News – Page 2224 – 105.7 WDNY

Missouri elementary school to close after report finds radioactive contamination

October 20, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(HAZELWOOD, Mo.) — A Missouri elementary school located near a contaminated creek in St. Louis County has closed after a private study found high levels of radioactive waste inside the building and its playground area.

The Hazelwood School District announced this week that Jana Elementary School in Florissant will pivot to virtual learning while school officials work on transferring students to different schools in the district in the coming weeks.

“The Hazelwood School District Board of Education will be working with our legal counsel to communicate to the appropriate agencies responsible, the necessity to immediately clean up and remediate any and all hazardous waste at Jana Elementary and any other District sites,” the school district said in a statement Wednesday.

The closure follows years of requests for testing. The school is located near Coldwater Creek, which was contaminated with uranium and other radioactive waste from a World War II nuclear weapons program, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

The school district warned parents in August, weeks before the start of the school year, about potential risks and possible disruptions after U.S. Army Corps of Engineer testing found radioactive contamination on the banks of the creek, at the edge of the school’s property.

The latest findings, from Boston Chemical Data Corp., have sparked calls for cleanup from parents and officials and concerns about potential exposure, while families also figure out next steps.

Creek’s history of contamination

Coldwater Creek, a 19-mile tributary of the Missouri River, passes near sites that were used in the development of nuclear weapons for the Manhattan Project, including radioactive waste storage piles.

The creek is contaminated with “uranium processing residues” that were improperly stored near it, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which in 2019 released a public health assessment report that found an increased risk of certain cancers for residents who “regularly played or lived along the creek for many years in the past.”

Jana Elementary sits on the flood plain of Coldwater Creek. The Corps, which is charged with the creek’s remediation, first detected radioactive contaminants near the school in 2018 and again in 2019, 2020 and 2021, according to the Boston Chemical Data Corp. report.

Following the latest testing, the Corps notified school officials in January that soil sampling conducted on the school’s property “showed the presence of low-level radioactive contamination” on the banks of Coldwater Creek, the Hazelwood School District said in an Aug. 5 letter to the school community.

“They further informed the district that the contamination did not pose an immediate risk to human health or the environment because the contamination was below ground surface,” the letter stated.

The school district gave parents the option for virtual learning while it awaited the results of further testing.

Latest testing sparks closure

The decision to close the school comes a week after the release of the Boston Chemical Data Corp. report, which found radioactive waste in the school and its playground. The report was funded by law firms involved in a class action lawsuit alleging illnesses and deaths caused by the creek contamination.

The school district granted the request for the testing, which was conducted in August, according to the Jana Elementary PTA, which alerted families to the report’s findings on Oct. 14.

Testing of dust and soil samples indicated high levels of radioactive lead in the school, including the library, and playground, according to the report. The levels in the kindergarten play area were “22 times the expected background,” according to the report.

“The most outstanding result of August 2022 testing at the Jana School was that levels of the radioactive isotope lead-210 found on school grounds were entirely unacceptable,” the report stated.

The Corps has not corroborated the findings of the private report.

In a statement Tuesday, the Corps’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program for the St. Louis District said the school property has contamination that is “isolated” to the creek bank, and that sample locations in the floodplain between the bank and playground area “aren’t contaminated.”

“The team will evaluate the report that Boston Chemical Data Corp. compiled on Jana Elementary School and the methods used to create these results,” it said in a news release. “That report isn’t consistent with FUSRAP’s accepted evaluation techniques and must be thoroughly vetted to ensure accuracy.”

Calls for cleanup, answers

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley has called on the Corps to review the findings of the independent report, conduct further testing on the school grounds and publicly report their findings.

“It should go without saying that hazardous, radioactive contamination has no place in schools, or anywhere near schools, or anywhere near any place where children are. And it should also go without saying the federal government must be honest and transparent about the facts,” Hawley wrote in a letter to Corps Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon on Tuesday.

The senator has also urged President Joe Biden to declare a federal emergency and authorize “immediate relief” for all impacted families and to expedite the cleanup.

Missouri Rep. Cori Bush has also demanded an “urgent response” to the emergency.

“The federal government is responsible for this waste, and we need answers from them on their plan to immediately begin cleanup of Jana Elementary and the surrounding areas so our kids’ health and education is not further disrupted by the presence of toxic chemicals,” she said in a statement earlier this week. “Inaction is not an option. The safety of our children and our communities must come first.”

The Missouri Coalition for the Environment has called on the school district to “act swiftly to secure a comprehensive cleanup of all radioactive bomb waste at the school.”

“In the interim, they must provide parents with options to continue students’ education with minimal disruption,” the group said. “We are approaching 80 years since this nuclear bomb waste has been allowed to plague our neighborhoods.”

What’s next for frustrated, worried families

Some 400 students attend Jana Elementary. Amid the remediation, the school will transition to virtual learning starting on Monday, with plans to redistrict students into other schools by Nov. 28 “if feasible,” the school district said.

Two pre-K classrooms will be transferred to another elementary school to continue in-person learning.

“We recognize that you are being faced with a situation not created by anyone in this District, over which you have no control, and that this is causing a disruption to our students’ education and school climate. For that we sincerely apologize,” the school district said in a statement to families. “Please know that Hazelwood School District will work hand-in-hand with you to provide the support that is needed as we transition through these very difficult times.”

Families are now scrambling to figure out next steps. During a packed meeting with the Hazelwood School Board on Tuesday, parents expressed frustration with the district.

“Just communicate with us,” said Patrice Strickland, who said she has two children who have been attending school virtually since August after learning about the contamination. “We don’t blame you all, but we want to hear what’s going on because these are our babies.

“Help us to make the right decisions for us, and we can’t make the right decisions if we don’t know what is going on,” she continued.

Former students and families of students who now attend the school also expressed concerns for their health during the meeting.

Kimberly Anderson told the board she had bloodwork done for her three grandchildren who attend the school to test their lead levels.

“This can cause long-term effects with children,” she said.

Others want to find a way to keep the community intact amid redistricting plans.

“Our kids should not be strung out through the district unless there was absolutely nothing suitable,” Jana Elementary PTA president Ashley Bernaugh said. “You cannot tear our community apart to punish us for something that our kids have no burden for.”

Steven Mnuchin testifies in trial of Trump ally Tom Barrack

October 20, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Longtime Trump confidant charged with acting as agent of foreign government

Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin testified Thursday in the trial of former Trump inaugural chair Tom Barrack, who is accused of illegally lobbying the Trump administration on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.

Mnuchin, called as a defense witness by Barrack, testified that in 2017 Barrack had expressed support for Qatar in the 2017 blockade of the tiny nation — a position that would have put him at odds with the UAE.

“He came in with the idea of telling me that he thought the president had made a mistake supporting the blockade … his position was clearly in support of Qatar,” Mnuchin said of a meeting he had with Barrack shortly after then-President Trump publicly announced his support for the blockade of Qatar by the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

“He asked me to pass those views on to the president,” Mnuchin said.

Prosecutors have accused Barrack, a Los Angeles-based businessman and longtime Trump associate, of acting as a foreign agent for the UAE from 2016 to 2018 yet failing to register with the Department of Justice, which they say constitutes a crime. Barrack has pleaded not guilty.

Mnuchin, whose testimony on Thursday lasted under 30 minutes, served as United States treasury secretary from 2017 to 2021. He re-entered the private sector upon leaving government.

On cross examination, Mnuchin sought to avoid specific questions about his own investment firm’s financial ties to the UAE.

“Your honor, we’re subject to various confidentiality agreements and nondisclosure agreements with our investors — am I required to answer that question?” Mnuchin asked the judge after being questioned by prosecutors about whether his firm has specifically taken investments from UAE sovereign wealth funds.

The judge said he should answer generally.

“Your fund includes investments from sovereign wealth funds from the UAE?” the prosecutor asked again.

“Yes,” Mnuchin replied.

Mnuchin, who served on the National Security Council as part of his role leading the Treasury Department, also testified that he never asked Barrack to conduct any work for him on behalf of the government.

“You never directed Mr. Barrack to do anything on your behalf as treasury secretary, is that true?” the prosecutor asked.

“Of course not,” Mnuchin replied.

But Mnuchin repeatedly declined to answer questions about internal administration conversations regarding the Qatar blockade, citing executive privilege.

On redirect, defense attorney Michael Schachter seized on that line of questioning to emphasize that Barrack was not subject to the same restrictions — because unlike Mnuchin, he was not a member of the United States government.

“Those confidentiality restrictions that applied to you — are you aware of whether there were any confidentiality restrictions that apply to Mr. Barrack that prevent him from speaking to whoever he wanted to?” Schachter asked Mnuchin.

“Not that I’m aware of, no,” Mnuchin replied.

Missing Princeton student Misrach Ewunetie found dead, death doesn’t appear suspicious

October 20, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(PRINCETON, N.J.) — Princeton student Misrach Ewunetie was found dead on campus Thursday nearly one week after she went missing, officials said.

The 20-year-old’s body was found around 1 p.m. “outside on the Facilities grounds behind the tennis courts” by a facilities employee, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said.

“There were no obvious signs of injury and her death does not appear suspicious or criminal in nature,” prosecutors said.

An autopsy will be conducted, prosecutors said.

The university said in a statement, “The Department of Public Safety has been working closely with local and state law enforcement and does not believe there is any related threat to campus or the surrounding area.”

“Misrach’s death is an unthinkable tragedy,” the university added. “Our hearts go out to her family, her friends and the many others who knew and loved her.”

Ewunetie was last seen at about 3 a.m. on Friday near Scully Hall on the school’s New Jersey campus, according to the university.

One of her suitemates saw her at home at about 3 a.m. Friday, but when her direct roommate came home around 4:30 a.m., Ewunetie wasn’t there, her brother, Universe Ewunetie, told ABC News.

On Saturday, Misrach Ewunetie was supposed to have an interview about 45 minutes away from campus regarding her U.S. citizenship application, and the family was concerned when she didn’t show up, her brother said.

By Sunday, text messages weren’t getting delivered, and her phone went straight to voicemail, he said.

Her phone’s last ping was at 3:30 a.m. Sunday near an off-campus housing complex that’s about a 30-minute walk from her dorm, according to Universe Ewunetie. The last time her phone pinged to a cell tower was 6 a.m. Sunday, he said.

Law enforcement swarmed the campus searching for her, using helicopters and drones.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted earlier Thursday that he was in touch with officials “who are doing everything they can to find her.”

Later on Thursday, the governor tweeted, “We are heartbroken by the tragic news that missing @Princeton University student Misrach Ewunetie was found dead this afternoon. Our hearts go out to her family, friends, and fellow students who knew and loved her.”

ABC News’ Nick Cirone contributed to this report.

College enrollment drops for third consecutive year since pandemic, report says

October 20, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — College enrollment in the United States fell for the third consecutive year, deepening the woes endured by universities nationwide since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a report released on Thursday showed.

However, the pace of the decline in enrollment slowed this autumn, suggesting that the pandemic-induced student exodus has begun to wane, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Student enrollment dropped 1.1% this fall, compared with a combined 5.5% decline in 2020 and 2021.

In a key point of concern, the rate of decline in enrollment among freshmen exceeded that of students overall, with implications for universities that could last over the next several years.

The decline in freshmen enrollment befell every category of four-year institutions, whether public or private, for-profit or non-profit, the data showed.

“After two straight years of historically large losses, it is particularly troubling that numbers are still falling, especially among freshmen,” Doug Shapiro, the executive director at the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, said in a statement.

“Although the decline has slowed and there are some bright spots, a path back to pre-pandemic enrollment levels is growing further out of reach,” he added.

The decline in enrollment extended beyond undergraduate students, as graduate school enrollment fell 1%, reversing a 2.7% gain last fall. Graduate student enrollment fell in 26 states, according to the report.

While the report delivered sobering news for many institutions of higher education, it offered a sign of optimism for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Enrollment at HBCUs grew 2.5% this fall, bouncing back from a decline of 1.7% last year, the data showed. The rise in enrollment owed to a 6.6% increase in freshmen enrolling at HBCUs.

In a sign of shifting educational norms amid the pandemic, undergraduate students enrolled exclusively online grew by 2.5% this autumn.

Mom of victim of suspected Stockton serial killer thanks police chief at emotional vigil

October 20, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(STOCKTON, Calif.) — Police, community members and families of victims of the suspected Stockton, California, serial killer congregated at Stockton City Hall Wednesday night for a vigil to remember the six lives lost.

The six slayings — all fatal shootings of men — spanned from April 2021 to September 2022, according to police. Five of the killings were in Stockton; one was in Oakland, about 70 miles away. All of the shootings were at night or in the early morning.

“My brother was my everything. I’m going to never hear his laughter,” Pia Lopez, sister of the final victim, 54-year-old Lorenzo Lopez Sr., said at the vigil.

The musician — who was shot in the early hours of Sept. 27 — leaves behind six children.

Stockton police chief Stanley McFadden was among those at Wednesday’s vigil.

“Everyone came together to get this person off the street,” the chief said.

In an emotional moment, Lorenzo Lopez Sr.’s mother thanked the chief.

“I want to thank him so much, because he lifted my spirits and he held me up when I felt like I was falling down and falling apart,” she said.

“It hurts deep inside and it never goes away,” she added. “But we got justice.”

The suspected serial killer, 43-year-old Wesley Brownlee, was arrested this weekend while he was allegedly on the prowl for another victim, according to police. Brownlee was apprehended while wearing dark clothing and a mask around his neck, according to McFadden. Brownlee was also armed with a gun, police said.

“He was on a mission to kill. He was out hunting,” McFadden said in a statement. “We are sure we stopped another killing.”

Brownlee appeared in court Tuesday and was charged with three counts of murder, with more charges expected, San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar said. He has not entered a plea.

Liz Truss becomes shortest-serving prime minister in UK history

October 20, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — It took Liz Truss 12 years in Parliament to reach the pinnacle of British political power. Now, after just 44 days leading the country, she has assumed the title of shortest-serving prime minister in the history of the United Kingdom.

Not since George Canning — who served almost three times as long as Truss at 119 days — in 1827 has a British prime minister served such a short period of time. He died of tuberculosis while in office.

The blistering speed of the collapse of Truss’ period in governance is unparalleled in modern times.

Having been elected by Conservative Party members — and not the country as a whole — Truss came into power after Boris Johnson was all but forced to step down as prime minister having lost the mandate to govern from his own party after a scandal-plagued three years and 44 days in office — three years more to the day than Truss actually lasted.

Truss came in with a clear plan but squandered her own mandate to govern in just 44 days. She made a U-turn on almost every single key policy she had run on during the leadership election this summer.

The U.K. is now expected to name its third prime minister in just under two months by the end of next week.

Only eight prime ministers in the country’s history have even served less than a full calendar year, but most will not recognize their names.

Viscount Goderich served only 144 days in office in 1827, Bonar Law served 211 days in 1922, and Sir Alec Douglas-Home — the most recent former prime minister to serve less than a year — was in power for 363 days in 1963.

Even though Truss may now have the ignominious title of shortest-ever serving prime minister, the Conservative Party still commands a strong majority in the House of Commons and the next public vote is not due until 2024.

New Trump-backed super PAC injects nearly $4 million in ad spending into key races

October 20, 2022 by WDNY Radio

New Trump-backed super PAC injects nearly million in ad spending into key races

(WASHINGTON) — A new super PAC backed by former President Donald Trump is injecting money into key 2022 races, investing $4 million in a new round of ad spending in battleground states, according to new financial data.

The series of seven- to eight-figure ad placements from super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. on Wednesday in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia and Nevada is a last-minute boost from Trump’s team ahead of the November election. It follows months of criticism from Trump skeptics within the GOP that the former president is not spending enough to support 2022 GOP candidates, despite his massive fundraising power.

Wednesday’s placements are the second round of ad spending by the new PAC, which was launched in late September and kicked off its first round of placements in the same Senate races earlier this month.

According to ad tracking firm Ad Impact, Make America Great Again Inc.’s biggest investment in the latest ad placement was a $1 million ad buy in the race between Democrat Tim Ryan and Trump-endorsed J.D. Vance in the Ohio Senate race, followed by $770,000 in spending on the rivalry between Democrat John Fetterman and Trump-endorsed Dr. Mehmet Oz in the Pennsylvania Senate race.

The latest spending also includes a $725,000 investment in the Arizona Senate race, $681,000 in the Georgia Senate race and $653,000 in the Nevada Senate race, according to Ad Impact.

With the new spending on Wednesday, the super PAC’s total ad spending through mid-October amounts to roughly $8.6 million, according to the ad data and past disclosure filings submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

In all, Make America Great Again Inc. has spent $2.4 million in the Ohio Senate race, $1.8 million in the Arizona Senate race, roughly $1.6 million each in the Georgia and Pennsylvania Senate races, and $1.3 million in the Nevada Senate race.

But the Trump super PAC’s spending so far remains a small drop in a bucket compared to the 2022 races’ massive ad placements made by the Republicans’ Senate Leadership Fund and the Democrats’ Senate Majority PAC.

Make America Great Again Inc. has yet to disclose how much money it’s raised so it’s unclear how more it could end up spending over the final weeks of the campaign, but the launching of the new super PAC — which by law can make unlimited independent expenditures in support of candidates — now allows Trump and his team to make sizable investments to directly back GOP candidates he has touted.

In contrast, Trump’s existing leadership PAC, Save America, can donate to other PACs and super PACs — but can only make limited direct contributions to candidates. It’s made a series of $5,000 donations to candidates over the last two years — as well as giving upwards of $6 million to various super PACs and outside groups — but critics have pointed out that’s only a small fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars Save America’s joint fundraising operation has raised over that period.

Instead, much of Save America PAC’s money has gone to consulting and fundraising — as well as to covering legal fees associated with the congressional investigation into Jan. 6 and the fraud cases against Trump’s namesake company in New York.

And Save America’s fundraising has increased over the last few months, with the Save America Joint Fundraising Committee raising $24 million in the third quarter of this year, compared to $17 million in the second quarter, according to its latest FEC filing.

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss announces resignation

October 20, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her resignation on Thursday.

Truss, who only became prime minister on Sept. 6, will be the shortest serving prime minister in modern political history.

“I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party,” Truss said.

Her resignation follows weeks of political and economic crisis, after the government introduced a new “mini-budget” which was roundly criticized.

The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, has called for a general election. The Conservative Party, then under the leadership of Boris Johnson, won a large majority in the last general election in 2019.

Whoever is chosen as Truss’ successor from the Conservative Party ranks will become the fifth prime minister since the U.K. voted to leave the EU in the Brexit referendum of 2016 in an unprecedented period of turbulence in British political history.

From outside the steps of Number 10 Downing Street, Truss said a leadership election would take place over the next seven days.

Child care industry struggles with shortage of workers: ‘This is unheard of’

October 20, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Marcelo Candia spends all day teaching a classroom full of 4-year-old children in northern Virginia — then walks across the street to work in a grocery store bakery for four more hours.

It’s the reality faced by so many workers in the child care industry, where low pay and other factors have created a labor crisis exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

“I love what I do,” Candia, a father who is also working toward an associate’s degree, told ABC News. “I come here with a lot of energy. I go out of the school when I’m finished my period here with a boost of energy.”

As the U.S. job market continues to bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic, the child care industry has lagged behind.

The sector has lost about 9.7% of its workforce compared to pre-pandemic levels, or about 102,400 employees between February 2020 and last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

‘This is unheard of’

Leslie Spina, who runs five early childhood education centers in Philadelphia, told ABC News she continues to face staffing shortages.”

“We’re about 22% short-staffed right now,” Spina, the executive director of Kinder Academy, said. “This is unheard of.”

At Candia’s center, ACCA Child Development Center in Annandale, Virginia, the shortage of workers has meant fewer kids can receive care.

“I have a couple of classrooms that are not staffed,” Isabel Ballivian, the executive director of ACCA Child Development Center, told ABC News. “Therefore, we don’t have children there.”

Low wages drive staffing shortage, experts say

The most significant factor driving the staffing crisis is low pay for child care workers, according to experts.

A child care worker in the United States made an average of just $13.31 per hour, or $27,680 per year, in 2021, according to the most recent available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“It’s physically mentally, emotionally hard work, and it’s one of the lowest paid jobs in every single state in the country,” said Lea Austin, the executive director of the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, at the University of California, Berkeley.

Many day care teachers want to stay in the industry but cannot afford to provide for their own families, educators and center directors told ABC News.

“If I wanted to have kids, if I wanted to get married and kind of go to that next part of my life, it’s just not really possible,” Nicole Lazarte, who leads an infant classroom at ACCA Child Development Center, said. “I could do it, and I’ve seen people do it, but I see them struggle.”

Instead, educators often turn to higher-paying, less stressful jobs in retail and restaurants.

“We’re not paying what Target pays,” Spina said. “We’re not paying what Chick-fil-A pays — because we can’t afford to.”

Many teachers are also drawn to publicly funded K-12 schools, which typically offer better wages, vacation time and other benefits. Center directors say that can lead to a brain drain at day cares as more experienced workers leave.

Reliance on tuition from parents prevents wage increases

Unlike public K-12 schools, which are funded by taxpayer dollars, early childhood centers primarily rely on tuition charged to parents to fund their budgets.

They do also often receive some public assistance, but the amount they get varies widely across states and jurisdictions.

But it’s not nearly enough for so many centers, many of which closed during the pandemic as enrollment lagged.

“We are not going to solve this problem without public intervention and public funding,” Austin said. “It really is the equivalent of trying to fund a public school system through parent fees.”

Ballivian, who runs ACCA Child Development Center, said that raising tuition simply is not an option, with many working-class parents struggling to make ends meet themselves.

“The large majority of the children that we serve come from families that have low income and that are relatively new to the community,” Ballivian told ABC News. “It is imperative that these kids have access to quality care and education, because it’s the one thing that is changing the trajectories of their lives.”

Some daycare centers have fought to retain workers by increasing pay and benefits, but limited financial resources makes doing so difficult.

The center receives some funding from the county and state — and got federal dollars during the pandemic — but, Ballivian said, is still facing an approximately $200,000 deficit for the current fiscal year “because we decided to increase the salaries.”

“There are times when you wake up and think, is it worth it? Should I continue to do this?” she said. “But I know that I am making a difference in the lives of others.”

DC tries supplementing teachers’ incomes

Some jurisdictions, like Washington, D.C., have tried to channel more money to early childhood centers — and teachers.

The D.C. government, which provides various grants to centers themselves, also launched an innovative program this year that supplements educators’ salaries — with payments totaling up to $14,000 per year.

Payments to teachers are part of an array of funding the city spends on early child care, according to Sara Mead, the city’s deputy superintendent of early learning. Residents benefit from free, universal pre-kindergarten; centers receive grants to raise their quality of care; and low-income families receive subsidies to cover child care costs.

Latoria Meyers, who teaches infants and toddlers at Kidspace Child and Family Development Center in Washington, said the additional money from the city has helped her “tremendously.”

“I’m a single mom, so it helped me kind of get back on a financial balance, as far as, like, paying some things off, actually taking my son on a trip finally — his first plane ride,” Meyers told ABC News.

The center where she works provides free child care to families who have experienced homelessness, trauma and abuse. It relies largely on private donations, as well as funding from the city.

Sandra Jackson, the president and CEO of House of Ruth, the organization that runs the center, told ABC News that paying relatively more has helped retain quality workers.

“It’s a no brainer,” Jackson said. “The child care workers, teachers, anyone that comes in contact with children is just as important as our doctors, our lawyers, our Supreme Court justices.”

Parents feel squeeze

Amid the staffing shortages, parents have felt the squeeze as options for care become more limited.

Courtney Tay, a pre-kindergarten teacher in Springfield, Missouri, has spent months searching for a day care space for a daughter she is expecting in December.

“For most of the centers, they don’t have any availability until summer or fall of 2023,” she said. “I’m looking for care when she is three months old, and they’re not going to have any available until she’s about eight or nine months old.”

Tay plans to rely on her mother for help until then.

“I’ve been really surprised by how difficult it is to find a place for her,” Tay said.

Federal reform needed to end crisis, experts say

Experts say reform is needed at the federal level to transform the early childhood education system, attracting workers and making care affordable and accessible.

“The reality is state and local governments can’t do this on our own,” Mead, of the D.C. government, told ABC News. “There are fiscal constraints that we operate under that are different from those of the federal government and so to get really large infusions of funds, it will be necessary to tap the power of federal funds.”

President Joe Biden pushed Congress to approve major investments in child care, including funding for free, universal preschool for all 3- and 4-year-old children nationwide.

But after Republicans in Congress blocked that plan, Biden faced additional resistance from Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, and dropped the investments from a later iteration of a domestic spending plan Congress did pass.

Without change, the industry will continue to face job shortages and high rates of staffing turnover, according to Austin, who has studied the U.S. early childhood care system’s workforce extensively.

“If we can’t figure out how to have reform of our early childhood education system that is driven by public dollars,” Austin said, “we’re not going to recover from this crisis.”

Missing Ivy League student’s brother says ‘time is of the essence’

October 20, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As Princeton University intensifies its search for Misrach Ewunetie, the undergraduate student who’s been missing for almost a week, her brother says that time is “of the essence.”

“We can take any help we can find. And we just want the law to be faster because time is of the essence,” Universe Ewunetie said on ABC News’ Good Morning America on Thursday.

Misrach Ewunetie, 20, was last seen at about 3 a.m. on Friday, the school said. She was last seen near Scully Hall on the school’s New Jersey campus, according to an alert sent to the Princeton community on Monday.

Universe said his sister’s phone last pinged a location near an off-campus residence about a 30-minute walk from her dorm after 3 a.m. on Friday. His sister being at a location like that so late was out of character, Universe said.

“It’s pretty far away,” he said. “And Princeton is a big campus and it’s very insular. Right. So it’s very odd that her phone would be off campus like everything is on campus.”

The university sent an email to students on Wednesday, urging anyone with info to come forward. There’s an increased police presence on campus, the school said.

+ More