Latest news with #Kita
Chicago Tribune
6 days ago
- General
- Chicago Tribune
DePaul recruit Ashlyn Kita hits the ball ‘so hard and so fast.' Her swing changes Crown Point's games too.
A strong wind blowing in probably prevented Crown Point's Ashlyn Kita from rounding the bases for a second time on Tuesday night. Instead, the junior third baseman settled for a run-scoring double in addition to her three-run homer during the Class 4A regional championship game against Chesterton. 'I was just up there making sure I had confidence and just swinging at my pitches,' Kita said. That has been the DePaul recruit's approach all season. A force since she was a freshman, Kita went 2-for-4 with four RBIs as the Bulldogs beat the Trojans 7-2. Kita is batting .533 with eight homers and 42 RBIs — all career and team highs — for Crown Point (28-4), which is ranked No. 4 in the state coaches poll and will play No. 12 Fort Wayne Carroll (23-5-1) in the West Lafayette Harrison Semistate semifinals at noon Saturday. 'My confidence has definitely gotten better,' Kita said. 'I've been working on that over the last three years, and it's finally coming through. I really always want to come through for my team, and it's finally working.' Kita doubled in the game's first run in the first inning, and she crushed a three-run homer to center field in the fourth to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead against the Trojans (13-12), who were coming off their first sectional title since 2019. 'She's a monster, man,' Crown Point coach Angie Richwalski said. 'Every at-bat, I'm drifting into left field, and whoever my runner is at third base, I'm like, 'Don't let her kill you because the ball's going to come off the bat a thousand miles an hour. So I'm going to be over here in left field, and you just stay right there and keep your helmet on.' 'She just hits it so hard and so fast. It doesn't shock me when it goes out; it shocks me when it doesn't because she's just a tank and she's so strong and she's so fast. She really puts in the work and grinds it out. You can read in her face — when she doesn't hit it out, she's happy about it, but you can see the chip on her shoulder that she didn't quite get all of it.' Crown Point junior center fielder Scarlette Tegtman, a Providence recruit, celebrated her birthday by going 4-for-4. She also scored twice, each time on a hit by Kita. 'She's been doing really well,' Tegtman said. 'She's a very key contributor to our wins. She's been very successful.' Ashlyn Kita has followed in the footsteps of her older sister Brinkley, who graduated from Crown Point in 2022 and plays at Ball State. 'It runs in the family,' Richwalski said. 'Her sister was like that, too, where she could put anything out at any moment.' The last time Crown Point had won a regional title was 2022. 'It's crazy,' Kita said. 'I've dreamed of this since freshman year. I've always wanted to make it this far, and we finally have the team to do it.' Crown Point cleared a major hurdle by upsetting Duneland Athletic Conference rival Lake Central in a sectional final. The Bulldogs didn't suffer a letdown against another conference foe after decisively sweeping the Trojans in the teams' two regular-season games. 'It's awesome,' Richwalski said. 'It's hard to get here. We have such a tough sectional, then to get out of that sectional and then to get through this, it's a tall order. We have the guns to do it, though. As long as they're playing and doing what they're capable of, the sky's the limit.' Kita has confidence too. 'Since we got past sectionals, we need to keep going and keep going strong,' she said. 'I feel very good. Since we got past Lake Central, we have this need to get past teams, and I think we'll be able to.'
The Star
10-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
S'gor MB Amirudin defends PKR veep post, says in line with strengthening party
KUALA LUMPUR: Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari has confirmed his intention to defend his vice-president's post in the upcoming PKR party election for 2025-2028. He said his intention was in line with the principle of strengthening the party as the dominant political party, a force for reformation and the core of the Unity Government, and noted that the goal of the election was to form a team capable of implementing reforms, serve and work to support Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's second term as Malaysia's Prime Minister. "With the campaign theme of 'Reformasi Cita Bangsa', I bring ideas aligned with deputy president candidate Nurul Izzah Anwar's theme of 'Bersama Membina Parti Kita'. "We wish to strengthen party machinery and foster close ties among members to strengthen relations with unity government component parties to win the 16th general election," he said in a Facebook post Saturday (May 10). He added that he would present the Reformasi Cita Bangsa idea to all party members during the campaigning period and urged all members for their support. As of 10am Saturday, 11 leaders have announced their intention to contest the four PKR vice-president posts during the election on May 21, including the three incumbents, Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad; Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang and Negeri Sembilan Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun. - Bernama
Local Germany
07-03-2025
- General
- Local Germany
German nurseries and care facilities go on strike ahead of Women's Day
Dozens of institutions, including daycare centres (Kitas), youth and social welfare offices as well as clinics, care and social facilities, went on strike on Friday. The Education and Science Union (GEW) has also called on employees in the social and educational services to strike under the slogan 'Early Education Strike Day'. The nationwide strike in hospitals and clinics began on Thursday. This latest phase of action is timed to take place on Equal Pay Day, ahead of International Women's Day on March 8th, and will highlight the particular struggles faced by women in the care and service professions. 'It's a clear signal for pay justice and better conditions in social professions, which are often undervalued,' said Christine Behle, Verdi's deputy chairwoman, ahead of the strikes. Women in Germany not only face a 16 percent pay gap compared to their male counterparts, but often have to juggle multiple care roles in their personal and professional life, Behle explained. The Verdi deputy chairwoman also pointed out that public-sector jobs in healthcare and childcare were particularly hard hit by understaffing issues. "In the social and care professions in particular, we need significantly more employees and opportunities for flexible working hours to ensure a good work-life balance," she said. 'Systemic failure' On Thursday, Verdi and the leftwing Rosa Luxemburg Foundation presented a joint analysis highlighting the scale of the staffing crisis in nursery schools across Germany. The report, titled "Crisis in Daycare – Exposing Systemic Failure", reveals that a majority of surveyed daycare staff reported going to work while sick and completing tasks "rushed and under time pressure." "The pressure is mounting, and without support, it's only a matter of time before the system collapses completely," one Kita worker wrote in an anonymous account. Children's shoes at a Kita. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Soeder In their analysis, the study's authors describe "untenable conditions" in Germany's nursery schools due to a lack of resources. They conclude that acute staff shortages lead to "reduced childcare hours, the closure of entire daycare groups, institutional child endangerment, and long-term illnesses." Presenting the report in Berlin, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation deputy chairman Jan Korte called on the government to set aside a dedicated fund for nursery schools. Currently, around 380,000 Kita places are missing across the country, he said, and funding for Kitas is "laughable". Ongoing public sector strikes This latest round of strike action is part of fierce negotiations over pay and conditions for public sector workers in Germany. From March 14th to 16th, Verdi is set to sit down for the next round of talks with government employers and is hoping to increase the pressure with a series of warning strikes. The union is demanding a pay increase of eight percent or at least €350 more per month for some 2.5 million public sector workers, as well as higher bonuses for working at stressful and unsociable times. The services union also wants training allowances and trainee wages to be increased by €200 per month and is demanding three additional days off work per year. So far, the employers' side has rejected these proposals, leading to a wave of public-sector strikes that have affected nursery schools, waste disposal, transport, hospitals and care facilities in Germany. Verdi has accused the federal and local governments of a "blockade" and "provocation". Alongside the strikes, demonstrations are also planned in many federal states - including Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse - on Friday.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Yahoo
Lake Hallie K9 unit retires after nearly 10 years on duty
LAKE HALLIE — Kita, the first K-9 unit in Chippewa County, changed law enforcement in the region, says retired Sheriff Jim Kowalczyk. Kita, who officially started her duties with the Lake Hallie Police Department in March 2015, had her final shift last week. Sgt. Dan Sokup became her handler in December 2014, when Kita was two years old. During her nearly 10 years on duty, Kita has had 375 narcotic arrests, 15 successful tracks of people, and seized $37,000 cash and one vehicle from drug dealers. Chief Edward Orgon noted that Kita helped in many key searches, such as during the Lily Peters death investigation. Kowalczyk noted that no law enforcement agency in the county had a dog yet when Kita began her duties. 'In the beginning, I don't know if that dog ever got any rest, because Dan Sokup was so willing to bring her out,' Kowalczyk said with a laugh on Friday. 'It kind of set a precedent, with the call outs (to other agencies.) Because the dog was so successful, it drummed up interest. And it snowballed from there.' Within the next couple of years, the Chippewa County Sheriff's Office got a K-9 unit. So did the police departments in Chippewa Falls, Stanley and Bloomer. Kowalczyk noted that nearly 10 years of active duty is a long time for a dog. He praised Sokup, saying working with the animal daily kept her active and on duty. 'People don't realize the dedication, the time and effort, it's just like having a kid,' he said. Kita, a German Shepherd, received her certificate from the United States Police Canine Association days before starting her duties. Sokup told the Leader-Telegram in 2015 that he did a two-week, 80-hour training session with Kita. 'I had to train right along with her,' Sokup said in a March 2015 interview on Kita's first day of work. 'We've been letting her ride along and get acclimated to the squad car. We put drugs in a locker, or in a squad, or in a file cabinet — anywhere she can find it. She gets it every time. She's getting faster and faster at finding them.' Then chief-Cal Smokowicz made it his goal in 2011 to get a dog, and he worked to get the funding to pay for one. Chippewa County Sheriff Travis Hakes was a member of the Lake Hallie Police Department when Kita started her duties in 2015 and he immediately saw the value in having the K-9. 'Kita very quickly became a welcomed addition to the police department and, more importantly, area public safety as a whole,' Hakes said Saturday. 'Other K9 programs in the county started shortly after and have been a welcomed addition to public safety. It's a good thing she can't talk, or I'd try to get Dan's secret fishing spots out of her.' During a November 2021 training session with all the other K-9 units in the area, Sokup said it is great to see the growth of dogs in the region. 'I've got a lot more free time,' Sokup told the Leader-Telegram during that 2021 interview. 'I did a lot of off-duty call-outs. I was going out at 3 a.m. to help find somebody because there wasn't a dog available.' Sokup said he's grateful the law enforcement agencies collaborate on training. 'We get to work with all the other handlers, see what works, and doesn't work,' Sokup said. 'And we learn new methods.' Sokup said that having a dog has defused a lot of situations. 'A lot of people aren't afraid of equipment, like Tasers,' Sokup said. 'But the presence of a K-9 triggers something in their brain, with them saying, 'I don't want to get bit.''
