Baby fox rescued after falling into irrigation drain in Farmington
According to the City of Farmington, on Saturday, May 10, the fire department received a call from a resident who found a baby fox had fallen into a round irrigation valve vault. The fire crew and Todd Adams, the Deputy Director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources, who is also a Farmington resident, responded.
Adams called local conservation officers with the Utah DNR Division of Law Enforcement to help with the rescue. After being lifted out of the concrete vault, the baby fox ran into its den nearby.
'A big shout out to Todd Adams and his professional conservation officer team,' Farmington City wrote in a of the fox.
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New York Post
11-08-2025
- New York Post
NYC students make gains in standardized tests — but 40% still failed reading and math
More than 40% of grammar school students in the city failed the state's standardized math and reading texts this year — but officials praised some gains in the results released Monday. More city public school in grades 3-8 passed the proficiency tests this year for English Language Arts and math than they did last year though critics contended those are small victories as the Big Apple's school spending tops $41 billion and the state's $36,293 per pupil tab is the highest in the nation. Some 56.3% of students met the proficiency standards for ELA, up 7.2-percentage points from the 49.1% who passed in 2024, according to the data. 3 More than 40% of New York City public elementary school students in grades 308 failed teh state's standardized math and reading tests this year. mehmet – Students making the grade in math bumped up 3.5-percentage points since 2024, from 53.4% to 56.9%, according to the figures. Both pass percentages outpaced the state average while city reading and math scores increased across all grades. The largest gains were in Grade 3, which saw ELA increase by 12.9 percentage points, and Grade 6, which jumped 15 points, the figures showed. 'It's a positive that everything got better,' said Danyela Souza, an education research fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a policy think tank. 'It seems there's real progress in reading, particularly in grades 3 and 5. That's huge gains we're seeing, She praised the phonics-knowledge based NYC Reads curriculum. But Souza said it's hard to tell if students have recovered from learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic because the cut-off scores to pass have been lowered. 'It's easier now to pass than five years ago,' she said. 3 Mayor Adams said the progress is a result of the 'NYC Reads' and 'NYC Solves' programs. Stephen Yang for the New York Post The city's gains mirror the ELA proficiency pass rate for all grade 3-to-8 students statewide, which jumped from 46% to 53% over the past year. The pass rate for math increased from 52% to 55%, according to the numbers. Mayor Eric Adams, who is running for re-election this fall applauded the results, claiming the new phonics-based 'NYC Reads' programs and 'NYC Solves' math curriculum instituted during their tenure have contributed to student gains. 'These academic gains in English Language Arts and math are a testament to what's possible when we invest in our young people and believe in their potential, and we are proud of our students, teachers, and the entire school community,' Adams said. Schools Chancellor Aviles-Ramos said the results showed 'kids rise to the occasion' when administrators set high expectations and provide educators the proper tools. 'We are closing gaps, raising achievement in every borough, and making sure more students than ever are on track for long-term success,' Aviles-Ramos said. 'This is what happens when we stay focused on evidence-based instruction and never lose sight of what's possible for our young people.' But yawning racial/ethnic disparities in academic results persist. For example, 75% of Asian and 73% of white students were proficient in English, compared to 47% of black students and 43.5% of Hispanic students, according to the numbers. 3 NYC Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos said the results show that more students are on track for 'long-term success.' James Messerschmidt In math, 80.8% of Asian students and 75% of white students were proficient compared to 43% of both black and Hispanic students. Critics have also said it's difficult to determine where New York students stand compared to kids elsewhere. A better indicator may be results of the 'Nation's Report Card' — National Assessment of Educational Progress — which includes scores from students from all over the country. New York students performed dismally on those exams, with results released earlier this year showing two-thirds of fourth graders in the city weren't proficient in math or reading. A state Education Department spokesperson insisted 'no test is harder or easier to pass from year to year' and that the scaling method used is based on the difficulty of questions on a particular test.
Los Angeles Times
10-08-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Prepare to say a frond farewell to Los Angeles' palm trees
Call forth the mourners from far and wide. And remind them to bring their chainsaws. We gather to prepare ourselves to bid a frond farewell to Los Angeles' palm trees. Don't freak out. This isn't an alert about any wholesale dying of palms. Not all of them, anyway, and not right away. But Ecclesiastes got it right about everything having a season, 'a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.' The season — the long, long winning season — for so many of our palm trees is running its course. Our exotic, come-hither, haphazard forest is being slowly timed out. We stand at an inflection point for L.A., after the fires, in the grip of climate change, recalibrating our future right down to the roots. Literally to the roots. Uncounted thousands of trees burned in the fires. Thousands more are getting thinned out by disease and drought and age. How do we replace our geriatric urban forest with more and better trees? Original L.A. was not the forest primeval. It was a landscape of scrubby shrubs and chaparral and grasses. What native trees there were grew alongside water, which flowed abundantly, if seasonally, until we took over the land and dried up the waterways. Palm trees came to town with the missionaries, for religious ceremonies, and then, decades later, with the great PR sales pitch of Southern California being the 'American Mediterranean,' which demanded the right set dressing — palm trees. The City Beautiful movement of the 1910s and1920s and the glories of the 1932 Olympics stuck thousands of trees of all kinds into the ground to adorn public L.A. All they had to do was look good; to fret over drought or heat was treason. Angelenos' faith that pretty much anything could grow here was usually right. The unlikeliest tree cuttings from the world over were carried here, adapted and came to elbow out the locals. Thus, Los Angeles became a tree zoo. Now it's time to make it a tree ark, and not every species should make it aboard. Climate change changes cities. We can no longer afford freeloader trees, however glamorous. Palms suck down water like camels, but give back barely enough leafiness to shade a Hula-Hoop. Falling fronds can deliver a mean whack, and during fires, palms light up like a flare. The nonprofit TreePeople has been trying to prep us for this for years. Bryan Vejar is a master arborist who directs community forestry for TreePeople, and, yes, in fact, he does have a few thoughts on the topic, and this is the moment we need to hear them, so take it away, Mr. Vejar: 'Trees are not some cosmetic thing, some ornament. They're also critical infrastructure, like traffic signs and traffic lights. They have tremendous value for the health and safety of the community.' 'We should be planting trees that serve a greater range of ecological benefits. There's not just one clear answer. The trees we plant now have to be climate-adaptive for weather forecasts for 50 and 60 years.' 'Native trees also support local wildlife, specifically ones endemic to our geographical biome. Pollinators, nesting birds, migratory birds and other species rely on them.' 'Not a lot of trees check every box. You want trees that are very durable and very resilient, that can endure many different soil types in any given community.' All right, then. What's in, and what's out once we cart away old trees and/or plant new ones? Out: most palms. And don't replace them with something like crape myrtle, which is pretty but doesn't offer much shade for the space it takes up. Most eucalyptus, out. They're invasive below ground and tiki torches above. Sweet gums, out; They're also invasive, triggering allergies, and dropping nasty, spiky balls like alien spoor. (Some trees appear on a city-approved list, but TreePeople gives them a 'branches-down.') I share Vejar's loathing for the relentless 'tree of heaven,' the deciduous plant that is sometimes called a stinking sumac. You see it everywhere; it not only crowds out natives, it also poisons the soil to kill off the competition and ruins biodiversity. Its leaves can also kill your dog. If you see one in your garden, kill it before it kills us. Vejar's 'ins' include native oaks and some sycamores, black walnut trees, desert willows, drought-tolerant African sumac and Chinese pistache. Ficus trees scrub away air pollution and cast vast shade, something vital when an urban forest can lower temperatures by 10 or 20 degrees. Ideal, right? Yet cities planted them unwisely alongside sidewalks, which their mature roots now crack and split. 'The thing that makes it a workhorse for urban forests,' says Vejar, 'is also what makes cities have to pay out millions in lawsuits from people tripping, ADA violations and such.' So, suppose the palms do take their last bow? Which understudy is ready to step onstage as our new arboreal star? Oaks and sycamores are too generic. Orange trees? Memento mori. But the jacaranda — now there's beauty. Fast-growing, generous with shade, drought-tolerant and soil-forgiving. Bees and butterflies love them. And did I mention beautiful? That ultraviolet haze shimmering around a blossoming jacaranda delivers a moment of transcendent enchantment. So what if the fallen petals are sticky? It's a small toll paid to glory. Like a wad of gum dropped on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Hamilton Spectator
25-07-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
‘Pleased as punch': $265K Black history art installation now under construction honours early Oakville entrepreneur
The Town of Oakville has begun construction of a new permanent art installation honouring local Black history. Construction of the installation began in Burnet Park the week of July 14 and is expected to finish by the end of September. Town staff said the installation honours Oakville's Black history, community, heritage and, in particular, entrepreneur Samuel Adams, a free African American from Maryland who moved to the Oakville area around 1855. He came with his wife and young family and set up a successful blacksmith practice in Bronte. According to the Canadian Caribbean Association of Halton (CCAH), Adams would go on to invent equipment used to lift flat stones from the bottom of Lake Ontario so they could be used in construction. The practice would become known as 'stonehooking' and would become a significant industry in Oakville. Adams' invention of stonehooking equipment would make him a wealthy man and he would reportedly use this wealth to help African Americans fleeing slavery in America to make a life for themselves in Upper Canada. The CCAH said Adams also worked with Reverend William Butler to organize a group of devout Black settlers who, in 1891, built the Turner African Methodist Episcopal Church. The church building still stands at 37 Lakeshore Rd. W. Town staff said the art installation will incorporate stones from the foundation of the Adams family home, which stood at 104 Burnet St. until 2017, when it was demolished due to fire damage. There will also be iron benches at the site that call back to Adams' iron work. According to the Town of Oakville, $265,000 has been allocated to this project. Burnet Park remains open to the public during this construction period. 'We're pleased as punch that this is coming to fruition,' said Dionne Downer, CCAH executive director. 'I think this is a wonderful project and we're very pleased as a community by its progression.' Town staff said descendants of the Adams family have worked with the town and the CCAH to ensure the artwork would be designed by Black artists and reflect on and celebrate the contributions of the Black community to Oakville. Design work for the project was completed by a Black-owned architecture practice, the Studio of Contemporary Architecture (SOCA), a Toronto-based architecture and urban design studio. Avion Construction Group Inc., has been retained as the general contractor for construction. A statement on the SOCA website said their design for the installation, which they call a memorial to Adams, commemorates the life and legacy of a remarkable figure whose story embodies resilience, ingenuity, and community leadership. They said the salvaged foundation stones from the 19th century heritage home will anchor the site with authentic material memory. 'These stones are framed by newly constructed rammed earth walls that evoke permanence and craft,' the statement continues. 'Sculptural iron seating gestures to Adams' blacksmithing trade and longer histories of African iron work, while the open, contemplative design invites visitors to connect with a profound local history of migration, invention, and Black community-building. The project honours Adams' legacy not only as a skilled craftsman and entrepreneur, but as a builder of place — whose story continues to shape Oakville's cultural landscape.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
