Latest news with #middleSchool
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Charges: St. Paul fire inspector kidnapped, attempted to sexually assault girl
Charges: St. Paul fire inspector kidnapped, attempted to sexually assault girl originally appeared on Bring Me The News. A man who works as a fire inspector for the City of St. Paul has been charged with the kidnapping and attempted sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl. James Allen Thomas, 73, of Woodbury, offered the middle school girl a ride to school after she missed her bus on the morning of a wet May 21, but first took her to his apartment. There he allegedly tried to force her legs apart, and when she refused he offered her $50 to take her clothes off, to let him touch her, and for her to touch him, the charges state. The girl says after missing her bus she had sought help from a medical clinic on Phalen Boulevard in St. Paul, but as she got near to the entrance she encountered Thomas, who was wearing a uniform and sitting in a grey SUV. She accepted his offer of help, thinking he was a security officer. When they got to his apartment, the girl told police that Thomas locked the door behind them before attempting his assault. The victim told police she "wanted to cry the entire time" she was with Thomas, and instantly started crying after she got out of his car when he dropped her at school. A school staff member said she was outside the building when the victim arrived, and says the victim immediately hugged her, which she said was unusual, and said the girl was shaking and visibly upset. The staff member told police that a man then got out of the car, identifying himself as a "Sergeant with the St. Paul Fire Department," and said he'd picked the girl up and brought her to school. The vehicle he exited from was later identified as belonging to Thomas. When arrested on June 5, Thomas admitted giving the girl a ride to school, claiming he first took her to an elementary school by accident. When told that his vehicle is equipped with a device that automatically tracks its location, Thomas admitted that before dropping the girl at school, he had to stop by his apartment to lock it, but claimed the girl never got out of the car. Despite surveillance from outside the clinic, the school, and his own cellphone data showing it took Thomas 45 minutes to travel the six-and-a-half miles from the clinic to the school, Thomas denied that it took that length of time. He then denied touching the girl or asking to see or touch her private parts. He said the only touching was possibly rubbing against her arm when he looked at her iPad. This story was originally reported by Bring Me The News on Jun 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Kourtney Kardashian cries over daughter amid co-parenting war with ex Scott Disick
shared an emotional Instagram post on Tuesday as her daughter completed 6th grade and will next be heading to middle school. The 46-year-old reality TV star uploaded a photo of herself in cheetah print pajamas with her hands over her eyes onto her story. Captioning the picture, she wrote: 'Me crying bc my baby girl is done with 6th grade (she's taking pic of me).' The blurry, low-lit capture was taken by Kourtney's only daughter, 12-year-old Penelope, whom she had with ex-boyfriend Scott Disick. In addition to the tween, Kardashian has sons Mason, 15, and Reign, 10, with 42-year-old Scott. In November 2023 Kourtney grew her family and welcomed son Rocky with her current husband Travis Barker, whom she wed in 2022. Penelope is now just over one month away from her 13th birthday - another moment that is sure to make her mom sentimental. Last year the youngster celebrated her special day by going on a three-day getaway with her friends. Sharing moments from the trip to Instagram afterward, Kourtney posted photos from the soiree and wrote: '9 girls (and a baby), 2 moms (shoutout @natalie5382), 3 days of casual, perfectly slowed down beach days to celebrate my little lady. 'Toe rings, sound baths, night swims, painting bikini boxes, frozen bananas, mamma mia and lots of frank ocean forever.' In April Kourtney celebrated her own birthday with sunset beach snaps taken by Penelope, whose nickname is P. The comments section was filled with birthday wishes for Kourtney - as well as praise for Penelope's photography, with one person comparing her to renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz. Despite the obviously close bond between the mother and daughter, Kourtney is currently at odds with her father over how they co-parent their three children. At the center of Scott and Kourtney's disagreement is the kids' education, as the businesswoman would prefer them to be homeschooled while the real estate mogul does not want this. Kourtney recently appeared on sister Khloe Kardashian's Khloe In Wonder Land podcast, during which she discussed her approach to parenting. She opened up about not conforming to expectations and claimed that her children want to be homeschooled. The comments infuriated Scott, 42, with sources saying he found them 'irresponsible.' One insider said: 'Scott strongly disagrees with Kourtney's parenting style and finds her comments irresponsible,' adding that the New York native 'values hard work and sees school as essential and would never allow his kids to not attend.'
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
Students rip cell phone apart, causing fire on Mifflin County school bus
LEWISTOWN, Pa. (WHTM) — At least one middle schooler will face charges after police say a group of them tore apart a cell phone on a school bus, causing a fire. According to Lewistown Police, this happened around 7:44 a.m. on May 9. Four 12-year-olds were seen on surveillance video tearing apart a cell phone on the bus, police said in a release Friday. The students bent the battery, causing sparks, before one stomped on the battery. The battery caught fire moments later and caused a panic on the bus, police said. An uninvolved student dumped water on the fire, extinguishing it. Police said the fire caused the floor of the bus to melt. No one was injured and police said charges will be filed against at least one student involved. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Designs offer look inside new Park Forest Middle School. When could work start?
The latest plans for the State College Area School District's new middle school offer a glimpse at tentative designs for the first time. The district's new Park Forest Middle School, slated for construction along Little Lion Drive off of Valley Vista Drive, will replace the 54-year-old school of the same name that was last renovated in 1995. Current estimates presented during Monday's school board meeting say the project for the 270,000-square-foot building could cost between roughly $127.9 million and $136.9 million. Cost estimates for the project could increase by about $2.8 million if alternates are included in the plans, according to Jeff Straub of project architect Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates. He said the project team has worked to keep up with inflation and market shakeups that have forced some cost increases, including a roughly 8% hike in steel prices. Straub said cost inflation has not yet reflected the dramatic spikes seen shortly after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but tariffs and other significant market changes could still complicate plans for the new middle school. The project team expects to present in July a more detailed cost estimate prepared by a third party. 'The final cost estimate will probably be in the order of magnitude of 60 to 80 pages of detail, really breaking down every system in the building and trying to compare that to the market conditions that are occurring, which is difficult,' Straub told the school board. 'We're all watching the news. It changes daily or weekly — sometimes hourly.' The project team presented plans at Monday's school board meeting to mark completion of roughly 60% of the development process. An updated schedule for the project shows many objectives left before crews can break ground, including in-depth facility studies and the third-party cost estimate slated for this summer. The team expects to have an Act 34 public hearing scheduled between August and October before the project's 90% check-in arrives by early fall. Under the current project schedule, the bidding process should begin in October or November before the board can approve plans in November or December. If all goes to plan, construction on the new middle school could start as soon as January or February 2026 and last for about two years. A large portion of the roughly hour-long presentation featured new concept art and renderings of the new Park Forest Middle School. Most updates on the project presented to the school board over the last few months centered on the site plan, including stormwater management, utilities, transportation configurations and the placement of geothermal well fields. Current plans for the site show a lot for bus drop-off and pickup just north of the school, while staff parking and a dedicated lane for parent drop-off and pickup are just south of the school building. A delivery/maintenance area and a loading dock sit slightly to the building's east and west, respectively. The site will keep tennis courts and a soccer field on the parcel's eastern side and place a stormwater basin near Valley Vista Drive. The project will place geothermal well fields under the soccer field and the north parking lot, plans show. The middle school's three-story classroom wing will see students physically 'move up' through the sixth, seventh and eighth grades — a cost-effective design choice, Straub said. The building's exterior will feature a blend of stone, masonry and both wood grain and dark bronze metal paneling, though these elements are expected to join concrete in comprising the building's interior. Ceiling clouds are planned to help optimize indoor acoustics. Elsewhere, the school's gymnasium, library, cafeteria, administrative offices and auditorium will each have a centralized location on the first or second floor. Angel Henward, a Delta Program student serving as the school board's latest student representative, noted that plans for the new middle school resemble State High. She said the school's layout could help middle school students make a smoother transition to the high school, which opened in 2018. 'I remember when I came from the middle school over to the high school, the middle school is all [on] one floor and kind of small, and it's a very different layout to the high school,' Henward said. 'I felt very confused and disoriented with the way the high school is laid out, and I think having these three separate floors and having kind of a structural similarity to the high school will maybe help kids adjust a little bit better and not feel so confused and so scared about it.' The project's design team is expected to propose installing bird-safe glass for large windows slated for the middle school's main entrances, library, cafeteria and stair towers throughout the building, which comprise most of the glass used in current plans. Glass of this kind would be used only if the board approves an alternative bid for the project later in the design process. Following the presentation, some board members and representatives raised concerns about the potential inclusion of many glass windows in the school and security measures planned for the school, specifically referencing the thwarted school shooting allegedly planned to target State High in April. Randy Brown, the district's finance and operations officer, said the team will meet with school resources officers, local police departments and the district's safety experts to discuss recommendations for the new school. Straub said Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates formed plans for the middle school with specific safety criteria in mind. 'One thing we incorporate in all of our buildings is crime prevention through environmental design,' Straub said. 'In a lot of the images that you saw, we're trying to create a building that's both an inviting and warm educational facility. But we are also trying to embed those security principles.' Several design elements remain unresolved for now, including a project alternate that could include a solar array with the help of a potential grant from Pennsylvania's Solar for Schools program. Regardless, the school is expected to achieve LEED Gold certification by following a sustainability certification plan used previously by the district when constructing the new State High and three elementary school projects. The project team expects to continue meeting with Park Forest teachers and staff and other constituents throughout the district as the design process continues. Brown said balancing the new school's many needs creates 'a very tight site plan.' Park Forest Middle School Principal Karen Wiser said the project team has provided constant communication and listens to feedback. 'They've been great in responding to all of our needs and making sure we're going to be creating the best learning environment for our students,' she said.
