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The story behind Juneteenth and how it became a federal holiday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

Americans will soon celebrate Juneteenth, marking the day when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free.For generations, Black Americans have recognized the end of one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history with joy, in the form of parades, street festivals, musical performances or cookouts. The U.S. government was slow to embrace the occasion — it was only in 2021 that President Joe Biden signed a bill passed by Congress to set aside Juneteenth, or June 19th, as a federal holiday. And just as many people learn what Juneteenth is all about, the holiday’s traditions are facing new pressures — political rhetoric condemning efforts to teach Americans about the nation’s racial history, companies using the holiday as a marketing event, people partying without understanding why.Here is a look at the origins of Juneteenth, how it became a federal holiday and more about its history.HOW DID JUNETEENTH START?The celebrations began with ensl...

Pat Casey dies in crash at Ramona motocross track

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

RAMONA, Calif. — Officials have identified the man who died Tuesday at a motocross track in Ramona.Patrick "Pat" Michael Casey, 29, died after he lost control of the motocross bike he was riding and was ejected from the vehicle, the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office said.The incident happened around 2:45 p.m. at Slayground Motocross Park, which is owned by Axell Hodges, a three-time gold medal winner in X Games Moto X competition.According to authorities, Casey crashed his motorcycle while performing a jump on the park ramps. Bystanders called 911 after the crash and paramedics were dispatched to the track. Medics found Casey pulseless and apneic. Despite life-saving measures, he was not able to be resuscitated and was pronounced dead at the scene."We are deeply saddened by Pat Casey's passing and our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, children, parents and siblings," X Games said in a post on Instagram. "A true legend in the action sports community, Pat will alw...

MLB will discuss postponing games in New York, Philadelphia due to wildfire smoke

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball plans to discuss whether to postpone games in New York and Philadelphia on Wednesday night because of poor air quality caused by smoke from Canadian wildfires.The New York Yankees are scheduled to host the Chicago White Sox, and the Philadelphia Phillies are slated to host Detroit.MLB said it planned to speak with the teams involved at about 4 p.m.The National Weather Service issued an air quality alert for New York City, saying: “the New York State Department of Health recommends that individuals consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity to reduce the risk of adverse health effects.” In Philadelphia, the NWS issued a Code Red.The Yankees and White Sox played through a lesser haze on Tuesday night.The National Women’s Soccer League postponed Orlando’s match at Gotham in Harrison, New Jersey, from Wednesday night to Aug. 9.“The match could not be safely conducted based on the projected air quality index,” the N...

‘The Righteous,’ an opera set among American Southwest church communities, to premiere in 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The Santa Fe Opera will present the world premiere of “The Righteous” by composer Gregory Spears with a libretto by Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy K. Smith on July 13 next year. The opera, set among church communities in the American Southwest, stars baritone Michael Mayes as a preacher who becomes governor during a period stretching from the Iran hostage crisis in 1979 to the Gulf War in the 1990s, the company announced Wednesday. The cast includes countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, bass-baritones Greer Grimsley and Nicholas Newton, sopranos Amber Wagner and Elena Villalón, and mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano.Spears and Smith collaborated on “Castor and Patience,” which premiered at the Cincinnati Opera last July. Smith won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for poetry and was the U.S. Poet Laureate from 2017-19.Jordan de Souza conducts a production directed by Kevin Newbury, which will be given six performances through Aug. 13, 2024.Santa Fe’s 2024 season ...

Justice Jackson reports flowers from Oprah, designer clothing as Thomas delays filing disclosure

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson disclosed Wednesday that she received a $1,200 congratulatory floral display from Oprah Winfrey and $6,580 in designer clothing for a magazine photo shoot in her first months as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. The details of gifts given to Jackson were among the reports provided by most members of the court in their annual filings, which give a partial window onto their finances. The reports were released Wednesday. But the report that was most anticipated — that of Justice Clarence Thomas, who has been under scrutiny for his receipt of undisclosed gifts from a Republican donor — was not among the filings. Thomas, along with Justice Samuel Alito, sought an extension for up to 90 days.Thomas’ receipt of gifts, valued at several hundred thousand dollars, from the Republican donor Harlan Crow has prompted calls for ethics reform on the nation’s highest court. It was not clear why either man needed more time.Once a year t...

Los Angeles Times announces 74 job cuts due to economic challenges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Times on Wednesday announced plans to cut 74 jobs due to economic challenges as the newspaper strives to transform itself into a digital media organization.In a message to staff, Times Executive Editor Kevin Merida wrote that employees whose positions are eliminated from the Pulitzer Prize -winning newspaper were being notified and that a staff meeting would be held to answer questions.“We have done a vast amount of work as a company to meet the budget and revenue challenges head on. But that work will need acceleration and we will need more radical transformation in the newsroom for us to become a self-sustaining enterprise,” Merida wrote.The cuts will eliminate about 13% of newsroom positions and affect full-time and temporary workers including editors, audio producers and managers, the Times reported. The cuts follow a series of layoffs at news organizations including the Washington Post and NPR.The move also comes days after journalists at two ...

Missouri governor signs ban on transgender health care, school sports

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Transgender minors and some adults in Missouri will soon be limited from accessing puberty blockers, hormones and gender-affirming surgeries — as well as some school sports teams — under bills signed Wednesday by the state’s Republican governor.Beginning Aug. 28, Missouri health care providers won’t be able to prescribe those gender-affirming treatments for teens and children. Most adults will still have access to transgender health care under the law, but Medicaid won’t cover it. Prisoners in the state must pay for gender-affirming surgeries out-of-pocket under the law, the governor’s spokesperson Kelli Jones said.Gov. Mike Parson called hormones, puberty blockers and gender-affirming surgeries “harmful, irreversible treatments and procedures” for minors.“We support everyone’s right to his or her own pursuit of happiness,” Parson said in a statement Wednesday. “However, we must protect children from making life-altering decisions that th...

Italian lawmaker who fought to allow nursing one’s baby during working session is now first to do so

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

ROME (AP) — An Italian lawmaker who fought for a rule so that women can be allowed to nurse their babies during a parliamentary session has now become the first woman to do just that. Bipartisan applause broke out on Wednesday when Gilda Sportiello, a member of the lower Chamber of Deputies, nursed her 2-month-old son during a legislative vote. In the previous legislature, Sportiello had successfully pushed for a rule to be passed by the chamber’s rules committee to allow women to participate in voting and debates while nursing their children until their babies are 12 months old. She and baby Federico’s father, Riccardo Ricciardi, are both lawmakers from the populist 5-Star Movement. La Repubblica daily quoted Sportiello as saying that she hopes her pioneering act will inspire all workplaces in Italy to make it easier for working mothers to nurse their infants if they want to while on the job. “From today on, if the highest Italian institutions allow workers to nurse at their workpl...

Man convicted in 2018 California state park killing sentenced to life in prison

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man convicted last month in the shooting death of a father who was camping with his daughters at a Southern California park was sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison. A jury found Anthony Rauda guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Tristan Beaudette and of the attempted murders of the two young girls. Rauda fatally shot Beaudette in the head while the 35-year-old father camped in a tent with his daughters on June 18, 2018 in Malibu Creek State Park, roughly 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of downtown Los Angeles. He was taken into custody in late 2018 in a ravine near the park with a rifle in his backpack.The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Rauda was sentenced to a total of 119 years to life. Rauda’s attorney, Nicholas C. Okorocha, declined to comment on Wednesday’s sentencing but said he appreciated the “deeply moving” victim impact statement delivered by Beaudette’s wife, Erica. Beaudette’s daughters, then ages 2 and 4,...

Stock market today: Wall Street drifts as drops for tech overshadow gains elsewhere

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting Wednesday, as drops for Microsoft and other big-name tech stocks overshadow gains for much of the rest of Wall Street.The S&P 500 was 0.4% lower in late trading even though the majority of stocks within the index were rising. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 116 points, or 0.3%, at 33,690 with less than an hour remaining in trading. The Nasdaq composite was lagging the market with a drop of 1%. Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet all fell at least 3% and were the heaviest weights on the S&P 500. Because they’re some of Wall Street’s most valuable stocks, their movements pack extra punch on the index. It’s a reversal from much of this year, where stocks of high-growth companies led the way on hopes for easier interest rates from the Federal Reserve and excitement around artificial intelligence. But tech stocks are seen as some of the hardest hit by higher interest rates, and yields were on the rise in the Treasury m...