Latest news with #Maldonado
USA Today
12-08-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
ESPN analyst believes Notre Dame will have more wins than No. 1 ranked Texas
Ready to get roasted for this!One wager for EVERY TOP 25 CFB Team!My Longhorns outta the Before the season, there are plenty of hot takes, and for Notre Dame football, there was one that we all hope is correct from ESPN's Pamela Maldonado. She made the proclamation that the Irish would have more wins this year US LBM Coaches Poll's No. 1 team, the Texas Longhorns. Maldonado broke it down by saying that 'Notre Dame knows exactly who they are, Texas enters the season trying to figure it out.' While she is focusing on the betting aspect of the two team's win totals, Maldonado sees the Irish having 'identity, structure, stability, and Notre Dame has it all.' She goes on to say that the Irish's defense should continue to be elite, as they return 11 players on the defensive line who have extensive experience. Maldonado says the unit has 'depth, experience and they will come in waves. They have a system that already works. Plug and play type of guys who know the scheme, and a coach who knows how to win ugly.' It's hard to see where she is wrong in her assessment, as the Irish have tons of talent defensively, which should give the offense plenty of time to catch up during the regular season. The Longhorns, like the Irish, are breaking in a new quarterback, and have a tough first game on the road against a top-10 opponent. Texas does have more currently scheduled top-25 games, and while Maldonado didn't mention this aspect, it surely played a part into her statement. While the Irish do have some questions entering the season, its great to see that Maldonado believes they'll have a better record at the end of the season that the current preseason top team in college football. Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions. Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen
The Hill
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hill
‘Tiger King' Joe Exotic seeking Trump pardon
Jailed reality TV star Joe Exotic is once again asking President Trump for a pardon. Netflix's 'Tiger King' star, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado, called on Trump 'to listen to the voice[s] of' Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert (Colo.) and other public figures as well as 'the millions of people around the world to make this right and allow me to go home.' Earlier this year, Boebert signaled she supported a pardon of Maldonado, who was sentenced in January 2020 to a 22-year prison sentence over a murder-for-hire plot against animal rights activist Carole Baskin. Maldonado first asked for a pardon during Trump's first term, sending a handwritten letter to the White House in September 2020. The president, at the time, said he would 'take a look.' Then, in 2021, during former President Biden's term, he asked again and found no success. Maldonado railed against Biden earlier this after the outgoing president provided blanket pardons to some of his family member. 'If I was a crack dealer, maybe if I broke in the capital [sic] or even have been related to the Bidens. I might have gotten some relief on being in prison innocent,' he said in January. He also slammed Trump this spring after the president pardoned Todd and Julie Chrisley's tax evasion and fraud charges. 'This officially shows the Justice system is still two-sided. You are either rich and connected or your poor and being trafficked by the system,' Maldonado posted on Instagram on May 27. In this week's call for a pardon, Maldonado said an appeal for a new trial was denied.
Chicago Tribune
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
New Jackson 5 mural in Miller kicks off public art expansion
Gary officials hope the unveiling of a new Jackson 5 mural in Gary's Miller neighborhood on Friday will serve as a catalyst for more public art to pop up across the city. The new mural, located on the north side of the Vogue Cleaners building at 610 S. Lake St., replaces one elsewhere on Lake Street that was removed in 2018 due to deterioration. East Chicago artist Felix 'Flex' Maldonado painted the mural. His artwork can be seen around Gary — 'We Are Gary' at the city's main library, performing arts students at West Side Leadership Academy, and he painted St. Mary of the Lake's 'The Ascension,' based on a design by Filipino artist Edgardo De Guzman — as well as Hammond, East Chicago, Crown Point and in the southeast suburbs in Illinois. In 2016, Maldonado painted a large Jackson 5 mural on a former bank building at 5th and Broadway, but it was torn down in 2020 as part of a blight elimination effort. 'The Jackson family's music helped define a generation — and it all started right here in Gary,' said Maldonado in a Gary press release. 'I wanted this new mural to feel alive, so that people can connect with the joy and pride this city feels for them. It's not just art — it's a celebration of legacy.' Gary Mayor Eddie Melton marked the occasion by announcing more public art projects over the next two years, including working with artist Ish Muhammad on three new murals that will be located around the downtown Broadway corridor. The murals will feature Gary musical icons Deniece Williams, the Jackson Family, and Vivian Carter from Vee-Jay Records. The city also plans to collaborate with Indiana University Northwest School of Arts students/alumni who will paint a series of murals that will tell the story and history of Gary and some of its most influential citizens at the former Sears Building on Broadway. The effort is following in the footsteps of the Lake Effect project that was launched in 2013 and brought around 40 artists to the Miller Beach Arts & Creative District to transform 19 walls and alleys into canvases. Local residents kept pushing for the restoration of the Jackson 5 mural, so Karren and Pat Lee initiated efforts to commission a new mural and helped fund it along with Tom and Sylvia Collins. 'Gary has always been a city of heart and soul, and we owe so much to the Jackson family for the precious cultural heritage they've given us,' said Mayor Eddie Melton in a statement. 'My administration is strongly committed to creating opportunities for public art and supporting talented artists like Felix Maldonado who bring these visions to life. This new mural will support our local businesses along Lake Street while giving visitors another compelling reason to discover Gary as the premier beachfront destination in Northwest Indiana.'
Boston Globe
24-06-2025
- Automotive
- Boston Globe
Truckers fear job loss as new English language rules take effect
'A driver who can't understand English will not drive a commercial vehicle in this country. Period,' Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said last month, while announcing enforcement guidelines that will take effect on Wednesday. Advertisement Updated US Department of Transportation procedures call for enhanced inspections to determine if commercial motor vehicle operators can reply to questions and directions in English, as well as understand highway traffic signs and electronic message boards. Truckers who learned English as a second language are concerned they may lose their jobs if they make a mistake or speak with a heavy accent while under questioning. Some have worked to improve their English fluency by taking classes, reciting scripts, and watching instructional videos. 'If it's not the language that you prefer to use daily, you may get a little nervous and you may feel, 'What if I say the wrong thing?'' said Jerry Maldonado, chairman of the board of the Laredo Motor Carriers Association, a trade association in Laredo, Texas, that represents approximately 200 trucking companies. 'It's going to be, at the end of the day, the interpretation of the officer, so that makes people nervous.' Advertisement The guidance applies to truck and bus drivers engaged in interstate commerce. It aims to improve road safety following incidents in which truck drivers' inability to read signs or speak English may have contributed to traffic deaths, the Transportation Department said. Requiring truck drivers to speak and read English isn't new, but the penalty for not meeting the proficiency standard is becoming more severe. To get a commercial driver's license, applicants must pass a written test and be able to name the parts of a bus or truck in English as they check tire inflation, tread depth, lug nuts, and coolants. The revised policy reverses guidance issued nine years ago, near the end of then-President Barack Obama's final term, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. In 2016, the agency said drivers whose English skills were to found to be lacking could receive a citation but not be prohibited from working. Before that, the penalty was getting placed on 'out-of-service status.' 'We have bridges that get hit because drivers don't understand the signs on the bridges for things like height clearance,' Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association President Todd Spencer said. In Laredo, a border city where many residents speak a mix of English and Spanish, Maldonado's association is offering free English classes on weekends to help truckers feel more confident in their ability to communicate. 'Everybody knows what a stop sign looks like,' Maldonado said. 'But if there's construction or if there is an accident five miles down the road, and they have to put up a sign — 'Caution, must exit now, road closed ahead,' and you are not able to read or understand that, that could potentially be a safety issue.' Advertisement At Driving Academy in Linden, N.J., multilingual instructors teach students how to inspect vehicle parts in their first language and then provide explanations in English, according to founder Jonathan Marques. The school created scripts so students could practice what to say if they're stopped, he said. Students are advised to watch training videos as homework, while licensed truckers can listen to English language apps instead of music when they're on the road, Marques suggested. Instructor Paul Cuartas helps students prepare, but worries that inspectors will now expect truckers and bus drivers to have perfect English. 'I'm concerned because now for all the Spanish people it's more difficult,' he said. Castillo, who moved to the US from Ecuador in 1993, said he has no problem understanding English but has been watching videos to study industry terms. 'Some words I don't understand, but I try to learn more English,' he said. Asked whether he supports the president's executive order, Castillo said he voted for Trump but doesn't agree with the president's push to deport some immigrants who haven't committed crimes. 'He makes a lot of problems, especially for Hispanic people,' Castillo said. GTR Trucking School in Detroit also has offered students ESL classes. Co-owner Al Myftiu drove a truck after moving to the US from Albania in 1993. He said he wants to create a small book of phrases that truckers need to learn. For students with a thick accent, 'I tell them, 'Slow down, speak slowly, and people can understand you, and if you don't understand something, you can ask,'' Myftiu said. Advertisement Roadside inspections can be initiated over issues such as a faulty brake light or on a routine basis, and often take place at weigh stations. The guidance directs inspectors who suspect a driver doesn't understand what they're saying to administer an English proficiency test, which includes both an interview and a highway traffic sign recognition component. In the past, some drivers used translation apps to communicate with federal inspectors. The updated policy bars the use of interpreters, smartphones, cue cards, or other aids during interviews. Several truck drivers taking a break at Flying J Travel Center in New Jersey said they support Trump's order, adding that drivers who heavily rely on translation programs probably wouldn't be able to read important signs. 'We try to ask them questions about the business just to strike a conversation, ... and they're not able to communicate with us at all,' Kassem Elkhatib, one of the drivers at Flying J, said. It's unclear how safety inspectors will decide whether a driver knows enough English to continue driving, because that portion of the instructions was redacted from the guidance distributed by Transportation Department. The department advised
San Francisco Chronicle
12-06-2025
- Health
- San Francisco Chronicle
Vaccines could get more expensive and harder to access after RFK Jr. purged a CDC panel
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shook up a key federal vaccine advisory committee this week, ousting its sitting 17 members Monday and naming eight new individuals Wednesday, including ones known for anti-vaccine views and for spreading misinformation. The changes could potentially impact vaccine cost and availability in California and the uncertainty is making families anxious, experts say. 'I've been having several conversations every day with families who are trying to get their children vaccinated early because parents are worried that these vaccines will not be available for their children in the near future,' said Eric Ball, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics in California. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice provides vaccine recommendations to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The group's guidance doesn't just have medical implications; it also has financial consequences for people seeking vaccinations. 'Under the Affordable Care Act, if ACIP recommends a vaccine, insurance companies have to cover it,' said Dorit Reiss, a professor of law at UC College of the Law San Francisco, who specializes in vaccine-related law and policies. The federally funded Vaccines for Children program also covers recommended vaccines for uninsured and underinsured children, Reiss said. Potentially, the new ACIP members could alter recommendations, which would in turn affect coverage for vaccines. Nothing is certain, however: 'We don't know how this (newly) constituted committee will vote,' Reiss said. The advisory committee is scheduled to meet on June 25 to review scientific data and vote on vaccine recommendations. If problems do arise around vaccine access, there could be additional issues for California's immunization mandates for schools. 'How can you mandate a vaccine if people can't access it?' Reiss said. The sweeping changes to ACIP, established in 1964, are unprecedented, experts say. 'I can't even think of a time when an individual member has been removed from the committee,' said Yvonne Maldonado, a professor of global health and infectious diseases at Stanford and one of the 17 experts removed from the vaccine advisory committee this week. 'We are really in uncharted territory here, in terms of the membership changing so radically and so quickly,' Maldonado said. Maldonado explained that the existing process for evaluating vaccine safety and effectiveness is 'incredibly rigorous,' with numerous safety checkpoints. 'Vaccines are foundational to public health,' Maldonado said. 'They save millions of lives.' Reiss added that the United States has a system that allows people who experience problems due to a CDC-recommended vaccine to seek compensation from the government. This limits the liability of vaccine companies. If new advisory committee members remove current vaccine recommendations, Reiss said she is concerned 'that some manufacturers might leave the vaccine market.' In an editorial published Monday in the Wall Street Journal, Secretary Kennedy wrote that the 17 ACIP members were 'retired' because 'the committee has been plagued with persistent conflicts of interest.' Experts roundly disagreed with the claims and numerous medical organizations quickly spoke out. 'That's very telling,' said Catherine Flores, executive director of the California Immunization Coalition, a statewide nonprofit advocacy and education organization around immunizations. While past ACIP vaccine experts were thoroughly vetted, details about the process for the newly announced group aren't clear, Flores said. Flores is concerned some committee members may lack the previous ACIP members' level of expertise about vaccines. 'We are very concerned about what's next,' Flores said.
