the blaze is only 5 percent contained. The flames are mostly burning in an agricultural area but have forced the evacuation of approximately 25 homes. The evacuated homes are located north of Gilman Springs Road to Bridge Street and the 79 Freeway. According to fire officials, the blaze is only 5 percent contained. The flames are mostly burning in an agricultural area but have forced the evacuation of approximately 25 homes. (KTLA)According to fire officials, the blaze is only 5 percent contained. The flames are mostly burning in an agricultural area but have forced the evacuation of approximately 25 homes. (OnSceneTV) According to fire officials, the blaze is...

WATCH: Massive wildfire grows to 4,500 acres in Riverside County

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

Firefighters are battling a large and rapidly spreading wildfire that erupted in Moreno Valley on Friday.Named the “Rabbit Fire,” the brush fire is located near the intersection of Alessandro Boulevard and Jack Rabbit Trail in the community of Lakeview.As of 6 a.m. Saturday morning, the blaze had scorched 4,500 acres near Moreno Valley, with other nearby fires burned a combined 500 acres in other parts of the Inland Empire.The "Rabbit Fire" was initially reported as 20 acres with a rapid rate of spread just shortly before 4 p.m. The flames later spread to around 600 acres by 6 p.m. before exploding to 1,500 acres around 7 p.m., Cal Fire officials confirmed. By 7:30 p.m., the fire grew to around 2,815 acres and by 11 p.m., the fire grew to 3,000 acres. Located in a grass and brush-heavy area, a private ranch property is being threatened by the moving flames. Fire crews have surrounded the property with flame retardant.“All of a sudden, I see this puff of smoke come up and all chaos b...

Speed — and not using a seat belt — kills on one of East Bay’s deadliest highways

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

The lights are out at Adam Lane’s Bay Area home when the call comes about 11 p.m. from a fellow California Highway Patrol officer on Highway 4. This time of night, Lane says, these calls are rarely good.Two people are dead in a vehicle crash, the ninth and 10th people to die in 2023 on Contra Costa County’s most notorious highway. The total since Jan. 1, 2021, sits at 44 dead in 39 fatal crashes, an average of about one death every six weeks for 2½ years.The details in the late-June crash are, sadly, familiar to Lane: At least one car appears to have been speeding. Both of the victims were ejected.California High Patrol officer Adam Lane patrols Highway 4 in Pittsburg, Calif., on Friday, June 30, 2023. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) “People speed, and people don’t wear seat belts,” said Lane, a public information officer for the agency. “When we get out to a scene, and you see them ejected, and the seat belt dangling … I can’...

Oakland’s pandemic eviction moratorium has expired. What’s next for renters and landlords?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:26 GMT

Beginning Saturday, Oakland landlords can move to oust tenants for failing to pay rent as the city’s pandemic eviction moratorium — one of the last remaining anywhere in the state — ends after more than three years.The expiration comes as a relief to rental owners who say the ban has far outlived its purpose and ravaged the livelihoods of many mom-and-pop rental landlords. Tenant advocates, meanwhile, are warning of an “eviction tsunami” swallowing up vulnerable renters who are struggling with rising living expenses and the city’s high housing costs.“This moratorium was effective in giving renters the protection they needed during an incredibly challenging time,” Mayor Sheng Thao said in a statement. “Now that it’s winding down the City and county have resources in place to protect renters.”Even though the emergency protections have ended, tenants cannot be evicted for rent that went unpaid during the moratorium, whic...