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How the Supreme Court affirmative action ruling is affecting Missouri colleges, universities

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Following a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, lawmakers want to know how not being able to consider race when admitting students is affecting Missouri colleges and universities.The ruling at the end of June struck down affirmative action in college admissions, meaning race cannot be a factor. This forced higher education institutions to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies, but in Missouri, public universities and colleges told the Joint Committee on Education that the decision wasn't impacting them."It's just not something that necessitates any kind of change in how we do business," executive director of the Council on Public Higher Education Paul Wagner said. "Really competitive admissions, like the way it works in the world of the Harvards and such, really isn't a thing for our institutions, so it's really no impact."Just weeks after the United States Supreme Court said race-conscious admission plans violate the constitution, higher education ...

Missouri infant dies after being left in bathtub unattended

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

WEST PLAINS, Mo. - The West Plains Police Department has released information on a medical emergency on Burke Avenue around 6 p.m. Wednesday evening, August 9.Officers responded to the address after reports that a 6-month-old baby girl was not breathing. 27-year-old Levi Michael Coffel met officers at the door and told officers he had performed live-saving measures on the infant but was unsuccessful. Officers observed that Coffel smelled of alcohol and requested a breath sample. He consented and the test found that his blood-alcohol level (BAC) was 0.191. He told officers he had consumed intoxicating substances while he was the only person caring for four small children when officers arrived at the home, and he told a detective that he had placed the 6-month-old baby in a bath seat in the tub while the water was running and left the room to grab the diaper bag. Christian County couple caught in Michigan with 2 abducted children He initially told the detective he thought the drain...

Ecuador arrests six Colombians as suspects in slaying of anti-corruption presidential candidate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

By GONZALO SOLANO and REGINA GARCIA CANO (Associated Press)QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The six men arrested as suspects in the assassination of an anti-corruption Ecuadorian presidential candidate are Colombian nationals, a police report said Thursday as authorities investigated the motive for a crime that shocked a nation already reeling from a surge in drug-related violence.The six men were captured hiding in a house in Quito, Ecuador’s capital, said the report, which was reviewed by The Associated Press. Officers also seized four shotguns, a 5.56-mm rifle, ammunition and three grenades, along with a vehicle and a motorcycle, it said.Fernando Villavicencio, 59, who was known for speaking up against drug cartels, was assassinated in Quito on Wednesday, less than two weeks before a special presidential election. He was not a front-runner, but his death deepened the sense of crisis around organized crime that has already claimed thousands of lives and underscored the challenge ...

How Rockies’ Austin Gomber turned around his season to become team’s best starter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

Rockies lefty Austin Gomber has turned his season around. How did he do it? The words of Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux are a good place to begin.“The best pitchers have a short-term memory and a bulletproof confidence,” Maddux once said.And here’s another gem from Maddux’s philosophy: “It’s hard to know what people really expect of you, and I’ve never tried to live up to expectations anyway. That’s no way to play baseball.”Gomber learned those lessons the hard way.On April 19, in a 14-3 loss to Pittsburgh at Coors Field, Gomber experienced an afternoon nightmare. In two innings, the Pirates blasted him for nine runs on nine hits, leaving Gomber 0-4 with a 12.12 ERA. Opponents were hitting .356 against him and he had issued nine walks in just 16 1/3 innings.The fact that Gomber had been relegated to the bullpen last season only compounded his ugly start. He looked lost.Then came his public catharsis.After the Pirates game, Gomb...

Iran transfers 5 Iranian-Americans from prison to house arrest in step toward deal for full release

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

By JON GAMBRELL and MATTHEW LEE (Associated Press)DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran has moved five Iranian-Americans from prison to house arrest in exchange for billions of dollars frozen in South Korea, U.S. and Iranian officials said Thursday, as part of a tentative deal that follows months of heightened tensions between the two countries.Iranian officials at the United Nations told The Associated Press that the prisoner transfer marked “a significant initial step” in the implementation of the agreement, which is still being negotiated and could eventually lead to the full release of the Americans.Iran acknowledged that the deal involves $6 billion to $7 billion that were frozen as a result of sanctions. Iranian officials said the money would be transferred to Qatar before being sent on to Iran if the agreement goes through.The final transfer of the money — and the release of the five detainees — is expected in the next month or so due to the co...

Rocky Mountain Showdown in ’28 and ’36? CSU Rams coach Jay Norvell is all for it. “I’d like to be able to play it whenever we can.”

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

Jay Norvell ain’t hard to find, either. But when asked about The Year of Prime — as in, new CU Buffs stalwart Deion Sanders — in the state of Colorado, the second-year CSU football coach says he’s more focused on making sure that his Rams ain’t hard to watch.“We haven’t run into (Sanders) in recruiting much (within) the state, so, I mean, it really doesn’t affect us,” Norvell told The Post during a tour of Denver media outlets Thursday.“We know we play him (in Boulder on Sept. 16) and we know we’ve got to be ready to play. But besides that, it doesn’t really affect us. I think it’s great that we’re playing and (that we’re) playing this year, I think it’s great for the state. I think it’s great that we get exposure across the country.”Whether it’s Bernie Sanders or Deion Sanders coaching the Buffs, Norvell knows his end game is the same — win the in-state Super Bowl. The Rocky Mountain Showdown is back next month after a four-year hiatu...

A conservative case for disqualifying Trump in 2024

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

By Adam Liptak | New York TimesWASHINGTON Two prominent conservative law professors have concluded that Donald Trump is ineligible to be president under a provision of the Constitution that bars people who have engaged in an insurrection from holding government office. The professors are active members of the Federalist Society, the conservative legal group, and proponents of originalism, the method of interpretation that seeks to determine the Constitution’s original meaning.The professors William Baude of the University of Chicago and Michael Stokes Paulsen of the University of St. Thomas studied the question for more than a year and detailed their findings in a long article to be published next year in The University of Pennsylvania Law Review.“When we started out, neither of us was sure what the answer was,” Baude said. “People were talking about this provision of the Constitution. We thought: ‘We’re constitutional scholars, and this is an imp...

A’s president Kaval, quiet since Las Vegas deal, blames Oakland as Schnitzer fire burns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

Dave Kaval hasn’t made a peep since the A’s made an agreement to relocate to Las Vegas in April. But when an old foe, Schnitzer Steel, went up in flames on Wednesday night, the A’s team president lit up his social media feed with a flurry of posts using Schnitzer’s moment to deflect some blame off his organization and owner John Fisher.For Kaval, the Schnitzer fire sparked an opportunity to blame the City of Oakland for not backing the team’s counter-lawsuits against Schnitzer — which filed lawsuits against the A’s during their Howard Terminal proceedings. He also said the city failed to hold up its end of the now-dead Howard Terminal project.He sides with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s statement that the A’s and Oakland never had a ballpark deal in place, a claim that prompted Oakland mayor Sheng Thao to travel to the All-Star Game in Seattle and hand-deliver documents to the contrary — that Oakland and the A’s were ...

New report details years of gifts, trips for Justice Thomas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

By Tierney Sneed | CNNThe lifestyle Justice Clarence Thomas has enjoyed over the last three decades bankrolled by gifts and hospitality from his wealthy friends is more extensive than previously known, according to a new ProPublica report, and has included numerous flights on private planes, skybox tickets to sporting events, stays at luxury resorts, and a standing invitation to play at a high-end private golf club in Florida.The new report is the broadest look yet at how Thomas’ social circle has funded – with limited disclosure to the public – a regular stream of extravagant excursions and events since he became a Supreme Court justice. These costly trips and travel perks often went unreported on the justice’s financial disclosure forms, ProPublica said in its investigation.Thomas is already under intense scrutiny for gifts he received from Harlan Crow, a GOP megadonor who treated Thomas and his wife to extravagant vacations, paid for the tuition of a Thomas family member and ente...

Letters: Invasive plants | Above the law | Supporting evidence | Oaths meaningless | Defrauding supporters

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:12 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Only volunteers canstop invasive plantsThe Earth is in the midst of the Sixth Extinction crisis, caused mostly by loss of habitat. A large part of that habitat loss is caused by invasive non-native plants.Most of these plants are listed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture because they are harmful to the environment, and they are designated a “public nuisance.”The East Bay Regional Park District and other public agencies have recently been doing everything they can to attract more people to the parks. And they have been very successful. Unfortunately, they haven’t made the same effort to protect wildlife and habitat. Recreation leads to more recreation, which leads to more trail-building, mountain biking and other habitat destruction.Mike VandemanSan RamonTrump is notabove the lawA grand jury made up of everyday Americans reviewed mountains of evidence and determined there was...