Today is Sunday, December 1st, the 336th day of 2024. There are 30 days left within the yr.

Today in history:

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, was arrested after refusing to provide up her seat to a white man on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama; The incident sparked a year-long boycott of buses and helped galvanize the U.S. civil rights movement.

Also on this date:

In 1824, the presidential election was transferred to the U.S. House of Representatives after not one of the candidates (John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford, and Henry Clay) won greater than 50% of the favored vote. Although Jackson won probably the most electoral votes, Adams would ultimately win the presidency.

In 1969, the U.S. government held its first military draft lottery since World War II.

In 1991, Ukrainians voted overwhelmingly for independence from the Soviet Union.

In 2009, President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 more U.S. troops to be sent to the war in Afghanistan, but promised to start withdrawing in 18 months during a speech to cadets on the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

In 2017, retired Gen. Michael Flynn, who served as President Donald Trump's first national security adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about contacting the Russians on Trump's behalf. (Trump would later pardon Flynn.)

Today's birthdays:

• World Golf Hall of Famer Lee Trevino is 85.
• Rock musician John Densmore (The Doors) is 80.
• The actress and singer Bette Midler is 79.
• Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, is 72.
• Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., is 66.
• Model-actress Carol Alt is 64.
• Actor Jeremy Northam is 63.
• Baseball Hall of Famer Larry Walker is 58.
• Actor Néstor Carbonell is 57.
• Actress and comedian Sarah Silverman is 54.
• Actor Riz Ahmed is 42.
• Singer and actress Janelle Monáe is 39.
• Actress Sarah Snook is 37.
• Actress Zoe Kravitz is 36.

By NADIA LATHAN, Associated Press/Report for America

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A jury in Texas will soon determine whether a convoy of supporters of then-President Donald Trump violently intimidated former Democratic Rep. Wendy Davis and two others on a Biden-Harris campaign bus when a so-called “Trump Train” surrounded them for greater than an hour on a Texas highway just days before the 2020 election.

The process that began on September 9will proceed on Monday and is predicted to last one other week.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that six of the Trump Train riders violated state and federal laws. Attorneys for the defendants said they didn’t conspire against the Democrats on the bus and that their actions were protected speech.

Here’s what else it’s best to know:

What happened on October 30, 2020?

Dozens of cars and trucks organized by an area Trump Train group surrounded the bus because it made its way from San Antonio to Austin. It was the last day of early voting in Texas for the 2020 general election, and the bus was scheduled to make a stop in San Marcos for an event at Texas State University.

Video recorded by Davis shows pickup trucks carrying large Trump flags slamming on their brakes and surrounding the bus because it attempted to drive away from the Trump Train. One defendant rammed a campaign employee's automobile while the trucks occupied every lane, slowing the bus and everybody around it to a crawl of 15 mph.

Those on the bus – including Davis, a campaign staffer and the motive force – repeatedly called 911, asking for help and a police escort through San Marcos, but when no police arrived, the campaign canceled the event and continued on to Austin.

Saint Mark settled a separate legal dispute submitted by the identical three Democrats against the policeand agreed to pay $175,000 and require mandatory training for law enforcement officials on how one can cope with political violence.

Davis testified that she felt like she was being “held hostage” and sought treatment for her anxiety disorders.

In the times leading as much as the event, Democrats were also intimidated and harassed and received death threats, the lawsuit says.

“I feel like they enjoyed scaring us,” Davis testified. “It's traumatic for all of us to relive that day.”

What is the plaintiffs’ argument?

A lawyer for the plaintiffs said in opening statements that the convoy's organizers targeted the bus in a calculated attack to intimidate Democrats, a violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act, an 1871 federal law that prohibits political violence and intimidation.

“We are here because of actions that put people's lives in danger,” said Samuel Hall, an attorney with the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher. The plaintiffs were “literally driven out of town by a horde of trucks,” he said.

The six riders of the Trump Train succeeded in getting the campaign to cancel its remaining events in Texas in a war they believed was “between good and evil,” Hall said.

Two nonprofit advocacy groups, Texas Civil Rights Project and Protect Democracy, are also representing the three plaintiffs.

What is the defense argument?

Lawyers for the defendants accused of driving and organizing the convoy said that they had no plan to harass the Democrats on the bus, which could have left the highway at any time.

“This was a political rally. This was not a conspiracy to intimidate people,” said attorney Jason Greaves, who represents two of the drivers.

The defense also argued that their clients' actions were a violation of freedom of expression and that the trial was a concerted try to “rip off conservatives,” said Francisco Canseco, a lawyer for 3 of the defendants.

“It was a hooray group that wanted to support and represent a candidate of their choice in a very vocal way,” Canseco said in his opening speech.

The defense failed last month in an try to have the case decided of their favor and not using a trial. The judge wrote that “attacks, intimidations, or imminent threats of violence against others are not protected speech.”

Lathan is a corps member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-reported issues.

Originally published: September 16, 2024 at 10:44 am

A mobile team that gives drug treatments to individuals with opioid use disorders showed promising leads to Getting patients in Philadelphia to come back back for follow-up appointmentsbased on a peer-reviewed study I co-authored and published within the September 2024 issue of
Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment.

The team, which incorporates a physician, a case manager and social employees with personal experience with substance use disorders, worked out of a van parked at six locations in neighborhoods with high fatal and non-fatal overdoses. The goal was to get patients same-day prescriptions for buprenorphine, a life-saving medicines for the treatment of opioid use disorders. The van is operated by Prevention Point Philadelphiaa non-profit harm reduction organization that supports the homeless and Substance use disorder.

It is very important that the “Bupe Busas patients and staff call it, reached a various patient population. Nearly 60% were black and 15% were Hispanic in the course of the period we collected our data. Most didn’t have a primary care physician or mental health provider.

After their first visit, 86% of patients accomplished no less than one follow-up visit and 69% accomplished 4 or more visits within the van.

When it got here to connecting patients to more traditional inpatient programs, similar to outpatient addiction treatment programs or buprenorphine prescribed in primary care settings, success was lower. Half of patients made it to no less than one outside appointment for a buprenorphine prescription and 30% made it to 2 or more visits to more traditional clinics.

Why it will be important

As Doctor and researcher in addiction medicineI feel lots about learn how to provide effective treatment to the patients who need it most.

Philadelphia has the best overdose death rate amongst major U.S. cities. The majority of individuals with opioid use disorder – each in Philadelphia and nationwide – received no treatment. In addition, there are persistent racial disparities in treatment, with black and Hispanic patients receive drug treatment less continuously for opioid use disorder. Overdose deaths amongst black Philadelphians have exceeded that of the white residents lately.

The only treatment for opioid use disorder is a drugs, specifically methadone and buprenorphine, often known by the brand name Suboxone. These medications prevent withdrawal symptoms, control opioid cravings, and reduce the chance of overdose if a relapse occurs. Essentially, these medications break the cycle of addiction and permit people to feel normal and deal with the remaining of their lives.

What other research is being carried out

A lot of research papers describe Barriers in addiction treatmentThese include barriers to obtaining medical health insurance coverage, regulations that limit treatment options, and an absence of trained treatment staff.

In addition, many patients have no idea who to show to for addiction treatment, feel poorly treated there or are subjected to rigid and cumbersome Requirements for treatmentThese demands may include each day visits or regular counseling sessions, which may make it difficult to work, care for youngsters, or attend to other necessary life activities.

How we work

The Bupe bus is a so-called low-barrier or Low-threshold modelLow-barrier models aim to bring treatment on to the individuals who need it, without additional bureaucracy. This approach is predicated on the popularity that individuals more more likely to take medication for opioid use disorders in the event that they can access them quickly and these medications are effective without intensive consultation or other requirements And whether persons are abstinent from drugs or not.

This approach is consistent with the way in which healthcare providers treat other conditions similar to diabetes or hypertension. However, it’s less common within the treatment of substance abuse.

As Fernando Rufino reels off the harrowing list of mishaps and injuries which have marked his life, there comes a degree where you start to wonder if you’ve gotten been transported to some type of alternate dimension.

Rufino is certainly one of Brazil's most famous Paralympians because of his canoeing achievements. He is nicknamed the “Iron Cowboy” in reference to each his past as a rodeo rider and the metal plates used to bolster his spine. He sustained this injury when he fell from a moving bus on the age of 21 and his body was crushed by the wheels.

That alone could be an excellent story. But you haven't even heard the half of it.

He was once trampled by an 800 kg bull and dragged along the bottom by a galloping horse. There were also automobile, motorcycle and horse riding accidents.

“I broke my thumb,” Rufino says. “I cut off the tip of that finger, and a small sawblade fell on my face and penetrated right under my eye. My brother and I always tried to recreate fight scenes from movies. One time he hit me with a wooden board and cut my head open.”

“When I was a teenager, a bull broke my jaw. Then I got hit by a bus. I drove my motorcycle into a tree at 100 km/h. I was lifting weights in the gym when a metal bar fell on me and broke my nose. I broke two ribs from overtraining. I trained for two weeks with a broken leg and thought it was just a muscle problem…

“Then lightning struck me.”

Flash?

“Yes! On my doorstep. I felt the energy undergo me. I used to be thrown into the air. I landed on my neck and cut my elbow. I used to be curled up on the ground for about quarter-hour, my muscles completely cramped. For three days afterward I smelled something burning.

“I love it when I have accidents. Then I just have more stories to tell. I'm a wilderness guy, a warrior who wants to win in life, a cowboy who won gold at the Paralympics.”

And today, the reigning Va'a 200m VL2 Paralympic champion and three-time world champion will enter the water to defend his title.

---

Rufino grew up on a conventional farm in Mato Grosso do Sul in mid-western Brazil. He and his parents still live there with horses and bulls. The money Rufino earns from canoeing is invested within the property, which they manage in accordance with his grandparents' lifestyle.

Rufino became a rodeo rider because he dreamed of traveling the world, but after his spinal cord injury, he knew his profession was over.

With the assistance of his father, he learned to walk again on the farm and spent almost the complete rehabilitation period at home, riding horses and swimming within the reservoir. “Animals are part of my story and who I am,” he says. “They helped me walk again.”

However, Rufino still desired to travel the world and sport was one strategy to try this. A friend found a middle that trained disabled athletes. He tried just a few sports after which on August 7, 2012 at 8 a.m. – he still remembers the date exactly – he tried para-canoeing.

“On the water, I forget about my disability,” he says. “I feel like everyone else. If you saw me paddling next to someone who doesn't have a disability, they wouldn't know which of us is disabled. It's liberating.”

The 39-year-old missed the 2016 Rio Paralympics as a result of hypertension and hypertrophy of his heart, but his technique improved because the training load was lighter. When he made his Paralympic debut in Tokyo in 2020, which was postponed for 12 months due to global pandemic, he made a press release together with his tufted silver hair and have become the primary Brazilian to win a gold medal on the Paralympic Games.

Cheered on by his family on the house farm, Rufino will compete against his good friend and fellow countryman Igor Tofalini, also a former rodeo cowboy who was his best man at his wedding in 2018. They live, eat and train together on the National Canoe Center in Ilha Comprida, Brazil. On the water they’re rivals, but off it they’re good friends, and so they share every thing.

“If he wins, we'll celebrate with a barbecue. The same goes if I win. But the gold and silver medals are ours.”

Bald-headed, bushy-bearded Rufino, who keeps his cowboy hat in his room within the Paralympic Village and annoys everyone with the “sadest country music” on race day, is mentally and physically ready for the heats on Friday and the ultimate on Sunday, should he qualify.

“Without wanting to sound conceited, I have already won everything there is to win in my sport. I believe I can leave here as a two-time Paralympic champion.”

Rufino says the 2028 Los Angeles Games will likely be his last Paralympics when he can be 43 years old, however the only thing that matters to him is being remembered because the “true Iron Cowboy.”

“I'm definitely going to die old. I've tried to die young, but I've never managed it.”

policy

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren spoke about reproductive rights and promoted the disclosing of the Harris-Walz campaign's upcoming “Fighting for Reproductive Freedom” bus tour with greater than 50 stops across the country on Friday.

“Trump thinks women are stupid and we can be manipulated,” Warren said at a press conference. “He seems to think he can do one thing when he's talking to his extremist base and then turn around and smile when the overwhelming majority of Americans want to see access to abortion and IVF protected.”

Warren’s comments come after Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance on Sunday in an interview with ' to not impose an abortion ban if he and former President Donald Trump were elected.

Warren outlined the differences between the 2 campaigns' stances on reproductive rights.

“Elections are about choices, and the contrast between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on abortion and IVF couldn't be greater,” Warren said. “They are going in exactly opposite directions.”

Warren can be co-sponsor of a The invoice which goals to guard access to assisted reproductive technology nationwide and provides health care providers and insurers the fitting to cover the services. The bill got here within the wake of Alabama Supreme Court ruling which has virtually banned IVF within the state.

“Women in America are living a nightmare,” Warren said. “In November, voters have the opportunity to vote to protect IVF by voting for Kamala Harris.”

The “Fighting for Reproductive Freedom” bus tour, which goals to carry Trump “directly responsible for the devastating impact of the Roe v. Wade overturn, including jeopardizing access to IVF,” is scheduled to start Sept. 3 in Trump's backyard, Palm Beach, Florida, the campaign announced.

The bus tour is meant to focus on the “stark contrast” between the Harris-Walz candidate team – which guarantees to revive the protections of Roe v. Wade through appropriate congressional laws – and the Trump-Vance team on reproductive rights.

“Our campaign is going on the road to meet voters in their communities, highlight the importance of this election for reproductive freedom, and introduce them to the Harris-Walz campaign's vision for moving our country forward, which stands in stark contrast to Donald Trump's plans to take us backwards,” Harris-Walz campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a press release. “The 'Fighting for Reproductive Freedom' bus tour will make it clear to voters that this threat to our fundamental freedoms affects every American.”

Warren was joined by Latorya Beasley, a mother and social employee who had sought IVF treatment but was denied access attributable to the Alabama Supreme Court ruling.

Beasley blames Trump “directly” for the suspension of her fertility services.

“Our dreams of starting a larger family were nipped in the bud,” said Beasley, who will accompany the campaign on the bus tour. “It felt like my entire future was taken away from me in an instant.”

AC Transit now uses AI-powered cameras to detect vehicles illegally parked at bus stops, including taxis, rideshare vehicles and delivery trucks.

The program, which began on Wednesday, includes all bus stops of the bus lines throughout the agency's service area.

For the primary two months, drivers identified by police as violating the bus stop law will receive a warning sent by mail to the registered owner of the vehicle. Starting October 7, the warnings will likely be replaced by a $110 effective, also sent by mail.

The recent program builds on the successful use of AI-equipped cameras to detect illegal stopping and parking at Tempo Line 1T stations and in bus lanes.

AC Transit has equipped 100 buses with two small, forward-facing cameras mounted on the windshields to detect traffic offenders at bus stops. When a violation is detected, the technology creates a 10-second video of the violation, a photograph of the license plate, and the time and placement of the incident. Police then review the evidence and judge whether to issue a ticket to the registered vehicle owner.

In June, AC Transit upgraded the present software on its Tempo buses to more advanced AI hardware and software designed to acknowledge lane markings, bus lanes, stop dimensions and bus sizes to make sure accurate detection of violations, officials said.

The upgrade follows 4 years of ticketing on the Tempo Line 1T corridor. During a five-week period in June and July, onboard AI cameras documented 1,102 potential parking violations for review by the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, leading to 787 tickets.

In comparison, in June and July 2023, the old system, which required manual activation of the camera, recorded 879 violations that resulted in just 22 citations.

AC Transit says it has deployed the AI-powered cameras despite privacy concerns. The transit agency says the cameras don’t record anything from contained in the buses and are aimed to focus solely on cars parked within the bus lane.

Any image that doesn’t contain evidence of a parking violation have to be destroyed inside 15 days. And images of parking violations captured by the system are destroyed inside six months of the incident unless the ticket is contested. AC Transit says the AI ​​camera system doesn’t have facial recognition or other biometric recognition features.

Originally published: August 9, 2024 at 6:10 am

San Mateo County Public Transportation has approved $5 million to check the potential of constructing a bus-only lane parallel to a long-abandoned rail line, a measure that might connect the Dumbarton Bridge to several towns on the peninsula.

SamTrans uses Regional Measure 3 Funding for a feasibility study, including community outreach, developing alternatives to a dedicated bus lane, conducting an environmental assessment, and starting design work on the project.

The study area includes the rail corridor between the Redwood City Caltrain station within the west and University Avenue in East Palo Alto within the east, in addition to the world one-half mile across the rail corridor.

The dedicated bus lane could eventually connect the Dumbarton Bridge to Redwood City, passing through Menlo Park, East Palo Alto and North Fair Oaks. A pedestrian or bike path is also included within the project. Currently, the Dumbarton Express, a limited-stop bus service, takes passengers across the bridge from the East Bay to the peninsula, but a dedicated lane is required, officials say.

According to SamTrans, public transit is urgently needed in the world because over 40 percent of households in the world are low-income, 23 percent of families are single-parent households, and 22 percent of households struggle to pay basic needs akin to rent.

“The project would be transformative for communities that SamTrans identifies as priorities for significant mobility improvements,” says a Report from SamTrans staff“The project will improve east-west transport connections to communities on both sides of the Dumbarton Rail Corridor, including access to high-frequency regional transport services at both ends of the corridor.”

The Dumbarton Rail Bridge was inbuilt 1910 by a Southern Pacific paper subsidy company and was, in keeping with the Bayrail Alliance

The line carried primarily freight trains, but from 1912 until not less than 1918 it also provided trans-Bay passenger service, in keeping with the Bayrail Alliance. Rail service was discontinued within the mid-Nineteen Eighties; in 1994, San Mateo County purchased the railroad bridge and track rights from Southern Pacific for future use.

Construction of the project could begin as early as 2030.

Originally published: July 17, 2024 at 3:35 p.m.

In an industrial corner of Oakland, sandwiched between a 10-lane highway and a freight terminal, stands California's newest source of renewable energy: a squadron of vibrant yellow electric school buses. It is the primary all-electric bus fleet to serve a significant U.S. school district. Starting in August, the 74 vehicles can even contribute 2.1 gigawatt hours of electricity to the Bay Area's power grid, enough energy for 300 to 400 homes.

The buses are expected to scale back carbon dioxide emissions by about 25,000 tons per 12 months in a city where 72% of public school students come from low-income families, disproportionately affected by pollution from the busy port, truck traffic and manufacturing plants affected by Oakland. Alameda County, where Oakland is positioned, has a number of the worst air pollution within the country, based on a report released this month by the American Lung Association.

RELATED: The country's first industrial hydrogen fueling station for giant rigs is about to open in West Oakland

The Oakland Unified School District's previous diesel bus fleet gave children no respite from pollutants linked to lung diseases reminiscent of asthma. “At the end of the day, I wiped my fingers on the inside of the bus and they were black from diesel smoke,” said Marjorie Urbina, who has been driving school buses for 23 years. “If it’s on the bus, it’s in my lungs.”

According to the World Resources Institute, a lot of the 480,000 school buses within the United States run on diesel fuel, and 60% of the 20 million children they transport on daily basis are low-income students. Heavy-duty trucks, which include school buses, make up just 6% of vehicles within the U.S. but produce 59% of road traffic pollution.

“Electrifying school buses can really play an important role in making our air healthier for everyone, especially children,” Harold Wimmer, chief executive of the American Lung Association, said Wednesday during a webinar on electric school buses.

Oakland's electric buses are provided by Zūm, a Silicon Valley startup that now manages the varsity district's fleet in addition to those in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle and other U.S. cities. Zūm began adding electric buses to its fleet in 2022 and about 10% of the corporate's 3,000 buses at the moment are zero-emission. As Zūm converts more of its fleet to battery power, Oakland is offering lessons to other districts on how you can move away from diesel and finance electrification by utilizing buses to power the grid.

“Electric school buses are a unique fleet because they are essentially large batteries on wheels that can travel very few, predictable miles and support the electrical grid,” says Vivek Garg, co-founder and chief operating officer of Zūm, who’s round the corner at OUSD Depot stands by a line of buses manufactured in Southern California by Chinese electric giant BYD.

School bus schedules are well-aligned with renewable energy production and electricity demand, making them ideal for vehicle-to-grid programs.

When the brand new school 12 months begins in August, Urbina and other Zūm drivers will leave the depot with a spread of 110 miles within the morning to select up students from home and take them to highschool. Drivers return to the depot around 10:30 a.m. with battery capability at 68%. At this time, solar energy production shall be ramping up in California, allowing drivers to attach buses to bi-directional chargers developed by Zūm and profit from lower electricity rates.

After the batteries are empty, the buses leave again at around 1:30 p.m. to take the scholars home from school. By 5:30pm they’re back on the bus station as renewable energy production declines with the setting sun and electricity demand and tariffs peak. The buses shall be plugged back into chargers — except now they'll be feeding green electricity to the grid at a time of day when utilities typically depend on fossil fuel power plants. When demand and costs drop after 9 p.m., buses begin charging in order that they are able to run the subsequent morning.

“There is an oversupply during the peak of the sun, and this allows us to shift some of that energy from that time of day to where we actually need it,” says Rudi Halbright, product manager for vehicle-grid integration pilots and analytics at California-based utility Pacific Gas and Electric Company. “With 74 buses, that’s a lot of power and has a really big impact for us. This pilot is intended to pave the way for us to do this at scale.”

A law passed last 12 months requires all newly purchased school buses in California to be zero-emissions starting in 2035. However, electrifying school bus fleets is a challenge for cash-strapped school districts. Even the smaller, 26-seat electric buses utilized in Oakland can cost $350,000, thrice the value of a diesel vehicle of the identical size.

To make the maths work, Zūm's electric buses were subsidized by grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean School Bus Program, in addition to money from the state and regional air quality district. Raney and Garg say PG&E was key to the project's financial viability. The utility paid for the transmission upgrades needed to offer 2.7 megawatts of power to the bus chargers and in addition compensated Zūm for the electricity the buses fed into the grid.

The California School Bus Act of 2023 also extends the utmost term of a zero-emission bus contract between a faculty district and a personal operator from five to fifteen years. Garg says guaranteeing such long-term contracts will make it easier to get financing for electric buses.

Zūm's technology also helps reduce the fee of electrification. An app increases fleet efficiency by providing drivers with a every day list of scholars to select up and recording routes. If a student will not be in school that day, the app will reroute the bus. And given the vehicles' predictable energy needs, they might be charged at a lower voltage, eliminating the necessity to install expensive fast chargers.

At the OUSD depot, Urbina boards an electrical school bus for a brief ride across the yard. The bus is air-conditioned so the windows can remain closed, further reducing children's exposure to air pollution. An even clearer contrast to the deafening noise of the diesel buses: it's quiet.

“I love that it’s quiet,” Urbina says, “because when the bus is loud, the kids get louder.”

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