| 'What a despicable man': Schumer rips into Trump for saying the coronavirus death toll would be lower if the US ignored Democratic states Posted: 17 Sep 2020 01:22 PM PDT  Sen. Chuck Schumer took to the floor to denounce the president's comments on taking out the "blue states" because they had "tremendous death rates."
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| Fact check: If the vice president becomes president, House speaker doesn't become new VP Posted: 17 Sep 2020 03:19 PM PDT  If Joe Biden is elected but unable to serve a full term, Kamala Harris would become president. Nancy Pelosi, as speaker, wouldn't automatically be VP.
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| Poll shows major decline in support for BLM movement across US over last three months Posted: 17 Sep 2020 11:33 AM PDT  Pew Research Centre survey compared results from June and September
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| Wilfred might form in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday. It’s the last name on the list. Posted: 17 Sep 2020 04:24 AM PDT  If the system turns into Wilfred, it would be the 21st named storm.
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| Hawaii to allow pre-travel testing program to travelers to avoid 14-day quarantine period Posted: 17 Sep 2020 07:33 AM PDT  Hawaii Gov. David Ige said on Wednesday the state's pre-travel testing program would give travelers the option of potentially avoiding a 14-day quarantine period on arrival to the state.
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| Mexico asks U.S. for answers about alleged migrant detention abuse Posted: 16 Sep 2020 08:10 PM PDT  Mexico said on Wednesday said it had formally requested a report from U.S. authorities regarding alleged negligent practices in U.S. immigration detention centers, citing accusations of sexual abuse and unauthorized hysterectomies. The request come after a complaint by a whistleblower nurse alleging that detainees in a Georgia immigration detention facility had improperly received hysterectomies and other gynecological procedures. The complaint did not specify the nationality of the affected detainees.
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| Deputy fired over Florida school massacre to get job back Posted: 16 Sep 2020 08:09 AM PDT  A Florida sheriff's deputy who was fired for his inaction during a school shooting that left 17 dead has been reinstated with back pay by an arbitrator who ruled that the sheriff missed a deadline for dismissing the deputy. An arbitrator ruled this week that Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony acted 13 days too late when he fired deputy Josh Stambaugh last year for his conduct during the February 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. It is unknown exactly how much Stambaugh will receive in back pay, but he earned more than $150,000 in 2018, including overtime.
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| Emirates airline to produce kosher meals as Israel beckons Posted: 17 Sep 2020 04:16 AM PDT  The Emirates airline group unveiled plans Thursday to produce kosher meals in keeping with Jewish dietary rules, two days after the UAE and Israel signed a deal to normalise ties.
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| New York City mayor Bill de Blasio furloughs himself, 500 staff as budget deficit sky-rockets Posted: 17 Sep 2020 02:26 AM PDT  New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has announced he will furlough almost 500 members of his staff, including himself and his wife, for one week in an effort to close a huge budget deficit that has emerged from the coronavirus lockdown. All 495 people who work for Mr de Blasio at City Hall will take a week of unpaid leave at some point between October 2020 and March 2021, according to reporting from the New York Times. The economic shutdown has led to the city suffering a $9bn (£6.9bn) loss of revenue, leading to a $7bn (£5.4bn) cut in the city's annual budget. While the furlough scheme will only save about $860,000 (£663,000), Mr de Blasio says it has a symbolic purpose of demonstrating willingness to make personal sacrifices. The mayor is currently locked in negotiations with labour unions over payroll savings.
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| A Chinese virologist claimed the coronavirus was 'intentionally' released. Turns out, she works for a group led by Steve Bannon. Posted: 17 Sep 2020 08:02 AM PDT  A strange paper claims China engineered and released the coronavirus. Its authors work for a group once led by the former Trump strategist Steve Bannon.
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| Mysterious brain found wrapped in foil on Lake Michigan beach, police say Posted: 17 Sep 2020 06:40 AM PDT  "I popped it open and it looked like a chicken breast — kind of."
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| University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student apologizes for falsely claiming to be Black Posted: 17 Sep 2020 04:23 PM PDT  The student has stepped down as a co-president of the school's graduate student union and a job as a teaching assistant.
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| Russia's space agency chief declares Venus a "Russian planet" Posted: 17 Sep 2020 11:43 AM PDT  With scientific evidence of possible life on the 2nd planet from the sun renewing public interest, the Roscosmos chief would like to remind everyone who got there first.
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| Transgender activist wins Delaware state senate primary Posted: 15 Sep 2020 06:59 PM PDT  Transgender activist Sarah McBride won a Democratic state Senate primary in Delaware on Tuesday and is poised to make history as the first transgender person elected to the state's General Assembly. McBride, who interned at the White House during President Barack Obama's administration, made history at the 2016 Democratic National Convention by becoming the first transgender person to speak at a major party convention.
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| Newt Gingrich asks Fox News host if it's now 'verboten' to criticize George Soros, earns long stare Posted: 16 Sep 2020 08:55 PM PDT  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), an ally of President Trump, blamed George Soros on Fox News Wednesday for indirectly causing a recent rise in violence and property damage in some Democratic-run cities, claiming a slate of "progressive" district attorneys "overwhelmingly elected with George Soros' money" were letting criminals run wild. (Soros funds a political action committee that has backed reformist DA candidates since 2016, with some success, but he is hardly the only financial backer, as Fox News reports.)Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner told Gingrich it wasn't necessary to bring Soros into the discussion. Gingrich asked if mentioning Soros, a Jewish billionaire who survived Nazi occupation in his native Hungary, is now "verboten," the German word for "forbidden." Harris stared in silence for a long moment and changed the subject.> Newt Gingrich: "The number one problem in almost all the cities is George Soros-elected, left-wing, antipolice pro-criminal district attorneys..."> > Fox hos: "I'm not sure we need to bring George Soros into this."> > Newt: "Okay... So, it's verboten?"> > Long awkward silence. pic.twitter.com/tl4CgGcrzI> > — Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) September 16, 2020The FBI reported Tuesday that violent and property crime both dropped sharply in the first six months of 2020, with murders down 15 percent, rapes down 18 percent, and violent robbery down 7 percent versus a year earlier. Arson rose sharply, according to preliminary data, but violent crime overall dropped 5 percent in the Northeast, and by lesser amounts in the West and Midwest, AFP reports. Violent crime rose 2.5 percent in the South.More stories from theweek.com How a productivity phenomenon explains the unraveling of America How the Trump-Russia story was buried The conservatives who want to undo the Enlightenment
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| U.S. charges three Iranians over satellite tech firm hacking Posted: 17 Sep 2020 11:21 AM PDT  The indictments follow a flurry of recent actions against alleged Iranian cyber spies including the announcement, earlier on Thursday, that entities and individuals associated with an Iranian hacking group sometimes dubbed APT39 were being sanctioned by the Treasury Department. U.S. Assistant Attorney General John Demers said in a statement it was the third time in three days that alleged Iranian hackers had been indicted, calling out what he described as "yet another effort by a rogue foreign nation to steal the fruits of this country's hard work and expertise." The defendants, identified as Said Pourkarim Arabi, 34, Mohammad Reza Espargham, whose age is unknown, and Mohammad Bayati, 34, are alleged to have impersonated colleagues or academics to get their targets to download malicious software, prosecutors said.
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| Isis leader gave intelligence to the US leading to deaths of al Qaeda fighters, new documents show Posted: 17 Sep 2020 05:01 AM PDT  The current Isis leader gave intelligence to US forces leading to strikes on al-Qaeda, newly released files show. Documents released on Thursday suggest Muhammad Sa'id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla gave information after his arrest in 2008 on dozens of fellow jihadists as well as the structure of al Qaeda in Mosul. He allegedly provided names for 68 al-Qaeda fighters including 19 from photographs. Three Tactical Interrogation Reports released by the Combating Terrorism Centre (CTC) allege al-Mawla, who at the time was an al-Qaeda judge, identified leading figures behind assassinations, kidnappings and the production of improved explosive devices, used to kill coalition forces. One jihadist was a Moroccan national called Abu Jasim Abu Qaswarah. Thought to be the second-in-command of al-Qaeda in Iraq at the time, he was killed by US forces eight months after al-Mawla named him as a member of the terrorist group.
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| Without Details, Congress Looks to Punt on Spending Plan Posted: 16 Sep 2020 10:20 AM PDT  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speak to the media after a meeting with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Capitol Hill in Washington on Aug. 5, 2020. With lawmakers yet again scheming how to keep the lights on, there's a lot of wiggle room in what is considered a "clean" extension these days in Washington. Negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin are focused on a so-called "clean" spending bill.
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| LA County sheriff tells deputies to 'look out for each other' as search for suspect in Compton shooting continues Posted: 17 Sep 2020 10:22 AM PDT  'This is going to cause us to be a lot more concerned about when we approach vehicles when we're out there on the streets,' says sheriff Alex Villanueva
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| E-scooter firm Voi blamed a suspended trial on the UK's 'antisocial behaviour issue' and said it will fit vehicles with identification plates Posted: 17 Sep 2020 06:41 AM PDT  A trial of 200 Voi electric scooters has been put on hold in a UK city, five days after it was launched. The company blamed "antisocial behaviour."
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| Fact check: In 2010, Donald Trump offered $6M to try to stop a mosque near Ground Zero Posted: 17 Sep 2020 12:50 PM PDT  On the 19th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a decade-old controversy about the so-called 'Ground Zero Mosque' resurfaced.
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| U.S. Senate panel delays vote on aircraft certification reforms Posted: 16 Sep 2020 06:47 AM PDT  The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday postponed consideration of a bill to overhaul how the Federal Aviation Administration certifies new airplanes in the wake of two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes. The decision to delay the vote on the bill followed the release earlier on Wednesday of a U.S. House report that found the crashes were the "horrific culmination" of failures by Boeing Co and the FAA. Boeing's 737 MAX has been grounded since March 2019 following crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that together killed 346 people and prompted investigations into the plane's design, development and certification.
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| Hizbollah 'smuggling ammonium nitrate to Europe for attacks' says US counterterrorism official Posted: 17 Sep 2020 11:41 AM PDT  Hizbollah has smuggled caches of ammonium nitrate to Europe to use in attacks, a top US counterterrorism official has said. The Iran-backed Lebanese Shia group had moved ammonium nitrate through Belgium to France, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland, Ambassador Nathan Sales, Coordinator for Counterterrorism within the US Department of State, told reporters in a briefing on Thursday. Ammonium nitrate, a chemical compound often used for explosives which is also sold commercially for use as a fertiliser, caused the August explosion at a Beirut port which killed 190 people and wounded over 6,500. Some 2,750 tonnes exploded when a warehouse caught on fire. Hizbollah, which has a political and a militant wing, is in control of parts of the eastern Mediterranean port. "Today the US government is unveiling new information about Hezbollah's presence in Europe," Mr Sales said. "Since 2012, Hezbollah has established caches of ammonium nitrate throughout Europe by transporting first aid kits that contain the substance. I can reveal that such caches have been moved through Belgium to France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Switzerland."
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| Federal judge blocks Postal Service changes that slowed mail Posted: 17 Sep 2020 01:53 PM PDT  "The states have demonstrated the defendants are involved in a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service," said Washington District Judge Stanley Bastian.
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| Man protects wife from suspected carjacker at gas station Posted: 17 Sep 2020 06:10 AM PDT  Police believe after an accident, the suspect pulled into the Valero and jumped into the driver's seat of the victim's SUV while he pumped gas.
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| These 18 hand sanitizers have been added to FDA’s Do Not Use List in the past 19 days Posted: 16 Sep 2020 05:21 AM PDT  As the FDA's Do Not Use List of hand sanitizers grew by 18 to 183 over the last 19 days, it conjured the scent of South Florida summer as much as aloe or alcohol.
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| Letters to the Editor: If the L.A. County Sheriff's Department won't clean up its act, disband its union Posted: 17 Sep 2020 10:52 AM PDT  Angering the people the department serves while stoking the pain fellow deputies is escalation, pure and simple. It has to end.
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| Video shows huge alligator swimming in Sally's storm surge Posted: 17 Sep 2020 07:36 AM PDT  Images of a massive gator, an eel and fire ants were seen in Hurricane Sally's wake.
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| Divers in SE Asia may have found US submarine lost in WWII Posted: 15 Sep 2020 10:02 PM PDT  Divers have found what they believe is the wreck of a U.S. Navy submarine lost 77 years ago in Southeast Asia, providing a coda to a stirring but little-known tale from World War II. The divers have sent photos and other evidence from six dives they made from October 2019 to March this year to the United States Naval History and Heritage Command for verification that they have found the USS Grenadier, one of 52 American submarines lost during the conflict. The 1,475-ton, 307-foot long Grenadier was scuttled by its crew after bombs from a Japanese plane almost sent them to a watery grave.
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| Trump accused of sexual assault by former model Amy Dorris in new interview Posted: 17 Sep 2020 03:49 AM PDT  Model alleges the president forced his tongue down her throat
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| Excluisve: Trump plans executive order to punish arms trade with Iran - sources Posted: 17 Sep 2020 11:14 AM PDT  U.S. President Donald Trump plans to issue an executive order allowing him to impose U.S. sanctions on anyone who violates a conventional arms embargo against Iran, four sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the executive order was expected to be issued in the coming days and would allow the president to punish violators with secondary sanctions, depriving them of access to the U.S. market. The proximate cause for the U.S. action is the impending expiry of a U.N. arms embargo on Iran and to warn foreign actors - U.S. entities are already barred from such trade - that if they buy or sell arms to Iran they will face U.S. sanctions.
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| Utah police officer charged with assault for ordering K9 to bite Black man who was kneeling with his hands up, prosecutors say Posted: 17 Sep 2020 03:24 PM PDT  Salt Lake City police officer Nickolas Pearce is facing a second-degree felony assault charge after ordering his K9 to bite Jeffery Ryans on April 23.
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| Report: CDC testing guidance was published despite objections from scientists Posted: 17 Sep 2020 05:09 PM PDT  In August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was criticized for releasing guidance saying it wasn't necessary to test people without coronavirus symptoms who had been in close contact with an infected person for more than 15 minutes. Several people with knowledge of the matter told The New York Times this recommendation was not written by CDC scientists and was posted online over their strenuous objections.A federal official told the Times "that was a doc that came from the top down," referring to the Department of Health and Human Services and the White House Coronavirus Task Force. "That policy does not reflect what many people at the CDC feel should be the policy." The document was "dropped" into the CDC's public website, bypassing the agency's scientific review process, and contained several "elementary errors," one official said.The Trump administration's testing coordinator, Adm. Brett Giroir, told the Times on Thursday the original draft was written by the CDC, but over the course of about a month, it was read and commented on by multiple people, including CDC Director Robert Redfield and members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Giroir said he doesn't know why the guidance didn't go through the CDC's typical scientific review, adding that this "certainly was not any direction from me whatsoever."A federal official with knowledge of the matter told the Times a new version of the testing guidance is expected to go up on the CDC's website on Friday, but this also hasn't undergone the agency's typical internal review for scientific documents, and Health and Human Services officials are now revising it. All of this comes as the CDC faces scrutiny over whether it is maintaining its independence amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed nearly 200,000 Americans. Read more at The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com How a productivity phenomenon explains the unraveling of America How the Trump-Russia story was buried The conservatives who want to undo the Enlightenment
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| Saint Paul, Minnesota, will give some residents $500 per month for the next year and a half in a seminal basic-income pilot Posted: 17 Sep 2020 12:24 PM PDT  The Saint Paul city council voted on Wednesday to approve funding for a basic-income trial. The money will start being distributed this fall.
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| Solider from Fort Bragg killed in Navy base crash in Key West Posted: 17 Sep 2020 12:28 PM PDT  The U.S. Army has identified a soldier struck and killed by a vehicle driven by an on-duty Navy Security Force civilian Monday on a Key West Navy base.
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| Eyeing China, Pentagon plans larger, 'more lethal' navy Posted: 16 Sep 2020 02:36 PM PDT  Secretary of Defense Mark Esper announced Wednesday an ambitious plan to expand the US Navy with a range of unmanned and autonomous ships, submarines and aircraft to confront the growing maritime challenge from China.
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| Frosty air to visit portions of Midwest, Northeast Posted: 16 Sep 2020 07:52 AM PDT  Forecasters say the autumn weather preview earlier this week was just that, a glimpse into what's to come. A burst of chilly air will sweep from northern Canada through the north-central United States late this week and into the Northeast this weekend, bringing not only a dose of sweater and flannel weather but also some frosty consequences.Those hoping for fall weather like that which has been sampled in recent days are in luck, but temperatures are likely to trend even lower than those felt so far this season in many areas. The chill and accompanying frost and freeze could mark the end of the growing season in parts of the Upper Midwest and the interior Northeast.Even though the chilly air will pale in comparison to the blast that left people shivering in the Rockies and High Plains along with a snowfall early in September, some of the chilliest air of the season is forecast from the Upper Midwest to the Northeast in the coming days and can bring temperatures as low as 20 degrees below average. Frost on grass. (Jill Wellington/Pixabay) Low temperatures this time of year typically range from the lower to middle 40s F across the northern tier to the lower 60s over the central Plains and the mid-Atlantic coast to the middle 60s over the interior South.Temperatures could challenge record lows for the date in northern portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan prior to the end of the week and in portions of Pennsylvania and New York state this weekend. A freeze is forecast for International Falls, Minnesota; Ironwood, Wisconsin; and Houghton Lake, Michigan; with low temperatures ranging from the middle 20s to the lower 30s F. The low temperatures are 10-20 degrees below average for the middle of September.In Rochester, New York, daily low temperature records set from the early 1970s to the early 1990s will be challenged with readings forecast to dip into the lower to middle 30s on multiple nights.CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APPThe crisp, cool air will be felt farther to the south as well with low temperatures forecast to be in the 50s during the latter part of this week in St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, and Omaha, Nebraska. Low temperatures in the 40s will be common in Detroit, around the Chicago suburbs, much of the Ohio Valley and the northern and western suburbs of the major Interstate-95 cities from Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City. Boston will slip into the 40s during some nights this weekend while temperatures stop in the lower 50s farther southwest along the I-95 zone through eastern Virginia. Frost is not expected in the large cities and metro areas that surround them in the Midwest and Northeast. However, in portions of the central Appalachians and interior New England, there will be the risk of a killing frost in the rural areas during Friday night and Saturday night with low temperatures forecast to be near the 32-degree mark and even a tad lower in some cases.The upcoming heavy frost follows a touch of light frost from early in the week in parts of the central Appalachians. The frosts are occurring one to three weeks ahead of average.Summer harvesting may need to be accelerated to avoid losses, and gardeners may want to protect sensitive flowers or bring them indoors to preserve their longevity. Patchy cloud cover may be enough to prevent a frost on one or more nights over the interior Northeast, but there is no guarantee the clouds will hold through the night.The frosty conditions could also accelerate the process of leaves changing colors in some areas.As temperatures sink to chilly levels at night, fog is likely to develop in the river valleys and limit visibility enough to slow travel for a few hours during the late-night and early-morning hours.And it won't be crisp just during the night. Daytime highs have already been suppressed in recent days due to high-level smoke from Western U.S. wildfires dimming the sun's intensity. As steering winds cause the smoky air aloft to drop southward, the origins of the air alone will create cool conditions during the daytime, even where the sun shines brightly overhead.At the peak of the cool air, highs will be in the 50s across the northern tier to end this week and could be held to the upper 40s over the higher elevations of the Northeast this weekend.Highs are forecast to be in the lower to middle 60s around Chicago and New York City. The temperature could struggle to top 70 in Atlanta late this weekend to early next week as the cool air settles into much of the Southeastern states.The push of chilly air will follow rain from Sally in the Southeast and along the mid-Atlantic coast to end this week. There are indications that the cool weather pattern will hold in much of the Eastern states into next week with the potential for Hurricane Teddy to continue to drift northwest of Bermuda and possibly approach northern New England or Atlantic Canada at some point.The circulation around Teddy, which is a large hurricane and a non-tropical storm that develops offshore will work to keep cool air into the Northeast. Conditions are likely to get rather windy along the coast, but well inland, especially over the central Appalachians, there may continue to be fog and frost events where winds remain light.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| Israeli minor gets 3 1/2 years for role in deadly 2015 arson Posted: 16 Sep 2020 08:13 AM PDT  An Israeli court sentenced a young man on Wednesday to 3 1/2 years in prison for his role in the 2015 arson attack that killed a Palestinian toddler and his parents in the West Bank village of Duma. It was the second sentencing this week by the Lod District Court in the deadly 2015 Duma arson attack. On Monday, the court handed Amiram Ben-Uliel, a Jewish settler, four life sentences for the killing of 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh in a firebomb attack on the family's home.
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| Trump pushes ‘antifa’ wildfire conspiracy despite plea from local sheriff that rumour is misdirecting resources Posted: 16 Sep 2020 08:37 AM PDT  President endorses QAnon fire conspiracies as police warn against sharing 'rumours'
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| Ukraine and Belarus argue over Hasidic Jewish pilgrims stranded at border Posted: 16 Sep 2020 07:22 AM PDT  Ukraine accused Belarus on Wednesday of trying to escalate a row over 2,000 Hasidic Jewish pilgrims stranded at a border crossing after Ukrainian border guards did not allow them to enter due to coronavirus restrictions. Relations between Kyiv and Minsk soured after Ukraine joined the European Union in not recognising the result of last month's election that handed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office. The crisis unfolding in Minsk has pushed Lukashenko back closer to traditional ally Moscow, which remains at loggerheads with Ukraine over Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and the conflict in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region.
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| Minneapolis City Council Members Complain of Rising Crime Months after Trying to Defund Police Department Posted: 16 Sep 2020 09:07 AM PDT  Minneapolis City Council members complained of rising crime rates in the city and asked the city's police chief what he is doing about it during a Tuesday meeting on police reform, months after the council proposed dismantling the police department.Council members told police chief Medaria Arradondo that their constituents have reported seeing and hearing street racing which sometimes results in crashes, daylight carjackings, robberies, assaults and shootings, according to an MPR News report."Residents are asking, 'Where are the police'?" said newly elected council member Jamal Osman who has been swamped by resident complaints that calls for police are going unanswered."That is the only public safety option they have at the moment. MPD. They rely on MPD. And they are saying they are nowhere to be seen," Osman said.In the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd, the City Council voted to remove the requirement to maintain a police department form the city charter — the first step in a longer process to change the charter. The council's proposal to dismantle the police department was set to be on the November ballot until the Minneapolis Charter Commission voted last month to take additional time in reviewing the plan.The council proposed replacing the police department with a Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention which would provide a "holistic, public health-oriented approach," and a Division of Law Enforcement Services.While the council members floated the idea of ridding the city of its police department, the city has been plagued by months of higher-than-usual crime.Violent crimes such as assaults, robberies and homicides as well as property crimes like burglaries and auto thefts are up compared to 2019, according to MPD crime data reviewed by MPR. More people have been killed in the city in the first nine months of this year than all of last year.The police department has added more officers to patrol and investigative duties and cracked down on robberies, among other measures to fight the increase in crime, the police chief told the council.Council president Lisa Bender, who in June had said fear of dismantling the police department comes from "a place of privilege," accused officers of being defiant in the Tuesday meeting, saying her constituents have said officers have admitted that they're deliberately not arresting people who are committing crimes. "This is not new," Bender said. "But it is very concerning in the current context." Arradondo called the allegations "troubling to hear," and vowed to speak with commanders and the heads of each precinct. "We need to make sure that our communities know that we are going to be there," Arradondo said. "That we're going to be responsive. We've taken an oath to do that."Council members said officers have told residents that they are overworked and understaffed as around 100 officers have left the department or taken leave since the beginning of 2020 — more than double the usual number.The violence has not spared even areas of the city which are normally considered safe, leaving constituents feeling "terrorized."The department recently arrested two groups of teenagers that had been the source of crime in far south central Minneapolis, where recent carjackings and robberies of businesses have scared residents and business owners.Still, council member Phillipe Cunningham, who represents the 4th Ward, where a 17-year-old was fatally shot on Monday, doubled down on the council's approach to crime fighting and prevention, underscoring the importance, in his view, of instituting public health-based approaches to violence prevention. He supports the development of a new community safety agency to replace the police department and criticized some of his fellow council members for flip-flopping in light of the increase in crime."What I am sort of flabbergasted by right now is colleagues, who a very short time ago were calling for abolition, are now suggesting we should be putting more resources and funding into MPD," Cunningham said.The council recently divested more than $1 million from the police budget to pay for "violence interrupters" to intervene and defuse potentially violent confrontations."If we have these systems in place we are getting ahead of the violence," said Cunningham. "That's why I have advocated so strongly for the violence interrupters, because if they are interrupting the violence before the guns are being fired, then the MPD doesn't have to respond to that violence."
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| Futuristic V-280 Not Advanced Enough to Replace the Osprey: AFSOC Commander Posted: 17 Sep 2020 03:28 AM PDT  Army modernization officials are evaluating two experimental aircraft under FVL for the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft.
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| Trey Gowdy: Democrats are 'terrified' of their base Posted: 16 Sep 2020 08:03 PM PDT  Mob rule, socialism, and lawlessness: The new extreme Democratic party exposed.Mob rule, socialism, and lawlessness: The new extreme Democratic party exposed.
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| Texas deputies, including those who killed Javier Ambler, reportedly got steakhouse gift cards for using force Posted: 17 Sep 2020 02:10 PM PDT  Sheriff's office leaders rewarded deputies who used force with steakhouse gift cards, according to two former employees.
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| Future teachers often think memorization is the best way to teach math and science – until they learn a different way Posted: 17 Sep 2020 04:24 AM PDT  The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big ideaI found that college students who are taking courses to become teachers can change their beliefs of how science and mathematics should be taught to and learned by K-12 students.Most of these future teachers tell me when they start my course, they believe that K-12 students must memorize science and mathematics knowledge to learn it. They also believe that students cannot acquire knowledge through a process used by scientists and mathematicians called problem-solving. Problem-solving asks students to solve engaging and challenging problems that are provided without a strategy or solution. It also involves group work and a time to present and justify their strategies and solutions to the class. To challenge my students' beliefs, I ask future teachers to teach science and mathematics to students with problem-solving. At first they often resist because they believe that their students can only memorize science and mathematics knowledge. However, after they have asked the students to use problem-solving and find it successful, they discover that students can learn like scientists and mathematicians The evidence and experiences start to change their beliefs.The way I reached these conclusions was by studying future teachers over the course of four years. I studied 113 future teachers' beliefs in 10 sections of a course that I taught on how to teach science and mathematics. Throughout the course, I asked the future teachers to discover science and mathematics knowledge with problem-solving. I also had the future teachers teach students at a local school by asking them to learn with problem-solving.To measure changes in future teachers' beliefs following completion of the class, I asked them to complete a survey at the start and end of the course. At the end, the findings showed that the future teachers were significantly more likely to teach in a way that reflected how scientists and mathematicians solve problems.It also appeared that their teaching of science with problem-solving encouraged their use of the method when they taught mathematics. Conversely, their teaching of mathematics with problem-solving encouraged their use of the method when they taught science. Why it mattersThis study matters because a teacher's beliefs – their personal philosophy about teaching and learning – often determine how they will teach and what students will learn. And because problem-solving is necessary for scientific and mathematical literacy, students need teachers who will expose them to problem-solving. This study also matters because college professors who work with future teachers can employ similar strategies. They can place future educators in situations in which they must confront their beliefs about teaching and learning with evidence and experiences that contradict their beliefs. What other research is being done?Those who do similar research are trying to figure out how to assure future teachers use problem-solving in their future classrooms. I have taught many education students who did quite well in my course, and successfully used science and mathematics problem-solving with their students. However, former students that I ran into years later often told me that they do not use problem-solving as teachers. Instead, they reverted to simply asking students to memorize science and mathematics information. They told me the reason for this is that teachers in their present schools do not use problem-solving. I find this troubling. What's nextIt may be that one way to solidify beliefs about teaching through problem-solving instead of memorization would be for science and mathematics faculty to use problem-solving in their college classrooms. Research shows that similarities and coherence between college courses may increase the likelihood that future teachers will believe in the value of problem-solving. If so, then my students may become less likely to abandon the methods learned in their courses. In turn, they may be more likely to help make their future students more adept at mathematics and science.[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * I prepare aspiring teachers to educate kids of color – here's how I help them root out their own biases * The hidden threat of teacher stressPeter C. Cormas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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