Uncategorized Archives - Page 30 of 101

23Nov

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Are Young People Reading Less? Conflicting Data, Test Scores Paint Complex Picture

By now, it's a well-worn cliche that young people are too busy playing Minecraft and using Snapchat to read books anymore. At the same time, reports that young students' math and reading test scores have dropped recently are filling many parents with anxiety. According to the Nation's Report Card (officially known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress), average math scores for students in fourth and eight grade declined from 2013 to 2015. While average reading scores for the nation's fourth graders remained unchanged, eighth graders' reading scores also dropped. Not only that, but the achievement gap between poor and wealthy students stayed the same. The results are all the more disappointing because they follow years of rising test scores. Still, Peggy Carr, the head of...

23Nov

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Is This Real Life? 11-Year-Old Cheerleader Kicked Off Squad For Curly Hair

"Blow-dryer anxiety is a thing..." So says Allure Associate Beauty Editor Lexi Novac on the magazine's Daily Beauty Reporter blog. She goes on, "See, I have curly hair, and since most of the top dryers don't come with a diffuser attachment, they leave my hair a sad, stringy, stretched-out mess. Well, I say enough with the silky-straight oppression." And while oppression might seem like a hyperbolic choice of words for a discussion about curly hair, it no doubt rings true for 11-year-old Makayla Fallaw. The Texan pre-teen was reportedly kicked off her cheerleading squad for her curly hair. Rather, she was allegedly kicked off the squad after she refused to straighten her curly locks, as per her team's competition guidelines. Makayla has been participating in cheerleading since she ...

23Nov

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Coleman Brand Reboot Highlights New Camping Tech

The Coleman Company Inc. is arguably the largest camping brand in the world. With an annual revenue of over $1 billion coming from thousands of products, they are now hitting reset on their infamous brand. The company says that in addition to the 100 new products they introduced this year, they will be adding another 130 in 2016. Many of the new products integrate new technology with camping gear. “Our short-term plan is to surprise people,” said Emily Donahue, a Coleman product line manager. In interviews with Gear Junkie over the last month, Donahue and Mike Otterman, Coleman’s VP of global marketing and merchandising, talked about Coleman's brand reboot and how it will move forward. They say that big changes are coming for the company and its products. Basically, rather than...

23Nov

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EPA and CTS Corp Set to Square Off Over Polluted Superfund Site Cleanup

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and CTS Corp., a manufacturer of sensors and electronic components, have been at odds over one of the company's Superfund sites that's been seeping pollutants into the surrounding Asheville, NC, area for years. They might be headed for a lengthy legal battle, though, after a public meeting to address and discuss what the EPA will mandate for environmental remediation efforts found many people are in favor of a more complete project than what the company already has planned, according to the Citizen-Times.com. Craig Zeller, the EPA's project manager for CTS of Asheville, said that the current proposal the company has for cleaning up the contaminated site doesn't go far enough. One of his main points of contention is combating the source of the ha...

20Nov

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Consumer Reports Issues Updated Warning To Be Wary of Online Pharmacies

According to a recent warning from Consumer Reports, Americans are being urged to rethink their decision when shopping at an online pharmacy. Although nearly two million consumers are currently using online pharmacies, government investigators have continued to uncover cases where counterfeit prescriptions are sent out -- some of which even cause serious harm. The majority of prescription drugs in the U.S. are still procured at brick-and-mortar stores, said ABC 7 News. These stores use pharmacy software which allows government authorities to monitor product quality and drug sales, thereby ensuring that each prescription is legitimate. However, the pull of online pharmacies may be too strong to ignore -- especially for anyone who is dealing with expensive medications or is trying t...

17Nov

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NYC Legislators Propose Bill to Enhance Mold Remediation Services in Local Public Housing Structures

A disturbing epidemic of mold growing in public housing apartments throughout New York City has prompted local legislators to take action and propose a bill that would impose new standards of mold remediation. According to the Observer, the bill is in response to a growing number of reports from public housing residents that the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is hiring unlicensed parties to perform mold removal at low prices. The NYCHA is accused of sending in unskilled workers to deal with mold remediation, an important and complex task that can lead to a host of health effects if performed improperly. Experts say that the presence of mold has been linked to coughing, throat irritation, and the development of asthma in children. "Anytime building materials are affected b...

The Rise of Emoji Marketing and How to Use it

13Nov

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The Rise of Emoji Marketing and How to Use it

UPDATED 8/4/2020 5 years ago there was a milestone in a social media marketing and emoji history. You might not think a new taco emoji is all that big of a deal now, but in 2015, it was a huge deal, especially to Taco Bell. The fast-food chain launched a social marketing blitz upon the little graphic's debut. Emoji Marketing Begins When the long-awaited taco emoji launched, Taco Bell announced that its creative agency had created 600 pieces of unique content, all of which would eventually be posted to ta.co, the chain's recently revamped site. In order to see the content, users had to tweet the taco emoji paired with another emoji and tag the brand's handle. They'd then automatically receive a picture or a GIF mashing the two together. For example, a combination of the taco an...

9Nov

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War Over Giant Bleachers at Crystal Lake South High Could End in Complete Demolition

After more than two years of legal and community battles, the giant stadium bleachers at Crystal Lake South High School are starting to come back down. According to the McHenry County-area newspaper NWHerald.com, a crew of workers started the take-down process at the end of October. Now the only question left to be answered is if they're going to reduce the size of the outdoor seating structure or demolish the bleachers completely. Both the Community High School District 155 Board and neighboring property owners that initiated the legal proceedings against the school district over the obtrusive bleachers had previously agreed upon lowering it to the ninth row, but attorneys for both sides aren't ready to say the plan is finalized yet. The Illinois Supreme Court decided at the end of ...

9Nov

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The Average Cutoff For What is Considered to be a Luxury Home is Steadily Increasing

As the real estate market has continued to heal since the financial crisis in 2008, homes on average have begun to increase in sales price due to higher demand. One demographic in particular that has experienced a substantial rise in price and popularity are luxury homes. According to dnainfo.com, one of the largest hubs of people in the world, New York City, has seen an increase in the cutoff of what is considered to be a luxury home. StreetEasy's new luxury price tier metric from their third quarter report found that one in every five Manhattan and Brooklyn homes on the market is considered to be a luxury property. The luxury tier cutoff price is derived from a 12-month average of the recorded sales price of the top 10% of properties in the area. In Manhattan, the current price ...

9Nov

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Drunk Uber Passenger Facing Serious Penalties After Attacking Driver

People say drinking and driving is bad, but it turns out, so is drinking and riding. A driver for the popular ride-sharing app Uber uploaded a video of a drunken passenger attacking him to YouTube last week, where it quickly went viral. The driver had recorded the video using his GPS. The passenger in the video was identified by police as Benjamin Golden, a 32-year-old from Newport Beach, CA. Golden was seen in the video as being too drunk to give proper directions and then refusing to leave the vehicle when the driver, 23-year-old Edward Caban, asked. Golden then repeatedly hit Caban in the face while cursing at him. Caban defended himself with pepper spray, which finally got Golden to exit the car and, presumably, either walk home or find another ride. But the troubles for...