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With COVID benefits ending, low-income Marylanders worry about food

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:34 GMT

This content was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.With the federal health emergency nearing its end in mid-May, low-income Marylanders are still struggling with food insecurity and the costs of everyday household items, according to a statewide hunger-relief non-profit.“Between inflation and the end of government pandemic emergency aid, the need for food assistance in Maryland remains high as the rates of food affordability, financial hardship, and food insufficiency continue to trend upward across all income groups,” according to a press release from the Maryland Food Bank.According to the Maryland Food Bank, 36% of Maryland families surveyed reported that their children were sometimes not eating enough due to the cost of food, which is 12% higher than the previous month. This data comes from an analysis of the Household Pulse Survey data from the U.S. Census as of April 19.Food in...

Tennis, or terriers? US Open’s home hosts famed dog show

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:34 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — They’re at the top of their sport. They’re primed to run down tennis balls. So perhaps it’s perfectly natural that about 3,000 top-flight canines are converging on the grounds of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, where the Westminster Kennel Club dog show began Saturday. It’s a new venue for the nearly 150-year-old event, now back in New York City after a two-year, pandemic-induced sojourn in the suburbs. As the show began Saturday with an agility competition and other events, there were a few double-takes, if not double-faults. Barks, not the pock of tennis balls, were heard across the sunny, 40-acre (16-hectare) grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Westminster’s traditional green carpet had been rolled out in Arthur Ashe Stadium for fleet-footed — but four-footed — competitors. The fan-friendly South Plaza was set up with a 27,000-gallon (102,200-liter) pool for a canine dock=diving demonstration. Turn in any direction, and a dog ...

AP PHOTOS: Kentucky Derby hat styles: Bigger is often better

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:34 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Derby is arguably the world’s most famous horse race. It’s also a chance for racegoers to strut their fashion stuff.Seersucker suits, floral dresses and bright colors abound, but racegoers famously elevate their style to another level with their grand collection of hats and fascinators. Men tend to favor fedoras or bowlers, while women sport designs featuring feathers and flowers in every shape, color and size. Bigger is often better when it comes to Derby hats. The event has appointed an official milliner, or hatmaker, every year since 2018. But in a sign of their growing importance at the Kentucky Derby, it has named three milliners for the 2023 event: Christine Moore, Jenny Pfanenstiel and The Hat Girls.The tradition of wearing hats to the Derby began with its first running in 1875.Source

Homelessness is up in DC, but still improved from pre-COVID landscape

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:34 GMT

The District witnessed a more than 11% increase in the city’s homeless population in the past year, but officials noted some positives based on its most recent census.The Point in Time count taken in January showed a 10.2% increase in homelessness among single people and 12.1% increase among families compared to the 2022, according to a Friday press release from the city’s Department of Human Services (DHS).However, the department said that the numbers are an improvement from where the District was prior to the count taken just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.For example, DHS noted that total number of people experiencing homeless has dropped by 23% since 2020, and the number of families without shelter has decreased by 50% since then as well.Agency director Laura Green Zeilinger said that the District’s most recent count may indicate some positive trends, but “our analysis leads to a clear call to action.”“We are making investments in o...

Century-old ship that sailed Chesapeake Bay goes up for auction

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:34 GMT

Do you want to sail a ship that first began cruising the Chesapeake Bay over a century ago? The Victory Chimes, a wooden three-masted Chesapeake ram schooner, is up for auction.“After long and careful consideration we have come to the difficult decision that 2022 will be Victory Chimes last sailing season. Upcoming Coast Guard compliance, cost and availability of materials for upcoming maintenance, the lack of ability to haul the ship in Maine and the losses of the 2020 season have all become a hill too big to climb,” the Victory Chimes Captain Sam Sikkema wrote in a statement.The Victory Chimes, originally named Edwin and Maude, was built in 1900 and is the very last ship of her kind.“Built in Laurel, Delaware, way up on Broad Creek, a branch of the Nanticoke River. Frankly so far up the creek that if you go to the site today, your jaw would drop that such a large vessel could have emerged from such a narrow winding creek,” Pete Lesher Chief Historian of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime...

Ex-Penn State RB Brown embarks on NASCAR pit crew career

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:34 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Journey Brown never envisioned a future without football.He certainly never envisioned one in racing.The last time he walked off the field after a game, Brown had run for 202 yards and two touchdowns, leading Penn State to a 2019 Cotton Bowl victory over Memphis. He had every reason to believe that he would one day be back in AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, leading an NFL team to another victory.“The only NASCAR I knew was ‘Talladega Nights,’” Brown said of the slapstick film starring Will Ferrell, “and my next-door neighbor had a Dale Earnhardt Jr. flag.”Brown knows a whole lot more these days. On Saturday, he walked through the infield gate at Kansas Speedway and joined his new teammates from Trackhouse Racing, where he’s learning the ropes as a pit crew member.The winding road to reach this point was long and unexpected, beginning not long after that December game in Texas.Brown was undergoing a routine COVID-19 test during the hei...

Spurs beats Palace to stay in hunt for European places

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:34 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Harry Kane’s first-half header helped Tottenham to beat Crystal Palace 1-0 and keep alive their faint Europa League hopes in the English Premier League on Saturday.Kane’s 28th goal in all competitions settled a drab contest and moved him ahead of Wayne Rooney into outright second on the league’s all-time leading scorer list with 209.It was enough for Ryan Mason to secure a first victory in his second spell in charge of Spurs, who have jumped up to sixth. But seventh-placed Brighton has three games in hand and is two points behind the London club.While most eyes pre-match were on the coronation of the King, Tottenham sprung a royal surprise with its lineup.Emerson Royal started and Yves Bissouma was on the bench despite both being sidelined with injuries that were expected to keep them out for another couple of weeks. Also, Eric Dier was dropped for the hosts to go to 4-3-3.Given both clubs were involved in seven-goal thrillers last weekend, action aplenty was anticipat...

Answers sought after 9-year-old boy handcuffed at Massachusetts school

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:34 GMT

WALPOLE, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts school didn’t follow its own guidance when a 9-year-old special-needs student who is Black was handcuffed by police at school and then taken to a hospital where he was held in an adult unit until he was released to his mother, a civil rights group says.The group Lawyers for Civil Rights sent a letter to the Walpole public schools and police department asking for an apology for the family and proof of restraint training for school resource officers when dealing with special-needs students. The family is also exploring “all legal options” to hold the school and police accountable.The boy was having a mental health crisis on Jan. 12, 2023 when, instead of following a prescribed treatment system, staff called the school resource officer who called for police backup, the group said.In a description of the event posted by Lawyers for Civil Rights, Erika Richmond, an attorney with the group, said in a Wednesday news release that the incident exemp...

Massachusetts lawmaker wants to divert control of commuter rail from MBTA

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:34 GMT

A top transportation-focused lawmaker wants to hand control of the state’s commuter rail services to the Department of Transportation, a move he says would allow the MBTA to focus on subway and bus service.Rep. William Straus, a Bristol County Democrat, said it is “fanciful to think” that high-level decisions for the commuter rail are being made by top MBTA officials when Department of Transportation officials have often led the charge for the transit service.“So why don’t we just end the fiction that the MBTA operates, or makes the key decisions regarding commuter rail? The other policy reason is commuter rail, and daily subway and bus service are very different kinds of operations in terms of how you deploy equipment, and schedule,” said Straus, the co-chair of the Legislature’s Transportation Committee.The proposal is part of legislation scheduled for a Monday Transportation Committee hearing, where advocates are expected to weigh in on Straus’ bill and others dealing with ...

Volleyball notebook: Natick all set with Branch Barnes, Harrison Landry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:34 GMT

The concept isn’t exactly flashy, but Natick sophomore Branch Barnes is pretty hyped up over it.In the second set of a Bay State Conference bout April 27, a talented Brookline squad was hammering spikes. It attacked the area around Harrison Landry perhaps the most within the frame’s first eight points, and the junior RedHawks setter needed to make four digs within the stretch.Normally, putting a setter into that spot forces a team out of system. Most programs run a 5-1 rotation with just the one setter. But Natick, which went on an 8-0 run before eventually winning the match 3-0, is different.“I set four balls from right-side, which is huge,” Barnes said. “When the setter (Landry) gets taken out like that, four times in eight points? We converted on all of them. … The big thing is (we have) two setters at all times. It’s very hard for us to get put out of system, we can usually get a good swing down.”It’s common for teams to run a situational 6-2 rotation, or at least experiment wit...