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Tag: children

  • Video of a woman saying her son uses a litter box is satire

    Video of a woman saying her son uses a litter box is satire

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    A video of a mother saying her son uses a litter box at school because he “identifies as a cat” has gone viral online.

    A May 1 Facebook video begins with a 2022 clip from the United Kingdom-based Channel 4 News in which a journalist said, “Are American schools installing cat litter boxes in toilets for children who think they’re cats?” (The video omits the part when the journalist says this isn’t happening.)

    Then, the video cuts to a person reacting to what looks like a mother encouraging her child to use the litter box. The person says the parent “has now categorized (her son) as a cat and even restricted his teachers from letting him use the bathroom.”

    (Screengrab from Facebook)

    The video shows a clip of the mom who says she bought a litter box for her son to put in the school bathroom and use.

    “It’s so sad to think that kids are being coached to think this is normal,” the person reacting to the video says.

    Another Facebook post shared the same video. These posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

    The video of the “mom” talking about her son using the litter box originated from a satirical TikTok account that often shares fake stories about family members.

    The original video was shared Sept. 21, 2023, along with a caption that had a hashtag that said “satire.” The TikTok user’s bio also says it is a “satire account.”

    PolitiFact has fact-checked false claims about schools putting litter boxes in bathrooms for students who identify as “furries,” or people interested in anthropomorphized animals. We rated these claims Pants on Fire.

    We rate the claim that a video shows a mom encouraging her son “who identifies as a cat to use the litter box at school” Pants on Fire!

    RELATED: Debunking, rebuttals didn’t stop claim about litter boxes in schools from spreading before midterms

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  • They shared a name — but not a future. How 2 Baltimore kids fought to escape poverty

    They shared a name — but not a future. How 2 Baltimore kids fought to escape poverty

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    BALTIMORE — Growing up in the streets of east Baltimore surrounded by poverty and gun violence, two kids named Antonio became fast friends. Both called “Tone,” they were similarly charismatic and ambitious, dreaming of the day they would finally leave behind the struggles that defined their childhoods.

    One has. The other never will.

    Antonio Lee was shot and killed last summer. In the weeks that followed, his friend Antonio Moore warned their peers about the consequences of retaliation, trying to prevent more needless bloodshed and stolen futures in a city that consistently ranks among the nation’s most violent.

    “This s— will keep going for the next 20 years, or it’ll stop,” Moore said at Lee’s funeral service in August. “Y’all gotta make a choice.”

    Moore, 24, is a successful real estate investor and entrepreneur. He founded a consulting company that helps brands and nonprofits connect with urban youth. His accomplishments serve as a reminder of what’s possible.

    Moore said Lee was committed to forging a similar path; he just didn’t have enough time to see it through.

    How was Moore able to break the negative cycles of his youth while Lee fell victim to them?

    It’s a question with no simple answers, but their disparate fates highlight the sometimes insurmountable challenges facing young Black men from Baltimore’s poorest neighborhoods and similar communities across the country. They live in a world where rampant gun violence often draws an arbitrary line between life and death, where the fight for survival is constant and trauma is passed down through generations.

    And the hurdles don’t stop there: underperforming schools, limited job opportunities, inadequate public transportation, inaccessible health care, housing insecurity and an embattled criminal justice system that disproportionately locks up people of color. Guns and drugs are readily available. Hope is hard to come by.

    Beating the odds is possible, but it requires an extraordinary combination of hard work and good luck.

    Above all, it requires time.

    ——

    On the afternoon of his death, Lee was washing windshields at a busy northeast Baltimore intersection when gunfire broke out. His loved ones believe he was killed over a dispute between rival groups from different sections of east Baltimore. No arrests have been made in the case.

    Lee died about four months before his 20th birthday. A second victim survived his injuries.

    Stories like this are painfully common in Baltimore even as the city’s homicide rate overall trends downward.

    Lee’s life unfolded in forgotten communities suffering from decades of population loss and unchecked drug activity. He attended Baltimore’s underfunded public schools. Money was tight at home.

    He came from a loving family, but his childhood was punctuated by tragedy. A brother was shot to death in North Carolina and a sister died from brain cancer. As the youngest child, Lee clung to his mother and surviving sister for support.

    Several of his close friends were killed as teenagers, including a Baltimore high school football player whose death rocked the city two years ago when he was gunned down in his school’s parking lot less than an hour before a scheduled home game.

    Lee mourned them all, and he was acutely aware of the danger he faced simply operating in his environment, according to friends and family. That’s one reason he was fighting to get out.

    Statistically, he was fighting a losing battle. Black children grow up in some of the country’s poorest households. Compared to their white counterparts, research shows they’re significantly less likely to achieve upward economic mobility: About three-quarters of Black children born in the lowest income bracket will remain there for the rest of their lives. They’re also about five times more likely to die in gunfire.

    Lee talked about moving to Atlanta or maybe Florida, somewhere he would feel safer. He just needed to save up enough money to make it happen.

    He was constantly brainstorming potential business opportunities — everything from music production and real estate investment to trash collection.

    He started working at McDonald’s and considered taking culinary classes. He loved to cook and bake. His funeral program listed some of his favorite dishes: pasta, chicken wings, banana pudding.

    Lee was enrolled in one of Baltimore’s flagship anti-violence programs through the nonprofit Roca, which provides mentoring, job training, GED classes and other services. He was meeting with his mentor regularly; they last spoke just hours before the shooting while Lee was brushing his teeth. Despite having a mouthful of toothpaste, he answered the phone with his signature greeting, an enthusiastic “Hey baby!”

    Wherever he went, Lee would show up well-dressed and smiling, usually sporting a spotless pair of Air Jordan 5s, his favorite sneaker. As an aspiring rapper, he kept his finger on the pulse of music and fashion trends.

    “A lot of these kids, their souls are like vacant buildings,” said Terry “Uncle T” Williams, who founded a youth mentorship program in east Baltimore after his son was killed. “Antonio was really ambitious. He had a big heart. He stood out like a sore thumb for this reason.”

    Lee’s optimism was contagious. He was curious and open-minded. He wanted to make his community proud.

    “He was just so young,” said Brandon Taylor, a Baltimore attorney who represented Lee. “I feel like Mr. Lee was a damn baby.”

    At the same time, he was forced to grow up fast, especially after his older brother was killed in 2019. Lee was grappling with a question facing many of Taylor’s clients: Was it worth carrying a gun for protection despite the risk of getting stopped by police?

    “But fighting and violence, that’s not what Mr. Lee was all about,” Taylor said. “So when I heard about him dying, that kind of crushed this whole firm.”

    Just weeks before his death, Lee met with Taylor about a recent arrest for fleeing police and traffic violations. Taylor shook his head, recalling how Lee sped home and climbed through a window instead of complying with the traffic stop.

    After the shooting, loved ones were similarly left wondering what was going through Lee’s mind when he decided to wash windshields in northeast Baltimore, an area he normally avoided because of ongoing neighborhood beef. He was squeegeeing with a friend that afternoon.

    Baltimore’s squeegee workers have long been a fixture at some of the city’s busiest intersections. Mostly young Black men from east and west Baltimore, they’re typically desperate for cash. But their numbers have been dwindling since a 2022 initiative from the mayor’s office sought to discourage the practice and banned panhandling in certain locations.

    Lee must have needed supplemental income and decided to take a chance, loved ones said. It was a mistake he couldn’t afford to make.

    ——

    While Lee’s death added to already devastating statistics, Moore is living proof of what happens when the pendulum swings the other way.

    Moore grew up in the same forgotten neighborhood and struggling school system. He basically stopped going to class junior year, but he still graduated from high school thanks to a grade-changing scheme that was later detailed in a state inspector general’s report and led to districtwide policy changes.

    As a teen, he spent most days gambling and selling weed, occasionally dodging gunfire. He was making decent money in the streets. And despite the near constant threat of getting shot or arrested, it was a familiar environment, a known quantity, a source of instant gratification.

    But ultimately, the risks seemed to outweigh the rewards. Moore tried to envision a positive future for himself and started hanging around people who seemed like good role models.

    He got a job at Chipotle, where he learned how to operate in a corporate setting and talk to customers. One day, he struck up a conversation with a man who worked in Baltimore’s wholesale real estate market.

    “Hit me up when you’re ready to make real money,” Moore remembers the man telling him. So he did.

    Moore quit Chipotle after about a year. By then, he was supporting himself as a property wholesaler, coordinating deals between buyers and sellers. It was a lucrative trade that required no professional license or college degree. Moore said his most important asset was his knowledge of Baltimore’s neighborhoods, crime trends, local politics and other factors that could inform investment decisions. The city’s glut of vacant rowhouses provided ample opportunities.

    Meanwhile, Moore also began developing relationships with advocates and business leaders focused on improving conditions for teens and young adults living in poverty.

    Moore said those interactions made him realize the value of his perspective — not in spite of where he came from, but because of it. He launched a consulting firm in 2021.

    As a marketing consultant, he advises businesses and nonprofits on how to connect with a Gen Z audience. His current client list includes YouTube and the national anti-violence organization Everytown for Gun Safety.

    Last year, Moore organized a collaboration between Everytown and three local Baltimore streetwear designers. During a recent visit to his childhood neighborhood, he caught up with old friends and handed out shirts emblazoned with the organization’s message: “STOP GUN VIOLENCE”

    Moore was able to make it out of the streets, but he can’t escape the social media posts perpetuating Baltimore’s intractable cycles of youth violence. Some nights, he lies awake wondering how to stop them, grappling with complex questions that criminologists, public health experts and politicians have repeatedly failed to answer.

    “It’s so easy to self-sabotage yourself in the city. It’s easy to stunt your own growth because that’s what the environment breeds,” he said. “You have to see a future and want it more — really want it.”

    It was an uphill battle as Moore pushed himself to embrace the unknown. Aside from a few lucky breaks, he attributes his success to an inquisitive mind, strong social skills, discipline and drive. Those qualities may have served him well, but they’re not particularly unique.

    “The thing is, there are so many more kids like me,” he said.

    One of them was Lee, who considered Moore a role model of sorts. The pair developed a close friendship based on shared experiences and similar goals. In between watching sports, listening to music and going shopping, they talked about Lee’s future: how he dreamed of finding a lucrative career and buying his mom a house. Moore offered advice and support. He thought Lee was next in line for success.

    Moore was visiting Chicago when he heard about the shooting. He rushed back to Baltimore, unable to shake the feeling that somehow he’d failed his little brother.

    “I’m so mad he got killed because kids younger than him would have been influenced and inspired by him, too,” Moore said. “It possibly could have helped change a whole generation.”

    ——

    A week after Lee’s death, family members organized an evening vigil in the heart of east Baltimore. Against a backdrop of abandoned brick rowhouses, they constructed a makeshift memorial with photographs from his childhood. They decorated nearby stoops with bunches of blue balloons and spelled “TONE” with cardboard letters fastened to a boarded-up window.

    The crowd grew to around 100 people, filling the sidewalks and spilling into the street as Baltimore police officers watched from a distance. Mourners sipped from liquor bottles and lit candles while hip-hop music blasted in the background. They laughed and cried together, carrying out a series of rituals that have become all too familiar in Baltimore’s most underserved communities.

    Moore walked to a corner store and bought candy for some of the younger kids. He visited with a friend who had recently come home from jail. He hugged Lee’s mom while she sobbed for several minutes.

    Instead of inspiring others, Lee’s story had become a cautionary tale.

    “Right now, this city is known for its pain,” said John Young, a local pastor who mentored Lee and officiated his funeral service. “The future leaders of this world are being eliminated.”

    During the funeral, Young asked how many people in attendance had experienced similar tragedies before. Dozens raised their hands.

    He used the moment to send a clear message to Lee’s peers, other young men on the brink of adulthood, caught somewhere between forgiveness and revenge, ambition and resignation.

    “I want y’all to make a decision. Think about Tone and how you’re gonna remember him,” Young said. “How many of y’all don’t want to look in a casket and see yourself in it? Aren’t you tired of watching other people’s mothers cry?

    “Tone wanted to change and he had the courage to admit it. … Now it’s your turn to do something for him — live.”

    Moore, for his part, tries to live by example.

    He remains immersed in the community that raised him, even when it feels like he’s straddling two worlds. He understands both sides of the equation, the challenges and the possibilities.

    “Where we come from, we’re so lost, we’re not thinking our life matters,” he said. “But there’s a place for us out there. We don’t have to stay outcasts just because we were born into this.”

    His insight comes from personal experience, but to many other young people growing up under similar circumstances, his accomplishments seem like an impossible pipe dream. Moore searches desperately for the words that will finally make them realize their untapped potential.

    In a world where the future is anything but guaranteed, how do you inspire hope?

    It’s a piece of advice he gave Lee countless times: “You are valuable,” he tells anyone who will listen. “You really gotta stay alive long enough to catch on.”

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  • Which Tablet Should I Get for My Kids?

    Which Tablet Should I Get for My Kids?

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    My Children’s Favorite tablet is a good flat rock. Get the right one and it’ll do everything from launching toy cars to hop-skip-jumping its way across a pond.

    Of course, as a WIRED reviewer, there are also plenty of digital tablets in my house, and they’re pretty popular at times too. After years of testing, we’ve tried almost every kid-focused tablet out there. These are our favorite picks.

    If you’re still hunting for kid-related educational ideas, check out our favorite kid podcasts, some fun ways to help kids learn, and our guide to the best STEM toys.

    Updated May 2024: We updated our picks to include the latest models, removed the now discontinued iPod Touch (sniff), added the Kobo Libra Colour for comics, and updated prices throughout.

    Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you’d like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.

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    Scott Gilbertson

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  • Helpers escort kids through San Francisco’s broken Tenderloin streets

    Helpers escort kids through San Francisco’s broken Tenderloin streets

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    SAN FRANCISCO — Wearing a bright safety vest with the words “Safe Passage” on the back, Tatiana Alabsi strides through San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood to its only public elementary school, navigating broken bottles and stained sleeping bags along tired streets that occasionally reek of urine.

    Along the way in one of America’s most notorious neighborhoods, she calls out to politely alert people huddled on sidewalks, some holding strips of tin foil topped with illicit drugs.

    “Good afternoon, happy Monday!” Alabsi says to two men, one slumped forward in a wheelchair and wearing soft hospital socks and one slipper. Her voice is cheerful, a soothing contrast to the misery on display in the 50-block neighborhood that’s well-known for its crime, squalor and reckless abandon. “School time. Kids will be coming soon.”

    Further along, Alabsi passes a man dancing in the middle of the street with his arms in the air as a squealing firetruck races by. She stops to gently touch the shoulder of a man curled up in the fetal position on the sidewalk, his head inches from the tires of a parked car.

    “Are you OK?” she asks, before suggesting he move to a spot out of the sun. “Kids will be coming soon.”

    Minutes later, Alabsi arrives at the Tenderloin Community Elementary School, where she is among several adults who escort dozens of children to after-school programs. The students hitch up backpacks emblazoned with Spider Man and the sisters of “Frozen,” then form two rambunctious lines that follow Alabsi like ducklings through broken streets.

    The smallest ones hold hands with trusted volunteers.

    Long known for its brazen open-air drug markets, chronic addiction, mental illness and homelessness, the Tenderloin neighborhood is also home to the highest concentration of kids in San Francisco, an estimated 3,000 children largely from immigrant families.

    The neighborhood is rich with social services and low-income housing but the San Francisco Police Department also has seized nearly 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of narcotics in the area since last May. Of a record 806 overdose fatalities last year, about 20% were in the Tenderloin.

    But amid the chaos is a vibrant community stitched together by differing languages that has found ways to protect its most vulnerable and deliver hope, something many say the city has failed to do. Officials have sent in toilets, declared a mayoral emergency and vowed to crack down on drugs, but change is glacial.

    A group of mothers fed up with drug dealers started the efforts in 2008 after a child temporarily went missing. The Safe Passage program is now part of the Tenderloin Community Benefit District, a nonprofit funded in part by Tenderloin property owners who also cleans sidewalks, staffs parks and hosts community events.

    Alabsi started as a volunteer after the Russian native moved to the United States from Yemen with her husband and sought asylum a decade ago. They joined her husband’s mother and his siblings, who had settled in the Tenderloin.

    Life was not easy in their new homeland. Alabsi, 54, and her husband Jalal, both medical doctors, had to start over years into their careers. The mother of two despaired when her younger son began to count poop piles he spotted from his stroller on their walks home from daycare.

    Then she learned of Safe Passage. At her husband’s urging, she signed up to volunteer to help spare the children the worst sights on their walk after school.

    Many people, Alabsi says, respond politely or tuck away their drugs or scoot their belongings out of the way when she reminds them that school time is over. But others ignore the request. Some even get angry.

    “It’s better to give nice smile and say good afternoon or good morning, to show people I am friendly,” said a laughing Alabsi, who is fluent in Arabic and Russian and speaks English with an accent. “I am not monster.”

    The program’s safety stewards guide the students along the cleanest and calmest routes, redirecting them to avoid people acting erratically or overdosing. Sometimes stewards use their bodies to block the children from seeing things they shouldn’t, like a woman crouched between two cars, no longer able to control her bowels.

    On a recent afternoon, two girls with ponytails sashayed across an intersection, talking about becoming TikTok stars one day, seemingly oblivious to a couple hunched over at a bus stop across the street, struggling to light up. As they walked, Alabsi blocked their view of smeared feces.

    The girls, one in first grade and the other in second, were headed to the Cross Cultural Family Center, one of some half-dozen nonprofits that provide after-school programs for the K-5 kids.

    Alabsi and her immediate family moved out of the Tenderloin but are still an integral part of it. Their son is in the elementary school’s fourth grade and Alabsi now manages the Safe Passage program.

    She loves the mix of Latin, Asian, Arab and American cultures in the Tenderloin. The big hearts of residents who are striving for a better life is what “makes it special,” she said.

    One recent Saturday, Alabsi worked at an Eid celebration at the neighborhood’s recreation center. She helped monitor the block that was closed to traffic for the day while greeting her sisters-in-laws, who had joined the festivities with their children.

    When the celebration ended at 4 p.m., she left with her soccer-loving son, Sami, to drop off her vest and radio at the office. They chatted in Russian as they passed tents, sleeping bags and blankets, an abandoned microwave and lawn chair and a human-shaped lump under a blanket, shoes peeking out.

    From loud speakers, the doo-wop of The Moonglows singing “Sincerely” soared prettily over gritty streets. On a pole was a flyer with photos of a missing daughter: “Mimi please call home,” read the April notice. “You are so loved.”

    “We can change world in better way by our presence, by our examples, by our positive attitude,” Alabsi said. “Every year it’s little bit better and better and better.”

    ___

    Associated Press journalist Terry Chea contributed to this report.

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  • How does white noise affect kids? A child psychiatrist explains

    How does white noise affect kids? A child psychiatrist explains

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    How does white noise affect kids? A child psychiatrist explains – CBS News


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    White noise generators are a popular way for parents to help their kids sleep, but there’s new concern over what might happen inside their heads as the machines run. Dr. Daniel Bober, a child psychiatrist, joins CBS News to explain.

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


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  • Does Florida’s abortion amendment remove parental consent?

    Does Florida’s abortion amendment remove parental consent?

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    Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., warned parents about a state abortion amendment that would expand legal access to abortion and overrule a six-week abortion ban that went into effect May 1.

    In Naples, hours before President Joe Biden spoke in Tampa April 23 about abortion, DeSantis told a crowd that Biden was coming to Florida to support a constitutional amendment “that will eliminate parental consent for minors and that’s written in a way that’s intentionally designed to deceive voters.”

    The governor repeated this warning on April 30, calling it “an amendment that they wanted to go into Florida’s Constitution that will eliminate parental consent for minors.”

    “Why would you take away parental consent?” he asked.

    The picture of how the amendment could affect parental consent is complex. The ballot measure needs 60% approval to take  effect. And if it is approved, the amendment itself says it “does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.”

    But DeSantis’ warning is based on a prediction about what could happen to the parental consent law through legal challenges. 

    That’s because the amendment stipulates that “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health.” Legal experts say this wording could lead advocates to challenge a 2020 state law that requires written parental consent before a minor undergoes an abortion.

    But the consent law’s elimination isn’t a foregone conclusion — it would likely be decided by the courts. 

    Adding one more wrinkle: Legal experts told us that, until April 1, parental consent requirements had been unconstitutional in Florida for decades. 

    Here’s why DeSantis’ statement needs more explanation. 

    What the amendment says about parental consent, notification

    The summary for Amendment 4 reads in full:

    “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.”

    DeSantis and others argue that the language would eliminate the law requiring minors to get parental consent before an abortion. Minors can also seek a judge’s permission to obtain an abortion without parental involvement.

    But legal experts told PolitiFact the amendment doesn’t spell the immediate end of parental consent for abortions in Florida.

    “It’s possible that a person or group might sue to overturn the (parental consent) law, however, the case would be heard in state court and, ultimately, the Florida Supreme Court would decide the issue,” said Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida. 

    Given the court’s conservative bent, Jewett said, it’s possible that it would uphold Florida’s existing law, even if the constitutional amendment passes. Justices could determine that parents have traditionally had a legal right to have a say in their children’s health care decisions, he said, and therefore still have a say here.

    The amendment also stipulates that it “does not overrule the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.” This refers to Article X, Section 22 of the Florida Constitution, which requires parental notification before a minor seeks an abortion.

    Bryan Griffin, a DeSantis spokesperson, told PolitiFact in an email that parental notification is not the same thing as consent. He referenced DeSantis’ April 17 news conference, during which DeSantis said the “notification is after-the-fact. The consent is obviously a condition precedent.” The initiative’s language, however, as well as current Florida law, specifies that parents would be notified before an abortion takes place, not after.

    “Minors do not have the same constitutional rights as adults do, and the Florida Constitution recognizes this in the abortion context in its provision that expressly allows the Legislature to require parental notification,” said Quinn Yeargain, a Widener University assistant law professor and expert on state constitutional law. 

    “While Section 22 only relates to notification, not consent, it still clearly indicates a desire in the Constitution to limit abortion rights for minors,” Yeargain said.

    The state’s 2020 consent law became enforceable only on April 1, when the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the constitutional protection of privacy didn’t apply to abortions.

    A 1989 Florida Supreme Court case had invalidated an earlier parental consent law for minors seeking abortions on the grounds that it violated Florida’s constitutional right to privacy. So, although DeSantis has a point that the initiative could eventually eliminate the consent requirement, Floridians until April had lived without it for more than 30 years.

    “We don’t know if parental consent will later be interpreted to be a delay or a prohibition on abortion under the amendment, but we do know that the parental consent requirement has been deemed unconstitutional since 1989” until now, said Louis Virelli, a Stetson University law professor.

    RELATED: No, a Florida ballot measure wouldn’t ‘mandate abortion up to birth,’ as Gov. Ron DeSantis said 

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  • You Only Need 5 Ingredients and 10 Minutes to Make These Honey-Glazed Salmon Bites (Yes, Really!)

    You Only Need 5 Ingredients and 10 Minutes to Make These Honey-Glazed Salmon Bites (Yes, Really!)

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    You’ll want every last drop of the sauce.
    READ MORE…

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    Patty Catalano

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  • Raising a child with autism

    Raising a child with autism

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    As an Associate Producer at KPRC 2, I spend a lot of time fighting to make my community better and giving the voiceless a voice.

    In my personal life, as a mother to an autistic child, I also work hard every day to give my speech-delayed son a voice.

    There’s a side to raising a child with autism that a lot of people don’t see. As we close out Autism Awareness Month, I wanted to share our family’s story, and shine a light on how you can help families like ours.

    We first became concerned about my son Noah at his third birthday party. It had become clear that something wasn’t right.

    We gathered around to sing Happy Birthday, just as we had last the year before, when Noah began to cry and cover his ears. That alone wasn’t an indication that anything was wrong, but when my husband and I paired it with other recent behaviors, a pattern emerged.

    According to the Centers for Disease Control, children should be able to have a conversation with you using at least two back-and forth exchanges by age 3. They should be able to ask who, what, when, where and why questions, and their speech should be understandable.

    But our sweet boy had stopped making progress with speech. They say to not compare your child with others, but when we spoke with the other three-year-olds at Noah’s party, we couldn’t help but notice that he was behind.

    His tantrums and outbursts were also becoming more intense and frequent. It would take both my husband and I long periods of time to calm him down.

    After the party, my mother-in-law told me I could take him for a free behavioral assessment at our local school district, so I made an appointment to have him evaluated.

    The appraisal staff asked me a series of questions and observed Noah moving about the room as he looked for the door to escape.

    They asked me if Noah walked on his tippy toes. Yes, I said, all the time.

    Does he pull you to what he wants instead of asking you? Yes, I said, as he pulled me to the door.

    Does he flap his arms and hands? Yes, I said.

    And finally, does he cover his ears when he hears loud noises? I thought back to his recent birthday party and said yes.

    “Well,” a staff member said kindly, “these are all signs of autism.”

    I didn’t want to believe it was true, but a neurologist later tested him and ruled out other possibilities. I had suspected that Noah might be autistic, but hearing it confirmed broke my heart. The future I had hoped for him seemed to pop like a bubble.

    But there was hope, the staff said. There were ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) programs that I could enroll Noah in to help him speak. There were children just like Noah who grew up to live completely normal lives, they said.

    So, we began the process of finding the right program for him. We tried one through the school district, but when he showed signs of regression after about three months, we decided to start over.

    We then found Spectrum of Hope, and they seemed to check all the right boxes, so we enrolled him there.

    He’s been in ABA therapy for about two years, and I can see he’s on an upward trajectory. His teachers work with him 5 days a week on improving his speech, regulating his emotions, and interacting with others. He also goes to a professional speech therapist once a week.

    But for all our efforts, we still have our bad days.

    Noah recently turned 5 years old, and he still can’t tell you how old he is when you ask. He can’t tell you who his favorite superhero is, or what he wants to be when he grows up. He still has problems sitting still, running away, and can violently thrash when he’s overstimulated or told “no.”

    His outbursts in public have led to many apologetic explanations. I have often had to tell a frustrated adult or a confused child that Noah is special.

    When this happens, I try to quickly rush Noah away, and sit him down somewhere quiet to explain why he did something wrong.

    But what I won’t show Noah, or anyone else, is the overwhelming pain I feel in these moments. The judgmental looks and comments I have received cut me deeply, and I will often need to go somewhere quiet myself to try to work through it.

    Despite these painful moments, we also have many good days. We’ll go out to the store, and Noah will tell me he loves me, grab my face for a kiss, and maybe even use a three-word-sentence to ask for what he wants.

    I have hope that one day Noah will be able to speak like other children, and that he’ll go on to excel in school and anything else he sets his mind to.

    Waiting for him to speak is difficult, as is the fear that he may never start speaking. But we continue to be patient and understanding, as we work to give Noah all the help he needs to reach his full potential.

    I hope that you, the person reading this, can also show patience and understanding for these special children too.

    If you believe your child may have autism, there are resources available to help you. Visit AutismSpeaks.org to learn more.

    Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.

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    Faith Braverman

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  • My Crispy Beef Tacos Are So Good, It’s Impossible to Have Just One

    My Crispy Beef Tacos Are So Good, It’s Impossible to Have Just One

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    Rachel PerlmutterCulinary Producer

    Rachel Perlmutter is a recipe developer, food stylist, and culinary producer at The Kitchn. Originally from Houston, Texas, she spends her free time trying to perfect kolaches and breakfast tacos that taste like home. Rachel currently lives in Brooklyn with her partner, dog, cat and rabbit, where they all share a love of seasonal local produce.

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    Rachel Perlmutter

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  • These One-Bowl Banana Muffins Are So Easy, I Bake a Batch Every Single Week

    These One-Bowl Banana Muffins Are So Easy, I Bake a Batch Every Single Week

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    With fresh or frozen bananas.
    READ MORE…

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    Patty Catalano

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  • Penn State Scandal Fast Facts | CNN

    Penn State Scandal Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the Penn State sexual abuse scandal. On November 4, 2011, a grand jury report was released containing testimony that former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky sexually abused eight young boys over a period of at least 15 years. Officials at Penn State purportedly failed to notify law enforcement after learning about some of these incidents. On December 7, 2011, the number of victims increased to 10. Sandusky was found guilty in 2012.

    Included is a timeline of accusations, lists of the charges against Sandusky, a list of involved parties, a post grand jury report timeline, information about The Second Mile charity and Sandusky with links to the grand jury investigation.

    Jerry Sandusky

    Birth date: January 26, 1944

    Birth place: Washington, Pennsylvania

    Birth name: Gerald Arthur Sandusky

    Marriage: Dorothy “Dottie” (Gross) Sandusky (1966-present)

    Children: (all adopted) E.J., Kara, Jon, Jeff, Ray and Matt. The Sanduskys also fostered several children.

    Occupation: Assistant football coach at Penn State for 32 years before his retirement, including 23 years as defensive coordinator.

    Initially founded by Sandusky in 1977 as a group foster home for troubled boys, but grew into a non-profit organization that “helps young people to achieve their potential as individuals and community members.”

    May 25, 2012 – The Second Mile requests court approval in Centre County, Pennsylvania, to transfer its programs to Arrow Child & Family Ministries and shut down.

    August 27, 2012 – The Second Mile requests a stay in their petition to transfer its programs to Arrow Child & Family Ministries saying, “this action will allow any pending or future claims filed by Sandusky’s victims to be resolved before key programs or assets are considered for transfer.”

    March 2016 – After years of dismantling and distributing assets to Arrow Child & Family Ministries and any remaining funds to the Pennsylvania Attorney General to hold in escrow, the organization is dissolved.

    Source: Grand Jury Report

    1994-1997 – Sandusky engages in inappropriate conduct with different boys he met separately through The Second Mile program.

    1998 – Penn State police and the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare investigate an incident in which the mother of an 11-year-old boy reported that Sandusky showered with her son.

    1998 – Psychologist Alycia Chambers tells Penn State police that Sandusky acted the way a pedophile might in her assessment of a case in which the mother of a young boy reported that Sandusky showered with her son and may have had inappropriate contact with him. A second psychologist, John Seasock, reported he found no indication of child abuse.

    June 1, 1998 – In an interview, Sandusky admits to showering naked with the boy, saying it was wrong and promising not to do it again. The district attorney advises investigators that no charges will be filed, and the university police chief instructs that the case be closed.

    June 1999 – Sandusky retires from Penn State after coaching there for 32 years, but receives emeritus status, with full access to the campus and football facilities.

    2000 – James Calhoun, a janitor at Penn State, tells his supervisor and another janitor that he saw Sandusky sexually abusing a young boy in the Lasch Building showers. No one reports the incident to university officials or law enforcement.

    March 2, 2002 – Graduate Assistant Mike McQueary tells Coach Joe Paterno that on March 1, he witnessed Sandusky sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy in the Lasch Building showers. On May 7, 2012, prosecutors file court documents to change the date of the assault to on or around February 9, 2001.

    March 3, 2002 – Paterno reports the incident to Athletic Director Tim Curley. Later, McQueary meets with Curley and Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz. McQueary testifies that he told Curley and Schultz that he saw Sandusky and the boy engage in anal sex; Curley and Schultz testify they were not told of any such allegation. No law enforcement investigation is launched.

    2005 or 2006 – Sandusky befriends another Second Mile participant whose allegations would form the foundation of the multi-year grand jury investigation.

    2006 or 2007 – Sandusky begins to spend more time with the boy, taking him to sporting events and giving him gifts. During this period, Sandusky performs oral sex on the boy more than 20 times and the boy performs oral sex on him once.

    2008 – The boy breaks off contact with Sandusky. Later, his mother calls the boy’s high school to report her son had been sexually assaulted and the principal bans Sandusky from campus and reports the incident to police. The ensuing investigation reveals 118 calls from Sandusky’s home and cell phone numbers to the boy’s home.

    November 2008 – Sandusky informs The Second Mile that he is under investigation. He is removed from all program activities involving children, according to the group.

    November 4, 2011 – The grand jury report is released.

    November 5, 2011 – Sandusky is arraigned on 40 criminal counts. He is released on $100,000 bail. Curley and Schultz are each charged with one count of felony perjury and one count of failure to report abuse allegations.

    November 7, 2011 – Curley and Schultz are both arraigned and resign from their positions.

    November 9, 2011 – Paterno announces that he intends to retire at the end of the 2011 football season. Hours later, university trustees announce that President Graham Spanier and Coach Paterno are fired, effective immediately.

    November 11, 2011 – McQueary, now a Penn State receivers’ coach, is placed on indefinite administrative leave.

    November 14, 2011 – In a phone interview with NBC’s Bob Costas, Sandusky states that he is “innocent” of the charges and claims that the only thing he did wrong was “showering with those kids.”

    November 15, 2011 – The Morning Call reports that in a November 8, 2011, email to a former classmate, McQueary says he did stop the 2002 assault he witnessed and talked with police about it.

    November 16, 2011 – Representatives of Penn State’s campus police and State College police say they have no record of having received any report from McQueary about his having witnessed the rape of a boy by Sandusky.

    November 16, 2011 – A new judge is assigned to the Sandusky case after it is discovered that Leslie Dutchcot, the judge who freed Sandusky on $100,000 bail, volunteered at The Second Mile charity.

    November 21, 2011 – It is announced that former FBI Director Louis Freeh will lead an independent inquiry for Penn State into the school’s response to allegations of child sex abuse.

    November 22, 2011 – The Patriot-News reports that Children and Youth Services in Pennsylvania has two open cases of child sex abuse against Sandusky. The cases were reported less than two months ago and are in the initial stages of investigation.

    November 22, 2011 – The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts announces that all Centre County Common Pleas Court judges have recused themselves from the Sandusky case. This is to avoid any conflicts of interest due to connections with Sandusky, The Second Mile charity, or Penn State.

    November 30, 2011 – The first lawsuit is filed on behalf of a person listed in the complaint as “John Doe,” who says he was 10 years-old when he met Sandusky through The Second Mile charity. His attorneys say Sandusky sexually abused the victim “over one hundred times” and threatened to harm the victim and his family if he alerted anyone to the abuse.

    December 2, 2011 – A victim’s attorneys say they have reached a settlement with The Second Mile that allows it to stay in operation but requires it to obtain court approval before transferring assets or closing.

    December 3, 2011 – In an interview with The New York Times, Sandusky says, “If I say, ‘No, I’m not attracted to young boys,’ that’s not the truth. Because I’m attracted to young people – boys, girls – I …” His lawyer speaks up at that point to note that Sandusky is not “sexually” attracted to them.

    December 7, 2011 – Sandusky is arrested on additional child rape charges, which raises the number of victims from eight to 10 people. He is charged with four counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and two counts of unlawful contact with a minor. He also faces one new count of indecent assault and two counts of endangering a child’s welfare, in addition to a single new count of indecent assault and two counts of corruption of minors.

    December 8, 2011 – Sandusky is released on $250,000 bail. He is placed under house arrest and is required to wear an electronic monitoring device. He is also restricted from contacting the victims and possible witnesses, and he must be supervised during any interactions with minors.

    December 13, 2011 – Sandusky enters a plea of not guilty and waives his right to a preliminary hearing.

    December 16, 2011 – A hearing is held for Curley and Schultz. McQueary testifies he told university officials that he saw Sandusky possibly sexually assaulting a boy in 2002. Following the testimony, the judge rules that the perjury case against Curley and Schultz will go to trial. The incident is later said to have happened in 2001.

    January 13, 2012 – Curley and Schultz enter pleas of not guilty for their failure to report child sex abuse.

    January 22, 2012 – Paterno dies at the age of 85.

    February 14, 2012 – Penn State says that the Sandusky case has cost the university $3.2 million thus far in combined legal, consultant and public relations fees.

    June 11, 2012 – The Sandusky trial begins. On June 22, Sandusky is found guilty on 45 counts after jurors deliberate for almost 21 hours. His bail is immediately revoked, and he is taken to jail.

    June 30, 2012 – McQueary’s contract as assistant football coach ends.

    July 12, 2012 – Freeh announces the findings of the investigation into Penn State’s actions concerning Sandusky. The report accuses the former leaders at Penn State of showing “total and consistent disregard” for child sex abuse victims, while covering up the attacks of a longtime sexual predator.

    July 23, 2012 – The NCAA announces a $60 million fine against Penn State and bans the team from the postseason for four years. Additionally, the school must vacate all wins from 1998-2011 and will lose 20 football scholarships a year for four seasons.
    – The Big Ten Conference rules that Penn State’s share of bowl revenues for the next four seasons – roughly $13 million will be donated to charities working to prevent child abuse.

    August 24, 2012 – “Victim 1” files a lawsuit against Penn State.

    September 20, 2012 – Penn State hires Feinberg Rozen LLP (headed by Kenneth Feinberg who oversaw the 9/11 and BP oil spill victim funds).

    October 2, 2012 – McQueary files a whistleblower lawsuit against Penn State.

    October 8, 2012 – An audio statement from Sandusky airs in which he protests his innocence and says he is falsely accused.

    October 9, 2012 – Sandusky is sentenced to no less than 30 years and no more than 60 years in prison. During the hearing, Sandusky is designated a violent sexual offender.

    October 15, 2012 – Plaintiff “John Doe,” a 21-year-old male, files a lawsuit against Sandusky, Penn State, The Second Mile, Spanier, Curley and Schultz. Doe alleges that he would not have been assaulted by Sandusky if officials, who were aware he was molesting boys, had not covered up his misconduct.

    November 1, 2012 – The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania files eight charges against former Penn State President Spanier. The charges include perjury and endangering the welfare of a child. Former university Vice President Schultz and former Athletic Director Curley face the same charges, according to Attorney General Linda Kelly.

    November 15, 2012 – The Middle States Commission on Higher Education lifts its warning and reaffirms Penn State’s accreditation.

    January 30, 2013 – Judge John M. Cleland denies Sandusky’s appeal for a new trial.

    July 30, 2013 – A judge rules that Spanier, Curley and Schultz will face trial on obstruction of justice and other charges.

    August 26, 2013 – Attorneys announce Sandusky’s adopted son and six other victims have finalized settlement agreements.

    October 2, 2013 – The Superior Court of Pennsylvania denies Sandusky’s appeal.

    October 28, 2013 – Penn State announces it has reached settlements with 26 victims of Sandusky. The amount paid by the university totals $59.7 million.

    April 2, 2014 – The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania also denies Sandusky’s appeal.

    September 8, 2014 – NCAA ends Penn State’s postseason ban and scholarship limits. The $60 million fine and the 13 years of vacated wins for Paterno remain in place.

    January 16, 2015 – The NCAA agrees to restore 111 of Paterno’s wins as part of a settlement of the lawsuit brought by State Senator Jake Corman and Treasurer Rob McCord. Also, as part of the settlement, Penn State agrees to commit $60 million to the prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse.

    December 23, 2015 – A spokeswoman for the State of Pennsylvania employee retirement system says Sandusky will receive $211,000 in back payments and his regular pension payments will resume. This is the result of a November 13 court ruling that reversed a 2012 decision to terminate Sandusky’s pension under a state law that allows the termination of pensions of public employees convicted of a “disqualifying crime.” The judge said in his ruling that Sandusky was not employed at the time of the crimes he was convicted of committing.

    January 22, 2016 – A three-judge panel reverses the obstruction of justice and conspiracy charges against Spanier, Curley and Schultz, and the perjury charges against Spanier and Curley.

    May 4, 2016 – A new allegation purports Paterno knew that his assistant coach Sandusky was sexually abusing a child as early as 1976, according to a new court filing. The ongoing lawsuit, filed in 2013, seeks to determine whether Penn State or its insurance policy is liable for paying Sandusky’s victims. At least 30 men were involved in a civil settlement with Penn State, and the number of victims could be higher.

    May 6, 2016 – CNN reports the story of another alleged victim who explains how he was a troubled young kid in 1971 when Sandusky raped him in a Penn State bathroom. He says his complaint about it was ignored by Paterno.

    July 12, 2016 – Newly unsealed court documents allege that Paterno knew about Sandusky’s abuse and that he dismissed a victim’s complaint.

    August 12, 2016 – In a bid for a new trial, Sandusky testifies at a post-conviction hearing claiming his lawyers bungled his 2012 trial. On the stand, Sandusky describes what he said as bad media and legal advice given to him by his former lawyer, Joseph Amendola.

    November 3, 2016 – The Department of Education fines Penn State $2.4 million for violating the Clery Act, a law that requires universities to report crime on campuses. It’s the largest fine in the history of the act.

    March 13, 2017 – Curley and Schultz plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of children in exchange for the dismissal of felony charges.

    March 24, 2017 – Spanier is found guilty on one misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child. Spanier was acquitted of more serious allegations, including conspiracy charges and a felony count of child endangerment.

    June 2, 2017 – Spanier and two other former administrators are sentenced to jail terms for failing to report a 2001 allegation that Sandusky was molesting young boys. Spanier whose total sentence is four to 12 months incarceration, will be on probation for two years and must pay a $7,500 fine, according to Joe Grace, a spokesman for Pennsylvania’s attorney general’s office.

    – Curley is sentenced to seven to 23 months’ incarceration and two years’ probation, Grace said. He will serve three months in jail followed by house arrest and pay a $5,000 fine.

    – Schultz is sentenced to six to 23 months’ incarceration and two years’ probation. He will serve two months in jail, followed by house arrest and pay a $5,000 fine, according to Grace.

    January 9, 2018 – Penn State reports that the total amount of settlement awards paid to Sandusky’s victims is now over $109 million.

    February 5, 2019 – In response to an appeal for a new trial that also questions the validity of mandatory minimum sentencing, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania orders Sandusky to be re-sentenced. The request for a new trial is denied.

    April 30, 2019 – US Magistrate Judge Karoline Mehalchick vacates Spanier’s 2017 conviction for endangering the welfare of a child. Spanier was set to be sentenced on the one count conviction, instead, the court ordered the conviction be vacated because it was based on a criminal statute that did not go into effect until after the conduct in question. The state has 90 days to retry him, according to court documents. The following month, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro appeals the judge’s decision to throw out the conviction.

    November 22, 2019 – Sandusky is resentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison, the same penalty that was previously overturned. The initial sentence of at least 30 years in prison was overturned by the Pennsylvania Superior Court, which found that mandatory minimum sentences were illegally imposed.

    March 26, 2020 – The US Office for Civil Rights finds that Penn State failed to protect students who filed sexual harassment complaints. OCR completed the compliance review after it was initially launched in 2014, and found that the University violated Title IX for several years, in various ways. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announces that the US Department of Education and the university have entered into a resolution agreement that compels Penn State to address deficiencies in their complaint process, reporting policy requirements, record keeping, and training of staff, university police and other persons who work with students.

    December 1, 2020 – Spanier’s conviction is restored by a federal appeals court.

    May 26, 2021 – A judge rules that Spanier will start his two month prison sentence on July 9. Spanier reports to jail early and is released on August 4 after serving 58 days.

    Sandusky Verdict

    Victim 1
    Count 1 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 2 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 3 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Felony 3)
    Count 4 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 1)
    Count 5 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 6 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Felony 3)

    Victim 2
    Count 7 – not guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 8 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 2)
    Count 9 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 1)
    Count 10 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 11 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Misdemeanor 1)

    Victim 3
    Count 12 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 2)
    Count 13 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 3)
    Count 14 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 15 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Felony 3)

    Victim 4
    Count 16 – ****DROPPED****: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 17 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 18 – ****DROPPED*****: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 19 – ****DROPPED*****: Aggravated Indecent Assault (Felony 2)
    Count 20 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 2)
    Count 21 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 1)
    Count 22 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 23 – guilty” Endangering Welfare of Children (Felony 3)

    Victim 5
    Count 24 – not guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 25 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 3)
    Count 26 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 27 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Felony 3)

    Victim 6
    Count 28 – not guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 29 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 3)
    Count 30 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 31 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Misdemeanor 1)

    Victim 7
    Count 32 – guilty: Criminal Attempt to Commit Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 2)
    Count 33 – ****DROPPED****: WITHDRAWN BY PROSECUTORS (unlawful contact with minors)
    Count 34 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 35 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Misdemeanor 1)

    Victim 8
    Count 36 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 37 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 2)
    Count 38 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 1)
    Count 39 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 40 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Misdemeanor 1)

    (Due to 2nd indictment, counts start over with Victims 9 and 10)

    Victim 9
    Count 1 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 2 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 3 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Felony 3)
    Count 4 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 1)
    Count 5 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 6 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Felony 3)

    Victim 10
    Count 7 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 8 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 9 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 10 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 1)
    Count 11 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 12 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Felony 3)

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  • Fact-checking Kamala Harris on school shootings, gun storage

    Fact-checking Kamala Harris on school shootings, gun storage

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    At an event touting the Biden administration’s efforts to curb gun violence, Vice President Kamala Harris said the vast majority of guns used in school shootings come from unsecured locations in homes. 

    On April 15 in Las Vegas, Harris said gun owners have a responsibility to secure firearms so children and young people can’t access them. 

    “Put it in a lockbox, because especially if a young person is just curious, or, you know, wants to play with a gun … let’s not make it too easy to get,” Harris said. “And that’s what secure storage is about. You know, the numbers that I have seen suggest that as many as 75% of school shootings resulted from a gun that was not secured.”

    Harris’ comments come after parents Jennifer and James Crumbley were sentenced to 10 years in prison for a deadly mass shooting their son committed in 2021 at his Michigan high school.

    We took a closer look at the statistic and found the study Harris cites concluded that some school shooters acquired firearms that were considered unsecured or easily accessible in family homes — but not 75%. 

    Although this is not the first time this figure has been cited.

    The White House pointed PolitiFact to a 2019 U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center report on targeted school violence — planned incidents perpetrated by current or former students using weapons obtained for the specific purpose of causing others harm at school. 

    The study evaluated 41 incidents, 25 involving firearms. Nineteen of the shooters, or 76%, got their guns from homes. Twelve, or 48%, of the shooters obtained their weapons from what researchers considered to be “accessible” or “not secured in a meaningful way.”

    “You get to the 75% or 76% number by adding the firearms from homes where the guns had been locked up,” said Daniel Webster, a distinguished research scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.

    Criminologists and youth gun violence experts told PolitiFact data on gun storage and its relationship to U.S. school shootings is scant. The best available figures show that many school shootings by younger perpetrators are carried out with firearms that were considered unsecured or accessible in the home.

    “It makes sense that most of the guns used in school shootings come from the shooter’s home. It’s the easiest place for a juvenile to find a gun,” said Jay Corzine, an emeritus sociology professor and a gun policy specialist at the University of Central Florida. “But, is it 75%? Is it 68%? I don’t know.”

    The Secret Service study and its limitations 

    The U.S. Secret Service report studied 41 incidents of “targeted school violence” that occurred at K-12 schools from 2008 to 2017.

    Of the 25 shootings studied, perpetrators acquired firearms from the home of a parent or close relative in 19 cases. Some perpetrators removed the guns from locked wooden or glass cabinets, or found them locked in vehicles or hidden in closets.

    Besides the 12 cases in which the shooters obtained the guns from spaces deemed unsecure, perpetrators in four incidents accessed firearms from more secured locations. Although the guns were in a locked gun safe or case, the shooters knew the combination, or where the keys were kept, or could guess the password. If those four cases are included in Harris’ “not secured” count, the percentage is closer to 64%.

    In the three remaining cases, researchers could not determine whether the firearm had been secured.

    The study didn’t examine school attacks involving perpetrators who researchers said couldn’t be identified, or incidents related to “gang violence, drug violence, or other incidents with a strong suggestion of a separate criminal nexus.” It also didn’t include in its analysis “spontaneous acts,” such as after “an unplanned fight or other sudden confrontation.”  

    When is a gun considered unsecured?

    A “unsecured” or “accessible” firearm is typically defined as one that is not safely stored in a gun safe, unloaded and separated from ammunition.

    “The standard for safe and secure storage is that unauthorized or at-risk people cannot access them,” said Dr. Katherine Hoops, an assistant professor of pediatric critical care who researches public health approaches to prevent firearm injury and violence.

    Under that standard, Hoops said, unauthorized people “don’t have a key or the combination to the safe.”

    Garen Wintemute, director of the University of California, Davis’ Violence Prevention Research Program, said “secured” means that firearms are locked up and unloaded. “‘Locked up’ doesn’t have to mean locked inside something; there can be a lock placed on the firearm,” he said, with the ammunition stored in a separate location.

    What other research shows about gun storage, school shootings

    There is little data showing how often unsecured guns obtained from homes are being used in school shootings.

    In 2019, the Wall Street Journal published an analysis of nearly three dozen mass shootings that have taken place at U.S. schools since 1990. The Journal found that 26 of 39 shooters, or about 66%, “had easy access to guns.” The newspaper said “easy access” indicated that “the shooter knew where unsecured guns were in the house, had access to home gun safes or purchased the guns themselves.”

    One 2021 study compared shootings that occur at K-12 schools and colleges with mass shootings more broadly. 

    The report defined a K-12 school shooting as one that occurs at school during the school day, involves one or more perpetrators who are current or former students, and injures or kills at least one person. Using this definition, researchers identified 57 K-12 school shootings from 2001 to 2018. 

    Our ruling

    Harris said that 75% of school shootings “resulted from a gun that was not secured.”

    Harris based her statement on one 2019 study that examined 25 school shootings. It did not find that three-quarters of guns used in those shootings came from unsecured locations.

    The study found that 19 shootings were carried out with firearms taken from family homes. Of those, 12 came from unsecured or readily accessible locations, the authors said — about 48% of the shootings studied. Another four came from spaces that researchers considered “more secure” but that perpetrators were able to access because they had keys, combinations or passwords. If those are tallied in, the percentage is closer to 64%.

    Experts say more robust data is needed to better understand the link between gun storage and school shootings. However, a few studies have shown that around half of these incidents are carried out with firearms obtained from unsecured or otherwise accessible locations in family homes. 

    Harris’ statement contains an element of truth — the best available data suggests a relationship between unsecured guns at home and school shootings — but her statistic is off and ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it Mostly False.

    RELATED: Ask PolitiFact: What does the data show on deadly shootings by 18-to-20-year-olds? 

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  • Internet users are getting younger; now the UK is weighing up if AI can help protect them | TechCrunch

    Internet users are getting younger; now the UK is weighing up if AI can help protect them | TechCrunch

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    Artificial intelligence has been in the crosshairs of governments concerned about how it might be misused for fraud, disinformation and other malicious online activity; now in the U.K. a regulator is preparing to explore how AI is used in the fight against some of the same, specifically as it relates to content harmful to children.

    Ofcom, the regulator charged with enforcing the U.K.’s Online Safety Act, announced that it plans to launch a consultation on how AI and other automated tools are used today, and can be used in the future, to proactively detect and remove illegal content online, specifically to protect children from harmful content and to identify child sex abuse material previously hard to detect.

    The tools would be part of a wider set of proposals Ofcom is putting together focused on online child safety. Consultations for the comprehensive proposals will start in the coming weeks with the AI consultation coming later this year, Ofcom said.

    Mark Bunting, a director in Ofcom’s Online Safety Group, says that its interest in AI is starting with a look at how well it’s used as a screening tool today.

    “Some services do already use those tools to identify and shield children from this content,” he said in an interview with TechCrunch. “But there isn’t much information about how accurate and effective those tools are. We want to look at ways in which we can ensure that industry is assessing [that] when they’re using them, making sure that risks to free expression and privacy are being managed.”

    One likely result will be Ofcom recommending how and what platforms should assess, which could potentially lead not only to the platforms adopting more sophisticated tooling, but potentially fines if they fail to deliver improvements either in blocking content, or creating better ways to keep younger users from seeing it.

    “As with a lot of online safety regulation, the responsibility sits with the firms to make sure that they’re taking appropriate steps and using appropriate tools to protect users,” he said.

    There will be both critics and supporters of the moves. AI researchers are finding ever-more sophisticated ways of using AI to detect, for example, deepfakes, as well as to verify users online. Yet there are just as many skeptics who note that AI detection is far from foolproof.

    Ofcom announced the consultation on AI tools at the same time it published its latest research into how children are engaging online in the U.K., which found that overall, there are more younger children connected up than ever before, so much so that Ofcom is now breaking out activity among ever-younger age brackets.

    Nearly one-quarter, 24%, of all 5- to 7-year-olds now own their own smartphones, and when you include tablets, the numbers go up to 76%, according to a survey of U.S. parents. That same age bracket is also using media a lot more on those devices: 65% have made voice and video calls (versus 59% just a year ago), and half of the kids (versus 39% a year ago) are watching streamed media.

    Age restrictions around some mainstream social media apps are getting lower, yet whatever the limits, in the U.K. they do not appear to be heeded anyway. Some 38% of 5- to 7-year-olds are using social media, Ofcom found. Meta’s WhatsApp, at 37%, is the most popular app among them. And in possibly the first instance of Meta’s flagship image app being relieved to be less popular than ByteDance’s viral sensation, TikTok was found to be used by 30% of 5- to 7-year-olds, with Instagram at “just” 22%. Discord rounded out the list but is significantly less popular at only 4%.

    Around one-third, 32%, of kids of this age are going online on their own, and 30% of parents said that they were fine with their underaged children having social media profiles. YouTube Kids remains the most popular network for younger users, at 48%.

    Gaming, a perennial favorite with children, has grown to be used by 41% of 5- to 7-year-olds, with 15% of kids of this age bracket playing shooter games.

    While 76% of parents surveyed said that they talked to their young children about staying safe online, there are question marks, Ofcom points out, between what a child sees and what that child might report. In researching older children aged 8-17, Ofcom interviewed them directly. It found that 32% of the kids reported that they’d seen worrying content online, but only 20% of their parents said they reported anything.

    Even accounting for some reporting inconsistencies, “The research suggests a disconnect between older children’s exposure to potentially harmful content online, and what they share with their parents about their online experiences,” Ofcom writes. And worrying content is just one challenge: deepfakes are also an issue. Among children aged 16-17, Ofcom said, 25% said they were not confident about distinguishing fake from real online.

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    Ingrid Lunden

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  • This Old-School Creamy Sauce Is So Good, You’ll Eat It By the Spoonful

    This Old-School Creamy Sauce Is So Good, You’ll Eat It By the Spoonful

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    It’s a five-star recipe.
    READ MORE…

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    Kristina Razon

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  • Paris Hilton backs California bill to bring more transparency to youth treatment facilities

    Paris Hilton backs California bill to bring more transparency to youth treatment facilities

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    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Paris Hilton joined California state lawmakers Monday to push for legislation aimed at cracking down on the industry that cares for troubled teens by requiring more transparency from youth treatment facilities.

    The bill supported by the Hilton Hotel heiress and media personality aims to pry open information on how short-term residential facilities for youth dealing with substance abuse and behavioral issues use disciplinary methods such as restraints or seclusion against minors. It would require such centers to notify parents and the state any time they use restrains or seclusion rooms for minors. It’s authored by Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove and Democratic state Sens. Aisha Wahab and Angelique Ashby.

    On Monday, Hilton testified in a legislative hearing in support of the bill, detailing her harrowing abuse as a teenager at a facility in Utah that she said still haunts her and urging lawmakers to take actions before more children have to suffer similar treatment.

    “Our current system designed to reform, in some horrific instances, does the exact opposite,” Hilton told lawmakers Monday. “It breaks spirits and instills fear, and it perpetuates a cycle of abuse. But today, we have the power to change that.”

    The California bill passed committee with bipartisan support on Monday. Under the bill, facilities would have to report details such as what disciplinary actions were taken, why and who had approved the plan. The state department regulating the facilities also would be required to make public the reports and update the database on the quarterly basis. It would not ban the use of such practices.

    Hilton has become a prominent advocate for more oversight and regulation of teen treatment centers after publicly sharing the physical and mental abuse she suffered as a teenager. She alleged staff members would beat her, force her to take unknown pills, watch her shower and send her to solitary confinement without clothes as punishment.

    In 2021, her testimony about her experience at Utah’s Provo Canyon School helped pass a bill to impose stricter oversight over youth treatment centers in the state. Hilton has also traveled to Washington D.C. to advocate for federal reforms and helped changed laws to protect minors in at least eight states. Earlier this month, she spoke in support of boys sent to a private school for troubled teens in Jamaica.

    Hilton, whose company called 11:11 Media is sponsoring the bill, called the legislation “a game changer” that would shed light on child abuse at youth residential treatments and hold them accountable.

    “This would have been so helpful to myself and so many others to have known what was happening behind closed doors,” Paris said in an interview. “Because I was cut off from the outside world, I couldn’t tell my family anything, and that’s what they do.”

    Between 2015 and 2020, California sent more than 1,240 children with behavior problems to out-of-state facilities due to the lack of locked treatment centers for youths, according to Sen. Grove’s office. As reports about abuse happening at these programs emerged, including an incident where a 16-year-old boy died after being restrained for about 12 minutes at a Michigan facility, California also found significant licensing violations at these facilities and decided to do away with the program in 2020. Legislation passed in 2021 formally banned the use of out-of-state residential centers. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom also authorized $8 million to bring all the minors home by last year.

    Minors with behavioral issues are now sent to in-state short-term residential centers, which were created in 2017 to replace group homes. But under current laws, these facilities are not required to share information on how often they use seclusion rooms, restraints, and how many times those methods result in serious injuries or deaths.

    Children at these facilities make up one of the most vulnerable populations, including foster youths who have previously been sexually exploited, Grove said.

    “It’s a small but critical step to ensure the increased transparency and accountability for California’s children,” she said Monday.

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  • Las Vegas lawyer and wife killed amid custody fight for children from prior marriage, family says

    Las Vegas lawyer and wife killed amid custody fight for children from prior marriage, family says

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    LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas lawyer and his wife had been in the middle of a contentious battle for custody of her children from a previous marriage when the woman’s former father-in-law, also an attorney, fatally shot them last week during a deposition hearing in the case, according to authorities and relatives.

    The coroner’s office in Las Vegas identified the victims as lawyer Dennis Prince and his wife, Ashley. Both were shot multiple times, the coroner’s office said, before 77-year-old Joseph Houston shot and killed himself.

    Gunfire erupted just minutes after the deposition hearing began on the morning of April 8 at Dennis Prince’s law firm, Prince Law Group, in the affluent Summerlin neighborhood.

    Seven people were in the room at the time of the shooting, police said. The four others, including a court reporter, were able to quickly escape and call police.

    At a news conference Monday, Ashley Prince’s parents said their daughter was previously married to Houston’s son and had been trying for years to gain sole custody of two their children. Houston, a lawyer in Nevada since 1974, had been representing his son in the custody battle, court records show.

    Julie Page said they will continue their daughter’s fight to win custody of the children, ages 4 and 5.

    “Our daughter Ashley was a devoted and fierce protector of her children,” Page said, choking back tears as she told reporters that her daughter “would have never given up the fight for her children.”

    The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which is investigating the shooting, didn’t immediately respond Monday to a request for comment on the family’s statement.

    Bryce Page said Monday that his sister “was beaming from her core” after she met Dennis Prince. He said his sister realized a lifelong dream to build a “warm, loving environment” for her family after she recently welcomed her first child with Dennis Prince.

    Prince was a trial lawyer in Las Vegas for 30 years and headed Prince Law Group, where the shooting unfolded.

    He started that firm after building a reputation as a top attorney in Nevada personal injury, product liability, negligence and insurance cases. His professional profiles say he tried more than 90 cases to verdict and had more than a dozen published state Supreme Court cases.

    “With profound sadness, Prince Law Group would like to thank everyone who has reached out to us with heartfelt messages of concern and sympathy over the tragic violence that occurred this morning in our offices,” the law group said in a statement last week.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Ken Ritter in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

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  • Chicago shooting kills 8-year-old girl and wounds 10 people including small children, police say

    Chicago shooting kills 8-year-old girl and wounds 10 people including small children, police say

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    Eleven people standing outside a family gathering Saturday night were shot including a young girl who was killed in what Chicago police believe was gang-related violence on the city’s South Side, police said Sunday.Four victims were children. An 8-year-old girl was shot in the head and died, while a 1-year-old boy and an 8-year-old boy were each shot multiple times and listed in critical condition. A 9-year-old boy was also injured with a graze wound to his finger and hospitalized, police said Sunday.The department’s Sunday statement updated the number of shooting victims to 11 from 8 and gave new ages for the victims compared with a news conference late Saturday.No one was in custody Sunday.Department Deputy Chief Don Jerome told reporters Saturday that the shooting happened when shots were fired at a crowd standing outside a family gathering around 9 p.m.“This was not a random act of violence. It was likely gang-related,” Jerome said. “The offenders’ actions, make no mistake, are horrific and unacceptable in our city.”Police responding to a gunfire alert applied tourniquets and chest seals to victims, who also included adults between the ages of 19 and 40, Jerome said.A 36-year-old man who was shot in the arms and and back was listed in critical condition. The other adults were listed in good condition, police said Sunday.The investigation was still in the preliminary stages but witnesses told police that a black sedan approached and someone fired shots into the crowd before fleeing, police said Sunday. Jerome also told reporters Saturday that witness accounts described two possible shooters on foot.

    Eleven people standing outside a family gathering Saturday night were shot including a young girl who was killed in what Chicago police believe was gang-related violence on the city’s South Side, police said Sunday.

    Four victims were children. An 8-year-old girl was shot in the head and died, while a 1-year-old boy and an 8-year-old boy were each shot multiple times and listed in critical condition. A 9-year-old boy was also injured with a graze wound to his finger and hospitalized, police said Sunday.

    The department’s Sunday statement updated the number of shooting victims to 11 from 8 and gave new ages for the victims compared with a news conference late Saturday.

    No one was in custody Sunday.

    Department Deputy Chief Don Jerome told reporters Saturday that the shooting happened when shots were fired at a crowd standing outside a family gathering around 9 p.m.

    “This was not a random act of violence. It was likely gang-related,” Jerome said. “The offenders’ actions, make no mistake, are horrific and unacceptable in our city.”

    Police responding to a gunfire alert applied tourniquets and chest seals to victims, who also included adults between the ages of 19 and 40, Jerome said.

    A 36-year-old man who was shot in the arms and and back was listed in critical condition. The other adults were listed in good condition, police said Sunday.

    The investigation was still in the preliminary stages but witnesses told police that a black sedan approached and someone fired shots into the crowd before fleeing, police said Sunday. Jerome also told reporters Saturday that witness accounts described two possible shooters on foot.

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  • USDA Urged To Remove Lunchables From School Menus After Consumer Reports Find High Levels Of Lead

    USDA Urged To Remove Lunchables From School Menus After Consumer Reports Find High Levels Of Lead

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    Consumer Reports is calling on the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to remove Lunchable meal kits from school menus.

    RELATED: FDA Recalls Frozen Strawberries Linked To Recent Hepatitis A “Outbreak”

    More Details Regarding The Findings Related To Lunchables

    According to a report published by the consumer advocacy group on Tuesday, April 9, tests ran on “12 store-bought versions of Lunchables and similar kits” revealed that they contain “relatively high levels of lead, cadmium, and sodium.”

    Additionally, the group discovered that Lunchable kits served in schools contain “even higher levels of sodium” than those sold in grocery stores.

    Consumer Reports that out of the 12 kits tested, only one didn’t test positive for phthalates. Furthermore, the organization notes that phthalates are the “chemicals found in plastic.” Phthalates have reportedly been “linked to reproductive problems, diabetes, and certain cancers.”

    According to the report, the kit that didn’t test positive for phthalates was the Lunchables Extra Cheesy Pizza.

    Here’s Why The Meal Kit Should Reportedly Be Removed From School Menus

    Brian Ronholm, the director of food policy at Consumer Reports, shared a statement about why Lunchables should be removed from school menus.

    “Lunchables are not a healthy option for kids and shouldn’t be allowed on the menu as part of the National School Lunch Program,” Ronholm asserted. “The Lunchables and similar lunch kits we tested contain concerning levels of sodium and harmful chemicals that can lead to serious health problems over time. The USDA should remove Lunchables from the National School Lunch Program and ensure that kids in schools have healthier options.”

    The report explains that the USDA currently allows two Lunchable kits to be served in schools. The kits reportedly include the Turkey & Cheddar Cracker Stackers and Extra Cheesy Pizza.

    Furthermore, Consumer Reports adds that the kits are served to almost 30 million kids “through the National School Lunch Program.” Additionally, the organization notes that sodium levels in the kits range from “460 to 740 milligrams per serving.

    The level is reportedly “nearly a quarter to half of a child’s daily recommended limit for sodium.”

    The report states, “The school version of the Turkey and Cheddar Lunchable contained 930 mg of sodium compared to 740 mg in the store-bought version. Similarly, the Lunchable pizza kit for schools had 700 mg of sodium compared to 510 mg in the store version.”

    Lastly, the report notes that eating foods with high sodium “can lead to high blood pressure and lead to hypertension.” Children who intake higher levels of sodium “are about 40 percent more likely to develop hypertension.”

    Furthermore, Consumer Reports notes that hypertension is a “risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and kidney damage.”

    Consumer Reports Take Action As Lunchables & The USDA Shares Statement

    Ultimately, the organization has launched a petition encouraging the USDA to take action and remove meal kits from school menus. To date, the campaign has received over 15,000 signatures.

    Furthermore, the group is striving to garner over 25,000 signatures.

    According to PEOPLE, a spokesperson for Lunchables has issued a statement defending the nutritional quality of the meal kits.

    “All our foods meet strict safety standards that we happily feed to our own families. We are proud of Lunchables and stand by the quality and integrity that goes into making them,” the statement reads. “According to current science, processed foods arbitrarily classified as ‘ultra-processed’ are not necessarily less nutritious. In fact, many processed foods contain added nutrients, providing even more benefits to the consumer. The classification of foods should be based on scientific evidence that includes an assessment of the nutritional value of the whole product, not restricted to one element such as a single ingredient or the level of processing.”

    Additionally, the USDA shared a statement with the outlet.

    “USDA takes very seriously our responsibility to ensure school meals are of the highest nutritional quality,” the statement reads. “…Importantly, USDA doesn’t allow or disallow individual food items. Our requirements address the overall content of meals – some of them on a daily basis and others on a weekly basis.  So, the Lunchables described in the article would need to be paired with fruit, vegetables, and milk.  In addition, a school who wanted to serve a higher sodium product one day has to balance that with lower sodium items on others. Many schools are taking steps to use more scratch-cooked and local foods, and USDA has supported these efforts through expanded grants for equipment, training, and local food procurement.”

    RELATED: CDC Reports At Least 22 Toddlers Have Fallen Ill After Consuming Applesauce Pouches “Tainted” With Lead

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    Jadriena Solomon

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  • New Podcast From Kaitlyn Schiess and Holy Post Media Makes Theology Fun and Accessible for All Ages

    New Podcast From Kaitlyn Schiess and Holy Post Media Makes Theology Fun and Accessible for All Ages

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    By removing the academic and religious jargon often associated with theology, the podcast aims to make these important concepts more approachable and relatable for listeners of all backgrounds.


    WHEATON, Ill., April 10, 2024 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Holy Post Media is excited to announce the launch of a new podcast, Curiously Kaitlyn, aimed at making theology accessible, meaningful, and fun for listeners of all ages. The podcast, hosted by author and theologian Kaitlyn Schiess, features a unique format: every week a kid asks a theology question – sometimes serious, sometimes silly – and Kaitlyn interviews a theological scholar to help answer it in a way that is easy to understand. 

    The podcast’s goal is to make big theological ideas more accessible to people from all walks of life. It does this by removing the academic and religious jargon that often surrounds these topics. The show’s hosts hope to help listeners understand Scripture in a new way and see how these theological ideas can impact their lives and shape their view of God.

    “We are thrilled to launch this new podcast that brings theology to life in a way that is both educational and entertaining,” said Kaitlyn Schiess. “Our hope is that listeners of all ages will be able to engage with these important topics in a way that is accessible and enjoyable.” Listeners can expect to hear a wide range of theological topics discussed on the podcast, from the nature of God to the meaning of life, all presented in a way that is easy to understand and relevant to everyday life. Whether one is new to theology or a seasoned scholar, this podcast offers something for all. The new podcast is now available on all major podcast platforms. For more information and to listen to the latest episodes, visit https://www.holypost.com/curiously.

    About Kaitlyn Schiess:

    Kaitlyn Schiess is a published author, and doctoral student at Duke Divinity School, where she delves into the complex intersections of political theology, ethics, and biblical interpretation. She’s a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary with a ThM in systematic theology. She is the author of “The Liturgy of Politics: Spiritual Formation for the Sake of Our Neighbor” and “The Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture Has Been Used and Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from Here.” 

    Schiess’s work can also be seen at Christianity Today, The New York Times, Christ and Pop Culture, CT Women, RELEVANT, Sojourners, Fathom, and the Christian Research Journal, where she critically explores theology, politics, and culture.

    About Holy Post Media:

    Holy Post Media is dedicated to producing smart and entertaining content that helps people think Christianly and live faithfully in our increasingly post-Christian culture. It was launched in 2012 by Phil Vischer (creator of VeggieTales) and Skye Jethani (award-winning author and speaker).

    Contact:

    Jon Houghton
    CEO, The Holy Post 
    jon@holypost.com 
    (317) 670-8112

    Source: Holy Post Media

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  • I Guarantee This Is the Best Dinner You’ll Make All Spring (Everyone Loves It)

    I Guarantee This Is the Best Dinner You’ll Make All Spring (Everyone Loves It)

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    Rachel PerlmutterCulinary Producer

    Rachel Perlmutter is a recipe developer, food stylist, and culinary producer at The Kitchn. Originally from Houston, Texas, she spends her free time trying to perfect kolaches and breakfast tacos that taste like home. Rachel currently lives in Brooklyn with her partner, dog, cat and rabbit, where they all share a love of seasonal local produce.

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    Rachel Perlmutter

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