Latest news with #Curran
American Press
5 days ago
- Climate
- American Press
Westlake Fire Department trains with MedEvac unit from Fort Polk
1/3 Swipe or click to see more A 1st Battalion, 5th Aviation Regiment helicopter from Fort Polk is used during a training session Thursday morning with members of the Westlake Fire Department. (Emily Burleigh / American Press) 2/3 Swipe or click to see more A 1st Battalion, 5th Aviation Regiment helicopter from Fort Polk is used during a training session Thursday morning with members of the Westlake Fire Department. (Emily Burleigh / American Press) 3/3 Swipe or click to see more A 1st Battalion, 5th Aviation Regiment helicopter from Fort Polk is used during a training session Thursday morning with members of the Westlake Fire Department. (Emily Burleigh / American Press) Firefighters with the Westlake Fire Department spent Thursday morning conducting joint training operations with the 1st Battalion, 5th Aviation Regiment. The 1st Battalion, 5th Aviation Regiment – otherwise known as Cajun Dustoff – collaborated with WFD to organize hoist and water rescue exercises. WFD gathered on the shore of the Calcasieu River while the Cajun Dustoff helicopter landed. Within the hour, participants were practicing hoist operations, extraction efforts in which civilians are rescued from land or water via helicopter during emergencies. The training simulated several real-world disaster scenarios to bolster the fire department's emergency response capabilities. The multi-organizational training is paramount with a rise in natural disasters, a phenomenon Southwest Louisiana is all too familiar with, said Maj. Shane Curran, commander, Cajun Dustoff. The region is still recovering from Hurricanes Laura and Delta, while simultaneously fortifying in preparation for future events. 'This is why we're trying to build these relationships with our local emergency friends,' Curran said. 'This is going to help us if we ever get called to work on, whether it be a natural disaster or a local emergency, we've already done the training with the local fire departments.' Cajun Dustoff is an active-duty MedEvac unit stationed at Fort Polk and the Joint Readiness Training Center. The regiment conducts all military training events on Fort Polk, responds to search and rescue missions, and is utilized for local hospital transfers, he said. The main goal of the exercises with local emergency response teams is to continuously increase interoperability between Army assets, like Cajun Dustoff, and local emergency response teams, he said. WFD Chaplain Kyle Doty, who has been with the department for two and a half years, said WFD's role during emergency response scenarios is 'Rural One.' Due to the department's proximity to the water and swift water rescue training, WFD is the immediate response team. 'We're first on scene.' The firefighters are already trained and equipped for land and water rescues, but the joint training operations will integrate aviation-based response into WFD's toolbelt. 'Hoist' is one of the most difficult emergency operations, Curran said. By familiarizing the Westlake firefighting personnel with hoist operations, WFD will be equipped with the expertise they need to help retrieve civilians during emergencies. WFD Fire Chief Jonathan Duff said one of WFD's new firefighters, John Dalgleish, put the training in motion. Dalgleish spent most of his career teaching at the United States Military Academy, West Point. After joining the department, he worked to coordinate the training with Cajun Dustoff, a regiment that has worked with WFD before. 'We're always looking for something new and cutting edge,' Duff said. 'If we're going to use them, we might as well spend some significant amount of time training with them. 'We like to think that we're one of the hardest-working fire departments around, and we've got the best military in the world, so, here we are.' Later down the line, Cajun Dustoff officers will come to Westlake to get swift water training in return. The partnership is an exchange of emergency preparedness education that will continue to strengthen the region's emergency response readiness, he said. A majority of WFD's firefighters are retired military and are already cross-trained, Doty said, but this is the first paramilitary training he has participated in. He was 'pumped' to get up in the air. 'I'm not really as nervous as a lot of people might think,' he joked. 'I'm just looking forward to the next time we can do this again.' Curran said this exercise was hopefully the first in a series of training events with the Westlake Fire Department. 'We just love getting out, getting to work with the local community,' he said. 'That's what it's all about – just taking care of each other and we're super excited to train with these guys.' Duff said they expect joint training to occur on an annual or biannual basis.
Belfast Telegraph
16-07-2025
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Cliftonville star is proud of historic goal but he's determined to make it count with European progress
After putting his name to a European milestone in last week's first leg, Ryan Curran is determined to ensure it counts for something when Cliftonville renew rivalries with St Joseph's. As well as being his maiden strike on the continental stage, Curran's headed opener in Gibraltar was the first goal scored in this season's UEFA Conference League — but the 31-year-old wants more than personal landmarks to reflect on from the tie.
Irish Examiner
04-07-2025
- Irish Examiner
Third man arrested in connection with Ballyfermot house fire
A third man has been arrested connection with setting a Ballyfermot family home on fire on May 21. The male, a juvenile in his teens, is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at a garda station in Dublin. This is in addition to the arrests and charges of two men who were involved in the incident yesterday. One man, aged in his 20s, appeared before the Criminal Courts of Justice this morning, Friday, July 4, at 10.30am. The second man, a teenager, appeared before the Children's Court at the same time. The verdict is yet to be publicised. The family who lived in the house on Landon Road said it was like "waking up in hell" after the house was firebombed in the early hours of that morning. The Curran family — Pat, Breda and son Luke — were sleeping when a petrol bomb was launched through the front window of their house, setting the living room ablaze and killing the family dog. Gardaí at the time believed it was a case of mistaken identity. Investigations are ongoing. Read More Eight men jailed for 129 years after record €157m cocaine seizure off Cork coast
Newsweek
04-07-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
Child Tax Credit Warning: Millions of Children Could Be Ineligible
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Almost one in three children could be left out of the boosted Child Tax Credit (CTC) approved by Congress this week, researchers said. Why It Matters The CTC is a federal tax benefit aimed at helping families offset the cost of raising children. As of 2024, the credit provides up to $2,000 per qualifying child under the age of 17, with up to $1,600 of that amount refundable. This means eligible families can receive a portion of the credit as a refund even if they owe no federal income tax. Changes to the CTC are embedded in the Republican One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The sprawling megabill, the bedrock of President Donald Trump's fiscal agenda, passed its final vote in the House on Thursday. Beginning in the 2025 tax year, the CTC will rise from its current $2,000 to $2,200 until the legislation expires in 2028—providing a welcome, albeit temporary, boost for many American families once the president signs it into law. But low-income parents and their children are unlikely to benefit, researchers at Columbia University told Newsweek. A stock photo of children walking toward a school entrance. A stock photo of children walking toward a school entrance. GETTY What To Know Megan A. Curran, the policy director at the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University, told Newsweek that 28.3 percent, or 19.3 million children, would not see this increase and would "be left out" of the full $2,200 because "they are in families that do not earn enough to qualify for the new, higher minimum income threshold requirements." Under the new policy, a two-adult, two-child family would need to earn $41,500 to get the full $2,200 credit, Curran said. Under the current policy, a family of that size needs annual earnings of $36,000 to receive the full $2,000. "It will also ultimately be much worse for these children because not only do they see no gains from the CTC in this bill, but they are the same children who are now at high risk of losing their health care and food assistance," such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and school meals, Curran said. While the expanded CTC approved in the bill is higher, Curran said that even families who receive the full temporary increase are "unlikely to feel it in reality because the CTC has lost value since it was established as $2,000 back at the end of 2017." "In order to keep up with inflation, the CTC would need to be about $2,500 today in order to maintain its real value from 2017/2018," she said. "Because it is only raised now to $2,200, this means that what is being passed is actually less generous than what was originally passed in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as it is smaller in real terms than the original $2,000 credit was then." What Happens Next The CTC boost is temporary and expires in 2028 unless lawmakers extend it. At that point, it would drop back down to $2,000 and be indexed to inflation for subsequent years.
Sunday World
04-07-2025
- Sunday World
Man (20s) and teen charged after firebomb attack on family's home in Ballyfermot
The family had been injured and their dog burned to death after their home was targeted in the early morning attack A man in his 20s and a teenager have been arrested and charged by gardai investigating the firebomb attack on an innocent family's home in Ballyfermot, Dublin 10. Both were quizzed at Garda stations in Dublin by gardaí investigating an act of 'criminal damage by fire' that occurred at a residence on Landen Road on Wednesday, May 21. The Curran family had been injured and their dog burned to death after their home was targeted in the early morning attack. Detectives believe it was carried out as part of a worsening city feud involving a young drug dealer and junior associates of gangster Brian Rattigan. In an update released on Thursday night, a Garda spokesperson confirmed that the man and the teenager had both been charged in relation to the incident. A spokesperson said: 'One male, aged in his 20s is due to appear before Criminal Courts of Justice tomorrow morning Friday 4th July, 2025 at 10.30am. 'The second male, a juvenile in his teens, is due to appear before the Children's Court tomorrow morning Friday 4th July, 2025 at 10.30am. Investigations ongoing.' Breda Curran recalled hearing her husband Pat's screams from the sitting room at 2am, where he had been due to having difficulties sleeping. The fire-damaged Curran home News in 90 Seconds - Thursday, July 3 "I heard a big crashing sound… I jumped up and ran down the stairs. I could feel the heat coming up the stairs and it wasn't a normal heat,' Ms Curran said. The couple and their son ran out of the house into the garden, where they noticed that their sitting room window had a hole in it. Ms Curran told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that she grabbed their garden hose and ran back in because their dog had been sleeping in the sitting room. "We were calling his name, but the heat wouldn't let us back in. When we went into the sitting room door, the fire was everywhere,' she recalled. "The whole place was up in flames… we tried to call the dog but it was too late. We just heard him whimpering and then everything went silent.' She told how the family then stood out on the road, and watched on as their home burned to the ground. Mr Curran recalled his own perspective, waking up in the sitting room to breaking glass and seeing a line of fire right in front of him. "It was like waking up in hell… I don't know how I didn't go on fire. All I done was I started screaming, 'Breda, Breda, Breda.' "The thought came into my head, 'what did I do', I thought I was after falling asleep, did I do something to cause this? "This is evil that came to our house,' Mr Curran said. The Ballyfermot couple said being from old stock themselves, they did not have their home insured and would have felt a 'little bit more secure' if it had been. "I don't know if I can even come back here. I don't know if I would feel safe here. I just feel totally different now. I loved me home,' Ms Curran said. She told how she does shift work and would come home, clean up, have a shower and feed the dog. The couple said they don't drink or smoke, and spend their time watching Netflix in the evening. 'All I can think now is, what was all that for? It's gone,' Ms Curran said. They thanked their neighbours, who, since the attack, have been coming over and empathising and even handed the couple money in envelopes. "Strangers come up to us often,' Mr Curran said. 'I have to say, the community spirit in Ballyfermot, it is never talked about. But the respect, compassion, goodwill that is after coming from this community is something to be admired and it keeps me going.'
