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Why it’s important to help kids who identify as LGBTQ+ and may be struggling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

Deb Balzer | Mayo Clinic News Network (TNS)It’s not uncommon for teens to experience mental health issues like anxiety. It’s believed 1 in 5 young people experiences some type of mental health issue during their teen years. For LGBTQ+ youth, the statistics are alarming. A recent national survey showed 41% expressed serious suicidal ideation.Dr. Marcie Billings, a Mayo Clinic pediatrician, says these kids need support. It can be as simple as listening.If the teen in your life identifies as LGBTQ+ and decides to share that information, Dr. Billings asks parents to lend an ear as an important first step.“When they decide that they want to talk about it, I think that that initial response is really setting the tone for further discussion and being able to reach out to others,” says Dr. Billings. “So, if and when that teen opens up and reaches out, keeping that ear open, really listening, sitting down making time for their conversation and their concerns....

Movie review: ‘The Blackening’ a cutting satire of horror tropes that’s light on scares

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

Katie Walsh | Tribune News ServiceHorror-comedy “The Blackening” started as a way to skewer a tired trope: the frequency with which Black characters are killed first in horror movies. Though this cliché has been called out frequently by horror fans and Black audiences, here it serves as the entire premise for a feature film, posing a provocative question: if all the characters in the horror movie are Black, who dies first?A 2018 Comedy Central sketch by the comedy group 3PEAT was the proof of concept for “The Blackening,” and the video, in which a group of friends debate “who’s the Blackest?” while a psycho killer stalks at the door, went viral. For the feature, the star and writer of the sketch, comedian and Emmy-nominated TV writer Dewayne Perkins partnered with writer/producer Tracy Oliver (“Girls Trip”) and director Tim Story (“Barbershop”) to expand the idea to feature length. Perkins also stars as Dewayne, one of the central members of a group of tight-knit college friends who...

Diversity study finds percentage of Black MLB players at another record low

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

By AARON BEARD (AP Sports Writer)An annual study reviewing diversity hiring for Major League Baseball reported a record low of Black players on opening day rosters for the second straight year.Thursday’s report card from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at Central Florida issued an overall grade of C-plus, with a B for racial hiring and a C for gender hiring. The report examined a range of positions at MLB’s headquarters and within franchises using data collected by the league from March shortly before the start of the 2023 season.Those grades were similar to the previous year, when the league had a B-minus overall, a B for race and a C-plus for gender. But the study found Black players represented just 6.2% of players on opening day rosters, down from last year’s previous record low of 7.2%. Both figures are the lowest recorded in the study since it began in 1991, when 18% of MLB players were Black.TIDES director and lead study author Richard Lapchi...

9 survivors arrested as hope fades for migrants aboard boat that sank near Greece

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

KALAMATA, Greece (AP) — Nine survivors of a migrant boat sinking were arrested Thursday on suspicion of smuggling as hope faded for hundreds of other passengers who were missing and attention turned to Greece’s failure to act before the overcrowded ship capsized.The trawler may have carried as many as 750 passengers, including women and children who were likely trapped in the hold as the vessel overturned and went down early Wednesday. That could make the sinking one of the deadliest ever in the central Mediterranean Sea.A huge search-and-rescue operation initially recovered 78 bodies and picked up 104 survivors — all men and boys. But no more have been found.Meanwhile, Greek authorities were criticized for not acting to rescue the migrants, even though a coast guard vessel escorted the trawler for hours and watched helplessly as it sank in minutes. Greek officials argued that the migrants repeatedly refused assistance and insisted on continuing to Italy, but legal experts sai...

Stock market today: Wall Street jumps, and its winning streak kicks into a higher gear

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is rallying Thursday, and its long winning streak kicked into a higher gear following a mixed set of reports on the economy.The S&P 500 was 1.4% higher in late trading, touching its highest level since April 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 453 points, or 1.3%, at 34,433 with less than an hour remaining in trading, while the Nasdaq composite was 1.4% higher.Homebuilder Lennar helped lead the S&P 500 with a gain of 4.5% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than expected. It also gave a stronger-than-expected forecast for upcoming deliveries, saying customers are accepting the “new normal” of higher interest rates. The stock market is still absorbing the Federal Reserve’s warning from a day earlier that it could raise interest rates two more times this year in its battle against inflation. It’s already hiked its benchmark rate to the highest level since 2007, which has helped slow inflation somewhat but has...

Critics blast Georgia’s plan to delay software updates on its voting machines

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Critics of Georgia’s plan to wait until after next year’s presidential election to install a software update to address security flaws on the state’s voting equipment called that irresponsible, saying the machines would be left open to attack.The vulnerabilities in the Dominion Voting Systems equipment were identified by an expert witness in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Georgia’s election system. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, last year published an advisory based on those findings that urges election officials to take steps to mitigate the risks “as soon as possible.”Georgia election officials say they’re doing just that. But the time and labor required to install the latest Dominion software makes it unrealistic to do it before the 2024 election cycle, they say. They insist the state’s elections are secure.University of Michigan computer scientist J. Alex Halderman spent 12 we...

York police update officer’s condition after crash involving Canada Post truck

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

York Regional Police (YRP) have updated the condition of an officer in hospital after being involved in a serious collision with a Canada Post truck on Wednesday.Emergency crews responded to a collision on Steeles Avenue near Highway 404 around 2:40 a.m.Police said a Canada Post truck struck a parked York Regional Police cruiser after an officer had completed a traffic stop involving another vehicle. The on-duty officer was back in his vehicle when it was rear-ended by the mail truck.A male officer, the lone occupant in the cruiser, was taken to hospital with serious injuries. The injuries were later upgraded to life-threatening.A York Regional Police spokesperson said the officer’s condition has improved, and he is now stable.“He remains in hospital receiving treatment for his injuries. On behalf of the officer’s family and our members, we thank the community and our partners for their ongoing support,” YRP said.No other injuries were reported in the crash. ...

How to end an epic love story like ‘Outlander’? Take the time to do it right, says its stars

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

“Outlander” stars Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan are grateful for the gift of time. The show returns for its seventh season Friday with an eighth season on the horizon that will be its last.Balfe says there was a time when the powers that be considered wrapping up the epic in a truncated seventh season.“There was a conversation where it might have wrapped up in two episodes in season seven, and that just didn’t feel like the right way to do things,” she said. Instead, there are 16 episodes in season seven and season eight will have 10.“We’re just happy that we also get the opportunity to actually come back and have one more stab at it,” added Heughan.Balfe and Heughan star as Claire and Jamie Fraser, who meet in season one after Claire, a British nurse, encounters a set of magic stones while visiting Scotland that transport her from the post-World War II era to the 1800s when Scotland and England are at war. Claire begrudgingly marries Jamie, a Highland warrior and the ...

Prosecutor: Richard Allen 'confessed 5 or 6 times' to Delphi murders

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

DELPHI, Ind. – Prosecutor Nick McLeland said in court Thursday that Richard Allen "confessed five or six times" that he killed best friends Abby Williams and Libby German on remote historic trail in Delphi in February 2017. "He made multiple confessions to multiple people," McLeland said on Thursday. Richard Allen's defense attorney acknowledged "incriminating statements" made by Allen but attributed the comments to his client's deteriorating mental state."He has made incriminating statements implicating himself in the crime," said Allen's defense attorney, Bradley Rozzi. Defense attorneys and prosecutors made arguments in court Thursday about statements previously made by Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen, including the reported "confessions" of the murders.A trial date was also set for early January 2024. Allen faces two counts of murder in the February 2017 deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German.Allen, looking gaunt, appeared in court Thursday in a yellow jumpsuit. During the...

One year on from record highs, how much have gas prices fallen in Texas?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Gas prices in Texas have dropped more than $1.50 since record highs set a year ago today.On June 15, 2022, a gallon of regular unleaded gas in Texas cost an average of $4.70. Today, the statewide average is $3.14, a drop of $1.56, according to AAA data. That's a decrease of 33%. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Texas sets new statewide record for gas prices Drivers in El Paso are paying the most at the pump, with an average of $3.39 per gallon. San Angelo has the cheapest gas currently, at $2.95 a gallon. The McAllen and Brownsville metro areas also have averages at or below $3 a gallon.The map below shows average prices in metro areas across Texas. The darker the red, the higher the price. Why some Texas towns pay so much more for gas There are several factors that can explain why some cities see higher gas prices than others. AAA says individual retailers set their own prices, so local supply and demand can cause prices to fluctuate. Distribution costs also factor in, as wel...