ReportWire

Tag: History

  • Denver DA failed to disclose police records in as many as 756 criminal cases

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    The Denver District Attorney’s Office failed to share police records with defense attorneys in as many as 756 criminal cases since 2022, potentially violating court discovery rules, a probe by the office found.

    The prosecutors’ discovery software for years diverted Denver Police Department files that included a forward slash in the file name into an “error log that prosecutors were not aware of and could not access,” according to a statement from the office this week and notifications sent to defense attorneys in September.

    The misrouted files were not shared with defendants — a potential violation of discovery rules, which require prosecutors to disclose evidence to defendants during a criminal case. The district attorney’s office uncovered what it called a “technical issue” with the software as it reviewed its own practices amid mounting serious sanctions for discovery violations across Colorado.

    It was not immediately clear whether all of the files that were diverted into the error log were required to be disclosed to defendants, DA spokesman Matt Jablow said in a statement. But the office nevertheless notified defense attorneys and started the process of sharing all the files “out of caution and to avoid any delay,” he said.

    “The DA’s office produced the files, even though, in many of those cases… the information appears to have been produced in a different format, may not have been legally required to be produced, or both,” he said in the statement.

    Many of the misplaced files “contained information related to a defendant’s arrest, such as booking photos,” Jablow said. The error log issue most frequently impacted records that included dates in the file names, according to the notification sent to attorneys.

    The impact of the technical glitch will vary from case to case depending on the severity of the case, the information in the undisclosed files and how far along in the legal process the case is, said Colin McCallin, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor.

    Little is likely to change for defendants who have already pleaded guilty and served their sentences in less serious cases, like misdemeanors and petty offenses, he said. But there could be a bigger impact in ongoing prosecutions or more serious cases.

    “Obviously, if the evidence is exculpatory, if it suggests the person didn’t commit the crime, that is a big deal; that can lead to serious sanctions,” McCallin said. “…If it is a minor violation, like, ‘Oh, we didn’t get the person’s full criminal history or mugshot’ — that’s probably not going to be a big deal. I would imagine in most lower-level felony cases or misdemeanor cases, I don’t know if anything will happen at all. A lot of those folks will have moved on.”

    If the undisclosed material includes exculpatory evidence, it could prompt judges to dismiss cases or defendants to seek post-conviction relief, he added. Judges in ongoing cases might also consider sanctions against prosecutors for the discovery violations alone, regardless of what type of evidence was not disclosed, McCallin said.

    “It really does sound like this was a computer issue; it’s not like the DA’s office was sitting on evidence intentionally or purposely withholding evidence,” he said. “I don’t think anyone thinks that. But the problem is, it is still a discovery violation.”

    Angela Campbell, co-chair of the Denver chapter of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, said the district attorney’s public statements about the software issue have inappropriately minimized the potential impact of the discovery violations.

    “The Denver DA’s statement is concerning because it seems to fail to take accountability for the serious discovery violations committed by their office,” she said, adding that defense attorneys are just starting to investigate the missing files and it is too early to know the full impact of the misrouted records.

    “Nobody is saying that every single discovery violation was tantamount to a Brady violation — a failure to produce exculpatory evidence — but minimizing the discovery violations that occurred, first of all by saying, ‘Well, it was over 756 cases’ — they’re not just cases. These are 756 human beings,” she said. “People, presumably, who went to prison and endured serious consequences for what may or may not have been material discovery violations that would have impacted the cases. The truth is, right now, that I don’t think we know. And I don’t think they know.”

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    Shelly Bradbury

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  • Daily Evening Randomness by Hendy

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    “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”

    As you probably would assume by how the majority of my ‘Evening Randomness’ posts, I’m a big history nerd. That’s why a lot of my stuff tends to dip into the past…

    When I thought of this idea a few weeks ago, I wanted to do a post on cool historical military photos. However, I couldn’t bring myself to not show some respect to the people who fight & have faught for their country regardless of the timeline.

    So, this one’s got a mix of both historical and modern day shots.

    Welcome to ‘Daily Evening Randomness,’ where we wind down for the evening under a random theme. Tonight? Military.

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    Hendy

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  • This mold of Abraham Lincoln’s face is one of many treasures in the mysterious Masonic Temple

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    Fourteen presidents have called themselves Freemasons, members of the centuries-old fraternal organization known for its secret rituals and mysterious symbols. Abraham Lincoln was not one of them, but a copy of his face still wound up in the basement of the Masonic Temple, Library & Museum in Philadelphia.

    • INSIDE THE ARCHIVES
    • PhillyVoice peeks into the collections at different museums in the city, highlighting unique and significant items you won’t typically find on display.

    The replica of Lincoln’s life mask is one of roughly 40,000 items in the museum’s collection of art, prints and ceremonial garments. It’s a recast of the plaster mold of his face and hands taken by Chicago sculptor Leonard Volk in 1860, just two days after Lincoln received the Republican nomination for president. Volk, who later produced a bronze bust of his subject, made the molds so Lincoln would not have to pose for lengthy, repeat sittings. But the life mask became a valuable piece in its own right, particularly after the president’s assassination in 1865.

    It also adds to a long-standing legend regarding Lincoln’s association with the Freemasons. As the oft-repeated story goes, the sixteenth president applied to join a chapter in Springfield, Illinois, but he withdrew his petition after he received the presidential nomination. He intended to join after his terms ended, but never got the chance due to his untimely death.

    Michele B. Besso, a public relations specialist for Masonic Villages of Pennsylvania, stressed in an email that no concrete evidence of a petition exists and “historians treat (the story) carefully.” There is, however, record of the chapter passing a resolution after the president’s assassination that read “the decision of President Lincoln to postpone his application for the honours of Freemasonry, lest his motives be misconstrued, is the highest degree honourable to his memory.”

    Symbols and secrets

    It’s not clear how the Mason who donated the Lincoln mold to the museum in 1984 acquired this piece. But that’s par for the course for the Freemasons, whose mysterious practices have spurred numerous conspiracy theories over the years. Scholars believe the fraternal organization emerged in the Middle Ages and was born out of guilds of stone masons. The men who joined shared trade secrets and honed their skills, adopting the tools of the square and compasses as their main symbol. 

    Freemasonry eventually broadened to include men of “goodwill and integrity” outside the business, though it honored its historic roots through its iconography, terminology and fashion. Chapters of the organization and the buildings where they gather are called lodges, after the small structures that stone masons inhabited when construction on cathedrals paused during the winter. Members wear embroidered aprons to meetings and events in a nod to the protective garments builders once donned. And their symbols stretch beyond the square and compasses to include levels and trowels.

    The most well-known Freemason symbol, however, is the all-seeing eye or Eye of Providence. Often enclosed in a triangle, the image is not exclusive to the the fraternity. It appears in religious art and on the back of the $1 bill. It is also a key component in “The Da Vinci Code” and Illuminati theories, lending it more nefarious connotations.

    “(It’s) not as conspiratorial as most people think it is,” said Carly Sewell, archivist at the Masonic Temple, Library & Museum. “It’s just about being able to see life and see what’s going on around you.”

    Others see the omniscience of God reflected in the symbol. While freemasonry is not a religion, a “belief in the existence of a Supreme Being” is a condition of membership. Candidates must also generally be invested in learning and self-improvement, at least 18 years of age and men. While some mixed-gender or women-only freemason groups exist internationally, most lodges are entirely men. 

    This exclusivity, which also historically impacted Black men, adds to freemasonry’s complicated reputation. Its powerful, influential alumni list has also sparked countless rumors. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Franklin Roosevelt, Mark Twain, Harry Houdini and Buzz Aldrin were all freemasons. So are former Philadelphia mayors Ed Rendell and Michael Nutter, Philly department store pioneer John Wanamaker and Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal.

    A Center City temple

    The Masonic Temple, Library & Museum is located inside a grand Norman-Romanesque building at 1 N. Broad St., across the street from City Hall. In addition to housing the Lincoln cast and other artifacts, it serves as the headquarters of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, the governing body for all lodges in the state. (It counts roughly 80,000 members.) The site was considered “the wonder of the Masonic world” when it was dedicated in 1873. Prior to its opening, local Masons had gathered at Quaker meetinghouses and even taverns. Tun Tavern, also the birthplace of the U.S. Marines, hosted the earliest meetings.

    Painted columns, blue carpet and yellow benches make up the Egyptian Hall inside the Masonic Temple, Library & Museum in PhiladelphiaProvided image/Masonic Temple, Library & Museum

    The Masonic Temple, Library & Museum features themed spaces like the Egyptian Hall, pictured above.

    The temple, which features ornate Gothic and Egyptian halls, has welcomed presidents like Teddy Roosevelt and become a national landmark in the ensuing decades. While it offers public tours five times a day Wednesdays through Saturdays, the building’s grandeur and organization’s history lends it a mystique that even employees feel.

    “When I walked past this building years ago, my experience was I felt a strange sense emanating from the building,” Sewell said. “Not bad, just a strange sense. I don’t know how to paint that outside of that, but it piqued my curiosity.”

    This article previously stated that tours are offered Wednesdays through Sundays. It has been updated to reflect the correct visiting hours.

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    Kristin Hunt

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  • In Trump’s ‘domestic terrorism’ memo, some see blueprint for vengeance that echoes history

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    At a tense political moment in the wake of conservative lightning rod Charlie Kirk’s killing, President Trump signed a presidential memorandum focusing federal law enforcement on disrupting “domestic terrorism.”

    The memo appeared to focus on political violence. But during a White House signing Thursday, the president and his top advisors repeatedly hinted at a much broader campaign of suppression against the American left, referencing as problematic both the simple printing of protest signs and the prominent racial justice movement Black Lives Matter.

    “We’re looking at the funders of a lot of these groups. You know, when you see the signs and they’re all beautiful signs made professionally, these aren’t your protesters that make the sign in their basement late in the evening because they really believe it. These are anarchists and agitators,” Trump said.

    “Whether it be going back to the riots that started with Black Lives Matter and all the way through to the antifa riots, the attacks on ICE officers, the doxxing campaigns and now the political assassinations — these are not lone, isolated events,” said Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff. “This is part of an organized campaign of radical left terrorism.”

    Neither Trump nor Miller nor the other top administration officials flanking them — including Vice President JD Vance, Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel — offered any evidence of such a widespread left-wing terror campaign, or many details about how the memo would be put into action.

    Law enforcement officials have said Kirk’s alleged shooter appears to have acted alone, and data on domestic extremism more broadly — including some recently scrubbed from the Justice Department’s website — suggest right-wing extremists represent the larger threat.

    Many on the right cheered Trump’s memo — just as many on the left cheered calls by Democrats for a clampdown on right-wing extremism during the Biden administration, particularly in light of the violent Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. In that incident, more than 1,500 were criminally charged, many convicted of assaulting police officers and some for sedition, before Trump pardoned them or commuted their sentences.

    Many critics of the administration slammed the memo as a “chilling” threat that called to mind some of the most notorious periods of political suppression in the nation’s history — a claim the White House dismissed as wildly off base and steeped in liberal hypocrisy.

    That includes the Red Scare and the often less acknowledged Lavender Scare of the Cold War and beyond, they said, when Sen. Joseph McCarthy and other federal officials cast a pall over the nation, its social justice movements and its arts scene by promising to purge from government anyone who professed a belief in certain political ideas — such as communism — or was gay or lesbian or otherwise queer.

    Douglas M. Charles, a history professor at Penn State Greater Allegheny and author of “Hoover’s War on Gays: Exposing the FBI’s ‘Sex Deviates’ Program,” said Trump’s memo strongly paralleled past government efforts at political repression — including in its claim that “extremism on migration, race and gender” and “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity” are all causing violence in the country.

    “What is this, McCarthyism redux?” Charles asked.

    Melina Abdullah, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles, said the Trump administration is putting “targets on the backs of organizers” like her.

    Abdullah, speaking Friday from Washington, D.C., where she is attending the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual legislative conference, said Trump’s efforts to cast left-leaning advocacy groups as a threat to democracy was “the definition of gaslighting” because the president “and his entire regime are violent.”

    “They are anti-Black. They are anti-people. They are anti-free speech,” Abdullah said. “What we are is indeed an organized body of people who want freedom for our people — and that is a demand for the kind of sustainable peace that only comes with justice.”

    Others, including prominent California Democrats, framed Trump’s memo and other recent administration acts — including Thursday’s indictment of former FBI Director James Comey over the objections of career prosecutors — as a worrying blueprint for much wider vengeance on Trump’s behalf, which must be resisted.

    “Trump is waging a crusade of retribution — abusing the federal government as a weapon of personal revenge,” Gov. Gavin Newsom posted to X. “Today it’s his enemies. Tomorrow it may be you. Speak out. Use your voice.”

    White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, left, FBI Director Kash Patel and Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi listen to President Trump Thursday in the Oval Office.

    (Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)

    California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta noted that the memo listed various incidents of violence against Republicans while “deliberately ignoring” violence against Democrats, and said that while it is unclear what may come of the order, “the chilling effect is real and cannot be ignored.”

    Bonta also sent Bondi a letter Friday expressing his “grave concern” with the Comey indictment and asking her to “reassert the long-standing independence of the U.S. Department of Justice from political interference by declining to continue these politically-motivated investigations and prosecutions.”

    Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said the Trump administration is twisting Kirk’s tragic killing “into a pretext to weaponize the federal government against opponents Trump says he ‘hates.’”

    “In recent days, they’ve branded entire groups — including the Democratic Party itself — as threats, directed [the Justice Department] to go after his perceived enemies, and coerced companies to stifle any criticism of the Administration or its allies. This is pure personal grievance and retribution,” Padilla said. “If this abuse of power is normalized, no dissenting voice will be safe.”

    Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, said it was “the highest form of hypocrisy for Democrats to falsely claim accountability is ‘political retribution’ when Joe Biden is the one who spent years weaponizing his entire Administration against President Trump and millions of patriotic Americans.”

    Jackson accused the Biden administration of censoring average Americans for their posts about COVID-19 on social media and of prosecuting “peaceful pro-life protestors,” among other things, and said the Trump administration “will continue to deliver the truth to the American people, restore integrity to our justice system, and take action to stop radical left-wing violence that is plaguing American communities.”

    A month ago, Miller said, “The Democrat Party is not a political party. It is a domestic extremist organization” — a quote raising new concerns in light of Trump’s memo.

    On Sept. 16, Bondi said on X that “the radical left” has for too long normalized threats and cheered on political violence, and that she would be ending that by somehow prosecuting them for “hate speech.”

    Constitutional scholars — and some prominent conservative pundits — ridiculed Bondi’s claims as contrary to the 1st Amendment.

    On Sept. 18, independent journalist Ken Klippenstein reported that unnamed national security officials had told him that the FBI was considering treating transgender suspects as a “subset” of a new threat category known as “Nihilistic Violent Extremists” — a concept LGBTQ+ organizations scrambled to denounce as a threat to everyone’s civil liberties.

    “Everyone should be repulsed by the attempts to use the power of the federal government against their neighbors, their friends, and our families,” Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said Wednesday. “It creates a dangerous precedent that could one day be used against other Americans, progressive or conservative or anywhere in between.”

    In recent days, Trump has unabashedly attacked his critics — including late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, whose show was briefly suspended. On Sept. 20, he demanded on his Truth Social platform that Bondi move to prosecute several of his most prominent political opponents, including Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James.

    “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” wrote Trump, the only felon to ever occupy the White House. “They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

    Comey’s indictment — on charges of lying to Congress — was reported shortly after the White House event where Trump signed the memo. Trump declined to discuss Comey at the event, and was vague about who else might be targeted under the memo. But he did say he had heard “a lot of different names,” including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and George Soros, two prominent Democratic donors.

    “If they are funding these things, they’re gonna have some problems,” Trump said, without providing any evidence of wrongdoing by either man.

    The Open Society Foundations, which have disbursed billions from Soros’ fortune to an array of progressive groups globally, said in response that they “unequivocally condemn terrorism and do not fund terrorism” and that their activities “are peaceful and lawful.” Accusations suggesting otherwise were “politically motivated attacks on civil society, meant to silence speech the administration disagrees with,” the group said.

    John Day, president-elect of the American College of Trial Lawyers, said his organization has not taken a position on Trump’s memo, but had grave concerns about the process by which Comey was indicted — namely, after Trump called for such legal action publicly.

    “That, quite frankly, is very disturbing and concerning to us,” Day said. “This is not the way the legal system was designed to work, and it’s not the way it has worked for 250 years, and we are just very concerned that this happened at all,” Day said. “We’re praying that it is an outlier, as opposed to a predictor of what’s to come.”

    James Kirchick, author of “Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington,” which covers the Lavender Scare and its effects on the LGBTQ+ community in detail, said the “strongest similarity” he sees between then and now is the administration “taking the actions of an individual or a small number of people” — such as Kirk’s shooter — “and extrapolating that onto an entire class of people.”

    Kirchick said language on the left labeling the president a dictator isn’t helpful in such a political moment, but that he has found some of the administration’s language more alarming — especially, in light of the new memo, Miller’s suggestion that the Democratic Party is an extremist organization.

    “Does that mean the Democratic Party is going to be subject to FBI raids and extremist surveillance?” he asked.

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    Kevin Rector

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  • Susannah Cahalan on the psychedelic pioneer Rosemary Woodruff Leary

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    Rosemary Woodruff Leary is remembered—if she’s remembered at all—as a muse, fugitive, and heavily indicted co-conspirator in Timothy Leary’s psychedelic revolution of the 1960s and ’70s. But her story is far more complex than that. A true believer in the mind-expanding potential of LSD, a master of the elusive art of “set and setting,” and a woman determined to live a remarkable life, Rosemary was a countercultural icon in her own right.

    Susannah Cahalan is the author, most recently, of The Acid Queen: The Psychedelic Life and Countercultural Rebellion of Rosemary Woodruff Leary. In June, Cahalan joined The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie to discuss Woodruff—what drove her to begin experimenting with psychedelics, what she saw in the tumult of postwar America, and why her legacy deserves more than a footnote in someone else’s story.

    Q: Who was Rosemary Woodruff Leary?

    A: As much as I hate to start with Timothy Leary, we are starting with him—she was [his] third or fourth wife, depending on who you ask. She was a seeker. She was a behind-the-scenes character who was propping up Leary, working with him on his speeches, sewing his clothing, helping him create an image.

    She was also very much a true believer in the role that psychedelics could play in not only expanding consciousness but actually making society better. She was called the Queen of Set and Setting—the mindset that you bring into a trip, and the environment. Rosemary was very good at making people feel grounded and supported.

    Q: What drove her to move to New York and start experimenting with drugs? What was she seeking that she wasn’t getting in her hometown of St. Louis?

    A: She had always talked about herself in these mythic terms. She saw herself as someone who was going to live a great life—with a capital G, Great. She wasn’t going to find that in St. Louis. She was attracted to “great men”—these genius archetypes. That’s what she found in New York. Through being in this scene, she was able to express some of those sides of herself.

    Q: What was going on in postwar America
where this type of thing was even taking place?

    A: I think there’s a lot of overlap with today. There was a sense of insecurity. Some people responded to that insecurity and fear by having a lot of children, being very family focused. And other people started questioning the nature of their reality and the role of society.

    They were still kind of caught up. Rosemary described how Timothy—despite all of his talk of revolution of the mind and [how he] was going to upend society—was the kind of man who put his hand out and expected to have a martini glass put in it.

    Q: And that was part of the function that she served, right? She kept the rooms clean, helped organize, fed people.

    A: It’s been an interesting thing, talking about Rosemary in today’s culture, where there seems to be this idea that either you have to be a tradwife or a girlboss. She wasn’t either of those. Yes, she was stuck with a position that oftentimes she resented. But she actually did really enjoy taking care of other people. She was genuinely really good at taking care of people and beautifying spaces, too.

    Q: What is the message that you might bring to a contemporary person reading this?

    A: The thing I hope people take away from it is that she was complicated. She doesn’t fit into these ideas of what a woman should be or how she should use her power. She was more like all of us, who are complicated. We sometimes pick people who aren’t great for us. Or we love people who are damaged and damaging. And that doesn’t make her any less worthy of a biography.

    This interview has been condensed and edited for style and clarity.

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    Nick Gillespie

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  • 40 Titanic Memes That Are Sure Make to Waves….

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    I have to admit, I’m a bit obsessed with the Titanic. I can’t explain what it is about the ship, but this is quite literally my Roman Empire. I think about it regularly, and I think about it often.

    It’s a fascinating tragedy and I can’t seem to get it out of my head.

    Luckily there are an infinite amount of Titanic memes. Whether you’re into making fun of dead billionaires, or Leo DiCaprio’s preference for younger women, we’ve got you covered.

    Ahoy!

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    Zach

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  • ‘You Bitch!’ Leslie Jones Schools Donald Trump On Slavery

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    The former “Saturday Night Live” star loudly and hilariously skewered the president for downplaying the slave trade.

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  • History has been renewed at the Lansdowne Theater

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    Friday, September 26, 2025 2:17PM

    History has been renewed at the Lansdowne Theater

    History has been renewed at the Lansdowne Theater. Shuttered for nearly 40 years, the near-century-old space has been restored to its former glory.

    Lansdowne, Pa. — History has been renewed at the Lansdowne Theater. Shuttered for nearly 40 years, the near-century-old space has been restored to its former glory.
    The theater original opened in 1927. An electrical fire caused it to close in 1987. After years of sitting empty the space got new life with a restoration project that took nearly 20 years.
    Lansdowne Theater is on the historic register. A blast from the past that remains one of the few theaters from the Hollywood movie era of the 1920s.
    The restoration project recreated the original theaters grandeur using images from the theaters former life to imitate the original stage curtain, the decore on the seats and lights that line the walls. Original items include the centerpiece chandelier and the neon clock on the front wall. And you can’t miss the marquee that welcomes guests to the new home for entertainment in Delaware County.
    The former movie house is now a live stage for music, comedy and community events.

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    CCG

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  • BBC Learning Hub Launches Walking with Dinosaurs Virtual Field Trip Resources

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    San Antonio, TX (August 26, 2025)—Over 25 years since Walking with Dinosaurs first stomped across the screen and following its awe-inspiring return this past June, BBC Studios has launched a virtual field trip that brings the wonder of prehistoric discovery directly into grade 3– 6 classrooms around the world. Offering students unprecedented access to dig sites and discoveries, comprehensive new educational resources on the BBC Learning Hub will enrich how students experience paleontology, natural history, and STEM concepts.

    The virtual field trip includes six dinosaur dig sites to “visit,” each with specially chosen video clips from this year’s exciting reimagining of Walking With Dinosaurs. Students can fill out the printable Paleontologist Field Journal as they watch, and complete quizzes about each dig site to explore and imagine the prehistoric past. Fun extras include a “Which Dinosaur Are You?” quiz, links to videos about how to build a dinosaur in Minecraft Education, and an easy-to-use teachers guide. 

    Aligned with national science standards, the new materials are designed to support educators in creating engaging, hands-on learning experiences that inspire the next generation of scientists and paleontologists.

    “The Walking with Dinosaurs virtual field trips let students take the lead. Navigating the prehistoric world on their own fuels their fascination with dinosaurs, and empowers them to experience the scientific process in action,” said Dana Truby, executive director of content and partnerships for BBC Learning. “It’s a resource that makes science come alive.”

    Following the success of previous BBC Earth educational partnerships, including the Planet Earth III and Frozen Planet II Minecraft Education worlds that have reached millions of students globally, these new Walking with Dinosaurs resources continue to demonstrate the power of combining world-class content with innovative educational approaches. The collaboration leverages BBC Studios’ award-winning factual programming expertise alongside PBS’s deep commitment to educational excellence in American classrooms.

    This educational partnership draws from the latest paleontological discoveries featured in the

    Walking with Dinosaurs series. Students will explore the stories of iconic dinosaurs including Spinosaurus, Triceratops, and Lusotitan, while learning fundamental scientific concepts about evolution, ecosystems, and research methodologies. The resources are designed to support diverse learning styles for grades 3–6. 

    BBC Studios and PBS bring unparalleled expertise to this educational initiative. BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC, has a proven track record of creating educational content that reaches global audiences, producing more than 2,800 hours of award-winning programming each year. Their commitment to scientific accuracy and engaging storytelling makes complex topics accessible to learners of all ages. PBS, with more than 330 member stations nationwide, serves as America’s largest classroom, reaching millions of students through PBS Learning Media and providing educators with trusted, high-quality digital content that brings lessons to life.

    “What makes these resources exceptional is how they connect abstract scientific concepts to tangible discoveries students can see and touch,” said Kimmie Fink, Senior Editor of BBC Learning and a former teacher. “When students learn about Triceratops through the lens of actual paleontological fieldwork, they’re not just memorizing facts—they’re thinking like scientists.”

    The resources are designed to address critical needs in STEM education while fostering curiosity about the natural world. By connecting students to real paleontological discoveries and the scientists making them, the materials help bridge the gap between classroom learning and realworld scientific inquiry.

    For educators, the resources offer professionally developed content that saves preparation time and helps them deliver engaging, standards-aligned instruction. The virtual field trip and supporting materials are available at no cost to educators, reflecting the BBC and PBS’s commitment to making high-quality educational content accessible to all students. Teachers and district leaders interested in accessing the Walking With Dinosaurs educational resources can visit the BBC Learning Hub.

    Walking With Dinosaurs is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer in the UK and on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS app in the United States. BBC Studios owns the global licensing and sales rights for Walking With Dinosaurs.

    BBC Studios is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC Group with sales of £2.1 billion (2021/22: £1,630 million). Able to take an idea seamlessly from thought to screen and beyond, the business is built on two operating areas: the global Content Studio, which produces, invests and distributes content globally; and Channels & Streaming, with BBC branded channels, services and joint ventures in the UK and internationally. Around 2,500 hours of award-winning British programmes are made by the business every year, with over 80% of total BBC Studios revenues coming from non-BBC customers including Discovery, Apple and Netflix. Its content is internationally recognised across a broad range of genres and specialisms, with brands like Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars, Top Gear, the Planet series, Bluey and Doctor Who. BBC.com is BBC Studios’ global digital news platform, offering up-to-the-minute international news, in-depth analysis and features. 

    BBC Studios | Website | Press Office | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram |  

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    ESchool News Staff

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  • 100-year-old World War II vet jumps out of plane

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    A World War II veteran recently took to the sky to show everyone that age is just a number. Last week, Jimmy Hernandez jumped out of a plane on his 100th birthday.“I’ve been waiting for a long time for this,” Hernandez said.Hernandez first wanted to skydive when he was 96, but his family talked him out of it.”I was like, really,” son Mark Hernandez asked, “Is that what he just said? I was like, ‘No, that cannot happen.’”The family told Jimmy that if he made it to 100, they would give them their blessing.”I want to get this out of my system,” Jimmy said.Well, Jimmy made it.Jimmy decided to make a tandem jump with an instructor at SkyDance SkyDiving in Davis, California. His son and his grandson also decided to jump.Hernandez has 13 children and dozens of grandchildren. His family gathered at the landing spot, cheering him on.

    A World War II veteran recently took to the sky to show everyone that age is just a number. Last week, Jimmy Hernandez jumped out of a plane on his 100th birthday.

    “I’ve been waiting for a long time for this,” Hernandez said.

    Hernandez first wanted to skydive when he was 96, but his family talked him out of it.

    “I was like, really,” son Mark Hernandez asked, “Is that what he just said? I was like, ‘No, that cannot happen.’”

    The family told Jimmy that if he made it to 100, they would give them their blessing.

    “I want to get this out of my system,” Jimmy said.

    Well, Jimmy made it.

    Jimmy decided to make a tandem jump with an instructor at SkyDance SkyDiving in Davis, California. His son and his grandson also decided to jump.

    Hernandez has 13 children and dozens of grandchildren. His family gathered at the landing spot, cheering him on.

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  • Social media didn’t kill Charlie Kirk

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    In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, a new cottage industry of rage has arisen. And while anger and horror at this act of violence are understandable, they’re also taking Americans to some dark places, where retribution must be had against anyone who said negative things about Kirk after his death and politicians posture about punishing people who (crassly, but nonviolently) celebrated Kirk’s death. A lot of this seems to hinge on the idea that hateful “rhetoric” is responsible for Kirk’s killing; one particularly prevalent strain of this specifically indicts online speech and social media.

    It’s social media that led to Kirk’s assassination, the refrain goes, and it’s social media that’s driving all sorts of political violence.

    But social media platforms don’t kill people. People kill people.

    That seems banal to point out, I know. Reductive, perhaps. But so much discourse right now attributes an almost supernatural influence to social media and to online speech and communities. And that’s reductive, too—in addition to being pretty unmoored from reality.

    “I believe that social media has played a direct role in every single assassination and assassination attempt that we have seen over the last five, six years,” said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox on Meet the Press yesterday. Social media companies “have figured out how to hack our brains” and “get us to hate each other,” Cox said.

    It’s not just politicians spewing a mind-control theory of political violence. “I think the main problem here isn’t this killer’s ideology,” posted the pundit Noah Blum on Friday. “It’s that the internet radicalizes people to do increasingly greater violence on a scarily regular basis and nobody really knows what to do about it.”

    We hear some version of this in the aftermath of many tragic or senseless events. It’s not enough for people to blame disturbed or immoral individuals who do bad things. It’s not even enough to blame the dubious influence of “right-wing extremism” or “left-wing extremism” or “political polarization.” People blame tech companies, sometimes even suggesting they’re directly responsible because they failed to stop hateful speech—or misinformation, or divisive rhetoric—on social media.

    But the idea that people—especially young men—would not be radicalized if it weren’t for social media belies most of human history.

    I’ve been listening recently to a podcast called A Twist of History. One episode details Adolf Hitler’s attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic in 1923. Another episode features a riot during a Shakespearean performance in New York City in 1849, fomented by Ned Buntline, a nativist newspaper pundit with ambitions of fame and notoriety. Both instances featured fringe political elements, violence, and deaths.

    History is littered with examples like these: men driven to violence by people in close physical proximity, sometimes with the help of inflammatory political rhetoric printed in pamphlets and newspapers.

    The type of violence that people engage in does seem somewhat era-dependent. Sometimes it was more likely to be large group violence, acting as part of political movements or criminal gangs. Sometimes it was more likely to be small group violence, committed by racist clubs, radical activist groups, and so on. (And, surely, many manically violent men throughout history have been killed in wars or bar fights before they had a chance to do other damage.)

    Ours is an era of lone-wolf violence, though it is not the first one.

    Because of our hyper-connected world, and because of the sensationalistic nature of public shootings, it can feel like things are worse than ever. In another time, we wouldn’t have have heard of every racist lynching, every street gang fight, and so on.

    But even from what we can glean, looking back, it seems clear that we’re not living in some exceptionally violent time.

    Is the internet capable of radicalizing people?

    On some level, the answer is yes, of course. But this is simply because the internet, and social media, are such huge parts of our lives. They are where people spend time, spread ideas, and consume ideologies. They are locusts of just about everything good, and everything bad, about our offline world.

    “The internet is culture now, the way television once was for our parents, our grandparents, maybe even us,” Katherine Dee wrote on her Substack this week. “Every aspect of our lives flows through it. There’s no such thing as ‘very Online’ or ‘not Online.’ It’s all of us, all the time, always.”

    People will point to algorithms and profit motives, epistemic closure and endless scroll—all sorts of things that supposedly make social media or the internet generally a unique breeder of polarization and radicalism and misinformation. But we have an ever-growing body of research suggesting that, for the average person, being on social media isn’t making things worse (and, in some ways, could be making it better).

    We live in ideologically charged and politically polarized times. A lot of our media and our political debates and our discussions with each other reflect this. But the fact that so much of this comes seeping out on social media may simply be a symptom.

    Online speech is the most visible manifestation of any rot in our system or culture. But it does not mean that Facebook, or TikTok, or X, or any of the countless niche forums out there are the cause of the rot.

    Yes, the shooter was steeped in internet meme culture, as evidenced by messages printed on his bullets: “an internet-specific brand of trollish nihilism adopted by many recent shooters,” as my colleague C.J. Ciaramella put it. But I think it’s foolish—a combination of determined presentism, tech panic, and lack of imagination—to suggest that Kirk’s shooter pulled the trigger only because of ideas or attitudes that he encountered online.

    For one thing, we can’t actually say what spawned the shooter’s idea that assassinating someone was a good idea, or his belief that Kirk was an appropriate symbolic target for his agenda. Maybe people around him offline encouraged it. Maybe voices in his head told him to. At this point, we don’t know.

    But if he encountered bad ideas online, it’s because the internet is now where we encounter ideas. If he cloaked his violence in the language of internet memes, it’s because that’s where culture is these days.

    In another era, he may have encountered bad ideas at a town hall and dressed up his horrific act in different slogans. But a man with a capacity for such premeditated and dramatic violence is a man with a capacity for such things in any era. And conversely, countless billions of people encounter the same online ecosystem without committing assassinations.

    Reaching for modern technology as the explanation reeks of an ideological agenda of its own.

    None of this is to say that particular vectors of online radicalization shouldn’t be identified. People can and should study such routes, and consider ways to combat them, just as their predecessors tried to stop people from being sucked into the Ku Klux Klan, the mob, and so on. But looking for particular pathways here (if such a thing can be done) is different from condemning social media and the internet universally. We might as well have blamed the buildings where extremists gathered, or the paper and ink that allowed them to communicate.

    “Social media is simply the way we talk and communicate in this day and age, for better or worse,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said yesterday on ABC’s This Week. “What I would focus on is condemning the act of violence. It’s not the free speech that led to this. It’s not the fact that people can talk and communicate online. It’s the actions of an unhinged, evil individual.”

    More Sex & Tech News

    @seungminkim/X

     

    • Kaytlin Bailey, founder and executive director of the sex worker rights group Old Pros, will be debating Melanie Thompson of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women about whether paying for sex should be a crime. The debate, part of the Soho Forum, is happening live tonight in Manhattan and will also be livestreamed on Reason’s YouTube channel.

    • The Trump administration is referring to birth control as an abortifacient (that is, something that causes abortion). “President Trump is committed to protecting the lives of unborn children all around the world,” a United States Agency for International Development spokesperson told The New York Times when asked about birth control pills, IUDs, and hormonal implants that had been slated for low-income countries. “The administration will no longer supply abortifacient birth control under the guise of foreign aid.”

    • “Federal regulators and elected officials are moving to crack down on AI chatbots over perceived risks to children’s safety. However, the proposed measures could ultimately put more children at risk,” writes Reason‘s Jack Nicastro.

    • Korean “comfort women” are suing the U.S. military.

    • “OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, is supporting a California proposal to impose age verification requirements on app stores and device-makers, adding to the chorus of tech giants praising the measure hours before state lawmakers’ deadline to approve bills for this year,” reports Politico.

    • A new study pitted some researchers against humans in debates and some against artificial intelligence chatbots. Can you guess who fared better? (The answer is not as straightforward as one might expect.)

    Today’s Image

    Turning Point USA booth at CPAC | 2014 (ENB/Reason)

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    Elizabeth Nolan Brown

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  • Eggplant, giant peach sprouting controversy in Maryland town

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    An eggplant and a giant peach are sprouting controversy on the century-old Main Street in Ellicott City, Maryland. Business owners are being told the public art is too distracting for the historic area, but they feel the towering tributes to produce are fun and add character. Now, they’re fighting to keep the fruit.A massive Georgia peach sits outside Georgia Grace Cafe, where owner Paula Dwyer was happy to see it installed several months ago.”It was this big, beautiful orange peach. And, at first, honestly, I was like, ‘Wow, this is amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it,’” Dwyer said.Across the street sits an enormous eggplant known as the Aubergine. Both produce have been popularized over texting language as playful nods to body parts.David Carney, owner of The Wine Bin, said the Aubergine has brought in business for years.”I guess I don’t quite understand the innuendo because I have one of those body parts and it doesn’t look like that and it’s not purple, so I’m not sure really how that came about. It’s kind of weird. So, it’s kind of comical that people think that,” Carney said.Now, the merchants have since been told to take the art down. Both sculptures are supported through the Fund for Art in Ellicott City.Both pieces of art were also discussed at last week’s meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission, which expressed concern about the art “detracting from the historic buildings.””The Historic Preservation Commission approved the artwork of the aubergine for 12 months, as amended by the applicant. The peach was denied at the proposed location, but the applicant may submit an application for a different location. The established process allows for the petitioner to appeal the decision or propose an alternate location for the artwork,” officials said. “History is really important. So, this is great artwork, but I guess it’s not historic enough for them,” said Ken McNaughton, an Ellicott City resident.Don Reuwer, who manages numerous Main Street properties as president of the Waverly Real Estate Group, helped gather hundreds of signatures to keep the sculptures.”Unfortunately, the chairperson told me that they weren’t interested in the petitions that actually said that the merchants are only temporary, so they don’t matter. And frankly, that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back for me,” Reuwer said.People are far from giving up on the eye-catching produce. “I feel like they fit in with the town. I mean, everyone likes them. We’re a community of business owners and people, and all of them seem to like it. So, I feel like we are the town, also, not just the history. And we are now the history,” said Mark Johnston, an Ellicott City resident. Without approval, the statues must be taken down. Those in support of art plan to appeal the decision, and are even willing to take the issue to circuit court.

    An eggplant and a giant peach are sprouting controversy on the century-old Main Street in Ellicott City, Maryland.

    Business owners are being told the public art is too distracting for the historic area, but they feel the towering tributes to produce are fun and add character. Now, they’re fighting to keep the fruit.

    A massive Georgia peach sits outside Georgia Grace Cafe, where owner Paula Dwyer was happy to see it installed several months ago.

    “It was this big, beautiful orange peach. And, at first, honestly, I was like, ‘Wow, this is amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it,’” Dwyer said.

    Across the street sits an enormous eggplant known as the Aubergine. Both produce have been popularized over texting language as playful nods to body parts.

    David Carney, owner of The Wine Bin, said the Aubergine has brought in business for years.

    “I guess I don’t quite understand the innuendo because I have one of those body parts and it doesn’t look like that and it’s not purple, so I’m not sure really how that came about. It’s kind of weird. So, it’s kind of comical that people think that,” Carney said.

    Now, the merchants have since been told to take the art down. Both sculptures are supported through the Fund for Art in Ellicott City.

    Both pieces of art were also discussed at last week’s meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission, which expressed concern about the art “detracting from the historic buildings.”

    “The Historic Preservation Commission approved the artwork of the aubergine for 12 months, as amended by the applicant. The peach was denied at the proposed location, but the applicant may submit an application for a different location. The established process allows for the petitioner to appeal the decision or propose an alternate location for the artwork,” officials said.

    “History is really important. So, this is great artwork, but I guess it’s not historic enough for them,” said Ken McNaughton, an Ellicott City resident.

    “This is great artwork, but I guess it’s not historic enough for them.”

    Don Reuwer, who manages numerous Main Street properties as president of the Waverly Real Estate Group, helped gather hundreds of signatures to keep the sculptures.

    “Unfortunately, the chairperson told me that they weren’t interested in the petitions that actually said that the merchants are only temporary, so they don’t matter. And frankly, that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back for me,” Reuwer said.

    People are far from giving up on the eye-catching produce.

    “I feel like they fit in with the town. I mean, everyone likes them. We’re a community of business owners and people, and all of them seem to like it. So, I feel like we are the town, also, not just the history. And we are now the history,” said Mark Johnston, an Ellicott City resident.

    Without approval, the statues must be taken down. Those in support of art plan to appeal the decision, and are even willing to take the issue to circuit court.

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  • Today in History: Princess Grace of Monaco dies

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    Associated Press

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  • The Ritual of Civic Apology

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    I was standing onstage at the University of Puget Sound, preparing to give a talk about anti-Chinese violence in the American West, when a man I’d never met stepped up beside me. He was introduced as a member of the Tacoma City Council. Without preamble, he turned to the audience—and then to me.

    “I tell my kids reconciliation begins with an apology,” he said. “On behalf of the city of Tacoma, I am sorry.”

    Maybe he meant the apology for the room. But it landed on me.

    In November, 1885, the white residents of Tacoma, Washington Territory, drove out their Chinese neighbors. It took only hours. Armed with clubs and pistols, vigilantes went door to door, herding more than three hundred men, women, and children through the streets and out of town. As the forced march began, rain started to fall. Two of the expelled died of exposure; the rest made their way to Portland by foot or rail. Days later, arsonists returned to burn what was left of Chinatown. No one came back. For decades, anyone who tried was run out again. That history was the subject of my talk. It was why I had come to Tacoma.

    The Tacoma councilman looked at me. I felt the instinct to respond—to match his gesture with one of my own. I know what he tells his children; I tell mine the same: when someone apologizes, you accept. But this apology wasn’t mine to take. I let it hang in the air.

    When you visit small-town archives in the West, ask for records of anti-Chinese violence, and look like you might be Chinese, the apologies come quickly. While I was researching my latest book in one such archive, the kind white archivist apologized every twenty minutes or so, each time he handed over another piece of evidence.

    “This one is a coroner’s report of a ‘Chinaman’ killed by parties unknown. I’m sorry.”

    “In this one, the sheriff tried to arrest one Chinese man and shot another instead. I’m sorry.”

    “I’m sorry. This one involves a suicide. He was in the jail.”

    The volunteers who worked with him echoed the refrain. “I’m sorry,” one of them, a woman with white hair and a sympathetic smile, told me. “Would you like a caramel?” She watched me from the corner of her eye for most of her shift, chatting with the others about wildfires, her grandchildren, a friend with cancer, and what to do about the “illegals” who had come to town. Once, there had been Chinese in this gold-rush settlement. Now there were only white residents and new fears of an immigrant threat. I worked to the taste of melting candy.

    When I struggled to unfold a file, the volunteer rushed to help without being asked. Her polished nails appear in my photos of the materials, framing images of discrimination and death. She leaned in to read over my shoulder.

    “It’s just terrible how they were treated,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”

    Tacoma has a long history of trying to come to grips with what happened there. The effort began in 1991, when the city council solicited public input on how to redevelop a stretch of land along the waterfront. Among the suggestions was a handwritten note from David Murdoch, a Canadian pastor who had moved to the city. He proposed that the city acknowledge the 1885 expulsion. “Our city has never apologized for this gross injustice,” he wrote, “& it would appear our city, as a result, has suffered (in many ways: especially reputation & unity).” His solution: “an area of reconciliation”—a small park, with a Chinese motif—and a citizen committee, with members “most essentially of Chinese ancestry.”

    Murdoch’s note arrived in the midst of a global surge in public contrition. What began in the nineteen-eighties with Australia’s calls to reconcile with Aboriginal communities became, in one historian’s words, “a global frenzy to balance the moral ledgers.” In the U.S., truth commissions were launched to confront slavery, the colonization of Hawaii, the Tuskegee experiment, Jim Crow violence, and Japanese American incarceration. The language of reconciliation drew openly from psychology—trauma, healing—and tacitly from theology: confession, redemption.

    Tacoma’s gesture was early and, at the time, singular. Though hundreds of towns in the American West had histories of anti-Chinese violence, I could not find any others that had made a formal acknowledgment. In 1993, Tacoma broke the collective silence and passed Resolution No. 32415. It did not apologize. But it did call the expulsion “a most reprehensible occurrence,” affirmed the council’s commitment to the “elimination of racism and hatred,” and allocated twenty-five thousand dollars toward building a park. No other city would officially confront its own role in anti-Chinese violence for another two decades.

    Tacoma spent years building its Chinese Reconciliation Park. David Murdoch reached out to the small Chinese community then living in the city—mostly recent immigrants who’d never heard of the 1885 expulsion and initially felt detached from what they called “ancient history.” But, by the time I first visited the park, in 2009, that detachment had turned to purpose. I was joined by Theresa Pan Hosley, a Taiwanese immigrant and businesswoman, who had taken on the work of research, fund-raising, and design. While seeking to heal the local community, she told me that she also hoped the memorial would register in China. “We want those buses of Chinese tourists, the ones who drive through Seattle,” she said. “We want them to come here, to Tacoma.”

    When I returned in 2020, I visited the park again—this time alone. A map at the entrance announced, “Your Journey to Reconciliation Begins Here.” The words gave me pause; were they meant for me, a fifth-generation Chinese American who was an outsider to this city and its history? Was I to journey to reconciliation?

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    Beth Lew-Williams

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  • Smithsonian wrestles with independence as White House review picks up – WTOP News

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    The Smithsonian Institution is facing a deadline to hand over information to the White House related to a review of its exhibitions by Friday, as it navigates an unprecedented degree of scrutiny of its museums.

    Washington, D.C. (CNN) — The Smithsonian Institution is facing a deadline to hand over information to the White House related to a review of its exhibitions by Friday, as it navigates an unprecedented degree of scrutiny of its museums.

    The review is part of an ongoing effort from the Trump administration to align prominent institutions with his cultural agenda, which has raised questions over whether the White House should have a say on content showcased at the nation’s leading museums.

    While the Smithsonian, a unique public-private trust, does not consider itself an executive agency, President Donald Trump, through an executive order, has tasked aides with rooting out “woke” ideology and what it considers anti-American propaganda at the institution.

    Lindsey Halligan, the Trump aide leading his review of the Smithsonian, told CNN that it considers White House oversight appropriate because “the Smithsonian is not an autonomous institution, as 70% of its funding comes from taxpayers.”

    In an August letter from the White House, the Smithsonian was asked to turn over a wide array of materials, from gallery labels to future exhibition plans and internal communications about artwork selection.

    Friday is the first of three deadlines given by the White House for its review of the Smithsonian and its planned programming for America’s 250th birthday, to be celebrated next July.

    The Smithsonian, which is conducting its own review, has assembled a team to respond to the administration’s requests.

    It comes as the leader of the nearly two-century-old institution, Lonnie Bunch III, treads a fine line between maintaining a cordial, working relationship with the White House and defending the organization’s independence, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter who asked not to be named as they were not authorized to speak publicly.

    One source with knowledge of internal conversations at the Smithsonian told CNN that, from their perspective, Bunch appears to be “holding the line as much as he can.”

    Leadership at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), which has been targeted by Trump for focusing too much on “how bad slavery was,” told staff earlier this year that programming is not expected to shift despite the executive order, according to several of the sources who spoke to CNN.

    However, even as Bunch is being urged by members of the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents, which governs the institution, to continue to assert its independence, artists who spoke to CNN have noted that the environment is already driving controversial decisions affecting the Smithsonian.

    Bunch could not immediately be reached for comment.

    Halligan called the White House review “non-negotiable,” saying in a statement: “The American taxpayers deserve nothing less, which is why the White House will ensure the audit is conducted impartially.”

    The Smithsonian under pressure

    While the Smithsonian has faced criticism over its exhibitions over the years, it has never been subject to a White House review. Still, the Smithsonian is not immune to pressure from the federal government, which funds two-thirds of its billion-dollar budget.

    Since Trump’s second term, the Smithsonian has made moves that have prompted concerns from artists and independent arts organizations about whether the museum complex will be able to maintain its independence.

    On Friday, two artists who were scheduled to speak at a Smithsonian symposium on its exhibit, “The Shape of Power,” withdrew from the program, citing concerns that the event had been clouded by “censorship.” The symposium had originally been planned as an open event, but was changed to invite-only.

    One person with knowledge of the Smithsonian’s decision told CNN this was its partly “to stay off the radar” and “partly out of safety for artists and speakers who are afraid of MAGA people showing up.”

    President Trump specifically took aim at “The Shape of Power” in the executive order directing the Smithsonian review, where he took issue with the exhibition in part because it “promotes the view that race is not a biological reality but a social construct.”

    In a statement shared with CNN, Nicholas Galanin, one of the artists who withdrew from the symposium, said: “I cannot participate in the symposium and remain in alignment with my moral convictions. The decision to make the symposium a private event with a curated guest list and request that we not record or share it on social media effectively censors those of us who would be participating.”

    A spokesperson for the Smithsonian said that the symposium was a venue for scholarship and “never designed as an event for the general public,” but that “participants were encouraged to share the invitation with their networks.”

    “Because not all participants consented to being recorded, the decision was made not to document in this manner, including on social media,” she said in a statement, adding: “We are disappointed that Nicholas Galanin will not participate in the symposium but respect his decision and thank him for his important contributions to this groundbreaking exhibition.”

    In January, the Smithsonian eliminated its Office of Diversity after Trump issued an executive order threatening federal investigations for “illegal DEI” (diversity, equity and inclusion).

    Months later in March, Trump targeted what he called “improper ideology” at the Smithsonian via executive order, putting Vice President JD Vance in charge of stopping government spending on exhibits that don’t align with his agenda.

    Sasa Aakil, an artist and poet, said some of her and her colleagues’ work was cut before a poetry reading at a NMAAHC event in May commemorating Malcolm X. She said she was told by event organizers that the institution had cut some of poems, which were about racial justice and other related things, because the institution was very cautious due to increased scrutiny from the White House.

    The Smithsonian did not return CNN’s request for comments on the incident.

    In June, Trump claimed that he was firing the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery director, Kim Sajet, over her alleged partisanship and support for DEI. Later, the Smithsonian publicly stated that the president has no authority over personnel decisions, but Sajet resigned a few weeks after being targeted by Trump.

    Then, in July, artist Amy Sherald canceled a major Smithsonian exhibition of her work that had been due to run this fall, citing censorship over one of her paintings depicting the Statue of Liberty modeled after a transgender artist. The Smithsonian denied that it had censored Sherald and said that they had asked to include a video that would contextualize the painting, before Sherald ultimately decided to withdraw her show.

    And in August, the Smithsonian faced public outcry after the National Museum of American History removed a temporary placard referencing Trump’s two impeachments from an exhibit related to the presidency.

    In follow-up statements, the museum system insisted the removal was temporary and denied it had been pressured by any government official to make changes to its exhibits. It was reinstalled days later with some changes.

    Looking towards the future

    Amid Trump’s dissatisfaction with the Smithsonian will come an opportunity to reshape its leadership, though indirectly. The Board of Regents selects the Smithsonian’s leader, and some of its 17 members are supposed to be ultimately approved by the president.

    The other members include six lawmakers from Congress and regents from the public, with Vice President Vance serving as an ex officio member. Chief Justice John Roberts serves as the head.

    Six of the nine general public regents’ spots have terms that end in 2026, giving Trump a chance to expand his influence on the board before the midterm elections shake up Congress. New board members are appointed via congressional joint resolutions, which the president must sign into law.

    Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat who sits on the board, told CNN he believes Bunch is doing “a very good job,” and insisted that the Smithsonian already “goes out of its way” to make sure its exhibits are free of bias.

    In a letter last week , Peters, along with Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who is also on the Board of Regents, and two other Senate Democrats urged Bunch to safeguard the institution’s independence. They also asked the Smithsonian to share any materials given to the White House with Congress.

    House Democrats have also echoed support for the institution. Rep. Joe Morelle, the top Democrat on the House panel that oversees the Smithsonian, told CNN in a statement that Bunch and Smithsonian experts “objectively and accurately tell the American story.”

    Bunch, a historian and curator who is well-regarded throughout the museum world, navigated rough political waters before as the founding director of the NMAAHC.

    He even wrote in a 2019 memoir that the “Smithsonian could easily become a pawn in larger political debates.”

    He also detailed what it was like when Trump visited the NMAAHC for the first time in 2017. Trump showed enthusiasm during the parts of the tour that highlighted the contributions of neurosurgeon Ben Carson and boxer Muhammad Ali. Trump later praised the museum for sharing “the great struggle for freedom and equality that prevailed against the sins of slavery and the injustice of discrimination.”

    But in his second term, the president changed his tune. Last month, he escalated his attacks on the Smithsonian, claiming in a post on social media that “everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future.”

    Yet a White House official said Trump had a “productive and cordial lunch meeting” with Bunch a few days later. He struck a positive tone on the Smithsonian this week, declaring the institution was in the process of making “big changes.”

    “You know, they were also told what to do by people that came before me, in all fairness, but they’re making changes,” he said.

    The institution has yet to announce any changes to its exhibitions. The Trump His administration has given the Smithsonian until December to implement any “corrections” to its content. It’s unclear at this moment how the White House could enforce that request.

    CNN’s Michael Williams contributed to this report.

    The-CNN-Wire
    ™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

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  • ArtButMakeItSports Continues to Create Epic Content for Jocks and Nerds Alike

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    Credit where credit is due. ArtButMakeItSports has cracked the code. The account’s creator LJ Rader has found success beyond just going viral. He has built an audience, and kept it.

    Rader spent quite a bit of time in art museums growing up. He now keeps a massive digital folder handy, filled with works of art. So when inspiration strikes in the sporting world, all he has to do is flip through and his memory retention does the rest.

    We’ve compiled another batch of sports moments that are completely imitating art. Enjoy!

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    Zach

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  • Chinese Camp residents face devastating loss after fires

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    Residents of Chinese Camp are facing immense loss after fires destroyed their homes and belongings. Polina Ken, a Cambodian refugee who has lived in Chinese Camp for 10 years, described the moment she first saw the destruction. “The first time I see this my knee was shaking almost like I don’t know how to stand,” she said. Ken, who raised two sons on her own and now lives alone, finds losing her home unbearable. “The thunder came so loud,” she recalled. Her once-blooming garden is now covered in ash”My plants all burn out,” she said. “Everything burned.”Ken chose to live in Chinese Camp because of its history, which she says remains despite the destruction. “All of them burned down. Nothing left. Anybody that comes to take a picture, they call it ghost town, because nobody is here,” she said. Despite the loss of buildings, Ken believes the town’s history endures. “Buildings gone, but the history is still here,” she said. She now hopes to save up for a mobile home to rebuild her life once again.Roxanne Pfeiffer, a single mother with an 8-year-old son, is also starting over after the fire left little behind. “I have nothing else other than this,” Pfeiffer said, referring to her son’s tricycle, a sign of their former home. Having escaped an abusive relationship, Pfeiffer moved to Chinese Camp seeking safety, only to face new challenges. “I left with the shirt on my back that time. Now left with the shirt on my back again,” she said.Pfeiffer lost cherished memories of her mother in the fire. “My mom passed away, so I had a lot of memories from her. It’s all gone, though,” she said.She was waking up from a nap when the fire approached her property. “I saw a little, little smoke, but it was far away and in no time, it was here,” Pfeiffer said.What used to be a boat and a car are now melted by the fire. “I was like, oh, I’m just going to grab a couple of things. Let’s get out of here. I’m going to be back later. Well, I am back, but not in the condition I wanted,” she said. With no insurance, her future is uncertain. “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said. While she and her son made it out of the fire alive, they are still looking for their cat, Peanut, and have set up a trap to hopefully find him and bring him home. Pfeiffer expressed gratitude to the Chicken Ranch Casino Resort for housing them for the past few days.Robert Patrick and his wife, Maryanne Martinez-Patrick, lifelong residents of Chinese Camp, stayed behind during the evacuation order. “The fire came through and wrecked everything,” Robert said. “The fire is closer. I can hear it, I can see it and then all of a sudden it was just too late.” The couple has been sleeping in a tent on their property since the fire erupted. “I’ve been coming here since I was a kid. I had a best friend that lived right up the street,” Robert said. Maryanne, whose grandmother was a historian in the town, expressed her sorrow at the loss of the town’s historic buildings. “I’ve been here my whole entire life. I grew up in that house right over there,” she said. “Everything’s always been the same out here. It’s been constant until now and it’s just so, so sad to see it all gone, all those old buildings.”Maryanne mourns the loss of family heirlooms and antiques. “Everything that I inherited from them, all of the antiques, all the antiques and so heartbreaking to know that they’re all gone now, it’s almost like they were never even here. That’s how hot it burned,” she said. Despite the devastation, the residents of Chinese Camp are determined to rebuild their lives and preserve the town’s history.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    CHINESE CAMP, Calif. —

    Residents of Chinese Camp are facing immense loss after fires destroyed their homes and belongings.

    Polina Ken, a Cambodian refugee who has lived in Chinese Camp for 10 years, described the moment she first saw the destruction.

    “The first time I see this my knee was shaking almost like I don’t know how to stand,” she said.

    Ken, who raised two sons on her own and now lives alone, finds losing her home unbearable.

    “The thunder came so loud,” she recalled.

    Her once-blooming garden is now covered in ash

    “My plants all burn out,” she said. “Everything burned.”

    Ken chose to live in Chinese Camp because of its history, which she says remains despite the destruction.

    “All of them burned down. Nothing left. Anybody that comes to take a picture, they call it ghost town, because nobody is here,” she said.

    Despite the loss of buildings, Ken believes the town’s history endures.

    “Buildings gone, but the history is still here,” she said. She now hopes to save up for a mobile home to rebuild her life once again.

    Roxanne Pfeiffer, a single mother with an 8-year-old son, is also starting over after the fire left little behind.

    “I have nothing else other than this,” Pfeiffer said, referring to her son’s tricycle, a sign of their former home.

    Having escaped an abusive relationship, Pfeiffer moved to Chinese Camp seeking safety, only to face new challenges.

    “I left with the shirt on my back that time. Now left with the shirt on my back again,” she said.

    Pfeiffer lost cherished memories of her mother in the fire.

    “My mom passed away, so I had a lot of memories from her. It’s all gone, though,” she said.

    She was waking up from a nap when the fire approached her property.

    “I saw a little, little smoke, but it was far away and in no time, it was here,” Pfeiffer said.

    What used to be a boat and a car are now melted by the fire.

    “I was like, oh, I’m just going to grab a couple of things. Let’s get out of here. I’m going to be back later. Well, I am back, but not in the condition I wanted,” she said.

    With no insurance, her future is uncertain.

    “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said.

    While she and her son made it out of the fire alive, they are still looking for their cat, Peanut, and have set up a trap to hopefully find him and bring him home.

    Pfeiffer expressed gratitude to the Chicken Ranch Casino Resort for housing them for the past few days.

    Robert Patrick and his wife, Maryanne Martinez-Patrick, lifelong residents of Chinese Camp, stayed behind during the evacuation order.

    “The fire came through and wrecked everything,” Robert said. “The fire is closer. I can hear it, I can see it and then all of a sudden it was just too late.”

    The couple has been sleeping in a tent on their property since the fire erupted.

    “I’ve been coming here since I was a kid. I had a best friend that lived right up the street,” Robert said.

    Maryanne, whose grandmother was a historian in the town, expressed her sorrow at the loss of the town’s historic buildings.

    “I’ve been here my whole entire life. I grew up in that house right over there,” she said. “Everything’s always been the same out here. It’s been constant until now and it’s just so, so sad to see it all gone, all those old buildings.”

    Maryanne mourns the loss of family heirlooms and antiques.

    “Everything that I inherited from them, all of the antiques, all the antiques and so heartbreaking to know that they’re all gone now, it’s almost like they were never even here. That’s how hot it burned,” she said.

    Despite the devastation, the residents of Chinese Camp are determined to rebuild their lives and preserve the town’s history.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

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  • Fancy begins title defense at Madden NFL 26 Kickoff Challenge

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    (Photo credit: EA Sports)

    The 11th season of the Madden Championship Series (MCS) begins with the debut of the Kickoff Challenge in Orlando on Wednesday.

    Among the 26 Kickoff Challenge competitors are defending champion Fancy, runner-up JonBeast, two-time champion Druni and Henry, the winningest competitor in Madden history.

    Wednesday’s live event will begin at 6 p.m. ET at the Full Sail University Orlando Health Fortress, featuring the top eight remaining players.

    The MCS Kickoff Challenge is the first of a series of Madden NFL 26 tournaments that concludes with the Madden Bowl and features a $1.5 million prize pool.

    ‘Over the past decade, we’ve witnessed the Madden NFL Championship Series’ influence at the intersection of gaming and football culture,’ EA Head of Esports Monica Dinsmore said. ‘As we enter the 11th season of this historic competition in continued partnership with the NFL, we are looking forward to providing more ways to engage with our Madden NFL community and celebrate the next generation of football fans.’

    MCS 26 EVENTS

    KICKOFF CHALLENGE

    Live Event: September 10

    MOST FEARED CHALLENGE

    Ladders: September 13-14, 20-21

    Elimination: September 27-28

    Live Event: October 15

    ZERO CHILL CHALLENGE

    Ladders: November 7-9

    Elimination: November 22-23

    Live Event: December 10

    LAST CHANCE QUALIFIER

    Ladders: December 12-14, 20-21

    Elimination: January 3-4

    Live Event: January 21

    MADDEN BOWL

    February 2026

    The top 13 point-earners from the Kickoff Challenge, the Most Feared Challenge and the Zero Chill Challenge will qualify for the Madden Bowl. The final opportunity to claim a spot will be through the Last Chance Qualifier.

    The Most Feared Challenge, Zero Chill Challenge and the Last Chance Qualifier will all feature live events at the Health Fortress.

    Fancy, from Frisco, Texas, also won the Kickoff Challenge and the Most Feared Challenge in the Madden 25 season. His $250,000 first prize from the Madden Bowl boosted his season earnings to $358,000.

    Regarding his status as the first player to win three MCS events in a season, Fancy said in March, ‘It means everything, to do something that no one’s ever done before.

    ‘To win three tournaments in one year is unbelievable. Just the turnaround for me. No finals appearances before this year, and to have three championships in one season is crazy.’

    Madden Bowl championship-round history, with final score and winner’s prize money

    2016 — Frank ‘Stiff’ Sardoni Jr. def. Eric ‘Problem’ Wright 37-21; $20,000

    2017 — Michael ‘Skimbo’ Skimbo def. Eric ‘Problem’ Wright 24-20; $100,000

    2018 — Shay ‘Young Kiv’ Kivlen def. Drini ‘Drini’ Gjoka 28-24; $107,000

    2019 — Drini ‘Drini’ Gjoka def. Mike ‘Spoto’ Spoto 41-0; $41,000

    2020 — Raidel ‘Joke’ Brito def. Daniel ‘Dcroft’ Mycroft 17-0; $65,000

    2021 — (3 vs. 3) Henry ‘Henry’ Leverette/Wesley ‘Wesley’ Gittens/Jack ‘NBG’ Kronstein def. Jacob ‘Jwall’ Wallack/Jacob ‘Fancy’ Worthington/Joshua ‘DatBoi’ Wright 31-3; $150,000

    2022 — Henry ‘Henry’ Leverette def. Wesley ‘Wesley’ Gittens 35-31; $250,000

    2023 — Peyton ‘Dez’ Tuma def. Henry ‘Henry’ Leverette 24-21; $250,000

    2024 — Henry ‘Henry’ Leverette def. Wesley ‘Wesley’ Gittens 35-24; $250,000

    2025 — Jacob ‘Fancy’ Worthington def. Jonathan ‘JonBeast’ Marquez 31-28; $250,000

    –Field Level Media

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  • 2 California Powerball winners each win more than $1.5 million

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    LOT RICHER TONIGHT. THERE WERE TWO WINNING TICKETS IN TONIGHT’S $1.8 BILLION POWERBALL JACKPOT. ONE IN TEXAS AND THE OTHER IN MISSOURI. WINNING NUMBERS FOR TONIGHT’S POWERBALL DRAWING WERE 11 23, 44, 61, 62. POWERBALL WAS 17. THE WINNERS WILL SPLIT THE SECOND LARGEST PRIZE IN POWERBALL HISTORY. WELL, THERE WEREN’T ANY JACKPOT WINNERS IN CALIFORNIA. TWO TICKETS WERE SOLD IN THE STATE, MATCHING THE FIRST FIVE NUMBERS, EACH WORTH MORE THAN 1.5 MILLION. THOS

    2 California Powerball winners each win more than $1.5 million

    Updated: 7:08 AM PDT Sep 7, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    California didn’t have a $1.8 billion Powerball jackpot winner after Saturday’s drawing, but two tickets worth more than $1.5 million each were sold in the Golden State.One of the tickets matching five numbers was sold at Love’s Travel Stop at 2000 East Tehachapi Boulevard in Tehachapi, the California Lottery said. The other was sold at a Circle K at 7850 Amador Valley Boulevard in Dublin. The tickets are each worth $1,564,348 before federal taxes. California does not have a state tax on lottery winnings. Here were the winning numbers in Saturday’s drawing: 11-23-44-61-62 Powerball 17.Jackpot-winning tickets were sold in Texas and Missouri. It was the second-largest prize in the game’s history. Those winners can split an annuitized prize estimated at $1.8 billion or a lump sum payment estimated at $826.4 million.Powerball tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    DUBLIN, Calif. —

    California didn’t have a $1.8 billion Powerball jackpot winner after Saturday’s drawing, but two tickets worth more than $1.5 million each were sold in the Golden State.

    One of the tickets matching five numbers was sold at Love’s Travel Stop at 2000 East Tehachapi Boulevard in Tehachapi, the California Lottery said. The other was sold at a Circle K at 7850 Amador Valley Boulevard in Dublin.

    The tickets are each worth $1,564,348 before federal taxes. California does not have a state tax on lottery winnings.

    Here were the winning numbers in Saturday’s drawing: 11-23-44-61-62 Powerball 17.

    Jackpot-winning tickets were sold in Texas and Missouri. It was the second-largest prize in the game’s history.

    Those winners can split an annuitized prize estimated at $1.8 billion or a lump sum payment estimated at $826.4 million.

    Powerball tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

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  • World’s oldest known nursing home discovered in ruins of ancient Christian city, dates back 1,600 years

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    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    Archaeologists in Israel have uncovered a 1,600-year-old Christian care facility for the elderly – a remarkable find that may be the world’s oldest nursing home.

    The news, reported by Israel’s news agency TPS-IL, was announced by the University of Haifa on Aug. 18. 

    The care facility was found in the ruins of the ancient city of Hippos near the Sea of Galilee. The Christian city was a significant bishop’s seat in the region during the Byzantine era.

    LUXURIOUS 1,700-YEAR-OLD ROMAN BATHHOUSE UNEARTHED BY ARCHAEOLOGISTS AFTER SURPRISE DISCOVERY

    While excavating the ruins, archaeologists from the University of Haifa’s Zinman Institute of Archaeology were struck by a floor design at the entrance of an ancient building.

    The mosaic’s message read, “Peace be with the elders,” in Koine Greek. It was found around 320 feet from Hippos’ central plaza, inside one of the city’s residential blocks.

    Archaeologists in Israel uncovered a 1,600-year-old Christian care facility near the Sea of Galilee. (Dr. Michael Eisenberg of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology and the Department of Archaeology at the University of Haifa/TPS-IL)

    Dating back to the fourth or fifth century A.D., archaeologists are convinced that the building was a designated facility for older residents.

    “It shows that Byzantine society established not only religious centers but also places dedicated to dignity and care for its seniors.”

    Some sources from the fifth and sixth centuries record the existence of elderly care facilities, making the discovery unique but not entirely without precedent. The inscription may also be the first physical evidence of such an institution.

    ANCIENT CHRISTIAN TOMB COMPLEX REVEALED BENEATH RUBBLE FROM SYRIA’S CIVIL WAR

    Researchers posit that the message was intentionally placed at the entrance of the building, in order to designate its purpose to elderly residents and visitors.

    Mosaic with christian symbol, greek text

    Archaeologists say the Greek inscription, reading “Peace be with the elders,” offers rare insight into Byzantine life. (Michael Eisenberg, Ph.D., of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology and the Department of Archaeology at the University of Haifa/TPS-IL)

    The symbols on the mosaic – cyrpress trees, fruit and Egyptian geese – also complement the Greek text, with researchers interpreting them as deliberate choices.

    For example, cypress trees were associated with everlasting life, while fruits symbolized abundance and eternal life. Egyptian geese, on the other hand, often represented blessed souls in ancient iconography.

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    Directly referencing elders in such a manner is exceptionally rare in ancient inscriptions, underscoring the significance of the find.

    Mosaic depicting birds drinking

    The mosaic’s imagery, including cypress trees, fruit and Egyptian geese, symbolized eternity and abundance. (Michael Eisenberg, Ph.D., of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology and the Department of Archaeology at the University of Haifa/TPS-IL)

    In a statement, Michael Eisenberg, Ph.D., said that the mosaic “offers a tangible, dated, and clear indication of an institution designed for the elderly.”

    “This is living proof that care and concern for the elderly are not just a modern idea, but were part of social institutions and concepts as far back as about 1,600 years ago,” Eisenberg observed, according to TPS-IL.

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    He added, “It shows that Byzantine society established not only religious centers but also places dedicated to dignity and care for its seniors.”

    Aerial of Hippos near Galilee Sea

    “The inscription addresses a specific public directly, which is a rare glimpse into older lives in antiquity,” the team said. (Michael Eisenberg, Ph.D., of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology and the Department of Archaeology at the University of Haifa/TPS-IL)

    The research team, which published its findings in the Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy, stressed that the discovery offers “a rare glimpse into the daily lives of older people in antiquity.”

    “This was a communal and spiritual institution integrated into the fabric of city life and reflecting the social values of the period,” the researchers said in a statement, as TPS-IL noted.

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    “It may provide one of the earliest material testimonies in the Holy Land, showing how the Christian community began assuming responsibilities for care that had previously been handled by family networks alone.”

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