Latest news with #Cortes
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Smokey Bear, pickleball, and pollinator license plates on the way in WA
This is a sample of the special license plate to become available in Washington state starting in late 2025. The Washington State Beekeepers Association will use proceeds to support research and public education on pollinators. (Image courtesy of Washington State Beekeepers Association) Washington drivers really like their specialty license plates — and they are getting more of them. Up to six new options will arrive this fall, including plates featuring Smokey Bear, pickleball paddles, and pollinators. Old-style plates, one with white lettering on a black background and the other with green lettering on a white background, are in the mix too. Another seven offerings — including one showcasing Mount St. Helens — would become available if their backers garner enough support. The 13 plates are parked in an omnibus bill signed into law May 20 by Gov. Bob Ferguson. Those issued would join the nearly 70 different special license plates in Washington recognizing the military, sports teams, colleges, farmers, orcas, lighthouses, square dancers and wine. Fees vary, with the money generally going to support causes that are tied to each plate's theme. This latest group of 13 will be the last for a while. The new law, Senate Bill 5444, bars the state Department of Licensing from accepting or issuing applications for any additional plates until Jan. 1, 2029. Notice of this moratorium must be posted prominently on the agency website. And the licensing department must set up a work group to delve into the specialty plate program — from how applications are handled and plates are chosen to the state's ability to recoup costs from less popular plates. Sen. Adrian Cortes, D-Battle Ground, sponsored the legislation, which had a companion bill in the House authored by Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama and Rep. Brandy Donaghy, D-Snohomish County. Cortes attributed its success to Bill Ramos, the late state senator, for providing the energy and strategy to cement Senate approval on April 18. Ramos died the next night while on a trail run near his Issaquah home. 'It has Sen. Ramos' fingerprints all over it,' Cortes said in an emotional floor speech April 25 when the Senate took the final vote that sent it on to Ferguson. In tribute, the legislation is known as 'Bill's bill.' 'We're thinking about Bill as we're signing this legislation,' Ferguson said. The state Department of Licensing will begin issuing new plates on Nov. 1, barring any issues with their design and production. There is an initial fee of $40 for special plates and a renewal fee of $30. One will recognize pickleball, named the official state sport in 2022. It will be the first pickleball license plate in the nation. The Seattle Metro Pickleball Association launched the effort in 2022 and first secured the state Senate's support in 2023. Proceeds will be used for the construction and maintenance of dedicated pickleball courts throughout the state. Smokey Bear will be featured on another. Proceeds will go to the Department of Natural Resources' wildfire prevention programs. Hilary Franz, the former commissioner of public lands, championed the idea and her successor, Dave Upthegrove, has picked up the baton. Washington will join Oregon and Texas with Smokey Bear plates. 'Approximately 90% of wildfires every year are human caused. We couldn't have a better advocate for wildfire prevention crisscrossing Washington along our interstates, highways and roads than Smokey,' Upthegrove said in a news release. A monarch, a honey bee and a mason bee will star on a license plate. The Washington State Beekeepers Association will use proceeds to support research and educational activities about such pollinators. And the LeMay classic car museum in Tacoma will have one with its logo to generate funds for education and job training related to automobiles. The licensing department will issue two plates featuring styles from past eras. A 'Keep Washington Evergreen' plate will help fund installation of electric charging stations. It will have green lettering on a white background like ones Washington issued in the 1970s. The other plate will have white lettering on a black background similar to the design of those issued in the early 20th century. Money raised will be used for expanding and improving driver's education programs and activities. The remaining seven special license plates authorized in the law will be issued if a sponsor submits at least 3,500 signatures in support. Mount St. Helens could be the first in this batch. Proceeds would go to Mount St. Helens Institute, a private nonprofit organization, to support youth education, land stewardship and science at Washington's most active volcano, which is located in the southwest corner of the state. Supporters had previously submitted signatures, but their application expired and they must resubmit, according to the department. Other pending plates include: A working forests plate to support the Washington Tree Farm Program. That program helps certify small landowners who practice sustainable forestry. A nautical northwest plate to celebrate Whidbey Island's maritime communities. Money raised would go to Whidbey Island Maritime Heritage Foundation and Historic Whidbey. A Donate Life plate with proceeds going to LifeCenter Northwest to build awareness for organ donation. A Firefighter Memorial plate with funds going to the Washington State Council of Firefighters to benefit firefighters and their families in need. A Naval Academy plate with receipts going to the state's Veterans Stewardship Account to benefit veterans or their families. Washington now has six Armed Forces special license plates. A Seattle Reign FC plate with proceeds going to the RAVE foundation, the nonprofit charity for the club and for the Seattle Sounders. The Sounders already have a license plate.
Chicago Tribune
23-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep celebrates 20th graduation; ‘We want everyone to see what's possible'
Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep in Waukegan has one entrance requirement — that students come from a low-income family — and a primary goal — getting students accepted to a four-year college or university. School President Preston Kendall said that for the past six years, all graduating seniors have been accepted to a four-year school. There is also a requirement while attending the school — working one day a week at a job through the school-arranged work-study program. Some of the money earned covers tuition. 'This way, they have skin in the game,' Kendall said in August, as the school celebrated the start of its 20th year. 'Their money goes toward funding the school, and we fundraise to get the rest.' For Kedar Cortes of Waukegan, who will attend Stanford University in the fall to study quantitative finance, he hopes his job at AbbVie through the work-study program will lead to a full-time career with the North Chicago-based organization. Cortes said he will be learning how to use quantitative analysis to develop models to create profitability. At AbbVie, he worked on business technology solutions in the information technology department. 'I loved it there,' he said. 'I analyzed a lot of data. They gave me some basic work to do, and when they saw what I could do, I was working on the same things as everybody else.' Cortes was one of 101 students expected to cross the stage at Cristo Rey's 20th graduation Saturday at the school in Waukegan, as all but one — who will be joining the U.S. Air Force — go to college and hopefully fulfill the American dream. Kendall said more than 86% of the teens who applied to go to Cristo Rey were accepted. The average family has an annual income of around $45,000. The overall family income level must be 200% or less than the United States poverty level. Though Kendall said many students enter the school 1½ years behind grade level academically, by the time they finish a summer bridge program, they are where they need to be to succeed. Most are the first generation of their family to go to college. Graduating seniors Cortes, Edeline Wence, Yeili Castrejon and Cristian Martinez have different career ideas and what the American dream means to them, but they have a variety of things in common. All four are the children of immigrants, the first generation of their family to go to college — all at elite schools — they all understand hard work, both from their job through the work-study program, and all four are summa cum laude graduates. Castrejon of Gurnee is heading to Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, to study political science and eventually go to law school. She said she wants to practice immigration law. She and her three siblings have been raised by a single mother. 'I should be able to help her have some of the things she has always wanted,' Castrejon said. 'I'm very grateful for what I was able to learn here.' Wence of Waukegan also plans to practice law, but before that, she intends to study international relations with a minor in literature at American University in Washington, D.C. When she finishes law school, she wants to be a criminal defense lawyer. She said Cristo Rey has helped her define her values. 'The American dream is evolving,' Wence said. 'You should always seek to see the good in people, and to serve others.' Martinez, a North Chicago resident, said he plans to study aerospace and aeronautical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. His career goal is specific — working for NASA in its Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. He credits his parents for his drive. 'My parents always pushed me to keep trying,' Martinez said. 'They pushed me to apply to top schools. If you don't try, it's a deny.' When Kendall arrived at Cristo Rey for the 2011-2012 school year, he said only 25% of the graduating class went to college. He set the goal of 100% acceptance, and has achieved that for the past six years. He credits the academic success to Principal Michael Odiotti. 'He takes care of everything (academically), so I can take care of everything else like the work-study program and fundraising,' Kendall said. 'We want everyone to see what's possible.'
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'They're not worried about accuracy': Lawyers, people across Washington state receive a letter telling them they have 7 days to leave
Apr. 18—Lawyers and people across the Inland Northwest received a letter last week from the Department of Homeland Security telling them they have seven days to leave the United States or face legal consequences. "Do not attempt to remain in the United States — the federal government will find you. Please depart the United States immediately," the letter reads. Olga Lucia Herrera, community liaison at the Spokane Immigrant Rights Coalition, was told about the letter after someone brought it up to her and didn't know what to do. Since then, she has found at least 20 people who have received the same letter. "They're panicking. They were already scared, and now they're more scared," Herrera said. The confusion comes as the second Trump administration has taken numerous unprecedented measures to crack down on immigration. The emailed letters were not addressed to any specific names and started with: "It is time for you to leave the United States." Jason Givens, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman, told The Spokesman-Review and Spokane Public Radio that they have issued notices terminating parole for individuals who do not have lawful status to remain. Many people seeking legal status are paroled, meaning they have to check in with immigration officials on a regular basis. This letter was not limited to users of the federal online and mobile app for immigrants, CBP One, and does not apply to those paroled under programs such as U4U and OAW, according to their statement. U4U stands for Uniting for Ukraine, a humanitarian program that aims to help refugees and immigrants from Ukraine. OAW stands for Operation Allies Welcome, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security-led effort to support refugees from Afghanistan. "To be clear: If you are an alien, being in the United States is a privilege — not a right. We are acting in the best interest of the country and enforcing the law accordingly," Givens said. Luis Cortes, attorney at Novo Legal LLC in Seattle, said parole started for certain individuals, such as Afghans and Ukrainians. But then the Biden Administration expanded the parole program for people from certain nations. These include Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Haiti. "This was Biden's approach to try to stop the surge of people coming from the southern border, because we started seeing a lot of people coming in through the southern border who are from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti," Cortes said. "The idea is that instead of them either coming across the border and not being detected, what's happening is that they would come across the border to try to turn themselves into CBP." When they turn themselves over, Cortes said they go through rounds of background checks, finding a sponsor in the United States and asking questions on the state of their situation. "Once all of that is set, then you can come into the United States; the parole, the authorized stay in the United States, is for typically one year that can be renewed," Cortes said. "Or what most people are doing is that they're applying for asylum once they're here. Has everybody applied for asylum? No. So you have all of these parolees in the United States who are in different sections of their immigration processes. "And what the letter really does in its functionality is that it creates a lot of chaos and confusion, which is part of this administration," he said. Some who are U.S. citizens or have legal status have also received this letter. "I've heard of plenty of immigration attorneys in Washington and others receiving these despite the fact that these immigration attorneys are U.S. citizens and cannot be forced to leave the United States," said Aaron Korthuis, staff attorney at Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. Korthuis said knowing that immigration attorneys are receiving this letter undermines the parole process, and he said he finds it strange that they have been thrown into the mix. Other lawyers across the country also have received this message. Nicole Micheroni, a lawyer based in Boston, has been outspoken after receiving the letter last Friday. "It took me a couple of minutes to realize it was sent to me, instead of someone I represent," Micheroni told the Boston Globe. Givens, of CBP, said the agency is aware that some people legally in the country received the order to leave. "CBP used the known email addresses of the alien to send notifications. If a nonpersonal email — such as an American citizen contact — was provided by the alien, notices may have been sent to unintended recipients. CBP is monitoring communications and will address any issues on a case-by-case basis," CBP said in the statement. Herrera said she sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner regarding the concerns of numerous people in the community who have received the letter from DHS. "Most of the individuals who received these emails were never granted parole, nor do they have any documentation indicating they ever had such status. Many are asylum seekers, individuals with pending immigration relief, or undocumented people with no criminal history who have lived in the U.S. peacefully for years," her letter to Baumgartner states. A spokesman for Baumgartner said he was unavailable for comment Thursday. "The biggest piece of advice is that people need to make sure that they talk to somebody before they make any moves, before they decide to do or not do anything. They should talk to somebody because, you know, they want to make sure that the steps that they're taking are precise to their situation," Cortes said. He added that there's "nothing illegal" about their entry into the country. "They applied with the government. They came in on their own dime, with the permission of the government. There's nothing about the word 'illegal' that remotely fits in here, but, I mean, the Trump Administration has again shown that they're not worried about accuracy."
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Yankees vs. Brewers: 5 things to watch and series predictions
Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Yankees open the 2025 season against the Milwaukee Brewers at home for a three-game series starting on Thursday... Preview Opening Day Opening Day is always a fun time. The Yankee Stadium faithful will enjoy a day game while seeing their new Yankees for the first time. Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt and others will get a taste of what it will be like to don the pinstripes and play at Yankee Stadium. Hopefully, they give the crowd plenty to cheer about this weekend. Old friends in new places One of the biggest moves the Yankees made this offseason was trading LHP Nestor Cortes for reliever Devin Williams. Cortes was a big part of the Yankees rotation the last few seasons and he's scheduled to start the second game of the series on Saturday. The Bronx crowd should give Cortes a nice ovation for his time in pinstripes, but once the first pitch is thrown all courtesies will be gone. Advertisement The same goes for the Brewers, who helped develop Williams. The All-Star reliever will likely be used during this series, and how he performs should show that allowing that Pete Alonso homer in the Wild Card round is behind him. New friends in new places The offense will look a lot different without Juan Soto manning left field. The Yankees pivoted by trading for Bellinger and signing Goldschmidt and other players to prevent more runs from being scored on them. But how about their offense? Feb 28, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger (35) celebrates after hitting a home run against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field. / Dave Nelson-Imagn Images The offense will be less potent but they can show they can still get the job done with a big offensive performance. Bellinger gets acquainted with the short porch in right, while Austin Wells and Ben Rice get re-acquainted. Goldschmidt spraying base hits all over the field would give the fans a reason to forget all about Soto. Carlos Rodon setting the tone The Opening Day start was probably saved for Gerrit Cole, but elbow surgery will sideline the ace this season. Enter Carlos Rodon. Advertisement The southpaw has had an up-and-down tenure with the Yanks so far, and while he's technically the team's third-best arm, he will take the mound on Thursday thanks to the rotation's schedule. But this could be a great spot for Rodon, who is familiar with the stadium and has pitched on Opening Day before. This could also be the time to set the tone for the rotation this weekend. Cole, Luis Gil, and Clarke Schmidt are all unavailable due to injury, but Rodon could start the 2025 season on the right foot for newcomer Max Fried and the other arms. Enter Jasson Dominguez This isn't Dominguez's first game at Yankee Stadium, but this time feels different. It's Dominguez's time and the Yankees are happy to give their prospect the runway to navigate his way to becoming an everyday major league player. Advertisement We shouldn't expect too much, but looking comfortable at the plate and -- more importantly -- competent in left field will give the fans and team hope that they have hit on this youngster. Predictions Who will the MVP of the series be? Austin Wells The second-year catcher was scalding this spring (five home runs) and will likely hit leadoff. I can see that hot spring spilling over into the regular season especially now that Wells is comfortable playing defense and managing a pitching staff that he can now focus on the offensive end, where his potential is higher. Which Yankees pitcher will have the best start? Max Fried While he hasn't been confirmed for a start this weekend, if Fried does go he'll show why New York paid the largest contract to a left-hander in MLB history. Advertisement In five career starts against the Brewers, Fried has a 2.67 ERA. Which Brewers player will be a thorn in Yankees' side? Christian Yelich The former NL MVP doesn't have much experience at Yankee Stadium (three games) but has always been a potent offensive threat -- and was raking this spring (.353/.389/1.124), launching three home runs. That production and that can carry over into March/April, when the 33-year-old is historically good.
Forbes
07-04-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Where They Stand: Updates On Brewers' Injuries
Brandon Woodruff hasn't pitched in a major-league game since undergoing shoulder surgery in ... More September 2023. (Photo by Aaron Gash/MLB Photos via Getty Images) Barely two weeks into the 2025 Major League Baseball season, the Milwaukee Brewers' roster – especially their pitching – has been battered by injuries. Milwaukee went into its first off day of the season with nine players on the IL, eight of them pitchers including seven starters after veteran left-hander Nestor Cortes landed on the IL Sunday with a left flexor strain. As the Brewers prepare to open a six-game swing through Colorado and Arizona, here's a rundown on who's out and how they're faring in their recovery. Injury: Right shin fracture Expected return: May Perkins fouled a pitch off his shin during one his first live batting practice sessions of Spring Training and has yet to see action but has been running, hitting and throwing and after undergoing another MRI earlier this month, could see live pitching soon. Injury: Right oblique strain Expected return: Unknown Ashby has been progressing in his throwing program and is expected to have his first bullpen session on April 11. Injury: Left hamstring strain Expected return: Late April Civale lasted just three innings in his first start of the season before leaving with what imaging confirmed to be a mild strain. He threw off the mound for the first time on April 5 and will do so again April 8. If all goes well, he could return to action by the end of April. Injury: Left flexor strain Expected Return: Unknown Cortes said his elbow wasn't quite right after his disastrous debut outing but an MRI revealed no structural damage and Cortes felt strong enough to make his next start but after throwing six innings of shutout ball last Thursday, the elbow wasn't recovering right and the team placed Cortes on the IL. The injury is the same one that left him sidelined for a month last season. Injury: Illness Expected return: April Mears has worked 3 2/3 scoreless innings over three outings in a minor-league rehab assignment with Triple-A Nashville and could join the team when it opens a three-game series against the Rockies in Colorado on April 8, Injury: Left oblique Expected return: April Myers will make the first start of his minor-league rehab assignment for Nashville on April 8 with two more starts scheduled on April 13 and 18. If all goes well during those outings, he could join the Brewers during their road trip to San Francisco at St. Louis at the end of the month. Injury: Right shoulder surgery Expected return: May The team has taken a cautious approach in building Woodruff back up after he missed all of last season recovering from shoulder surgery but he's expected to head out on a minor-league rehab assignment this week and is still on track to join the Brewers sometime in May. Injury: Tommy John surgery Expected return: August/September After undergoing season-ending Tommy John surgery last June, Gasser is still in the earliest stages of the rehab process and isn't expected to see action until late in the 2025 season. Injury: Left lat strain Expected return: Late May Hall suffered a lat strain during one of his last throwing sessions before the Brewers officially opened Spring Training and has remained in Arizona to continue building up strength. He's scheduled to throw off a mound on April 15 and 18 then throw live batting practice on April 23. Because he was placed on the 60-day injured list, Hall is not eligible to return until May 4, but will likely need even more time before heading out on a rehab assignment.
