Latest news with #Colvin
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama bill removing English language learners from school athletic classifications dies
Rep. Brock Colvin, R-Albertville, applauds during a session of the Alabama House of Representatives on April 17, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Colvin plans to bring back his bill that would have excluded certain English language learner (ELL) students from a public school's average daily membership when determining athletic competition classification next year. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) A bill that would have excluded certain English language learner (ELL) students from a public school's average daily membership when determining athletic competition classification failed to move in this year's session. But the bill's sponsor said it will likely return next year. 'We just ran out of time,' said Rep. Brock Colvin, R-Albertville, in an interview last week. 'I think one thing we can take away is a lot of people get educated on an issue that's only impacting a few areas in our state.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX HB 298 passed the House 72-1 with 29 abstentions and many floor amendments on April 30, but never received a Senate committee vote. The legislation would not have limited the ability of ELL students to participate The bill in some ways reflects demographic changes in the state. About 5.7% of Alabama's population is Hispanic or Latino, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. But the numbers are significantly higher in parts of northern Alabama. Marshall County's population, where Colvin is from, is about 16% Hispanic or Latino. According to about 86% of ELL students in 2022-23 identified as Hispanic or Latino. Colvin and other supporters of the legislation claim that ELL students were generally not participating in extracurricular activities, which meant that schools could be moved up to athletic classification levels where they would struggle. 'I didn't understand why we have to count them, because it's not an accurate reflection of our athletic pool,' Colvin said. Through debates on the bill, Rep. Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg, said Crossville High School in DeKalb County paused its varsity football team two years ago because it was moved to a 5A classification by the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA). Crossville High School Principal Jon Peppers said in an interview last week the school only had about 20 kids on the team and competed against other 5A schools with 50-100 athletes. 'A lot of kids were playing football in the ninth grade, 10th grade, and they were having to go out on the field against teams like Guntersville, Albertville, Boaz,' Peppers said. 'Their teams would have a whole offensive team, a defensive team, and we'd have kids that had to play both ways, and they had never played football before. Then they got hurt.' Numbers on athletic participation by racial or ethnic background in Alabama are not available. The Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) does not have specific data on the race of its athletes. A 2022 National Center for Health Statistics study found that in 2020, about 60% of non-Hispanic white students aged 6-17 had participated in sports in the last year, compared to about 47% of Hispanic students and 42% of Black students. Allison Hamilton, executive director of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, said in an interview last week that English and a second language (ESL) and ELL students are not a direct correlation to high school teams not having enough participation. 'If a school's population is growing, then maybe that's what they need to address how they're classifying,' Hamilton said. 'In general, I think it's discriminatory to choose to change classification based on ESL participation.' DeKalb County is 16.4% Hispanic or Latino, according to the 2020 census. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 82% of the student body identified as Hispanic or Latino in the 2023-24 school year. Peppers said most of the Hispanic students start working in high school instead of participating in sports. 'So once they get old enough, 15, to be able to work, they prefer their kids not to play sports,' he said. 'They want them to get jobs to help pay for the bills.' Hamilton said that while Hispanic students are working while in school, that is not unique to Hispanic families. 'I mean for sure, there are students that are choosing to take jobs after school so that they can help their families. I think that's not just true of Hispanic families, but of many low income students,' she said. The Hispanic and Immigrant Center of Alabama (HICA) said in a statement last week it could not comment on the specifics of the bill. 'We can say that Hispanic students, like all other students, enjoy the opportunity to participate in sports programs throughout the states,' Carlos Alemán, CEO of HICA, wrote. 'Our Hispanic students also participate in post-secondary opportunities across the state, and they are one of the fastest-growing populations in our community colleges and universities.' Peppers said he plans to bring back the varsity football team this year, but the team will consist of seventh to 12th graders. There are currently 40 kids signed up for the varsity football team this fall. 'That's been our downfall of our football program. They're making us play against schools that have kids that are bigger, stronger, faster than us,' he said. 'You know, we play the kids we have that's never played football before.' Attempts to schedule an interview with the AHSAA were unsuccessful, but the association has been vocal in its opposition to the legislation. Heath Harmon, executive director of the AHSAA, said in an April statement that he is disappointed by the legislation because it would discourage ELL students from participating in sports in the name of keeping a lower classification. Colvin challenged the position saying the legislation does not prohibit ELL students from participating in sports, and they would still be counted towards the classification if they did participate. 'It's emotional and maybe there's some resentment towards the immigration population, but I think if we can get this issue fixed, it at least takes away that piece of frustration when it comes to immigration,' Colvin said Monday. 'I think it would actually lead to more assimilation, more maybe even working with these ELL kids to try to get them more involved in sports, because if they play, they count.' Peppers said the varsity football team was the only team that was paused because of low participation and high injury. He said the school's soccer team often has to make cuts to make room for all the interested kids. 'The only sport that's probably not affected is our soccer program,' Peppers said. Hamilton said that the Coalition had many members 'whose children are participating in athletic events at their schools.' 'I think that the concern I have is just that this bill seems to be potentially harmful for schools that have a significant English language learner population, limiting their ability to qualify for athletic competition.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Saying thank you to nurses for National Nurses Week
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — National Nurses Week is meant to highlight the contributions of nurses, focus on their positive impact, and promote the profession. And all across Central Illinois, people are showing their gratitude. At Carle Health in Peoria, they brought therapy dogs and food to celebrate the week. Kami Colvin has been a nurse for 17 years and said it's all about bringing the best care to her patients. 'Our patients are telling us that they appreciate the care and being able to see them come in and have a significant need and progress with our arms wrapped right around them and get ready and go home, and then be with their family. That's really the best thing in health care that you could ask for as a nurse,' said Colvin. This year's theme is 'the power of nursing'. Currently, there is a nationwide nursing shortage, but at Bradley University, more than 300 students are studying to become nurses. 'The very large retirement of the baby boomers, nurses who have been in the hospital for 20 or 30 years, are retiring, and we have a huge deficit of nurses. So with graduating nurses, it's really important that we try and get them exposure to the hospital as soon as we can,' said Dr. Rachel Borton with Bradley University. She went on to talk about how nurses are the backbone of hospitals. 'The nurse is the one who's with the patient the longest. So the providers are coming in. They're responsible for many times hundreds of patients, and they have a very finite amount of time that they can spend with the patient, whereas the nurse is there for the entire shift and many times maybe three shifts a week with the same patient. So they know they're patient,' she said. The week is also meant to honor Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Los Angeles Times
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Trump says he will reopen Alcatraz prison
NEW YORK — President Trump said Sunday that he is directing his government to reopen and expand Alcatraz, the California's notorious former federal prison that has long been a popular tourist attraction in the San Francisco Bay. In a message on his Truth Social site Sunday evening, Trump wrote that, 'For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering. When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That's the way it's supposed to be.' 'That is why, today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America's most ruthless and violent Offenders,' he wrote, adding: 'The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE.' The prison was closed in 1963, and Alcatraz Island is currently operated as a tourist site. The order comes as Trump has been clashing with the courts as he tries to send accused gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador, without due process. Trump has also talked about wanting to send American citizens there and to other foreign prisons. Colvin writes for the Associated Press.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Grazing cattle are helping conserve this Tenino area prairie that's open to the public
The Colvin family has raised cattle on land just outside Tenino for generations, but recently the cattle have not been confined to the family's ranch on Old Highway 99. Visitors to the area may see cattle crossing the road to graze at the Violet Prairie Wildlife Area Unit, about 1,500 acres of public land the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife finished acquiring last year. The unit is part of the Scatter Creek watershed, a main hub of the county's prairie-oak conservation network. It's also home to threatened species such as the Mazama pocket gopher and Taylor's checkerspot butterfly. So, why are cattle grazing there? Bill Kronland, Wildlife Area Manager for the Scatter Creek Wildlife Area, said they are helping conserve the prairie and species that live there. 'From my perspective, it was looking at this landscape and looking at the resources I have at hand and thinking to myself, 'how am I supposed to manage this?'' Kronland said. Native prairies are few and far between. A 1998 study found native prairie species dominated only 3% of grassland soils in the south Puget Sound region. More recently, a 2021 Washington State University study found over 90% of prairies west of the Cascades have been converted to agriculture or lost to development. Jennifer Colvin, owner of Colvin Ranch, said she partnered with WDFW to graze her cattle on Violet Prairie last year and it's already producing results. 'I think it gives us a really unique opportunity to manage the prairie for the benefit of the wildlife that live here but also keep these agricultural lands as working agricultural lands,' Colvin said. 'We're able to raise a really great product and to feed our local community.' The Olympian visited Violet Prairie in April to see the practice in action. Sediment deposited by melting glaciers formed the prairie, Kronland said. Rainfall drains through the soil, leaving a unique landscape that looks drier than what people might expect in western Washington. 'Since the end of the last glacial period, it's been maintained by first peoples who have regularly burned back the Douglas fir (trees) to keep the prairie open for cultural resource plants and to make it easier to walk through.' Kronland said WDFW wants to reintroduce those first peoples management methods and seed native plants that local species rely on. Fire is a key tool, but he said it can't be used everywhere. 'We'd either be smoking out Tenino or we'd be shutting down the highway,' Kronland said. 'So, what's the alternative? Mowing, spraying herbicides? All those are resource intensive and kind of not desirable. Cows are biomowers.' Fire burns off non-native plants and creates bare soil for native seeds to take hold. Cattle can similarly create bare ground openings, Kronland said. The area has a history of grazing as well. Colvin said her family has grazed cattle in the area for 171 years and has practiced conservation for decades, both on their own and in partnership with state and county government as well as local organizations. 'You don't have to necessarily choose between raising really great quality beef and making a sacrifice there for also conserving the habitat,' Colvin said. 'You can do both.' Colvin said the cattle are rotated through separate pastures to give native plants a chance to grow and set seeds. One of the key ones they look out for is the camas, which features lavender and deep blue petals. 'We use camas as our indicator, rather than just looking at the calendar because every year it's a little different,' Colvin said. WDFW has yet to officially survey the area so evidence of their success on the Violet Prairie is anecdotal. Kronland pointed out that areas that were grazed appear much greener while areas that were not grazed have a buildup of thatch and brownish vegetation. 'We'll get there someday,' Kronland said of the brownish vegetation. 'It's growing less because we're not introducing the vegetative state.' He said the grazed areas remained green through the dry period of the summer and there's more heterogeneity in structure. 'It's not just the sea of thatch and brown grass,' Kronland said. 'What we have are patches of grass here and there. We have openings, so we're actually getting bare ground.' The improved landscape is also helpful for preventing wildfires. Without the cattle, Kronland said he would have to use tractors to mow fire breaks, which is diesel and labor intensive. The greener landscape is less likely to burn than the thatch-filled landscape, he said. 'If I wanted to burn that right, I'd have to sit there with a burner to get it to burn,' Kronland said of the greener vegetation. While the conservation grazing on Violet Prairie is still in relatively early stages, past studies have shown that the practice can have an impact. The 2021 WSU study found that conservation grazing can significantly increase native and overall species richness within three years. Conservation grazing for this study was conducted at three sites, including Colvin Ranch. The study also found that conservation grazing can be used to promote habitat for rare and endangered species such as the Mazama pocket gopher. Gopher occupancy was measured as the proportion of plots with fresh gopher mounds present. The greatest increase occurred in sites that used conservation grazing. Those sites increased from 56% occupied in 2018 to 83% in 2020, according to the study. Notably, a 2018 study looked at lessons learned from conservation grazing on native prairie in the Tualatin River basin in Oregon. Similarly, the study found targeted grazing can create space for local species, leading to significant increases in plant diversity. Kronland said it's become evident that conservation grazing can help the Mazama pocket gopher flourish but it remains to be seen how compatible this practice will be with the Taylor's checkerspot butterfly. 'What we're trying to do is create habitat for federal listed species and there's no playbook for that,' Kronland said. 'You can go to school to learn how to make deer habitat. You can't learn how to make checker spot habitat. We have to teach ourselves.' Colvin said the conservation grazing process is iterative. Every year, she tries to do it better while factoring in weather, rain and the past year's management practices. Lessons learned may then be applied to other areas. 'Each year it's about incremental improvement,' Colvin said. 'It's not about necessarily doing things perfectly.' Conservation grazing also has to balance agricultural needs. Colvin said an agricultural operation cannot be run on land that's completely native. 'Maybe you want to pull cattle off an area for a little bit, for example when the camas are blooming, but you've got to put them somewhere,' Colvin said. She said her property has some areas that are native prairie and some that are not. Similarly, Violet Prairie has some uphill grassland with less native plants where cattle could go. Colvin said conservation grazing is more management intensive for ranchers because it requires more logistical planning, fencing and strategic resource management. Still, she said the payoff is worth it. 'All of those investments are worth it, because it enables us to produce better quality forage for our cattle,' Colvin said. Given that so much land is privately owned, expanding this model elsewhere will take private-public partnerships like the one Colvin made with WDFW. Colvin said the area around her ranch has a mixture of private landowners, state agencies and the county working together to manage the whole ecosystem. 'The animals that live here don't pay attention to the boundary lines,' Colvin said. 'Bald eagles have their nests here. They fly diagonally here across my house and a do lot of hunting out on the prairie and down at Scatter Creek.' As a state managed property, Kronland must also get by with limited resources to do critical conservation work. Still, he said this work is not occurring in a vacuum. 'There's a community of folks that want to see this happen and so there's at least those resources we can tap into,' Kronland said. Violet Prairie also has many uses as a public land. Kronland said important conservation work is being done there, yet there also are people who visit to hunt, ride horses, hike and run. 'I think that larger challenge goes beyond just conservation grazing,' Kronland said. 'How are we going to manage our public lands to address all of those uses?' The Violet Prairie Wildlife Area Unit is open to the public. Visitors find it across the street from Colvin Ranch on Old Highway 99, southwest of Tenino. 'Please, respect the livestock,' Kronland said. 'We're using them as a tool to maintain the landscape. They represent Jennifer's family's livelihood. Don't, don't pet the cows.'
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama House approves regulations for AHSAA classification on English language learners
Rep. Brock Colvin, R-Albertville (right) speaks with Rep. Parker Moore, R-Hartselle on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on April 22, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The House passed Colvin's bill Tuesday that excludes certain English language learner (ELLs) students from a public school's average daily membership when determining athletic competition classification. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that would exclude certain English language learner (ELL) students from a public school's average daily membership when determining athletic competition classification. HB 298, sponsored by Rep. Brock Colvin, R-Albertville, passed 72-1 with 29 abstentions and many floor amendments. 'So it's not saying they can't play. I would never support that. It's just saying, they'd only count for that classification if they do participate,' Colvin said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The chamber adopted a committee substitute that only allowed schools where ELL students make up 15% or more of its average daily membership (ADM) to have their classification adjusted. 'That concern came from school systems under 15, saying it wasn't covered. And I agree, every school needs to be able to utilize the formula,' Colvin said. But the first amendment by Rep. Danny Crawford, R-Athens, allows any schools to adjust their classification regardless of how many ELL students the school has. 'So the fairest thing to do is to treat everybody the same and not have winners and losers,' Crawford said. The second amendment by Rep. Chris Blackshear, R-Smiths Station, changed the effective date to the 2026-27 school year, instead of the 2025-26 school year. He said that classifications are determined by the ADM from the previous year. 'So all this amendment does is make sure that if this piece of legislation passes, it will not impact the 2025-2026 athletic calendar year,' Blackshear said. The third and final amendment by Rep. Leigh Hulsey, R-Helena, requires the governing body of the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) to have two additional non-voting members from the Legislature. The Speaker of the House will appoint a member from the minority party and the Senate President Pro Tempore will appoint a member of the majority party to the AHSAA board. 'I'm just trying to start getting a little bit of oversight there,' Hulsey said. Rep. Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg, said a school in her district dissolved their varsity football program because the school was classified as a 5A school when she said it should have been 2A. She said the number of ELL students in the district changed the classification. 'My schools there are the poster children for exactly what you're talking about,' she said. 'It's a very big concern, there's a lot of injury and low participation. That's why they've not been able to have a varsity program for quite some time now.' Crossville High School in DeKalb County has not had a varsity football team since 2022, but is set to return in 2026, according to the county's local news outlet the Times-Journal. Heath Harmon, executive director of the AHSAA, said in a statement that he is disappointed by the legislation because it would discourage ELL students from participating in sports in the name of keeping a lower classification. He also said the third amendment on the legislation would make the AHSAA the only private association with mandated political representation. 'We strive to keep politics out of the boardroom and focus on doing what is best for all student athletes,' he wrote in the statement. 'As an Association, we are committed to supporting all member schools in all sports in addition to promoting participation. This bill is in direct opposition to those commitments.' Rep. Alan Baker, R-Brewton, was the lone 'no' vote on the legislation. He said in an interview that he does not believe the Legislature should be involved in the AHSAA's policies. 'I don't feel the Legislature should be getting involved in the Alabama High School Athletic Association's policies no more than I feel Congress should be involved in the NCAA and their policies as well,' he said. 'It's sort of a standard I feel at both levels of government.' The bill goes to the Senate. There are four legislative days left in the 2025 session. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
