Latest news with #Breglia
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Buckle up? Push continues for seatbelts in local school buses
AVON LAKE, Ohio (WJW) — There's a new push to install seatbelts on school buses in one local district. Avon Lake resident Dr. Rudy Breglia called on Avon Lake City Council Monday night to pass a resolution that would support seatbelts in school buses and compel the Avon Lake School District to conduct another Seat Belt Pilot Program. Microplastic dangers: What to know about tiny particles in our bodies 'Because the last pilot program they ran didn't have the requirement that children had to use the seatbelts that were available,' Breglia said. Back in 2019, Avon Lake added two school buses with lap and shoulder restraints as part of a pilot program. Ultimately, the district decided it wasn't sustainable. Meanwhile, Breglia has continued his efforts to get schools to buckle up. 'The reason I approached city council was because they share responsibility with the school district to provide safety for the children during transportation,' said Breglia. Breglia said the resolution would also support House Bill 3, the school bus safety act. 'The house version will appropriate 25 million to the idea of bus safety,' said State Rep. Joe Miller of District 53. Miller said the grant money from HB 3 could be used by a district to purchase seat belts. 'I think each district needs to make decision for themselves to decide the best way to keep children safe on the bus,' Miller said. 1 dead after small plane crashes in Ashland County The Avon Lake School District did not return phone calls seeking comment on the resolution Monday night. Avon Lake City Council is expected to vote on the resolution in two weeks. Meanwhile House Bill 3 has been assigned to committee in the statehouse. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Independent
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Viral video shows dance coach hugging team after win - except the Black team member
A dance studio has gone viral after a mom posted a TikTok of a coach hugging every member of a dancing group — except her daughter, the only Black student. Melissa Breglia shared a video on TikTok on March 24 showing a dance teacher from Dance Xpressions in Plainville, Connecticut, walking onto a stage at a dance competition to congratulate four young girls. The coach then hugged three of the four girls standing on stage, excluding only Breglia's daughter, six-year-old Shaniah. The video has garnered more than four million views. 'It absolutely breaks my heart to watch this,' Breglia wrote on TikTok. 'Shaniah came off stage devastated! Why would a 'teacher' treat a child so poorly!' Commenters were quick to agree with Breglia. 'Wow, that was super disturbing to watch,' one user commented, receiving more than 12,000 likes. 'Momma… please read the room,' another said, earning 31,000 likes. 'It wasn't just 'rude' it was a micro-aggression. Please get her out before it gets bad.' Breglia told NBC Boston that her six-year-old was devastated when she came off the stage. 'Shaniah came up to me, and said, 'Mommy, how come [the coach] didn't give me a hug? She hugged everybody else,'' Breglia said. 'She said, 'Mommy, I did all my moves, I smiled the whole time…and I didn't get a hug, but they did.'' Breglia then approached the coach backstage. 'I went up to [her] and said, 'How dare you? How dare you make my child feel less than?'' Breglia recounted to NBC Boston. 'She instantly stiffened up and said, 'I didn't do anything, why are you yelling at me?'' 'I said, 'you had her standing on the stage alone. She leaned in to hug you, and you side-stepped her.' She said, 'I didn't do that. I didn't do anything to her,'' Breglia continued. Shaniah was later removed from the program, Breglia told NBC Boston. 'I got a letter…dismissing my child, my children, from the program. That I had been aggressive with staff,' Breglia said. 'At no point in time was there a conversation about your actions, an apology towards my daughter, there was no acknowledgement that anything was wrong.' 'I would like her held accountable. I would like to make sure that other children don't go through the same thing,' she continued. Phyllis Boucher, owner of Dance Xpressions, said she's 'deeply saddened' by the 'recent misunderstanding.' "Our instructor sincerely believed she had embraced all the students, including Shaniah, and was unaware of the oversight,' Boucher said. 'Following the competition, concerns were raised by Shaniah's family regarding the incident. Our instructor immediately addressed the situation by apologizing to Shaniah, expressing that the exclusion was unintentional and never meant to cause hurt.' 'Over the past years, we have worked to support all our dancers and their families, including Shaniah and her sister,' she added. 'After careful consideration, we made the difficult decision to part ways with the family, as we strive to maintain a positive and respectful environment for all members of our studio community.' The Independent has contacted Breglia for comment. The Independent was unable to contact Dance Xpressions for comment, as the studio did not answer the phone, and its voicemail box was full. Their social media accounts also appear to have been deleted.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Yahoo
Ohio lawmakers tackle school bus safety after 50+ crashes in 2025
School buses. (File photo from Sandusky City Schools website.) It's only three weeks into 2025, and already, there have been 51 school bus crashes in Ohio. Lawmakers have just introduced a bill aiming to keep students safe. Another crash happened Friday morning. On the way to school, a Cleveland Metropolitan School District bus crashed, with a 9-year-old girl taken to the hospital for 'very minor' injuries, according to Cleveland police. A 33-year-old woman was also taken to the hospital but is in 'stable condition,' Cleveland EMS said. Police are still investigating who caused it. 'I pictured myself in the shoes of the parents getting a call or a visit from a state trooper telling them that their child is not going to come home from school today,' Rudy Breglia, a Lorain County safety advocate, said. Breglia started the School Bus Safety Alliance, a group dedicated to advocating for more resources to protect kids. 'Current Ohio school bus safety features are inadequate,' he said. State lawmakers agree that some districts need help. House Reps. Cecil Thomas (D-Cincinnati) and Bernie Willis (R-Springfield) introduced H.B. 3 — which would create a $25 million school bus safety fund dedicated to improving and updating equipment. 'When it comes to buses and transporting our children, we want them to be able to apply for a grant to assist with getting that done,' Thomas said. Schools could apply for grants to buy fully illuminated stop arms, external school bus cameras, seatbelts and more. 'With a little help, they can implement their own plans from training to equipping the buses,' the lawmaker added. Thomas worked as a police officer for decades. He said he had to cite drivers on several occasions for illegally passing a school bus. That's why this bill raises the penalties – making passing a school bus a misdemeanor with a fine of up to 1,000 dollars. Repeated offenses could lead to a license suspension, a mandatory safety course and a $2,000 fine. All the money collected from the fines would be used to fund the grant program. 'If increasing the penalties will cause someone to think twice, then by all means, let's do that because the overall agenda here is children's safety,' Thomas said. This bill has been a passion project for Willis, who is adamant about safety reform. 'It's doing some elevating of the standards around our school buses in the same way that we establish school safety zones around our schools with criminal penalties,' Willis told me back in December when the previous version of this bill was being heard. The bill has bipartisan support, but although Breglia likes it, he thinks it doesn't go far enough. He believes seat belts should be mandatory on all buses. 'They're found in every car, have saved hundreds of thousands of lives, and it's a basic safety tool that should be in all our school buses to protect our kids,' Lawmakers and the governor's school bus safety working group debated seat belts, deciding that they should not be mandatory. The bill will be heard in the coming months. Luckily for school safety supporters, Willis is the chair of the Transportation Committee, so it will likely move quickly through the hearing process in the House. Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on X and Facebook. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
