Latest news with #AnneFrankCenter
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Anne Frank exhibit in Fort Scott celebrates her life and legacy
FORT SCOTT, Kan. — One of the most famous voices of the Holocaust makes a stop in Fort Scott this month. The Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes presents 'Anne Frank: A History for Today' — thanks to the efforts of 2021 Lowell Milken Center Fellow and Anne Frank Center Program Coordinator, Megan Helbert. The 31-panel exhibit features never-before-seen photos of Anne's life, quotes from the people who knew her, and visuals of the house where she and her family hid from the from the Holocaust and World War 2 are also on display, contributed by staff member Ronda Hassig. The exhibit will stay in Fort Scott through June 26th. June 12th would have been Anne Frank's 99th birthday. 'We are celebrating her life and her remembrance, and the importance of sharing stories. Anne was able to do that, Anne Frank was able to do that with her diary, and we're so thankful we have her story. Here at the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes we know the value of stories, and how they can inspire others to step up and make a difference,' said Megan Felt, Lowell Milken Center Program Director. Admission to the Anne Frank exhibit is free. The Lowell Milken Center is open Monday through Friday from 10 to 5, and Saturday from 10 to 4. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Anne Frank tree planted in Minnesota
The Brief A tree descended from a Chestnut tree Anne Frank wrote about in her diary is now planted in Minnesota. Fairmont High School was selected for the tree's location as part of the Sapling Project, through the Anne Frank Center. When the original tree was blown down in a storm in 2010 the Sapling Project collected seeds and has been growing sapling in Indianapolis. So far 20 trees have been planted across the country, including the one now planted in Fairmont, Minnesota. 11-year-old Natalie Flaherty spearheaded the effort to bring the piece of Anne Frank's history to her hometown. FAIRMOUNT, Minn. (FOX 9) - A tree that is a direct descendant of the Chestnut tree Anne Frank wrote about in her legendary diary is now planted in Fairmont, Minnesota. What we know Since Natalie Flaherty was in just second grade, she has been captivated by the story of Anne Frank and her view of the world while in hiding during the Holocaust. As Flaherty summarizes it, Anne wouldn't have died if it weren't for hate. "We don't love if we're going to hate," says Flaherty. "We weren't put on this world to hate and to tear our world apart. We're put on the world to love. If we hate, that's just going to break our world, and we hate for the most stupid stuff." With Anne Frank in mind, Flaherty started a Kindness Club at her school, sharing bracelets and good deeds. She and her mother traveled to Omaha to see another descendent of Anne Frank's tree planted. She spoke at the event, and became more determined to become a sapling recipient. Since then, Flaherty has met with lawmakers and Holocaust survivors. The backstory Dr. Lauren Bairnsfather of the Anne Frank Center says Flaherty was chosen as a sapling recipient, because of her unwavering dedication to Anne Frank's legacy. "I mean, she's moved by Anne Frank's story and by her diary that she is really leading a movement in Fairmont, Minnesota." For the planting ceremony, Flaherty arranged for the local choir to sing, friends to read passages from Anne Frank's diary, plus the mayor of Fairmont awarded a proclamation. She's collected letters and recognition ranging from former President Biden, to the Jewish community relations council and a phone call from the Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan. "We're not Jewish," says Flaherty mother Rebecca Flohrs. "I really think it's all hate that she wants to end, and it's against all people from all different places, and you can have an inspiration and a person who is kind of like that for you and still have empathy and want for everybody to feel love and cared for." Dig deeper To learn more about the Sapling Project, click here.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Is this pork?' SC Democrats highlight programs the state budget won't fund
Rep. Jermaine Johnson, D-Columbia (right), talks with Rep. Wendell Jones, D-Greenville, in House chambers on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. Johnson fought to add earmarks back to the state spending plan on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. (File photo by Mary Ann Chastain/Special to the SC Daily Gazette) COLUMBIA — The Anne Frank Center, a support program for foster children, and treatment for sickle cell disease were among the proposals for state aid the House rejected Tuesday amid a pause in budget earmarks. Rep. Jermaine Johnson knew his proposed additions to the state budget package stood little chance of passing. But the Columbia Democrat wanted his colleagues to hear more about the aid they were dismissing by refusing to fund any earmarks. His 37 amendments — all unsuccessful — were offered as the House revised its spending package ahead of negotiations with the Senate on a final budget for the fiscal year starting July 1. Last month, Senate Finance Chairman Harvey Peeler announced the 2025-26 state budget would not include any spending requested by legislators for local projects, or what's called earmarks. Johnson called them community investments. 'Is this pork? I don't think this is pork,' he said after each proposal, emphasizing how important each were to communities. After hours of voting down amendments, the House approved, by 110-3, the plan the chamber is sending to a combined panel of senators and representatives to hash out a budget deal. Spending that's already the same in both chambers' plans, such as teacher raises, is locked in for the year. Even while calling for members to reject Johnson's proposals, Republican leaders often said they did so reluctantly. Any earmark wouldn't survive budget negotiations, they said. 'There are a lot of really good projects. There are members who have good ideas to make their districts better, but I'm going to ask to table this amendment,' said House Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, pledging that it's not a permanent end to the investments. But Johnson said the House should send a message to Peeler, who has said a one-year hiatus was needed to rein in local spending that had climbed into the hundreds of millions of dollars. 'Are we going to stand up and do what's right and fund what needs to be funded?' Johnson asked. The worst part of finding out the budget would include no earmarks was calling organizations that had asked for money or gotten it in the past and telling them there would be no funding coming this year, he said. Among his proposals were $500,000 for the University of South Carolina's Anne Frank Center, $750,000 for two separate programs researching and treating sickle cell disease; programs for the blind; and money to restore and reuse Rosenwald Schools, which were built for Black children with the help of philanthropist Julius Rosenwald between 1917 and 1932. 'You're going to hear a bunch of people across the state,' Johnson said. 'They're going to be saying, 'What happened to this? What happened to that? Where did it go? What are we going to do here?'' House Republicans empathized. Rural districts rely on earmarks for major projects they can't otherwise afford, said Rep. James Teeple. 'When you look at rural communities, they don't have the tax base,' the Johns Island Republican said. 'They don't have the ability to do these larger projects that would improve their community.' Rep. Kathy Landing, R-Mount Pleasant, said she requested funding to restore Long Point Schoolhouse, a historic Black school that residents of Snowden had hoped to turn into a museum. 'A lot of us are hurting too and we do want to find a solution,' she said, referring to Republicans. 'There are a lot of us upset about this.' Last year, McMaster vetoed $150,000 from the Legislature's final budget package designated to the schoolhouse due to paperwork issues, so Landing had hoped to get the money this year, she said. 'It broke my heart to have to let them know that this wasn't going to happen this year,' Landing said. 'I've been scrambling everywhere I can, and I'm not just talking for myself. I'm talking for a lot of other people in this room.' Rep. Nathan Ballentine, R-Chapin, gave a history lesson for new members on how earmarks were handled in the not-so-distant past — secretive spending funneled through agencies without any transparency. Not even legislators knew what was hidden in the budget. 'We have come a long way' in a few years, he said. He's hopeful the spending will return for worthy projects next year with an improved process. Funding for local law enforcement, fire departments and infrastructure are examples of good investments, he said. 'Unfortunately, this year we're going to say 'no,'' said Ballentine, who leads the Ways and Means subcommittee over state aid to public colleges. Peeler has said he hopes to see communities apply for money through a grant process instead of legislators making requests on their behalf starting next year. Spending had gotten out of hand, said both chambers' chief budget writers. Two years ago, the total spending on earmarks surged to $713 million. Last year, it hit $435 million. Critics have said the process allowed legislators to spend taxpayer dollars with little vetting. 'We are taking a one-year pause, just to consider better ways to do those community investments and make sure that we are getting the return on the investment that we want to get,' Bannister said. Legislators have stressed that the money is never guaranteed, so no one should rely on them. Still, some organizations and projects may not be able to survive a year without the money, Johnson said. Earmarks are 'valuable resources for the people of South Carolina, and you just killed them,' Johnson said. 'You just killed them.'
