Latest news with #Keleher
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Could a new improvement district help clean up downtown Albuquerque?
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Downtown Albuquerque business owners are looking at an idea that could see property owners paying into a special fund to help spruce up the area and add more security. It's still in the planning stages, but organizers say the idea is to give businesses more of a say in making downtown look nicer and addressing problems like vandalism, panhandling, and littering. Story continues below New Mexico Insiders: What goes on at Kirtland Air Force Base? Film: Balloon Fiesta showcased in new Hallmark movie Crime: Alleged Venezuelan gang member arrested at Doña County judge's home Trending: NM Supreme Court rules that 911 dispatchers are liable in emergency call lawsuits Other southwest cities like Tucson, Arizona, have the districts that raise money from property owners to help pay for downtown-centric beautification, security, and clean-up. 'The lamp posts are all clean and look nice downtown. The street sweepers run frequently. You see the hospitality ambassadors out. It's a very nice vibe and we can bring that to downtown,' said Keleher. The initiative could affect areas from Lomas Blvd. to Coal Ave. and between Broadway Blvd. and 10th Street. If businesses give it the green light, they'd pay a monthly fee toward a special downtown fund. 'So people that are trained in cleaning and basically hospitality ambassadors and interacting with folks that are causing a disturbance and asking them if they can help and then in the right situation asking for a police response,' said Keleher. They haven't determined how much a business would pay, but said the BID would charge different rates, based on a property's square footage. Organizers behind BID said there are still a lot of steps ahead, including getting signatures from at least 51% of area property and asking for Albuquerque City Council's approval, just to start the process of potentially creating the district. Albuquerque had a downtown improvement district a decade ago, but it was dissolved after some property owners disagreed with how it was being run. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
New spelling champion crowned in statewide bee, now goes to national competition
The 2025 Delaware Regional Spelling Bee was e-l-e-c-t-r-i-c. Competitors from around the state gathered Saturday at Delaware Technical Community College's Terry Campus in Dover to battle for a spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May. There was no livestream because every state has the same word bank, but the last word spelled by this year's champion, Siara Husain of the Islamic Academy of Delaware in Ogletown, was codswallop, another term for nonsense. Second place went to Talley Middle School in Brandywine Hundred's Aurelia Tran, and third place went to Kshirja Chauhan of Caravel Academy Middle School in Glasgow. The winner was invited to shadow Lt. Gov. Kyle Evans Gay for a day, according to First State Educate executive director Julia Keleher. The event's host sponsor, First State Educate, said the competition included 50 students from public and private schools. Julia Keleher, executive director of First State Educate, said the event was an opportunity to show off the potential of Delaware's education systems. "We need a moment to say we are really good at this and everybody cares," she said. Gov. Matt Meyer, Department of Education Secretary Cindy Marten and 2025 Teacher of the Year Cory Hafer were guests of honor at this year's proceedings. Other sponsors of the event included the United Way of Delaware, Wilmington's Department of Parks and Recreation and the International Literacy Association. Keleher said another goal of this competition is to motivate students and educators to push forward despite hardships lingering from the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Education Recovery Scorecard, Delaware is second to last nationally in math learning recovery and 47th nationally in reading recovery. The study said no districts in Delaware have returned to their 2019 levels in either math or reading. Education roundup: 2 Delaware school districts to seek funding boosts. Are you voting? Keleher said raising that standard is a team effort, and sponsors that are not in the education field, like Wawa, the Delaware Blue Coats and Milan's Cheeseteaks, are particularly meaningful to Keleher and First State Educate. "The whole event is about focusing attention on what's working on the excellence that we have," she said. "All of these people who are sponsors, who they don't directly touch the education system ... they're saying it's important, they care about Delaware's future." This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: 2025 Delaware Regional Spelling Bee champion crowned in Dover
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Less than half of your open school board seats may be decided by Delaware voters in 2025
The state of public education is one of the hottest topics in Delaware right now. It sparks fervor from various angles. It could be the state's 45th ranking for education outcomes in the national KIDS COUNT Data Book. It could be struggling reading scores, still starving for pandemic rebound. Maybe it's the ongoing debate on updating public school funding, after an independent report called out an "alarmingly clear and negative relationship" between high-need students and their achievement. It could be around recommendations to spend $600 million to $1 billion more, while updating the state formula to follow students. But you wouldn't see it at school board elections. The filing deadline for Delaware's 2025 School Board Elections across 16 traditional public school districts is 4:30 p.m. on Friday, March 7. There are some 28 different seats up for grabs across the state, as voters head to the polls this spring. Right now, 10 would go to election. In other words, with at least one seat up for election in every school district – and seven with two or more – roughly 64% of school board races in Delaware would be uncompetitive if the filing deadline passed at the end of last week. Sussex County voters would get only one election to make a choice. That's out of 12 seats up for consideration. And two such open seats, in Indian River and Woodbridge School District, still have no candidate filed as of the last Department of Elections update late Friday, Feb. 28. In Delaware state law, if there is just one candidate who files unopposed in a race for a school board seat, they've got it. The Elections Department would not hold an election for that seat, and the new board member would be handed a certificate of election instead. "What we really want people to have is a choice of who they put in that seat," said Julia Keleher, executive director of First State Educate. The nonprofit has been pushing to train and prepare current board members – and lately, potential candidates. As a local control state, school boards play a critical role in running districts. "We're trying to build the bench, trying to get people to understand what the role is, trying to encourage them to want to pick up the mantle and to see in themselves the kind of leaders that Delaware needs." This year's deadline is coming fast. Lack of interest here isn't new. Keleher noted that not quite 6,000 Delawareans voted in the last school board election. Back in 2023, it was about 10% of registered voters, and several districts posted lower than 5% turnout. This trend holds true across the nation, even while these nonpartisan races have become increasingly rife with political discourse and party influence. As for active contests, this year actually posts a slight improvement over 2024. But concerns about low competition and engagement continue. Nationally, a Ballotpedia study of more than 5,400 school board elections in 2023 found that about 53% of seats went uncontested. Regardless, these governing bodied make key decisions on budgets, curriculum and leadership every year. "I would love to find a way to make the issue of school boards one where everyone felt connected to it, even if it isn't that I dropped my kids off at a public school every day," Keleher posed. "Does that make sense?" The nonprofit leader said anyone fit for a school board should be passionate about education, as motivation is essential to the demanding four-year appointment. She also noted a necessary mindset for the greater good, rather than one passionate issue. These join a list of characteristics for effective school boards, from the Center for Public Education. "Sometimes somebody has to say, 'Wow, you have so many skills, and you're passionate about this issue, and you care about your community. You'd be a great person to help,'" she said. "But we don't see it sometimes until someone taps us on the shoulder and kind of invites us." Sussex Tech: Delaware high school student helps car crash victims, lands honors from Coast Guard JROTC Brandywine: District A Christina: District A Colonial: District B and District D Red Clay: District B and District G Milford: One at-large seat Cape Henlopen: One at-large and District B Delmar: One at-large seat Indian River: Two seats for District 1, one seat for District 2 and District 4 (Only one candidate filed for two District 1 seats) Laurel: One at-large seat Seaford: One at-large seat Woodbridge: Two at-large seats (Only one candidate filed) Trump & DOE: 'Bullying tactics': Delaware watches quietly as Trump targets diversity efforts in education Legally, there are just a few qualifications. A candidate must be a citizen and district resident and be at least 18 years old, while they must not be paid employees of the district or ever convicted of embezzlement. Applications and evidence that a required background check is in the works must be submitted to the Department of Elections. Anyone in need of more information can contact the department: Sussex County: (302) 856-5367 – votesc@ Kent County: (302) 739-4498 – votekc@ New Castle County: (302) 577-3464 – votencc@ Look back at previous newcomers: Incumbent upset, narrow races: How 2024 school board elections shook out Got a story? Contact Kelly Powers at kepowers@ This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Less than half of Delaware's open school board seats may see ballots
