Missouri
Mother tells police she shot one child and drowned another
FESTUS, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri woman went to a police station Tuesday and told officers that she fatally shot one of her children and drowned the other, authorities said.
Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak said at a news conference that both children were less than 10 years old.
One child was found dead inside the mother’s car, which was parked outside the Festus police station, where the mother turned herself in. Marshak said the child had been shot elsewhere, and the second child was found dead at a resort near Festus, a suburb of St. Louis.
Marshak said officers searched for a third child who has been found safe.
The mother was arrested and the deaths are being investigated as homicides. Their identities have not been released, and authorities have not disclosed a possible motive.
New Hampshire
State’s limits on teaching on race and gender are unconstitutional, district judge says
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A federal judge has struck down New Hampshire’s nearly 3-year-old law limiting what teachers can say about race, gender, sexual orientation, disability and other topics in public schools as unconstitutionally vague. The ruling could revive the topic as an election year campaign issue.
Republicans pitched the 2021 law as an anti-discrimination measure after the Trump administration sought to ban discussion of “divisive concepts.” It prohibits teaching public school children that they’re inferior, racist, sexist or oppressive by virtue of their race, gender or other characteristics.
Teachers found to have violated the law could face discipline including the possible loss of their licenses, and could also face lawsuits.
Educators and administrators who sued the state said they were confused about what they could legally teach. They said the law violates their freedom of speech, and they feared for their jobs.
U.S. District Judge Paul Barbadoro ruled Tuesday that the law’s phrasing about banned concepts speaks only obliquely about the targeted speech, and fails “to provide teachers with much-needed clarity” about how they might apply it, both in the classroom and in extra-curricular activities where students might initiate conversations.
“This lack of clarity sows confusion and leaves significant gaps” that can only be filled by law enforcers, which invites arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement based on a particular law enforcement authority’s point of view.
Several groups sued, including the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire; the National Education Association-New Hampshire; the American Federation of Teachers-New Hampshire union; diversity, equity and inclusion school administrators; teachers and parents.
They sued New Hampshire Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut, Commission on Human Rights Chair Christian Kim, and New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella.
The judge’s decision “means that educators across New Hampshire can nurture an equitable and inclusive school environment where all students are seen and heard,” Christina Kim Philibotte and Andres Mejia, two New Hampshire school administrators who are plaintiffs in the case, said in a statement. “It is critically important that students see themselves in the books they read and in the classroom discussions they have to ensure that they feel cared for and valued.”
The attorney general’s office is reviewing the judge’s order and considering whether to file an appeal, a spokesperson said.
New Hampshire’s law is one of many in Republican-led states that have sought to restrict classroom discussions over concerns about critical race theory, which centers on the idea that racism has been systemic in the nation’s institutions.
“Judge Barbadoro just put stopping Critical Race Theory back on the ballot in November,” Republican state Rep. Keith Ammon of New Boston posted on X.
Chuck Morse, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, was president of the state Senate when the law was crafted and passed. He called the ruling “a crucial step towards creating an educational environment that focuses on unity and equality, and I will not be deterred by this setback.”
Maine
Lawsuit alleges racial harassment at company that makes test swabs
BANGOR, Maine (AP) — A Maine-based company that makes COVID-19 test swabs is being sued for allegedly condoning or refusing to stop racial harassment against a Black former employee at a plant that opened during a pandemic production surge.
While working at a Puritan Medical Products facility in Pittsfield, Dupreme Ammonds contends he was subjected to racial insults and references to so-called “ sundown towns “ where Black people had to be gone by nightfall or risk arrest, a beating or worse.
Ammonds, who is Black and Hispanic, was singled out by one particular worker who physically assaulted him and who was eventually fired, according to the federal lawsuit filed last week. Ammonds’ manager retaliated against him over the firing and the harassment kept happening, the lawsuit said. Co-workers who stood up for Ammonds were threatened with firing by another company official, the suit alleges.
The Guilford-based company’s CEO insisted Tuesday that it doesn’t tolerate such conduct.
“While Puritan does not comment on pending cases, we deny violating the law and we look forward to defending ourselves before the court. Puritan does not tolerate inappropriate conduct in the workplace, and we remain fully committed to providing an appropriate workplace for all,” Robert Shultz, president and CEO, in a statement.
Ammonds was one of the first employees in January 2021 when Puritan expanded during the pandemic with the new plant in Pittsfield, helped by tens of millions of dollars from the Trump administration.
The company’s alleged failure to stop the harassment against the 40-year-old from Hartland “took such a toll on his health that he was left with no choice but to leave his job” in April 2022, said Ryan Schmidt, his attorney.
Mother tells police she shot one child and drowned another
FESTUS, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri woman went to a police station Tuesday and told officers that she fatally shot one of her children and drowned the other, authorities said.
Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak said at a news conference that both children were less than 10 years old.
One child was found dead inside the mother’s car, which was parked outside the Festus police station, where the mother turned herself in. Marshak said the child had been shot elsewhere, and the second child was found dead at a resort near Festus, a suburb of St. Louis.
Marshak said officers searched for a third child who has been found safe.
The mother was arrested and the deaths are being investigated as homicides. Their identities have not been released, and authorities have not disclosed a possible motive.
New Hampshire
State’s limits on teaching on race and gender are unconstitutional, district judge says
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A federal judge has struck down New Hampshire’s nearly 3-year-old law limiting what teachers can say about race, gender, sexual orientation, disability and other topics in public schools as unconstitutionally vague. The ruling could revive the topic as an election year campaign issue.
Republicans pitched the 2021 law as an anti-discrimination measure after the Trump administration sought to ban discussion of “divisive concepts.” It prohibits teaching public school children that they’re inferior, racist, sexist or oppressive by virtue of their race, gender or other characteristics.
Teachers found to have violated the law could face discipline including the possible loss of their licenses, and could also face lawsuits.
Educators and administrators who sued the state said they were confused about what they could legally teach. They said the law violates their freedom of speech, and they feared for their jobs.
U.S. District Judge Paul Barbadoro ruled Tuesday that the law’s phrasing about banned concepts speaks only obliquely about the targeted speech, and fails “to provide teachers with much-needed clarity” about how they might apply it, both in the classroom and in extra-curricular activities where students might initiate conversations.
“This lack of clarity sows confusion and leaves significant gaps” that can only be filled by law enforcers, which invites arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement based on a particular law enforcement authority’s point of view.
Several groups sued, including the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire; the National Education Association-New Hampshire; the American Federation of Teachers-New Hampshire union; diversity, equity and inclusion school administrators; teachers and parents.
They sued New Hampshire Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut, Commission on Human Rights Chair Christian Kim, and New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella.
The judge’s decision “means that educators across New Hampshire can nurture an equitable and inclusive school environment where all students are seen and heard,” Christina Kim Philibotte and Andres Mejia, two New Hampshire school administrators who are plaintiffs in the case, said in a statement. “It is critically important that students see themselves in the books they read and in the classroom discussions they have to ensure that they feel cared for and valued.”
The attorney general’s office is reviewing the judge’s order and considering whether to file an appeal, a spokesperson said.
New Hampshire’s law is one of many in Republican-led states that have sought to restrict classroom discussions over concerns about critical race theory, which centers on the idea that racism has been systemic in the nation’s institutions.
“Judge Barbadoro just put stopping Critical Race Theory back on the ballot in November,” Republican state Rep. Keith Ammon of New Boston posted on X.
Chuck Morse, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, was president of the state Senate when the law was crafted and passed. He called the ruling “a crucial step towards creating an educational environment that focuses on unity and equality, and I will not be deterred by this setback.”
Maine
Lawsuit alleges racial harassment at company that makes test swabs
BANGOR, Maine (AP) — A Maine-based company that makes COVID-19 test swabs is being sued for allegedly condoning or refusing to stop racial harassment against a Black former employee at a plant that opened during a pandemic production surge.
While working at a Puritan Medical Products facility in Pittsfield, Dupreme Ammonds contends he was subjected to racial insults and references to so-called “ sundown towns “ where Black people had to be gone by nightfall or risk arrest, a beating or worse.
Ammonds, who is Black and Hispanic, was singled out by one particular worker who physically assaulted him and who was eventually fired, according to the federal lawsuit filed last week. Ammonds’ manager retaliated against him over the firing and the harassment kept happening, the lawsuit said. Co-workers who stood up for Ammonds were threatened with firing by another company official, the suit alleges.
The Guilford-based company’s CEO insisted Tuesday that it doesn’t tolerate such conduct.
“While Puritan does not comment on pending cases, we deny violating the law and we look forward to defending ourselves before the court. Puritan does not tolerate inappropriate conduct in the workplace, and we remain fully committed to providing an appropriate workplace for all,” Robert Shultz, president and CEO, in a statement.
Ammonds was one of the first employees in January 2021 when Puritan expanded during the pandemic with the new plant in Pittsfield, helped by tens of millions of dollars from the Trump administration.
The company’s alleged failure to stop the harassment against the 40-year-old from Hartland “took such a toll on his health that he was left with no choice but to leave his job” in April 2022, said Ryan Schmidt, his attorney.
