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Brittney Griner says she'll 'never go overseas again' to play unless it's for the Olympics after being detained in Russia

Brittney Griner said during a press conference on Thursday that she'll "never go overseas again" to play basketball unless it's for the Olympics after being detained in Russia.

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A drug company abandoned a treatment for  'bubble boy disease.' After a 5-year fight, this little girl is about to get it

Later this spring, a little girl in California who essentially has no immune system will receive a lifesaving treatment for "bubble boy disease" thanks to the persistence of a dogged group of parents, a pediatrician, a veteran newsman and a few episodes of "Grey's Anatomy."

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Walt Disney Studios Thrills 2023 Cinemacon Attendees at Annual Convention in Las Vegas

Presentation Included Highlights from Upcoming Theatrical Slate Featuring Titles from Disney Live Action, Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Lucasfilm, Marvel Studios, Searchlight Pictures, and 20th Century Studios

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About 1 in 5 high school students have witnessed community violence, new CDC report says

About 1 in 5 high school students in the United States has seen violence first-hand among people who are not related, including homicides involving guns. That's according to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which calls community violence "a significant public health concern."

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The US economy grew at a much slower pace in the first quarter

US economic growth slowed to an annualized and seasonally adjusted rate of 1.1% in the first quarter of this year, as businesses rebalanced their inventories and pulled back on spending amid punishing rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

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Your pollen allergies are overwhelming? This might be why

Pollen has exploded to eye-watering levels this spring in some parts of the country after warm weather pushed plants out of their winter slumber much earlier than normal.

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Senators unveil bipartisan legislation to ban kids under 13 from joining social media platforms

A new federal bill unveiled Wednesday would establish a national minimum age for social media use and require tech companies to get parents' consent before creating accounts for teens, reflecting a growing trend at all levels of government to restrict how Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and other platforms engage with young users.

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Diana Ramirez Named Interim Harris County Administrator

Ramirez becomes the first woman and first Latina county administrator of the third-largest county in U.S.

In a 4-1 vote, Harris County Commissioners approved a motion by Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones to nominate Diana Ramirez as interim Harris County Administrator. Ramirez will be the first woman and first Latina to hold the position, which is responsible for implementing the Commissioners Court’s policies and goals. Ramirez currently serves as the executive director of the Harris County Department of Economic Equity and Opportunity. She joined Harris County in August 2021 after 30 years of public service, including executive experience as the Assistant Budget Director of Travis County and working for the Texas General Land Office and Texas Health & Human Services.

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Florida surgeon general altered Covid-19 vaccine analysis to suggest higher risk for younger men, Politico reports

Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo altered an analysis released by the Florida Department of Health last year to suggest mRNA Covid-19 vaccines pose a significant health risk to men ages 18 to 39, Politico reported Monday.

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Biden announces reelection bid, saying battle for nation's soul isn't complete

President Joe Biden formally announced his bid for reelection Tuesday, setting off a battle to convince the country his record merits another four years in the White House and his age won't impede his ability to govern.

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Gymnastics star Simone Biles and NFL player Jonathan Owens are married

USA Gymnastics star and world champion Simone Biles and NFL player Jonathan Owens are married. Both shared images on social media Saturday announcing their marriage, and Biles now includes "Owens" in her full name on Instagram and Twitter.

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Meghan living 'life in the present'

Meghan, the wife of the UK's Prince Harry, has hit out at the British media following reports that she sent a letter to her father-in-law, now King Charles, expressing concern over "unconscious bias" within the royal family.

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WGU Texas Announces Scholarships for National Teacher Appreciation Week 2023

Financial Aid Opportunities Available for Current and Aspiring Educators

WGU Texas will celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Week May 8-12 by offering two scholarship programs for current and future education professionals who wish to pursue bachelor’s or master’s degree programs in the Teachers College at WGU’s School of Education, the largest nonprofit, accredited school of education in the country.

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Local Girl Scouts Take Action for Earth Day

Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council leaders and girl members are available for interviews, guest commentaries, and questions regarding Earth Day on Saturday, April 22, 2023, and throughout April, which is Earth Month. In fact, many Girl Scouts from around the Greater Houston Area are taking action to protect our planet through their Gold Award projects. Many of these projects aim to address pressing issues such as climate change, pollution, and conservation.

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Text messages reveal Trump operatives

In mid-January 2021, two men hired by former President Donald Trump's legal team discussed over text message what to do with data obtained from a breached voting machine in a rural county in Georgia, including whether to use it as part of an attempt to decertify the state's pending Senate runoff results.

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Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Announces Burning Sands as Official Golf Sponsor

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. announced Burning Sands as its ‘Official Golf Partner’ – having signed an exclusive three-year agreement to manufacture, sell, and advertise golf bags with Alpha trademarks.

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Report on racist messages sent among Antioch, California, police officers sparks protest

Protesters gathered outside the Antioch, California, Police Department Tuesday after a report revealed racist text messages sent among some officers and members of the public.

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SpaceX's Starship rocket lifts off for inaugural test flight, but explodes midair

Originally Published: 20 APR 23 09:45 ET Updated: 20 APR 23 10:51 ET By Jackie Wattles and Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) -- SpaceX's Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, took off from a launch pad on the coast of South Texas on Thursday at 9:28 a.m. ET, but exploded midair before stage separation. Thursday's launch marked the vehicle's historic first test flight. "As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation," SpaceX tweeted. The massive Super Heavy rocket booster, which houses 33 engines, lifted off and sent a massive boom across the coastal landscape as it fired to life. The Starship spacecraft, riding atop the booster, soared out over the Gulf of Mexico. About two and a half minutes after takeoff, the Super Heavy rocket booster was scheduled to expend most of its fuel and separate from the Starship spacecraft, leaving the booster to be discarded in the ocean. The Starship was meant to use its own engines, blazing for more than six minutes, to propel itself to nearly orbital speeds. The flight reached its highest point 24.2 miles (39 kilometers) above the ground and the explosion occurred about four minutes after liftoff, according to SpaceX. SpaceX said that "teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test." Defining success for Starship Although it ended in an explosion, Thursday's test met several of the company's objectives for the vehicle. Clearing the launch pad was a major milestone for Starship. In the lead-up to Thursday's liftoff, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sought to temper expectations, saying, "success is not what should be expected...That would be insane." "With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today's test will help us improve Starship's reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary," SpaceX tweeted after the explosion. Musk congratulated the team on "an exciting test launch" in a post-launch tweet and said they "learned a lot for next test launch in a few months." SpaceX will need a new launch license from the FAA to make another attempt, but the company does not expect the process to be as laborious as securing the license for Thursday's launch. NASA administrator Bill Nelson took to Twitter to share his congratulations on the flight test. "Every great achievement throughout history has demanded some level of calculated risk, because with great risk comes great reward. Looking forward to all that SpaceX learns, to the next flight test —and beyond." The test flight comes after years of explosive tests, regulatory hurdles and public hyping from Musk. The company has been known to embrace fiery mishaps during the rocket development process. SpaceX maintains that such accidents are the quickest and most efficient way of gathering data, an approach that sets the company apart from its close partner NASA, which prefers slow, methodical testing over dramatic flare-ups. Musk has talked about Starship — making elaborate presentations about its design and purpose — for years, and he frequently harps on its potential for carrying cargo and humans to Mars, though NASA also plans to use the vehicle to put its astronauts on the moon. He's even said that his sole purpose for founding SpaceX was to develop a vehicle like Starship that could establish a human settlement on the Red Planet. Throngs of spectators lined local beaches to catch a glimpse of Starship's takeoff, pouring onto beaches with fold-out chairs, children and dogs in tow. It echoed the turnout on Monday, at the company's first launch attempt, which was ultimately left grounded as engineers worked to troubleshoot an issue with a valve on the Super heavy booster. In the area surrounding Starbase — SpaceX's name for the Starship development site that lies on Texas' southernmost tip — many locals have greeted the rocket with fervid enthusiasm. Throughout the area, there are signs of Starship permeating the local culture: a model Starship in a front yard, a "Rocket Ranch" camping ground filled with diehard enthusiasts, and a billboard advertising Martian beer. What to know about this rocket Development of Starship has been based at SpaceX's privately held spaceport about 40 minutes outside Brownsville, Texas, on the US-Mexico border. Testing began years ago with brief "hop tests" of early spacecraft prototypes. The company started with brief flights that lifted a few dozen feet off the ground before evolving to high-altitude flights, most of which resulted in dramatic explosions as the company attempted to land the prototypes upright. One suborbital flight test in May 2021, however, ended in success. Since then, SpaceX has also been working to get its Super Heavy booster prepared for flight. The gargantuan, 230-foot-tall (69-meter-tall) cylinder is packed with 33 of the company's Raptor engines. Fully stacked, Starship and Super Heavy stand about 400 feet (120 meters) tall.

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The University of Houston-Downtown Announces New Gator Success Institute

The University of Houston-Downtown is establishing its new Gator Success Institute (GSI) in support of its number one priority of Enhancing Student Success, the first goal of its 2022-27 Strategic Plan: A New Paradigm. The new Institute is made possible by a $750,000 grant from the ECMC Foundation.

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Free Speech vs. National Security in Proposed TikTok Ban

Libertad de expresión frente a seguridad nacional en la propuesta de prohibición de TikTok

With its dancing cats and lip-synched grandmas, TikTok has gained a massive foothold in the US, but lawmakers here say the platform threatens privacy rights and raises serious national security concerns.