(WASHINGTON) — A former police officer who stormed the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection was found guilty Monday by a jury on all six counts.
Thomas Robertson was found guilty on charges ranging from obstruction of an official proceeding to entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon. This is the second jury case for a Capitol rioter.
Monday marked day five of a trial that spanned hours of Jan. 6 video footage, first-hand accounts from Capitol and Metro police officers and an inside look at how FBI agents handled the arrest of both Robertson and former colleague and close friend Jacob Fracker, who testified against Robertson as part of his own plea agreement for storming the Capitol.
The jury deliberated for about 15 hours in a trial that focused on very specific details of Robertson’s actions — from where he stood to what he was holding.
Robertson entered the restricted area of the Capitol with the goal of obstructing the electoral vote, the jury found. He used a wooden stick to push past an officer, which was ruled it could be used as a dangerous weapon.
“Many people in this country disagreed with the outcome of the presidential election,” a U.S. attorney said during opening arguments last Tuesday. “Many people use, and continue to use, strong language to express their political views. But the defendant, he is not on trial for beliefs — he is on trial for his actions.”
Shortly after he found out about the warrant for his arrest, Robertson destroyed his phone along with Fracker’s, saying in a message, “anything that may have been problematic has been destroyed, including my phone,” prosecutors said during the trial.
That also means he could have corrupted two official proceedings, the jury found — either the Electoral College voting process or his own federal trial, or both.
Robertson’s lawyers said he was invited into the Capitol by an officer, stayed for only 10 minutes and didn’t assault anyone or cause any damage. The defense brought in two witnesses who each took the stand for less than 8 minutes.
“He entered, he retrieved, he departed,” one of Robertson’s lawyers said on day one of the trial. “That’s what this case is about.”
The U.S. attorney’s office brought in nine witnesses, who oftentimes took the stand for over an hour.
One of those witnesses was Fracker, who stormed the Capitol with Robertson. He agreed to testify as part of his plea agreement. He said during the trial he did this in part to lower his sentence.
The jury deliberated for five hours last Friday after closing arguments. Judge Christopher R. Cooper read the decision Monday.
Robertson was found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding; obstructing officers during a civil disorder; entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon; disorderly conduct in a capitol building and obstruction of an official proceeding.
Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Just as he was emerging as a top target of the House committee investigating the Capitol attack, former Trump lawyer John Eastman took a trip to Wisconsin.
Eastman, a right-wing lawyer who drafted a plan for former President Donald Trump to cling to power by falsely claiming then-Vice President Mike Pence could reject legitimate electors during the 2020 presidential election, was part of a small group of Trump allies who secured a private meeting last month to try and convince the Republican leader of the Wisconsin state Assembly to decertify President Joe Biden’s win, multiple sources familiar with the meeting told ABC.
On March 16, Eastman and others spent nearly two hours behind closed doors pressuring Republican Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to nullify the 2020 election and reclaim the electors awarded to Biden, the sources said, which legal experts say is impossible.
Eastman was subpoenaed by the congressional committee looking into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in November. He had been bucking the panel’s request for documents, claiming attorney client privilege, until a federal judge recently ordered most of them turned over.
Eastman in the meeting urged Vos to decertify the election, sources familiar with the meeting said. According to Jefferson Davis, a Wisconsin activist pushing to reverse Biden’s victory who was also in the meeting, Trump’s former lawyer pushed Vos to start “reclaiming the electors” and move forward with “either a do over or having a new slate of electors seated that would declare someone else the winner.”
When reached for comment, Eastman said in a statement to ABC News, “By explicit request from Speaker Vos, that meeting was confidential, so I am not able to make any comment.”
Following the meeting, Vos reiterated his position that the 2020 election can’t be decertified. Vos, however, has pushed claims of widespread election fraud and was held in contempt by a judge last month for failing to turn over documents related to a Republican-led investigation he had launched himself in May 2021 into the 2020 election.
His office did not respond to multiple requests for comment from ABC News.
The Wisconsin meeting is just one instance among many in an ongoing effort by Eastman and other Trump allies who, even 15 months into President Joe Biden’s tenure, have continued to push for the results of the 2020 election to be overturned despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
In February, Eastman also joined leaders of Colorado’s election denial campaign, holding an “emergency town hall meeting” in Castle Rock. The meeting, organized by FEC United founder Joe Oltman, rallied the crowd against Secretary of State Jenna Griswold, falsely accusing her of participating in an election fraud conspiracy.
During the meeting, Eastman boasted about his involvement in election lawsuits in Texas, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin and decried the “attacks” that he and others who push election conspiracies have experienced, calling it “pure evil,” according to a video of the meeting posted by FEC United.
Eastman has said he attended a gathering of Trump supporters at the Willard Hotel on Jan. 5, 2021 and spoke before Trump at the “Save America” rally the next day. Eastman also has said publicly that he, along with other Trump allies, had a so-called “war room” set up at the hotel for several days preceding and on Jan. 6.
Trump has been watching the decertification push closely, saying in a statement last month following the Wisconsin meeting that “Speaker Vos should do the right thing and correct the Crime of the Century—immediately! It is my opinion that other states will be doing this, Wisconsin should lead the way!”
The former president has been in contact with multiple people in Wisconsin working on the effort and has received regular updates from MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, sources said, who has spread wild and baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 vote count.
Lindell, who remains a close confidant of the former president, has participated in the Wisconsin pressure campaign with his own team of people including Douglas Frank, who was prominently featured at the My Pillow CEO’s conspiracy-filled “Cyber Symposium” last August, Army Reserve Lt. Colonel Ivan Raiklin, who has also worked closely with former Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn to overturn the 2020 election and Shawn Smith, a Colorado-based activist who has called Lindell an “angel investor” in her organization devoted to “election integrity.”
While Lindell was absent from the March 16 meeting, Frank, Raiklin and Smith attended with Eastman, according to sources familiar with the meeting.
Lindell is currently facing a $1.3 billion lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems for promoting false claims about their voting machines. He traveled to Mar-a-Lago last Thursday to attend a fundraiser for Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake that featured the former president.
As Eastman continues his campaign to overturn the election, he has become of greater interest to investigators on the Jan. 6 committee, the panel has publicly indicated.
Last month, a federal judge ruled that Eastman must turn over most of the documents he has been withholding from the committee. The panel has begun receiving and reviewing the documents, according to sources.
The judge, who reviewed the documents privately, said that Trump “more likely than not” committed felony obstruction in the effort to overturn the election.
Eastman and others continue to push to decertify President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in Wisconsin despite multiple recounts, court filings and audits failing to identify any widespread fraud in the battleground state.
Reviews and audits in other states including Georgia and Arizona, have also failed to substantiate claims about widespread election fraud.
(WASHINGTON) — The Pentagon has been providing daily updates on the U.S. assessment of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine’s efforts to resist.
Here are highlights of what a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Monday on Day 47:
Russia’s new invasion commander
The U.S. assesses that Putin has appointed Gen. Alexander Dvornikov to lead the invasion effort. But the change in leadership can’t erase the logistical and operational problems that have plagued Russian forces, according to the senior U.S. defense official.
“They have high challenges to surmount, and the choice of a general doesn’t mean that they’re poised for greater success,” the official said.
Dvornikov previously led Russian forces in the south of Ukraine.
“He was the commander of the southern military district. And in the early days and weeks of the conflict, the Russians did achieve more success in the south than they achieved certainly in the north. I have no idea that was a factor in his selection,” the official said.
The official noted that Russian efforts in the south are now largely stalled, with no progress against Mariupol since last week, and no success advancing on Mykolayiv.
“If Mr. Putin’s decision to pick Dvornikov was because he had some success, it wasn’t that much,” the official said.
New commander, same ‘depravity and brutality’
The official said it is unclear how Dvornikov’s selection could affect the fighting, but said a pattern of brutality remains a constant.
“What is clear is that the Russians continue to sink to new lows of depravity and brutality, as we saw with the missile strike on the train station last week,” the official said.
The death and destruction in Mariupol is also a concern.
“We’re all bracing for when the rest of the world gets to see what happens in Mariupol, what has happened. I think we’re certainly bracing ourselves here for some for some potentially really, really horrible outcomes,” the official said.
Russians moving troops and supplies toward Donbas
Some of the Russian units that withdrew from the northern Ukraine area are starting to move east toward the Russian cities of Belgorod and Valuyki. A long convoy of Russian vehicles is beginning to head south to Donbas from that area.
“We believe that this line of vehicles that we talked about that are north of Izium came out of the Belgorod/Valuyki region, from there to the south,” the official said.
Last week, the official said the Pentagon assessed Russia would use that region to refit and resupply its battalion tactical groups (BTGs) that have been worn down by hard fighting near Kyiv and other areas of Ukraine. Some Russian units are too gutted to fight.
“At least in the grouping that we’re aware of, it’s not an insignificant number of their BTGs are combat ineffective. And what does that mean? It means a lot of things. It can mean that they don’t have the manpower that they need to effectively conduct a mission, or it could be ammunition and supply. It could be vehicles, depending on what the BTG does — not all of them are just infantry,” the official said.
The Pentagon believes the convoy is still north of Izyim and is an effort to reenforce and resupply their forces in Donbas with command and control elements, armored vehicles, and possibly helicopter and infantry support.
Artillery is also a part of the reinforcement effort.
“We’ve seen evidence that the Russians are beginning to reinforce some of their positions southwest of Donetsk. They’re doing that largely with artillery units,” the official said.
Military aid flowing to Ukraine by air and land
Eight to 10 flights per day are bringing military supplies into the region, and “near constant convoys on the ground” are flowing materiel into Ukraine, the official said.
U.S. intelligence assisting Ukraine
In addition to providing support in the form of missiles, drones and small arms, the U.S. is also giving intel to assist Ukraine in the fight.
“We are providing good intelligence to the Ukrainians to help them with their self-defense,” the official said.
No evidence Russia took out Slovakian S-300 system in Ukraine
While the Pentagon assesses airport infrastructure that was damaged by Russia with an airstrike Sunday, there is no indication that any S-300 surface-to-air systems were destroyed, as Russia has claimed.
“We have no evidence to conclude that they destroyed an S-300 system and we have no evidence to conclude that it was in fact the Slovakian one,” the official said.
Slovakia recently gave its sole S-300 battery to Ukraine.
US considering training more Ukrainians on new weapons
A small group of Ukrainian troops in the U.S. for planned military training in the U.S. when Russia invaded their country just returned home Sunday. The Pentagon took advantage of their presence to train them on the explosive Switchblade drones the U.S. is sending to aid Ukraine. The official on Monday said the U.S. is looking into training more Ukrainians, possibly in the States.
“It kind of follows that the Ukrainians are busy right now and that they obviously will want as many hands on deck there … to fight this war. But there’s been no policy decision that I’m aware of that would prevent them from coming to the United States,” the official said.
But the Pentagon is considering several possibilities.
“As for additional training on systems like the Switchblade, we are reviewing and thinking about and considering a number of different options for how we could manage to get more Ukrainians trained on that system,” the official said. “It’s a small number of systems as you know, but it’s a new system that they’re not familiar with.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, announced a new measure Monday to crack down on what law enforcement says is the growing problem of “ghost guns” and called on Congress to pass universal background checks.
“They call this rule I’m about to announce extreme. ‘Extreme,'” Biden said at the White House Rose Garden event. “But let me ask you — is it extreme to protect police officers, extreme to protect our children, extreme to keep guns out of the hands of people who couldn’t even pass a background check?”
A “ghost gun” is a firearm that comes packaged in parts, can be bought online and assembled without much of a trace — a point Biden demonstrated with props.
“It’s not hard to put together,” Biden said, showcasing its pieces. “Anyone could order it in the mail, anyone … Terrorists and domestic abusers can go from a gun kit to a gun in as little as 30 minutes. Buyers aren’t required to pass background checks because guns have no serial numbers.”
The new rule essentially expands the definition of a “firearm,” as established by the Gun Control Act, to cover “buy build shoot” kits that people can buy online or from a firearm dealer and assemble themselves. It will make these kits subject to the same federal laws that currently apply to other firearms.
The goal, officials said, is to keep untraceable guns off of the streets and out of the hands of those who are prohibited by law from possessing a firearm.
“We call them ghost guns because they can’t be traced, but make no mistake. They are real. They can shoot to kill, and they do,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “For years criminals have sought out these unmarked guns to murder and to maim. That’s why the attorney general has signed a rule that updates our regulations to keep up with changes in technology.”
With families affected by gun violence invited to the White House Monday, Mia Tretta, a survivor of a 2019 high school shooting in Santa Clarita, California, memorialized two classmates, Dominic Blackwell and Gracie Ann Muelburger, who were killed with a ghost gun, and introduced Biden, whom she called “the strongest gun-sense commander in chief ever to hold office.”
“Starting today, weapons like the one used in Saugus High School and to ambush deputies that are here with us today are being treated like the deadly firearms they are,” Biden said. “If you commit a crime with a ghost gun, expect federal prosecution.”
“This rule is an important step, it’s going to make a difference, I promise you,” Biden added.
ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega pressed the White House on this promise at the daily White House briefing.
“Can you say, this administration say there will be fewer shootings, as a result of what the president is doing today?” Vega asked press secretary Jen Psaki.
“That’s always our hope and our objective, right, is to reduce the impact of gun violence as we’ve seen, violence go up. We have seen a huge vast majority of that nearly three quarters as a result of guns and ghost guns, as you said, Cecilia, are used by simply clicking and ordering online, ordering a kit that people can make in their homes,” Psaki said.
Commercial manufacturers of those kits will now have to be licensed and include serial numbers on the kits’ frame or receivers. In addition, commercial sellers will have to be federally licensed and run background checks before selling a kit.
A senior administration official told ABC News, “At its core, this rule clarifies that anyone who wants to purchase a weapon parts kit that can be readily be converted to a fully assembled firearm must go through the same process they would have to go through to purchase a commercially made firearm in short weapon parts kits that may be readily convertible into working fully assembled firearms must be treated under federal law.”
The rule also tackles ghost guns already made and in circulation. The DOJ will require federally licensed dealers that take in any un-serialized firearms to serialize them before selling the weapon. If a licensed dealer acquires a ghost gun, the rule will require them to serialize it before re-selling it.
“This requirement will apply regardless of how the firearm was made, meaning it includes ghost guns made from individual parts, kits, or by 3D-printers,” a fact sheet of the new rule shared with ABC News reads.
“If you can put together an IKEA dresser, you can build a ghost gun,” Tretta, also a volunteer leader with Students Demand Action, told ABC News ahead of Monday’s event. “Unfortunately, it is that easy to get a weapon that has not only changed my life but has done the same thing to thousands of others. Finalizing this rule is a critical step to making sure no one else has to go through what my family has had to go through.”
The rule also updates the definition of a “frame” and “receiver” so that all using split or multi-part receivers are covered under existing gun laws and will be subject to serial numbers and background checks. It also extends the 20-year record retention requirement that all Federal Firearm Licensees must adhere to. Under the rule, FFLs must retain records for as long as the dealer is licensed.
While some gun advocacy groups are threatening to sue over the rule, Psaki said Monday the administration felt confident it would be able to continue to implement it.
Gun Owners of America has vowed to fight the rule it calls “pure gun control,” claiming it “will do far more than the White House is pretending.”
The National Rifle Association tweeted, “Biden’s gun control actions will hearten his wealthy gun control supporters. But, this action sends the wrong message to violent criminals, because this “ban” will not affect them. These violent crime sprees will continue unabated until they are arrested/prosecuted/punished.”
From January 2016 to December 2021, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it received “approximately 45,000 reports of suspected privately made firearms recovered by law enforcement in criminal investigations — including 692 homicides or attempted homicides,” according to the DOJ.
New ATF director
Biden also announced the nomination of Steve Dettelbach as the new director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“Steve’s record makes him ready on day one to lead this agency,” Biden said. “And by the way, in 2009, the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed him to serve as U.S. Attorney.”
Dettelbach served the Justice Department for two decades, Biden said, ticking through his accomplishments.
A senior administration official said of Biden’s nominee, “He has a proven track record of working with federal, state, and local law enforcement to fight violent crime and combat domestic violent extremism and religious violence — including through partnerships with the ATF to prosecute complex cases and take down violent criminal gangs.”
The official did not specify whether the interim ATF director, Marvin Richardson, will remain in place during the confirmation process.
Psaki couldn’t say on Monday what impact not having a confirmed leader of the bureau since 2015 was having on crime — but put the onus on Republicans to help confirm Dettelbach given concerns over the crime rate.
“He’s received bipartisan support from law enforcement leaders. He was confirmed unanimously when he was nominated to serve as a federal prosecutor. And our view is that if Republicans are about getting tough on crime as we are and keeping our communities safe, they should support a career prosecutor like Steve Dettelbach who can make the ATF more effective in getting guns off our streets and stopping criminals,” she said.
Some gun safety advocacy organizations applauded the pick.
“We applaud the Biden-Harris Administration for doubling down on its commitment to gun safety by taking action to rein in ghost guns and nominating an ATF Director who will end its culture of complicity with the gun industry,” John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, told ABC News. “Steve Dettelbach will be the strong leader the ATF needs to lead a top-to-bottom overhaul of the agency, and we urge the Senate to swiftly confirm him.”
Ukrainian forces fire GRAD rockets toward Russian positions in Donbas, Ukraine on April 10, 2022 – Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian troops invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Russian forces have since been met with “stiff resistance” from Ukrainians, according to U.S. officials.
In recent days, Russian forces have retreated from northern Ukraine, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. After graphic images emerged of civilians lying dead in the streets of Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv, the United States and European countries accused Russia of committing war crimes.
Latest headlines:
-Russia appoints new general as nation reaches ‘new lows of depravity and brutality’: US
-Mariupol death toll could be over 20,000: Mayor
-Russians still attacking Mariupol, partially blocking Kharkiv: Ukraine
-Over 4.5 million refugees have fled Ukraine: UNHCR
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Ukrainian officials are focusing on clearing the mines left behind by Russian forces before they retreated the region surrounding Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in his address Monday.
The Russian troops deliberately left mines “everywhere,” Zelenskyy said, adding that they did so “to kill or maim as many of our people as possible, even when they were forced to withdraw from our land.”
“Russian troops left behind tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of dangerous objects,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy said Ukrainian officials are also focusing on procuring more arms. The country is not getting the lethal aid it needs to end the war sooner, he said.
The president also called on the European Union to include an oil embargo in its sixth round of sanctions toward Russia, saying that unless they do, another round of sanctions will be received by Moscow “with a smile.”
ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Apr 11, 3:45 pm
CEO of World Central Kitchen opens up about ‘catastrophic’ train station attack
Nate Mook, CEO of World Central Kitchen, opened up to ABC News Live on Monday about what he saw in the immediate aftermath of Friday’s attack on a Ukrainian train station that killed at least 57 people.
Mook said Friday was the third day he was spending near the Kramatorsk train station planning food distribution for Ukrainians trying to flee the region.
On Friday, Mook said, “We had just driven by the station, I looked down and saw 1,000 people or so on the platform. And we got about two minutes beyond the station when we heard the explosions happen.”
“We headed over there … the scene was horrific. It was catastrophic,” Mook said. “There was damage both on the platform and in front of the station where innocent civilians were waiting … there was remnants of a rocket on the ground.”
One of the areas that was really hit the hardest was actually a waiting area for seniors,” Mook said. “They had a little waiting area set up, they had chairs, they had a little tent area. And this is right where the rocket landed and why so many were killed.”
Mook added, “I think there was a little bit of shock around this idea that the train station itself, with just innocent civilians, would be targeted, because there’s no strategic value to it — it is just murder.”
Apr 11, 2:32 pm
US considering training more Ukrainians in US
A small group of Ukrainian troops who were in the U.S. for pre-planned military training when Russia invaded their country returned home Sunday, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Monday. The Pentagon took advantage of their presence to train them on the Switchblade drones the U.S. is sending to aid Ukraine.
The official said the U.S. is looking into training more Ukrainians, possibly in the U.S.
“There’s been no policy decision that I’m aware of that would prevent them from coming to the United States,” the official said.
But the Pentagon is considering several options.
“As for additional training on systems like the Switchblade, we are reviewing and thinking about and considering a number of different options for how we could manage to get more Ukrainians trained on that system,” the official said.
ABC News’ Matt Seyler
Apr 11, 2:23 pm
Russia appoints new general as nation reaches ‘new lows of depravity and brutality’: US
Gen. Alexander Dvornikov has been appointed to lead Russia’s invasion effort, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Monday. Dvornikov previously led Russians in the south of Ukraine, where they saw the most success.
“In the early days and weeks of the conflict, the Russians did achieve more success in the south than they achieved certainly in the north. I have no idea that was a factor in his selection,” the official said.
But the official noted that Russian efforts in the south are now largely stalled, with no progress against Mariupol since last week and no success advancing on Mykolayiv.
The official said it is unclear how Dvornikov’s selection could affect the fighting but said a pattern of brutality remains constant.
“What is clear is that the Russians continued to sink to new lows of depravity and brutality, as we saw with the missile strike on the train station last week,” the official said.
The official said some of the Russian troops that withdrew from northern Ukraine are starting to move east toward the Russian cities of Belgorod and Valuyki.
“We believe that this line of vehicles that we talked about that are north of Izium came out of the Belgorod/Valuyki region, from there to the south,” the official said.
(JASPER, Texas) — A local school district in Texas has announced plans to reduce students’ school weeks from the traditional five days to four days for the upcoming 2022-2023 school year.
The Jasper Independent School District cited teacher shortage and retention when it announced the change in a Facebook post last month and said it had conducted surveys with parents, teachers and staffers before the change was voted on by its board of trustees.
The change to a four-day school week was motivated, in part, by burnout among current teachers and difficulty recruiting new teachers, according to John Seybold, superintendent of the Jasper Independent School District.
“Teacher burnout has been an issue for a long time, but since COVID, it has seemed to expand, and it’s becoming more and more of an issue,” Seybold told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “The four-day week kind of makes it a little more manageable for them because there’s so much pressure placed on our teachers.”
He continued, “As a school district, ultimately the best thing we can do for kids is put the best possible teacher in front of them every day.”
The school district in Jasper, Texas, a city about 134 miles northeast of Houston near the eastern Texas and western Louisiana border, also plans to give teachers and school staff members a financial incentive if they stay in their positions.
Teachers would get a $3,000 stipend while staff members, such as librarians, would receive $1,500 if they remain with Jasper ISD. The funds allocated would come from the public school district’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) grants, a federal grant program under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
According to Seybold, the school district is now down to just one teacher vacancy. Prior to the changes, he said, open high school science positions “had been unfulfilled for two years.”
“Where we used to post a job and get no applications, now we’re getting multiple applications for every position. So it’s kind of worked so far,” Seybold said.
During the past two years of the coronavirus pandemic, school districts across the country have reported not only a shortage of teachers but also of substitute teachers and school support staff, such as bus drivers.
According to a study conducted last year by the American Federation of Teachers with the Rand Corporation, one in four teachers were thinking about quitting their job by the end of the school year. Teachers were also more likely to report experiencing regular job-related stress and symptoms of depression than the general population, according to the study.
Jasper’s school district serves over 2,230 students in pre-K through 12th grade, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education, which also showed there were 175 teachers and 196 full-time staffers in the district.
All students in Jasper’s public school system would be subject to the four-day school week.
Jasper ISD isn’t the only district to have changed students’ school weeks. Other Texas school districts that have adopted four-day school weeks include Devers ISD and Athens ISD, which promotes its “four-day instructional week” on its district homepage.
Other states — including Oregon, Montana, Colorado and Oklahoma — have also implemented four-day school weeks with mixed results.
According to one study from researchers at Oregon State and Montana State University, which examined 2005-2019 test scores from over 341,000 Oregon high schoolers, students’ math test scores appeared to decline on average after switching to a four-day school week in a non-rural district.
In other states, such as California and New Jersey, school districts have prioritized different changes, like starting school later in the day, in a push to address the growing mental health crisis among students.
The conditions of a four-day school week also vary based on a school’s district and state mandates. Some districts have added more time to each of their four days or included more days in the academic calendar.
In Jasper, the next academic year would kick off on Aug. 10 and run through June 1, 2023, but the four-day schedule wouldn’t begin until the week of Oct. 3, according to an academic calendar posted on the district’s website. From October through the end of April, students would report to school only from Mondays through Thursdays, and teachers would use Fridays as professional development days.
“The kids are going to school virtually the same amount of time,” said Seybold. “They’re still getting their required minutes.”
Two of the downsides to a four-day school week are an increased risk of food insecurity among students and that parents and caregivers could find it harder to secure child care with an extended weekend, according to a 2021 study and research compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures respectively.
Seybold said the Jasper ISD is working with a local YMCA to secure additional programming for kids and with a food bank to make sure kids who qualify have food to cover long weekends.
Carrie Underwood is expressing gratitude toward her fans’ kind gesture in the wake of her dog’s passing.
Last week, Carrie shared that her longtime pet, Ace, had passed away. After fans learned of the news, several pitched in to honor the pup by donating more than $4,000 to the C.A.T.S. Foundation, which was created by Carrie in 2009 as a way to give back to her hometown of Checotah, Oklahoma. The organization provides funding to a variety of causes close to the singer’s heart, including animal welfare.
The monetary donation also came with an e-card signed by each fan who contributed, sharing messages of encouragement and photos with their own pets. The sentiment brought the superstar to tears.
“You guys are honestly the best! When I read this, I immediately started crying…I can’t believe you all pitched in like that!” Carrie professed on Twitter. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart. And thank you on behalf of Ace and all the little furry babies that you are helping!”
Keith Urban set things in motion Monday night with an energetic performance of “Wild Hearts,” as the 2022 CMT Music Awards took over a transformed Municipal Auditorium in Nashville.
Even a positive COVID-19 diagnosis couldn’t keep Kelsea Ballerini from doing her part, co-hosting the show from her living room, alongside Anthony Mackie and Kane Brown, who stepped in at the last minute. She even managed to work in most of her wardrobe changes — finishing the night in pjs — and debuting her new single, “Heartfirst,” from her backyard.
Little Big Town also rolled out their new release, “Hell Yeah,” while Carly Pearce, Thomas Rhett, and Maren Morris all opted for album tracks. TR teamed with Riley Green for “Half of Me,” and Ryan Hurd joined his wife for “I Can’t Love You Anymore,” while Carly lit up a pyro-infused rendition of “Diamondback.”
Fireworks closed out Female Video winner Miranda Lambert’s performance of “If I Was a Cowboy” on the show’s Lower Broadway stage, where Jason Aldean earlier teamed up with eighties icon Bryan Adams to cover “Heaven.”
Jason won both Collaborative Video and Video of the Year – the night’s top honor – for “If I Didn’t Love You” with Carrie Underwood, who offered an impressive acrobatic performance of “Ghost Story,” shot earlier during her ongoing Vegas residency.
Of course, no moment could rival the reunion of the Judds, who revived “Love Can Build a Bridge” – complete with choir – in front of the Country Music Hall of Fame, where Naomi and Wynonna will soon be inducted.
Maddie Font delivered the night’s most emotional moment, barely able to speak through tears and excitement, after an unexpected win for Group/Duo Video for “Woman You Got.” New mom Taylor Kerr joined via video, holding her new baby, Leighton Grace, born in January.
It’s not the famous “Christmas Tree Farm,” but one of the houses that Taylor Swift lived in as a kid in Pennsylvania has been sold for a cool million bucks.
Taylor and her family moved into a rented five-bedroom, five-bathroom house in Wyomissing, PA when she was 10. When she was 14, her family relocated to Hendersonville, TN. The New York Post reports that in February, that home was put on the market for $1.1 million, and after a $100K price cut, it went into contract this past Friday.
The house, which has changed hands several times since Taylor and her family moved out, is more than 3,500 square feet and features hardwood flooring, a fireplace, gourmet kitchen, wet bar, heated pool and a hot tub.
As for that Christmas tree farm that Taylor sings about, that’s where she and her family lived before they moved into that five-bedroom rented home. Her dad, who worked in finance, bought the farm from a client and, Taylor told Esquire, he would “tend to the farm as his hobby.”
Since leaving Pennsylvania, Taylor’s gone on to acquire an extensive real estate portfolio, with homes in Los Angeles, New York City, Rhode Island, Nashville and, reportedly, London.
Kaleo‘s upcoming concert at Colorado’s famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre is sold out, but you’ll still be able to watch it from the comfort of your own home.
The Icelandic rockers have announced a livestream for the show, which takes place May 16. You’ll be able to watch Kaleo’s whole performance — as well as the sets from openers The Glorious Sons and Bones Owens — beginning at 10 p.m. ET via the streaming platform Veeps.
The Red Rocks show marks the closing performance on Kaleo’s ongoing Fight or Flight North American tour in support of their new album, Surface Sounds, which was released last April. It’s the follow-up to 2016’s A/B, which spawned the singles “Way Down We Go” and “No Good.”
Kaleo’s tour continues Wednesday night in Washington, D.C.
