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"She was struggling" Austin ISD works to fix its special education system, parents reflect on delays

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:42 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – While Austin Independent School District officials work to overhaul its special education system, middle school student Aaliah Delfierro is starting the 8th grade. Delfierro, 13, is one of the hundreds of students within the district who were not evaluated for special education services on time. In the 4th grade, at the urging of a teacher who suspected Aaliah might need special education services, her mother requested a special education evaluation from Austin ISD. According to state law, the district was supposed to complete the evaluation no more than 45 school days later. Instead, Aaliah’s student records show, that the district did not evaluate the student until more than a year later.The evaluation identified she was diagnosed with ADHD. In her individualized education plan, it stated "the student was without services due to a late initial evaluation and could use additional support to accelerate her progress."“She was struggling during all that time and not ge...

Gov. Tim Walz asks neighbors to keep eye out for missing family cat, Afton

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:42 GMT

Gov. Tim Walz’s family’s cat is missing, and he asked Thursday for St. Paul neighbors to keep an eye out for him.“Some news out of the Walz household: Our family cat, Afton, has gone missing,” he wrote on social media. “… There will be two very grateful kids over here if Afton finds his way home.”Afton, a 7-year-old tabby, is an outside cat and was known to attend weddings near the Governor’s Mansion on Summit Avenue.The Walz family is currently living in Eastcliff, which usually houses University of Minnesota presidents, while the Governor’s Residence is renovated. Eastcliff is on Mississippi River Boulevard near Marshall Avenue.Afton went missing Saturday morning and usually isn’t gone for so long, according to the governor’s office. Walz took to social media Thursday to post about the cat.Walz put an Apple AirTag on Afton in July, and he used it at the time to track the cat to the area of his neighbor’s house...

Gophers to miss key linebacker Cody Lindenberg against Nebraska

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:42 GMT

Gophers starting linebacker Cody Lindenberg won’t play in the season opener against Nebraska at Huntington Bank Stadium on Thursday.Lindenberg was deemed a game-day decision and the training staff made the call to hold him out, a U spokesman said. The reason is unknown. Head coach P.J. Fleck will address the absence postgame.Lindenberg is the leading returning tackler from 2022. He had 71 tackles in all 13 games last year and was considered the leader of the linebackers and overall defense for 2023 after the graduation of Mariano Sori-Marin in 2022.One of the key position battles in fall camp was who would step up and start next to Lindenberg. Now there are two uncertainties. The candidates have been Devon Williams, Ryan Selig and Maverick Baronowski.Nebraska has two players out: starting linebacker Nick Henrich and backup linebacker Jimari Butler.The U listed eight more players as out for the game: defensive back Craig McDonald, tight end Jameson Geers, linebacker Derik LeCaptain, ...

Mohonasen removing Indigenous imagery, may keep name

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:42 GMT

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – After the New York State Board of Regents prohibited the use of Indigenous team names, mascots and logos, most of the affected public schools have come into compliance but some have pushed back including Mohonasen High School. The school plans to remove the logos with Indigenous imagery, and is already in the process of phasing those out, but has not started the process of removing the name “Warriors”.  Get the latest news, weather, sports and more delivered right to your inbox! Mohonasen Central School District Superintendent Shannon Shine says they will no longer purchase new items with the logos or name but have stopped short of removing the name – for now. “What I’m trying to find out, if there’s ways to mitigate costs like covering things instead of replacing or taking something that was used and reusing it,” said Shine. He said they have a local signage company they want to get an itemized quote from but that price tag can run upwa...

License plate reader leads to arrests in stolen identity ring

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:42 GMT

WEBSTER GROVES, Mo. – Two women are in custody in Webster Groves, accused of being part of a national stolen identity ring.An automated license plate reader alerted Webster Groves police that a 2023 Hyundai Tucson was in the area. Police arrested Darlene Fernandez from Florida and Jamie Vega from Oklahoma. Both are connected to a fraud investigation in Indiana."Officers in the area started doing area canvases and were actually able to locate that vehicle, occupied, right across from our police department at a church," Lt. Jillian McCoy, Webster Groves Police Department, said. "From the time we put that into our system at approximately (7 a.m.), we were alerted at approximately 1:30 (p.m.) that that particular vehicle with that license plate was in the area."Police pulled the car over for a traffic violation. Fernandez was driving the car and consented to a search. Police: DWI, hit-and-run suspect caught by his own Tesla cameras Police claim the women had stolen identification and ...

Campus fights prompt attendance restrictions at Alton High School football game

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:42 GMT

ALTON, Ill. – There will be restrictions on who can go to Friday night's football game at Alton High School after several reported fights on campus. School officials canceled classes on Thursday due to the number of fights the day prior.The Madison County Sheriff's Department was summoned to the school to help security break up the fights. Authorities are reviewing videos of the fights from Wednesday. Meanwhile, many parents are very concerned about their student's safety.“I don't feel safe sending our children to that school because if they don't know what's going on, it’s supposed to be cameras around the whole school,” said one parent, who asked not to be identified.At least one video of a fight was shared numerous times on social media, though it’s unclear who filmed it. Police: DWI, hit-and-run suspect caught by his own Tesla cameras “It was more than 10 (fights). They don't make anyone feel safe. They have no control,” the parent said. “The call we received yesterday, they s...

Idalia brings storm surge, damaging winds to the Carolinas, Virginia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:42 GMT

Tropical Storm Idalia is moving away from the East Coast over the Atlantic but has left its mark across the southeast.Idalia made landfall Wednesday morning in Florida’s Big Bend region as a category 3 storm, then weakened as it quickly moved northeast and impacted the Carolinas and Virginia coastline as a tropical storm, bringing heavy rain, dangerous storm surge, damaging winds, and even tornadoes as it moved through.In South Carolina, one driver on the highway caught video of another car being flipped into the air by a tornado. Authorities say the accident caused minor injuries.In downtown Charleston, a man got stuck at a friend’s house overnight because of the rising waters coinciding with high tide.“I thought by 10 or 11, the tide would kind of come down, and I’d be able to get out. The water was up to like the door, and by like one o'clock, I still couldn’t leave,” said Sean Fitzgerald. Circle K stations offering 30 cents off per gallon Thursday: Here’s where In nearby Folly...

Second jail death at Justice Center in less than two weeks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:42 GMT

ST. LOUIS – Another St. Louis jail death brings a response from a special police investigation unit.This is the second reported death at the St. Louis Justice Center in less than two weeks. As families went to visit their loved ones this morning, they were alarmed to learn about this latest incident.“Is it my son?” Natalie Springfield said. “Because I haven’t spoken to him. Saturday will be two weeks.”Springfield says it scares her that she has no way of finding out and that she was just turned away for a visit.“They won’t let me in to see him,” she said. “I can’t speak to him. I can’t visually see him, and for all I know, he may not even exist anymore.” Police: DWI, hit-and-run suspect caught by his own Tesla cameras An hour before this interview—9:30 a.m. Thursday—the St. Louis Justice Center put out a call for service for a sudden death, and the Department of Public Safety announced that the St. Louis Police Force Investigative Unit was requested to assist the Medical Examiner....

CSP planning crack down on impaired drivers in Denver metro for Labor Day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:42 GMT

Colorado State Patrol officials are reminding Labor Day revelers to find a sober ride as they plan a crackdown on impaired drivers this weekend.CSP data from 2022 showed Labor Day tied with the Fourth of July and St. Patrick’s Day as the top holiday for impaired-driving crashes.“Most people worry about impaired drivers on New Year’s Eve or St. Patrick’s Day, but the truth is all holidays bring people together and they often celebrate with impairing substances,” Col. Matthew C. Packard, chief of the Colorado State Patrol, said in a news release. “We have to get to the place as a community where we value human life as much as our good time. Call a rideshare, plan on staying the night, make a plan to do anything but drive after drinking or using drugs.”The Colorado State Patrol and Adams County Sheriff’s Office will be conducting increased patrols of major traffic arteries throughout Adams County on the evenings of Friday and Saturday according to the news release.The two a...

Broncos undrafted rookie Thomas Incoom didn’t eat the morning of roster cuts. Even after making the team, he remains hungry.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:42 GMT

On Tuesday morning when countless pink slips were handed out to players across the NFL, edge rusher Thomas Incoom lost his appetite.As an undrafted rookie, Incoom’s odds of making Denver’s 53-man roster were low. His nerves were at an all-time high, so much so that he skipped breakfast and practiced on an empty stomach.Incoom did everything he could to make an NFL roster. He said it was up to the man upstairs to answer his prayers. If that was indeed the case, consider his prayers were answered. Incoom was named to the active roster, joining an outside linebacker room that features Randy Gregory, Frank Clark, Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper.“It’s surreal,” he said after Thursday’s practice. “I just kept playing and hoping for a shot. When I got the opportunity, I was so happy.”Like many undrafted free agents, Incoom’s journey wasn’t easy. As a two-star recruit out of Stone Mountain High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia, Incoom didn’t have a Division I offer, so he elected to ...