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Tornado Watch for parts of Middle Georgia wgxa.tv
SHINNSTON — The Tygarts Valley Middle School varsity girls defeated Lincoln, 20-18, on Thursday.
Sarah Defibaugh had 12 points for the Lady Bulldogs. Kailen Yokum, Emily Smith, Briella Arbogast and Alyssa Swecker had two points each.
Aundrea Rockwell had eight points for Lincoln.
Tygarts Valley will play Robert L. Bland on Wednesday in the Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School tourney.
One of the biggest question marks surrounding the 2022 St. Louis Cardinals is how they will handle their middle infield. 2021 ushered in Tommy Edman’s first full season at second base, and the club overcame the struggles of Paul DeJong and streaky Edmundo Sosa at the shortstop position. But how will the club utilize their talent at second base and short stop in the New Year?
Going into the 2021 season, the Cardinals rolled the dice and allowed fan favorite Kolten Wong to sign with the Brewers, dawning a new era in the Cardinals middle infield. Edman, who replaced him at second base, showed no regression defensively, taking the 2021 Gold Glove award. While it may seem obvious that Edman would remain the club’s everyday second baseman, there are two questions that may prompt some creativity from manager Oli Marmol’s lineup construction.
The first surrounds the shortstop position. After an All-Star appearance in 2019 where he clubbed over 30 home runs and doubles respectively, DeJong has followed that up with two disappointing seasons at the plate. DeJong defenders can point to a pandemic shortened 2020 and injury riddled 2021 as to blame, but it is fair to question the front office’s confidence in a player who has not produced the last two seasons.
DeJong face internal competition in 2021 though, as Edmundo Sosa took the added playing time to turn in some solid splits (.262/.338/.402) while providing a spark to the bottom of the lineup down the stretch. Having Sosa as safety net provides a bit of optimism for the shortstop position, but it would be surprising if both DeJong and Sosa don’t have short leashes with the up and coming talent St. Louis has in the minors.
Which brings me to my next point. Where does top prospect Nolan Gorman fits into the equation? Gorman boasts a bat loaded with potential and will likely make the Opening Day roster or debut very early in the season. After acquiring Nolan Arenado last offseason, Gorman spent the 2021 season as a second baseman, making him an immediate option for the Cardinals at second or DH this coming season.
The Cardinals should be eager to get him into the lineup, as he boasts left-handed power that the club has been missing in recent years. But with Arenado holding down third and Edman currently at second, as well as the DH being a likely destination for Juan Yepez, the club will need to be intentional about getting Gorman at bats.
The most likely scenario for the 2022 Cardinals is DeJong and Sosa splitting time at shortstop and Edman back at second to begin the year. While this may be frustrating to fans, it seems like the safest bet based on how the club has been operating.
By the time late summer rolls around though, it seems very likely that the Cardinals best, and maybe even everyday lineup, will see Edman shift over to shortstop and Gorman slide in at second base. While it may seem odd to move the position of a Gold Glover, the value of Gorman’s bat at second base is far too promising to stifle if he is as good as advertised.
This may make one of Edmundo Sosa or Paul DeJong expendable by midseason. With how Brendan Donovan broke out in 2021, you may even see him knock one of these guys off the roster before a trade could even occur.
The best case scenario for St. Louis is a bounce back season from DeJong and continued development from their other infielders, but the club has many different pieces they can tinker with depending on how the season goes. There is a world where this patience with roster construction pays huge dividends for the club, but you may also see a frustrating summer of rotating pieces until some of them click.
While there is still a chance the club could acquire a shortstop before the season begins, it appears much more likely that we will see another season of musical chairs down the middle.
ORANGE — Bobbie Miller started her career more than a half-century ago, when bell bottoms were all the rage and Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” topped the charts.
A lot has changed in the world since then, but some things haven’t: kids themselves, Miller said, and Miller’s unwavering dedication to helping them, her colleagues attest.
“Times and the world have changed, but kids remain the same. They face the same issues, the same problems,” Miller said.
A school counselor known as the “heart and soul” of Amity Middle School Orange, Miller is retiring in her 52nd year after a career that began in 1970 as a teacher at West Haven High School.
“Her impact on the community is immeasurable,” said longtime colleague Sarah Sharkey, a seventh-grade reading teacher at Amity Middle School. “Bobbie has a unique ability to understand middle school students and also to gain their trust as a confidant. Bobbie is truly the heart and soul of the building.”
Hailed as an “extraordinary” leader, mentor, counselor, colleague, advocate and friend, Miller graduated from West Haven High School in 1966 and became a history teacher there four years later. She was there for five years before a shift in the grade system sent her to that city’s Bailey Middle School for another six years.
Although she adored teaching, Miller realized after 11 years, “the most satisfaction I got was when students came to talk about family, friends.”
Miller went back to school and became a guidance counselor, now called a school counselor, and after working at a vocational school in New Haven for five years was hired at Amity 36 years ago.
She has counseled thousands, including generations of some families.
“It’s been a privilege to work with so many families. It’s been a passion, a life’s passion,” Miller said. “Sometimes there are challenging days, but I can honestly say from the beginning to now, I love my job. … I really don’t want to retire. I could keep on going.” She is retiring for personal reasons.
While some perceive that middle-school age to be most difficult, Miller is one of those who loves that challenging stage because, she said, it’s a pivotal time in development.
“I found I could have the most effect on them personally,” she said, as they still are forming values and, “they’re still able to do preventative work.”
Despite the changes in technology and society, the issues for the age group remain the same, she said: they’re searching for themselves, they are facing peer relationships, they’re developing values, undergoing personal growth.
And above all, developing coping skills to carry them through whatever challenges life brings.
“Developing coping skills was necessary in the ’70s and its necessary today. … Who would have thought with this pandemic it’s the coping skills that are the key,” Miller said. “The world has changed, but learning how to cope with the world hasn’t changed. Same process with different challenges.”
Parent Erika Higgins sang Miller’s praises for helping her son deal with difficulties transitioning from elementary school to seventh grade last year during the pandemic.
“She made a world of difference in his experience,” Higgins said. “She listens and has a caring way about her. She’s also a problem solver and takes initiative. ... She has been nothing but wonderful to myself and my son.”
Miller has an uncanny way of gaining the trust of students, parents and colleagues and it starts with this: “If someone wants to say something confidential, I say, ‘It’s in the vault,”’ Miller said, meaning locked up, never to be shared with another.
“A lot of trust comes from students and families knowing there’s no judgment. The more trust you have, the more work you can do with students. They listen if they trust you,” Miller said. “Once they know you, they come in and share on their own — that is the prize.”
It’s important to show respect for the kids, as well, she said.
“Trust and respect go hand in hand,” she said.
Miller said one has to “prove yourself” to gain trust, and colleagues said she does that time and again.
“For me the biggest honor for me is to have someone’s trust,” Miller said.
Longtime Amity Middle School Orange colleague Jennifer Bshara, a reading consultant, said parents and colleagues could go to “the vault” — Miller’s office — as well. What was said there, stayed there.
“Her counseling was so far reaching. She was always willing to lend an ear. We all knew we could go to the vault,” Bshara said. Miller’s retirement is “a loss.”
She said while Miller is “sensitive and compassionate,” she also has an “unparalleled sense of humor” and can be a prankster.
Amity Middle School Orange Principal Kathy Burke said that while she was happy that Miller will have more time with her family, her retirement will leave a “huge void.”
“Bobbie’s ability to build strong, trusting relationships with students, parents and colleagues have contributed to her success as a school counselor,” Burke said. “She has been an invaluable resource helping countless students and families navigate middle school.”
Miller said being a teacher in those early years helped her as a counselor “because I can see all sides” of the classroom “dynamic.”
Miller said when she came to work at Amity 36 years ago, she thought, “Maybe I’ll work 15 more years.” But after those 15 years she kept saying, “I’ll keep working one more year because I love it.”
Miller’s last day of school was Thursday and there were lots of tears in the days leading up to it.
“From the bottom of my heart I know that our building will never face a greater loss,” Sharkey said.
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Record-high temperatures blanket middle of US over Christmas The Independent
Ricardo Ruiz, 36, of Clearlake was taken into custody on Thursday evening in Brea.
He was arrested on felony charges of contacting a minor to commit a felony, arranging to meet with a minor for a lewd purpose and meeting with a minor for a lewd purpose, said Lt. Tony Barbosa of Brea Police Department.
Ruiz did not, however, actually meet a minor. Rather, he had been chatting online with an adult posing as a young teenage girl as part of a sting operation conducted by a private group called CC Unit.
Ruiz set up a meeting with the decoy and was in Brea to meet her when he was taken into custody.
Lakeport Unified School District Superintendent Matt Bullard confirmed to Lake County News that Ruiz is a district employee.
Bullard said Ruiz has been the Terrace Middle School physical education teacher since August.
CC Unit’s founder, who identified himself as “Ghost” to protect his anonymity and future operations, said his group never makes first contact with an individual.
He said Ruiz contacted the decoy through a messenger app on the night of Nov. 22 and over the course of their interactions arranged to meet her this week, over the winter break.
During their ongoing chats, Ruiz said he was 27 years old and “said a bunch of graphic stuff” of a sexual nature, Ghost said.
Ghost said he confronted Ruiz when he showed up for the planned meeting at a Target store in a shopping center in Brea on Thursday.
Barbosa said Brea Police Department was not working with CC Unit, but was notified that it was doing a recording of a sting operation at the Gateway Shopping Center.
Ghost explained that he livestreamed himself confronting Ruiz at the store. He said his group didn’t call police, adding he believed it was a livestream viewer who called them.
Officers took Ruiz into custody in the shopping center parking lot, Barbosa said.
Late Friday afternoon, Bullard sent out a letter to parents about the situation, explaining that the Brea Police Department had notified the district of Ruiz’s arrest.
“The District’s primary concern is the safety of our students, employees, and greater school community. As such, we will fully participate with all law enforcement investigations. Unfortunately, in order to preserve the integrity of the investigation, we are unable to provide any additional information,” Bullard wrote.
“LUSD has been in contact with law enforcement and its legal counsel and will immediately implement a local investigation into the conduct and behavior of the teacher in question. This investigation will be partnered with immediate steps that will ensure the safety of our student body and school community,” Bullard’s letter continued.
Ruiz was immediately placed on leave status and will not be at Terrace Middle School when students return on Monday, Jan. 3, Bullard said.
Bullard asked parents to report any incidents or concerns involving Ruiz to the district office.
Ruiz, who was booked into the Theo Lacy Facility jail complex in Orange County following his arrest, was released from custody just before 5 p.m. Friday, online jail records showed.
CC Unit’s operations have resulted in one other arrest in Brea, Barbosa confirmed.
Separately, Ghost said their stings, which began in 2018, have led to numerous arrests and some convictions in other parts of the state.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
District Letter Re_ TMS Teacher by LakeCoNews on Scribd
Forecast high temperatures Friday
NOAA
We’re heading into the Christmas week holiday travel season.
Overall travel weather looks pretty good across Minnesota and the Upper Midwest through Christmas Day. In fact, a Christmas Eve warm front will make it feel more like Thanksgiving weekend in central and southern Minnesota.
Let’s highlight some temperatures and potential snow times through this weekend.
A minor clipper will bring some light snow to northern Minnesota late Wednesday and Thursday. This system looks to target far northern Minnesota with light snow. Some areas will pick up an inch or two from Hallock in the northwest corner of Minnesota, through Roseau, International Falls, the Iron Range and the North Shore.
NOAA’s GFS model paints the light snow zone from midnight Wednesday through Thursday.
NOAA GFS model Thursday.
NOAA GFS model Thursday
Yet another push of unseasonably mild air rides north on Christmas Eve. North of the warm front, there will be a few rain and snow showers across northern Minnesota. South of the front, temperatures will push into the 40s once again across southern Minnesota. I won’t be shocked if some towns hit 50 degrees along the Interstate 90 corridor Friday afternoon.
Forecast high temperatures Friday.
NOAA
The Christmas Day snow chance that popped up on the forecast models Tuesday looks weaker today. A chance of light snow appears likely for much of central and southern Minnesota Saturday.
NOAA GFS model Saturday.
NOAA via tropical tidbits
Highs will be more typical, with the 20s across most of Minnesota on Christmas Day.
Forecast high temperatures Saturday.
NOAA
Right now Sunday travel weather looks drama-free.
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OAK HILL, WV (WOAY) – A “mission to Mars”–that’s the STEM project Oak Hill Middle and Midland Trail High School’s higher-order thinking classes have been launching together over the past nine weeks.
Now, they’re wrapping up their hard work and seeing how well their rovers are doing as they make their way across a re-created Mars surface.
“The students researched, designed, constructed, launched, and landed a spacecraft to carry their “rovers” to Mars,” says Lynette Farr, the Higher-Order Thinking Skills teacher at Oak Hill Middle School.
But their work didn’t stop there; the students then had to construct surface maps and write computer programs to navigate the bumpy Mars terrain. This presented them with similar kinds of challenges real-life rocket scientists face as they take on the red planet.
“It allows us to incorporate skills that we need to teach in our classroom anyways, but in such a real-world way,” Kennedy Moore says, the Higher-Order Thinking Skills teacher at Midland Trail High School.
“As we talk about the landing of the rover on Mars last February, then they’re able to practice those skills in a smaller scale in their own classroom,” she says.
Beyond the many skills the students are gaining from the experience, they also enjoy simply getting a chance to work together and see their project come to life.
“It was just a very fun project, imagining just what struggles we were having in class to try and work around the stuff, the struggles in Mars would be crazy,” says Natalie, an Oak Hill Middle School student participating in the project.
The students even got to virtually talk with an actual NASA educational specialist, adding to the real-life kind of Mars mission the students were given a chance to complete.
This was the first collaborative project staff and students at Midland Trail High and Oak Hill Middle Schools came together to do. They plan on doing more projects together again in the near future.
She competed at the cub level with Amazon Grimstad FK for three and a half years. Pettersen also competed with Vaag FK.
"Emma is another great addition to our forward line," said coach Rhoden. "She is a very versatile forward and will be a threat to opponents due to her strength, speed, and attacking mentality. She is good in the air and a very composed finisher in and outside the box."
đȘđČđčđ°đŒđșđČ đđŒ đđ”đČ 'đđŒđżđŒ, đđșđșđź! ⚡️
✍️ » Emma Pettersen
— MT Soccer (@MT_Soccer) December 6, 2021
⚽ » Forward
đ » Kristiansand, Norway
đ » Kristiansand Katedralskole Gimle#BlueRaiders | #MT pic.twitter.com/vaa0IQ05pB
Yana Yordanova
M/D | 5-7 | Kyustendil, Bulgaria | 55 SOU Petko Karavelov
Yordanova, a native of Kyustendil, Bulgaria, joins the Blue Raiders from 55 SOU Petko Karavelov. In addition to soccer, she also competed in volleyball during her high school career.
Yordanova was named a best athlete from 2019-2021. She was also a four-time school champion in Bulgaria. In the classroom, Yordanova received a first-place honor in math during the spring and winter competitions in 2020-21. She also received a second-place honor in 2019 and a first-place accolade in 2021 for history.
In addition to her high school career, Yordanova competed with NSA from 2017-2021, after playing with FC Sportica during 2016-17 and FC Kyustendil from 2011-2016. She is an 18-time Bulgarian cup champion, has participated in the Bulgarian Championship 17 times, and qualified for the UEFA Women's Champions League eight times. Yordanova received the Best Midfielder award two times on the U17 national team and was her U17 national team's top scorer and was named a team captain. Yordanova was a three-time top scorer during the Christmas tournament in 2017-19.
"Yana is another versatile player capable of playing anywhere on the left," expressed coach Rhoden. "She has incredible pace, vison, work rate, and is an attacking threat from deep positions. Her extensive experience at the youth national team level and in high level matches will be an asset for us."
đȘđČđčđ°đŒđșđČ đđŒ đđ”đČ 'đđŒđżđŒ, đŹđźđ»đź! ⚡
✍️ » Yana Yordanova
— MT Soccer (@MT_Soccer) December 20, 2021
⚽ » Midfielder/Defender
đ » Kyustendil, Bulgaria
đ » 55 SOU Petko Karavelov#BlueRaiders | #MT pic.twitter.com/tY38duiYHN
Megan Carroll
M | 5-3 | Maryville, Tenn. | Maryville High School
Carroll, from Maryville, Tennessee, joins the Blue Raiders from Maryville High School.
During her time as a Red Rebel, Carroll was named All-State twice, earned All-Region three times, and was named to All-District all four years of her high school career. Carroll also graduated with distinction.
She also competed with the ECNL club FC Alliance for four years from 2019-2022.
"Megan is a fierce competitor and a box-to-box midfielder with the ability to score goals," said coach Rhoden. "Her awareness and vision allow her to bring others in the game while creating scoring opportunities for herself. Megan will allow us to play out of several different setup in the midfield."
đȘđČđčđ°đŒđșđČ đđŒ đđ”đČ 'đđŒđżđŒ, đ đČđŽđźđ»! ⚡
✍️ » @7megancarroll
— MT Soccer (@MT_Soccer) December 20, 2021
⚽ » Midfielder
đ » Maryville, Tenn.
đ » Maryville High School#BlueRaiders | #MT pic.twitter.com/XZLsdm4bw1
FOLLOW THE BLUE RAIDERS
Follow Middle Tennessee Soccer on social media on Facebook (/MTSoccer), Twitter (MT_Soccer) and Instagram (MT_WSoccer).
Democrats have been left hoping that the West Virginian, who fashions himself as an old-school centrist dealmaker, will eventually budge on President Biden’s agenda.
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For months, it has been one of the biggest questions in Washington: What does Senator Joe Manchin want?
Mr. Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, fashions himself as an old-school centrist dealmaker, the sort of nearly extinct congressional species who hashes out deals over the bootleg moonshine he keeps stocked in unmarked Mason jars in his Senate office.
Like nearly all other senators who first served as a governor, he often bemoans the fact that he’s no longer a chief executive, with a security detail and the ability to make things happen on command. He created a former governors’ caucus in the Senate for like-minded colleagues and has often said his best day as a senator was worse than his worst day as governor.
Mr. Manchin, who was a quarterback at West Virginia University before injuries derailed his athletic career, enjoys the national spotlight and seeming nonstop attention from reporters, fellow senators and presidents too much to have sought a return to the Statehouse in Charleston.
The combination of his desire to make deals, create action and remain the center of political attention culminated over the weekend when he shocked Democrats, the White House and journalists with his announcement — on “Fox News Sunday” — that he would not support President Biden’s social policy agenda, a $2.2 trillion spending bill known as the Build Back Better Act that has served as the primary vehicle for his party’s agenda for 2021 and 2022.
Like his centrist Democratic colleague Kyrsten Sinema, who has also built a carefully crafted image as a senator who wants to get things done, Mr. Manchin finds himself at the center of competing priorities. He is the primary roadblock to the centerpiece of Biden’s domestic agenda, but as the deciding vote in a 50-50 Senate he is also the central figure with the power to create action.
As long as that’s the case, an unending cascade of attention will follow from the White House, fellow congressional negotiators and reporters, who for weeks have trailed Mr. Manchin around the Capitol like a pack of hungry dogs.
To figure out whether Mr. Manchin’s “no” is really a “no,” or, as is often the case in Washington, a “not yet,” I called Jonathan Kott, who worked as Mr. Manchin’s conduit to the news media from 2012 to 2019 and is now a lobbyist deciphering the senator’s thoughts for corporate clients.
“Joe Manchin is always up for discussing ways to get to ‘yes’ and how to make a bill better,” Mr. Kott told me. “It’s who he is. He’s a governor at heart. It’s how he negotiated with the State Legislature in West Virginia. I don’t know what the status of this bill is, but I know that Joe Manchin is always open to negotiations in honest and straightforward ways.”
So what, I asked, does that mean for the status of the Build Back Better legislation? What would Mr. Manchin agree to?
“He has told everybody what he wants,” Mr. Kott said. “Joe Manchin is pretty upfront and honest about what he wants, and he’s been saying it for six months.”
Indeed, unlike Ms. Sinema, who went silent before taking a public victory lap after Mr. Biden signed the infrastructure bill last month, Mr. Manchin is a regular talker in the Senate hallways and a fixture on the Sunday talk shows.
On Monday morning, he spent 15 minutes talking to Hoppy Kercheval, whose call-in radio show in West Virginia is perhaps the best gauge of the state’s politics.
There, Mr. Manchin lamented the very public pressure campaign to get him to agree to the social policy legislation and laid out in some detail why he remained opposed to it. He’s concerned about the national debt and spending, the senator said, and wants benefits like the federal child tax credit targeted to the poor and the middle class, rather than to all Americans.
(It is worth noting that proponents of the tax credit for all say inserting an income cap will mean that the benefit won’t go to as many poor people as need it, and that work requirements would by their nature cut out millions of those in poverty who could otherwise be helped.)
The centerpiece of Biden’s domestic agenda. The sprawling $2.2 trillion spending bill aims to battle climate change, expand health care and bolster the social safety net. Here’s a look at some key provisions and how they might affect you:
Mr. Manchin said that pressure campaigns hadn’t worked on him, and that he wouldn’t change his mind.
“They figured, surely to God we can move one person, surely we can badger and beat one person up,” he told Mr. Kercheval. “Surely we can get enough protesters to make that person uncomfortable enough that they’ll say, ‘Well, I’ll just vote for anything, just quit.’ Well, guess what? I’m from West Virginia.”
So what’s next?
Both Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, and Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, offered a sunny outlook, saying that they didn’t believe negotiations with Mr. Manchin were over. The White House, despite an extraordinary statement on Sunday that effectively called Mr. Manchin a liar, didn’t pull the plug, either. “Senator Manchin and I are going to get something done,” Biden said Tuesday.
I asked Mr. Kott if there was any reason to believe that there could be a future for Build Back Better. His answer seemed to be one of education — both for Democrats trying to understand what Mr. Manchin wants and for Mr. Manchin himself, if he does hope to be the guy who can make a deal, and a big one at that.
“I don’t ever say anything is dead in Washington,” Mr. Kott said. “But when he says, ‘I can’t go home and I can’t explain this to West Virginia,’ that’s a serious line from him. He means that.”
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Is there anything you think we’re missing? Anything you want to see more of? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at onpolitics@nytimes.com.
She competed at the cub level with Amazon Grimstad FK for three and a half years. Pettersen also competed with Vaag FK.
"Emma is another great addition to our forward line," said coach Rhoden. "She is a very versatile forward and will be a threat to opponents due to her strength, speed, and attacking mentality. She is good in the air and a very composed finisher in and outside the box."
đȘđČđčđ°đŒđșđČ đđŒ đđ”đČ 'đđŒđżđŒ, đđșđșđź! ⚡️
✍️ » Emma Pettersen
— MT Soccer (@MT_Soccer) December 6, 2021
⚽ » Forward
đ » Kristiansand, Norway
đ » Kristiansand Katedralskole Gimle#BlueRaiders | #MT pic.twitter.com/vaa0IQ05pB
Yana Yordanova
M/D | 5-7 | Kyustendil, Bulgaria | 55 SOU Petko Karavelov
Yordanova, a native of Kyustendil, Bulgaria, joins the Blue Raiders from 55 SOU Petko Karavelov. In addition to soccer, she also competed in volleyball during her high school career.
Yordanova was named a best athlete from 2019-2021. She was also a four-time school champion in Bulgaria. In the classroom, Yordanova received a first-place honor in math during the spring and winter competitions in 2020-21. She also received a second-place honor in 2019 and a first-place accolade in 2021 for history.
In addition to her high school career, Yordanova competed with NSA from 2017-2021, after playing with FC Sportica during 2016-17 and FC Kyustendil from 2011-2016. She is an 18-time Bulgarian cup champion, has participated in the Bulgarian Championship 17 times, and qualified for the UEFA Women's Champions League eight times. Yordanova received the Best Midfielder award two times on the U17 national team and was her U17 national team's top scorer and was named a team captain. Yordanova was a three-time top scorer during the Christmas tournament in 2017-19.
"Yana is another versatile player capable of playing anywhere on the left," expressed coach Rhoden. "She has incredible pace, vison, work rate, and is an attacking threat from deep positions. Her extensive experience at the youth national team level and in high level matches will be an asset for us."
đȘđČđčđ°đŒđșđČ đđŒ đđ”đČ 'đđŒđżđŒ, đŹđźđ»đź! ⚡
✍️ » Yana Yordanova
— MT Soccer (@MT_Soccer) December 20, 2021
⚽ » Midfielder/Defender
đ » Kyustendil, Bulgaria
đ » 55 SOU Petko Karavelov#BlueRaiders | #MT pic.twitter.com/tY38duiYHN
Megan Carroll
M | 5-3 | Maryville, Tenn. | Maryville High School
Carroll, from Maryville, Tennessee, joins the Blue Raiders from Maryville High School.
During her time as a Red Rebel, Carroll was named All-State twice, earned All-Region three times, and was named to All-District all four years of her high school career. Carroll also graduated with distinction.
She also competed with the ECNL club FC Alliance for four years from 2019-2022.
"Megan is a fierce competitor and a box-to-box midfielder with the ability to score goals," said coach Rhoden. "Her awareness and vision allow her to bring others in the game while creating scoring opportunities for herself. Megan will allow us to play out of several different setup in the midfield."
đȘđČđčđ°đŒđșđČ đđŒ đđ”đČ 'đđŒđżđŒ, đ đČđŽđźđ»! ⚡
✍️ » @7megancarroll
— MT Soccer (@MT_Soccer) December 20, 2021
⚽ » Midfielder
đ » Maryville, Tenn.
đ » Maryville High School#BlueRaiders | #MT pic.twitter.com/XZLsdm4bw1
FOLLOW THE BLUE RAIDERS
Follow Middle Tennessee Soccer on social media on Facebook (/MTSoccer), Twitter (MT_Soccer) and Instagram (MT_WSoccer).
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LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - We have a weak cold front pushing into the region later today and this will bring a quick shot of cold air for the middle of the week. The next front following that packs more of a punch and that means Santa will have a windy and wet sleigh ride into Kentucky.
Today’s front has no moisture to work with for most of the region, but there’s a slight chance for a few flakes to fly across eastern Kentucky late tonight and early Wednesday.
This front knocks our numbers back down into the 30s for highs Wednesday. Wind chills during this time are much colder and will reach the teens over the next few mornings.
The setup after this is for temps to climb through Christmas Eve as we get ready for a gusty cold front to drop in from the northwest. Gusts of 40mph will be possible to give Santa a little bit of a rocky sleigh ride into town. Some showers will also accompany this system, but there’s now a question on if this front hangs around through the rest of Christmas Weekend.
It’s a busy setup into next week with several systems rolling across the state.
Copyright 2021 WKYT. All rights reserved.
When Harriet Tubman Middle School in Northeast Portland reopened in 2018, Portland Public Schools spent millions to alleviate air quality concerns from the school’s proximity to Interstate 5.
Three years later, those concerns are getting louder as conversations around expanding I-5 at the Rose Quarter ramp up.
So earlier this year, the board of Portland Public Schools pledged to partner with local and state leaders to “understand the environmental and health impacts of the freeway”. But if state leaders move forward with the freeway expansion, the board wants them to “accept the responsibility for the harm they have caused and mitigate the past and potential future harm to the health of students and staff at Harriet Tubman Middle School.”
In part, that means paying more than $100 million to move Tubman to a “safe, healthy location in Historic Albina.”
In order to appropriate that money to Portland Public, state leaders want to know where Tubman students will go instead. The district has two options: buy a new site for Tubman, or relocate to an existing school, an option that would require renovations — and potential displacement for a school community. But before PPS chooses the latter, some parents and other school constituents want to have their say.
That conversation started last week, during three meetings to talk about the “Future of Harriet Tubman Middle School.” One was virtual, and two were in-person — one at Tubman, another at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, one of four schools that feed into Tubman.
For King parents, including Tiffany Robinson, notice of the meeting raised worries that their campus could be among the options for Tubman’s new location.
“I don’t understand why we’re continuing to be a target,” said Robinson, who is also the PTA president at King. “I don’t know what other schools they have in mind, but I just think that these schools need to be untouched.”
At the time, there were no in-person meetings planned at Sabin, Irvington, or Boise-Eliot/Humbolt, the other three elementary schools that feed into Tubman — a fact King parents noted with concern. District officials have since scheduled meetings at Sabin, Boise-Eliot and Irvington for Jan. 5 and 6. The district has not made any decisions about a possible relocation site.
Traffic rumbles by on Interstate 5 near the back of Portland’s Harriet Tubman Middle School.
Jeff Mapes / OPB
Last Thursday, lunch tables at King filled up with parents, staff, and a few students, eager to hear the district’s plans. State Sen. Lew Frederick, D-Portland, who represents the area, and PPS board member Gary Hollands attended, along with a handful of district officials.
Families listened through the board’s overview of the relocation process. The district is considering one city-owned property, as well as district-owned land in the Albina neighborhood. Those seven district properties include King, Sabin Elementary, Irvington Elementary, Boise-Eliot/Humboldt Elementary, Tubman Middle School, Jefferson High School and the district office, on Northeast Broadway.
The district officials at the meeting — chief of staff Jonathan Garcia, chief operating officer Dan Jung and government relations director Courtney Westling — said they’re considering all of the properties. Board member Julia Brim-Edwards, who has been a part of the district team discussing the potential I-5 widening impact with state leaders, said there are “less than three” properties the district is considering.
In response to questions from King principal Teresa Seidel, Jung said the district office building and Jefferson High’s campus are not likely options for Tubman.
Jung also pointed out that the elementary schools are about “60% utilization.” The impact on current school populations is also noted in the district’s draft proposal to the state. “Enrollment forecasts suggest building capacity in the catchment area can support the student population after moving Harriet Tubman to another building in the Albina neighborhood,” according to the proposal.
After the district’s presentation, parents, students and a few staff members took turns at the mic. They asked district leaders pointed questions about equity and the board’s decision-making process. They also urged officials to take King out of the running.
“I love this school, please don’t shut it down,” said one student.
A few parents suggested alternate sites for Tubman, some on PPS grounds and some not. They included Whitaker, a middle school shut down years ago for containing dangerous levels of radon, Jefferson High School, the former Concordia University site (which district officials said is outside of the Tubman catchment area), and the Self Enhancement Inc. building (which is not owned by PPS).
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Parents and students also spoke about the generations of families who attended King, and its legacy and reputation among members of the Black community in Portland.
Robinson has strong ties to King. Her father attended King and was there when the school was renamed, from Highland Elementary to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary. She also worked in the school before serving as PTA president. One of her children attended King, and another is a second grader there now.
“We call this home,” Robinson said.
“...My dad said, ‘Having my grandkids go to the schools that I went to when I was younger is nothing but a dream, because a lot of things changed.’”
Tiffany Robinson (left) is PTA president at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary in Northeast Portland. She has a lot of ties to the school - her father went to King, and she worked at the school. One of her children attended King, and her other son (right) is a second grader there now.
Elizabeth Miller / OPB
While district officials stressed that no decision has been made, both historical and current context caused King families to be skeptical of the district.
Several families pointed out the district’s and even the city of Portland’s poor track record when it comes to supporting Black families — including the initial I-5 development that broke up the Albina community and gentrification that further pushes Black Portlanders out of the city.
“I don’t think that they should be using our predominantly African-American schools to try and fix some type of freeway, and add some type of freeway to our areas where we’ve already been gentrified all the way out to Gresham area,” Robinson said.
Environmental concerns related to Tubman’s proximity to I-5 have been discussed for years, even when the school reopened in 2018.
“I don’t believe that King should have to suffer for freeway expansion,” said King PTA vice president Tyler Brown.
One former Tubman student, a climate justice youth organizer with the Sunrise Movement, asked officials at Thursday’s meeting to put pressure on the Oregon Department of Transportation to do a more thorough environmental impact study on the freeway project.
District officials acknowledged that change is hard no matter what happens, but that they will seek more community input before the board makes a decision on a new site for Tubman.
“No decision will be made before February,” Garcia told families Thursday. In a follow up message to families who attended meetings last week, Garcia reiterated his point.
“As with any relocation and rebuild of a school, we have a long decision and planning schedule that stretches years; and as we indicated this week, these community sessions are the first of many,” he wrote.
At the same time, the district is facing an “extremely urgent” timeline in requesting funds from the state for the relocation. According to the district’s draft proposal to the state, cost estimates for a relocation range from $114 million to $168 million. Though the proposal has not been sent to state officials yet, the district plans to advocate for the money during the legislature’s short session in February.
But there seems to be a disconnect in how much information the state needs to know in advance of the February session.
Brim-Edwards said the state wants to know the proposed site for the location before it hands over the money.
“It would be difficult for them to appropriate money … without a site,” she said.
Portland Public Schools opened Harriet Tubman Middle School in fall 2018.
Rob Manning / OPB
But if the district wants more community engagement before making a decision, the holiday break presents a timing issue. The district will not actually continue its community engagement until Jan. 5, giving PPS leaders just four weeks to engage communities about closing one school and possibly displacing another.
At Thursday’s meeting, Frederick, the state senator, also shared that while Oregon has funds to spend on this relocation, it would be “difficult” for PPS to finish siting the project in such a short timeline.
As the conversations continue, King students, families and staff have committed to keeping their school as is, pledging to push the district to choose another site.
“We will fight like you have never seen,” said one staff member.
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For Cincinnati Bengals’ third-year linebacker Germaine Pratt, it’s always about the ball.
“He always say it’s about the ball,” Vonn Bell, one of the Bengals’ defensive captains, said recently. “He said ‘I woke up thinking about the ball.’”
And Pratt doesn’t just talk the talk. He walks the walk.
With his forced fumble and fumble recovery against the Chargers in Week 13, Pratt became the first Bengals’ linebacker in nearly 20 years to record multiple forced fumbles and recoveries in the same season.
“It’s all about the ball,” Pratt said. “Linebackers want to touch the ball, too.”
Since that Chargers’ game, Pratt has become everything the Bengals hoped he would be when they took him in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft out of North Carolina State.
That just happens to be the game that middle linebacker Logan Wilson went down with an injury that has kept him sidelined ever since. That was also the game Pratt finished as the highest-rated linebacker in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus, which awarded him an overall score of 90.6.
And PFF has not always been kind to Pratt. In Cincinnati’s Week 11 win against the Las Vegas Raiders, Pratt finished with the lowest grade among all Bengals’ starters (-25.8). In the Week 12 win against the Steelers, Pratt was given the lowest graded score for tackling and was charged with three missed tackles.
So far this season, Pratt has been credited with 52 solo tackles, 33 assists, 0.5 sacks and an interception to go along with his two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
Overall, Pratt grades out at 51.5, which places him 44th out of the 83 linebackers in the league who’ve received grades.
But since Wilson went down, Pratt has been a machine. In the last three games, he has recorded 33 total tackles, including 16 solos and 17 assists. He has been especially tough against the run, and his pass defense grade is remarkably similar to Wilson’s (52.3 to 54.3). It is in rushing the passer where he needs the most work, as evidenced by his grade of 41.2.
While Pratt may not have touched the ball Sunday against the Broncos, he did lay his hands on plenty of ball carriers. Pratt led the Bengals with 15 total tackles (nine solos and six assists) and was credited, along with fellow linebacker Markus Bailey, with the first sack of his career.
And, in addition to playing his heart out, Pratt has become the leader on the field for the defense, taking over Wilson’s role as the man with the headset who is responsible for relaying the calls to the rest of the defense.
“He’s like a coach on the field,” fellow linebacker Joe Bachie said. ”He’s the veteran of the group and our guys lean on him and G’s there to help everyone in the room.”
If the Bengals are going to make the playoffs, they will have to continue to rely on “coach” Pratt to be the man in the middle of it all.
FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – A Warren man pulled over in front of a Michigan State Police trooper to turn himself in for “shooting up” his apartment building, officials said.
Authorities said a trooper was working speed enforcement at 11:05 p.m. Friday (Dec. 17) along the shoulder of westbound I-696 near Farmington Road in Farmington Hills when a vehicle pulled over in front of him.
The driver of that vehicle was a 29-year-old Warren man who told the trooper he had just “shot up” his apartment and wanted to turn himself in, according to police.
Warren police found multiple bullet holes in the front door of the man’s home and investigated the incident. State police took the 29-year-old into custody and seized a firearm and a cellphone, authorities said.
The shooting investigation is being handled by Warren police. The 29-year-old man is being held at the Macomb County Jail on an outstanding MSP warrant, officials said.
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration and a voting-system manufacturer are trying to prevent Republican lawmakers from expanding what they call a “forensic investigation” of Pennsylvania’s 2020 election to a new front: inspecting voting machines.
It is another step driven by former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims about election fraud.
Lawyers for Wolf’s top election official, Veronica DeGraffenreid, asked a court late Friday afternoon to stop a digital data exchange scheduled for next Wednesday in southern Pennsylvania’s sparsely populated Fulton County.
The election equipment used in last year’s presidential election in the heavily Republican county has already been decertified by the state after Fulton County let a software company inspect the equipment. The firm — West Chester-based software company Wake TSI — was not federally accredited to inspect voting machines, and it later played a role in Republicans’ widely discredited partisan “audit” in Arizona.
Allowing a similarly unaccredited and inexperienced contractor hired by Pennsylvania’s Senate Republicans to obtain digital data from the equipment will spoil evidence in Fulton County’s lawsuit challenging the state’s decertification, lawyers for DeGraffenreid wrote in a court filing.
On Dec. 10, the investigating committee chair, Sen. Cris Dush, R-Jefferson, sent a letter requesting the “digital data” from the election computers and hardware used in the 2020 election by Fulton County.
Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems warned Fulton County that granting the Senate Republicans’ contractor access to its equipment to get the digital data violates their contract.
But Dominion — whose voting equipment has been at the center of some of the most feverish conspiracy theories about last year’s presidential election — said Fulton County has a backup copy of the data that it could simply provide without granting access to Dominion’s equipment.
However, a lawyer representing Fulton County, Tom King, said in an interview Saturday that digital election data is not only what Dush wants.
Rather, Dush wants the Senate Republicans’ contractor, Envoy Sage, to conduct a “forensic investigation” to determine if Dominion’s equipment used there was the same equipment as was certified by the state of Pennsylvania for use in last year’s election, King said.
“I think people simply want to know whether what was used in Fulton County was in fact the equipment that was certified for Dominion to supply in Pennsylvania or whether it wasn’t,” King said. “Whether it was or wasn’t is not clear to us at this point.”
King said a county commissioner who spoke with Dush told him that the thrust of the inquiry was about the Dominion equipment. Wake TSI’s inspection did not cover that, King said.
Voting systems that pass anti-tampering tests are certified by states. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission accredits labs to test voting machines and provides guidance to states on how to maintain a chain of custody over voting systems.
King said granting the request is allowed under the contract and that he views Envoy Sage as “highly qualified” to do the work. Separately, King also said that the exercise will not affect the court case or the state’s rights in court.
Court arguments were scheduled for Tuesday.
Trump and his allies have applied ongoing pressure in those battleground states where he lost to Democrat Joe Biden — including in Pennsylvania — for his allies to investigate ballots, voting machines and voter rolls for evidence to support their baseless claims about election fraud.
Dush — who has advocated for overturning Biden’s victory over Trump in Pennsylvania — did not say why he is seeking the access, or whether he is seeking similar access in other counties.
He did not return a message about it.
Dush has insisted the undertaking has nothing to do with Trump or trying to overturn last year’s presidential election, but rather is about fixing problems in the state’s elections.
In any case, analyzing voting machine data is not specifically outlined in the Senate Republicans’ $270,000 contract with Envoy Sage, raising the question of whether Trump-aligned groups are footing part of the bill, as they did in the Arizona undertaking.
Dush has said he wanted to bring the Arizona-style election “audit” to Pennsylvania.
Unlike in Arizona, a subpoena approved by Dush’s Republican-controlled state Senate committee to Pennsylvania election officials stopped short of demanding ballots and voting machines, and other counties have rebuffed less formal requests.
But in Fulton County, Dush has found a willing partner.
There, Trump won more than 85% of last year’s vote, according to official returns, and registered Republican voters outnumber Democrats by 7 to 2.
In post-election internal emails released through public records requests, Fulton County’s two Republican commissioners expressed solidarity with Republican senators who later sought to block Pennsylvania’s electoral votes from being cast for Biden. One wrote, “We can’t let this election get stolen.”
No prosecutor, judge or election board in Pennsylvania has raised a concern about widespread fraud in 2020’s election, and courts at all levels have rejected claims about fraud, irregularities and violations.
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Follow Marc Levy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/timelywriter.
