Author: rpnadmin

Model minority. Perpetual foreigner. The centuries-old stereotypes of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders as passive bystanders in American culture and politics still persist, despite U.S. history being full of examples to the contrary. The way to change that, scholars believe, is by teaching younger generations that history. A free, digital textbook overseen by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center aims to be a high-caliber guide to help high school and college educators nationwide teach more effectively about AAPI experiences. “Foundations and Futures: Asian American and Pacific Islander Multimedia Textbook” is the culmination of years of work by 100 contributors, from…

Utah Supreme Court Justice Diana Hagen resigned Friday amid a looming state investigation into allegations she carried on an improper relationship with an attorney who argued before the court, citing the toll further scrutiny would take on her family. Justice Hagen submitted her resignation letter to Gov. Spencer Cox effective immediately, according to the governor’s office. She has served on the Utah Supreme Court since 2022. “It is with deep sadness that I tender my immediate resignation as a justice of the Utah Supreme Court,” Justice Hagen wrote, adding that she regretted “the disruption my sudden departure will cause the…

The pedestrian who was hit and killed by a Frontier plane at the Denver International Airport Friday night breached airport security and ran onto the runway, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Saturday. The plane hit the unidentified person during takeoff at high speed, he said. “DEN can confirm the pedestrian jumped the perimeter fence and was hit just two minutes later while crossing the runway,” the airport said on social media. “The pedestrian is deceased and [was] not believed to be an employee of the airport. … We are extremely saddened by this incident and express our sympathies to those…

DENVER — A Frontier Airlines plane hit a pedestrian on the runway of the Denver International Airport during takeoff, airport authorities said, sparking an engine fire and forcing passengers to evacuate. The plane, on route from Denver to Los Angeles International Airport, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN at approximately 11:19 p.m. on Friday,” the airport’s official X account wrote. Neither the airport nor the airline has disclosed the pedestrian’s condition. “We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot tells the control tower, according to the site ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.” The pilot…

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California families welcoming newborns will soon receive hundreds of free diapers before leaving the hospital under a first-in-the-nation program announced Friday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. During the program’s first year, it will be offered at about 65 to 75 hospitals that handle about a quarter of births in the state and largely serve low-income patients, Newsom’s office said. The initiative will expand to more hospitals statewide, though the governor’s office did not say how many. The state has partnered with nonprofit Baby2Baby to manufacture the diapers under the label “Golden State Start.” Newsom said the plan builds…

PHOENIX — The only person ever charged in the unsolved 2021 disappearance of Navajo elder Ella Mae Begay, whose case became emblematic of a crisis fueled by disproportionately high rates of violence faced by Native Americans, has been sentenced to five years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Douglas Rayes in Phoenix on Friday accepted an agreement in which Preston Henry Tolth pleaded guilty to robbing Begay. Under the agreement, Tolth was credited with three years’ time served and prosecutors dropped an assault charge and agreed not to prosecute him in the future if Begay’s case develops. The sentencing effectively…

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. — A California sheriff said Friday that evidence suggests human remains were present at a home connected to the man convicted of killing Kristin Smart, a 19-year-old college student who went missing in 1996. San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson said they cannot say whether the remains are those of Smart or whether authorities will seek another warrant to start digging on Susan Flores’ property. Her son, Paul Flores, was convicted in 2022 of killing Smart, whose body has never been found. The search began Wednesday after authorities served a warrant Wednesday at the home in…

As the nation prepares for its 250th anniversary of independence, Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch wants Americans to understand just how much of an accomplishment that was. His new children’s book, “Heroes of 1776: The Story of the Declaration of Independence,” tries to do just that. He said notions that political rights came not from a king or country but from God and citizens enjoyed them equally were “crazy, radical ideas.” “That’s what unites us,” he said at a book launch at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California on Tuesday. The 48-page book, published by HarperCollins, is aimed…

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a video message at the Defender of Freedom Gala in Virginia’s Pentagon City last week, fondly recalled his cold morning in Minnesota years ago when he delivered joy to a veteran and his family. Mr. Hegseth was part of “Fox & Friends,” a Fox News program, when Freedom Alliance, an organization that helps military service members and veterans, asked him to help give away a mortgage-free home to the man. “I watched as his kids ran through the house,” the secretary said. “It was the first house the family had ever owned. Programs like these…

Two Southwest Airlines aircraft sustained minor wingtip damage after colliding during pushback at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport late Monday, triggering a federal investigation and raising fresh questions about ground safety procedures at one of the region’s busiest airports. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the contact occurred on the airport ramp at approximately 10:30 p.m. on Monday. Southwest flights 1048, bound for Connecticut, and 562, bound for Houston, backed into each other while leaving their gates, causing minor damage to the wingtips. No injuries were reported among passengers or crew.  Kevin White, a passenger aboard flight 1048 who was heading…