Northeast
NJ lawmakers urge schools to follow Trump's order against 'radical indoctrination'
Schools should be following President Donald Trump’s executive order “ending radical indoctrination in K-12,” say two New Jersey lawmakers who put forward a bill to repeal the Garden State’s countervailing law.
Assembs. Gregory McGuckin, R-Brick, and Paul Kanitra, R-Point Pleasant Beach, have put forward bill A-5560, which would repeal the 2021 state law requiring instruction on DEI and topics like unconscious bias, gender identity tolerance and disability tolerance.
Meanwhile, the state’s Democratic attorney general remains party to multi-state legal guidance countering Trump’s order.
“DEI is not appropriate in any part of our children’s curriculum. It is nothing more than rebranded Marxist ideology that destroys people, relationships and communities,” McGuckin said in a statement announcing the repeal effort.
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“[I]n schools, [it] wrecks merit-based rewards and an ambition to excel. True diversity, equity and inclusion leads to free associations which foster innovation and progress.”
McGuckin went on to call DEI lessons “garbage” that don’t belong in New Jersey schools.
Kanitra said it “boggles the mind” why “telling students their skin color determines their success or failure is true or helpful.”
“They are either stupid or evil, or maybe brilliant, because the experts pushing this stuff are quite wealthy, I hear,” he said.
Both lawmakers highlighted the decline in state education and test scores since the COVID-era school lock-outs ordered by Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat.
McGuckin said students have yet to collectively return to 2019-level proficiency scores.
Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin characterized Trump’s order to end DEI curricula as having little effect on established law and pledged to continue to fight purported federal overreach.
In a statement last week, Platkin said New Jersey’s schools are excelling because of the system’s ability to embrace the state’s diversity.
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New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin in Trenton (AP)
“No toothless threats from the Trump administration will change that,” he said. “Along with my [AG] colleagues across the country, we are issuing legal guidance to schools so that they can continue to foster diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible environments that benefit all students.”
Platkin added he and the other state AGs will continue to fight any effort by the White House to withhold federal funding from schools or special-needs students.
He was backed up by neighboring New York Attorney General Letitia James, who said in a statement that the Trump administration “cannot ban diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility efforts with a ‘Dear Colleague’ letter.”
New Jersey’s DEI law, spearheaded by former Gov. Richard Codey — now a Democratic state senator from West Orange — mandated school districts incorporate such instruction beginning in the 2021 school year.
“The instruction shall highlight and promote diversity, including economic diversity, equity, inclusion, tolerance, and belonging in connection with gender and sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, disabilities, and religious tolerance,” the bill reads.
It also “examine[s] the impact that unconscious bias and economic disparities have at both an individual level and on society as a whole; and encourage safe, welcoming, and inclusive environments for all students regardless of race or ethnicity, sexual and gender identities, mental and physical disabilities, and religious beliefs.”
Assemb. Carol Murphy, D-Burlington, said in 2020 it guarantees students will be “accepted and understanding of what each student goes through in life and making sure there is no stigma attached to that student, regardless of what culture… race… sexuality or where they are in life.”
As of Monday afternoon, the repeal effort had gained three additional co-sponsors: Assembs. Gregory Myhre of Barnegat, Brian Rumpf of Little Egg Harbor and Erik Peterson of Readington, all Republicans.
Fox News Digital reached out to Platkin and GOP gubernatorial frontrunner Jack Ciattarelli for additional comment for purposes of this story.
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Boston, MA
Red Sox shed light on plans for outfield, including Ceddanne Rafaela’s role
Last year the Red Sox had a unique and enviable problem, which was that at full strength the club had more starting-caliber outfielders than it had available lineup spots.
Injuries kept that from being an issue most of the season, but for some stretches the only way the club could accommodate everyone was by playing Gold Glove center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela at second base.
With Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Masataka Yoshida and Rafaela all set to return for the 2026 campaign, the Red Sox could face a similar logjam, but both manager Alex Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow signaled that they’d prefer not to move Rafaela to the infield again.
“We’ll talk about that one, but probably not,” Cora said.
“Ceddanne is an incredibly gifted athlete and can impact a game in so many ways, and it makes it really easy when you can put him at second base or play shortstop for a long time for us like in ’24 when Trevor (Story) was hurt, but he is game-changing in center field,” Breslow said. “We saw that this year, and giving him the consistency of playing the same position every day also has benefits for his offense.”
Rafaela delivered a breakout season in the outfield last year, ranking second in MLB across all positions in defensive runs saved at center (plus-20) en route to his first career Gold Glove.
His impact defensively at second, however, was much more modest. In 24 games at the position he was just plus-one defensive runs saved.
Recognizing Rafaela’s value in the outfield, it was widely expected that the Red Sox would clear a spot by trading one of their incumbent players, most likely Duran or Abreu. But up to this point that hasn’t happened, and Breslow said it was never something he considered an urgent priority.
“It was never likely in my mind,” Breslow said. “We’ve got really talented outfielders and when teams call that’s what other executives point to. They’re young, they’re controllable, they’re dynamic, they’re talented, they can impact games in multiple ways. It’s really nice to be able to say they’re also members of the Boston Red Sox.”
So how will the Red Sox accommodate everyone if Rafaela isn’t going to play second? Cora said he expects to rotate players through more regularly, though he added that Rafaela and Abreu — both Gold Glove winners — will likely play more often than not.
“I think keeping guys healthy is something we always talk about,” Cora said. “They’re good outfielders, all of them, as a unit they’re the best in baseball. We just have to figure out the stadium, workload, and all that, but Willy and Ceddanne, they’re the best in the business, they probably will be playing the most in the outfield.”
Pittsburg, PA
Masontown Borough unanimously votes to reinstate police department
Connecticut
Dog found dead in Willimantic River
A dog was found dead on the ice in the Willimantic River on Friday, according to the Willimantic Police Department.
The Windham Animal Control was notified after a report of a small dog lying motionless near the center of the river close to the waterfall.
Emergency personnel responded and found that the dog was already dead and had been laying on a cardboard box on unstable ice.
While the police and fire department worked to create a plan to rescue the dog, the ice broke apart, and the dog was carried downstream.
It is still unknown how the dog ended up in the river, and what the causes of death were.
Animal control and the Willimantic Police Department are currently investigating the incident and are looking to find out who was involved and how the dog entered the water.
Anyone with information can call the police department at 860-465-3135.
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