policy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Democratic philanthropist George Soros and actor and director Denzel Washington can be presented with the nation's highest civilian honor Saturday on the White House.

President Joe Biden will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 of probably the most celebrated names in politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy and academia.

The White House said the recipients have made “exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values ​​or security of the United States, to world peace, or to other significant societal, public or private endeavors.”

Four medals can be awarded posthumously. They go to Fannie Lou Hamer, who founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and laid the muse for the Voting Rights Act of 1965; former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy; George W. Romney, who served as each governor of Michigan and secretary of housing and concrete development; and Ash Carter, the previous defense secretary.

Kennedy is the daddy of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Health and Human Services secretary. Romney is the daddy of former Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney, certainly one of Trump's harshest conservative critics.

Major philanthropists receiving the award include Spanish-American chef José Andrés, whose charity World Central Kitchen has change into certainly one of the world's most recognized food relief organizations, and Bono, the frontman of the rock band U2 and a social justice activist.

Recognized sports and entertainment stars include skilled soccer player Lionel Messi; retired Los Angeles Lakers basketball legend and businessman Earvin “Magic” Johnson; actor Michael J. Fox, a powerful advocate for the research and development of Parkinson's disease; and William Sanford Nye, known to generations of scholars as “Bill Nye the Scientist.”

Other honorees include conservationist Jane Goodall; longtime editor-in-chief of Vogue Magazine, Anna Wintour; American designer Ralph Lauren; American Film Institute founder George Stevens Jr.; entrepreneur and LGBTQ+ activist Tim Gill; and David Rubenstein, co-founder of worldwide investment firm The Carlyle Group.

Last yr, Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 people, including the late Medgar Evers, Speaker Emeritus of the House Nancy Pelosi, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina and actress Michelle Yeoh.

LAS VEGAS — Harry Reid International Airport had probably the most flight delays of any major U.S. airport in fiscal yr 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a recent report.

The FAA, which uses data collected from air traffic controllers nationwide, said there have been 29,763 flight delays at Reid this fiscal yr — greater than 9,500 greater than the subsequent busiest airport, New York's LaGuardia International Airport. The total at Reid can also be greater than double the number recorded in fiscal yr 2022 and greater than five times higher than the common number for fiscal years 2017-19.

A representative for Reid said many aspects played a job in the various flight delays at Las Vegas airport, including extensive runway renovations.

“This includes weather conditions not only in Southern Nevada, but across the country, that can cause a domino effect on flights arriving and departing from LAS,” said Monika Bertaki, a spokeswoman for the Clark County Aviation Authority.

“Commercially, we have had an influx of air traffic at LAS post-pandemic, while the number of aircraft that can take off and land with a given configuration has remained the same,” she said. “Add to that, the influx of general air traffic into the region competes for the number of departures per hour on peak days and times. Finally, we completed runway improvements in the spring and summer of 2023 to reconfigure four taxiways and relocate two runways. During runway construction, sections were closed, reducing the number of departures and arrivals at any given hour.”

Among the 30 major airports across the country, Reid International had the worst performance with delays of quarter-hour or more. The 4 worst airports behind Reid were LaGuardia (20,019 delays in fiscal yr 2023), Newark, Liberty International in New Jersey (13,729 delays), San Francisco International (12,303) and Denver International (9,570).

The fewest delays in fiscal yr 2023: Salt Lake City International with 231 delays.

The FAA reported a complete of 153,312 delays on the 30 major airports.

While delays at Reid International Airport have skyrocketed over the past yr, delays nationwide have fallen 50.6 percent from the previous yr, the FAA said.

Punctuality has improved despite the rise within the variety of flights nationwide, the FAA said.

According to the report, the variety of operations rose by 3.8 percent to 12.2 million. Both an arrival and a departure count as one operation.

Ten U.S. airports, including Reid, saw operations increase above pre-pandemic 2017-19 levels. Airports that exceeded pre-pandemic levels include Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Reid, John F. Kennedy in New York, Phoenix Sky Harbor, Orlando, Honolulu, Ronald Reagan National in Washington and Tampa.

With 603,015, Reid ranks fifth within the airport statistics, behind Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta (762,526 flights), Chicago O'Hare International (716,920), Dallas-Fort Worth (675,807) and Denver (647,440).

The FAA has five categories that show the sorts of delays on the nation's airports. The agency reported in fiscal yr 2023 that weather caused 54.5% of delays, traffic 21.5%, equipment 6.2%, runway problems 17.8% and “other” 0.1%.

Reid also recorded the ninth highest variety of cancellations in fiscal yr 2023, with 3,515. The airport with probably the most cancellations was Denver (6,837), followed by LaGuardia (6,672), Newark (6,440), Dallas-Fort Worth (6,043), Chicago O'Hare (5,669), Atlanta (4,138), New York JFK (4,125), Orlando (3,932) after which Reid. The airport with the fewest cancellations: Honolulu (865).

The small town of Colma in California is legendary for its cemeteries, the ultimate resting place of newspaper magnates William Randolph Hearst and Charles de Young, jeans manufacturer Levi Strauss, Wild West lawman Wyatt Earp and Baseball Hall of Famers Willie McCovey and Joe DiMaggio.

Although Colma's death toll, at 1.5 million, far exceeds the variety of living residents, tens of 1000’s of tourists flock to the town's bustling Serra and 280 Metro shopping centers and Serramonte Auto Row south of Daly City daily. And that explains one other strange fact: Colma has by far the best crime rate of any city within the Bay Area.

John Munsey, Colma's police chief for nearly 4 years, defends his department by saying that with so few residents, it doesn't take many thefts to drive up the crime rate per 100,000 residents. For this reason, the town's crime rate has often been the best within the region.

“There is no other city with only 1,700 residents but so many newcomers,” Munsey said. Well, actually, the yr is 2020 Census reports lower population of 1,507and that's the number the state Department of Justice uses to calculate the statewide crime rate.

But at a time when a spate of shoplifting incidents blamed on California's recent penalty-softening laws made headlines and led to a vote in November to toughen penalties, Munsey acknowledges that his city has been a goal for thieves.

“Theft and drug crimes have increased since 2014,” Munsey said, referring to the yr voters passed Proposition 47, which reduced penalties for drug and property crimes that were to be barely increased by Proposition 36 on the ballot in November. “The California Police Chiefs Association supported Proposition 36.”

According to the most recent 2023 California Department of Justice According to data, Colma had the best property crime rate per 100,000 residents within the nine Bay Area counties and the third highest for violent crimes. Most of the crimes reported in Colma in 2023 – 996 – were property crimes, a rise of 194 from 2022. The 24 violent crimes in the town last yr were 20 fewer than the yr before.

Examples are frequently posted on the Colma Police Department's Facebook page on “Misdemeanor Mondays” and “Felony Fridays.” Recent entries include: On July 26, a 27-year-old San Francisco woman was charged with stealing $947.36 value of merchandise from a store—a worth slightly below the felony limit set by Proposition 47. On July 26, a 45-year-old San Francisco man was arrested for attempting to buy a automobile at a Colma store using an invalid ID. A number of days later, on July 30, an 18-year-old Oakland man was arrested for stealing $1,844.96 value of belts from a clothing store.

Although the full variety of reported property and violent crimes (1,020) in Colma was lower than other suburbs equivalent to Antioch (4,078), Richmond (4,798), Vallejo (6,095) and Berkeley (7,809), Colma's small population catapulted it to the highest of Bay Area cities when it comes to crime rate per capita.

Across the bay, Emeryville, a city of nearly 13,000, had the region's second-highest property crime rate and fourth-highest violent crime rate. And neighboring Oakland, a city of greater than 440,000, had the best violent crime rate and fourth-highest property crime rate. Both the mayor and district attorney now face recall elections in November.

“The FBI ranks us as one of the most technically dangerous cities due to crime, but Emeryville is only 1.2 square miles,” said Baylee Worthen, police officer and public information officer for the Emeryville Police Department. The city borders Oakland and its population triples throughout the day as people commute to jobs at corporations like Peet's Coffee and Pixar Animation Studios.

This yr, the department began assigning officers regular patrols to scale back officer numbers, Worthen said.

“They are encouraged to get to know the business owners and residents, to get out and walk in the parks and basketball courts in their neighborhoods,” Worthen said. “They learn about crime trends and the problems that are occurring in their respective areas.”

The crime rate across the Bay Area is definitely barely lower in 2023 than it was a decade earlier—Alameda is the one county with the next rate in 2023 than it was in 2013. Most Bay Area cities showed similar patterns. But the crime rate in Colma has quadrupled in a decade, with a pointy increase since 2020.

Colma Chief Munsey attributed the sharp increase partly to a change in reporting protocols and data collection systems that got here with the implementation of California's incident reporting system between 2022 and 2023. San Jose, Oakland, Santa Clara and most other California cities have also made the switch.

Munsey said that under the brand new system, cases by which thieves agreed to return the stolen goods to the retailer after being caught would still be counted as thefts.

“Because we have the two malls that bring in the majority of our theft calls, we've been taking more cases than we used to,” he said. “That could explain the big discrepancy.”

Representatives of the Serra and 280 Metro shopping centers in Colma declined to comment on the crime and theft rates in the town.

Crime data has been factored into the controversy over whether Proposition 47 increased crime. Supporters of the 2014 measure indicate that crime rates in lots of places are lower or little modified than they were a decade ago, while critics argue that the lower penalties have discouraged retailers from reporting thefts and cops from responding.

Whatever the explanation, Munsey says he’s working to bring the theft rate back all the way down to earth.

“We're trying to add more staff, but so far we haven't been able to do that,” Munsey said. “But it's the way we target the criminals by looking at where they are at different times of the day so we can deploy our police officers in a way that will be most effective. We've also been working with our businesses and making sure they're constantly calling us.”

Here is the graph to examine the crime rates within the San Francisco Bay Area counties:

As the weather gets warmer, people spend more time outdoors, going to barbecues, the beach and ball gamesBut summer isn't just the season for baseball and outdoor festivals—it's also the season for lightning.

Each 12 months, lightning strikes roughly 37 million times within the United States. kills 21 people per 12 months within the USA on average.

Because as often as there’s lightning, there are only a number of days a 12 months nationwide without flash – there are still many misconceptions about nature's biggest spark. Because of this, many individuals take unnecessary risks when thunderstorms are nearby.

I’m a meteorologist and I work with lightning and lightning protection. I’m also a member of the National Lightning Protection CouncilHere are some facts to assist protect your loved ones and friends this summer:

What is lightning and where does it come from?

Lightning is a big electrical spark within the atmosphere and is assessed in keeping with whether or not it hits the earth.

Lighting in clouds is any lightning that doesn’t strike the bottom, while cloud-to-ground lightning – or, less commonly, ground-to-cloud lightning – is any lightning that strikes an object on the bottom. Cloud-to-ground lightning accounts for under 10 to 50 percent of the lightning in a thunderstorm, but it will possibly cause damage, including fires, injuries, and deaths, so it's necessary to know where it strikes.

Lightning occurs when rain, ice crystals and a style of hail called sleet collide in a thundercloud.

When these precipitation particles collide, they exchange electrons, creating an electrical charge within the cloud. Since many of the electrical charge is within the clouds, most lightning occurs within the clouds. If the electrical charge within the cloud is powerful, it will possibly cause an opposite charge to accumulate at the bottom, making cloud-to-ground lightning possible. What exactly triggers a lightning strike remains to be an open query.

When and where does lightning occur?

Lightning can occur at any time when the conditions for thunderstorms – moisture, atmospheric instabilityand a possibility for air to rise – can be found.

Lightning is seasonal: Most lightning strikes within the United States occur in June, July, or August. These three months alone typically account for greater than 60% of all lightning strikes for the 12 months. Lightning is least common within the winter, but can still occur. About 2% of all lightning strikes for the 12 months occur within the winter.

No state is proof against lightning strikes, but some states experience them more incessantly than others.

Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Mississippi are sometimes among the many states with the best lightning strike rates, but greater than 30 states often experience a minimum of 1,000,000 in-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning strikes every year.

How to guard yourself from lightning strikes

Nearly three-quarters of lightning deaths within the United States occur between June and AugustFortunately, it is simple to guard yourself from lightning.

Keep a watch on the weather forecast and reconsider your outdoor plans if thunderstorms are expected, especially in the event that they near the waterBeaches are dangerous because lightning tends to strike the best objects, and water is a superb conductor of electricity, so it's best to not be in it.

Remember: No place outside is protected during a thunderstorm, so get indoors during a storm. If you see the clouds gathering, hear thunder, or see lightning, it's time to rush indoors to guard yourself from lightning.

What is a lightning-safe place?

During a thunderstorm, there are two protected places: a sturdy constructing or a totally enclosed metal vehicle.

A solid constructing is a house, store, office constructing, or other structure that has 4 partitions and a roof and where the electrical wiring and plumbing is protected inside the partitions. If lightning strikes the constructing or near it, the electricity from the Lightning penetrates the partitions and never by you. Shelters, picnic shelters, and gazebos usually are not protected places.

If you might be in a totally enclosed metal vehicle during a thunderstorm and lightning strikes, the electricity will flow through the metal shell, ensuring your safety. It is not the rubber tires that protect you – this can be a common myth. Golf carts and convertibles don’t give you any protection from a lightning strike.

If you might be outdoors and lightning is approaching, move to a lightning-safe location, even whether it is far-off. Stay away from trees, especially tall and isolated ones, and don’t crouch in place – it doesn’t make you safer and just keeps you stuck within the storm longer.

Stay protected this summer

When making your summer plans, take into consideration lightning protection.

If someone nearby is struck by lightningLightning Victim don’t hold the electrical chargeSo call 911 and begin first aid immediately. 90% of lightning victims survivebut they need immediate medical attention.

Philadelphia is the number one US city for brand spanking new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) – based on the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This is from fifth place in 2023 and places Philadelphia ahead of 4 cities that were previously rated higher: Memphis, Tennessee; Jackson, Mississippi; New Orleans and St. Louis.

Among 15- to 24-year-olds in Philadelphia Syphilis cases have increased by 30% since 2019, while cases of gonorrhea [increased 18%]The variety of chlamydia cases on this age group has decreased by 13% in comparison with pre-pandemic levels, but stays high.

As a professor of public health, I research sexual health problems and inequalities amongst Black men who’ve sex with men and other marginalized groups. I work directly with these communities to research and develop health interventions that meet their needs.

I do know that two essential obstacles High-quality sexuality education and access to confidential STI testing are crucial for the sexual health of young people.

Sex education in schools

In the USA, 28 states and Washington DC Sex education classes are mandatory in primary and secondary schools. These programs are often comprehensive and include details about sexually transmitted diseases.

However, Pennsylvania shouldn’t be certainly one of these states.

Pennsylvania law requires Schools to supply education on the prevention of HIV and AIDS and other “life-threatening and communicable diseases” – but with none specific information on sexually transmitted diseases.

Every school district within the state can resolve which teaching materials are used to fulfill the necessities. This information doesn’t must be medically accurate or supported by evidence-based research.

Furthermore, schools usually are not required to discuss topics comparable to consent, sexual orientation and gender identity, or healthy sexual relationships.

Abstinence-based vs. comprehensive

The lack of more specific guidelines and standards led to controversial sex education classes within the Wallingford-Swarthmore school district in suburban Philadelphia in 2018. 17-year-old student filed a criticism They told the varsity district that as a part of the RealEd “relationship education program,” they were advised to avoid kissing and cuddling since it could cause hormone loss and “make it difficult to bond with a future spouse.”

Other students reported that the curriculum taught them that having too many sexual partners “less sticky”, like a reused piece of tape and prevents them from having healthy relationships.

Search suggestions that sex teaching programs that emphasize abstinence don’t reduce rates of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV. In some cases, they could result in a rise in sexually transmitted diseases.

In contrast, studies have shown that comprehensive sex teaching programs in schools have resulted in: reduced sexual intercourse, increased use of contraceptivesAnd fewer teenage pregnancies. These comprehensive programs are medically accurate and age-appropriate, providing youth with comprehensive sexual health education that goes beyond HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, and abstinence.

It shouldn’t be clear whether comprehensive teaching programs directly result in lower STI rates. However, studies show that increased safer sex practices is a logical results of comprehensive sex education.

Although the Philadelphia School District has no specific sex education policies, it confirmed via email that each one 218 district schools – this doesn’t include alternative and charter schools – use chosen lessons from the 3Rs: Rights, Respect, Responsibility Sex education curriculum as a part of health education for grades K-12.

In addition, their Office of Health, Safety and Physical Education works closely with a grant-based program called Promoting the health of adolescent students, PASH,The program “focuses on reducing risk behaviors among adolescents that lead to unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV” at 17 priority schools in the town.

Confidential testing and other strategies

Since Philadelphia lacks tailored, comprehensive sex teaching programs for all school-age youth, listed here are some evidence-based strategies that may be implemented to cut back the speed of latest STI infections.

Other relevant courses: Current sex teaching programs might include: broader range of sexual health topicscomparable to healthy communication and sexual desire. Curricula is also adapted and implemented for younger age groupsand health professionals could work directly with students to find out what you wish to include in a sex education program. Providing the data online will help make it more accessible and up-to-date.

LGBTQ+ inclusive curricula: LGBTQ+ youth are sometimes more vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases attributable to Stigmatization and lack of access to culturally positive healthcareThey are also more likely to experience harmful consequences to refrain from abstinence-based programs and comprehensive sex teaching programs that usually are not tailored to their needs. Research shows quite a bit higher results through comprehensive sexuality teaching programs that address the needs of LGBTQ+ youth and to which youth are exposed before engaging in sexual intercourse.

Testing at home: Testing can slow the spread of STIs, and residential testing particularly can address concerns many young people have about confidentiality and access. Research has shown that young people want an STI and HIV screening test at home Kits which are reasonably priced and practical.

Affirmation of health care: I imagine additionally it is essential that healthcare providers receive education and training on culturally affirming sexual health care for young people. This includes providers having the ability to have conversations with patients of other races or ethnic backgrounds that they find uncomfortable, sexual orientations and gender identities.

Comprehensive treatment: Researchers conducting a study on over 5,000 Philadelphia teenagers aged 16-17 recommend that healthcare professionals use a so-called “STI care continuum“to enhance STI screening and treatment of young people. This implies that youth with STI symptoms usually are not only tested and treated, but additionally receive resources for contact tracing and prevention counseling and are retested.

When it involves testing, national guidelines recommend Health care providers test all women ages 25 and younger annually for chlamydia and gonorrhea. At least annual testing for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis is advisable for young men who’ve sex with men.

If schools, CommunitiesIf health professionals and other groups pursued these strategies concurrently and together, I imagine STI rates amongst Philadelphia's youth would decline significantly.

Homebuyers could possibly be forgiven for pondering it was 2022.

In March, the common sales price of a house within the nine-county Bay Area was $1.39 million, latest data shows California Association of Realtors. That brings prices back to where they were two years ago and represents a 15.5% increase from this time last yr – the most important increase amongst California regions.

This is an indication that prices have recovered from the autumn 2022 slump after the Federal Reserve's rate of interest hike sent home sales right into a downward spiral. Single-family home prices are currently priced at $1.4 million in Alameda County, $890,000 in Contra Costa County, $1.75 million in San Francisco, $2.2 million in San Mateo County and $1.9 million in Santa Clara County.

“Bay Area buyers are realizing there’s no point waiting for prices to fall,” said David Stark, spokesman for the Bay East Association of Realtors. “Overall, we see a very strong increase in prices.”

But with regards to high prices, the similarity to 2022 largely ends.

As is currently the case, inventory levels have fallen significantly Mortgage rates of interest of over 7% Keep potential sellers with historically low pandemic-era mortgages — in some cases below 3% — in place. And when a house comes in the marketplace, there's an excellent likelihood buyers will get right into a bidding war.

The ongoing lack of supply has led to a decline in home buying activity – across the nine counties, sales fell 5.4% year-over-year in March. Contra Costa County saw the most important decline in sales with a 21% decline. Low inventory helped drive the county's average sales price up 9.5%.

For buyers, the increased property prices and better rates of interest are a double burden, which makes the acquisition of home ownership much more distant for a lot of. Even just a number of rate of interest differences can add tons of of dollars to a monthly payment.

It is just not expected that buyers will likely be relieved of the high rates of interest within the foreseeable future. Although some economists are predicting a decline in rates of interest within the second half of this yr, stronger than expected inflation data The inflation seen in recent weeks could mean that the Federal Reserve will keep rates of interest at their current levels. Mortgage rates are likely to be based on rates of interest.

Still, real estate agents say competition amongst buyers is fierce as among the pent-up demand from the typically slower winter home-buying and selling season rebounds.

“Even with current interest rates, buyers are still looking for these homes,” said Ned Laugharn, an actual estate agent in San Jose. “People are jumping in because property prices are rising faster than interest rates are falling.”

Agents at Laugharn's brokerage firm, Silicon Valley Premier Properties, have seen as many as 20 offers on a single home. Buyers make major concessions, foregoing inspections for instance, and infrequently bid well above the asking price.

“Competition is back to the level it was before the market slowdown,” said Laugharn.

Uncertainty over Real estate commissions After a comprehensive settlement by the National Association of Realtors, there appears to be no peace for buyers either, agents say.

In Santa Clara County, homes are in the marketplace a median of just 10 days today, in comparison with 14 this time last yr. based on Redfin data from March. Compare that to 22 in San Francisco, 13 in San Mateo and Contra Costa counties and 12 in Alameda County.

The competition surprises some buyers who’re grappling with the concept pandemic-era bidding wars could return.

Brian Fitzpatrick has spent the last six weeks in search of homes within the East Bay. He noticed that inventory was limited, he said, so he waited until spring to start out looking, since traditionally persons are more inclined to submit offers.

“I looked at some houses in Montclair last week – one of them sold for 30% more than asking,” he said.

“I would like to find a house today and stop looking,” said Fitzpatrick, who — after spending the previous couple of years between Oakland and Lake Tahoe — hopes to return to city life. “Who wants to spend all their time looking for an apartment?”