Latest news with #Hilliard
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
‘Grandpa Joe': Longtime Hilliard crossing guard retiring
HILLIARD, Ohio (WCMH) — For more than a decade, students in Hilliard City Schools have seen the same face at the corner of Gaymon Road and Avery Road, ready to guide them across the street. But Friday, the man known as 'Grandpa Joe' is hanging up his crossing guard sign. Students, staff, and parents gathered this morning to let Joe escort them through the crosswalk one last time. Joe became a crossing guard after attending the Avery Walk-a-Thon with his granddaughter Kaylee, who was only in Kindergarten at the time. Kaylee is now in high school, and Joe, who is now 82, decided he was ready to join his wife in retirement. Over the last decade, parents and school leaders said Joe has become a pillar of the school district, and a grandpa to all. Joe said he will miss the kids the most, but not, as he put it, the 'stupid drivers.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
R.I. State Crime Lab passes accreditation review. Its director remains under scrutiny.
Rhode Island Crime Laboratory Director Dennis Hilliard sits before the commission that monitors what happens at his lab during its quarterly meeting on Thursday, May 22, 2025. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current) Rhode Island State Crime Lab Director Dennis Hilliard says he is still struggling to fill three open positions for firearms examiners, nine months after an investigation found discrepancies in testing conducted at the troubled lab. But the State Crime Laboratory Commission put Hilliard's job performance under the microscope during a 90-minute closed-door meeting Thursday at the Cranston office of the Rhode Island Attorney General. Hilliard, who earns $143,628-a-year as lab director, a position he's held since 1992, waited in the lobby while four of the five commissioners met in a conference room. 'Just to let you know, the person they're going to discuss is me,' Hilliard, 70, told reporters. The lab in Fogarty Hall on the University of Rhode Island's (URI) Kingston campus temporarily suspended toolmark testing last August after discrepancies were found in lab results for casings from a Glock pistol seized as evidence in a 2021 Pawtucket murder case. The casings were flagged as matching a different firearm in possession of the Boston Police Department. That led to delays in nearly two dozen criminal cases, which underwent re-testing at labs in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Hilliard told the commission that all those cases have since been verified. Commissioners had copies of a report by an assessment team from the ANSI National Accreditation Board, which visited the lab in March. The report found 'no issues with the competency of the examiners' who now handle evidence for firearms, trace evidence, and latent prints at the lab. But it did find the lab did not conform with 15 of 172 professional standards or 91.3%. Hilliard said the issues were mostly paperwork-related and that staff were working to address them in order to maintain accreditation. The executive session took up half the commission's quarterly meeting. Deputy Attorney General Adi Goldstein, who chairs the panel as a designee of the AG's office, announced that no action was taken following the commission's return to open session. Hilliard moved up the lab's accreditation review two years sooner than required in its standard accreditation cycle after it had to halt how examiners determine if a cartridge or shell is fired from a specific gun last August. What will it take to exonerate the R.I. State Crime Lab? The lab in Fogarty Hall on the University of Rhode Island's (URI) Kingston campus temporarily suspended toolmark testing after casings to a Glock pistol seized as evidence in a 2021 Pawtucket murder case matched a different firearm in possession of the Boston Police Department. The suspension prompted delays in nearly two dozen criminal cases, which underwent re-testing at labs in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Hilliard told the commission that all those cases have since been verified. A report published last October by California-based consultant Ronald Nichols, who formerly worked for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), found there was a lack of diligence and confirmation bias on the part of three forensic examiners who performed toolmark analysis at the state lab. The three firearms examiners have since left the lab. Nine months later, Hilliard said it's been nearly impossible to find replacements. Most experienced examiners, he said, can work as consultants where they can make far more money in a shorter amount of time compared to what they'd receive at URI. 'We've got a really limited pool,' Hilliard told the commission. Hilliard said only one serious candidate had applied to be a lead examiner position when the position was first up between November and early 2025. That applicant had toured the facility and passed a competency test, but turned down a job offer, saying the salary was too low. At the time, URI offered a salary range of $70,971 to $107,830 for the lead examiner's position. The new job listing posted on URI's website May 16 lists a salary range between $82,082 to $125,379. No applications have been received as of Thursday, Hilliard told the commission. Goldstein questioned why the lab has only recently updated the salary range when Hilliard told the commission in January that a pay bump would likely be needed to attract applicants. Hilliard explained that it took that long for URI to reclassify the job's pay grade. 'It wasn't until last Wednesday that I was informed that they would accept, recruit, and update,' he told the commission. A similar pay update will be required for the position of a standard examiner, which initially had a salary range of $65,980 to $100,314. A technician from Baltimore had been offered a job, but Hilliard said the candidate declined due to family issues. He told Rhode Island Current the new salary will likely range between $76,159 and $116,529. Of the two standard toolmark examiners, Hilliard told the commission one will be filled by an in-house candidate being trained by the ATF. He is expected to begin work early next year, Hilliard told reporters. In the meantime, new toolmark exams will continue to be handled by two former New York City police examiners from Stria Consulting Group contracted by the lab. Any toolmark case still requires final verification by examiners at SCL Forensics in Texas and FoCoSS Forensics in New Hampshire. Additional verification was deemed necessary by the commission to minimize the risk of confirmation bias — the principle that if you know what you're looking for, you're more likely to find it. But Hilliard said third-party labs have slow turnaround times. He told the commission it often takes six to eight weeks to receive the external verification since the labs handle other cases from their own states as well. Hilliard asked the commission to allow the lab to reduce the number of cases verified out of state. Goldstein denied that request, telling Hilliard to come up with a formal proposal for a 'statistically valid sample of cases' for the commission to consider at a future meeting. 'Until that is proposed,we proceed with the current process,' she said. After the meeting ended, Hilliard said he's proud of what he's done for the lab. 'I've done everything in my power to expand this lab,' he said in an interview. 'This was a dream job up until this issue.' 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Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
Georgia trooper hurt in crash while assisting Waycross police during pursuit
A Georgia State Patrol trooper was injured in a crash Wednesday night while he was assisting the Waycross Police Department in a pursuit. GSP said Waycross officers were trying to stop a Chevrolet Tahoe driven by Tracy Hilliard, 47, on Swamp Road near Gilmore Drive. GSP said Trooper First Class Justin Jones 'became the primary position in the pursuit' and worked to disable Hilliard's vehicle with a Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT) maneuver. Jones' patrol car and the Tahoe both left the road, and the patrol car ended up 'overturned and partially submerged in a canal,' GSP said. Hilliard's vehicle ended up on top of Jones' patrol car, and Jones had to be rescued from the car by WPD officers. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] The Waycross-Ware County Development Authority said in a Facebook post that Jones was airlifted to Memorial Trauma Center in Savannah. 'As a community, we stand in support of Trooper Jones and his loved ones during this difficult time. We're all wishing him strength, healing, and a full recovery,' the Authority said in its Facebook post. GSP said Jones expects to be released from the hospital soon. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
2024 FCPS Teacher of the Year, from Urbana Elementary, dies of cancer
Ivette Taboas, the Frederick County Public Schools 2024 Teacher of the Year, died of cancer on Wednesday. The former Urbana Elementary School teacher was diagnosed in the spring of 2024. Her son, Anthony Taboas, watched her surprise celebration last year when she won the Teacher of the Year award. 'It was a beautiful ceremony,' he said in an interview on April 24. 'It was just fantastic to see her recognized for the hard work that she's put into herself, into the community and into the school system.' Ivette Taboas grew up in Miami, Fla., and in 2009, moved to Urbana with her husband, Willie Taboas, and three children — Anthony, Frank and Anais. She taught at Hillcrest Elementary from 2009 to 2013; at Centerville Elementary from 2013 to 2018; and at Urbana Elementary since 2020 as the multilingual education program teacher. Ivette Taboas was also an FCPS Itinerant Multilingual Education teacher for four schools from 2018 to 2019. Anthony Taboas said she spoke English and Spanish, and 'had a huge passion for kids with language barriers.' 'That was something that always drove her,' he said. 'She was always an advocate for that. Always an advocate for diversity and inclusion, and making sure that voices that otherwise wouldn't be heard were heard.' In April 2024, Ivette Taboas was surprised at Urbana Elementary with the FCPS Teacher of the Year Award. Tracy Hilliard, the principal of Urbana Elementary School, said in an interview that nominating Ivette Taboas for the award at the school level was 'an easy choice.' Hilliard added that she was 'sure it wasn't difficult for' FCPS to choose Ivette Taboas as the Teacher of the Year districtwide. 'She always went above and beyond and never had to ask. It was just what she did,' she said. 'You never had to ask, or even if you did ask her, [she would say] 'Absolutely. I can take care of that.'' Hilliard said Ivette Taboas was intermittently working at the school for the past three months, and has been absent for the past three weeks. On April 25, Urbana Elementary celebrated Disney Day as a tribute to Ivette Taboas' love for Disney. Staff members and students were also invited to wear sandals to school, which Hilliard said was Ivette Taboas' 'daily uniform.' Hilliard said 'it can be 2 degrees outside' or be 'four feet of snow on the ground,' and the Florida native would still be wearing sandals. Noemy Merlos, a literacy specialist at Urbana Elementary, worked with Ivette Taboas at Hillcrest, Centerville and Urbana elementary schools. Merlos said that when she and Ivette Taboas, whom she called a colleague, a friend and family, were at Centerville as multilingual learner program teachers, enough students tested out of the program and numbers 'lowered so much that it didn't warrant two positions anymore.' 'We were doing our job so well, and now we're being separated,' she said. Merlos said she and Ivette Taboas became co-workers again at Urbana Elementary during the COVID pandemic. 'Once again, we were back together again,' Merlos said. 'It's great when you come to work and you love the people you work with.' She said Ivette Taboas' Teacher of the Year celebration 'was such a joyous day.' Merlos said she and other teachers helped to decorate Mickey Mouse ears and a sash using a Disney font for Ivette Taboas' special day. 'She always said that we all won that award with her,' Merlos said. 'She was like, 'I don't do this job by myself. I have a team, and you're part of my team.'' Anthony Taboas said the family received Ivette Taboas' diagnosis in the spring of 2024. She had stage 4 pancreatic, endometrial and potentially lung cancer. Anthony Taboas said that in mid-April, Ivette Taboas was in the chapel at Johns Hopkins Hospital in a wheelchair. He said there was a woman in the chapel crying after receiving a cancer diagnosis. 'My mom found the strength to get out of her wheelchair, approach this stranger that she doesn't know and wrapped her arms around her and embraced this stranger,' Anthony Taboas recalled. 'She's very much a person that [needed] consoling, and my mom found it in her to pour into that woman.' He said Ivette Taboas 'was always an advocate and a champion for those around her, whether she knows you or not, to be a level of support, even if she's the one that needs it.' FCPS Superintendent Cheryl Dyson wrote in a statement that she was 'struck by [Ivette Taboas'] passion for helping children and families who are new to our community and, in many cases, just beginning to learn the English language.' 'Through her empathy, her humility and her kindness, Ms. Taboas helped Urbana Elementary students build the confidence and skills that will lead them to success,' Dyson wrote. Merlos said Ivette Taboas' impact is 'going to be with us forever.' 'She made such an impression on all of us in a positive way,' she said. 'Her love for life and her love for her profession and her students, it was just amazing.' Hilliard said Ivette Taboas was instrumental in engaging the parents of multilingual learners at the school and created an initiative called 'Day in the Life of a Multilingual Education Student.' The initiative is to walk parents through what a day in their child's life would look like at Urbana Elementary. Hilliard said Ivette Taboas 'was the one that opened that door for us.' 'A light will be missing here at our school. I miss her already,' she said. 'Her spirit and compassion was great, and it's going to be missed but she left a great mark on our staff and our students that were here and got to experience who she was.' Anthony Taboas said Ivette Taboas had a 'relentless determination for those around her.' 'Everyone in her life that has been touched by her presence is a better person because of it, and that's something that I would very strongly say,' he said.
Zawya
28-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Stock market uncertainty makes many Americans wary of spending on travel
Kimberly Hilliard, co-founder of a five-year-old travel agency in Maryland, says at this time of year she usually fields up to 10 inquiries a week from clients eager to book vacations, but for much of the past month her phones have gone quiet. The unusual lull in Hilliard's business followed a plunge in U.S. share prices in early April, when the major stock indexes recorded their biggest percentage declines since 2020 on fears about the impact of President Donald Trump's trade tariffs. Even her existing clients, many of whom she has worked with for months to chart their vacations for the year, have stopped calling, at least for now, to finalize their plans. That is likely because their financial outlooks have suddenly become murky, said Hilliard, co-founder of Front Porch Travel Co, based in Annapolis, even though stocks have made a shaky, tentative recovery from their April lows. "What's going on with the market and the economy right now is probably having an impact on them making up their mind on whether or not they're going to pull the trigger and take this trip or not," she said. Economists have widely predicted that the tariffs Trump imposed on the country's trading partners, and escalating trade tensions with China, would weigh heavily on the U.S. economy and could spur inflation in the months ahead, unless his administration changes tack. With the value of 401(k) retirement accounts shrinking, many budget-conscious Americans appear to be hesitant about discretionary spending, particularly on travel, industry experts say. Many people are looking to spend less on vacation or even stay at home altogether. U.S. consumer sentiment deteriorated to a near three-year low in April. Even before that, U.S. spending on both lodging and tourism-related activity in March was down about 2.5% year-over-year, according to Bank of America data based on total credit and debit card spending per household. Airlines have little clarity on how consumers will behave in the face of a potentially worsening economy. Carriers including Delta Air Lines and Frontier Group, the parent of Frontier Airlines, have withdrawn their full-year forecasts as a result. Tiara Moore, 36, said she watched in bewilderment as her combined investments fell $20,000 while she was on a recent vacation in Belize. "I travel just because I do have more security," said the marine ecologist and founder of the non-profit Black in Marine Science, referring to the value of her investment portfolio. "So when I see losses like that, that makes me feel like, oh, I need to put more cash in my emergency fund versus spending it on travel." Moore said she was cancelling all non-essential travel this year and only plans to travel for her wedding in Las Vegas next month. 'CANCEL FOR ANY REASON' Travel agents say those clients who are still looking to book holidays are choosing to skip international vacations and stay closer to home. Others want a way out of their travel plans if things get worse. "They are asking more questions about cancellation policies and wanting refundable rates," said Jennifer DiDonna, owner of Amazing Journeys & More, a travel agency based in Morganville, New Jersey. "I have also been selling more travel insurance policies lately," she added. InsureMyTrip, which sells travel insurance, said purchases of policies including the "Cancel for Any Reason" benefit increased 30% in March compared with the same time last year. From December 2024 to March 2025, insurance sales increased 23%, according to the company. The United States remains the largest source of international visitors to Italy and France, but in March flight searches to those countries from the U.S. for the next six months decreased about 12%, said Mirko Lalli, CEO of the Data Appeal Company, a tourism data provider. Searches to the United Kingdom declined 23%. Herman Sims, 66, from Dallas, Texas, said he and his wife had planned to spend the July 4th weekend visiting friends in New Jersey, but changed plans after seeing that the two-day trip would cost roughly $2,000. Sims, a night operations manager for a trucking company, said his 401(k) retirement account shrank when the stock market took a nose dive in response to Trump's initial April tariff announcement. Although the account has started to recover, the couple will spend the holiday closer to home in Tennessee amid the economic uncertainty. Sims said his main worry was the health of the economy, mostly for the sake of his children and grandchildren. "I'm hoping that we won't slip into a recession that's going to affect them in the future," he said. (Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Additional reporting by Julia Harte; Editing by Frank McGurty and Nia Williams)
