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20+ min ago (505+ words) A new study serves as a sobering warning to parents to avoid giving smartphones to their kids until absolutely necessary. A study released this week shows the real damage smartphones can cause to the developing brain of a preteen. It serves as a sobering warning to many phone-addicted adults to both lay off the electronics themselves and delay giving smartphones to kids. First, it found that most kids have smartphones. More than 95 percent of teens aged 13-17 have a smartphone; more than half (57 percent) of tweens aged 11-12 had a smartphone; and 29 percent of kids aged 8-10 had one. Any adult who has doomscrolled at 3 a.m. knows how addictive smartphones can be. What happens to a child's health when hours of screentime are added to his life? Researchers looked at 12-year-olds, comparing those with phones to those without a phone, and found that "smartphone…...

27+ min ago (623+ words) Veronica Martinez woke up early one recent morning to make a fresh batch of cookies. She packed them in a box and headed to a community center in East Oakland, where a nonprofit called Trybe invites families to get the things they need " produce, milk, eggs and even diapers. Most of the families set up appointments first, but Martinez didn't have one, so she shared the box of homemade cookies with staff in exchange for access to the pantry. "They do a lot of hard work, you know, and I appreciate the community for helping us out," Martinez said. The longest-ever federal government shutdown delayed Martinez's monthly food benefits, and she needed help to feed herself and her teenage son and daughter. "When [the shutdown] happened, wow, it was a shock because I only get paid once a month, and…...

37+ min ago (976+ words) More than 5,000 liquor and smoke shops were approved as retailers under SNAP, raising fraud concerns. There's no way to determine how much alcohol, tobacco, or other "non-compliant" goods have been sold nationwide. At least 20 states refuse to share data with the feds. Food stamps were first issued in 1939 as an assistance program to prevent starvation during the Great Depression. "But 86 years later, thousands of liquor stores and smoke shops have become approved retailers, increasing the possibility of fraud, new research shows." The longest ever government shutdown, which ended after 43 days of deadlock, thrust the federal food stamp program into the national spotlight as millions of recipients went without benefits. But, it also laid bare many abuses in the system." Even before the shutdown, the Trump administration planned to crack down on fraud in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program…...

37+ min ago (675+ words) Gov. Patrick Morrisey, R-W.Va., joins "The Sunday Briefing" to discuss the deadly D.C. shooting that targeted two National Guard soldiers and how the Trump administration says it is working to reverse Biden-era immigration policies. West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey and Maj. Gen. James Seward, adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard, provided an update Monday on their operations in Washington as well as the condition of critically wounded guardsman, Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe. Wolfe, of Inwood, West Virginia, and Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, of Webster Springs, West Virginia, were shot " Beckstrom fatally " allegedly by Afghan evacuee Rahmanullah Lakanwal of Bellingham, Washington, on Wednesday as they patrolled outside the Farragut West Metro station not far from the White House. Morrisey said Wolfe has been upgraded to serious condition, a step down from the previously reported "critical" status. "I"m not the…...

1+ hour, 9+ min ago (302+ words) Such instructions "would in essence be an order to show no quarter, which would be a war crime," former military lawyer Todd Huntley, "who advised Special Operations forces for seven years at the height of the U.S. counterterrorism campaign," told the'Post.'The second strike described by the Post also contrasts with what happened after subsequent attacks on suspected drug boats. The "armed conflict" that Trump describes does not meet these criteria. "This is not stretching the envelope," Geoffrey Corn, formerly the U.S. Army's senior adviser on the law of war,'told'The New York Times.'"This is shredding it." According to the OLC, in other words, the boats are legitimate military targets because the drugs they carry provide financial support for the cartels' "armed attack against the United States." But that "armed attack," according to Trump, consists of supplying Americans with the prohibited…...

1+ hour, 10+ min ago (112+ words) The National Education Association wants students to become social justice advocates instead of learning facts and skills, according to Defending Education. National Teacher Union Training Members to Promote LGBT Ideology, Parents Group Says The nation's largest teacher union is planning a workshop on "Advancing LGBTQ+Justice," prompting criticism from a conservative national parent group that obtained the training handouts and released them to the public ahead of the session. Progressive School Board Candidates Make Gains in Recent Elections UC'Berkeley Faces Federal Funding Loss Due to Safety Concerns Trump Admin's Dismantling of Education Department: Here's Where Things Stand Educators, Experts Grapple With How to Improve Nation's Plummeting Math Scores...

1+ hour, 10+ min ago (112+ words) The National Education Association wants students to become social justice advocates instead of learning facts and skills, according to Defending Education. National Teacher Union Training Members to Promote LGBT Ideology, Parents Group Says The nation's largest teacher union is planning a workshop on "Advancing LGBTQ+Justice," prompting criticism from a conservative national parent group that obtained the training handouts and released them to the public ahead of the session. Progressive School Board Candidates Make Gains in Recent Elections UC'Berkeley Faces Federal Funding Loss Due to Safety Concerns Trump Admin's Dismantling of Education Department: Here's Where Things Stand Educators, Experts Grapple With How to Improve Nation's Plummeting Math Scores...

1+ hour, 11+ min ago (140+ words) Travel Tuesday promises big savings'but experts warn shoppers to look past flashy discounts and read the fine print before booking. Consumers Should Do Their Research Before Giving in to Travel Tuesday Temptation Chain stores have Black Friday. Online marketplaces have Cyber Monday. For local businesses, it's Small Business Saturday. In the last 20 years, more segments of the retail industry have vied for their own piece of the holiday shopping season. The travel trade has firmly joined the trend with another post-Thanksgiving sales push: Travel Tuesday. Post-Thanksgiving Travelers in Chicago See Hundreds of Flights Canceled and Delayed After Snowstorm 3 Children, 1 Adult Killed in Shooting at Child's Birthday Party Shoppers Spend Billions on Black Friday to Snag Holiday Deals Tom Stoppard, Sparkling Playwright Who Won an Oscar for "Shakespeare in Love,' Dies at 88...

1+ hour, 11+ min ago (140+ words) Travel Tuesday promises big savings'but experts warn shoppers to look past flashy discounts and read the fine print before booking. Consumers Should Do Their Research Before Giving in to Travel Tuesday Temptation Chain stores have Black Friday. Online marketplaces have Cyber Monday. For local businesses, it's Small Business Saturday. In the last 20 years, more segments of the retail industry have vied for their own piece of the holiday shopping season. The travel trade has firmly joined the trend with another post-Thanksgiving sales push: Travel Tuesday. Post-Thanksgiving Travelers in Chicago See Hundreds of Flights Canceled and Delayed After Snowstorm 3 Children, 1 Adult Killed in Shooting at Child's Birthday Party Shoppers Spend Billions on Black Friday to Snag Holiday Deals Tom Stoppard, Sparkling Playwright Who Won an Oscar for "Shakespeare in Love,' Dies at 88...

1+ hour, 29+ min ago (775+ words) By Dominic Patten, Ted Johnson EXCLUSIVE: Later this week, Gavin Newsom will once again command a portion of the national spotlight. With legislation like the January 1 effective ICE unmasking "No Secret Police Act" and his landslide Proposition 50 redistricting victory last month mentioned, admiration for Newsom's fightin' ethos is a sentiment echoed throughout town time and time again, we found " and not just by fanboy Bill Maher. Still, the donor money is there in SoCal. Even as Trump endlessly teases a Constitution-busting 2028 run of his own, the fatigue and detachment that followed the debacle of the well-financed 2024 campaign has burnt off under the glare of the MAGA administration's chaotic and often cruel policies since returning to office. The result is the bandwagon effect that helped boost Clinton and Obama in previous cycles is revving up. Littman adds: "People are waiting on…...