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Several Lubbock community entities back LISD's 2025 bond proposal on May ballot

Several Lubbock community entities back LISD's 2025 bond proposal on May ballot

Yahoo23-04-2025

With early voting well underway in Lubbock County, several notable community entities are voicing their support for Lubbock ISD's bond proposal on the municipal election ballot.
Known as Proposition A on this election's ballot, the $290 million bond would help the district with various initiatives from school safety to new schools for those being consolidated.
Others are reading: Where to vote early in Lubbock County's May 2025 elections? Here's what you need to know
On Tuesday, the PAC backing the LISD Bond — Moving Ahead for Our Kids — was joined by the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce, Lubbock ISD Council of PTAs, Lubbock Association of Realtors and Communities in Schools in voicing their support for the bond measure.
"Without this bond, Lubbock becomes a donut, lacking investment into the core of our city,' said Melynn Henry, Moving Ahead for Our Kids co-chair person. 'We urge you to vote today for Proposition A. It's good for business, it's good for children and it's good for Lubbock. Thank you!'
Henry, representing the PAC, wrote an column advocating for Proposition A, which was published in the April 20 Avalanche-Journal opinion section.
Deanne Clark, a leader with the Conservative Action Network opposing Proposition A, also wrote a letter - making a case against Proposition A - which was shared in the A-J opinion section.
Others are reading: What is on the ballot in Lubbock County? Here's what to know about the May 2025 election
Mateo Rosiles is the Government & Public Policy reporter for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Got a news tip for him? Email him: mrosiles@lubbockonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock Chamber of Commerce, LISD PTAs back LISD bond measure on ballot

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Editorial: Senate makes wise budget changes
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The Louisiana Senate made some major changes in the state budget that it received from the House for the fiscal year beginning July 1. It decided not to merge two state savings accounts and use one of them for long-delayed one-time projects. Both the House and Senate approved the budget unanimously when it left their chambers. Members of the House will decide today whether they will agree to changes to the state budget bill (House Bill 1) made by the Senate. It's called concurrence. The Advocate reported that the Senate added $1.2 billion in one-time spending for roads and bridges, economic development initiatives and improvements to college campuses. The money comes from the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund, which holds $3.9 billion. Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, in a statement said, 'What we're doing today changes the overall budget climate in our state in terms of workforce investment, economic development advancement and infrastructure improvements. It sets the stage for a better tomorrow.' Henry said he hoped the House would concur with the changes, adding that the two chambers worked in conjunction in recent days. The Senate amendments set aside $709 million for the Louisiana Transportation Infrastructure Fund, which pays for improvements to roads, bridges and similar work and another $273 million for the Louisiana Economic Development Initiatives Fund, which funds efforts to attract new investments in the state. Another $75 million will go toward local water system improvements which are sorely needed. And $43 million will fund higher education priorities, which have also been delayed too long. The Senate budget, as Henry had forecast earlier, provides only $43.5 million for the LA GATOR school choice program that gives parents money to pay for private schools. Gov. Jeff Landry wanted the $93.5 million approved by the House. Henry said anyone who received voucher funding last year for those same school costs will get it in the new budget. 'We made it crystal clear last year how much we were going to fund, and this year we followed through,' Henry said. 'To make sure we don't grow the government too fast, which Americans for Prosperity does not want us to do, and we want to make sure that we're spending taxpayer money wisely.' The Advocate reported that Henry said total expected spending for the coming fiscal year is $48.2 billion and nearly half of that is paid for by federal funds. Voters in March rejected an amendment that included plans to eliminate the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund that the Senate used and move its funds to the Budget Stabilization Fund (rainy day fund) for future budget emergencies. A bill filed for the current legislative fiscal session also called for merging those two funds. It passed the House 99-1 but as of Tuesday was pending in the Senate Finance Committee and it is expected to die there. Like Henry, we hope the House goes along with Senate changes to the budget because the funding it provides is going to take care of pressing needs that haven't gotten the attention they deserve.

Florida child welfare agency calls ICE on teen migrant in foster care, sparking criticism
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Florida child welfare authorities turned over a 17-year-old foster child to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, sparking intense criticism that the action could hinder efforts to protect children in the state's large immigrant communities. The Honduran teen, named Henry, was removed from his Pensacola foster home Monday morning — in handcuffs and shackles – and transferred immediately into ICE custody. The boy and his mother had crossed the southwest border into the U.S. without permission, sources familiar with the case told the Miami Herald. After being separated from his mother, who was later deported, Henry traveled from Texas to Pensacola, where he sought work. He entered foster care after he was found living in a shed with no source of food, shelter or income, records show. He also may have been a victim of labor trafficking. The Herald is not fully naming him to protect his privacy. 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While declining to name the child, she told the Herald she is concerned his case may be part of a larger pattern in which children in the state's foster care system could be picked up at the homes of their foster parents by federal immigration authorities. Lawyers told the Herald it's been years since they heard about state child welfare agencies, like DCF, notifying ICE about children in their custody. 'Somehow they are collecting these records because they are going to their houses,' said Garcia, a co-founder of Latinas for Trump. 'What really bothers me is that these are victims of human trafficking. You would think they would have more protections.' In a post on social media, Garcia said the effort to target minors in foster care is a 'desperate' attempt to meet a 'quota of deportations.' Typically, unaccompanied children who are detained at the border are placed in the custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refuge Resettlement, which locates available relatives and suitable sponsors or places children in shelters. But Henry was detained by local authorities in Escambia County and placed in state care, instead. Historically, ORR has been reluctant to take children who had been released from their care – or had never been in their custody – if they were already placed with a local or state agency. But experts told the Herald that has changed under the Trump administration, which they say has been apprehending kids already in the U.S. and putting them into ORR custody. As part of its crackdown, the administration also has cut funds for lawyers in kids' immigration cases – and provided ICE access to a database about unaccompanied children. 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That includes nearly 165,000 undocumented children under 18, according to the Center for Migration Studies of New York. 'If DCF's public policy changes from refugee care and resettlement… to deportation, our vulnerable migrant communities across the state will no longer look to DCF for help for abused, abandoned and neglected children,' said Allegra, who headed the Our Kids foster care agency for a decade. She added: 'These children will suffer more harm under this policy shift and abuse will go unreported.'

New super PAC launches anti-Mamdani ad push amid criticism over pro-Palestinian stance
New super PAC launches anti-Mamdani ad push amid criticism over pro-Palestinian stance

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timea day ago

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New super PAC launches anti-Mamdani ad push amid criticism over pro-Palestinian stance

NEW YORK — A group of executives in New York's finance, law and communications sectors has launched a new super PAC to oppose Zohran Mamdani's mayoral run, kicking off with an ad accusing the socialist of pushing to 'defund the police' amid an increase in pro-Palestinian protests in the city. The PAC, called Sensible City, Inc., disclosed in filings released Tuesday it has raised $211,000 so far to oppose Mamdani, who has consistently polled as the runner-up to Andrew Cuomo, the favorite to win the June 24 Democratic mayoral primary. The ad's focus on pro-Palestinian protests comes as Cuomo and other moderate Democrats have accused Mamdani of aligning himself with antisemitic causes due to his outspoken criticism of Israel's war in Gaza. Mamdani has rejected those accusations as politically motivated, saying he's adamant about fighting all forms of hate. Asked if he recognizes Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, Mamdani has said Israel has a right to exist as a state with 'equal rights for all.' The PAC was launched by Alan Sash and Daniel Horwitz, partners at two prominent New York law firms, as well as investor Eric Eve and PR professional Lisa Wolford, paperwork shows. The largest single donation to the PAC to date came from Rob Stavis, a partner of Bessemer, a venture capital firm, who gave $100,000. Other contributors include Eagle Capital Management founder Ravenel Curry, who gave $50,000, and designer Danyelle Freeman, who also gave $50,000. Filings show the PAC has already plunked down $100,524 on airing the new ad slamming Mamdani. The ad started going out on digital platforms over the weekend. 'It doesn't stop: day after day, streets blocked, demonstrations, some calling for killing, destruction, it's not safe. Institution walls defaced with symbols to remind us of what can happen only because of who we are. The haters mean every word they utter. What can we do?' a voice in the digital ad says as imagery flashes across the screen of pro-Palestinian protests and anti-Israel vandalism playing out on New York City streets. 'Zohran Mamdani wants to defund the police, we need a mayor who puts more cops on the street. What's your June 24 Democratic primary choice?' A rep for the new PAC didn't immediately return a request for comment from the Daily News. Mamdani, a Queens Assembly member and democratic socialist, has in the past supported calls for defunding the police. As a mayoral candidate on the 2025 campaign trail, he has called for keeping NYPD staffing levels flat. Mamdani spokesman Andrew Epstein called the new PAC expenditure a 'desperate' attempt to push back on the candidate's left-wing agenda, which includes vows to increase taxes on corporations and millionaires to bankroll expanded free child care and public transit. 'It's always amusing when some of the richest people in the city are so outraged at the idea of paying just a little more in taxes that they spend tens of thousands of dollars on deceitful and slanderous attack ads,' Epstein said. 'New Yorkers will see this for exactly what it is: desperate.' The new PAC spending comes as recent polls have shown Mamdani closing in on Cuomo. A May 28 poll from Emerson University put Mamdani just 8% behind Cuomo. A separate PAC, Fix the City, has raised more than $12 million, mostly from billionaires and powerful business executives, to boost Cuomo with ads and other political messaging. The Fix the City expenditure is the largest super PAC spend on a single election in New York history. _____

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