Latest news with #MichaelJenkins
Calgary Herald
6 days ago
- General
- Calgary Herald
Edmonton braces for pest that has decimated ash tree populations to east and west
Traps are expected to go up around Edmonton this week to capture the emerald ash borer. Article content Article content The shining and dangerous pest is poised to wreak havoc on Edmonton's $400-million population of ash trees, and the city has two staffers working full time to detect any advance here as the invasive bug closes in from the west or east into Alberta. Article content 'We have the largest percentage of our urban forest canopy in green ash of almost any city in North America,' said Michael Jenkins, senior scientist with the City of Edmonton. Article content Article content Ranging from 8.5 mm to 14 mm long and 3.1 mm to 3.4 mm wide, the beetle is difficult to spot. Article content Article content 'A single piece of firewood can destroy millions of trees,' warns a poster depicting a stack of ash firewood as dynamite sticks with an emerald ash borer at the tip of the fuse. Article content Ash has been an ideal boulevard tree in cities like Edmonton and Calgary, where urban planners have a very short list of trees that can do well with northern winters. Article content Most of Edmonton's neighborhoods built in the Baby Boom 1960s and 1970s were entirely ash, and one-quarter of our urban forest canopy — 180,000 (40 per cent) of the boulevard trees — are green ash, Jenkins said, noting that in period neighbourhoods like Westmount, Inglewood and Prince Charles, nearly 100 per cent of the boulevard trees are green ash, playing their role in storm water management. Article content Article content Overland flooding has been observed in areas where the urban forest is decimated by pests. Article content Article content Deadly origin Article content The emerald ash borer was likely inadvertently imported to Detroit in infected wooden packing materials from China in the 1990s. Article content At its epicentre, Ontario, it blew past a feverishly cut fire break-style buffer zone swath of 30 kilometres, working its way to the Atlantic provinces. Article content In its destructive path, emerald ash borer devastated millions of trees — and the baseball bat industry — and impacted the manufacture of everything from electric guitars and coffee tables to hockey sticks. Article content The emerald ash borer was found in 2018 in Winnipeg. By 2023, it had leapfrogged on infested wood products to British Columbia's Lower Mainland.
West Australian
19-05-2025
- West Australian
Urgent call to end gender-based violence in schools
Anti-violence advocates are calling for greater investment in respectful relationships education to address serious gender-based violence in schools. Our Watch, a leading organisation in the prevention of violence against women, has released a blueprint to prevent gender-based violence through education systems. Based on more than a decade of research, the blueprint found 40 per cent of 16 to 17-year-olds had experienced sexual harassment in a place of study. Almost one in four young women aged 18 to 24 had experienced image-based abuse, and girls were twice as likely as boys to feel pressured or blackmailed into sexting. Our Watch is calling on federal and state governments to urgently prioritise and fund a "whole-of-school" approach to respectful relationships education instead of one-off programs or a few classroom lessons. Yarrunga Primary School in Wangaratta, Victoria, implemented respectful relationships education in 2019 and started tracking behavioural issues. This included swearing, teasing, physical aggression and sexualised or inappropriate comments. "Over a year with the same set of students, we saw a nearly 50 per cent decrease in these anti-social behaviours - from 114 incidents to 61," acting principal Michael Jenkins said. "I think one of the really powerful things respectful relationships education does is that it builds emotional literacy and emotional intelligence in young people. "The reality is that we are teaching young people how to be good young people in the world, and respectful relationships education is a key part of that." The Our Watch blueprint had arrived at a crucial moment for Australian students and teachers facing alarming rates of gendered violence, CEO Patty Kinnersly said. "It is deeply concerning that nearly every week there is a new incident in the school environment, whether that be young men sharing deep fake porn of young women they know, or female teachers leaving the industry because they fear for their safety," she said. "Young people are increasingly exposed to harmful messaging about sex and relationships and report wanting more information and support." Our Watch launched The Line to help young people find answers to questions about consent, dating, sex and relationships. Ending violence against women would take a whole of community approach and needed to include young people, Ms Kinnersly said. "We need to offer young people clear guidance on healthy relationships, consent and the limitations of gender stereotypes," she said. "It is a big piece of work and it requires the whole-of-school approach that takes long-term commitment, leadership and ongoing funding." 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline 13 11 14 Men's Referral Service 1300 766 491
Perth Now
19-05-2025
- Perth Now
Urgent call to end gender-based violence in schools
Anti-violence advocates are calling for greater investment in respectful relationships education to address serious gender-based violence in schools. Our Watch, a leading organisation in the prevention of violence against women, has released a blueprint to prevent gender-based violence through education systems. Based on more than a decade of research, the blueprint found 40 per cent of 16 to 17-year-olds had experienced sexual harassment in a place of study. Almost one in four young women aged 18 to 24 had experienced image-based abuse, and girls were twice as likely as boys to feel pressured or blackmailed into sexting. Our Watch is calling on federal and state governments to urgently prioritise and fund a "whole-of-school" approach to respectful relationships education instead of one-off programs or a few classroom lessons. Yarrunga Primary School in Wangaratta, Victoria, implemented respectful relationships education in 2019 and started tracking behavioural issues. This included swearing, teasing, physical aggression and sexualised or inappropriate comments. "Over a year with the same set of students, we saw a nearly 50 per cent decrease in these anti-social behaviours - from 114 incidents to 61," acting principal Michael Jenkins said. "I think one of the really powerful things respectful relationships education does is that it builds emotional literacy and emotional intelligence in young people. "The reality is that we are teaching young people how to be good young people in the world, and respectful relationships education is a key part of that." The Our Watch blueprint had arrived at a crucial moment for Australian students and teachers facing alarming rates of gendered violence, CEO Patty Kinnersly said. "It is deeply concerning that nearly every week there is a new incident in the school environment, whether that be young men sharing deep fake porn of young women they know, or female teachers leaving the industry because they fear for their safety," she said. "Young people are increasingly exposed to harmful messaging about sex and relationships and report wanting more information and support." Our Watch launched The Line to help young people find answers to questions about consent, dating, sex and relationships. Ending violence against women would take a whole of community approach and needed to include young people, Ms Kinnersly said. "We need to offer young people clear guidance on healthy relationships, consent and the limitations of gender stereotypes," she said. "It is a big piece of work and it requires the whole-of-school approach that takes long-term commitment, leadership and ongoing funding." 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline 13 11 14 Men's Referral Service 1300 766 491
Associated Press
06-05-2025
- Associated Press
Officials in a Mississippi county settle lawsuit filed by 2 Black men tortured by deputies
Rankin County officials announced last week that they had settled a lawsuit filed by Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker—who were brutalized by sheriff's deputies in 2023—for $2.5 million. 'This amount, for Mississippi, is historic,' said Trent Walker, the attorney for the two men. 'I can't think of an excessive force settlement larger than this.' Six Rankin County law enforcement officers handcuffed, beat and shocked Jenkins and Parker with Tasers before shooting Jenkins in the mouth during a warrantless raid of Parker's home. 'This is the ending of the Michael Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker case from the perspective' of the Rankin County Sheriff's Department, said its lawyer, Jason Dare. The county's insurance policy will cover $2 million of that payment, he said. The remaining $500,000 will come from the sheriff's coffers, which is funded by taxpayer dollars, Dare said, but taxpayers won't have to pay for any increase to the department's budget. Last year, a federal judge sentenced the six officers — former deputies Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton, Christian Dedmon, Hunter Elward and Daniel Opdyke and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield — to between 10 and 40 years in federal prison for their roles in the 2023 torture of Jenkins and Parker. Middleton's shift called themselves the 'Goon Squad' and created a WhatsApp channel and commemorative coins featuring the moniker and drawings of mobsters. An investigation by Mississippi Today and The New York Times exposed a decades-long reign of terror by nearly two dozen Rankin County deputies, but the six officers are the only ones who have been charged. During the officers' sentencing hearings, former deputies and prosecutors said the torture of Jenkins and Parker was far from isolated. In at least nine incidents over five years, McAlpin brutalized people during arrests, prosecutors said. 'McAlpin is the one who molded these men into what they became,' federal prosecutor Christopher Perras told the judge. 'He modeled that behavior for young impressionable officers, and it's no wonder that they followed his lead.' Dare said the sheriff's office has taken steps to ensure such behavior ceases. 'The compliance director, Captain Wayne Carter, and the (Internal Affairs) investigators, do an excellent job of going through everything now to make sure that something similar to what happened in January 2023 never happens again,' he said. The events in Braxton had impacted not only Mr. Jenkins, 'but also the Rankin County community and the fine, upstanding law enforcement officers who are with the Rankin County Sheriff's Department, who have weathered the storm that has ensued since that day,' Dare said. 'We hope that this resolution brings some sense of finality.' ___ This story was originally published by Mississippi Today and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
