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  • Cuban, US officials meet in Havana on consular services

    Cuban, US officials meet in Havana on consular services

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    HAVANA — Cuban and State Department officials met in Havana on Wednesday to discuss the expansion of consular and visa services on the island.

    The meeting is the latest in a series of friendly exchanges between the two governments, which share a historically icy relationship.

    Cuba issued a brief statement confirming the meeting took place.

    The U.S. delegation included Rena Bitter, assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, and Ur Mendoza Jaddou, director of U.S. citizenship and immigration Services.

    The U.S. Embassy closed in 2017 following a series of health incidents. While a full reopening has yet to be announced, U.S. officials have said visa processing would resume in January.

    The move comes amid the biggest flight of Cubans from the island in decades. Nearly 221,000 Cubans were encountered by migration enforcement on the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2022. That was a 471% increase from the year before, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

    A State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that Washington’s delegation also discussed concerns about human rights in Cuba. The official said Bitter “urged the Cuban government to unconditionally release all political prisoners.”

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  • Elon Musk Has a Very Bad Surprise for Tesla Shareholders

    Elon Musk Has a Very Bad Surprise for Tesla Shareholders

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    The fears of Tesla  (TSLA) – Get Free Report shareholders and fans are confirmed. 

    Elon Musk, the CEO of the famous manufacturer of premium electric vehicles, is paying a hefty price for his acquisition of Twitter  (TWTR) – Get Free Report. 

    And unsurprisingly, Tesla is paying the price. The billionaire has just sold 19.5 million shares of Tesla for a total amount of $3.95 billion, according to regulatory documents filed on November 8 in the evening.

    The sale was completed in 38 transactions on November 4, 7 and 8, just days after the Twitter acquisition was completed. The tech tycoon had taken control of the social network on October 27 after a six-month battle marked by twists and turns and a stop in the courts.

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  • Hawaii hate crime trial begins for beating of white man

    Hawaii hate crime trial begins for beating of white man

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    HONOLULU — Lawyers representing two Native Hawaiian men don’t dispute they brutally assaulted a white man who purchased a house in their remote village on the island of Maui.

    They acknowledged the 2014 attack was wrong, but they said it wasn’t a hate crime, as U.S. prosecutors allege.

    Trial began Tuesday for Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi and Levi Aki Jr., who are charged with one federal count each of a hate crime.

    Alo-Kaonohi punched and kicked Christopher Kunzelman and Aki hit him with a shovel when Kunzelman tried to fix up the house he purchased in Kahakuloa village, Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Thomas told the jury.

    Alo-Kaonohi dragged his finger down Kunzelman’s face and said his skin was the wrong color, Thomas said.

    The attack, which left Kunzelman with injuries including a concussion, two broken ribs and head and abdominal trauma, never would have happened if it weren’t for his race, Thomas said.

    It wasn’t Kunzelman’s race that sparked the attack, attorneys for the men said, blaming their actions on his entitled and disrespectful attitude.

    The assault on Kunzelman is “hard to stomach,” said Craig Jerome, one of Alo-Kaonohi’s federal defenders. The attack was provoked by a belief that Kunzelman didn’t have a valid easement to the property and because he cut chains on village gates, Jerome said.

    The altercation escalated when the men realized Kunzelman had a gun, Jerome said.

    Kaonohi pleaded no contest to felony assault in state court in July 2019 in the case and was sentenced to probation. The trial in U.S. District Court in Honolulu is only to determine if they are guilty of a hate crime. They face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

    Footage of the attack from cameras on Kunzelman’s vehicle don’t show that Alo-Kaonohi uttered any racial terms or slurs, Jerome said.

    Aki later told police Kunzelman was acting like a “typical haole,” Thomas said.

    Haole, a Hawaiian word with meanings that include foreign and white person, is central to the case, which highlights multicultural Hawaii’s nuanced and complicated relationship with race.

    An enraged Alo-Kaonohi called Kunzelman “brah,” “buddy,” and various other terms attached to expletives, Jerome said: “”But he never calls him a haole, not once.”

    Aki didn’t use the word haole in a pejorative or hateful way, Jerome said.

    “It’s not a hate crime to assault somebody and in the course of it, use the word haole,” said Aki’s court-appointed attorney, Lynn Panagakos, noting that Aki is both part-Hawaiian and part-haole.

    “Haole has multiple meanings depending on the context,” she said. “It’s an accepted word.”

    Kunzelman testified Tuesday that he and his wife decided to move to Maui from Scottsdale, Arizona, after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis because she loved the island.

    “It’s just serene and beautiful,” he said.

    They purchased the four-bedroom oceanfront house after seeing a listing for it online, he said, and that he went to Maui first to renovate the house for his wife and their three daughters.

    Kunzelman said he decided to take two pistols to Maui after hearing that a contractor he hired to do mold remediation had been assaulted when he showed up and after hearing his realtor say that the close-knit community of Native Hawaiians had a problem with white people.

    Kunzelman said he and his family never got to live in the Maui house and now reside in Puerto Rico.

    He was expected to continue testifying Wednesday.

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  • NBA All-Star player Dwight Howard headed to Taiwan

    NBA All-Star player Dwight Howard headed to Taiwan

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    TAIPEI, Taiwan — Eight-time NBA All Star Dwight Howard is headed to Taiwan to play for the Taoyuan Leopards in the island’s top division.

    “I can’t wait to see the fans, eat the food and have the best time ever … and bring a championship,” the 36-year-old center said in a social media post.

    Alongside baseball, basketball is the most popular sport in Taiwan, with both girls and boys high school championships broadcast island-wide.

    Howard has collected league records with a clutch of teams, notably the Orlando Magic, and signed a one-year contract with the Los Angles Lakers in 2021.

    The Leopards are among six teams in the T-1 league, which features numerous players from the U.S. and Europe.

    The club did not provide details of the deal with Howard.

    ———

    More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • How To Craft the Perfect Professional Letter

    How To Craft the Perfect Professional Letter

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    While the business world has evolved over the years, there are a few things about it that haven’t: elements of formality and respect. When you are addressing someone in a professional setting, especially a superior, there is a certain way to go about it. The same goes for addressing a professional letter. And while business letters might seem old school, they still play many different roles in the industry.

    If you’re looking for a guide on professional letter writing, look no further. We’ve got the tips and tricks to help you draft and address your best letter yet.

    Why Should You Write a Professional Letter?

    If you need to evoke formality and professionalism, physical letters are a great avenue to take. While internal company communication can be done via email, writing to other businesses via a letter shows an air of class and polish.

    Reasons to write a professional letter include:

    • Announcements
    • Official requests
    • Cover letters
    • Networking
    • Thank yous or follow-ups
    • Resignation

    No matter which reason is right for you, the format of your letter should follow a pattern. Keep reading to learn more about the structure of your business letter.

    How To Write a Professional Business Letter

    Letter writing is an art. And when you combine it with business, it is an art combined with a process. When it’s time to write your letter, use our step-by-step instructions to guide you from the inside contents of the letter to what goes on the outside of the envelope.

    Related: The Business Benefits of the Handwritten Letter

    1. Inside the Letter: The Header

    Before you begin writing the letter, you need to include a header that provides important contact information. If you are using a professional letterhead that provides that information, you can skip ahead to the next step.

    The header should be located in the upper left-hand corner of the envelope and include the address format:

    • Your full name
    • Your full address (home or business, depending on the situation)
      • Sender’s address (your address)
      • City, State Zip Code
      • Country name
    • Your phone number (your most reachable number)
    • Your email address

    Skip for separation and include:

    • Full date (July 19, 2023)

    Skip the next line and continue with the second line:

    • Recipient’s full name (if you know the person’s name)
    • Recipient’s job title
    • Name of the company (if applicable)
    • Recipient’s address or the address of the company
      • Street address
      • City, State Zip Code
      • Country

    Once you’ve got the labels set up, it’s time to get drafting.

    2. Inside the Letter: The Contents

    When writing a professional letter, you need to find the balance between being eloquent yet direct — friendly yet formal.

    The contents should be:

    The Salutation

    A salutation is the first line of your letter. It is a way to open your letter by directly addressing your intended recipient. How much you know about your recipient will dictate how you can greet them with the salutation.

    Greeting options include:

    • Dear Mr., Mrs., Miss, and Ms. (only use these abbreviations if you are sure)
    • Dear Sir or Dear Ma’am (only use these titles if you are sure)
    • Dear Professor
    • Dear Recruiter
    • To Whom It May Concern

    Once you have decided which salutation to use, you need to make sure you format it properly in your letter.

    The salutation should be left-aligned, followed by a comma, and standing alone on a line. For example:

    Dear Professor,

    The Message

    Now it’s time to get to the body of the work. Professional letters should not exceed one page. To make sure you stay on topic, constructing your letter in three paragraphs is a helpful structure to live by. Make sure that each of your paragraphs is indented to show separation.

    The contents should cover:

    • Paragraph One: opening statement with the letter’s purpose or intent
    • Paragraph Two: elaborate on your point with background information, supporting details, and reasoning
    • Paragraph Three: reinforce the letter’s purpose and end with a CTA (call to action)

    A call to action shows the recipient that you are expecting a response. A CTA can be something like:

    • I look forward to hearing from you.
    • Please reach out with any questions you may have.
    • I am looking forward to your response.
    • Please keep me informed of the process.

    The Sign-Off

    Once you have said what you needed to say and included your call to action, you need to include a formal sign-off.

    Closing phrases can be things such as:

    • Sincerely
    • Best
    • Thank you
    • Regards
    • Cordially

    After the sign off you should include a comma, move down a space, and sign your name.

    A Template

    Even though we’ve given you all of the information, it might be helpful to have everything in one place. Next time you need to write a professional letter, use this letter to guide you.

    Your name

    Your full address (home or business, depending on the situation)

    Your phone number (your most reachable number)

    Your email address

    Full date (July 19, 2023)

    Recipient’s name (if known)

    Recipient’s job title

    Name of company (if applicable)

    Recipient’s address or the address of the company

    Dear [Recipient],

    My name is [your name], and I am reaching out because [your reason]. [Continue with your reason for one to two more sentences].

    To provide you with more information on the subject, [background information]. In addition to that, [provide supporting details in one to two sentences]. This is significant because [provide reasoning in one to two sentences].

    Again, [reinforce the letter’s purpose in one to two sentences]. [Include your CTA in one sentence].

    Sincerely,

    Your name

    3. On the Envelope

    Once you’ve got your letter just the way you want it, it’s time to prepare it for the mail. What you put on the envelope is just as important as what you put inside the envelope.

    On the outside, include a return address in the top left corner of the envelope, including:

    • Your name
    • The company’s name (if necessary)
    • Your mailing address

    In the middle of the front of your envelope is where you will include the recipient’s information in this order:

    • Professional title of the recipient and their full name
    • Name of company
    • Accurate street address

    Once you’ve properly formatted and included the necessary information, it’s time to apply postage. If you aren’t sure what kind of postage you’ll need, a good rule of thumb is:

    • 1 oz (4 sheets of regular 8-1/2″ x 11″ paper and a business-sized envelope) for 1 First-Class Mail® Forever® stamp (currently $0.60)

    You can purchase postage stamps on the United States Postal Service website or at any post office location. Most grocery and drug stores also carry USPS stamps.

    Related: How to Write a Cover Letter That Gets You an Interview

    Other Things To Consider

    Now that we’ve got the basics covered, it’s time to go over the little details that make a big difference.

    The Font

    When sending a professional letter, you need to make sure your font is professional. For formal font options, stick to:

    • Times New Roman
    • Arial
    • Cambria
    • Georgia

    As for font size, 11-12 point font is acceptable.

    The Proofread

    This might sound like common sense, but this is your official reminder — proofread your letter! Errors in your letter are unprofessional and do not provide a strong impression on the recipient.

    Proofreading means reading your letter aloud to yourself. Reading out loud will help you hear the tone and rhythm of your letter. It will also help you catch errors you wouldn’t have when you read only by sight.

    The Email Address Line

    Providing a personal email address as part of your contact information is perfectly acceptable. However, you need to make sure it is professional-sounding. Try to avoid nicknames or slang terms. Steer towards using an easy-to-read version of your real name, so recipients can easily recognize you in further interactions.

    The Stamp

    This is a tiny detail, but the stamp on the top right corner of the letter adds to the overall aesthetic of your letter upon arrival. The USPS offers many choices when it comes to stamps, but try to stick to something standard when you mail it. Avoid “happy birthday” and things to that effect, as that sentiment does not match your intent.

    The Penmanship

    If you are addressing your letter by hand, make sure your penmanship is neat and legible. This is another small detail, but it speaks to the impression of your work, itself. If you are not confident in your handwriting, then you can always type your letter address.

    The Takeaway

    The art of professional letter writing is still very much alive. When it comes to formal letter writing, remember these three things:

    1. The contents of your letter should be clear, concise, and easy to read
    2. Your letter’s envelope should provide sender information, recipient information, and proper postage
    3. It’s the little things that will set your letter apart from the rest.

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  • All eyes on China as Apple and Foxconn outline zero-COVID issues. Meanwhile, cases are rising again in the U.S.

    All eyes on China as Apple and Foxconn outline zero-COVID issues. Meanwhile, cases are rising again in the U.S.

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    China’s strict zero-COVID policy was making headlines Monday after Apple and iPhone manufacturer Foxconn said over the weekend that restrictions are crimping production and will delay shipments of the high-end iPhone 14.

    “We continue to see strong demand for iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models,” Apple
    AAPL,
    -0.82%
    announced in a Sunday evening press release. “However, we now expect lower iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max shipments than we previously anticipated and customers will experience longer wait times to receive their new products.” 

    Also read: Will Apple’s latest production issues destroy demand?

    Foxconn, meanwhile, which trades as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.
    2317,
    -0.50%    ,
    lowered its fourth-quarter guidance and said anti-COVID measures were affecting some of its operations in Zhengzhou, China, as Dow Jones Newswires reported.

    Foxconn said that the Henan provincial government had made it clear that it would fully support the company. Foxconn’s most advanced iPhone plant, located in the provincial capital of Zhengzhou, has been battling a COVID outbreak.

    Foxconn said it is working with the government to halt the outbreak and resume production at full capacity as quickly as possible.

    Workers at the world’s biggest assembly site for Apple’s iPhones walked out last week as Foxconn struggled to contain a COVID-19 outbreak. The chaos highlighted the tension between Beijing’s rigid pandemic controls and the need to keep production on track. Photo: Hangpai Xinyang/Associated Press

    Investors have been closely watching China for signs that its government would start to lift the tough pandemic restrictions that have been in place for almost three years. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the country’s leaders are considering steps but have not yet set a timeline.

    Chinese  officials have become concerned about the costs of their zero-tolerance approach to COVID, which has resulted in lockdowns of cities and whole provinces, crushing business activity and confining hundreds of millions of people to their homes for weeks and sometimes months on end.

    But they are weighing those concerns against the potential costs of reopening on public health and on support for the Communist Party. On Saturday, officials from China’s National Health Commission again reaffirmed their commitment to a firm zero-COVID strategy, which they described as essential to “protect people’s lives.”

    Still, there are plans in Beijing to further cut the number of days incoming travelers must quarantine in hotels from 10 to seven, followed by three days of home monitoring, the paper reported, citing people involved in the discussions.

    And officials have told retail businesses that they intend to reduce the frequency of PCR testing as soon as this month, partly because of the cost.

    In the U.S., known cases of COVID and hospitalizations are climbing again for the first time in a few months.

    The daily average for new cases stood at 39,954 on Sunday, according to a New York Times tracker, up 6% compared with two weeks ago. But cases are sharply higher in several states, led by Nevada, where they are up 96% from two weeks ago, followed by Tennessee, where they are up 69%; Louisiana, where they are up 68%; Utah, where they have climbed 61%; and New Mexico, where they are up 56%.

    Cases are climbing in 30 states and in Washington, D.C.

    The daily average for hospitalizations was up 2% to 27,419, while the daily average for deaths was down 11% to 320.

    Physicians are reporting high numbers of respiratory illnesses like RSV and the flu earlier than the typical winter peak. WSJ’s Brianna Abbott explains what the early surge means for the winter months. Photo illustration: Kaitlyn Wang

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 variants accounted for 35.3% of new cases in the week through Nov. 5, up from 27.1% a week ago.

    The two variants accounted for 52.3% of all cases in the New York region, which includes New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, up from 42.5% the previous week. That was more than the BA.5 omicron subvariant, which accounted for 24.9% of new cases in the New York area in the latest week.

    The BA.5 omicron subvariant accounted for 39.2% of all U.S. cases, the data show.

    BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 were still lumped in with BA.5 variant data as recently as three weeks ago, because at that time, their numbers were too small to break out. BQ.1 was first identified by researchers in early September and has been found in the U.K. and Germany, among other places. 

    Coronavirus Update: MarketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began

    Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

    • BioNTEch SE
    BNTX,
    +2.84%    ,
    the German biotech that has partnered with Pfizer
    PFE,
    -0.53%
    on a COVID vaccine, posted earnings early Monday, showing a roughly 50% drop in profit that sent its stock lower, despite beating consensus estimates. The Mainz-based company said it had invoiced about 300 million doses of its bivalent vaccine, which targets the omicron variant as well as the original virus. The company chalked up €564.5 million ($563.9 million) in direct COVID vaccine sales in the quarter, down from €1.351 billion a year ago. BioNTech raised the lower end of its full-year COVID vaccine revenue range to €16 billion to €17 billion, from a previous €13 billion to €17 billion.

    • Thousands of runners took to the streets of the Chinese capital on Sunday for the return of Beijing’s annual marathon after a two-year hiatus, the Associated Press reported. However, the good news was offset by anger about another death related to COVID restrictions, this time of a 55-year-old woman in a sealed building. An investigation report released Sunday in Hohhot, the capital of China’s Inner Mongolia region, blamed property management and community staff for not acting quickly enough to prevent the death of the woman after being told she had suicidal tendencies.

    • The U.S. flu season is off to an unusually fast start, contributing to an autumn mix of viruses that have patients filling hospitals’ and physicians’ waiting rooms, the AP reported separately. Reports of flu are already high in 17 states, and the hospitalization rate hasn’t been this high this early since the 2009 swine flu pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So far, there have been an estimated 730 flu deaths, including at least two children. The winter flu season usually ramps up in December or January.

    Here’s what the numbers say:

    The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 632.6 million on Monday, while the death toll rose above 6.60 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

    The U.S. leads the world with 97.7 million cases and 1,072,598 fatalities.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracker shows that 227.3 million people living in the U.S., equal to 68.5% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots.

    So far, just 26.3 million Americans have had the updated COVID booster that targets the original virus and the omicron variants, equal to 8.4% of the overall population.

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  • Nick Carter remembers his ‘baby brother’ Aaron Carter

    Nick Carter remembers his ‘baby brother’ Aaron Carter

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    NEW YORK (AP) — The day after 34-year-old singer Aaron Carter was found dead at his home in Southern California, Nick Carter, the Backstreet Boys member, remembered his younger brother, saying that despite “a complicated relationship,” his love for him “never ever faded.”

    In a posting Sunday on Instagram with photos of the two through the years, Nick Carter said his heart was broken after the death of the youngest of five Carter siblings, whom he called his “baby brother.”

    “My heart has been broken today,” wrote Carter. “Even though my brother and I have had a complicated relationship, my love for him has never ever faded. I have always held onto the hope that he would somehow, someday want to walk a healthy path and eventually find the help that he so desperately needed.”

    Deputies responded around 11 a.m. Saturday following reports of a medical emergency at Carter’s home in Lancaster, California. Authorities said a house sitter found a man in the bathtub in the home and resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.

    Carter had struggled with substance abuse and mental health. In 2017, he attended rehab and was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and marijuana charges. In 2019, Carter said on an episode of the talk show “The Doctors” that he was taking medication for acute anxiety, manic depression and multiple personality disorder. That same year, Nick and Angel, Aaron’s twin sister, said they filed a restraining order against Aaron.

    In September, Carter said he went into rehab for the fifth time in the hopes of regaining custody of his young son, Prince, with his fiancé Melanie Martin. At the time, Prince was under the court-ordered care of Martin’s mother.

    “Sometimes we want to blame someone or something for a loss. But the truth is that addiction and mental illness is the real villain here,” Nick Carter wrote in the post. “I will miss my brother more than anyone will ever know. I love you Chizz, now you get a chance to finally have some peace you could never find here on earth. God, Please take care of my baby brother.”

    In 2012, their sister, Leslie Carter, died after falling in the shower in 2012 at the age of 25. Authorities said she had suffered an overdose from prescription medication. Carter once said he felt his family partly blamed him for her death.

    Carter, a singer, rapper and actor, opened for the Backstreet Boys tour in 1997, the same year his gold-selling debut self-titled album was released. He reached triple-platinum status with his sophomore album, 2000′s “Aaron’s Party (Come Get It),” which produced hit singles including the title song and “I Want Candy.”

    Carter’s acting credits included the television show “Lizzie McGuire” and an appearance on “Dancing With the Stars.” He starred alongside his brother, Nick, and their siblings B.J., Leslie and Angel Carter on the E! unscripted series “House of Carters” in 2006.

    Hilary Duff, who starred in “Lizzie McGuire,” recalled Carter as having an “effervescent” charm, and said her “teenage self” loved him deeply. “I’m deeply sorry that life was so hard for you and that you had to struggle in-front of the whole world,” she wrote on Instagram.

    Angel Carter, his twin sister, also responded on social media. “My funny, sweet Aaron, I have so many memories of you and I, and I promise to cherish them,” she wrote on Instagram. “I know you’re at peace now. I will carry you with me until the day I die and get to see you again.”

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  • UK to declare bank holiday May 8 to honor King Charles III

    UK to declare bank holiday May 8 to honor King Charles III

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    LONDON (AP) — The United Kingdom will have another reason to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III, for the government has declared a special public holiday to mark the occasion.

    The holiday will be on Monday, May 8, capping a three-day weekend that will begin with the coronation. The coronation of Charles’ late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was also marked with what is known as a bank holiday in Britain.

    “The coronation of a new monarch is a unique moment for our country. In recognition of this historic occasion, I am pleased to announce an additional bank holiday for the whole United Kingdom next year,” new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said. “I look forward to seeing people come together to celebrate and pay tribute to King Charles III by taking part in local and national events across the country in his honor.”

    Charles will be crowned on May 6 at Westminster Abbey in London. His ceremony will be designed to preserve the historical traditions of the monarchy while looking to the future following the late queen’s 70-year reign. The coronation is expected to be shorter and less extravagant than the three-hour ceremony that installed Elizabeth in 1953, in keeping with Charles’ plans for a slimmed-down monarchy.

    The coronation holiday means May will have three long weekends next year, with traditional bank holidays already scheduled for May 1 and May 29.

    ___

    Follow all AP stories on British royalty at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii

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  • Apple warns that iPhone 14 Pro shipments will be hit by China production snags

    Apple warns that iPhone 14 Pro shipments will be hit by China production snags

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    Apple Inc. said Sunday that it now expects lower shipments of its high-end iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max devices than it did previously, as COVID-19 issues hamper production in China.

    “We continue to see strong demand for iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models,” the company announced in a Sunday evening press release. “However, we now expect lower iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max shipments than we previously anticipated and customers will experience longer wait times to receive their new products.”

    Apple
    AAPL,
    -0.19%
    acknowledged in its release that COVID-19 issues have “temporarily impacted” production of the devices at the Zhengzhou site that is the “primary” assembly facility for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. That facility is currently seeing “significantly reduced” operating capacity.

    “We are working closely with our supplier to return to normal production levels while ensuring the health and safety of every worker,” the company added in the release.

    Analysts have been discussing iPhone production disruption at manufacturer Foxconn’s
    2354,
    +1.31%
    Zhengzhou facility for the past week amid fallout from COVID-19 restrictions in the city.

    “Although Apple earnings were only a week ago, supply shortages at the high end of the market and recent COVID lockdowns in China impacting a Foxconn plant could negatively impact iPhone units in the December quarter,” UBS analyst David Vogt wrote Wednesday, ahead of Apple’s press release. “While we believe iPhone demand tends to not be perishable, a slippage of a couple of million units is possible below our 86 million forecast.”

    While Apple was the only Big Tech company to see its shares rally in the wake of its late-October earnings report, shares have struggled more since then. They logged their worst weekly performance since March 2020 last week.

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  • Fireworks injure 17 at Mexico town’s Day of Dead celebration

    Fireworks injure 17 at Mexico town’s Day of Dead celebration

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    MEXICO CITY — A fireworks explosion at a Day of the Dead celebration in Mexico injured 17 people, authorities said Sunday.

    The accident occurred Saturday in the township of Huejutla in Mexico’s Gulf coast region known as the Huasteca.

    The Huejutla municipal government said residents of the village of Tehuetlan were celebrating the end of Xantolo, which is the Huasteca regional variant of the Day of the Dead. Its celebrations last beyond the normal Nov. 1-2 observance.

    A pile of fireworks were set alight in the street and exploded, showering the surrounding crowd in sparks and explosions, the government said.

    The township said two pregnant women and three children were among the injured. One of the girls suffered second-degree burns.

    Fireworks accidents are not uncommon in Mexico.

    In September, one person died and 39 were injured when fireworks exploded during a festival in a town festival just west of Mexico City.

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  • Massachusetts museum returns sacred items to Sioux tribes

    Massachusetts museum returns sacred items to Sioux tribes

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    BARRE, Mass. — About 150 artifacts considered sacred by the Lakota Sioux peoples are being returned to them after being stored at a small Massachusetts museum for more than a century.

    Members of the Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes traveled from South Dakota to take custody of the weapons, pipes, moccasins and clothing, including several items thought to have a direct link to the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre in South Dakota.

    They had been held by the Founders Museum in Barre, Massachusetts, about 74 miles west of Boston. A public ceremony was held Saturday inside the gym at a nearby elementary school that included prayers by the Lakota representatives. The artifacts will be officially handed over during a private ceremony.

    “Ever since that Wounded Knee massacre happened, genocides have been instilled in our blood,” said Surrounded Bear, 20, who traveled to Barre from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, according to The Boston Globe. “And for us to bring back these artifacts, that’s a step towards healing. That’s a step in the right direction.”

    The ceremony marked the culmination of repatriation efforts that had been decades in the making.

    “It was always important to me to give them back,” said Ann Meilus, president of the board at the Founders Museum. “I think the museum will be remembered for being on the right side of history for returning these items.”

    The items being returned are just a tiny fraction of an estimated 870,000 Native American artifacts — including nearly 110,000 human remains — in the possession of the nation’s most prestigious colleges, museums and even the federal government. They’re supposed to be returned to the tribes under the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

    Museum officials have said that as a private institution that does not receive federal funding, the institution is not subject to NAGPRA, but returning items in its collection that belong to Indigenous tribes is the right thing to do.

    More than 200 men, women, children and elderly people were killed in the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Congress issued a formal apology to the Sioux Nation a century later for one of the nation’s worst massacres of Native Americans.

    The Barre museum acquired its Indigenous collection from Frank Root, a traveling shoe salesman who collected the items on his journeys during the 19th century, and once had a road show that rivaled P.T. Barnum’s extravaganzas, according to museum officials.

    Wendell Yellow Bull, a descendant of Wounded Knee victim Joseph Horn Cloud, has said the items will be stored at Oglala Lakota College until tribal leaders decide what to do with them.

    The items being returned to the Sioux people have all been authenticated by multiple experts, including tribal experts. The museum also has other Indigenous items not believed to have originated with the Sioux.

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  • Toast to This Early Black Friday Wine Delivery Deal

    Toast to This Early Black Friday Wine Delivery Deal

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    Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.

    Every entrepreneur should have a hobby or passion to enjoy in their spare time. For some, that pastime is wine.


    Splash Wines

    Who could blame anyone for enjoying a fine wine from time to time? Especially when you can get early Black Friday savings on a collection of fall favorites. As part of our Every Day is Black Friday promotion, we’re offering limited-time deals leading up to the big day. The deals are great, but our supply is limited, so right now is the time to jump on this offer of 18 bottles of wine for just $69.99 from Splash Wines.

    Just like food, wine is seasonal, and Splash Wines is helping you enjoy fall with a special curation of stunning autumnal selections. Their Top 18 Wines for Fall 2022 have been selected, and through this offer, you can get all 18 for an extraordinary price you won’t find anywhere else.

    The selection includes a mixed array of reds, whites, and a bottle of bubbly, but through this offer, you can also customize your pack to an extent. If you’d prefer, you can pick all reds or all whites, depending on what best suits your fancy.

    Splash Wines has earned a sterling 4.6/5-star rating on Trustpilot on more than 20,000 reviews because they make it so easy and affordable for people to get their hands on some of the world’s best wines. Truly, anybody can be a connoisseur with Splash Wines.

    Indulge in an early Black Friday deal while these supplies last — which won’t be long. Right now, you can get 18 bottles of wine from Splash Wines for 80 percent off $350 at just $69.99. That’s less than $4 per bottle.

    Prices subject to change.

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  • Rare Pikachu, Kobe’s sneakers — a hidden vault guards it all

    Rare Pikachu, Kobe’s sneakers — a hidden vault guards it all

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    The ordinary brown brick building, tucked within a nondescript block on a street in Delaware, would probably not garner much attention if it weren’t for the razor wire and armed guards outside — hints that something important lay inside, possibly even precious.

    Fort Knox it is not. But the stash of collectibles the building holds is undoubtedly worthy of guarding.

    There’s a rare Pikachu card and a century-old one of baseball great Honus Wagner, which recently sold for $7.25 million in a private sale. In addition to the trading cards, there are baseball bats and basketball shoes, including a pair of sneakers worn and signed by the late NBA great Kobe Bryant.

    In all, $200 million in collectibles are stored in two vaults inside the building, equipped with some of the latest technology to keep the valuable cache safe from harm or thieves.

    “A lot of people don’t keep jewelry at their house. They keep it at a safety deposit box,” maybe at a secure bank, said Ross Hoffman, the chief executive officer of Goldin Co., a division of industry giant Collectors, which operates the vault, a high-security facility specializing in protecting collectibles.

    The building has no signage, and the company asked that any hint of its location not be divulged. Inside is a technologically advanced facility with a guarded vault, equipped with seismic motion detectors that will sound the alarm should anyone try to jackhammer through walls.

    To move from room to room, a security guard ushers you through a card-activated double door entry way, letting the first door close before passing through the next. There are surveillance cameras everywhere.

    Behind one of two 7,500-pound (3,400-kilogram) vault doors, each more than a foot thick, are rows of shelves that extend to the building’s rafters. Rows upon rows of boxes are filled with collectors’ items — including some with relatively little monetary worth but that represent sentimental value for their owners or that could someday be worth much more.

    Hoffman called the facility a “pain killer.”

    “There’s pain of things getting lost. There’s pain in the things getting stolen,” Hoffman said.

    Interest in sports collectibles and memorabilia has boomed in recent years, not just high-ticket items but also for rediscovered pieces that had been tucked away in attics or basements. In August, a mint condition Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $12.6 million, surpassing the $9.3 million paid for the jersey worn by Diego Maradona when he scored the contentious “Hand of God” goal in soccer’s 1986 World Cup.

    “A lot of times people have collectibles for the bragging rights to show it to other people so they can go, ooh and ahh,” said Stephen Fishler, founder of ComicConnect, who has watched the growing rise — and profitability — of collectibles being traded across auction houses.

    But some people don’t want the burden of being responsible for securing their property, which they view as investments akin to stocks, Fishler said. These storage facilities help better liquify collectibles by treating them as assets that can be more easily bought and sold.

    Hoffman, whose parent company also runs one of the leading grading and authenticating services, said his newest venture is an acknowledgment of the big money now involved in collectibles.

    Before the pandemic, the sports memorabilia market was estimated at more than $5.4 billion, according to a 2018 Forbes interview with David Yoken, the founder of Collectable.com.

    By 2021, that market had grown to $26 billion, according to the research firm Market Decipher, which predicts the market will grow astronomically to $227 billion within a decade — partly fueled by the rise of so-called NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, which are digital collectibles with unique data-encrypted fingerprints.

    While digitized NFTs don’t require vaults for safekeeping, the trade in physical collectibles is expected to remain busy and lucrative.

    “For a lot of people that buy cards, they have an intention of selling it,” Hoffman said, “so to keep it liquid and safe is a great thing.”

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  • Schools clash with parents over bans on student cellphones

    Schools clash with parents over bans on student cellphones

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    Cellphones — the ultimate distraction — keep children from learning, educators say. But in attempts to keep the phones at bay, the most vocal pushback doesn’t always come from students. In some cases, it’s from parents.

    Bans on the devices were on the rise before the COVID-19 pandemic. Since schools reopened, struggles with student behavior and mental health have given some schools even more reason to restrict access.

    But parents and caregivers who had constant access to their children during remote learning have been reluctant to give that up. Some fear losing touch with their kids during a school shooting.

    Shannon Moser, who has students in eighth and ninth grades in Rochester, New York, said she felt parents were being pushed away when the Greece Central School District this year began locking away student phones. There’s a form of accountability, she said, when students are able to record what goes on around them.

    “Everything is just so politicized, so divisive. And I think parents just have a general fear of what’s happening with their kids during the day,” Moser said. She said she generally has liberal views, but many parents on either side of the political divide feel the same way.

    Amid heightened scrutiny of topics such as race and inclusion, some parents also view cellphone restrictions as a way of keeping them out of their kids’ education.

    Over a decade ago, around 90% of public schools prohibited cellphone use, but that shrank to 65% in the 2015-2016 school year. By the 2019-2020 school year, bans were in place at 76% of the schools, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. California and Tennessee recently have passed laws allowing schools to prohibit phones.

    Now, in particular, educators see a need to keep students on task to recover from pandemic shutdowns, when many students lost the equivalent of months of learning.

    And many school officials may feel empowered to ban the devices, given growing concern among parents about pandemic-era screen time, said Liz Keren-Kolb, clinical associate professor of education technologies at the University of Michigan. But she said parent views on the debate run the gamut.

    “You still have the parents that want to have that direct line of communication and have concerns over their child not being able to have that communication,” she said. “But I do think that there’s more of an empathy and an understanding toward their child being able to put away their device so they can really focus on the learning in the classroom, and wanting that face-to-face experience.”

    Washington School District in western Pennsylvania implemented a ban this year as educators increasingly found cellphones to be an obstacle. Students were on their cellphones in the hallways and at the cafeteria tables. Some would call home or answer calls in the middle of a class, high school English teacher Treg Campbell said.

    The superintendent, George Lammay, said the ban was the right choice.

    “We’re looking to increase engagement and academic progress with kids — not try to limit their contact with families. That’s not the point,” he said.

    In some cases, pushback from parents has led to adjustments in policy.

    At the Brush School District in Colorado, cellphones were banned after teachers flagged concerns over online bullying. When parents spoke out, the district held a community meeting that lasted over two hours, with most testimony against the ban. The biggest takeaway, Superintendent Bill Wilson said, was that parents wanted their children to have access to their phones.

    The policy was adjusted to allow cellphones on campus, although they must be turned off and out of sight. The district also said it would accommodate a handful of students with unique circumstances.

    “There’s not an intention to say cell phones are evil,” Wilson said. “It’s a reset to say, ‘How do we manage this in a way that makes sense for everybody?’”

    At the Richardson Independent School District, near Dallas, student cellphone use had been prohibited during instructional time before officials proposed buying magnetic pouches to seal them away during the school day. Parent feedback around the cost of the pouches and concerns about safety in emergencies led to a scaled-back plan to pilot the pouches at one of the district’s eight middle schools, Forest Meadow Junior High.

    “We used to get in touch with our kids when we wanted to,” said Louise Boll, president of the Forest Meadow parent-teacher association. “There was a lot of pushback and a lot of concern in the beginning of what this would look like, how this would unfold, how is it going to affect us getting in touch?”

    Kids and their parents have largely adapted to the new policy, she said.

    In parent activists’ online discussions, there are plenty of defenders of cellphone bans. Some others, however, have railed against bans as efforts to keep parents from seeing “violence” and “indoctrination” inside schools.

    Legal action by parents remains rare, with one exception being an unsuccessful lawsuit by several parents against New York City’s school cellphone ban in 2006, which ultimately was lifted in 2015. Still, petitions against school cellphone bans have increased on Change.org this year, a spokesperson said.

    There’s no perfect formula for cellphones in schools, said Kolb, who said the pendulum will likely swing back away from bans depending on how attitudes change regarding technology in schools.

    “It really comes down to making sure that we’re educating students and parents about healthy habits with their digital devices,” she said.

    ___

    Brooke Schultz is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York, contributed to this report.

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  • England’s coach encourages gay soccer players to come out

    England’s coach encourages gay soccer players to come out

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    ROME (AP) — England coach Gareth Southgate hopes that gay soccer players “come out soon” because “it would have an enormous impact on society,” he said in an interview with an Italian newspaper published on Saturday.

    “The teams and players wouldn’t have any problem with it,” Southgate told La Repubblica ahead of this month’s World Cup in Qatar. “They would accept and embrace their teammates after a coming out. But footballers are afraid of the reactions outside and from the fans.

    “I experienced it with Thomas Hitzlsperger at Aston Villa: I didn’t think he was gay and when he announced it, it was something completely normal,” he said of the former Germany international, who came out as gay after he retired from playing.

    Southgate and Hitzlsperger were teammates at Villa in the early 2000s.

    “European teams have never been as tolerant, multicultural and multi-religious as they are today,” Southgate said in comments that were published in Italian. “Of course there will always be homophobes on the outside. But I hope gay players come out soon because it would have an enormous impact on society.”

    Gay rights have become an issue for the World Cup since same-sex relations are criminalized in the conservative Gulf nation.

    England will wear the “OneLove” anti-discrimination captain’s armband at the World Cup.

    At least 10 European nations committed to promote inclusion and campaign against discrimination this season and eight of them have qualified for Qatar.

    Southgate was asked if the armband initiative will be enough to raise awareness about human rights issues in Qatar, with the treatment of migrant workers who built venues for the World Cup a decade-long controversy.

    “We need to be realists about the goals we want to achieve,” the coach said. “I’ve been to Qatar three times and all the workers have told me clearly that they want the World Cup because it’s a vehicle for change.

    “We need to respect a country with a different culture, religion and traditions. But at the same time we have the responsibility and the possibility to shed light on aspects that can be improved. That could make a big difference.”

    England plays Iran in its opening match in Qatar on Nov. 21 before also facing the United States and Wales in Group B.

    ___

    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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  • EXPLAINER: Qatar’s vast wealth helps it host FIFA World Cup

    EXPLAINER: Qatar’s vast wealth helps it host FIFA World Cup

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    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar is home to some 2.9 million people, but only a small fraction — around one in 10 — are Qatari citizens. They enjoy massive wealth and benefits fueled by Qatar’s shared control of one of the world’s largest reserves of natural gas.

    The tiny country on the eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula juts out into the Persian Gulf. There lies the North Field, the world’s largest underwater gas field, which Qatar shares with Iran. The gas field holds approximately 10% of the world’s known natural gas reserves.​

    Oil and gas have made the 50-year-old country fantastically wealthy and influential. In a matter of decades, Qatar’s roughly 300,000 citizens have been pulled from the hard livelihood of fishing and pearl diving.

    The country is now an international transit hub with a profitable national airline, a force behind the influential Al Jazeera news network and is paying for the expansion of the largest U.S. military base in the Mideast.

    Here’s a look at Qatar’s economy and how this tiny country was able to spend so much to host the FIFA World Cup:

    QATAR’S ECONOMIC STRENGTH

    For most of its existence, the tribes of Qatar relied on pearl diving and fishing for survival. Like other parts of the Gulf, it was a harsh and bare existence. The discovery of oil and gas in the mid-20th century changed life in the Arabian Peninsula forever.

    While much of the world grapples with recession and inflation, Qatar and other Gulf Arab energy producers are reaping the benefits of high energy prices. The International Monetary Fund expects Qatar’s economy to grow by about 3.4% this year.

    Despite a massive spending spree to prepare for the World Cup, the country still earned more than it spent last year, giving it a cushy surplus that is continuing into 2022. Qatar’s riches are likely to grow as it expands capacity to be able to export more natural gas by 2025.

    Its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, manages and invests the country’s financial reserves.

    QATAR’S WORLD CUP SPENDING

    Qatar has spent some $200 billion on infrastructure and other development projects since winning the bid to host the five-week long World Cup, according to official statements and a report from Deloitte.

    Around $6.5 billion of that was spent on building eight stadiums for the tournament, including the Al Janoub stadium designed by the late acclaimed architect Zaha Hadid.

    Billions were also spent to build a metro line, new airport, roads and other infrastructure ahead of the matches.

    The London-based research firm Capital Economics said ticket sales suggest that around 1.5 million tourists will visit Qatar for the World Cup. If each visitor stayed for 10 days and spent $500 a day, spending per visitor would amount to $5,000, the research firm said. That could amount to a $7.5 billion boost to Qatar’s economy this year. However, some fans may fly in just for the matches while staying in nearby Dubai and elsewhere.

    QATAR’S LAVISH BENEFITS

    Like other rich petro-states in the Gulf, Qatar is not a democracy. Decisions are made by the ruling Al Thani family and its chose advisors. Citizens have little say in their country’s major policy decisions.

    The government, however, provides citizens with vast perks that have helped to ensure continued loyalty and support. Qatari citizens enjoy tax-free incomes, high-paying government jobs, free health care, free higher education, financial support for newlyweds, housing support, generous subsidies that cover utility bills and plush retirement benefits.

    The country’s citizens rely on laborers from other countries to fill jobs in the service sector, such as drivers and nannies, and to do the tough construction work that built modern-day Qatar.

    QATAR’S MIGRANT LABOR FORCE

    The country has faced intense scrutiny for its labor laws and treatment of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers, mostly from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and other South Asian countries. These men live in shared rooms on labor camps and work throughout the long summer months, with just a few hours of midday respite. They often go years without seeing their families back home.

    The work is often dangerous, with Amnesty International saying dozens may have died from apparent heat stroke.

    Rights groups have credited Qatar with improving its labor laws, such as by adopting a minimum monthly wage of around $275 in 2020, and for dismantling the “kafala” system that had prevented workers from changing jobs or leaving the country without the consent of their employers.

    Human Rights Watch, however has urged Qatar to improve compensation for migrant workers who suffered injury, death and wage theft while working on World Cup-related projects.

    ___

    Follow Aya Batrawy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ayaelb.

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  • In 1 classroom, 4 teachers manage 135 kids — and love it

    In 1 classroom, 4 teachers manage 135 kids — and love it

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    MESA, Ariz. (AP) — A teacher-in-training darted among students, tallying how many needed his help with a history unit on Islam. A veteran math teacher hovered near a cluster of desks, coaching some 50 freshmen on a geometry assignment. A science teacher checked students’ homework, while an English teacher spoke into a microphone at the front of the classroom, giving instruction, to keep students on track.

    One hundred thirty-five students, four teachers, one giant classroom: This is what ninth grade looks like at Westwood High School, in Mesa, Arizona’s largest school system. There, an innovative teaching model has taken hold, and is spreading to other schools in the district and beyond.

    Five years ago, faced with high teacher turnover and declining student enrollment, Westwood’s leaders decided to try something different. Working with professors at Arizona State University’s teachers college, they piloted a classroom model known as team teaching. It allows teachers to dissolve the walls that separate their classes across physical or grade divides.

    The teachers share large groups of students — sometimes 100 or more — and rotate between group instruction, one-on-one interventions, small study groups or whatever the teachers as a team agree is a priority that day. What looks at times like chaos is in fact a carefully orchestrated plan: Each morning, the Westwood teams meet for two hours of the school day to hash out a personalized program for every student, dictating the lessons, skills and assignments the team will focus on that day.

    By giving teachers more opportunity to collaborate and greater control over how and what they teach, Mesa’s administrators hoped to fill staffing gaps and boost teacher morale and retention. Initial research suggests the gamble could pay off. This year, the district expanded the concept to a third of its 82 schools. The team-teaching strategy is also drawing interest from school leaders across the U.S., who are eager for new approaches at a time when the effects of the pandemic have dampened teacher morale and worsened staff shortages.

    “The pandemic taught us two things: One is people want flexibility, and the other is people don’t want to be isolated,” said Carole Basile, dean of ASU’s teachers college, who helped design the teaching model.

    ASU and surrounding school districts started investigating team teaching about six years ago. Enrollment at teacher preparation programs around the country was plummeting as more young people sought out careers that offered better pay, more flexibility and less stress.

    Team teaching, a concept first introduced in schools in the 1960s, appealed to ASU researchers because they felt it could help revitalize teachers. And it resonated with school district leaders, who’d come to believe the model of one teacher lecturing at the front of a classroom to many kids wasn’t working.

    “Teachers are doing fantastic things, but it’s very rare a teacher walks into another room to see what’s happening,” said Andi Fourlis, superintendent of Mesa Public Schools, one of 10 Arizona districts that have adopted the model. “Our profession is so slow to advance because we are working in isolation.”

    Of course, revamping teaching approaches can’t fix some of the biggest frustrations many teachers have about their profession, such as low pay. But early results from Mesa show team teaching may be helping to reverse low morale. In a survey of hundreds of the district’s teachers last year, researchers from Johns Hopkins University found those who worked on teams reported greater job satisfaction, more frequent collaborations with colleagues and more positive interactions with students.

    Early data from Westwood also show on-time course completion — a strong predictor of whether freshmen will graduate — improved after the high school started using the team approach for all ninth graders. ASU has found that students in team-based classrooms have better attendance, earn more credits toward graduation and post higher GPAs.

    The model is not for everyone. Some teachers approached about volunteering for a team have said they prefer to work alone. Team teaching can also be a scheduling nightmare, especially at schools like Westwood where only some staff work in teams.

    On a recent morning at Westwood High, the four teachers and 135 freshmen on the team settled into a boisterous routine.

    They ignored the Halloween music that blared from the school speakers, marking a new period for the older students. As their peers in the higher grades shuffled to another 50-minute class, the freshmen continued into a second hour of their work. Most students busied themselves with the day’s assignments, alone or in pairs, while others waited for a specific teacher’s help.

    The team regularly welcomes other educators into the classroom, for bilingual or special education services and other one-on-one support. But substitute teachers are rare, since teachers can plan their schedules to accommodate their teammates’ absences.

    Another benefit of teams, teachers say, is that they can help each other improve their instruction. During the planning session earlier that morning, English teacher Jeff Hall shared a critique with a science teacher: Her recent lecture, on something she called “the central dogma of biology,” had befuddled him and their other teammates.

    “If the science is too confusing for me, can you imagine the frustration you feel as kids?” Hall said. But the science teacher, he said, wouldn’t have known about the confusion on her own.

    Hall, who moonlights as an improv comic, had quit teaching right before COVID. He worked odd jobs and realized what they offered that teaching didn’t: a chance to work alongside other adults and collaborate. The need for a steadier paycheck convinced Hall to return to the classroom last year, but he only applied for positions to teach on a team.

    “Why don’t we do this for every teacher?” Hall said. “Why was I — a student teacher with zero experience teaching English — handed the keys to an entire class of kids on day one? All alone? That doesn’t work for anyone.”

    Proponents of the ASU model acknowledge it doesn’t work perfectly. It presents thorny questions, for example, about how to evaluate four teachers on the performance of 135 students. And teachers on the Westwood team argue they receive too little training on the model.

    Students, however, have noticed a difference.

    Quinton Rawls attended a middle school with no teams and not enough teachers. Two weeks into eighth grade, his science teacher quit — and was replaced by a series of subs. “I got away with everything,” recalled the 14-year-old.

    That’s not the case in ninth grade, said Rawls. He said he appreciates the extra attention that comes with being in a class with so many teachers.

    “There’s four of them watching me all the time,” he said. “I think that’s a good thing. I’m not really wasting time.”

    ___

    This story is part of Tackling Teacher Shortages, a collaboration between AL.com, The Associated Press, The Christian Science Monitor, The Dallas Morning News, The Fresno Bee in California, The Hechinger Report, The Seattle Times and The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina, with support from the Solutions Journalism Network.

    ___

    The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Virginia education tip line sees concerns from parents

    Virginia education tip line sees concerns from parents

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    RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginians have used an education tip line Gov. Glenn Youngkin set up to submit complaints about curriculum, remote learning, books, mask policies, teachers and other topics, according to a sampling of emails provided to news outlets as part of a settlement agreement.

    Some positive feedback was included in the batch of approximately 350 documents provided this week to news outlets that sued the Republican governor in April seeking disclosure of the information. But the majority of emails expressed anger or frustration with teachers, administrators and school policies, particularly with COVID-19 protocols.

    “My children are given busy work, with no new material being taught,” a parent from Spotsylvania County wrote in February, objecting to the number of remote learning days at her child’s high school.

    Another parent wrote to the principal of her child’s school, copying in the tip line address, asking her to provide lesson plans and lesson objective sheets from her child’s 7th-grade teachers.

    The parent wanted to ensure their child wasn’t “being taught divisive concepts (or in Biology not being taught divisive gender-bending LGBT-campaigns with overly-sexualized lesson content).”

    The parent, whose name was redacted from the email, said it was only because of remote learning during the pandemic that parents discovered the school board’s “secret leftist, politically motivated agenda and Critical Race Theory -CRT brainwashing.”

    Another parent objected to pay raises given to teachers.

    “Though teachers did not step foot in the classroom during the 2020-2021 school year, the district allocated a whopping $32.7 million to give educators additional pay,” he wrote.

    Youngkin, who campaigned heavily on education and a promise to give parents more sway in their children’s curriculums, introduced the tip line soon after he was inaugurated in January. That same month, he touted it during an interview as a way to ensure that his administration was aware of what was happening at the school level and enable it to “catalog” and “root out” instances of divisive practices.

    A teachers union, Democrats in the General Assembly, some parents and other observers — including celebrities who caught wind of the tip line as it drew national news coverage — criticized the move as divisive, authoritarian and unfairly targeting educators.

    Many of the emails to the tip line were supportive of Youngkin’s approach to education policy.

    Mital Gandhi, a parent from northern Virginia, said he initially wrote to local education officials after he discovered that his school district eliminated Algebra I from the list of classes 6th-grade students could take.

    Gandhi said he followed up with an email to the tip line and the Virginia Department of Education. A department administrator responded and said the state was not prohibiting local school systems from allowing 6th-graders to take Algebra I. Gandhi said his son and several other students in 6th grade are now taking the class.

    Gandhi wrote that the tip line was a way of “leveling the playing field for parents and students.”

    “What Gov. Youngkin has done is he has put more power to the parents,” he said.

    One person disagreed with Youngkin’s approach and used the tip line to urge him not to ban “critical race theory” or controversial books.

    “Please do not move us away from progress by supporting these backward notions of forward motion,” wrote one woman, who did not say whether she was a parent with children in the public school system.

    Emails sent to the tip line Thursday bounced back. Macaulay Porter, a spokeswoman for Youngkin, said in a statement that the email was deactivated in September “as it had received little to no volume during that time.”

    “Constituents are always able to confidentially reach out to the governor’s office through various constituent service methods,” she said.

    News organizations filed requests for records related to the tip line, but the governor’s office had declined to provide them based on the administration’s contention that the emails were “working papers and correspondence” of the governor’s office and thus not required to be disclosed under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

    Youngkin and other governors have made routine use of the working papers exemption to withhold a wide range of records.

    “The Governor wants constituents to be able to reach out to him without fear that their communications will not be kept confidential,” Porter said in a statement. She did not respond to a question about how the tip line was used by the administration or whether any significant issues came to light and were acted on because of the tip line.

    A coalition of news organizations filed suit in April, alleging Youngkin was violating the public records law.

    The news organizations reached a settlement agreement with Youngkin last month that called for the Department of Education to produce about 350 documents in its possession that included emails sent to the tip line. The governor’s office was not required to hand over documents sent to its office.

    “This Settlement Agreement is entered into as the result of a compromise solely for the purpose of avoiding additional expenses and the risk of further litigation. It should not be construed as adopting or rejecting the position of any Party to the litigation,” the settlement agreement says.

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  • Inflation puts tighter squeeze on already pricey kids sports

    Inflation puts tighter squeeze on already pricey kids sports

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    By EDDIE PELLS

    November 3, 2022 GMT

    It only took a few seconds for Rachel Kennedy to grab her phone after she left the checkout line at the sporting-goods store, where she had just finished buying a new glove, pants, belt, cleats and the rest of the equipment for her son, Liam’s, upcoming baseball season.

    “I texted his dad and asked him, ‘Did we really spend $350 on all this last year?’” Kennedy said.

    Sticker shock in youth sports is nothing new, but the onslaught of double-digit inflation across America this year has added a costly wrinkle on the path to the ballparks, swimming pools and dance studios across America. It has forced some families, like Kennedy’s, to scale back the number of seasons, or leagues, or sports that their kids can play in any given year, while motivating league organizers to become more creative in devising ways to keep prices down and participation up.

    (AP video: Justin Bickel/Production: Patrick Orsagos)

    Recent studies, conducted before inflation began impacting daily life across America, showed families spent around $700 a year on kids’ sports, with travel and equipment accounting for the biggest portion of the expense.

    Everyone from football coaches to swim-meet coordinators are struggling to to find less-expensive ways of keeping families coming through the doors. Costs of uniforms and equipment, along with facility rental, are shooting up — all products of the onslaught of supply-chain issues, hard-to-find staff, lack of coaches and rising gas and travel costs that were exacerbated, or sometimes caused, by the COVID-19 pandemic that disrupted and sometimes canceled seasons altogether. The annual inflation rate for the 12 months ending in September was 8.2%.

    Kennedy, who lives in Monroe, Ohio, and describes her family as “on the lower end of middle class,” opted Liam out of summer and fall ball, not so much because of the fees to join the leagues but because “those don’t include all the equipment you need.”

    “And gas prices have gotten to the point where we don’t have the bandwidth to drive one or two hours away” for the full slate of weekend games and tournaments that dot the typical youth baseball schedule each season. The Kennedys rarely stayed the night in hotels for multi-day tournaments.

    A study published by The Aspen Institute that was conducted before COVID-19 said on average across all sports, parents already spent more each year on travel ($196 per child, per sport) than any other facet of the sport: equipment, lessons, registration, etc. A number of reports say hotel prices in some cities are around 30% higher than last year, and about the same amount higher than in 2019, before the start of the pandemic.

    At the venues, it costs more to hire umpires to call the games, groundskeepers to keep fields ready, janitors to clean indoor venues and coaches to run practices. Even sports that are traditionally on the less-expensive end of the spectrum are running into issues.

    “You talk to people and you say ‘What do you mean you get $28 an hour to be a lifeguard?’” said Steve Roush, a former leader in the Olympic world who now serves as executive director of Southern California Swimming, which sanctions meets across one of America’s most expensive regions. “The going rate has just gone through the roof, and that’s if you can find somebody at all. And that accounts for part of the big gap” in prices for swimming meets today versus three years ago.

    One Denver-area dance studio director, who did not want her name used because of the competitive nature of her business, said she started looking for new uniform suppliers as a way of keeping costs down for families. Some destinations for the two out-of-state competitions that are typical in a given season have been shifted to cities that have more — and, so, less expensive — flight options. Some of those teams only make a third trip, this one to a major competition, if it receives a “paid” invitation.

    “The cost is just so much to ask them to travel a third time,” the director said. “And oftentimes you don’t know that you’re getting that bid until February or March and you have to turn around and travel to it in April, and that turnaround just makes it very hard from an expense standpoint.”

    At stake is the future of a youth-sports industry that generated around $20 billion, according to one estimate, before COVID-19 sharply curtailed spending in 2020.

    Also, inflation is giving some families a chance to revisit an issue that first came up when COVID-19 more or less canceled all youth leagues for a year or more.

    “There was some optimism that maybe families would be like, ‘OK, let’s maybe have a more balanced approach to how we’re going to participate in sports,’” said Jennifer Agans, an assistant professor at Penn State who studies the impact of youth sports. “But until this economic wave, everyone was so excited to go back to normal that we forgot the lessons we learned from slowing our lives down. Maybe this gives another chance to reevaluate that.”

    It’s a choice not everyone wants to make, but still one that is being imposed more on people in the middle and lower class. Another Aspen Institute report from before the pandemic concluded children from low-income families were half as likely to play sports as kids from upper-income families.

    Kennedy said she has long been fortunate to have a supportive family — including grandparents who chip in to defray some costs of Liam’s baseball. But some things had to go. A spot on a travel team can reach up to $1,200, and that’s before equipment and travel, “and we just don’t have that kind of money,” Kennedy said.

    Still, Liam loves baseball and sitting it out altogether wasn’t a real choice.

    “It’s the whole parental, ‘I’ll go hungry to make sure my kids get what they need’ situation,’” Kennedy said. “So if I give up my Starbucks, or some little extras for me, then it’s worth it to make sure he gets to play. But it’s certainly not getting any less expensive.”

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    AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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  • UK to declare bank holiday May 8 to honor King Charles III

    UK to declare bank holiday May 8 to honor King Charles III

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    LONDON — The United Kingdom will have another reason to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III, for the government has declared a special public holiday to mark the occasion.

    The holiday will be on Monday, May 8, capping a three-day weekend that will begin with the coronation. The coronation of Charles’ late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was also marked with what is known as a bank holiday in Britain.

    “The coronation of a new monarch is a unique moment for our country. In recognition of this historic occasion, I am pleased to announce an additional bank holiday for the whole United Kingdom next year,’’ new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said. “I look forward to seeing people come together to celebrate and pay tribute to King Charles III by taking part in local and national events across the country in his honor.”

    Charles will be crowned on May 6 at Westminster Abbey in London. His ceremony will be designed to preserve the historical traditions of the monarchy while looking to the future following the late queen’s 70-year reign. The coronation is expected to be shorter and less extravagant than the three-hour ceremony that installed Elizabeth in 1953, in keeping with Charles’ plans for a slimmed-down monarchy.

    The coronation holiday means May will have three long weekends next year, with traditional bank holidays already scheduled for May 1 and May 29.

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    Follow all AP stories on British royalty at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii

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