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  • A realistic way to protect kids from social media? Find a middle ground

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    Ahmed Othman isn’t on TikTok and doesn’t want to be.

    He and his younger sister got iPhones when they were in eighth and seventh grade respectively, but with no social media, just iMessage. Their parents, who are both computer scientists, spent the next year teaching them about social media, bombarding them with studies about its effects on teen mental health.

    “They really tried to emphasize social media is a tool, but can also be like your worst enemy if you so make it,” Othman said.

    Now 17, Othman credits his parents’ deep involvement for what he calls a “healthy relationship” with his phone. That includes staying away from TikTok.

    “The algorithm is so potent that I feel like, you know, TikTok might not benefit me,” he said.

    Othman, who’s originally from Libya and lives in Massachusetts, is an outlier among his peers, nearly two-thirds of whom are on TikTok either with or without their parents’ permission, according to the Pew Research Center.

    Othman’s parents took a middle ground approach that a growing number of experts say is the most realistic and effective way of teaching children about social media: Rather than an outright ban or allowing free reign, they recommend a slow, deliberate onboarding that gives children the tools and information they need to navigate a world in which places like TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat are almost impossible to escape.

    “You cannot just expect that the kids will jump into the world of social media, learn how to swim on their own,” said Natalie Bazarova, a professor of communications and director of the Cornell Social Media Lab. “They need to have instruction. They need to have practice on how to behave on social media. They need to have understanding of risks and opportunities. And they also need to learn that in a way that is age appropriate.”

    FEW GUARDRAILS

    The harms to children from social media have been well-documented in the two decades since Facebook’s launch ushered in a new era in how the world communicates. Kids who spend more time on social media, especially when they are tweens or young teenagers, are more likely to experience depression and anxiety, according to multiple studies — though it is not yet clear if there is a causal relationship.

    Many are exposed to content that is not appropriate for their age, including pornography and violence. They also face bullying, sexual harassment and unwanted advances from their peers as well as adult strangers. Because their brains are not fully developed, teenagers are also more affected by social comparisons than adults, so even happy posts from friends could send them into a negative spiral.

    Lawmakers have taken notice and have held multiple congressional hearings — most recently in January — on child online safety. Still, the last federal law aimed at protecting children online was enacted in 1998, six years before Facebook’s founding.

    Last May, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a warning saying there is not enough evidence to show that social media is safe for kids and urged policymakers to address the harms of social media the same way they regulate things like car seats, baby formula, medication and other products children use. Parents, he stressed, can’t do it all, although some — like Othman’s — try.

    Othman at first wanted a phone “with everything on it, no restrictions.”

    “But like now, after the years passed, I really do understand and appreciate what they did,” he said.

    WHEN IT’S NOT ENOUGH

    Of course, the Othmans’ approach may not work for every family. Most parents are not computer scientists, and many don’t have the time or expertise to create a crash-course on social media for their children.

    But even when parents are vigilant, that’s still no guarantee their children won’t fall prey to social media’s traps.

    Neveen Radwan thought she did everything right when she gave her children phones: putting restrictions on their accounts, having access to their passwords, taking away their phones at night, setting everything to private.

    “I made sure that everything was very, very, you know, airtight,” said Radwan, who worked in information technology for 20 years.

    Her daughter didn’t get a phone until she was 13. She started using social media in the eighth grade. When she was 16, she was diagnosed with anorexia.

    “We were right in the beginning of (the COVID lockdowns) and it progressed very quickly because we were at home and she was on social media quite a bit at the time,” Radwan recalled.

    An avid athlete, the teen started looking for workouts and ways to stay healthy on Instagram. Soon, though, the algorithm began showing her social media challenges like “how to stay under 500 calories a day” and “if you want to stay skinny, you need to be able to fit in a baby swing.” Within two or three months, Radwan said her daughter was in the hospital.

    Today, Radwan speaks about the harms of social media to teens and has joined a lawsuit against Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta Platforms Inc. that seeks to hold the tech giant accountable for the harms its platforms have caused to children and teens. Her daughter has recovered and is attending college.

    ARE SCHOOLS THE ANSWER?

    While parents are definitely part of the equation, most of the the teens and experts interviewed by The Associated Press pointed to schools as the key place where all children can learn about “digital citizenship,” the umbrella term that includes news media literacy, cyberbullying, social media balance and now even artificial intelligence literacy.

    “We have sex education. We don’t have things about like online safety,” said Bao Le, a 18-year-old freshman at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. “And a lot of kids are dying of suicide, you know, text sextortion. So I think it’s really important the school also teaches this.”

    But while some schools offer digital literacy or online safety programs, these are still few and far between. Teachers already face pressure to teach the regular curriculum while also dealing with staffing shortages and funding issues. Not only that, but kids are often encouraged to be on social media if they want to participate in extracurricular activities and other school programs.

    Some schools opt to ban phones altogether, but just as with parental bans, kids often find a way. For instance, at schools that collect the gadgets from kids in the morning, students say they get around it by turning in fake phones. To get around parental bans, they set up social media accounts on friends’ phones, computers or buy burner phones to keep using after they have turned in their official phone.

    “Hope is not a strategy. And pretending that (social media) doesn’t exist is also not a strategy, because we have to deal with real life,” said Merve Lapus, vice president of education outreach at the nonprofit Common Sense Media, whose digital citizenship curriculum is used in more than 90,000 schools in the U.S. “Our kids are being exposed to it in some shape or form. They’re hearing about it with their friends. The pressure to feel connected has not changed. I mean, these are all pressures we felt as kids.”

    To really connect with kids, he said, it’s best to get deeper into the pressures they face when it comes to social media, and validate that those are real pressures.

    “I think that’s one of the challenges right now, is that it becomes the center of attention only when it’s problematic,” Lapus said. “And so we frame these tools as only problematic tools very easily, very quickly, and our kids will say, you just don’t get it, I can’t talk to you about these things because you don’t understand.”

    NONPROFITS STEP UP

    Over the past decade or so, nonprofits and advocacy groups — many run by young people who emerged from their own struggles with social media — have popped up to offer help.

    Larissa May stumbled on to social media a decade ago when she was in high school “without any roadmap” on its dangers or how to use it. May said she was dealing with depression and anxiety that social media exacerbated. In college, she became “obsessed” with social media and digital marketing, running a fashion blog where she was posting on every day.

    “I got to a point where I was spending 12-plus hours a day on my phone in my room, more focused on my digital identity than the world around me, my mental health, my physical health, my sleep,” May recalled. She almost took her own life.

    The turning point came when May started going to a psychiatrist almost every day, with clear instructions of what she needed to do: Take antidepressants, start moving her body sleep, and start socializing.

    “However, I was spending all of my day on my phone, which they never addressed, and being on my phone prevented me from doing all of those things,” May said. “And it wasn’t until one day where I had this, you know, midnight thought of, why can I not heal? And it was because I hadn’t healed my relationship with technology.”

    So, she shut down her fashion blog and started HalfTheStory in 2015, with the intent of gathering stories from young people such as Othman to understand how social media was affecting them.

    “And what I found out was that I wasn’t alone in my struggle,” she said.

    Today, HalfTheStory works with young people to build better relationships with technology, on their own terms, starting in middle school even before some kids have a device.

    To May, abstinence is not the answer to teens’ problems with social media.

    “What I learn from every single one of our teens is that they wish their parents had more boundaries for them,” she said. “And I think that parents feel afraid because honestly, a lot of violence and conflict erupts around devices.”

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  • Security tech company Evolv fires its chief executive

    Security tech company Evolv fires its chief executive

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Amid the backdrop of a sales misconduct investigation and other looming legal troubles, security technology company Evolv is now firing its CEO.

    Evolv’s board of directors terminated chief executive Peter George on Wednesday, effective immediately, according to a Thursday announcement from the company. Michael Ellenbogen, Evolv’s current chief innovation officer, will step into the role as interim CEO and president.

    Specifics behind George’s firing were not immediately clear — but Evolv noted the dismissal was without cause and followed months of “careful planning and deliberation” by the board.

    The move arrives just days after Evolv disclosed an ongoing investigation into the company’s sales practices, warning shareholders to no longer rely on recent financial statements. The board acknowledged this investigation Thursday, but maintained that it had been “evaluating leadership and performance for several months — long before we became aware of any potential issues relating to the Company’s sales practices and financial reporting.”

    Evolv shared initial findings this investigation last week. An internal committee found that certain employees engaged in sales “subject to extra-contractual terms and conditions,” the company noted, some of which were not shared with accounting personnel. Evolv says it’s trying to determine if this misconduct impacted revenue reports and other financial metrics, and if so, when senior personnel became aware.

    How high up that could be has yet to be confirmed, but Evolv said it would take any remedial actions as necessary. As of Friday’s disclosure, the investigating committee estimated that sales transactions at issue resulted in premature or incorrect revenue recognition of about $4 million to $6 million through the end of June.

    This is far from the first time Evolv has found itself in hot water. The company has faced other legal issues over the years, including separate federal probes into its marketing practices led by the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities Exchange Commission.

    And earlier this year, investors filed a class-action lawsuit, accusing company executives of overstating the devices’ capabilities and claiming that “Evolv does not reliably detect knives or guns.”

    Evolv, which provides security screening technology powered by artificial intelligence, also made headlines after a pilot testing program used its portable weapons scanners inside some New York City subway stations this summer.

    That program faced ample criticism from some civil liberties groups, as well as questions of efficacy. Recently released police data showed that the scanners did not detect any passengers with firearms — and had more than 100 false alerts over the one-month test.

    Following the news of George’s firing, shares for Evolv were down nearly 10% Thursday afternoon.

    According to the company, Evolv’s board formed a succession planning committee to evaluate leadership performance and plan for a CEO transition back in May. The company noted that it’s been actively recruiting candidates for CEO, and intends to announce an official successor “expeditiously.”

    In a statement Thursday, the board added that a leadership change was necessary “to improve the company’s culture as we prepare for the next phase of growth.”

    Ellenbogen, the current interim CEO, is one of Evolv’s co-founders and previously served as chief executive for seven years.

    In August, Waltham, Massachusetts-based Evolv reported second-quarter revenue was $25.5 million, up 29% from $19.8 million for the same period last year. Its next earnings report is delayed due to the ongoing sales misconduct investigation.

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  • A promising schizophrenia drug showed mixed results. What does that mean for patients?

    A promising schizophrenia drug showed mixed results. What does that mean for patients?

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    Some people who took a new schizophrenia drug for a year improved with only a few side effects, but many dropped out of the research, the company announced Thursday.

    The results underscore the difficulties in treating schizophrenia, a severe mental illness that can cause people to hear voices, feel paranoid and withdraw from others. High dropout rates are typical in schizophrenia drug studies.

    Finding a drug that works can be a long ordeal punctuated by crises and hospitalizations. Side effects of existing medications — weight gain, tremors, restlessness — cause some people to stop taking medicine and relapse.

    There’s been great hope among doctors for Cobenfy, which was approved in September, because it acts in the brain differently than other schizophrenia drugs. Instead of blocking dopamine receptors, Cobenfy’s main ingredient, xanomeline, works on a different receptor that indirectly blocks dopamine release.

    Cobenfy also contains trospium, which blocks some of the side effects. The most common are nausea, vomiting and indigestion. In contrast to the weight gain seen with other schizophrenia drugs, people lost a few pounds while taking Cobenfy, made by Bristol Myers Squibb.

    Dr. John Krystal of Yale University has led research on other schizophrenia drugs but was not involved in the new studies. He noted that just 10% to 20% of participants in the new studies dropped out because of side effects.

    “That is pretty good,” he said, noting that fewer or milder side effects could mean people will stay in treatment longer. That could mean fewer problems associated with untreated mental illness: substance use, homelessness and unemployment.

    So why did some patients stick with treatment while others dropped out? Krystal said it will be important to understand more about that as doctors start prescribing the drug.

    The Food and Drug Administration approved Cobenfy on the strength of two encouraging company-sponsored five-week trials and other safety data. The latest results announced Thursday at the Psych Congress meeting in Boston come from two longer studies, providing a fuller picture.

    In one study, focused on severely ill patients, 78% dropped out, leaving only 35 people for the final analysis. In the other, focused on more stable people, 51% left the study, leaving 283 who took the drug for a year.

    “It’s not any higher or any lower than what we typically see” in schizophrenia studies, said Dr. Greg Mattingly of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Mattingly is a consultant for Bristol Myers Squibb and a researcher on one of the studies.

    In the more severely ill group, 69% of people had a meaningful improvement in their symptoms at the end of the year. In the other group, 30% saw a meaningful benefit.

    Results of interviews with a sample of study participants conducted by an independent research team and shared by Bristol Myers Squibb showed the likelihood of continuing treatment. After six months, 36 said they would continue taking Cobenfy after the trial if given the option; 10 said they would not. Some participants said the drug reduced the voices while others said it didn’t work for them.

    The estimated yearly cost for Cobenfy is $22,500 compared to $540 for a generic antipsychotic. Krystal and others worry that insurers will require people to try cheaper drugs first before covering Cobenfy. Most patients’ out-of-pocket costs will be much lower, depending on insurance and other factors.

    One cheaper generic called clozapine is widely considered one of the best treatments for schizophrenia, Krystal said. It is underused in the U.S. compared to some other countries because of a cumbersome blood testing program.

    The FDA started the blood tests to watch for the risk of severe neutropenia, a rare side effect which can be fatal. But doctors and families have told the FDA that patients have relapsed when their clozapine was withheld or delayed because of the testing requirements.

    Sally Littlefield, 29, of Alameda, California, said what works for her is a monthly injection of a long-acting antipsychotic medication. Littlefield, who has schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, wants to learn more about the experiences of people who’ve taken Cobenfy and not just from players with a financial stake.

    Mindy Greiling of Roseville, Minnesota, wants to see data on how Cobenfy compares to clozapine, which works for her 47-year-old son, Jim. Weight gain was a problem for him, but since taking diabetes medication, he’s back to his normal weight, Greiling said.

    Cobenfy “is getting a lot of ballyhoo, as any new drug does,” Greiling said. “It’s just a nonstarter for me unless it turns out that it’s better than clozapine.”

    ___

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • JetBlue will imitate bigger and more successful rivals by opening airport lounges at JFK, Boston

    JetBlue will imitate bigger and more successful rivals by opening airport lounges at JFK, Boston

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    JetBlue Airways will open its first airport lounges next year in New York and Boston in a bid to compete with larger airlines for premium travelers.

    The airline said Thursday that it will open an 8,000-square-foot lounge at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York late next year, followed shortly by an 11,000-square-foot one at Boston Logan International Airport.

    JetBlue said the lounges will primarily be for top-level members of its TrueBlue frequent-flyer program and those who get a new, premium JetBlue-branded credit card that is not yet available. The airline will also sell day passes if space is available.

    Jayne O’Brien, head of marketing and customer support for the New York-based airline, said the lounges are part of building stronger service for premium leisure travelers on the East Coast.

    “The lounges are something we have been looking at for a while, and now is the right time to put in these extra benefits for our most valuable customers,” O’Brien said in an interview.

    JetBlue declined to say how much it will cost to build and operate the lounges, which are a staple at key airports for American, Delta and United.

    Delta and United have reported that revenue from premium passengers is growing faster than other segments.

    O’Brien said JetBlue will consider whether to open lounges at other airports after it sees results from JFK and Boston.

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  • A Massachusetts woman accused of running a high-end brothel network pleads guilty

    A Massachusetts woman accused of running a high-end brothel network pleads guilty

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    BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts woman accused of operating a high-end brothel network with wealthy and prominent clients in that state and the Washington, D.C., suburbs pleaded guilty in federal court Friday.

    Han Lee and two others were indicted earlier this year on one count of conspiracy to persuade, entice, and coerce one or more individuals to travel in interstate or foreign commerce to engage in prostitution and one count of money laundering, according to prosecutors.

    James Lee of Torrance, California, and Junmyung Lee of Dedham, Massachusetts, also were indicted.

    Han Lee initially had entered a not guilty plea before changing her plea. She remained in custody and faces up to 25 years in prison for the two felonies.

    Han Lee, 42, entered court dressed in an orange shirt and orange pants, her black hair tied in the back. She also relied on the help of a Korean translator. Lee said she was not a U.S. citizen and had gone as far as high school in her education.

    She was told that by pleading guilty she could be deported from the country.

    Scott Lauer, a lawyer for Han Lee, said she would remain in custody after the hearing but declined to comment further. A lawyer for James Lee declined to comment. A lawyer representing Junmyung Lee said his next court appearance has been rescheduled.

    Authorities said the commercial sex ring in Massachusetts and northern Virginia catered to politicians, company executives, military officers, lawyers, professors and other well-connected clients.

    Prosecutors have not publicly named any of the buyers and they have not been charged. Acting Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Josh Levy has said prosecutors are committed to holding accountable both those who ran the scheme and those who fueled the demand.

    Some of the buyers have appealed to the highest court in Massachusetts in a bid to have their names remain private.

    At one point through a translator, Han Lee said that she didn’t control the women, but agreed that she had persuaded them to engage in interstate travel to take part in prostitution.

    The women who worked in the brothels were not identified or criminally charged and were considered victims, prosecutors said.

    Prosecutors said their evidence included witness testimony from women who worked at the brothels, sex buyers who made appointments or received services, physical surveillance and electronic evidence.

    Han Lee maintained the operation from 2020 to November 2023. The money made at the brothels was sometimes kept in the freezer to be picked up, prosecutors said. They said she also helped train Junmyung Lee to help vet sex buyers.

    The brothel operation used websites that falsely claimed to advertise nude models for professional photography, prosecutors allege. The operators rented high-end apartments to use as brothels in Watertown and Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Tysons and Fairfax, Virginia, prosecutors said. Brothels were maintained at four locations in Massachusetts and two in Virginia.

    Han Lee recruited women and maintained the websites and brothels, according to authorities, who said she paid Junmyung Lee, who was one of her employees, between $6,000 and $8,000 in cash per month in exchange for his work booking appointments for the buyers and bringing women to the brothels.

    The operators raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars through the network, where men paid from approximately $350 to upwards of $600 per hour depending on the services, according to prosecutors.

    Officials say Han Lee concealed more than $1 million in proceeds from the ring by converting the cash into money orders, among other things, to make it look legitimate.

    According to court documents, the defendants established house rules for the women during their stays in a given city to protect and maintain the secrecy of the business and ensure the women did not draw attention to the prostitution work inside apartment buildings.

    Authorities seized cash, ledgers detailing the activities of the brothels and phones believed to be used to communicate with the sex customers from their apartments, according to court papers.

    Each website described a verification process that interested sex buyers undertook to be eligible for appointment bookings, including requiring clients to complete a form providing their full names, email addresses, phone numbers, employers and references if they had one, authorities said.

    The defendants also kept local brothel phone numbers to communicate with customers; sent them a “menu” of available options at the brothel, including the women and sexual services available and the hourly rate; and texted customers directions to the brothel’s location, investigators said.

    She is next due in court for sentencing on Dec. 20.

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  • Missy Mazzoli’s ‘The Listeners’ portraying life in a cult gets U.S. premiere at Opera Philadelphia

    Missy Mazzoli’s ‘The Listeners’ portraying life in a cult gets U.S. premiere at Opera Philadelphia

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    PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Missy Mazzoli received an Opera Philadelphia composing commission around the time Donald Trump first was running for president, inspiring her to settle on a sect with faithful followers as a starting point with her librettist, Royce Vavrek.

    “The role of a charismatic leader in our society, the need to feel like you’re part of a tribe, part of community,” she said. “And just the idea of turning an opera chorus into a cult seemed really juicy.”

    Mazzoli and Vavrek created “The Listeners,” a two-hour expose of psychological manipulation given its U.S. premiere on Wednesday night at the Academy of Music, two years after its first performances at the Norwegian National Opera. Their work portrays a school teacher who hears an unknown low-pitched hum, is alienated from her husband and daughter and finds a group of similar people that become enthralled with a leader named Paul Devon (baritone Paul Cook).

    “It just opened my eyes to how people are so interested in joining cults and feeling that sense of relationship with other people and connection and how sad, how lonely people are out there,” said soprano Nicole Heaston, who sings the starring role of Claire Devon. “They need that one person to say, ‘I’m going to make this OK for you.‘”

    Bringing in new opera audiences

    In the opening of general director Anthony Roth Costanzo’s first season as Opera Philadelphia’s “pick your price” initiative that lowered tickets to $11, the company said the crowd of 1,862 included 58% new attendees.

    A production filled with profane language and sexual situations sparked noticeable audience engagement that included laughter, guffaws for projected online commentary and applause for arias and duets. The reaction in Norway was more subdued.

    “In Oslo it was this really kind of fascinating anthropological visit of America,” director Lileana Blain-Cruz said. “We were working with a lot of Norwegians. It was: What is America? What is Americana? What is the Southwest to people who’ve never been there, who’ve only kind of experienced America for television? How do you display the kind of angst and loneliness that is particularly American? And it’s funny that being in Philadelphia, there’s an immediate recognition that was like: All right. We get this. This is us.”

    How ‘The Listeners’ was created

    Mazzoli, who turns 44 next month, was born in the Philadelphia suburb of Lansdale, received degrees from Boston University’s College of Fine Arts and the Yale School of Music, and was Opera Philadelphia’s composer in residence from 2012-15.

    She met Vavrek at Carnegie Hall in 2009 when they were at a workshop of David T. Little’s “Dog Days,” for which Vavrek wrote the libretto. Mazzoli gave him a flier for a workshop of her “Song from the Uproar: The Lives and Deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt” He wound up collaborating on the 2012 work they also teamed on “Breaking the Waves” (2016) and “Proving Up” (2018).

    Vavrek, a 41-year-old from Alberta who like Mazzoli lives in Brooklyn, invited Canadian author Jordan Tannahill to watch the 2015 Oscars at his apartment and later asked Tannahill to sketch out some ideas for a cult opera. Vavrek and Mazzoli picked two of the five, and Tannahill followed up with a four-to-seven page treatment that led to Vavrek’s libretto. Tannahill also wrote a novel version of “The Listeners” that was published in 2021 and is the basis for a BBC television series to be televised this fall, starring Rebecca Hall.

    Mazzoli was inspired for a character based on Ma Anand Sheela, an assistant to Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh featured in the Netflix 2018 documentary “Wild Wild Country.” She also watched “Holy Hell” about the Buddhafield cult, “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief” and “Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult.”

    There are surround speakers to create the hum and a large cast of 22 singers plus the chorus. During rehearsals in Oslo two years ago, Mazzoli and Vavrek added two video confessional moments for Claire and Angela Devon, scenes given a larger-than-life impact by projections.

    “Through the research I myself became more much more sympathetic to people who were just looking for a community,” Mazzoli said. “Cults are made up of people whose parents kicked them out because they’re gay or who are super shy and never found a community of people, friends in college. It could be anything — or who feel trapped in a marriage or feel trapped in a dead end job.”

    “What was striking was that all of these cults followed the same pattern,” she added. “There’s a sort of predictable series of events involving manipulation, lying and then someone sort of taking up the card from the bottom of the house of cards and the whole thing falls very quickly.”

    Next steps for ‘The Listeners’

    “The Listeners” also will be repeated in Philadelphia on Friday and Sunday, and there will be additional performances at the Aalto Music Theatre in Essen, Germany (Jan. 25 to March 22) and the Lyric Opera of Chicago (March 30 to April 11).

    Mazzoli and Vavrek also are working on “Lincoln in the Bardo,” based on George Saunders’ novel, which premieres at the Los Angeles Opera in February 2026 and goes to New York’s Metropolitan Opera that October. “The Galloping Cure,” about the opioid crisis, debuts in Scotland in August 2026.

    “It’s a very internalized space when you’re being creative,” Vavrek said. “There’s something really beautiful about the actual sharing of something that you’ve been imagining for so long.”

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  • OceanGate employee pushes back against idea of ‘desperation’ to complete missions

    OceanGate employee pushes back against idea of ‘desperation’ to complete missions

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    A key employee with the company that owned the experimental submersible that imploded en route to the wreckage of the Titanic pushed back at a question from a Coast Guard investigator about whether OceanGate felt a sense of “desperation” to complete the dives because of the high price tag.

    Amber Bay, director of administration for the company that owned the doomed Titan submersible, insisted Tuesday that the company would not “conduct dives that would be risky just to meet a need.”

    But she agreed that the company wanted to deliver for those who paid $250,000 and were encouraged to participate as “mission specialists.”

    “There definitely was an urgency to deliver on what we had offered and a dedication and perseverance towards that goal,” she told a Coast Guard panel.

    OceanGate co-founder Stockton Rush was among the five people who died when the submersible imploded in June 2023.

    The Coast Guard opened a public hearing earlier this month that is part of a high level investigation into the cause of the implosion. Some of the testimony has focused on the troubled nature of the company.

    On Tuesday, Bay pushed back at earlier testimony from Antonella Wilby, a former OceanGate contractor who said Bay told her “you don’t seem to have an explorer mindset” after she raised safety concerns. Bay said Wilby’s concerns were noted at the time and treated with respect. Bay added that her own duties did not include engineering or operations.

    She later broke down in tears when discussing the tragedy, which was personal, because she knew the victims.

    “I had the privilege of knowing the explorers lives who were lost,” Bay said through tears. “And there’s not a day that passes that I don’t think of them, their families and the loss.”

    Earlier in the hearings, former OceanGate operations director David Lochridge said he frequently clashed with Rush and felt the company was committed only to making money. “The whole idea behind the company was to make money,” Lochridge testified. “There was very little in the way of science.”

    Lochridge and other previous witnesses painted a picture of a company that was impatient to get its unconventionally designed craft into the water. The accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.

    On Tuesday, submersible pilot and designer Karl Stanley of the Roatan Institute of Deepsea Exploration testified to provide perspective about deep-sea submersible operations and safety. He said the phenomenon of “billionaires courting scientists” has upset the economics of the industry.

    Stanley also said he viewed OceanGate’s characterization of paid passengers as “mission specialists” to be an attempt to avoid accountability.

    “It’s clearly a dodge with trying to get around U.S. regulations with passengers,” Stanley said.

    Additionally, the company’s “entire business plan made zero sense,” Stanley said. He also said he felt the implosion ultimately stemmed from Rush’s desire to leave his mark on history.

    “There was nothing unexpected about this. This was expected by everyone who had access to a little bit of information,” Stanley said.

    The hearing is expected to run through Friday and include several more witnesses, some of whom were closely connected to the company.

    Businessman Guillermo Sohnlein, who helped found OceanGate with Rush, said during testimony Monday that he hoped a silver lining of the disaster is that it will inspire a renewed interest in exploration, including the deepest waters of the world’s oceans.

    “This can’t be the end of deep ocean exploration. This can’t be the end of deep-diving submersibles and I don’t believe that it will be,” he said.

    Coast Guard officials noted at the start of the hearing that the submersible had not been independently reviewed, as is standard practice. That and Titan’s unusual design subjected it to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.

    OceanGate, based in Washington state, suspended its operations after the implosion. The company has no full-time employees currently, but has been represented by an attorney during the hearing.

    During the submersible’s final dive on June 18, 2023, the crew lost contact after an exchange of texts about Titan’s depth and weight as it descended. The support ship Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display.

    When the submersible was reported overdue, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to an area about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland. Wreckage of the Titan was subsequently found on the ocean floor about 330 yards (300 meters) off the bow of the Titanic, Coast Guard officials said. No one on board survived.

    OceanGate said it has been fully cooperating with the Coast Guard and NTSB investigations since they began. Titan had been making voyages to the Titanic wreckage site going back to 2021.

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  • NTSB engineer says carbon fiber hull from submersible showed signs of flaws

    NTSB engineer says carbon fiber hull from submersible showed signs of flaws

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    The carbon fiber hull of the experimental submersible that imploded en route to the wreckage of the Titanic had imperfections dating to the manufacturing process and behaved differently after a loud bang was heard on one of the dives the year before the tragedy, an engineer with the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday.

    Engineer Don Kramer told a Coast Guard panel there were wrinkles, porosity and voids in the carbon fiber used for the pressure hull of OceanGate’s Titan submersible. Two different types of sensors on Titan recorded the “loud acoustic event” that earlier witnesses testified about hearing on a dive on July 15, 2022, he said.

    Hull pieces recovered after the tragedy showed substantial delamination of the layers of carbon fiber, which were bonded to create the hull of the experimental submersible, he said.

    OceanGate co-founder Stockton Rush was among the five people who died when the Titan submersible imploded in June 2023.

    Kramer’s statements were followed by testimony from William Kohnen, a longtime submersibles expert and key member of the Marine Technology Society. Kohnen emerged as a critic of OceanGate in the aftermath of the implosion and has described the disaster as preventable.

    On Wednesday, Kohnen pushed back at the idea the Titan could not have been thoroughly tested before use because of its experimental nature. He also said OceanGate’s operations raised concerns among many people in the industry.

    Kohnen said “I don’t think many people ever told Stockton no.” He described Rush as not receptive to outside scrutiny.

    “This is not something where we don’t want you to do it. We want you to do it right,” Kohnen said.

    The Coast Guard opened a public hearing earlier this month that is part of a high level investigation into the cause of the implosion. Some of the testimony has focused on the submersible’s carbon fiber construction, which was unusual. Other testimony focused on the troubled nature of the company.

    Another Wednesday witness, Bart Kemper of Kemper Engineering Services of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, testified about his review of the OceanGate submersible’s development. He expressed particular concern about the sub’s window.

    “This is consistent with something on the path of failure,” Kemper said.

    Coast Guard officials noted at the start of the hearing that the submersible had not been independently reviewed, as is standard practice. That and Titan’s unusual design subjected it to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.

    Earlier in the hearing, former OceanGate operations director David Lochridge said he frequently clashed with Rush and felt the company was committed only to making money.

    Lochridge and other previous witnesses painted a picture of a company that was impatient to get its unconventionally designed craft into the water. The accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.

    The hearing is expected to run through Friday and include several more witnesses, some of whom were closely connected to the company.

    The co-founder of the company told the Coast Guard panel Monday that he hoped a silver lining of the disaster is that it will inspire a renewed interest in exploration, including the deepest waters of the world’s oceans. Businessman Guillermo Sohnlein, who helped found OceanGate with Rush, ultimately left the company before the Titan disaster.

    OceanGate, based in Washington state, suspended its operations after the implosion. The company has no full-time employees currently, but has been represented by an attorney during the hearing.

    During the submersible’s final dive on June 18, 2023, the crew lost contact after an exchange of texts about Titan’s depth and weight as it descended. The support ship Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display.

    One of the last messages from Titan’s crew to Polar Prince before the submersible imploded stated, “all good here,” according to a visual re-creation presented earlier in the hearing.

    When the submersible was reported overdue, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to an area about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland. Wreckage of the Titan was subsequently found on the ocean floor about 330 yards (300 meters) off the bow of the Titanic, Coast Guard officials said. No one on board survived.

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  • UNLV QB to sit out season after agent says $100,000 promised for transfer has not been paid

    UNLV QB to sit out season after agent says $100,000 promised for transfer has not been paid

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    The convoluted way college athletes are paid for the use of their name, image and likeness and a dispute between player and coaches over money appears to have cost an undefeated team its quarterback three games into the season.

    UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka has decided to sit out the rest of the season over a $100,000 NIL payment that was promised but never paid after he agreed to transfer to the Rebels from Holy Cross last winter, Sluka’s agent told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

    “I think there was some kind of breakdown in communication,” Bob Sluka, Matthew’s father, told AP.

    Sluka’s decision sent shockwaves throughout major college football, where the old rules of amateurism have fallen, leaving schools and the NCAA grappling with how to regulate the way players can be paid. Just how much regulation is part of a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement agreement involving the NCAA and the nation’s top conferences that is before a federal judge in California.

    Sluka’s agent, Marcus Cromartie of Equity Sports, said Sluka was promised $100,000 by a UNLV assistant coach who recruited the quarterback last winter when he agreed to transfer in January.

    Both Cromartie and the company that runs UNLV’s NIL collective, which would be responsible for paying school athletes, acknowledge there was no signed agreement between the player and the organization for $100,000.

    UNLV issued a statement accusing Sluka’s representative of making “financial demands upon the university and its NIL collective in order to continue playing.”

    “UNLV athletics interpreted these demands as a violation of the NCAA pay-for-play rules, as well as Nevada state law,” the school said. “UNLV does not engage in such activity, nor does it respond to implied threats. UNLV has honored all previously agreed-upon scholarships for Matthew Sluka.”

    Bob Sluka and Cromartie insisted Matthew Sluka was not looking for anything more than was promised.

    UNLV (3-0) is scheduled to host Fresno State (3-1) in a big Mountain West game on Saturday, with both schools hoping a strong season could put them in consideration for a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff. The Rebels have already beaten two power conference schools but now will proceed without their starting QB.

    Sluka’s transfer

    Equity Sports represents numerous NFL and college players, including Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes. Bob Sluka told AP his son signed with Equity Sports when Matthew Sluka declared his intent to switch schools and entered the NCAA transfer portal in December.

    During a recruiting trip to UNLV with his son, Bob Sluka said a discussion about NIL payments came up with offensive coordinator Brennan Marion and the Slukas informed him those could be had with Equity.

    Cromartie said he spoke with the assistant coach by phone and a promise of $100,000 was made but because Sluka was still completing his degree at Holy Cross, the quarterback could not sign a contract with a collective until after he enrolled at UNLV. Sluka did not join the team until preseason practice in August.

    Friends of Unilv, the collective that works with UNLV athletes, does not sign deals with athletes until they are enrolled, said Bob Sine, whose company Blueprint Sports oversees and operates that collective and dozens others around the country.

    But, Sine said, it is not uncommon for representatives of athletes to open discussions with the collective about NIL opportunities before the athlete is enrolled. Sine said a payment of $3,000 was made to Sluka over the summer, but nothing else.

    Things fall apart

    “In July, there was no NIL payments. There was no $100,000, I guess you could say zero dollars. He was given a $3,000 relocation fee and that was it,” said Cromartie, who added head coach Barry Odom was not involved in the initial discussions.

    Sine said the first time they heard from Cromartie was on Aug. 29 via email, and on Sept. 19 there was another email communication during which the collective offered a potential deal that would pay Sluka $3,000 per month.

    Sine said Cromartie was not registered as an agent in Nevada or with the school. They informed him he needed to do that to move forward. Sluka’s father said Cromartie was directed to speak with Odom and director of player development Hunkie Cooper.

    Cromartie said he suggested payments of $10,000 a month over the next five months and even $5,000 per month and was declined.

    Cromartie said Sluka was offered $3,000 per month by Odom and Cooper in a phone call last week.

    “At that point I think Matt felt lied to. At that point he just wanted to stand up for himself,” Cromartie said.

    Bob Sluka said his son went to see Odom on Monday before practice and the coach refused to talk to Matthew about the NIL arrangement. Bob Sluka said Matthew returned to the coach’s office after practice, but Odom was gone. Odom declined to speak with reporters following practice Wednesday.

    “It’s just the tone that they took. It didn’t have to happen. All you had to do was give Matt a hug and say, ‘Hey, Matt, we’re going to work this out with you,’” said Bob Sluka, who lives in Locust Valley on New York’s Long Island. “You’re letting your starting quarterback walk out the door. And they didn’t care. Did Barry not call the collective and say, ‘Holy crap, I’m losing my kid.’ No, he said, ‘Take it or leave it.’”

    NCAA redshirt rules allow players to retain a year of eligibility if they play four or fewer games in a season. Sluka, who played four seasons (2020-23) at Holy Cross, still has one more year of eligibility that he could use at another school next season. NCAA rules do not allow players to play for two schools within the same season.

    “I committed to UNLV based on certain representations that were made to me, which were not upheld after I enrolled,” Matthew Sluka posted on X late Tuesday. “Despite discussions, it became clear that these commitments would not be fulfilled in the future. I wish my teammates the best of luck this season and hope for the continued success of the program.”

    NIL headaches

    The NCAA lifted its ban on athletes being compensated for things like endorsement and sponsorship deals in 2021, but had very few detailed rules on how schools can regulate payments beyond saying the compensation cannot come directly from the school.

    State laws have created different standards around the country, and college sports leaders, including NCAA President Charlie Baker, have been lobbying Congress for a federal law to help get a handle of an unruly system that lacks transparency. The NCAA settlement of multiple antitrust lawsuits includes a plan for a new revenue-sharing system, which would allow schools to begin making direct NIL payments to athletes as soon as next year.

    “The NCAA fully supports college athletes profiting from their NIL, but unfortunately there is little oversight or accountability in the NIL space and far too often promises made to student-athletes are broken,” NCAA senior vice president for external affairs Tim Buckley said in a statement. “Positive changes are underway at the NCAA to deliver more benefits to student-athletes but without clear legal authority granted by the courts or by Congress, the NCAA, conferences and schools have limited authority to regulate third parties involved in NIL transactions.”

    The current way this all works has caused headaches for everyone involved.

    Georgia quarterback Jaden Rashada, who committed to play for Florida out of high school, is suing Gators coach Billy Napier and one of the school’s top boosters after a $14 million NIL deal fell through. Rashada never played for Florida. He was released from his scholarship agreement in 2023, transferred to Arizona State where he played last year and then transferred to Georgia this offseason.

    “They’re going to have to figure out a system, just like anything else — make sure contracts are signed, or the language is done the right way,” Mahomes, who has become involved in the NIL collective at Texas Tech, his alma mater, said Wednesday when asked about Sluka’s situation.

    What now?

    UNLV went 9-5 last season and played for the Mountain West Conference championship, but the quarterback who led that team to the program’s best season in nearly 40 years, Jayden Maiava, transferred to Southern California of the Big Ten.

    Sluka was one of the top quarterbacks playing in Division I’s second tier, known as the Football Championship Subdivision. Holy Cross reached the FCS playoffs in 2021 and ’22 with Sluka as the starter.

    After a coaching change at Holy Cross — head coach Bob Chesney left to take over at James Madison — Sluka also moved on. after setting a host of school records and rushing for an NCAA Division I quarterback record 330 yards in a loss to Lafayette in 2023. Sluka has completed 21 of 48 passes for 318 yards, six touchdowns and one interception for the Rebels this season. He has also rushed 39 times for 286 yards and a touchdown, helping the Rebels beat Kansas and Houston to go 2-0 against Big 12 teams.

    Neither Sluka’s father nor his agent completely ruled out the possibility of a resolution that could have Matthew Sluka back with UNLV, but neither voiced any optimism.

    “At the end of the day, $100,000 for a quarterback that’s in a Top 25 program is actually probably on the lower tier,” Cromartie said. “The fact that he hasn’t gotten that or anything in between just speaks to the point he’s getting done unjustly and unfairly.”

    ___

    AP Sports Writer Dave Skretta in Kansas City, Missouri, and Mark Anderson in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

    ___

    Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and College football ‘ Latest News & Updates

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  • Aaron Hernandez ‘American Sports Story’ series wants to show a different view of the disgraced NFLer

    Aaron Hernandez ‘American Sports Story’ series wants to show a different view of the disgraced NFLer

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    From a podcast to multiple documentaries, the rise and fall of the once revered NFL star Aaron Hernandez is certainly well documented. An FX limited series is latest to rehash the saga, attempting to go beyond the headlines and dig deeper into his story.

    “American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez” stars Josh Andrés Rivera as the New England Patriots tight end. It details Hernandez’s troubled childhood with an abusive father who demanded his son play football and project masculinity and toughness to the world. Secretly, Hernandez also struggled with his sexuality.

    He played college ball at the University of Florida and was drafted by the Patriots. Over time, the series shows how Hernandez’s behavior grew increasingly erratic. He was convicted of murder and died by suicide in 2017 while serving a life sentence. After his death, research showed Hernandez’s brain showed evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

    “What we tried to do with this show — is take a tabloid headline, take some story that you think you know about Aaron Hernandez … and go behind it and see what it’s like to walk in the shoes of all the people who are part of this,” said Brad Simpson, one of the series’ executive producers, in an interview.

    Hernandez’s life, crimes and death have been detailed before in long-form writing, documentaries including Netflix’s “Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez,” and the podcast “Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc.,” which is the basis for “American Sports Story.”

    Rivera, known for his supporting roles in the recent “Hunger Games” prequel and 2021’s “West Side Story,” said playing the former tight end was a “responsibility that you have to approach with a certain level of sensitivity.”

    Once he started learning more about Hernandez’s life, diving into recordings of phone calls he made from prison and watching clips from his interviews, Rivera said he began to see the layered intricacy of Hernandez’s life. And he only became more eager to play him.

    “To a lot of people, he was very charming and very charismatic and easy to get along with. There were not a small amount of people who felt that way, so that was interesting because you have to dissect the ‘why,’” Rivera said. “There’s clearly a magnetism there, disguising an inner life that’s very complex.”

    Rivera said he enjoyed the challenge of that character work, calling Hernandez “a chameleon.”

    “There was variations on the amount of tenderness and even the frankness, or the amount of swagger he would use from person to person, so I tried to incorporate that to a core essence,” he said.

    Transforming into Hernandez was also a physical commitment for Rivera, who described getting into NFL shape as “meathead summer,” where he increased his food intake and worked with trainers to build muscle. The hardest part, though, of the transformation for Rivera, was getting inked up.

    His mobility was often limited when filming to preserve the tattoos, which he said he initially found frustrating, but ultimately, the “oppressive feeling” of not being able to move freely was something he channeled into his character’s frustration.

    Rivera stars alongside Jaylen Barron as Hernandez’s high school sweetheart and later fiancé, Shayanna Jenkins, Lindsay Mendez as his cousin, Ean Castellanos as his brother and Tammy Blanchard as his mother. Patrick Schwarzenegger plays Hernandez’s college teammate Tim Tebow, Tony Yazbeck plays former Florida coach Urban Meyer and Norbert Leo Butz plays former Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

    With the first sports-focused season of the “American Story” franchise, producers said they are interested in dissecting the “American religion of football.” They also hope viewers question the preconceptions they had about people involved in stories that captured the nation, like that of Hernandez.

    “We can use this story to challenge certain perspectives or to just add a little bit of nuance for people who maybe don’t know much about it or have a fixed mindset about it,” Rivera said. “It’s an interesting opportunity.”

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  • Not-so-great expectations: Students are reading fewer books in English class

    Not-so-great expectations: Students are reading fewer books in English class

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    Chris Stanislawski didn’t read much in his middle school English classes, but it never felt necessary. Students were given detailed chapter summaries for every novel they discussed, and teachers played audio of the books during class.

    Much of the reading material at Garden City Middle School in Long Island was either abridged books, or online texts and printouts, he said.

    “When you’re given a summary of the book telling you what you’re about to read in baby form, it kind of just ruins the whole story for you,” said Chris, 14. “Like, what’s the point of actually reading?”

    In many English classrooms across America, assignments to read full-length novels are becoming less common. Some teachers focus instead on selected passages — a concession to perceptions of shorter attention spans, pressure to prepare for standardized tests and a sense that short-form content will prepare students for the modern, digital world.

    The National Council of Teachers of English acknowledged the shift in a 2022 statement on media education, saying: “The time has come to decenter book reading and essay-writing as the pinnacles of English language arts education.”

    The idea is not to remove books but to teach media literacy and add other texts that feel relevant to students, said Seth French, one of the statement’s co-authors. In the English class he taught before becoming a dean last year at Bentonville High School in Arkansas, students engaged with plays, poetry and articles but read just one book together as a class.

    “At the end of the day, a lot of our students are not interested in some of these texts that they didn’t have a choice in,” he said.

    The emphasis on shorter, digital texts does not sit well with everyone.

    Deep reading is essential to strengthen circuits in the brain tied to critical thinking skills, background knowledge — and, most of all, empathy, said Maryanne Wolf, a cognitive neuroscientist at UCLA specializing in dyslexia research.

    “We must give our young an opportunity to understand who others are, not through little snapshots, but through immersion into the lives and thoughts and feelings of others,” Wolf said.

    At Garden City Middle School, students are required to read several books in their entirety each year, including “Of Mice and Men” and “Romeo and Juliet,” Principal Matthew Samuelson said. Audio versions and summaries are provided as extra resources, he said.

    For Chris, who has dyslexia, the audio didn’t make the reading feel more accessible. He just felt bored. He switched this fall to a Catholic school, which his mother feels will prepare him better for college.

    Even outside school, students are reading less

    There’s little data on how many books are assigned by schools. But in general, students are reading less. Federal data from last year shows only 14% of young teens say they read for fun daily, compared with 27% in 2012.

    Teachers say the slide has its roots in the COVID-19 crisis.

    “There was a trend, it happened when COVID hit, to stop reading full-length novels because students were in trauma; we were in a pandemic. The problem is we haven’t quite come back from that,” said Kristy Acevedo, who teaches English at a vocational high school in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

    This year, she said she won’t accept that students are too distracted to read. She plans to teach time-management strategies and to use only paper and pencils for most of class time.

    Other teachers say the trend stems from standardized testing and the influence of education technology. Digital platforms can deliver a complete English curriculum, with thousands of short passages aligned to state standards — all without having to assign an actual book.

    “If admins and school districts are judged by their test scores, how are they going to improve their test scores? They’re going to mirror the test as much as possible,” said Karl Ubelhoer, a middle school special education teacher in Tabernacle, New Jersey.

    For some students, it’s a struggle to read at all. Only around a third of fourth and eighth graders reached reading proficiency in the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress, down significantly from 2019.

    Leah van Belle, executive director of the Detroit literacy coalition 313Reads, said when her son read “Peter Pan” in late elementary school, it was too hard for most kids in the class. She laments that Detroit feels like “a book desert.” Her son’s school doesn’t even have a library.

    Still, she said it makes sense for English classes to focus on shorter texts.

    “As an adult, if I want to learn about a topic and research it, be it personal or professional, I’m using interactive digital text to do that,” she said.

    Teachers fit books in with other ‘spinning plates’

    Even in well-resourced schools, one thing is always in short supply: time.

    Terri White, a teacher at South Windsor High School in Connecticut, no longer makes her honors ninth-grade English class read all of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” She assigns about a third of the book and a synopsis of the rest. They have to move on quickly because of pressure for teachers to cram more into the curriculum, she said.

    “It’s like spinning plates, you know what I mean? Like it’s a circus,” she said.

    She also assigns less homework because kids’ schedules are so packed with sports, clubs and other activities.

    “I maintain rigor. But I’m more about helping students become stronger and more critical readers, writers and thinkers, while taking their social-emotional well-being into account,” she said.

    In the long run, the synopsis approach harms students’ critical thinking skills, said Alden Jones, a literature professor at Emerson College in Boston. She assigns fewer books than she once did and gives more quizzes to make sure students do the reading.

    “We don’t value the thinking time that we used to have. It’s all time we could be on our phone accomplishing tasks,” she said.

    Will Higgins, an English teacher at Dartmouth High School in Massachusetts, said he still believes in teaching the classics, but demands on students’ time have made it necessary to cut back.

    “We haven’t given up on ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ We haven’t given up on ‘Hamlet’ or ‘The Great Gatsby,’″ Higgins said. But he said they have given up assigning others like “A Tale of Two Cities.”

    His school has had success encouraging reading through student-directed book clubs, where small groups pick a book and discuss it together. Contemporary authors like John Green and Jason Reynolds have been a big hit.

    “It’s funny,” he said. “Many students are saying that it’s the first time in a long time they’ve read a full book.”

    ___

    The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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  • Longtime Red Sox radio broadcaster Joe Castiglione announces retirement following 42 seasons

    Longtime Red Sox radio broadcaster Joe Castiglione announces retirement following 42 seasons

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Boston Red Sox radio broadcaster Joe Castiglione said Sunday he is retiring at the end of the season, his 42nd calling the team’s games.

    Castiglione, 77, made the announcement on the WEEI broadcast as the Red Sox batted in the fourth inning against the New York Yankees.

    “For him to be part of our family is amazing. For him to spend more time with his family is great,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after a 5-2 loss. “We talked a little bit yesterday about it. I think everybody here and everybody in the (Red Sox) nation we know what he means to this organization.”

    Castiglione will remain with the team in an honorary ambassador role. The Red Sox will honor him before their regular-season finale on Sept. 29 against Tampa Bay.

    Castiglione joined Boston’s broadcast crew in 1983 during the final season for Hall of Fame outfielder Carl Yastrzemski and is the longest tenured play-by-play announcer in team history. He was on the air when the Red Sox ended an 86-year title drought by sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004 and called three more championships in 2007, 2013 and 2018.

    Castiglione received the Hall of Fame’s Ford. C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting last July. He was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2014 along with Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens and Nomar Garciaparra, and in 2022 the home radio booth at Fenway Park was named the Joe Castiglione Booth.

    “After 42 seasons with the Red Sox and more than 6,500 games, I have decided it’s time to retire from a regular broadcast schedule,” Castiglione said in a statement released by the team. “While I feel I am at the pinnacle of my career … it’s time to spend more time with Jan, my bride of almost 53 years, my kids, and grandkids.”

    Castiglione began his broadcasting career at WFMJ-TV in Youngstown, Ohio, before calling big league games for Cleveland (1979, 1982) and Milwaukee (1981). He also broadcast games for the Cleveland Cavaliers and college basketball on NESN.

    “Joe is one of the greatest in baseball broadcasting,” Red Sox principal owner John Henry said in a statement. “His recognition by the Hall of Fame in July punctuated a career of vivid storytelling that has brought the game to life for generations of listeners.”

    ___

    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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  • Jane’s Addiction cancels its tour after onstage concert fracas

    Jane’s Addiction cancels its tour after onstage concert fracas

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    BOSTON (AP) — The alternative rock band Jane’s Addiction has scuttled its latest tour following an onstage scuffle between lead singer Perry Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro. Farrell later apologized for “inexcusable behavior.”

    “The band have made the difficult decision to take some time away as a group. As such, they will be cancelling the remainder of the tour,” the band said in a brief statement Monday.

    Videos captured Farrell lunging at Navarro at a Friday concert in Boston, bumping Navarro with his shoulder before taking a swing at the guitarist with his right arm. Navarro is seen holding his right arm out to keep Farrell away before Farrell is dragged away by others on stage. The show ended shortly after and the band apologized.

    The band is known for edgy, punk-inspired hits “Jane Says,” “Been Caught Stealing” and “Just Because” in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the alternative rock and grunge music movements were growing. It has three top five hits on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart.

    Farrell, in a statement given to Variety and The New York Times, said, “This weekend has been incredibly difficult and after having the time and space to reflect, it is only right that I apologize to my bandmates, especially Dave Navarro, fans, family and friends for my actions during Friday’s show. Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation.”

    Perry’s wife, Etty Lau Farrell, wrote on Instagram the day after the scuffle that her husband’s “”frustration had been mounting, night after night, he felt that the stage volume had been extremely loud and his voice was being drowned out by the band.”

    She said her husband had been suffering from tinnitus and a sore throat and “by the end of the song, he wasn’t singing, he was screaming just to be heard.” She said her husband later broke down “and cried and cried.”

    The band’s “Imminent Redemption” tour — with opening act English rock band Love and Rockets — started in early August and was to end on Oct. 16 at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.

    The North American shows marked the first time since 2010 that the original Jane’s Addiction lineup — Farrell, Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery — played an extended run of shows together.

    Navarro, Perkins and Avery said in a statement posted Monday on Navarro’s Instagram of Farrell: “We hope that he will find the help he needs.”

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  • Mega Millions jackpot soars to an estimated $800 million

    Mega Millions jackpot soars to an estimated $800 million

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    BOSTON (AP) — The Mega Millions jackpot has risen to an estimated $800 million with a cash option of $401.8 million for Tuesday’s drawing after no one matched all the winning numbers for Friday night’s drawing.

    The jackpot was last won in Illinois on June 4 with a ticket valued at $552 million.

    Only two Mega Millions jackpots have been won so far this year. Before the Illinois winning ticket, a $1.1 billion winning ticket was purchased in New Jersey in March. That prize is still unclaimed. Winners in New Jersey have one year to claim their winnings.

    Tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are conducted at 11 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays in Atlanta, Georgia. Tickets are $2 each. Half of the proceeds from the sale of each Mega Millions ticket remains in the state where the ticket was sold.

    The odds of winning the jackpot are one in more than 302 million. The overall odds of winning any Mega Millions prize are 1 in 24.

    The top Mega Millions jackpot ticket — $1.6 billion — was sold in Florida in August of last year.

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  • Town officials shut down a boy’s ice cream stand. Fundraisers and death threats followed

    Town officials shut down a boy’s ice cream stand. Fundraisers and death threats followed

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    NORWOOD, Mass. (AP) — Bored and looking for something to do this summer, Danny Doherty hatched a plan to raise money for his brother’s hockey team by selling homemade ice cream.

    But a few days after setting up a stand and serving up vanilla, shaved chocolate and fluffernutter to about 20 people, Danny’s family received a letter from the Norwood Board of Health ordering it shut down. Town officials had received a complaint and said that the 12-year-old’s scheme violated the Massachusetts Food Code, a state regulation.

    In this Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024 photo provided by Nancy Doherty, Ben Doherty, of Braintree, Mass., left, and his cousin Danny Doherty, 12, of Norwood, Mass., right, sit at a homemade ice cream stand near Danny’s home in Norwood. (Nancy Doherty via AP)

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    Danny Doherty, 12, of Norwood, Mass., stands for a photograph Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in front of his home in Norwood, while holding a letter from the Town of Norwood Board of Health advising his family that they may not sell homemade ice cream at an ice cream stand near their home. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

    “I was surprised and upset,” he said of the letter that came Aug. 5. “I don’t understand because there are so many lemonade stands and they don’t get shut down.”

    Danny’s mom, Nancy Doherty, who had encouraged her son to start the stand as long as he donated half of the proceeds to charity, also was taken aback.

    “Somebody complained. That was the most disappointing part for us was that somebody thought it necessary to complain about a child’s stand,” she said. “It seemed a little, you know, crazy if you ask me.”

    Rather than give up, Danny decided to give away the ice cream and accept donations for the Boston Bear Cubs, a team featuring players with physical and developmental disabilities — including his brother, who is autistic.

    That’s when the neighborhood fundraiser blew up and became the talk of Norwood, a suburban town about an hour from Boston.

    The first day they gave away the ice cream, supplies ran out in 10 minutes and $1,000 was raised. Then, word began to spread about the fundraiser and Danny’s clash with the town. Local media ran stories about the stand, prompting scores of local businesses to hold their own fundraisers for the hockey team.

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    In this Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024 photo provided by Meghan Doherty, Ben Doherty, 12, of Braintree, Mass., left, stands with his cousin Danny Doherty, 12, of Norwood, Mass., right, near a table for donations to the Boston Bear Cubs hockey team, in Norwood. (Meghan Doherty via AP)

    Among them was Furlong’s Candies, which teamed up with Boston radio station WWBX-FM to hold a fundraiser in their parking lot. They raised $3,600 on a day when lines stretched out the door.

    “Danny was trying to do a good thing for his brother’s team — and it’s not just a regular hockey team,” Nancy Thrasher, the store’s co-owner said. “They need a lot more equipment … We were like this is a perfect situation for us to get involved in.”

    Thrasher said she understood why the stand had to be shut down but she still felt bad.

    “My heart broke for the kid. He was just trying to do good for his brother’s team,” she said.

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    Nancy Thrasher, co-owner of Furlong’s Candies & Ice Cream, stands near ice cream and toppings at the store, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Norwood, Mass. (AP Photo/Michael Casey)

    Town officials, meanwhile, said they received hate mail and death threats over the dispute, which they suggested has been badly mischaracterized in the media.

    They argued the family had sold their homemade ice cream before and even promoted it on social media. The letter, officials said, was only sent after the town received several complaints and unsuccessfully tried to contact the family — something the Doherty’s dispute.

    “We had to deal with staff who were upset that they were being threatened. People had gone online and found their addresses simply for sending a letter after having reached out to somebody and said, look, there’s a violation here,” said Tony Mazzucco, Norwood’s town manager. It’s the “first time in recent memory” that the town has shut down an ice cream stand, he said, adding that Massachusetts law allows for things like lemonade stands and bakes sales but not homemade ice cream.

    Mazzucco also said there was a “legitimate health concern” since homemade ice cream can be contaminated with listeria monocytogenes or other bacteria.

    Danny’s situation is not altogether unusual. Youth elsewhere have also seen their lemonade stands or pop-up bake sales shuttered — often for failing to have a business or health permit. Several states have responded by moving to lessen restrictions on such ventures.

    Nancy Doherty said it was “distressing” to hear the town employees had received threats. She said the family had never sold ice cream before but acknowledged that Danny created an Instagram account to promote the stand.

    “I’m not upset with the town for responding to a complaint,” she said. “I’m shocked someone complained. This was a tiny operation. Us serving 20 friends, family and neighbors isn’t a public health action. That is someone complaining to be a complainer.”

    For Danny, all the attention has been a little unnerving. “There were so many people and then they started chanting my name,” he said of the fundraiser at Furlong’s. “I didn’t like it, so I ran away. All the attention was on me and I didn’t like it.”

    In the end, about $20,000 was raised for the hockey team — more than the amount the club spends in an entire year. The infusion of funds should ensure the club will be on “sound financial footing” for the next decade or more.

    Image

    Lori Talanian, right, director of corporate partnerships at Ira Cars, hugs John Quill, center, director and coach of the Boston Bear Cubs hockey team, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, after her company presented the team with a donation of $3,900, at the Doherty family home, in Norwood, Mass. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)

    “The community response has overwhelmed us,” said John Quill, the director and coach of the Boston Bear Cubs, as he accepted a check from an auto group at the Dohertys’ house.

    “There are a lot of good people out there,” Quill added. “Danny inspired a whole lot of people to do good and to be kind and to help us out.”

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  • Schools have made slow progress on record absenteeism, with millions of kids still skipping class

    Schools have made slow progress on record absenteeism, with millions of kids still skipping class

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    MEDFORD, Mass. (AP) — Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste missed so much school he had to repeat his freshman year at Medford High outside Boston. At school, “you do the same thing every day,” said Jean-Baptiste, who was absent 30 days his first year. “That gets very frustrating.”

    Then his principal did something nearly unheard of: She let students play organized sports during lunch — if they attended all their classes. In other words, she offered high schoolers recess.

    “It gave me something to look forward to,” said Jean-Baptiste, 16. The following year, he cut his absences in half. Schoolwide, the share of chronically absent students declined from 35% in March 2023 to 23% in March 2024 — one of the steepest declines among Massachusetts high schools.

    Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste, 16, of Medford, Mass., poses for a photo at Medford High School, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Medford. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

    Years after COVID-19 upended American schooling, nearly every state is still struggling with attendance, according to data collected by The Associated Press and Stanford University educational economist Thomas Dee.

    Roughly one in four students in the 2022-23 school year remained chronically absent, meaning they missed at least 10% of the school year. That represents about 12 million children in the 42 states and Washington, D.C., where data is available.

    Before the pandemic, only 15% of students missed that much school.

    Society may have largely moved on from COVID, but schools say they’re still battling the effects of pandemic school closures. After as much as a year at home, school for many kids has felt overwhelming, boring or socially stressful. More than ever, kids and parents are deciding it’s OK to stay home, which makes catching up even harder.

    In all but one state, Arkansas, absence rates remain higher than pre-pandemic. Still, the problem appears to have passed its peak; almost every state saw absenteeism improve at least slightly from 2021-22 to 2022-23.

    Schools are working to identify students with slipping attendance, then providing help. They’re working to close communication gaps with parents, who often aren’t aware their child is missing so much school or why it’s problematic.

    So far, the solutions that appear to be helping are simple — like letters to parents that compare a child’s attendance with peers. But to make more progress, experts say, schools must get creative to address their students’ needs.

    Caring adults — and incentives

    In Oakland, California, chronic absenteeism skyrocketed from 29% pre-pandemic to 53% in 2022-23 across district and charter schools. Officials asked students what would convince them to come to class.

    Money, they replied, and a mentor.

    A grant-funded program launched in spring 2023 paid 45 students $50 weekly for perfect attendance. Students also checked in daily with an assigned adult and completed weekly mental health assessments.

    Paying students isn’t a permanent or sustainable fix, said Zaia Vera, the district’s head of social-emotional learning.

    But many absent students lacked stable housing or were helping to support their families. “The money is the hook that got them in the door,” Vera said.

    More than 60% improved their attendance after taking part, Vera said. The program is expected to continue, along with district-wide efforts aimed at creating a sense of belonging. Oakland’s African American Male Achievement project, for example, pairs Black students with Black teachers who offer support.

    Kids who identify with their educators are more likely to attend school, said Michael Gottfried, a University of Pennsylvania professor. According to one study led by Gottfried, California students felt “it’s important for me to see someone who’s like me early on, first thing in the day,” he said.

    A caring teacher made a difference for Golden Tachiquin, 18, who graduated from Oakland’s Skyline High School this spring. When she started 10th grade after a remote freshman year, she felt lost and anxious. She later realized these feelings caused the nausea and dizziness that kept her home sick. She was absent at least 25 days that year.

    But she bonded with an Afro-Latina teacher who understood her culturally and made Tachiquin, a straight-A student, feel her poor attendance didn’t define her.

    “I didn’t dread going to her class,” Tachiquin said.

    Another teacher had the opposite effect. “She would say, ‘Wow, guess who decided to come today?’ ” Tachiquin recalled. “I started skipping her class even more.”

    In Massachusetts, Medford High School requires administrators to greet and talk with students each morning, especially those with a history of missing school.

    But the lunchtime gym sessions have been the biggest driver of improved attendance, Principal Marta Cabral said. High schoolers need freedom and an opportunity to move their bodies, she said. “They’re here for seven hours a day. They should have a little fun.”

    Image

    Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste, 16, poses for a photo at Medford High School, Aug. 2, 2024, in Medford. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

    Image

    Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste, 16, poses at Medford High School, Aug. 2, 2024, in Medford. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

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    Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste, 16, works on an assignment at Medford High School, Aug. 2, 2024, in Medford. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

    Stubborn circumstances

    Chronically absent students are at higher risk of illiteracy and eventually dropping out. They also miss the meals, counseling and socialization provided at school.

    Many of the reasons kids missed school early in the pandemic are still firmly in place: financial hardship, transportation problems, mild illness and mental health struggles.

    In Alaska, 45% of students missed significant school last year. In Amy Lloyd’s high school classes in Juneau, some families now treat attendance as optional. Last term, several of her English students missed school for vacations.

    “I don’t really know how to reset the expectation that was crushed when we sat in front of the computer for that year,” Lloyd said.

    Emotional and behavioral problems also have kept kids home from school. Research shared exclusively with AP found absenteeism and poor mental health are “interconnected,” said University of Southern California professor Morgan Polikoff.

    For example, in the USC study, almost a quarter of chronically absent kids had high levels of emotional or behavioral problems, according to a parent questionnaire, compared with just 7% of kids with good attendance. Emotional symptoms among teen girls were especially linked with missing school.

    How sick is too sick?

    When chronic absence surged to around 50% in Fresno, California, officials realized they had to remedy pandemic-era mindsets about keeping kids home sick.

    “Unless your student has a fever or threw up in the last 24 hours, you are coming to school. That’s what we want,” said Abigail Arii, director of student support services.

    Often, said Noreida Perez, who oversees attendance, parents aren’t aware physical symptoms can point to mental health struggles — such as when a child doesn’t feel up to leaving their bedroom.

    More than a dozen states now let students take mental health days as excused absences. But staying home can become a vicious cycle, said Hedy Chang, of Attendance Works, which works with schools on absenteeism.

    “If you continue to stay home from school, you feel more disengaged,” she said. “You get farther behind.”

    Changing the culture around sick days is only part of the problem.

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    Melinda Gonzalez, 14, in Fresno, Calif., Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)

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    Melinda Gonzalez, 14, shown in her home getting ready to start her day in Fresno, Calif., Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)

    At Fresno’s Fort Miller Middle School, where half the students were chronically absent, two reasons kept coming up: dirty laundry and no transportation. The school bought a washer and dryer for families’ use, along with a Chevy Suburban to pick up students who missed the bus. Overall, Fresno’s chronic absenteeism improved to 35% in 2022-23.

    Melinda Gonzalez, 14, missed the school bus about once a week and would call for rides in the Suburban.

    “I don’t have a car; my parents couldn’t drive me to school,” Gonzalez said. “Getting that ride made a big difference.”

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    Melinda Gonzalez, 14, poses at Fresno High School where she’ll be a freshman in Fresno, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)

    ___

    Becky Bohrer contributed reporting from Juneau, Alaska.

    ___

    The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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  • Swarm of dragonflies startles beachgoers in Rhode Island

    Swarm of dragonflies startles beachgoers in Rhode Island

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    WESTERLY, R.I. (AP) — A swarm of dragonflies stunned and surprised beachgoers over the weekend in Rhode Island.

    Thousands of the dragonflies, relatively large and often beautifully colored insects, descended on Misquamicut beach Saturday. Video of the dragonflies shows beachgoers running for cover and hiding under blankets. People could be heard screaming.

    It’s unclear what prompted the cloud of insects to visit the beach for several minutes and then largely disappear.

    “One minute everything was calm. The next minute I saw the most dragonflies I’ve ever seen in my life,” Nicole Taylor told WFSB-TV. “It lasted for like 3 minutes, and then they were gone. It was a very strange experience.”

    Christina Vangel, who works at Alfie’s Beach Store, said workers had to shoo the dragonflies out. “As the day went on there were tons of them everywhere. We had to close the doors,” she said.

    Chris Fiore, whose family owns Alfie’s, across the street from the beach, marveled at the unique onslaught of dragonflies. “It was fascinating. There were big clouds of them,” he said.

    Dragonflies feed mostly on insects like mosquitos and midges, relying on a swiveling head and huge eyes to catch their prey. Some species breed in July and August including the common green darner dragonfly found in Rhode Island. They don’t normally sting or bite humans.

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  • Energy Department awards $2.2B to strengthen the electrical grid and add clean power

    Energy Department awards $2.2B to strengthen the electrical grid and add clean power

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    The Department of Energy on Tuesday announced $2.2 billion in funding for eight projects across 18 states to strengthen the electrical grid against increasing extreme weather, advance the transition to cleaner electricity and meet a growing demand for power.

    The money will help build more than 600 miles of new transmission lines and upgrade about 400 miles of existing lines so that they can carry more current.

    Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the funding is important because extreme weather events fueled by climate change are increasing, damaging towers and bringing down wires, causing power outages.

    Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Texas on July 8 and knocked out power to nearly 3 million people, for example. Officials have said at least a dozen Houston area residents died from complications related to the heat and losing power.

    The investments will provide more reliable, affordable electricity for 56 million homes and businesses, according to the DOE. Granholm said the funds are the single largest direct investment ever in the nation’s grid.

    “They’ll help us to meet the needs of electrified homes and businesses and new manufacturing facilities and all of these growing data centers that are placing demands on the grid,” Granholm said in a press call to announce the funding.

    It’s the second round of awards through a $10.5 billion DOE program called Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships. It was funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021. More projects will be announced this fall.

    Among the ones in this round, more than 100 miles of transmission line in California will be upgraded so that new renewable energy can be added quickly and as a response to a growing demand for electricity. A project in New England will upgrade onshore connection points for electricity generated by wind turbines offshore, allowing 4,800 megawatts of wind energy to be added, enough to power about 2 million homes.

    The Montana Department of Commerce will get $700 million. Most of that will go toward building a 415-mile, high-voltage, direct current transmission line across Montana and North Dakota. The North Plains Connector will increase the ability to move electricity from east to west and vice versa, and help protect against extreme weather and power disruptions.

    The Virginia Department of Energy will get $85 million to employ clean electricity and clean backup power at two data centers, one instate and one in South Carolina. The DOE chose this project because the data centers will be responsive to the grid in a new way: They could provide needed electricity to the local grid on a hot day, from batteries, or reduce their energy use in times of high demand. This could serve as a model for other data centers to reduce their impact on a local area, since they place such high demand on the grid, according to the department.

    “These investments are certainly a step in the right direction and they are the right types of investments,” said Max Luke, director of business development and regulatory affairs at VEIR, an early-stage Massachusetts company developing transmission lines capable of carrying five times the power of conventional ones. “If you look at the scale of the challenge and the quantity of grid capacity needed for deep decarbonization and net zero, it’s a drop in the bucket.”

    According to Princeton University’s “Net-Zero America” research, the United States will need to expand electricity transmission by roughly 60% by 2030 and may need to triple it by 2050.

    ___

    The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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  • The final image of Simone Biles at the Olympics was a symbol of joy — and where the sport is going

    The final image of Simone Biles at the Olympics was a symbol of joy — and where the sport is going

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    PARIS (AP) — Simone Biles cast a knowing glance across the awards podium toward Jordan Chiles.

    The longtime friends and U.S. gymnastics teammates knew they needed to find a way to honor Brazilian star Rebeca Andrade. They just weren’t sure how.

    What they came up with after Andrade’s gold medal on floor exercise at the end of 10 days inside Bercy Arena symbolized the state of their sport at the 2024 Games.

    Where it is. And hopefully where it’s going.

    Biles, the unequivocal Greatest of All Time, and Chiles, a three-time Olympic medalist whose journey back to the Games was a testament to talent and grit, dropped down to one knee. It was a show of respect to Andrade, whose excellence is symbolic of a sport that is getting more diverse, more inclusive and perhaps more positive as it goes.

    “It was just the right thing to do,” Biles said about a moment that soon went viral, with even the Louvre itself suggesting it might be worthy enough for a spot somewhere in the vicinity of the Mona Lisa.

    Fitting for an Olympics that offered masterpieces everywhere you looked.

    Biles eagerly shares the stage

    Biles and the American women finished off their “Redemption Tour” by reclaiming gold in the team final. Biles exorcised whatever inner doubt remained from the Tokyo Games — and shut up the haters in the process — by winning a second all-around title eight years after her first.

    Andrade led Brazil to its first Olympic team medal (a bronze), then added three more in the individual competition, finishing runner-up to Biles in the all-around and vault before becoming the first woman in memory to edge Biles in a floor exercise final.

    The Italian women won their first team medal in nearly a century. Japan put together a stirring rally on high bar in the last rotation to slip by rival China for gold. The U.S. men and “Pommel Horse Guy” Stephen Nedoroscik returned to the Olympic podium for the first time in 16 years. Carlos Yulo of the Philippines tripled his country’s Summer Olympic all-time gold medal count in a mere 24 hours.

    The good vibes were everywhere, led by Biles, who seemed to make it a point to take her vibrant spotlight and redirect it toward the other women on the floor as often as possible.

    That was never more evident than what could have been the last day of her career. The 27-year-old’s voice could be heard shouting encouragement to each of the other balance beam finalists inside an eerily quiet arena. Regardless of nationality. Regardless of age. Regardless of score. Regardless of how well she might know them.

    Afterward, Biles spoke glowingly of Italians Alice D’Amato and Manila Esposito, who earned gold and bronze in beam after half the field — Biles included — fell inside an arena so still that Biles joked she could hear cell phones buzzing.

    “I’m super excited and proud of them because now they’re building bricks (for a program) for the other Italian girls,” she said.

    U.S. women’s team dismantles stereotypes

    Jordan Chiles, of the United States, and Simone Biles, of the United States, celebrate after the women’s artistic gymnastics individual floor finals in Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Paris, France. Biles won the silver medal and Chiles the bronze medal. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

    Those bricks have long been in place in the U.S., yet what Biles, Chiles, six-time Olympic medalist Sunisa Lee and three-time Olympic medalist Jade Carey did in Paris is destroy the “little girls in pretty boxes” stereotype that has lingered over the sport for decades once and for all.

    The four 20-somethings — oh, and 16-year-old Hezly Rivera, too — came to France with a score to settle. Biles to put those strange days in Japan three years ago firmly in the rearview mirror. Lee to rid herself of the “imposter syndrome” that kept nagging at her following her all-around gold in Tokyo and the health issues that pushed her to the verge of quitting over and over again. Chiles and Carey to put the Americans back on top after ceding the top of the podium to Russia.

    The group checked every box. The U.S. won eight of 18 possible medals, including four for Biles to boost her Olympic total to 11, tied for the second most ever by a women’s gymnast in the history of the event.

    Yet just as important as the results was the process they took to get there. There was pressure but there was also joy in abundance for the oldest team the Americans have ever brought to the Games, a team that has dubbed itself “The Golden Girls.”

    “It’s been so much fun,” Carey said. “And I think so many have seen that, that we’re just having fun out there. And I think that’s bringing out the best gymnastics from us.”

    ‘We did it’

    A decade ago, the core four would be heading off into retirement while the next wave of prodigies came along. It says something about the rapidly shifting demographics on the floor and the rising interest in women’s gymnastics at large that not one of them — Biles included — has made any firm decisions about their future.

    Biles nudged the door toward Los Angeles 2028 open when she said over the weekend “never say never.” Lee, still just 21, is taking time before weighing her options. Carey and Chiles will join Biles on her post-Olympic tour and have college eligibility remaining.

    No one is in a hurry. Biles in particular. She chastised the media for pressing about the future so soon after the biggest moment of athletes’ lives. For a long time — for too long, in hindsight — she fixated on what’s next.

    No longer. She was intent on soaking in her third Olympics. Of enjoying it. And she did, from the first pressure-packed rotation in qualifying to that moment with Chiles and Andrade, when the last of the weight she’s been carrying for years lifted off her shoulders, perhaps for good.

    “There’s nothing left,” Biles said. “We did our job, you know what I’m saying? So yeah, it was hard, but we did it.”

    __

    AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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  • A wind turbine is damaged off Nantucket Island. Searchers are combing beaches for debris

    A wind turbine is damaged off Nantucket Island. Searchers are combing beaches for debris

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    NANTUCKET, Mass. (AP) — Offshore wind developers have sent teams to search for debris on the beaches of Nantucket Island, a popular summer tourist destination, after one of their turbine blades suffered damage.

    Vineyard Wind said Tuesday it is mobilizing teams on Nantucket to recover debris on south-facing beaches. The development said a “blade damage incident” took place Saturday.

    Vineyard Wind said it’s also working with the U.S. Coast Guard to maintain a safety zone of 500 meters (1,640 feet) around the affected offshore turbine. It said that the debris consists of nontoxic fiberglass fragments and that any washing ashore will be pieces of one square foot or less.

    “Vineyard Wind is fully committed to a swift and safe recovery of all debris, with an unwavering focus on community safety and environmental protection,” it said in a statement.

    Vineyard Wind is a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and said no personnel or third parties were near the turbine when the damage occurred. It said in a statement that blade manufacturer and installation contractor GE “will now be conducting the analysis into the root cause of the incident.”

    The development’s massive wind turbines began sending electricity to the grid this past winter. It said it will deploy trained individuals to collect the debris for the next several days.

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