Latest news with #McCluskey
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Berks officials send 2 alleged election violations to DA to investigate
Two allegations of potential campaign law violations in Berks County have been forwarded to law enforcement for investigation. At a special meeting of the board of elections Friday, members of the county legal team presented two complaints stemming from the May 20 primary election. One involved a candidate who failed to indicate who paid for campaign materials and the other involved a text message from an unknown sender. The first complaint involved Matthew McCluskey, a Republican candidate running to represent Washington Township on the board of supervisors, who failed to include a disclaimer on campaign material sent to voters about who paid for its distribution. While the board decided last month that they would not be sending the complaint to authorities for further review because they believed the candidate had taken the necessary action to fix the situation, Assistant County Solicitor Alexa Antanavage told the board Friday that the issue is still unresolved. They said upon closer examination of financial campaign documents filed by McCluskey and a committee acting on his behalf, the source of the money used to send mailers to Republican voters in the township ahead of the primary remains unclear. 'Given the totality of everything that's going on here and the discrepancies that we have seen, along with the failure to include disclaimers, I think it's appropriate to recommend referral to the district attorney's office for further investigation,' Antanavage said. The board agreed, voting unanimously to forward the issue to law enforcement. Contacted by the Reading Eagle, McCluskey said Friday afternoon that he believes further investigation of the latest campaign finance documents he filed will accurately show who was responsible for funding his materials. 'I made a mistake filling out the paperwork,' he said. 'There's not even a question about that because I misunderstood the instructions. Listen, I'm a rookie and I've never done this before.' McCluskey said he recently met with an attorney and financial adviser familiar with campaign finance filings to fix the mistakes that were made. 'I truly believe that everything is as it should be now,' he said. The second complaint involved an anonymous text message sent a day before the primary to Republican voters in the Oley Valley School District advocating for the election of several candidates. First Assistant County Solicitor Cody Kauffman said the message may have violated the silence period that prohibits candidates, committees and parties acting on their behalf from placing an advertisement in the 120 hours before an election without giving sufficient notice to opposing candidates. He noted the message is also problematic because it did not state who paid for its distribution to voters. Kauffman recommended the matter be sent to law enforcement for further review. The board voted unanimously to forward the issue to the district attorney. The two referrals to the district attorney's office bring to five the total number of potential violations regarding the handling of campaign material that the county has handed over for investigation this election season. Commissioner Michael Rivera, chairman of the elections board, said it appears this is a growing issue that needs to be addressed. He suggested the board put in place guidelines about how candidates should respond to complaints when they are brought to their attention. 'The remedy has to be equal to or greater than the infraction,' he said. 'So, in the case of the mailer sent out without a disclaimer, the candidate must send another mailer to the same people with the disclaimer. If you are sending a text message without a disclaimer, then another text message should be sent to the same people with the disclaimer.' Rivera said adopting that guideline would help the elections team more easily determine if the candidate has taken the appropriate action to address the complaint. His fellow board members agreed that adopting guidelines would be beneficial for the elections team and candidates who may be unfamiliar with the requirements. They asked Kauffman to work with Elections Director Anne Norton to craft guidelines for the board to approve.
Press and Journal
30-04-2025
- General
- Press and Journal
School league tables 2025: Here's how Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Highlands and island secondary schools rank
has pipped at the post to lead the Press and Journal's take on the 2025 school league tables. The two city schools both improved their performances from last year – but made the bigger change. had led the charge for the previous three years. Elsewhere in the north and north-east, and were leading the way. Schools are ranked based on the percentage of leavers to gain five or more Higher qualifications (or equivalent). This is considered a benchmark of achievement as it's a common entry requirement for university. The best performing schools in each local authority area are: went up six points to 58%, with jumping the same amount of points to 39%. In the Highlands, 215-pupil leapt 32 points to 62%. topped the Argyll and Bute table with a score of 46% – up 5% from last year. In the islands, in Shetland came out on top, leaping 14 points to 44%. did the same in the Orkneys, with a jump from last year of 6 points to 39%. The in Harris won the battle of the Western Isles – even with drop of nine points to 41%. Each year the Scottish Government publishes attainment data for every school in Scotland. The figures our 2025 school league table is based on are the percentages of leavers to achieve five or more qualifications at SCQF level 6. As well as Highers, this can include qualifications such as a National Certificate or Modern Apprenticeship. They also compare each result to last year. Publication of school league tables is controversial, seen by many as an index of deprivation rather than a measure of individual schools' performance. An attainment gap exists between pupils who live in the most and least affluent areas. In all of our 2025 top 10 schools, fewer than a fifth pupils live in deprived areas (designated quintile one in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation). At the other end of the table, schools such as Inverness High School and Northfield Academy in Aberdeen face more deprivation. Here are the 10 lowest-scoring schools when assessed by percentage of leavers with five or more highers or equivalent qualification in 2023/24: But in today's world, is this really the best measure of success? Many would not agree, including Peterhead Academy's head teacher Gerry McCluskey. Last year, his school ranked very low in our league tables, with just 14% of leavers obtaining five or more highers. This year, that figure for Peterhead is now at 24%. In an extensive interview with the P&J last April, Mr McCluskey said the league tables are far from the whole story for his school. He told us at the time: 'The percentage of leavers at Peterhead Academy achieving a positive destination after school is 96%. 'That's the same as the likes of Bearsden Academy. Yes, they're getting more Highers, but while our young people are leaving school earlier, they're still moving on to employment, further education, higher education, graduate apprenticeships. 'What you also need to take into account is that as a community, we're almost a self-sustaining economy in Peterhead. We've got a lot of opportunities, we're the biggest town in Aberdeenshire, there's a lot of businesses, a lot of industries that are very attractive for our young people to go and work at.' You can look at last year's results in full detail here.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Former nurse died of asbestos exposure at hospital
A retired nurse died from lung cancer after being exposed to asbestos in the hospital where she worked, an inquest has concluded. Jean Elizabeth McCluskey, 77, from Wrexham, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in February 2020, and died five years later in February 2025. The inquest in Ruthin was told mesothelioma is a type of cancer which develops in the lining of the lungs and chest and is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos. In a statement written before her death, Ms McCluskey described how asbestos dust would regularly be in the atmosphere at the former War Memorial Hospital in Wrexham, where she worked from 1963 until its closure in 1986. Asbestos exposure a 'death sentence' for IT worker Fears over unknown asbestos risks in Welsh schools Thousands of high-risk toxic sites unchecked due to lack of cash Workmen would repair pipes without sealing off the area, further exposing her to dust containing asbestos, the inquest heard. Asbestos was used extensively until the 1980s in building work and to insulate pipes. It is now banned because of the health risks from breathing in the dust. "Pipe work ran round the wards and was lagged with asbestos," said Ms McCluskey in her statement. "It was often knocked and would generate dust. "Men would work on the pipes, and the area would not be closed off - on occasions, I was next to them where they were working." The coroner said he was satisfied on the balance of probability that Ms McCluskey was exposed to asbestos while working at the hospital. He recorded a conclusion that her death was caused by industrial disease.
