Latest news with #1111
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Local students compete in 11th annual STEM Design Challenge
About 160 students from school across Berks County got a chance to show off their science, technology, engineering and math skills this week. The students, making up 40 teams, competed in the 11th annual STEM Design Challenge at the Berks County Intermediate Unit. Azariah Ongwae, left, and Adalynn Woodward, both 11 and both fifth graders at Greenwich Elementary in the Kutztown School District work on a pollution separator during the Berks County Intermediate Unit's 11th annual STEM Design Challenge on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at the BCIU Main Office, 1111 Commons Blvd., Muhlenberg Township. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) The contest was broken into two age groups, with students in fourth and fifth grades competing Tuesday and sixth- and eighth-graders competing Thursday. The challenge was a hands-on event, with students designing and using K'Nex or Engino pieces to build a prototype that addresses a real-world problem related to infrastructure, transportation or urban development. Elementary school students participate in the Berks County Intermediate Unit's 11th annual STEM Design Challenge on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at the BCIU Main Office, 1111 Commons Blvd., Muhlenberg Township. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) The contest focused on industry, innovation and industry, and the students sought to develop innovative solutions for more efficient, sustainable and accessible cities, roads and systems. The purpose of the competition is to expand STEM-related educational opportunities for students at the regional and state levels while highlighting the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. As the Sweet Read City Transportation Authority, students create a simulated city during the Berks County Intermediate Unit's 11th annual STEM Design Challenge on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at the BCIU Main Office, 1111 Commons Blvd., Muhlenberg Township. From left are Maddy Hall, 10; Hailey Winslow, 9; Patrick Hannigan, 9; and Eva Weaver, 10, all fourth graders from Brecknock Elementary in the Gov. Mifflin School District. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) The winners of the competition were: Grades 4 and 5 First — Sweet Read City Transportation Authority, Brecknock Elementary School. Second — K'Nex Creators of Cumru, Cumru Elementary School. Third (tie) — STEM Gems, Oley Valley Elementary School. Third (tie) — Artistic Architects, Oley Valley Elementary School. Fan Favorite — Beauty & Brains, Whitfield Elementary School. Grades 6-8 First — Wind-Assisted Vehicle Engineering, Twin Valley Middle School Second — Infrastructure Initiators, Oley Valley Middle School Third — Flood Fighters, St. Catharine's School, Mount Penn Fan Favorite — Adventure Bay Inventors, Wilson Southern Middle School.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
OKLAHOMA VOICE: Legislature sees renewed efforts to change cockfighting laws
Jan. 28—OKLAHOMA CITY — Bills introduced by Oklahoma lawmakers seek to make changes to the state's cockfighting laws by reducing the penalties for participating or allowing robotic participation in the fights. But opponents of cockfighting argue that reducing the penalty would send the wrong message to Oklahomans about the "cruel" and "outdated" form of entertainment. They said that voters in the state passed a ballot measure in 2002 making it a felony to own, possess, keep or train fowl with the intent of cockfighting and can carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and up to $25,000 in fines. Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, authored House Bills 1313 and 1326, which respectively attempt to reduce the penalty for cockfighting to a misdemeanor and allow a fowl to fight a robot if the rooster is unharmed. Cockfighting is the practice of forcing two roosters to fight each other, often to the death, for entertainment and regularly includes gambling on outcomes of the fights. The birds are bred and trained for the purpose of fighting. 'I'm not trying to legalize it," Humphrey said. "I'm trying to reduce it to a misdemeanor. We've reduced dangerous drugs that are killing people ... to a misdemeanor, and yet raising a chicken is a felony that carries 10 years. That's complete stupidity." He sponsored a bill in 2024 that passed the House but was never heard in the Senate. It would have authorized voters to reduce violations relating to cockfighting to misdemeanors in each county. Humphrey said it was a "tough deal" to get his bill passed in the House last year, and these attempts will be more difficult to get support for than last year because of resistance from House leadership. He said he doesn't expect the bill allowing robots in cockfights to pass, but he wanted to start a conversation and plant the idea in the minds of Oklahomans. Sen. Tom Woods, R-Westville, also proposed a cockfighting bill, Senate Bill 1111, which would reduce the penalty to a misdemeanor and alter the definitions of what it means to participate in cockfighting. A first conviction would be a misdemeanor with a $500 fine. A second conviction would still be a misdemeanor, but with a penalty of up to a year in county jail, a fine of $2,500, or both. A third offense would bring the penalty to felony status with a two year sentence, a $5,000 fine, or both. "This legislation creates options for law enforcement to prosecute this crime more than they are now," Woods said in a statement. "Currently, there are very few cases being prosecuted because of the level of penalty assessed with the crime and burden on law enforcement to take it to court. If passed, this will still be a crime with felony punishments attached to it while bringing more reasonable penalties into alignment for the offense." Brendan Hoover, a coordinator for the Kirkpatrick Policy Group, a nonprofit advocacy group focused on animals, arts, education and reproductive rights, said reducing the penalties for cockfighting sends a message that the crime "isn't a big deal." Enforcement can be difficult, Hoover said, because one almost needs to be caught "red-handed" in a building with fowl fighting to be charged. Cockfighting has remained a felony since 2002 and the statute was unanimously upheld by the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 2004, but bills have been introduced time and time again attempting to reduce penalties or legalize the fights, he said. "But the cockfighters, you know, they don't want to give up," Hoover said. "They think it's part of their heritage. They call it agriculture, you know, they say a lot of things to make it seem like it's OK and like it's accepted in Oklahoma, but it's not, it's animal cruelty. You're forcing animals to fight to the death, and you're betting on it for entertainment." Spreading the bird flu Kevin Chambers, the Oklahoma state director of Animal Wellness Action, said he's witnessed many cockfights and called them a "bloody mess" and "horribly cruel." But he said he's also concerned about cockfighting spreading the bird flu. Over 100,000 birds have been euthanized in Oklahoma alone amid a current outbreak of the illness, he said. "Cockfighting has been identified as a cause of the transmission for avian diseases because these birds are transported across state lines and even across the border with Mexico," Chambers said. "It's spreading avian diseases. Commercial flocks, they don't move them back and forth across the state lines all the time, but cockfighters do. They fight them and then they move the survivors back home to their state, and it's a perfect conduit for avian diseases." He said reducing the penalty for cockfighting would be an "embarrassment" for Oklahoma and send the state backwards as all 50 states and U.S. territories have outlawed cockfighting. The practice is still legal and popular in some Mexican states, parts of southeast Asia and the Philippines. A 2023 poll of Oklahoma voters signaled that cockfighting remains unpopular in the state. Of the Oklahomans polled, over 70% believed cockfighting should remain a felony. The National Sheriffs Association has also urged law enforcement to combat animal fighting, including cockfights. The group said animal fights often have links to other criminal activity, such as organized crime, trafficking of narcotics, bribery of elected officials, illegal firearms, crimes against people, and more. Oklahoma Voice is an affiliate of States Newsroom, a national 501©(3) nonprofit supported by grants and donations. The Voice retains full editorial independence. You can read more at
