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St. Paul schools seek to boost math scores with $9.9M curriculum buy

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 15:11:35 GMT

St. Paul Public Schools plans to spend $9.9 million on new K-12 math curricula, updating long-used materials that district leaders say are holding students back.In two recent presentations to school board members, who are expected to approve the purchases on Tuesday, administrators pointed to low test scores. Just 25 percent of district students scored proficient on the state’s math test last spring, compared to 45 percent statewide; among low-income students, those figures were 14 percent in St. Paul and 23 percent for the state.“We need to look at how we are teaching math and do something different, because what we have been doing has not been working for our students,” Maijue Lochungvu, assistant director of the Office of Teaching and Learning, said last month.St. Paul high schools have been using the same materials since 2007, and the company that made them is no longer in business. Elementary schools have had the same books for about 20 years.The new curricula will come with pr...

St. Paul Public Schools will offer $10K signing bonuses to some new hires

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 15:11:35 GMT

St. Paul Public Schools is offering more than $1 million in hiring bonuses in hopes of filling a range of special-education positions and other hard-to-fill jobs for the 2023-24 school year.“In this competitive job market, we need to do everything we can to attract the best candidates to our classrooms,” Patricia Pratt-Cook, executive chief of human resources, said in a news release Monday.In a report earlier this year from the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board, 84 percent of Minnesota school district leaders said they were feeling the effects of the teacher shortage. That’s up from 70 percent two years prior.The St. Paul district, which already has the second-highest average teacher salary in the state, at $85,128 last year, is offering $10,000 bonuses to the first 70 teachers, social workers, psychologists and speech pathologists they hire who are licensed for special education.Up to 50 new educational assistants and 50 teaching assistants in special education wi...

Police: Man arrested for sexual assault against a child

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 15:11:35 GMT

NORTH GREENBUSH, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- On Monday, Douglas Deeb, 64, was arrested following an investigation into a report that he was in a 3-year sexual relationship with a child. According to the Town of North Greenbush Police, the victim was 11 years old when the unlawful conduct began and continued until last week when it was reported on March 16. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Deeb was located at a homeless shelter in Schenectady and taken into custody. Police say his family hails from the Schenectady/Amsterdam area, where it is most likely other possible victims would be from. He was charged with Predatory Sexual Assault Against a Child, Endangering the Welfare of a Child, Sexual Abuse, Course of Sexual Conduct, and Criminal Sexual Act. Deeb was arraigned at the North Greenbush Town Court and remanded to the Rensselaer County Jail without bail and could face 25 years to life if convicted.

Lawmakers react to controversial, Clean Slate Act

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 15:11:35 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) -- For years, advocates have been pushing for what some call a controversial bill: The Clean Slate Act. The bill would automatically seal criminal records three years after sentencing for misdemeanors and after seven years for felonies. It would not apply to sex crimes. Advocates say existing criminal records make it nearly impossible for those who were previously incarcerated to get a job or proper housing.  Albany advocates for Clean Slate Act "Once you’ve atoned for these mistakes, you should be able to move forward and make yourself and your families whole," said Senator Jamaal Bailey. Bailey said everyone deserves a second chance and passage of the bill will lead to lower recidivism rates, "You want to stop people from committing crimes, give them a job. You want to make sure you keep people off the street, give them a job." Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay said while the bill has good intentions, there are simply some crimes that should not be sealed...

AG secures over $860K from USA Medical Transport

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 15:11:35 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A Capital Region medical transportation company that provided rides for Medicaid recipients to get to and from their appointments has agreed to pay $862,500, to the New York State Medicaid Program. Ismat Farhan and his company, USA Medical Transport, were found to be defrauding Medicaid by submitting over 2,500 false claims and billing Medicaid around $400,000. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! “Medicaid is meant to help support the medical needs of vulnerable New Yorkers, not to pad a company’s profits,” said Attorney General James. “Farhan and USA Medical Transport took advantage of their patients and taxpayers by billing Medicaid for thousands of services that were never provided."Investigations determined that Farhan submitted fraudulent claims between June 2015 and February 2020. The settlement resolves the OAG's findings.

Waterford nature lovers help rescue injured eagle

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 15:11:35 GMT

WATERFORD, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A group of nature lovers in Waterford put their bird knowledge to the ultimate test when they helped rescue an injured eagle over the weekend. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Patricia Egan and her son, Robert Alford, were taking their usual Saturday morning walk down the Champlain Canal Trail when Patricia spotted a big bird down in the basin."We thought he was hunting or something, so we continued our walk," Egan recalled, "and on our way back, it was still there, and we knew that was unusual."They realized he was injured and called North Country Wild Care. They spoke to someone who told them to capture the eagle."We have no idea how to do that, so my mother sent out an SOS on 'Peebles Eagles' Facebook page hoping Bob and Janet would respond," said Alford.Bob and Janet Beaudoin are well known in the area for photographing the local wildlife and sharing on social media– something they picked up d...

Glens Falls looks to upgrade its noise code

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 15:11:35 GMT

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. (NEWS10) - The city of Glens Falls is looking for input on whether things are getting too loud. Starting this week, the city's Building and Codes Committee is reviewing Glens Falls' noise ordinance - and wants public input on how things are sounding. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! A new survey has been released, for city and area residents to weigh in on whether enough is being done to control noise in Glens Falls' five wards. The city asks for specifics on whether users live or work in the city, information on the type of neighborhood in which they live, and comments about the state of noise pollution in the city.“Any changes to the noise ordinance will have to be measurable and objective," said Ward 3 Councilwoman Diana Palmer. “While we will be looking at other communities for examples, we want to make sure we are crafting an ordinance unique to our city and the needs of our residents.”  Currently, the...

Woman without arms and legs wants a job, not empathy

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 15:11:35 GMT

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - Eight hours a day and six days a week, 48-year-old Lisa Olson searches for a job from her home in Virginia Beach. She has a master's degree in journalism from Regent University, where she worked for 19 years. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Ten years ago, the scene was dramatically different when she was interviewed by NEWS10's sister station in Virginia. "Hello, my name is Lisa Olson. I'm the Career Services and Quality Manager at Regent Univesity's Robertson School of Management and I am Hampton Roads," she said for the closing line in her segment. Last year, Olson joined the ranks of the unemployed when her position at Regent, a job she loved, was eliminated. She hopes that the pandemic-inspired work-from-home trend would bode well for her since her daily routine requires a few extra steps. She has applied for about 400 jobs and has sat for some seventy interviews. Not one job has been offere...

If Trump is indicted, what happens next?

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 15:11:35 GMT

Preparations appear to be underway for the unprecedented scenario that Donald Trump could become the first former president in U.S. history to be indicted.Barricades arrived outside the criminal courthouse in Manhattan on Monday while law enforcement agencies grapple with how to protect the former president. Questions also remain as to whether Trump would be handcuffed and when he would first appear in court if he is indeed charged in a case involving a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.As a potential indictment looms, here’s what to expect if the grand jury indicts Trump.What charges would Trump face?Manhattan prosecutors are scrutinizing a $130,000 hush payment that Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime fixer and former attorney, made to Daniels in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair she says she had with Trump. Making a hush payment in itself is not illegal, but legal observers indicate that prosecutors are eying charges against the former presid...

Hickenlooper: The FAA is a mess; let Phil Washington get it back on track

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 15:11:35 GMT

There’s currently no Senate-confirmed leader at the FAA. If there were, they’d be fired by now. It’s been a rough couple of years for air travel: we’ve seen the first nationwide grounding of flights since 9/11 because an old computer failed, airlines stranded passengers for days after a winter storm, delays so frequent you can almost predict them, and even near-collisions on runways.It’s time we put someone in charge who can put the FAA back on course. That someone is Phil Washington.You might wonder who would want the job given the recent chaos. But that’s what Phil does. He takes on the big, complex problems and gets it done. Phil honed his leadership skills over 24 years in the U.S. Army where he ultimately achieved the rank of command sergeant major, the highest enlisted rank possible. In the Army, the command sergeant major makes things work by organizing and motivating troops to get the mission done, whatever it is.He then took the top job at Regional Transportation Dist...