Latest news with #Weed
Boston Globe
04-08-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
‘Not getting what they needed': Since COVID, larger share of Mass. parents trade public schools for private
Financially, it will be a 'big, huge burden,' Weed said. 'But it's worth it … for them to reach to their potential.' Advertisement Before the COVID-19 pandemic, private schools across Massachusetts were losing students in droves. But in recent years, private school enrollment has remained nearly steady for the first time in decades. Families who left for private schools that were open in-person earlier than their local districts have stayed, while others like Weed's have switched since, in search of different academic or social experiences for their children. A smaller group of parents are also embracing homeschool at much higher rates than ever before. If private schools had kept losing students at the same rate as they were pre-pandemic, they would be down some 10,000 additional children, according to a new study from Boston University researchers. Public schools, meanwhile, have than expected, costing them some 16,000 children since 2020 relative to their pre-COVID rate of decline. The boost to private schools largely comes from more affluent white and Asian families, data show. Advertisement also appear in older national data, the researchers found. The accelerated decline in public school enrollment means financial challenges for districts, Goodman said in an interview. Schools lose enrollment-based state dollars when a student leaves for private school, and districts may have trouble getting town support when fewer residents attend. In recent years, Related : 'It's a problem for the political health of a public school system if it educates a decreasing fraction of families in a community,' Goodman said. 'It will put pressure on districts to reduce staff or in extreme scenarios close school buildings.' The shifts reflect the staying power of pandemic-induced enrollment shifts, with many families leaving public schools amid lengthy school shutdowns, opting to homeschool or send their children to in-person private school environments. The state's tiny homeschool sector nearly doubled in the immediate wake of the pandemic, and remains more than 50 percent larger than in 2019, with about 12,200 students last year. Advertisement Private school enrollment is down about 2.6 percent from fall 2019, but 13.8 percent above the pre-pandemic trend. Sara Wilson, executive director of the Association of Independent Schools in New England, which includes many of the region's elite private schools, said her organization's schools have seen modest growth, on average, although the trends vary widely by school. Related : 'We did see families leaving the public school system to go to private schools that opened in person and sooner,' Wilson said. 'Schools have been able to retain some portion of those families.' Eileen McLaughlin, superintendent of the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston's schools, said the Archdiocese's schools are 'seeing signs of growth and upward trends' thanks in part to returning largely in-person in the fall of 2020, before many public schools. 'Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Boston were an important and stabilizing presence for students and parents during the pandemic,' McLaughlin said. 'We are thrilled that families chose Catholic schools for their children and are seeing signs of growth and upward trends.' Other parents, like Weed, have continued to leave their traditional districts post-pandemic, over concerns about lack of rigor or student behavior problems in their public schools. The public school losses have been concentrated in wealthier districts, particularly among middle grade students, defined as grades 5 to 8. Both of Weed's children who are going to private school next year are in those grades. 'My two older weren't really getting what they needed in math or English,' she said. 'So we decided to look elsewhere.' Related : Wilson said many of her organization's member schools have also sought to tamp down the eye-popping tuition numbers in recent years, either through tuition 'resets' or by individualizing costs to families more closely. Still, many Massachusetts private schools have annually Advertisement With such high tuition prices, it comes as no surprise the enrollment shifts are concentrated in the state's wealthiest 20 percent of districts. 'The high income districts, that top 5th, are actually responsible for the majority of public school enrollment losses in the state,' Goodman said. 'There's no sign of recovery in those districts.' Alongside Newton, large declines relative to pre-pandemic trends occurred in communities including Some of these districts have seen sustained controversy over particular district policies that some parents see as watering down the curriculum. Newton has expanded 'mixed-level classrooms,' where students at different achievement levels could learn together. In Cambridge, Still, said Goodman, 'There does seem to be a wider phenomenon of wealthier families generally being dissatisfied.' Francis, Goodman's coauthor, noted behavioral issues may help explain the decline in public middle school enrollment in particular. 'Recent survey data has documented increased behavioral issues, especially centralized in the middle school years,' Francis said. Whatever the cause, Paul Levy, a member of the Newton School Committee, said the lost public school kids are concerning. 'Families in the city were choosing to spend $16 million in private tuition even though they were already paying in their taxes for the public schools,' Levy estimated. 'It means there's less political support within the schools, financial support for overrides and the like. … That's the political result.' Advertisement Even without the shift toward private schools, the state's school-aged population is on the decline, Goodman noted. 'The lines are just going down,' he said. 'It's sad to see in the data, by that measure Massachusetts is a shrinking state." Christopher Huffaker can be reached at
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Poll: What is the strangest town name in New Mexico?
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – With hundreds of cities, small towns, villages, and unincorporated territories, New Mexico is home to plenty of places with unique names. The stories behind those names are often just as interesting. KRQE asked viewers via social media what they considered to be the strangest town name in the Land of Enchantment. Poll: What's the best small town in New Mexico? Here are the top answers from News 13 viewers: Truth or Consequences Pie Town Weed Albuquerque Jal Tijeras Alamogordo Carrizozo Nutt Raton Truchas Tucumcari Zuzax After a radio show contest, the city of Hot Springs renamed itself Truth or Consequences. Ralph Edwards, host of the NBC Radio quiz show Truth or Consequences, announced in March 1950 that he would host the show on its tenth anniversary in the first town that changed its name after the show. Hot Springs officially changed its name on March 31, 1950, and the program was broadcast from that location the following evening. For the next fifty years, Edwards would come to town on the first weekend in May. This gathering, which was later dubbed Fiesta, featured a stage show, a parade, and a beauty pageant. Every year on the first weekend of May, the city continues to celebrate Fiesta. Local officials, the winner of the Hatch Chile Queen pageant, and the previous year's Miss Fiesta pageant queen usually participate in the procession. In Ralph Edwards Park, Fiesta also includes a dance. Pie Town is well known for its interesting moniker. Norman Smith, a successful miner and general store owner who made pies for westbound tourists, is credited with giving Pie Town its famous name. Every September, on the second Saturday, Pie Town hosts a 'Pie Festival.' Remote New Mexico town expects to draw in visitors with annual pie festival Several towns on this list were named for specific people, from town founders to significant residents to Spanish dukes. Weed was named after William H. Weed, who established a branch store there. Hailing from Alburquerque, Badajoz, in southwest Spain, Viceroy Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, 10th Duke of Alburquerque, gave the city of Albuquerque its name. Jal was named for a herd of cattle branded with John A. Lynch's (JAL) initials. Nutt was founded by, and named for, H.C. Nutt. When translated from Spanish to English, a few of these town names seem more peculiar; for example, Tijeras, meaning 'scissors,' Raton, meaning 'mouse,' and Truchas, meaning 'trout.' New Mexico town named 'The Happiest Small Town in America' Some names originated from Spanish or Native American languages and were adapted into neologisms, or newly coined words. A grove of robust cottonwoods close to the Pecos River area inspired the name Alamogordo, which is derived from the Spanish álamo gordo, meaning 'large/fat cottonwood.' The name Carrizozo comes from the Spanish word carrizo, which means 'reed grass,' which is quite common in the region. In order to indicate the abundance of carrizo grass, the extra 'zo' was added at the end of the town's name. Named for Tucumcari Mountain, Tucumcari may have originated from the Comanche word tʉkamʉkarʉ, meaning 'ambush.' Zuzax, an entirely original name, was coined by entrepreneur Herman Adams, who opened a curio shop in the area around 1956 and named the town so that it would be the last entry in phone books. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bernstein Lowers Palo Alto (PANW) Price Target, Maintains Outperform Rating
On Wednesday, May 21, Bernstein SocGen Group reduced its price target for Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) from $229 to $225 from $229 and kept an 'Outperform' rating. Analyst Peter Weed noted that the company slightly beat expectations for its Next-Gen Security (NGS) Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) in its fiscal Q3 2025. Although the beat was smaller than in previous quarters, the company has forecasted strong quarter-over-quarter growth in NGS ARR for its fiscal Q4 2025. This forecasted growth is the strongest since the company began its platformization strategy. A cutting-edge computer lab full of IT experts monitoring the security of multiple systems. Weed said Palo Alto Networks, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:PANW) confidence is supported by channel checks. Management's comments also confirmed that sales that were delayed by tariffs in April started to close rapidly after tariff concerns eased in mid-May. This indicates that the weak NGS ARR is not a big concern. Additionally, Weed believes that other companies closing their quarters in April could experience similar weakness. He pointed out some positive signs for Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW), assuming there will not be a recession. He believes Microsoft's fast cloud migrations and AI projects could support the company's software firewall business to grow by more than 20%. Although hardware firewalls are growing slowly at a low single-digit rate, software firewalls made up more than 40% of product revenue this quarter. This is expected to help overall product revenue grow in the mid-teens, which is better than the mid-single-digit growth seen in the last 6 quarters. Weed expects Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) to finish the fourth quarter with more than 15% revenue growth in revenue and possibly an improvement of an additional 200 basis points or more in fiscal year 2026. While we acknowledge the potential of PANW as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than PANW and that has a 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 11 Stocks That Will Bounce Back According To Analysts and 11 Best Stocks Under $15 to Buy According to Hedge Funds. Disclosure: None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
New York Times
03-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Weed Manager of the Year: One Man's Quest to Save the Sonoran Desert
When Don Pike takes his daily walk, he laces up his brown hiking boots, grabs his walking stick and bucket hat and heads outside. Ten feet later, he carefully slips past barbed wire and enters the Tonto National Forest. Unlike other parts of the Tonto, where the ground between native plants and trees is covered with dry grasses, the earth is pale, crusty and barren, like it's meant to be. That's because Mr. Pike has been pulling weeds. 'You won't find any of them in this area here because I've removed them,' said Mr. Pike, 84, a retiree from Maine who installed floor-to-ceiling windows in his living room to better see his beloved desert. Mr. Pike is at war with buffel grass and fountain grass, two invasive species that are spreading in the Sonoran desert, choking native plants, increasing the risk and intensity of wildfires and threatening a vibrant ecosystem. He began hunting the thick grasses, which were introduced to the area by landscapers, almost 15 years ago. Since then, he estimates that he and his team of volunteers have cleared 550 of the roughly 14,000 acres they oversee. In 2024, that earned him the title of Arizona's Weed Manager of the Year. Work by volunteers like Mr. Pike has always been an important supplement to managing federal lands, according to government workers who say their programs have been underfunded for years. But since the Trump administration and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency began mass firings of federal workers, volunteers like Mr. Pike have become more vital than ever. 'It's going to be important for the federal agencies, the Forest Service in particular, to find ways to engage people,' Mr. Pike said on his back porch in March. 'There's a lot of people that want to get involved. Particularly retirees who have a lot of skills.' Ine February, at least 2,000 employees had been eliminated from the U.S. Forest Service, which is responsible for lands across the country that, together, rival the size of Texas. Forests like the Tonto are at risk as climate change increases the chances of wildfires and as invasive species spread. But citizen scientists like Mr. Pike are working to reduce fire and heat risks, clear hundreds of acres of invasives and capture data on threatened cactuses, helping to save what otherwise might be lost. Bringing in Reinforcements Patti Fenner was an invasive weeds specialist for the United States Forest Service in 2011 when she gave a presentation to a retirees group that included Mr. Pike. After the talk, Ms. Fenner and Mr. Pike took a hike and she pointed out how invasive grasses had begun overtaking native plants. That first outing led to a decades-long obsession, and when Ms. Fenner retired three years later and founded Friends of the Tonto, a volunteer group with about 70 members that assists the national forest, Mr. Pike became one of the first members. Ms. Fenner had worked in the forest since college, doing a variety of jobs. She liked the Forest Service-style of land management because it demanded compromise from all parties. Unlike national parks, Forest Service land is used by multiple interests, including logging, mining and ranching in addition to recreation. But maintaining an ecological balance is also key, and when Ms. Fenner became the forest's first noxious weed manager in 2003, it felt like a Sisyphean task to clear three million acres of rapidly multiplying invasive species. Mr. Pike decided to concentrate on a smaller scale, homing in on what's known as the wildland urban interface, or the space where developments like his neighborhood creep up on wilderness areas like the Tonto. A former engineer, he created a map to track the progress he made with his team of volunteers, pinning a green flag where invasives were cleared. The flag turns yellow after two years as a reminder to clear the area again. While his system is effective in his relatively small section, it's an unlikely fix for an entire forest. 'In the direction that we're headed, the desert will become a grassland,' Mr. Pike said. Lightning-strike fires have always been possible in the desert, but excess vegetation like red brome, a grass that dries into short hay-like tufts, has contributed to bigger and more frequent wildfires in the Tonto. One of the first huge wildfires came in 2005, when the Cave Creek Complex fire burned 243,000 acres. Then, in the summer of 2020, Mr. Pike watched the sky turn orange as the Bush fire burned 193,000 acres, killing roughly 80,000 saguaros, the distinctive cactuses with cartoonish curved arms. Invasive plants grew back quickly, outcompeting the native saguaros and palo verde, the state tree with flowers like tiny yellow bells. So, Friends of the Tonto started a second monitoring program for the saguaros. In late 2023, Mr. Pike created another map with more than 9,900 tiny saguaros. On this one, green signals good health and black means the cactus is dead. He's trained about 40 people to find additional saguaros and monitor the ones already in the database. Staff at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix and the Saguaro National Park near Tucson are also monitoring the plants. But Mr. Pike's group is a citizen science program done exclusively by volunteers using simple tools. They measure, somewhat based on guesswork, the height and number of arms, and share visual observations of the cactus's health, along with a photo. The Future of the Forest The main office at Tonto has been closed for years because the Forest Service had trouble staffing it, even before the recent hiring freeze and terminations, largely because the pay was low, Ms. Fenner said. Other offices within the forest used to stay open on weekends during the busy season, but that also ended years ago because of a lack of employees. 'If you're trying to get ahold of somebody there's no one to talk to,' Ms. Fenner said of the forest staff. 'It's like nobody's home.' Ongoing budget and staffing issues at the Tonto have limited the scope of volunteer work, which is based on an agreement with the Forest Service that spells out the terms of the relationship. The Forest Service did not respond to a request for comment. Mr. Pike has been struggling to contact federal employees who can help him apply for grants. In 2024, he helped win a $105,000 grant from the state's Department of Forestry and Fire Management to hire a contractor to apply herbicide and organize a youth group to cull invasive plants in the forest. 'It's not going to get better, it's going to get worse,' Mr. Pike said of communication with forest managers. He's wants to secure more grants to better manage the invasive plants but without support from forest officials, he said, 'I can't logically expand the area that I'm covering.' Still, they are tackling the impossible, weed by weed. At the top of a hill overlooking the Tonto called Sears-Kay, which features ruins almost 1,000 years old, Ms. Fenner spotted buffel grass in late March. She tried to pull it with her bare hands but it was rooted too firmly. So she called Mr. Pike, and he encouraged her to go back with a shovel. She went on a walk and pulled the plant the next day.
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Yahoo
Titusville driver booked on DUI charges in deadly crash
TITUSVILLE — A 28-year-old man has been charged with DUI manslaughter after Titusville police said he fatally struck a pedestrian Friday afternoon. Dallas Scott Weed was driving a Dodge work truck westbound on Columbia Boulevard at about 2:50 p.m. Friday when he hit a man who was returning to work at a nearby Walmart Supercenter on 3175 Cheney Highway. The man, whom police did not identify, was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died at 4 p.m., police said. Police found Weed at the scene of the crash and determined that he showed signs of intoxication. Weed was booked into the Brevard County Jail Complex and held on $15,000 bail. J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@ Twitter: @JDGallop. This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Titusville driver booked on DUI charges in deadly crash
