(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — A proposed Florida Board of Education rule could expand restrictions on classroom instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
“For grades 4 through 12, instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity is prohibited unless such instruction is either expressly required by state academic standards … or is part of a reproductive health course or health lesson for which a student’s parent has the option to have his or her student not attend,” according to the proposed rule.
This rule would build up on the Parental Rights in Education law Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in March 2022. The law bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. It states that any instruction on those topics cannot occur “in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards,” according to the legislation.
The law was dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law by critics, who said it aimed to shun LGBTQ identities from classroom content and discussion.
This rule, voted on by the seven-member board, coincides with other legislation being considered in the state legislature. HB 1223 would ban classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in pre-kindergarten through grade 8, and would not require any employee or student to refer to a another person using their “preferred personal title or pronouns” if it does not correspond to that person’s sex. The proposed legislation would also make it a statewide public school policy that “it is false to ascribe to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person’s sex.”
A hearing on the proposed board policy will be held on April 19 at the Florida State Capitol Complex.
(RICHMOND, Va.) — New video obtained by ABC News shows Irvo Otieno before his March 6 in-custody death being pulled from his Henrico County jail cell and pushed into the back of a police SUV for transport to Virginia’s Central State Hospital, where he died.
One view from the hallway shows seven deputies gathered outside Otieno’s cell, preparing to enter.
As the door is opened, all seven deputies can be seen rushing into the cell, one carrying a pair of pants over his shoulder, the only clothing Otieno appeared to be wearing when he later died.
A second camera view shows deputies appearing to struggle with Otieno inside the cell. One deputy appears to make downward striking motions with his arm in the direction of Otieno, according to the footage. The view, however, is partially obstructed.
Approximately 14 minutes later, Otieno is seen in the footage being dragged from his cell by deputies through the hallway and toward the police van he’ll be transported in as his pants begin to come off while he’s being pulled.
Deputies attempt to cover his mostly naked body with a blanket before his pants are pulled up, footage shows.
Otieno is eventually forced into the back of a police van, with deputies pulling him and others pushing him in.
The police car carrying Otieno exits the jail at 3:10 p.m.
Previously obtained footage later captures Otieno and the moment surrounding his death at the Virginia hospital.
That footage shows sheriff’s deputies and medical staff at the hospital carrying a handcuffed Otieno into a room and placing him on the floor.
The video shows Otieno being held down for nearly 11 minutes until he stops moving.
At some point, an injection was given to Otieno by hospital staff, according to Ann Cabell Baskervill, Dinwiddie County’s Commonwealth attorney, who asserted the injection was likely given after he had died of asphyxia.
Seven Henrico County Sheriff’s deputies and three Central State Hospital employees have been arrested and charged with second-degree murder. Additional charges and arrests are pending, according to the Commonwealth’s attorney.
The deputies and hospital employees have been placed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the Commonwealth’s cases.
The Henrico County Sheriff’s Office is conducting an independent review of Otieno’s death alongside an investigation by Virginia State Police.
“Public safety is what we stand for as a Sheriff’s Office,” Henrico County Sheriff Alisa A. Gregory said in a statement on the charges. “We will continue to maintain the highest professional standards in how we serve and protect those in our custody, the community at-large and our staff.”
In a court appearance, Cary Bowen, a lawyer representing Deputy Jermaine Lavar Branch, alleged the officer “did not administer any blows to the deceased, or violence towards him, other than simply trying to restrain him.”
Bowen told ABC News by phone that Commonwealth Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill is trying to fashion the case as something that is “malicious.”
“There was no weapon used. There was no pummeling or anything like that. I think everybody agrees,” Bowen said. “And the way she was casting it was that they ended up suffocating. He couldn’t breathe. And she’s acting like the guy didn’t resist and he wasn’t manic or bipolar or whatever. Just a nice guy who they’re picking on.”
Those charged are still awaiting a grand jury decision on whether they will be indicted.
In an interview with ABC News, Otieno’s mother, Caroline Ouka, wondered why no one stopped the deputies from piling on her son.
“Even in my grief, I look at the whole thing and I wonder, you know, why couldn’t somebody come in and stop what was going on,” Ouka said. “I just cannot wrap my mind around it.”
Leon Ochieng, Otieno’s brother, told ABC News that his brother was going through a mental health crisis and “he cared about his health and he wanted to go to the hospital to get help.”
“He didn’t want to get in the squad car because he could tell the difference between a squad car and an ambulance,” Ochieng said. “All systems failed Irvo Otieno.”
He continued, “They need to change the way they approach … Not 12 of 12 officers showing up with tasers ready to put you down.”
Ouka remembers him as “a loving person,” who was “smart” and “bright.”
“I miss his hugs. … I miss touching him,” she said. “I miss seeing him. I miss talking to him. I miss just being there for all of us. … Our life was perfect. They didn’t have to do this. They didn’t have to take him away from us.”
ABC News’ Sabina Ghebremedhin, Nakylah Carter, Jack Date and Abby Cruz contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — It was a pivotal day in world history as the United States, and several allies, invaded Iraq under the suspicion that then-President Saddam Hussein was amassing weapons of mass destruction.
The March 20, 2003, invasion led to an eight-year conflict with over 4,400 American troops killed, and nearly 32,000 wounded during the conflict, according to the Department of Defense. Reports by groups, such as the nonprofit online database the Iraq Body Count, said that nearly 200,000 Iraqi civilians were killed during those years.
No weapons of mass destruction were ever found and Hussein was apprehended, tried and executed.
“Nightline” took a look back at the 20th anniversary of the conflict with some Iraq War veterans who were profiled on the show just before they were deployed.
Even though it’s been two decades since they were among one of the first troops sent overseas, Retired Marine Corporal Michael Elliot and Retired Marine Corporal Josh Hisle told “Nightline” have only recently healed from the mental and emotional traumas of war.
“The war took a big toll on my life,” Elliot, 41, told “Nightline.” “The military and war threw me into the deep end.”
Elliot and Hisle were among the 206 Marines of Fox 2/5 company out of Camp Pendleton, California.
“Nightline” embedded with the Marines before the invasion, filming as they waited for official orders. Hisle, now 41, played guitar for his troops when they were getting ready in Kuwait.
“I still just remember it being this one evening for a minute where it was such a good time that you almost forgot,” he told “Nightline” co-anchor Byron Pitts.
The troop would see combat not too long after it deployed and suffer a major loss. On April 4, 1st Sgt. Ed Smith, who postponed retirement to serve in Iraq, was killed when a piece of shrapnel struck his head while their convoy was trapped next to an ammunition dump fire.
“We’re all standing up exposed, and he made the call to have everybody get back in the vehicles,” Elliot said.
Smith’s daughter, Shelby Robinson, who was 8 when her father was killed, told “Nightline” that Smith was always proud of his military experience. She’s now a police officer and said her father inspired her.
“That makes me feel very close to him. And I definitely think that he’s watching over me out there,” Robinson told “Nightline.”
Marine Col. Terry Johnson was Fox 2/5’s commander when the war began. He told “Nightline” that war had its consequences and many of his brave comrades paid the ultimate price for their service.
Johnson, now 52, who is set to retire this year, said he believed the U.S. involvement in Iraq was worth the price that was paid.
“Clearly Saddam was a bad individual, was a dictator of classic proportions, was extremely brutal to his people,” he told Pitts.
Not all of his colleagues believed the war was completely warranted.
Elliot and Hisle both said they had trouble adjusting to civilian life after they were honorably discharged and left the Marines feeling remorse for some of the actions and directives they were given in Iraq.
“Every mission, everything we did, kicking doors and disrupting people’s lives, bagging people’s heads, bagging the dude’s head and dragging him out of the house, while his kids are standing there screaming, for what? What are we doing?” Hisle said.
Hisle said he feels that America didn’t learn anything from the war because civilians’ lives weren’t affected.
Elliot said he felt heartbroken because the post-military life for newer veterans is getting more difficult and nothing is being done to help.
While they were diagnosed with PTSD and sought help, they said the road to recovery was challenging in ways they couldn’t have predicted.
“Everything I did in combat is not going to work in civilian life. Now I have to re-learn again. And how do I take care of myself? I’m going to drink, I’m going to numb myself. I’m going to drink until I pass out,” Elliot said.
After the war, at least three Fox 2/5 Marines died by suicide, and one of them is in prison for murder after allegedly suffering from PTSD.
These Marines are a snapshot of an alarming reality for America’s vets.
In 2019, 17 veterans died by suicide every single day and 29.3% of veterans who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan have been diagnosed with lifetime PTSD, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 13% of homeless adults are veterans, according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.
Both Elliot and Hisle said they are doing better. They both graduated college after their service. Elliot is now working as a physical therapist and Hisle is working in a local government job.
“Even with support and all the encouragement from my friends, it’s only been a couple of years…where I’ve experienced this inner peace,” Elliot said.
“It’s a hard journey and you have to decide if it’s worth it,” he said.
Free support to those facing a suicidal crisis is available by calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
(NEW YORK) — A hush money payment made to an adult film actress nearly seven years ago is at the center of a criminal probe that could potentially result in criminal charges filed against a former U.S. president.
Former President Donald Trump is currently under investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office as part of a probe into a payment made to porn actress Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential race.
No current or former U.S. president has ever been indicted for criminal conduct.
The hush money probe had languished even as other investigations into Trump moved forward — until Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg convened a grand jury to revive the probe at the start of this year, according to sources.
Trump was invited to appear before the grand jury in recent weeks, sources told ABC News, in a sign that the DA could be moving closer to a charging decision. The former president’s attorney said Trump has no plans to testify. Trump himself speculated over the weekend that he would be arrested Tuesday in the probe, but Tuesday passed with no action on the DA’s part.
What is the case about?
The investigation centers around a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels just days before the 2016 election by Trump’s then-attorney, Michael Cohen, in order to prevent her from going public with her allegations of a 2006 affair with Trump, which he has long denied.
Cohen executed the transaction through a shell corporation, Essential Consultants LLC, which Cohen had set up just days prior, according to court filings.
“Mr. Trump directed me to use my own personal funds from a Home Equity Line of Credit to avoid any money being traced back to him that could negatively impact his campaign,” Cohen testified before Congress in 2019.
When Trump reimbursed Cohen for the payment, his company logged the payments as a “monthly retainer” for Cohen’s legal services, according to Trump and court documents from Cohen’s subsequent plea deal. Prosecutors are considering whether Trump should be charged with falsifying business records, sources say.
Trump initially claimed he didn’t know about the payment to Daniels, telling reporters in April 2018 to “ask Michael Cohen” about where the money came from. But a month later he posted to Twitter that the payment to Daniels was part of a nondisclosure agreement to keep her from making false accusations.
“Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA,” Trump tweeted.
“Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll [sic] in this transaction,” he wrote.
But just weeks before Cohen delivered the payment to Daniels, the now-former attorney worked with the publisher of the National Enquirer, longtime Trump ally David Pecker, to pay another woman who claimed she’d had an affair with Trump, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York.
The Enquirer, in concert with the Trump campaign, paid Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 for the rights to her story that she’d had a 10-month affair with Trump from 2006 to 2007 — then suppressed the story “in order to ensure that the woman did not publicize damaging allegations about the candidate before the 2016 presidential election,” according to a 2018 plea deal made by the Enquirer’s publisher, AMI.
Trump has denied that he had an affair with McDougal and that he or his campaign directed the Enquirer to “catch and kill” her story.
The first investigation
Following an investigation by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, Cohen pleaded guilty in August 2018 to multiple felonies for his role in orchestrating the payment to Daniels and to AMI.
The charges included two campaign finance violations related to the payments, which federal prosecutors considered campaign contributions because they were made “in order to influence the 2016 presidential election.” By law, individual contributions to a presidential campaign are limited to $2,700.
Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison.
“Today [Cohen] stood up and testified under oath that Donald Trump directed him to commit a crime by making payments to two women for the principal purpose of influencing an election,” Cohen’s attorney, Lanny Davis, said in a statement after Cohen entered his guilty plea on August 20, 2018. “If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn’t they be a crime for Donald Trump?”
But the federal investigation ended without any charges filed against Trump himself.
Trump’s attorney at the time praised the decision.
“We are pleased that the investigation surrounding these ridiculous campaign finance allegations is now closed,” Jay Sekulow said in a statement in 2019. “We have maintained from the outset that the President never engaged in any campaign finance violation. From the Court’s opinion: ‘the Government’s investigation into those violations has concluded … another case is closed.'”
In New York, the Manhattan district attorney’s office subsequently took up the matter as part of a larger investigation into Trump’s finances starting in 2021. But under then-District Attorney Cy Vance, prosecutors believed the hush money “did not amount to much in legal terms,” according to Mark Pomerantz, one of the probe’s lead investigators who later resigned from the DA’s office due to his dissatisfaction with the pace of the probes and wrote about his experience in his book, “People vs. Donald Trump: An Inside Account.”
The investigation today
At the start of this year, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg returned to the hush money probe with a focus on whether the Trump Organization falsified business records in the way it recorded the reimbursement payment to Cohen, sources familiar with the investigation have told ABC News.
Trump’s namesake company reimbursed Cohen for the $130,000 payment to Daniels through invoices that were billed as a “retainer agreement” — an arrangement that prosecutors say was a “sham” because no such retainer agreement existed. The payments, prosecutors say, were for Daniels.
Appearing on ABC News’ Good Morning America last week, Trump’s current attorney denied that any payments were recorded improperly.
“There was absolutely no false record,” Trump attorney Joe Tacopina told George Stephanopoulos. “To my knowledge there was no false records.”
Tacopina also said the payment could not have been a campaign finance violation because it was made with Trump’s personal funds.
“It’s not a contribution to his campaign,” Tacopina said. “He made this with personal funds to prevent something coming out false but embarrassing to himself and his family’s young son. That’s not a campaign finance violation not by any stretch. So personal funds and personal use of funds spending to fulfill a commitment and obligation or an expense of a person that would be existing, irrespective of the campaign, is not a violation.”
The Manhattan grand jury conducting the probe has heard testimony from some of Trump’s closest allies and former aides, including former White House adviser Kellyanne Conway and Trump’s 2016 campaign spokesperson, Hope Hicks, as well as Pecker, the former National Enquirer publisher, who was among the first witnesses brought in.
Cohen, too, testified last week before the Manhattan grand jury over multiple days. And Daniels herself met with prosecutors over Zoom last week at the request of the DA’s office, her attorney said. Both Daniels and Cohen said they would make themselves available as witnesses if needed.
Asked last week on Good Morning America if he expects an indictment for Trump, Tacopina was resolute.
“I expect justice to prevail,” he told George Stephanopoulos. “If that’s the case, George, there shouldn’t be an indictment.”
ABC News’ Soo Rin Kim and John Santucci contributed to this report.
(DENVER) — A student who was under a “certain agreement to be patted down each day” at school allegedly shot and wounded two school administrators at East High School in Denver, authorities said.
The suspect, a juvenile armed with a handgun, fled the school after the Wednesday morning shooting, but Denver police said they know who he is and a search for him is ongoing. The gun has not been recovered, police said.
Both faculty members are in serious condition, according to the hospital. One underwent surgery and the second was able to speak to authorities, officials said.
The suspected shooter was required to be searched at the beginning of each school day, officials said. He allegedly shot the school administrators as they patted him down Wednesday morning in the school’s office area, which officials said is away from other students and staff.
The suspect’s daily searches were part of a “safety plan” that was a result of “previous behavior,” officials said, though they did not elaborate on the previous behavior.
Police described the suspect as an African American teenager wearing an Astronaut hoodie. Police warned the public to not approach him, calling him armed and dangerous.
East High School was placed on lockdown in the wake of the shooting. Denver Public Schools later said it received clearance to start releasing students.
Last month, East High School students went to a city council meeting to call for action on school safety and gun violence after a 16-year-old student was fatally shot near the school, according to ABC Denver affiliate KMGH.
The superintendent said Wednesday that the school will be closed the rest of this week, and that the building will now have two armed officers present through the end of the school year.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock in a statement said removing school resource officers was a “mistake” and said they should be quickly returned.
“We all have to step up as a community and be a part of the solution,” he said.
Hancock also called on Congress to pass “common sense” gun legislation.
“Parents are angry and frustrated, and they have a right to be,” he said. “Easy access to guns must be addressed in our country — Denver cannot do this alone.”
This shooting comes two years to the day after a mass shooting at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, that claimed 10 lives.
(DENVER) — A student who was under a “certain agreement to be patted down each day” at school allegedly shot and wounded two faculty members at East High School in Denver, authorities said.
The suspect, who was armed with a handgun, fled the school after the Wednesday morning shooting, but Denver police said they know who he is and a search for him is ongoing.
One faculty member is undergoing surgery and is in critical condition, police said, and the second is in stable and able to speak to authorities.
The high school is on lockdown, according to Denver Public Schools. There will be an “orderly, timed release” of students, authorities said.
This shooting comes two years to the day after a mass shooting at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, that claimed 10 lives.
Last month, East High School students went to a city council meeting to call for action on school safety and gun violence after a 16-year-old student was shot near the school and seriously hurt, according to ABC Denver affiliate KMGH.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — A grand jury is continuing to weigh charges against former President Donald Trump in connection with the Manhattan district attorney’s probe into the 2016 hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
No current or former president has ever been indicted for criminal conduct.
Here is how the news is developing. All times Eastern. Check back for updates:
Mar 22, 12:51 PM EDT
Manhattan grand jury to reconvene as early as Thursday
The Manhattan grand jury weighing charges against former President Donald Trump in connection to the Stormy Daniels hush payment investigation is not meeting on Wednesday, sources told ABC News. The earliest the grand jury would reconvene is Thursday, sources said.
The grand jurors were called Wednesday morning and told they were not needed during the day as scheduled, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. The grand jurors were told to be prepared to reconvene on Thursday when it’s possible they will hear from at least one additional witness, the sources said.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment, citing a policy of not discussing grand jury matters.
-ABC News’ John Santucci and Luke Barr
Mar 22, 8:25 AM EDT
With Trump case looming, what is an indictment?
Criminal prosecution proceedings typically start with an arrest and a court appearance, but legal experts say that on many occasions, especially in white collar crimes, suspects aren’t hit with charges or a visit from an officer until long after an official investigation is underway.
Typically, if a crime is being investigated, law enforcement agents will make an arrest, file initial charges and bring a suspect to be arraigned in court, Vincent Southerland, an assistant professor of clinical law and the director of the criminal defense and reentry clinic at NYU School of Law, told ABC News.
After this arraignment, prosecutors would impanel a grand jury for a formal criminal indictment. Southerland, who has been practicing law in New York state for 19 years, said this process includes giving the jury evidence, possible testimony and other exhibits before they can officially charge a person with felonies.
A Manhattan grand jury is currently investigating Trump’s possible role in the hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The former president has denied any wrongdoing and having an affair with Daniels. His attorneys have framed the funds as a response to an extortion plot.
-ABC News’ Ivan Pereira
Mar 21, 6:11 PM EDT
Pence discourages protests if Trump indicted
Former Vice President Mike Pence discouraged any protests should a grand jury indict Donald Trump.
“Every American has the right to let their voice be heard. The Constitution provides the right to peaceably assemble. But I think in this instance, I would discourage Americans from engaging in protests if in fact the former president is indicted,” Pence said Tuesday when asked by ABC News if Americans should protest a possible indictment.
Pence said he understood the “frustration” while calling the case “politically motivated.”
“But I think letting our voices be heard in other ways, and in not engaging in protests, I think is most prudent at this time,” he said.
-ABC News’ Libby Cathey
Mar 21, 11:00 AM EDT
McCarthy grows frustrated as Trump questions persist at House GOP retreat
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy again ripped into Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg when asked about the potential charges against former President Donald Trump at a Tuesday press conference at the House GOP retreat in Orlando.
When McCarthy was asked directly if had concerns about Trump’s alleged conduct regarding the alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, he didn’t answer the question and instead pivoted to talking about Hillary Clinton and Bragg.
“What we see before us is a political game being played by a local. Look, this isn’t New York City, this is just a Manhattan,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said he hasn’t spoken to Trump in three weeks.
When asked if Trump is still the leader of the Republican Party, McCarthy took a jab at the press: “In the press room, for all of you, he is.”
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and Will Steakin
Mar 21, 10:14 AM EDT
Grand jury to reconvene on Wednesday
A grand jury will reconvene on Wednesday to continue to weigh charges against former President Donald Trump in connection with the Manhattan district attorney’s probe into the 2016 hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, paid $130,000 to Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 presidential campaign to allegedly keep her from talking about an affair she claimed to have had with Trump.
Trump has denied the affair and his attorneys have framed the funds as an extortion payment.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is mulling whether to charge Trump with falsifying business records, after the Trump Organization allegedly reimbursed Cohen for the payment then logged the reimbursement as a legal expense, sources have told ABC News. Trump has called the payment “a private contract between two parties” and has denied all wrongdoing.
Trump this weekend wrote on his Truth Social platform that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday.
The U.S. Secret Service is coordinating security plans with the NYPD in the event of an indictment and arraignment in an open courtroom in Manhattan, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. The two agencies had a call Monday to discuss logistics, including court security and how Trump would potentially surrender for booking and processing, according to sources briefed on the discussions. White collar criminal defendants in New York are typically allowed to negotiate a surrender.
(LOS ANGELES) — For the second straight day, classes were canceled for more than 400,000 Los Angeles public school students as tens of thousands of service workers, backed by the powerful teachers union, continued to strike.
Custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, special education assistants and other members of the Service Employees International Union Local 99 walked picket lines Wednesday morning with no new negotiations with the Los Angeles Unified School District publicly announced. The 30,000 members of the service employees union are demanding higher wages and better working conditions, and are planning to stay off the job for a third day on Thursday.
The labor action is the first major work stoppage for the nation’s second largest school district since a 2019 strike by the 35,000 members of the United Teachers Los Angeles Union.
The teachers union is honoring the service union’s picket lines, forcing the school district to shut down schools.
Cecily Myart-Cruz, president of the UTLA, said her members are supporting the service employees’ demands to show “respect to the education workers that keep our schools working and our children safe.”
“We stand in solidarity with them, recognizing that their struggles are our struggles … that the only way we achieve our goals is by standing collectively together,” Myart-Cruz said.
The service workers union has called for a three-day strike.
Hopes of avoiding a strike were dashed on Monday when a new effort to jumpstart labor negotiations broke down at the last minute, officials said.
“Despite our invitation for a transparent, honest conversation that perhaps would result in a meaningful solution that would avoid a strike, we were never able to be in the same room or at the same table to address these issues,” LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said in a statement.
Carvalho said he and the district’s negotiating team waited for hours on Monday to resume labor talks, but never got a response from the service workers union.
“We’ve run out of time,” said Carvalho, adding that he is still hopeful that negotiations will resume soon.
Max Arias, executive director of the service workers union, said the union had agreed to “enter a confidential mediation process” with the LAUSD.
“Unfortunately, LAUSD broke that confidentiality by sharing it with the media before our bargaining team, which makes all decisions, had a chance to discuss how to proceed,” Arias said. “This is yet another example of the school district’s continued disrespect of school workers. We are ready to strike.”
Conrado Guerrero, president of the local service workers’ union and a building engineer for the school district, said Tuesday that the “LAUSD has pushed us to a strike.”
“I showed up every day, I installed air filters in classrooms and other facilities. My work was essential for student health,” Guerrero told ABC News. “But it seems LAUSD has forgotten that.”
The service employees have been working without a contract since June 2020.
“We’re not getting an equitable wage to feed families, have housing,” Fatima Grayson, a striking special education assistant, told ABC Los Angeles station KABC. “A lot of people that do work for LAUSD have to work two jobs.”
In December 2022, the union declared an impasse in negotiations, prompting the appointment of a state mediator.
The service workers’ union said many of its members earn “poverty wages” of $25,000 per year and are demanding a 30% pay hike, with an additional pay increase for the lowest-paid workers.
Carvalho said on Monday that the school district had upped its most recent offer to a 23% wage increase, along with a 3% “cash-in-hand bonus.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the city is helping parents cope with the strike by making recreation centers available to students. All city public libraries will also remain open and the Los Angeles Zoo is offering free admission to students during the strike.
Many parents said they are standing behind the service workers, including some who plan to walk the picket line with the striking employees.
“We have some of our most underpaid workers doing some of the most challenging jobs on our campuses,” parent Jenna Schwartz told KABC. “The majority aren’t receiving health care. They’ve been negotiating for years to no avail.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Los Angeles, joined service workers on the picket line Tuesday, saying he is supporting “all those who take such good care of our kids who are there in school.”
“I stand here with people of Los Angeles who believe that those that have these important responsibilities should not have to live in poverty,” Schiff said. “The median income of our bus drivers and our cafeteria workers that are school age is $25,000 a year. Those are poverty wages. People with some of the most important responsibilities in our schools should not have to live in poverty.”
ABC News’ Flor Tolentino contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A “bomb cyclone” is wreaking havoc across an already soaked California, killing at least two people whose vehicles were crushed by falling trees in the San Francisco Bay Area, officials said.
A dramatic drop in atmospheric pressure triggered the so-called bomb cyclone that swept in from the Pacific Ocean and clobbered the San Francisco area. The storm packed heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 90 mph that knocked down trees, blocking major roadways and highways, officials said.
Tens of thousands of utility customers lost power, according to officials.
One person was killed and another was injured in the gated community of Rossmoor, about 25 miles east of San Francisco, when a tree fell on a moving car, according to the California Highway Patrol. Another motorist was killed around 1:30 p.m. local time Tuesday when a toppled tree crushed a work van in San Mateo County, about 30 miles south of San Francisco, according to CHP.
On Wednesday morning, the town of Woodside, about 32 miles south of San Francisco, was under a “highly recommended evacuation” after a mudslide shut down a road, impacting about 30 homes, officials said.
“If you live in this area, please pack your ‘Go Bag,’ with all necessary essentials: insurance policy, pets, medications, a change of clothes, and LEAVE NOW,” San Mateo County officials said in a Twitter post Wednesday. “Once the road gives out completely, residents in that area will not have access to emergency services for the foreseeable future.”
The mudslide unfolded as the National Weather Service issued a flood advisory for Woodside and nearby San Mateo County communities Wednesday morning after about 3 inches of rain fell in the area over a 24-hour period.
The powerful springtime storm is also being blamed for the derailment of an Amtrak train near Martinez, about 35 miles east of San Francisco. The train was carrying 55 passengers when it struck a downed tree on the tracks, according to Amtrak officials. No injuries were reported.
High wind gusts also caused a tractor-trailer rig to overturn on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, blocking the eastbound lanes and snarling traffic during the evening commute, according to CHP.
The winds were so strong in downtown San Francisco Tuesday that it knocked out windows in high-rise buildings, sending shattered glass to the ground, according to the San Francisco Fire Department.
San Francisco International Airport recorded wind gusts of 64 mph, while gusty winds reached 74 mph in Oakland. Gusts hit nearly 90 mph between San Francisco and Sacramento.
The “bomb cyclone” developed off the coast of San Francisco Tuesday when the atmospheric pressure dropped 24 millibars in 17 hours, producing the strongest March storm ever recorded in the Bay Area.
The same storm system walloped Southern California Tuesday with wind gusts of up to 100 mph in the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles. The town of Lytle Creek in the San Gabriel Mountains recorded more than 6 inches of rain, while nearly an inch-and-a-half of rain fell in downtown Los Angeles.
The weather system is expected to weaken Wednesday, but most of California will remain under a flood watch and high-wind alerts are expected to persist into the afternoon.
The storm, the latest in a series of atmospheric river systems that has nearly eliminated the state’s multi-year drought, is expected to move southeast, bringing severe weather to parts of Texas, Alabama and Oklahoma. Severe weather on Thursday and Friday could produce large hail and damaging winds from the Dallas-Fort Worth area to San Angelo, more than 250 miles southwest of Dallas.
As the storm moves east on Friday, a possible tornado outbreak could form in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas, according to the National Weather Service.
