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Absenteeism in Massachusetts school districts [+link to your school]

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

Across the state, chronic absenteeism is still “staggering,” DESE officials said Tuesday — though some districts have done better than others at keeping kids in class.Statewide, attendance rates averaged out to 92.5% for the 2022-23. The state saw a moderate improvement in chronic absenteeism — missing at least 10% of school days — from the pandemic peak, moving from 28% to 22% in 2022-23, but is still leagues off of pre-pandemic rates. Compared to 2019, chronic absenteeism is up 72%.Students missed an average of 13 days of school in the 2022-23 year.Here’s how a sample of major school districts fared in the 2022-23 school year:More 2022-23 attendance data is available on: profiles.doe.mass.edu/statereport/attendance.aspx

Howie Carr: Only cowards rip posters

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

Now that she’s been fired from her job as a dentist, the middle-aged Newton woman who was videotaped ripping down posters of Israeli victims in Chestnut Hill can begin an even more lucrative career for herself.She is about to become… a victim.Actually she already is.  A local Hamas cheerleading cell has already issued a statement on her behalf to a TV station:“Zena is being targeted simply because she is an Arab.”You don’t say. So it has nothing to do with her callously tearing down posters of Israeli children kidnapped by Nazi fiends after the rape and slaughter of 1300 Israelis.Her former employer, Dr. Marc Nevins of Nevins Dental Center, announced her firing for “actions that are contrary to our community standards and to the basic values of my clinical practice.”But Doc, don’t you understand that she’s the victim here. I predict a front-page story in state-run media, most likely the Boston Globe, in three… two… one.This is the traditional m.o. now. Terrorists do something unspea...

Procter & Gamble moving Gillette manufacturing to Andover, 750 jobs to be kept in Boston

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

Gillette has produced shaving blades and razors in South Boston for more than a century, but over the next few years, its owner Procter & Gamble will be moving the manufacturing plant to Andover.About 750 jobs, described as headquarters, engineering and research and development, will be kept in the city.P&G brought the development to light Tuesday, the result of a site assessment that started in 2019 and looked at what steps the company needs to take to revitalize the Gillette grooming business, officials said in a release.Manufacturing operations will relocate some 23 miles from the 31-acre campus along Fort Point Channel, near Interstates 90 and 93, to P&G’s sprawling 150-acre site in Andover, a location that officials say touts “some of the best equipment and capabilities in the world.”About 450 workers who work in manufacturing at Gillette’s global headquarters in Southie will be offered jobs in Andover, a campus that has an existing staff of roughly 200. The transit...

Patriots release backup QB, DL Trey Flowers on Tuesday

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

The Patriots waived quarterback/wide receiver Malik Cunningham and released defensive lineman Trey Flowers on Tuesday.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Will Patriots stick with Mike Onwenu at right tackle? New England Patriots | Patriots coaches confirm injured All-Pro out for the season New England Patriots | Patriots-Bills film review: How Bill O’Brien and Mac Jones found a winning formula New England Patriots | Patriots QB Mac Jones opens up on playing for Bill Belichick New England Patriots | Why Patriots first-round flier ate into DeVante Parker’s snaps in win over Bills The team now has an open spot on its 53-man roster. The Pats signed Cunningham to their active roster ahead of their Week 6 loss at Las Vegas, where he was the only available backup to Mac Jones. In his only game action, Cunningham took three snaps at quarterback and three at receiver against the Raiders. He did not...

Emmer bid collapses, extending extraordinary GOP Speaker losing streak

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer's (R-Minn.) Speakership nomination collapsed in extraordinary fashion Tuesday, surviving only four hours and showcasing the complete chaos enveloping the House GOP conference. Emmer withdrew his name from the running shortly after winning a fifth-round nomination ballot amid a field of crowded candidates. He trounced six other GOP lawmakers to secure the conference’s nomination.But minutes later, a contingent of Republicans made clear they would not back him on the House floor, making it virtually impossible for him to secure enough votes to win the gavel.Making matters worse for Emmer, former President Trump released a scathing statement calling the majority whip a “Globalist RINO” and saying voting for him “would be a tragic mistake.”For Emmer, known to his colleagues for being a hockey coach, the ice was too thin to skate on — and he announced his decision to withdraw his name from consideration Tuesday afternoon.Now, the House GOP conference is bein...

Bagged, precut onions linked to salmonella outbreak that has sickened 73 people in 22 states

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

An outbreak of salmonella poisoning linked to bagged, precut onions has sickened at least 73 people in 22 states, including 15 who were hospitalized, U.S. health officials said Tuesday. Gills Onions of Oxnard, California, has recalled packages of diced yellow onions, red onions, onions and celery and a mix of onions, celery and carrots, known as mirepoix. The products recalled had use-by dates in August 2023. They are no longer for sale in stores, but consumers may have them — or foods made with them — in freezers. Consumers should not eat, sell or serve the onions for foods made with them, health officials said. The diced onion products were sold at food service and other institutions in the U.S. and Canada and at retailers in Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Retail sites included Stater Bros., Bashas’ markets and Smart & Final stores in Arizona and California and Smart & Final and Chef’s Store in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho ...

Mississippi should set minimum wage higher than federal level, says Democrat running for governor

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Democrat who’s trying to unseat Mississippi’s Republican governor said Tuesday that the state should set a minimum wage higher than the federal standard of $7.25 an hour.Brandon Presley did not propose a specific number for a new wage in a state that has long been one of the poorest in the U.S., but he said he would work with leaders in the Republican-controlled state Legislature.“I think there could be some commonsense reform,” Presley, who’s currently a state utility regulator, said two weeks before he faces Gov. Tate Reeves in the Nov. 7 general election.Speaking during a forum at Tougaloo College, Presley said people cannot earn a living on $7.25 an hour. He talked about growing up in a home where his mother struggled to pay bills as a garment factory worker after his father was killed.“I understand what living paycheck-to-paycheck means. I’ve done it,” Presley said.A campaign spokesperson for Reeves did not immediately res...

A trial begins for a Hawaii couple accused of stealing identities of dead babies

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — A trial began Tuesday for a Hawaii couple accused of fraudulently living for decades under stolen identities of dead babies.Polaroids of the couple wearing jackets that appear to be authentic KGB uniforms were introduced early on by prosecutors, who suggested the case was about more than just identity theft. But prosecutors later said the uniforms are not relevant to charges involving identity theft and passport fraud. There was no mention of Russian spy intrigue as the trial began Tuesday.The couple was arrested last year, and their defense attorneys have said from the start that those uniforms were worn once for fun.According to prosecutors, Walter Glenn Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison are the real names of the couple who have been fraudulently living for decades under stolen identities Bobby Fort and Julie Montague. Prosecutors say Primrose spent more than 20 years in the Coast Guard as Bobby Fort, where he obtained secret-level security clearance. After retirin...

Texas sues Biden administration seeking to stop federal agents from cutting razor wire on border

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — Texas sued the Biden administration on Tuesday, seeking to stop federal agents from cutting the state’s razor wire that has gashed or snagged migrants as they have attempted to enter the U.S. from Mexico at the Rio Grande.In the lawsuit filed in federal court in Del Rio, Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton accuses the Biden administration of “undermining” the state’s border security efforts.“Texas has the sovereign right to construct border barriers to prevent the entry of illegal aliens,” Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, said in a news release Tuesday. State authorities started rolling out miles (kilometers) of the concertina wire in May before the end of Title 42, a temporary emergency health authority used to turn migrants back during the pandemic. The sharp wire was deployed in areas of high traffic through the Rio Grande at the border near such locations as Brownsville and Eagle Pass, Texas.Migrant and environmental advocates quickly rais...

In Rhode Island, a hunt is on for the reason for dropping numbers of the signature quahog clam

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:40 GMT

Scientists, lawmakers, and those who make their living from Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay are teaming up to hunt for the reason why quahogs appear to be on the decline.Quahogs have a long history in the state. The shells of the large, hard-shelled clam were used by the indigenous Narragansett people as wampum. The clam itself is a staple of clam chowders and in 1987, the Rhode Island Legislature designated the quahog the official “Rhode Island State Shell.”On Tuesday, a special Rhode Island legislative commission held a hearing to study the reduced catch. The commission is looking at a range of possible factors that may be contributing to a loss of the signature shellfish, from oxygen deficiency to changing aquatic life and climate change.Quahogs — also known as little necks or cherry stones or chowder clams — are filter feeders drawing nutrients out of water columns. They don’t move much other than the first 2 to 3 weeks of their lives when they are larvae, according to Conor McM...