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{ "text": [ "০ = 0, ১ = 1, ২ = 2, ৩ = 3, ৪ = 4, ৫ = 5, ৬ = 6, ৭ = 7, ৮ = 8, ৯ = 9\n্ = See example (Hasant/Viram) ় = * (Nukta) ʼ = ' (Urdhacomma) ঽ = & (Avagrah) ৺ = ~ (Isshar) ৹ = a~ (Bengali ana sign) ৲ = Rs~ (Bengali Rupee sign) ৳ = T~ (Taka sign) । = | (Devanagari danda) ॥ = || (Devanagari double danda) ₹ = Rs (Indian Rupee sign) 卐 = +~ (Swastika sign) Zero Width Joiner = ^ Zero Width Non Joiner = ^^\nThese symbols will type Bengali characters first but if \"~\" will be followed, it will remove previously typed Bengali character and then type the symbol.\nSymbols & ~ * : ^ | ' have special meaning. You can type this way & = &~ ~ = ~~ * = *~ : = :~ ^ = ^~ | = |~ ' = '~\nThe English symbols [ ] { } ( ) < > - + / = ; . , \" ? ! % \\ _ $ @ # translate into the same symbols.\nExample নমস্কার can be written by typing \"namaskaar\"\nAs per Rule # 3, ligature will be rendered. ZWJ and ZWNJ characters are used to produce alternate rendering of ligature.\nA consonant followed by ZWJ character will produce half-formed consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‍ন = prash^n\nA consonant followed by ZWNJ character will produce dead consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‌ন = prash^^n\nIf two english characters are making one Bengali Vowel (i.e. ai, au), then\nZWJ character is used to separate them into two different vowels. It will not\nadd ZWJ character but only considered as the separator between two\nvowels." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "০ = 0, ১ = 1, ২ = 2, ৩ = 3, ৪ = 4, ৫ = 5, ৬ = 6, ৭ = 7, ৮ = 8, ৯ = 9\n্ = See example (Hasant/Viram) ় = * (Nukta) ʼ = ' (Urdhacomma) ঽ = & (Avagrah) ৺ = ~ (Isshar) ৹ = a~ (Bengali ana sign) ৲ = Rs~ (Bengali Rupee sign) ৳ = T~ (Taka sign) । = | (Devanagari danda) ॥ = || (Devanagari double danda) ₹ = Rs (Indian Rupee sign) 卐 = +~ (Swastika sign) Zero Width Joiner = ^ Zero Width Non Joiner = ^^\nThese symbols will type Bengali characters first but if \"~\" will be followed, it will remove previously typed Bengali character and then type the symbol.\nSymbols & ~ * : ^ | ' have special meaning. You can type this way & = &~ ~ = ~~ * = *~ : = :~ ^ = ^~ | = |~ ' = '~\nThe English symbols [ ] { } ( ) < > - + / = ; . , \" ? ! % \\ _ $ @ # translate into the same symbols.\nExample নমস্কার can be written by typing \"namaskaar\"\nAs per Rule # 3, ligature will be rendered. ZWJ and ZWNJ characters are used to produce alternate rendering of ligature.\nA consonant followed by ZWJ character will produce half-formed consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‍ন = prash^n\nA consonant followed by ZWNJ character will produce dead consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‌ন = prash^^n\nIf two english characters are making one Bengali Vowel (i.e. ai, au), then\nZWJ character is used to separate them into two different vowels. It will not\nadd ZWJ character but only considered as the separator between two\nvowels." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "০ = 0, ১ = 1, ২ = 2, ৩ = 3, ৪ = 4, ৫ = 5, ৬ = 6, ৭ = 7, ৮ = 8, ৯ = 9\n্ = See example (Hasant/Viram) ় = * (Nukta) ʼ = ' (Urdhacomma) ঽ = & (Avagrah) ৺ = ~ (Isshar) ৹ = a~ (Bengali ana sign) ৲ = Rs~ (Bengali Rupee sign) ৳ = T~ (Taka sign) । = | (Devanagari danda) ॥ = || (Devanagari double danda) ₹ = Rs (Indian Rupee sign) 卐 = +~ (Swastika sign) Zero Width Joiner = ^ Zero Width Non Joiner = ^^\nThese symbols will type Bengali characters first but if \"~\" will be followed, it will remove previously typed Bengali character and then type the symbol.\nSymbols & ~ * : ^ | ' have special meaning. You can type this way & = &~ ~ = ~~ * = *~ : = :~ ^ = ^~ | = |~ ' = '~\nThe English symbols [ ] { } ( ) < > - + / = ; . , \" ? ! % \\ _ $ @ # translate into the same symbols.\nExample নমস্কার can be written by typing \"namaskaar\"\nAs per Rule # 3, ligature will be rendered. ZWJ and ZWNJ characters are used to produce alternate rendering of ligature.\nA consonant followed by ZWJ character will produce half-formed consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‍ন = prash^n\nA consonant followed by ZWNJ character will produce dead consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‌ন = prash^^n\nIf two english characters are making one Bengali Vowel (i.e. ai, au), then\nZWJ character is used to separate them into two different vowels. It will not\nadd ZWJ character but only considered as the separator between two\nvowels." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "০ = 0, ১ = 1, ২ = 2, ৩ = 3, ৪ = 4, ৫ = 5, ৬ = 6, ৭ = 7, ৮ = 8, ৯ = 9\n্ = See example (Hasant/Viram) ় = * (Nukta) ʼ = ' (Urdhacomma) ঽ = & (Avagrah) ৺ = ~ (Isshar) ৹ = a~ (Bengali ana sign) ৲ = Rs~ (Bengali Rupee sign) ৳ = T~ (Taka sign) । = | (Devanagari danda) ॥ = || (Devanagari double danda) ₹ = Rs (Indian Rupee sign) 卐 = +~ (Swastika sign) Zero Width Joiner = ^ Zero Width Non Joiner = ^^\nThese symbols will type Bengali characters first but if \"~\" will be followed, it will remove previously typed Bengali character and then type the symbol.\nSymbols & ~ * : ^ | ' have special meaning. You can type this way & = &~ ~ = ~~ * = *~ : = :~ ^ = ^~ | = |~ ' = '~\nThe English symbols [ ] { } ( ) < > - + / = ; . , \" ? ! % \\ _ $ @ # translate into the same symbols.\nExample নমস্কার can be written by typing \"namaskaar\"\nAs per Rule # 3, ligature will be rendered. ZWJ and ZWNJ characters are used to produce alternate rendering of ligature.\nA consonant followed by ZWJ character will produce half-formed consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‍ন = prash^n\nA consonant followed by ZWNJ character will produce dead consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‌ন = prash^^n\nIf two english characters are making one Bengali Vowel (i.e. ai, au), then\nZWJ character is used to separate them into two different vowels. It will not\nadd ZWJ character but only considered as the separator between two\nvowels." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "০ = 0, ১ = 1, ২ = 2, ৩ = 3, ৪ = 4, ৫ = 5, ৬ = 6, ৭ = 7, ৮ = 8, ৯ = 9\n্ = See example (Hasant/Viram) ় = * (Nukta) ʼ = ' (Urdhacomma) ঽ = & (Avagrah) ৺ = ~ (Isshar) ৹ = a~ (Bengali ana sign) ৲ = Rs~ (Bengali Rupee sign) ৳ = T~ (Taka sign) । = | (Devanagari danda) ॥ = || (Devanagari double danda) ₹ = Rs (Indian Rupee sign) 卐 = +~ (Swastika sign) Zero Width Joiner = ^ Zero Width Non Joiner = ^^\nThese symbols will type Bengali characters first but if \"~\" will be followed, it will remove previously typed Bengali character and then type the symbol.\nSymbols & ~ * : ^ | ' have special meaning. You can type this way & = &~ ~ = ~~ * = *~ : = :~ ^ = ^~ | = |~ ' = '~\nThe English symbols [ ] { } ( ) < > - + / = ; . , \" ? ! % \\ _ $ @ # translate into the same symbols.\nExample নমস্কার can be written by typing \"namaskaar\"\nAs per Rule # 3, ligature will be rendered. ZWJ and ZWNJ characters are used to produce alternate rendering of ligature.\nA consonant followed by ZWJ character will produce half-formed consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‍ন = prash^n\nA consonant followed by ZWNJ character will produce dead consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‌ন = prash^^n\nIf two english characters are making one Bengali Vowel (i.e. ai, au), then\nZWJ character is used to separate them into two different vowels. It will not\nadd ZWJ character but only considered as the separator between two\nvowels." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "০ = 0, ১ = 1, ২ = 2, ৩ = 3, ৪ = 4, ৫ = 5, ৬ = 6, ৭ = 7, ৮ = 8, ৯ = 9\n্ = See example (Hasant/Viram) ় = * (Nukta) ʼ = ' (Urdhacomma) ঽ = & (Avagrah) ৺ = ~ (Isshar) ৹ = a~ (Bengali ana sign) ৲ = Rs~ (Bengali Rupee sign) ৳ = T~ (Taka sign) । = | (Devanagari danda) ॥ = || (Devanagari double danda) ₹ = Rs (Indian Rupee sign) 卐 = +~ (Swastika sign) Zero Width Joiner = ^ Zero Width Non Joiner = ^^\nThese symbols will type Bengali characters first but if \"~\" will be followed, it will remove previously typed Bengali character and then type the symbol.\nSymbols & ~ * : ^ | ' have special meaning. You can type this way & = &~ ~ = ~~ * = *~ : = :~ ^ = ^~ | = |~ ' = '~\nThe English symbols [ ] { } ( ) < > - + / = ; . , \" ? ! % \\ _ $ @ # translate into the same symbols.\nExample নমস্কার can be written by typing \"namaskaar\"\nAs per Rule # 3, ligature will be rendered. ZWJ and ZWNJ characters are used to produce alternate rendering of ligature.\nA consonant followed by ZWJ character will produce half-formed consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‍ন = prash^n\nA consonant followed by ZWNJ character will produce dead consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‌ন = prash^^n\nIf two english characters are making one Bengali Vowel (i.e. ai, au), then\nZWJ character is used to separate them into two different vowels. It will not\nadd ZWJ character but only considered as the separator between two\nvowels." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "০ = 0, ১ = 1, ২ = 2, ৩ = 3, ৪ = 4, ৫ = 5, ৬ = 6, ৭ = 7, ৮ = 8, ৯ = 9\n্ = See example (Hasant/Viram) ় = * (Nukta) ʼ = ' (Urdhacomma) ঽ = & (Avagrah) ৺ = ~ (Isshar) ৹ = a~ (Bengali ana sign) ৲ = Rs~ (Bengali Rupee sign) ৳ = T~ (Taka sign) । = | (Devanagari danda) ॥ = || (Devanagari double danda) ₹ = Rs (Indian Rupee sign) 卐 = +~ (Swastika sign) Zero Width Joiner = ^ Zero Width Non Joiner = ^^\nThese symbols will type Bengali characters first but if \"~\" will be followed, it will remove previously typed Bengali character and then type the symbol.\nSymbols & ~ * : ^ | ' have special meaning. You can type this way & = &~ ~ = ~~ * = *~ : = :~ ^ = ^~ | = |~ ' = '~\nThe English symbols [ ] { } ( ) < > - + / = ; . , \" ? ! % \\ _ $ @ # translate into the same symbols.\nExample নমস্কার can be written by typing \"namaskaar\"\nAs per Rule # 3, ligature will be rendered. ZWJ and ZWNJ characters are used to produce alternate rendering of ligature.\nA consonant followed by ZWJ character will produce half-formed consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‍ন = prash^n\nA consonant followed by ZWNJ character will produce dead consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‌ন = prash^^n\nIf two english characters are making one Bengali Vowel (i.e. ai, au), then\nZWJ character is used to separate them into two different vowels. It will not\nadd ZWJ character but only considered as the separator between two\nvowels." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "০ = 0, ১ = 1, ২ = 2, ৩ = 3, ৪ = 4, ৫ = 5, ৬ = 6, ৭ = 7, ৮ = 8, ৯ = 9\n্ = See example (Hasant/Viram) ় = * (Nukta) ʼ = ' (Urdhacomma) ঽ = & (Avagrah) ৺ = ~ (Isshar) ৹ = a~ (Bengali ana sign) ৲ = Rs~ (Bengali Rupee sign) ৳ = T~ (Taka sign) । = | (Devanagari danda) ॥ = || (Devanagari double danda) ₹ = Rs (Indian Rupee sign) 卐 = +~ (Swastika sign) Zero Width Joiner = ^ Zero Width Non Joiner = ^^\nThese symbols will type Bengali characters first but if \"~\" will be followed, it will remove previously typed Bengali character and then type the symbol.\nSymbols & ~ * : ^ | ' have special meaning. You can type this way & = &~ ~ = ~~ * = *~ : = :~ ^ = ^~ | = |~ ' = '~\nThe English symbols [ ] { } ( ) < > - + / = ; . , \" ? ! % \\ _ $ @ # translate into the same symbols.\nExample নমস্কার can be written by typing \"namaskaar\"\nAs per Rule # 3, ligature will be rendered. ZWJ and ZWNJ characters are used to produce alternate rendering of ligature.\nA consonant followed by ZWJ character will produce half-formed consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‍ন = prash^n\nA consonant followed by ZWNJ character will produce dead consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‌ন = prash^^n\nIf two english characters are making one Bengali Vowel (i.e. ai, au), then\nZWJ character is used to separate them into two different vowels. It will not\nadd ZWJ character but only considered as the separator between two\nvowels." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "০ = 0, ১ = 1, ২ = 2, ৩ = 3, ৪ = 4, ৫ = 5, ৬ = 6, ৭ = 7, ৮ = 8, ৯ = 9\n্ = See example (Hasant/Viram) ় = * (Nukta) ʼ = ' (Urdhacomma) ঽ = & (Avagrah) ৺ = ~ (Isshar) ৹ = a~ (Bengali ana sign) ৲ = Rs~ (Bengali Rupee sign) ৳ = T~ (Taka sign) । = | (Devanagari danda) ॥ = || (Devanagari double danda) ₹ = Rs (Indian Rupee sign) 卐 = +~ (Swastika sign) Zero Width Joiner = ^ Zero Width Non Joiner = ^^\nThese symbols will type Bengali characters first but if \"~\" will be followed, it will remove previously typed Bengali character and then type the symbol.\nSymbols & ~ * : ^ | ' have special meaning. You can type this way & = &~ ~ = ~~ * = *~ : = :~ ^ = ^~ | = |~ ' = '~\nThe English symbols [ ] { } ( ) < > - + / = ; . , \" ? ! % \\ _ $ @ # translate into the same symbols.\nExample নমস্কার can be written by typing \"namaskaar\"\nAs per Rule # 3, ligature will be rendered. ZWJ and ZWNJ characters are used to produce alternate rendering of ligature.\nA consonant followed by ZWJ character will produce half-formed consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‍ন = prash^n\nA consonant followed by ZWNJ character will produce dead consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‌ন = prash^^n\nIf two english characters are making one Bengali Vowel (i.e. ai, au), then\nZWJ character is used to separate them into two different vowels. It will not\nadd ZWJ character but only considered as the separator between two\nvowels." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "০ = 0, ১ = 1, ২ = 2, ৩ = 3, ৪ = 4, ৫ = 5, ৬ = 6, ৭ = 7, ৮ = 8, ৯ = 9\n্ = See example (Hasant/Viram) ় = * (Nukta) ʼ = ' (Urdhacomma) ঽ = & (Avagrah) ৺ = ~ (Isshar) ৹ = a~ (Bengali ana sign) ৲ = Rs~ (Bengali Rupee sign) ৳ = T~ (Taka sign) । = | (Devanagari danda) ॥ = || (Devanagari double danda) ₹ = Rs (Indian Rupee sign) 卐 = +~ (Swastika sign) Zero Width Joiner = ^ Zero Width Non Joiner = ^^\nThese symbols will type Bengali characters first but if \"~\" will be followed, it will remove previously typed Bengali character and then type the symbol.\nSymbols & ~ * : ^ | ' have special meaning. You can type this way & = &~ ~ = ~~ * = *~ : = :~ ^ = ^~ | = |~ ' = '~\nThe English symbols [ ] { } ( ) < > - + / = ; . , \" ? ! % \\ _ $ @ # translate into the same symbols.\nExample নমস্কার can be written by typing \"namaskaar\"\nAs per Rule # 3, ligature will be rendered. ZWJ and ZWNJ characters are used to produce alternate rendering of ligature.\nA consonant followed by ZWJ character will produce half-formed consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‍ন = prash^n\nA consonant followed by ZWNJ character will produce dead consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‌ন = prash^^n\nIf two english characters are making one Bengali Vowel (i.e. ai, au), then\nZWJ character is used to separate them into two different vowels. It will not\nadd ZWJ character but only considered as the separator between two\nvowels." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "০ = 0, ১ = 1, ২ = 2, ৩ = 3, ৪ = 4, ৫ = 5, ৬ = 6, ৭ = 7, ৮ = 8, ৯ = 9\n্ = See example (Hasant/Viram) ় = * (Nukta) ʼ = ' (Urdhacomma) ঽ = & (Avagrah) ৺ = ~ (Isshar) ৹ = a~ (Bengali ana sign) ৲ = Rs~ (Bengali Rupee sign) ৳ = T~ (Taka sign) । = | (Devanagari danda) ॥ = || (Devanagari double danda) ₹ = Rs (Indian Rupee sign) 卐 = +~ (Swastika sign) Zero Width Joiner = ^ Zero Width Non Joiner = ^^\nThese symbols will type Bengali characters first but if \"~\" will be followed, it will remove previously typed Bengali character and then type the symbol.\nSymbols & ~ * : ^ | ' have special meaning. You can type this way & = &~ ~ = ~~ * = *~ : = :~ ^ = ^~ | = |~ ' = '~\nThe English symbols [ ] { } ( ) < > - + / = ; . , \" ? ! % \\ _ $ @ # translate into the same symbols.\nExample নমস্কার can be written by typing \"namaskaar\"\nAs per Rule # 3, ligature will be rendered. ZWJ and ZWNJ characters are used to produce alternate rendering of ligature.\nA consonant followed by ZWJ character will produce half-formed consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‍ন = prash^n\nA consonant followed by ZWNJ character will produce dead consonant character.\nExample\nপ্রশ্ন = prashn\nপ্রশ্‌ন = prash^^n\nIf two english characters are making one Bengali Vowel (i.e. ai, au), then\nZWJ character is used to separate them into two different vowels. It will not\nadd ZWJ character but only considered as the separator between two\nvowels." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Trump went on the counter-offensive as his administration reeled from the abrupt dismissal of Michael Flynn as national security adviser on Monday.\nThe New York Times reported late on Tuesday that phone call records and intercepted calls showed members of Trump's presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the Nov. 8 election.\nTrump dismissed the report, firing back in a series of early morning tweets on Wednesday.\n\"This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton's losing campaign,\" the Republican president tweeted, citing his former Democratic rival in the 2016 presidential contest.\nIn another tweet, Trump said: \"Information is being illegally given to the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost by the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?).Just like Russia,\" adding that the situation was \"very serious.\"\n\"The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by \"intelligence\" like candy. Very un-American!\" Trump wrote.\nHe did not give evidence to back his charge that intelligence officials were supplying information to the news media. He did not say if he had ordered any investigation into leaks.\nReuters could not immediately confirm the Times report, which the Kremlin dismissed on Wednesday.\nCNN also reported that Trump advisers were in constant contact with Russian officials during the campaign.\nThe Times, citing current and former U.S. officials, said U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted the communications around the same time they discovered Russia was trying to disrupt the presidential election by hacking into the Democratic National Committee.\nThe officials had seen no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians on the hacking or other efforts to influence the election, the Times said, but they were still alarmed by the intercepted communications.\nFlynn was forced out over conversations he had with the Russian ambassador before Trump took office on Jan. 20, and his misrepresentations to Vice President Mike Pence over what he had discussed.\nThe Times said the intercepted calls in its report were different from the wiretapped conversations between Flynn and the ambassador, Sergei Kislyak.\nU.S. lawmakers, including some leading Republicans, called on Tuesday for a deeper inquiry into not just Flynn's actions but broader White House ties to Russia. Trump has long said that he would like improved relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.\nFlynn's conversations with the Russian ambassador took place around the time that then-President Barack Obama imposed new sanctions on Russia on Dec. 29, charging that Moscow had used cyber attacks to try to influence the presidential election in Trump's favor.\nA U.S. official familiar with the transcripts of the calls with the ambassador said Flynn indicated that if Russia did not retaliate, that could smooth the way toward a broader discussion of improving U.S.-Russian relations once Trump took power.\nThis was potentially illegal under a law barring unauthorized private citizens from interfering in disputes the United States has with other countries." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Starting in 2011, the effort was awarded more than $3 million in grants, the bulk of that from a competitive U.S. Department of Justice grant program.\nThe program's four lead partners—Grand Forks, the Grand Forks School District, Lutheran Social Services and the Community Violence Intervention Center—used the money to support extensive bullying and sexual-assault prevention programs, therapy services for child victims and character-building efforts such as the Coaching Boys into Men program.\nOver time, Safer Tomorrows activities were offered in every public school and three parochial schools in Grand Forks County.\nThe federal grant support ran out last month. So, Safer Tomorrows leaders now are reporting back to the county about what the program accomplished and what efforts might be sustained into the future.\nIn December, some of the leaders spoke to the Herald editorial board. A transcript of the conversation is below; it has been edited for clarity and length.\n□ □ □\nQ. Did Safer Tomorrows start with the grant that you won in Washington several years ago?\nPete Haga, Grand Forks community/government relations officer: Yes. Since 2012, Safer Tomorrows has received a total of $3.3 million to work toward ending or mitigating childhood exposure to violence in Grand Forks County.\nWe're now sunsetting on the federal grant, but we're sunrising on our efforts to sustain the program into the future.\nQ. What was the background for the project?\nKristi Hall-Jiran, executive director, Community Violence Intervention Center: I don't know if you're familiar with the Adverse Childhood Experiences study. We call it ACE for short. Basically, it was a study that was done some years ago that looked at kids who had experienced trauma during childhood.\nThe things that are counted as ACEs are things like seeing violence in the home, having a parent die, going through a divorce, being a victim of child abuse.\nSo, what the study showed was that besides higher rates of depression and anxiety, there was a very high correlation between the ACEs and physical ailments as well, including things like cancer, heart disease, diabetes.\nFor example, if kids have four or more ACEs, they actually start having neurochemical changes in their brains. And what that can lead to is three times the rate of academic failure, seven times the rate of alcoholism, 12 times the rate of suicide attempts.\nSo those are very depressing outcomes. Add in all the health effects as well, and it gets to be pretty overwhelming.\nBut what the national research also shows is that if we can mitigate trauma at a much earlier age and get people the help and intervention they need, we can really prevent a lot of those long-term health effects from happening to a huge population of people.\nSo, that's why we really wanted to focus on helping kids and changing things in the long term. And of course that has a huge economic value as well, when you look at what we spend on juvenile delinquency programs and health care costs and psychological services costs, all of those things that are impacted down the road.\nI think we've kind of worked through that part, and now we're focused on, OK, that's a terrible outcome, but there are so many things that can make a difference along the way.\nAnd since the program began, we've heard amazing stories about how coaches can make a difference, how teachers can make a difference. If the parents aren't able to be present in a child's life, who else can step up?\nQ. What kind of programs did you offer that helped bring about your results?\nHall-Jiran: At CVIC and elsewhere, we were involved in the actual counseling and intervention piece. We knew that the awareness-building and school-based efforts would lead to huge referrals, which they did. We saw a 213 percent increase in the number of kids that we served over that time, and we helped nearly 1,000 children through the trauma.\nAnd so, some of the results we're seeing, 96 percent of kids that go through our programming have an increase in their coping skills and their emotional well-being. That's going to lead to better grades at school, and is reflected in a lot of the results that we've been finding.\nJanell Regimbal, vice president of children and family services at Lutheran Social Services: At the school level, the programming goes from that preschool age with our Al's Pals program—which is helping those younger kids know how to deal with conflict, to respect and understand differences, to regulate their own emotions better—all the way up to the high school.\nAnd in the high schools—to use just one example—we're involved with the Fourth R. That's a curriculum that looks beyond reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic to the fourth R, which is relationships. It helps kids understand how to form and treat relationships. It's an evidence-based curriculum that the health teachers are able to take and infuse into what they're already doing.\nSo that's a unique aspect. It's not just middle school or elementary school, but that entire span of childhood and adolescence, such an important time in the growth and development of kids.\nJody Thompson, assistant superintendent for Grand Forks Public Schools: Pete referred to the sunsetting and the sunrising. The sunrise part of the plan is that we've had multiple staff members who've been trained nationally in the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, a research-based and nationally proven model that involves surveys, curriculum and training.\nAnd Olweus is one that has just blended perfectly with our character-education themes and what we would do normally.\nWe're big on the sustainability. Thanks to Safer Tomorrows, we were the recipients of some outstanding training and curriculum expertise. As a school district, we don't take that very lightly, because we haven't had to pay for anything.\nThat's a significant benefit to us. But we also want to make sure that this continues to be a part of our culture.\nQ. Does most of the instruction happen in a classroom setting?\nThompson: At the elementary level, we have character assemblies every month. So, that's something we've been doing for many years, but we integrate a lot more of this in those events.\nThere are schoolwide expectations for how to behave in the Grand Forks Public Schools. A lot of it is based on Olweus. You walk through our buildings and see posters about what the expectations are—above the line, below the line behaviors; and that's just become a standard. And it doesn't matter if you're a custodian or a worker in the lunchroom; everyone knows what the expectations are for students. So, if someone is a custodian at Phoenix Elementary School and sees students misbehaving, he or she is trained to intervene and not have to send them to the office. That person can just get them straightened up right then and there.\nWe've empowered all of our staff to intervene if it's necessary.\nHall-Jiran: We're trying to look at changing the culture in the schools, instead of just having it be a lesson.\nOne of my favorite stories is about a lunch lady who saw something happening and was on her way to intervene at a table, but by the time she got there, the students' peers had already intervened. That's when we know it's really working.\nRegimbal: The proactive part is helping those \"bystanders\" become \"upstanders\" and to have empathy. Hopefully, these practices and discussions have helped build empathy with the kids, so they can put themselves in someone else's shoes and think, how can I support that person whom I saw that happen to? How can I be an upstander?\nCoaching Boys into Men is one of those real \"upstander\" pieces.\nQ. Tell us about Coaching Boys into Men.\nHall-Jiran: CVIC was the lead agency on that, and so we were able to hire (former Grand Forks Central football coach) Mike Berg, who most people know, as our coach specialist. He says he's retired from that role, but he's still a pretty awesome mentor to the coaches involved.\nSo he was able to be the supervisor to the coaches who are involved in this particular program. Basically, it's coaches talking to athletes about respectful behavior. They integrate it right into their practice sessions.\nAnybody who's had adolescent children at home know that many times, they will listen to their coaches like they listen to no one else. Whatever their parent or teacher is saying, it can take on a different meaning if it's something that comes from the coach: \"Well, this is how we treat women and girls, and it's OK to talk about it and have a healthy conversation about it.\"\nWe've reached more than 800 male athletes.\nQ. What kinds of results have you seen?\nHall-Jiran: A new project update on Safer Tomorrows shows really exciting outcomes.\nForty-six percent fewer students in grades 9-12 have reported that someone forced them to do something sexual that they did not want to do.\nViolence-related suspensions and expulsions are down 42 percent. Physical fights in schools, down 24 percent. Those are pretty awesome numbers.\nQ. Were these findings based on before-and-after surveys?\nHall-Jiran: Right. We used a lot of the surveys that were already done in the school system, and then compared the results as the project progressed.\nWe also in Grand Forks region have the lowest levels of dating violence at 33 percent lower than the rest of the state. And that's since the project started; before it started, we were actually higher than the rest of the state.\nHaga: The brain science of all this is fascinating. It is a touchy-feely method, but it's also a scientific truth that something is happening to the brains of our children when trauma is happening. And there are methods that we can use, if we know what to do and what to look for, that can heal those harms and actually change their brain science and actually prepare them even better.\nHall-Jiran: And that changes generations. As you know, when someone has unresolved trauma and then they parent, there's no way it doesn't affect their kids. So it just goes on and on.\nI see that at CVIC, and I'm sad, because i think we should have been there for those kids 25 years ago the way we are now." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Nothing particularly new here.\nAfter stumbling across a promotional vehicle that has grown well beyond its initial sentimental appeal into a marketing colossus, the NHL has regularly staged outdoor games since 2008, from snowy Buffalo to balmy Los Angeles.\nWhat started as a one off novelty has become the league's regular season centerpiece, a New Year's day extravaganza that has become the NHL's signature event.\nAfter the first Winter Classic in Buffalo the league was hesitant to even confirm there would be a second one.\nNow 21 games later, the NHL will tell you the outdoor showcases are here to stay.\nThe Centennial Classic, won 5-4 by Toronto, marked the start of the NHL's 100th birthday celebrations and the outdoor game is a firm part of the league's future.\n\"This will be the 21st outdoor game, so they are here to stay,\" Steve Mayer, NHL executive vice-president, chief content officer told Reuters. \"We all have to figure out the balance of how many.\n\"There are some years where there have been six and some years when there are three.\n\"There is a bit of a balance that we cannot do too many of these because we don't want to make it feel like it is not special.\"\nThe appeal of the outdoor game lies in the sport's roots, anchored by romantic nostalgia and wintery charm.\nBut after nearly a decade of taking it outside the NHL is looking at ways to keep the romance alive.\nGames have been played in iconic sporting shrines like Chicago's Wrigley Field and Boston's Fenway Park.\nThere have been exotic settings such as Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles and marquee matchups featuring the NHL's biggest draws, Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin.\nIn 2014, the Maple Leafs and Red Wings faced off in front of a record crowd of over 105,000 at Michigan Stadium but for their Centennial launch the league chose a more intimate setting with 40,148 filling BMO Field.\nWhat better way to get a year-long party started than outdoors in the city many consider hockey's biggest market.\n\"We always talked about the greatest thing about these outdoor games is that they take you back to being a kid whether you did it in the backyard or pond or lake or a frozen river,\" explained Hall of Famer and all-time scoring leader Wayne Gretzky.\n\"Some of the kids in our era, we played on outdoor rinks. We had elite games that were on rinks outdoors.\n\"That's what this brings back. Parents come to these games with their kids and they think about when they were kids.\"\nHockey fans are being served a big helping of hockey nostalgia to start 2017.\nThe Centennial Classic will be followed on Monday, Jan. 2, with the Winter Classic in St. Louis, where the Blues will face off against the Chicago Blackhawks.\nThe highlight of the NHL centennial, which will bridge this season and next, will come near the end of 2017 with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the league on Nov. 26 followed by the Dec. 19 anniversary of the first games.\nIn a bid to keep outdoor games fresh, Mayer says nothing is off the table, not even ruling out the possibility of taking the extravaganza to Europe sometime in the future.\n\"We are looking at all options and from the commissioner on down discuss what is the next best game, what's the next best place and how will it be unique,\" said Mayer.\n\"We are looking at all options, all places. I don't think there isn't any place we wouldn't go.\"" ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Bitcoin - a web-based \"cryptocurrency\" that has no central authority, relying instead on thousands of computers across the world that validate transactions and add new bitcoins to the system - jumped 2.5 percent to $1,022 on the Europe-based Bitstamp exchange, its highest since December 2013.\nThough the digital currency has historically been highly volatile - a tenfold increase in its value in two months in late 2013 took it to above $1,100, before a hack on the Tokyo-based Mt. Gox exchange saw it plunge to under $400 in the following weeks - it has in the past two years been more stable.\nIts biggest daily moves in 2016 were around 10 percent, still very volatile compared with fiat currencies, but markedly lower than the trading of 2013, which saw daily price swings of as much as 40 percent.\nBitcoin may have been boosted in the past year by increased demand in China on the back of a 7 percent annual fall in the value of the yuan in 2016, the Chinese currency's weakest showing in over 20 years. Data shows most bitcoin trading is done in China.\nBitcoin is used to move money across the globe quickly and anonymously and does not fall under the purview of any authority, making it attractive to those wanting to get around capital controls, such as China's.\nIt is also may appeal to those worried about a lack of supply of cash, such as in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed high-denomination bank notes from circulation in November.\n\"The growing war on cash, and capital controls, is making bitcoin look like a viable, if high risk, alternative,\" said Paul Gordon, a board member of the UK Digital Currency Association and co-founder of Quantave, a firm seeking to make it easier for institutional investors to access digital currency exchanges.\nThough bitcoin is still some way off the all-time high of $1,163 that it reached on the Bitstamp exchange in late 2013, there are now more bitcoins in circulation - 12.5 are added to the system every 10 minutes. Its total worth is at a record-high above $16 billion, putting its value at around the same as that of an average FTSE 100 company." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Duluth police responded to a 911 call reporting shots fired at 510 E. 11th Street at about 2 p.m. Tuesday. The victim was taken from the home on a gurney, witnesses said, and transferred by Gold Cross Ambulance to a local hospital. Police confirmed just before 5 p.m. that the victim had died.\nPolice remained on the scene into the evening hours, and at 8 p.m. Duluth police reported that its officers — as well as several agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — were executing search warrants in connection with the case.\nA \"person of interest\" had been detained but no arrests had been made as of 8 p.m., Duluth police said, with the investigation expected to continue overnight.\nMayor Emily Larson said in a statement Tuesday night that she wanted to assure the Duluth community that the police department is \"fully engaged\" and has responded swiftly to make progress to resolve the case.\n\"When a person is harmed in our community, our whole community is harmed. Today, tragically so. Our condolences go to the victim's family and friends. As a parent, this is simply heartbreaking news,\" she said in the statement.\nDuluth Police Chief Mike Tusken said that preliminary information indicated that the incident may have been related to a home invasion or robbery.\nThe shooting took place in a small, single-story house that neighbors said has been college rental property for several years.\nEleventh Street is a dead-end in that area, just off Central Entrance, below Skyline Parkway and two blocks west of Myers-Wilkins Elementary School. School district officials said the school was placed in a precautionary lockdown on request of police after the shooting. School was already out by that time but some students still were in the building for extracurricular activities.\nMore than 20 squad cars converged at the scene within minutes of the first 911 call, with many officers searching backyards, alleys and woods with their guns drawn. Several dogs also were used to search for a suspect outside the home.\nAgents from the U.S. Border Patrol and Minnesota State Patrol also were at the scene.\nResidents interviewed during the incident said the neighborhood has mostly avoided serious violence.\n\"I've lived here since 1958 and we've never had anything like this before. We've had some car break-ins, but no shooting before,\" said Ken Cusick, who lives just down the block and across the street from the house where the shooting took place.\nKlay Longstreet said he's lived on 11th Street for nearly 20 years.\n\"We have a lot of rentals on this block, so there are parties, the usual college stuff, but nothing serious,\" he said.\nTheresa Wanless said she lives just two blocks from the shooting. She said she still trusts law enforcement to find the guilty parties and keep control of the city's streets.\n\"But it's just two blocks from the school. And there have been lots of shootings. It's very scary,\" she said.\nWanless said she's not convinced that the shootings are unrelated or that city officials are correct saying it's not part of a larger problem.\n\"Now, after this, being so close to my home, I'm not so sure,\" she said, lamenting the lack of information released after each shooting.\n\"It's unfortunate we only get short answers\" from police, she said.\nThe case would mark the first homicide in Duluth since October, when 47-year-old Eric Wayne Burns was fatally shot outside a Lincoln Park bar. Aaron Demetrius Humphreys, 42, has been charged with intentional second-degree murder in that case.\nIt's also the second shooting death in the Twin Ports this year. Kyle Androsky, 21, was killed outside a Superior bar on the morning of Jan. 1, with his brother also suffering a gunshot wound. Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for 25-year-old Jamar Maurice Smith, who remains in custody in Minnesota, but have not charged him or anyone else with the actual shooting.\nTuesday's shooting is the sixth in Duluth in less than four weeks. Victims have suffered varying levels of injuries, but until Tuesday's shooting no deaths had been reported.\nPolice have said the incidents are an \"anomaly,\" brought on by a number of factors, including increased availability of firearms, but have said there are no clear connections between any of the incidents.\n\"We haven't seen a spike of shootings like this in my career,\" said Tusken, who has been with the department for 25 years, shortly after Tuesday's incident was reported.\nLisa Kaczke contributed to this report." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "\"Information about the fingerprints and basic appearance of the terrorist have been found. In the process after this, work to identify him swiftly will be carried out,\" Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told a news conference.\nHe said it was clear that Turkey's military incursion into Syria, launched in August, had annoyed terror groups and those behind them, but said the offensive would continue until all threats to Turkey were removed.\nTurkey sent tanks and special forces into Syria just over four months ago to push back Islamic State militants from its border and prevent Kurdish militia fighters from taking ground in their wake.\nKurtulmus also said Sunday's attack bore significant differences to previous attacks in Turkey and that it had been carried out to create divisions within Turkish society." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Neu beat DFL candidate Laurie Warner by 6 percentage points in the Valentine's Day election, carrying 53 percent of the vote to Warner's 47 percent. It was the first Republican-held seat up for election since Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration.\nOrdinarily, Neu would have been heavily favored to win — Trump took about 60 percent of the district's vote in November. But with special elections often unpredictable, Republicans didn't take anything for granted.\n\"I'm grateful to Chisago County residents for their support and trust to be their new voice in the legislature,\" Neu said in an emailed statement. \"I'm eager to roll up my sleeves and get to work with my House colleagues working to make health care more affordable, cut taxes for families, and build a budget that respects Minnesota taxpayers.\"\nNeu's victory gives Republicans a 20-seat majority in the Minnesota House, their second-largest in the modern era.\nTHE WINNER\nNeu's victory marks a step out into the limelight for a woman who has long worked behind the scenes on political campaigns.\n\"I never really saw myself on this side of an election,\" said Neu, a Republican activist and campaign worker. \"When this opportunity came ... I thought, it's time. It's time for me to do this in a different way, to step up and try to be an advocate for the people of Chisago County and for conservative values.\"\nShe says she'll focus on cutting taxes and trying to improve Minnesota's individual health insurance market, where premiums have soared in recent years.\nBy winning, Neu beat Warner in her second bid for the District 32B seat. A former Duluth City Council member before moving to North Branch a decade ago, Warner's top campaign issue was increasing school funding.\nBoth candidates raised and spent more than $25,000 on their campaigns, according to reports filed with the state Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. Most of their spending went to mail sent to voters' homes.\nAN UNUSUAL ELECTION\nTuesday's election came about because of an unusual situation. Just two months before the November 2016 general election, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that incumbent Rep. Bob Barrett didn't live in the district and was ineligible to run.\nBecause the decision came so close to the election, there wasn't enough time under state law to replace Barrett on the ballot. Instead, the Supreme Court ruled that the November election wouldn't count for District 32B. The seat would remain vacant until February.\nDistrict 32B has been comfortably Republican in recent elections. Barrett beat Warner by 10 points in 2014. In both 2014 and 2016, other Republican candidates up and down the ballot won by similar margins. But it's not impossible for Democrats to win there in a favorable environment: In 2012, Barrett squeaked out a victory by fewer than 2 percentage points, and DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar won in a landslide.\nTURNOUT LOW, BUT BETTER\nTuesday's special election saw about 25 percent of the district's registered voters vote — much lower than the November election, when about 70 percent of registered voters in the district cast ballots.\nThat lower turnout is normal for special elections, since they take place at unusual times of the year and don't coincide with higher-profile state and national races. This can make special elections less predictable than normal races.\nBut Tuesday's race wasn't a normal special election. Because it was technically a continuation of the November election, people who voted early or absentee in November were automatically sent ballots for Tuesday.\nSo 25 percent of District 32B voters was actually much higher than the turnout in a pair of special elections last February, when between 10 percent and 20 percent of voters cast ballots." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted the communications around the same time they were discovering evidence that Russia was trying to disrupt the presidential election by hacking into the Democratic National Committee, three of the officials said, according to the Times.\nThe intelligence agencies then sought to learn whether the Trump campaign was colluding with the Russians on the hacking or other efforts to influence the election, the newspaper said.\nThe officials interviewed in recent weeks said they had seen no evidence of such cooperation so far, it said.\nHowever, the intercepts alarmed U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies, in part because of the amount of contact that was occurring while Trump was speaking glowingly about Russian President Vladimir Putin.\nThe intercepted calls are different from the wiretapped conversations last year between Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, and Sergei I. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, the Times said.\nDuring those calls, the two men discussed sanctions that the Obama administration imposed on Russia in December. Flynn misled the White House about those calls and was asked to resign on Monday night.\nThe White House did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment on the Times story.\nThe Times reported that the officials said the intercepted communications were not limited to Trump campaign officials, and included other Trump associates.\nOn the Russian side, the contacts also included members of the Russian government outside the intelligence services, the officials told the Times. All of the current and former officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the continuing investigation is classified, the newspaper reported.\nThe officials said one of the advisers picked up on the calls was Paul Manafort, who was Trump's campaign chairman for several months last year and had worked as a political consultant in Russia and Ukraine, the Times said. The officials declined to identify the other Trump associates on the calls.\nManafort, who has not been charged with any crimes, dismissed the accounts of the U.S. officials in a telephone interview with the Times on Tuesday.\nSeveral of Trump's associates, like Manafort, have done business in Russia. It is not unusual for U.S. businessmen to come in contact with foreign intelligence officials, sometimes unwittingly, in countries like Russia and Ukraine, where the spy services are deeply embedded in society, according to the Times.\nLaw enforcement officials did not say to what extent the contacts may have been about business, the Times said.\nOfficials would not disclose many details, including what was discussed on the calls, which Russian intelligence officials were on the calls, and how many of Trump's advisers were talking to the Russians. It is also unclear whether the conversations had anything to do with Trump himself, the Times said." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Omdahl's column is a terrific complement to Herald staff writer Sam Easter's story from last week, \"Great debates: Grand Forks history shows division over big projects\" (Page A1, Dec. 29).\nAs Easter documents, Grand Forks has long had a tough time getting to \"Yes\" on big projects such as the library. \"It seems — it's just this perception — when you go to other communities, they seem to do much better,\" City Council member Ken Vein says in the story.\nBut Grand Forks residents shouldn't feel too bad, because North Dakotans as a whole tend to share this resistance to change. That's because \"North Dakotans like access, even when it means throwing efficiency under the bus,\" Omdahl writes.\n\"People want a role—a big role—in government. Having many points at which citizens can be a part of government implements the cultural idea that everybody is important and should 'have a say.'\"\nThere's no better analysis of the stop-and-go process that has held up development of Grand Forks' Arbor Park.\nBut what about Fargo? For that matter, what about Bismarck?\nIn both cities, access-loving North Dakotans have mustered the efficiency to get projects done. In 2004, Fargo voters passed an 18-month, half-cent sales tax to build a new downtown library and two branch libraries with 62 percent of the vote.\nAnd in Bismarck, the Chamber of Commerce and a steering committee recently raised $8 million to renovate the Community Bowl, in part to keep the 1990s-era facility's status as host of the state high-school track meet.\nIt's always hard to compare communities, because it's so easy to selectively choose examples to make a point. And whenever Grand Forks frets about Fargo or Bismarck, it should remember City Council President Dana Sande's perceptive comment in Easter's story:\n\"My opinion is that people (in Grand Forks) are generally happy. And when you're generally happy, your tendency is to vote no for change.\"\nBut even contented populations can learn from other communities, especially where big and expensive projects are concerned.\nFurthermore, Grand Forks' sense that Fargo, in particular, has a stronger efficiency mindset goes back not just years but decades. Where development is concerned, \"Fargo means business and Grand Forks means hassles,\" a Grand Forks City Council member said in a Herald story on the subject in 2003.\nGrand Forks' policies strike us as being much friendlier to growth than they were then. Now, it's our hope that Grand Forks' determination will follow suit—that the city and its people will follow the Grand Forks Park District's lead, in mapping out an ambitious project (as the district did with Choice Health & Fitness) and finding ways to get it done.\n-- Tom Dennis for the Herald" ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Gibson stopped all 37 shots he faced as Minnesota peppered the Ducks net in all three periods, but was shut out at home for just the second time this season. Joseph Cramarossa had the lone goal for the Ducks (30-18-10), while Gibson recorded his fourth shutout of the season.\nThe Wild (37-13-6) had won their previous two meetings of the season vs. Anaheim, but fell behind early and were frustrated by Gibson throughout. Minnesota failed to score on five power plays in the game, coming within an inch of scoring when a long-range slap shot by defenseman Christian Folin hit the inside of the right post, sailed through the crease and to the side boards.\nMinnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk had 22 saves in the loss.\nThe Ducks took a lead less than five minutes into the game when Cramarossa went hard to the net and was rewarded. Streaking down the right side, Corey Perry took a sharp angle shot that Dubnyk stopped, but produced a rebound he couldn't control. Cramarossa, who'd gotten to the top of the crease, slapped the loose puck home before the goalie could react. It was Cramarossa's first goal in more than a month.\nMinnesota had the first two power plays of the game and out-shot Anaheim 13-8 in the opening period, but could not solve Gibson.\nThe Wild got two more power plays in the second period, and were thoroughly dominant throughout, out-shooting the Ducks 16-4. But Gibson repeatedly thwarted the Minnesota scoring chances.\nIt was the first shutout in more than a month for Gibson, who blanked Dallas on Jan. 10, and the win allowed Anaheim to close its six-game road trip with a 2-3-1 mark.\nAnaheim lost top-line left winger Antoine Vermette with 12:27 to play in the third period after he was ejected for slashing linesman Shandor Alphonso.\nNOTES: The Wild assigned F Tyler Graovac to Iowa of the American Hockey League after he cleared waivers. In 45 games with the NHL club this season, he has six goals. With his 6-foot-5 frame, there was some thought that he might be claimed by another team this close to the trade deadline but instead headed back to the minors. ... Ducks RW Jared Boll was a healthy scratch for the fourth time in Anaheim's last seven games. He has two assists in 38 games this season. ... Minnesota, which is in the midst of a franchise-record eight-game homestand, will next host the Dallas Stars on Thursday. Anaheim, which wrapped up a five-game trip on Tuesday, hosts the Florida Panthers on Friday. ... There was some speculation that Ducks D Sami Vatanen could return to the lineup after missing the previous four games with a lower-body injury, but he was scratched again." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "The event marked the 60th anniversary of the landing of the Granma yacht which brought the Castro brothers and their bearded rebels from Mexico to Cuba to start their revolution against a U.S.-backed dictatorship.\nTroops wielding automatic rifles marched in lock step behind a replica of the Granma on Monday, followed by a sea of banner- and flag-waving Cubans, many bussed in and organized through their workplaces and neighborhoods.\n\"This is an important message of unity and strength,\" said Rene Lazo, 66, who, like most, got up well before the crack of dawn to participate in the parade.\n\"This is going to be a difficult year but we will keep working hard to bring our people forwards\".\nCommunist-ruled Cuba fell into an economic recession in the second half of last year, its first since the collapse of the Soviet Union a quarter century ago, as its strategic ally Venezuela floundered.\nMeanwhile its historic detente with the United States came under threat with the election of Donald Trump as President. Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has said he would unravel attempts to normalize relations unless he gets a “better deal\".\nAll this is taking place as Cuba is also coming to terms with the loss of its revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro. While \"El Comandante\" had handed the presidency over to his younger brother Raul in 2008, he remained a key figurehead.\nSome of those marching held up images of Castro or banners reading \"We are Fidel\". While the parade normally takes place every five years on Dec. 2, it was postponed a month due to his death in late November.\n\"He may not be present physically but he is in all our hearts,\" said Natalia Gonzales, who had painted \"I am Fidel\" on the foreheads of her three grandchildren.\nRaul Castro and his family watched and waved at those marching from the foot of the towering monument to independence hero Jose Marti in the center of the square.\nThe mood on Monday was of defiance although many Cubans said they hoped there would not be a return of Cold War-era politics.\n\"We are braced for conflict with the USA, we always have been,\" said 70-year-old Marcial Garcia. \"But I hope Trump will instead follow the path ... towards normalization.\"\nTrump's threat to gradual and still fragile detente could not come at a worse time for Cuba.\nA tourism boom in part sparked by looser travel restrictions on Americans failed last year to offset dwindling oil shipments from Venezuela and less cash for Cuban doctors and other professionals working overseas.\n\"Everything is just very uncertain at the moment, so there's more propaganda,\" said Antonio Sosa, 50, an engineer who chose not to attend the parade. \"You don't see news on the news broadcast anymore, just speeches Fidel gave 30 years ago.\"" ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Jeremy Kessler, 33, surrendered just before noon at his home in Crosby, where officers had been stationed since 3 a.m. after a 911 caller reported multiple gunshots coming from the house.\nNo one was injured, and Kessler was taken into custody without incident, Chief Deputy Rob Melby of the Divide County Sheriff’s Office said.\nOfficial charges have yet to be filed by the Divide County State’s Attorney’s Office.\nAs of Tuesday afternoon, it was still unclear why Keller, who was alone in his house in northwest Crosby, allegedly began firing.\nA neighbor said gunshots continued throughout the early morning hours after six shots were heard initially, along with someone yelling.\n“He emptied a full mag,” Huntter Lacey, who lives next door to Kessler, said.\nPolice issued an emergency notification to surrounding residents, but did not order evacuations, Melby said.\n“We told them to shelter in place,” he said.\nBoth the elementary and high school in Crosby were put on lockdown as well, according to Divide County School Superintendent Sherlock Hirning. The alert was lifted around 11:15 a.m. when police notified administrators that Kessler was in custody.\nThe incident prompted a response from the U.S. Border Patrol, the North Dakota Highway Patrol, the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, Bureau of Criminal Investigation, several deputies from the Williams County Sheriff’s Office and members of the Minot SWAT team, who surrounded the home before Kessler came out.\nInvestigators from the Divide County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation spent hours Tuesday afternoon combing through the small house and inspecting the surrounding property, including the exterior of other houses nearby.\nAgents removed a number of rifles from the residence, along with what appeared to be ammunition boxes." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "The proposed training, which would have been provided by volunteers at no cost to the state, would occur during orientation for legislators at the beginning of each session.\nThe bill was not prompted by the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, but several who testified in support of the training said better cultural understanding could have prevented some of the conflicts that arose during the protests.\nThe Senate Government and Veterans Affairs Committee amended the bill to a legislative management study to consider the need for cultural competency training for legislators, other elected and appointed officials and state employees.\nSen. Shawn Vedaa, R-Velva, a member of the committee, said Tuesday, Feb. 14, the bill was amended to a study because several committee members felt requiring the training \"was overstepping legislation.\"\nSen. Dick Dever, R-Bismarck, spoke in favor of the bill as a way to repair relationships that have been strained during the pipeline protests.\n\"I think there have been damages done to the relationships between our general population and the population south of here through recent events,\" Dever said.\nThe Senate voted to amend the bill to a study, but ultimately the bill failed in a 20-26 vote on Tuesday.\nSen. Richard Marcellais, D-Belcourt, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and one of the bill's sponsors, said he is disappointed with the vote.\n\"It's not going to improve the communications or relations between the state and tribes,\" he said.\nMarcellais sponsored similar legislation in 2009 that also failed in the Senate with a similar vote." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "\"That's a good first step,\" Perkins said. \"That was good to get out with probably a little more intensity than I imagined. To feel like I could push it is exciting.\"\nSet to take Wednesday off from throwing before long-tossing again on Thursday, Perkins had some anxious moments over the weekend after canceling a planned bullpen session on Feb. 10. He used air quotes around the word \"setback,\" but it wasn't ideal when he felt soreness in his teres minor, one of the rotator cuff muscles involved in the external rotation of the shoulder joint.\n\"I think it had been bugging me longer than I thought,\" Perkins said. \"I just thought it was part of rehabbing and a little discomfort, but I think it had been lingering for a while, a month or so maybe. I forgot what it was like to feel good.\"\nHaving hit every marker on his rehab calendar since June 23 surgery to repair a torn labrum, Perkins figures it was inevitable he'd have to back off at some point. The good news is Tuesday's moderate-intensity throwing session presented no challenges, physical or otherwise.\n\"They say that when you have the front of your shoulder fixed, eventually you're going to develop some sort of soreness or something in the back,\" Perkins said. \"It was bound to happen. It's just how your arm works. It was a matter of time before something happened.\"\nPerkins, who threw as usual under the eye of rehab coordinator Lanning Tucker, noted he was able to get about 7 months into an eight-month rehab schedule before he had to scale back a bit.\n\"I was lucky with that,\" he said. \"The whole thing had been laid out, and so you try to get through it that way and it doesn't always work. I don't think anyone's ever done that. I had a little soreness, and it went away in a couple days.\"\nA three-time all-star set to turn 34 on March 2, Perkins is entering the last guaranteed year of a contract extension he signed in the spring of 2014. He anticipates throwing his next bullpen session on Friday or Saturday but will be careful not to look too far ahead.\n\"I'm taking it day by day. I'm not getting that far ahead,\" he said. \"I got too far ahead last week. I was thinking about that bullpen a week before I threw it. You've got to focus on something when you've gone that long. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to play catch on Thursday.\"\nThe Twins will be careful not to rush Perkins, who hasn't pitched since the opening week of the 2016 season. He figures to see his game action limited to back fields until the latter portion of spring training, and he said last month a season-opening stint on the disabled list is a possibility.\n\"I just want to continue to feel good,\" he said. \"That will be my goal every day for the season — to come in and feel good. That will be a success if that's the case.\"" ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "The criminal case against the 29-year-old Crookston man officially was closed Tuesday after Judge Tamara Yon sentenced him in Polk County District Court for his actions during a confrontation with John Henry Torres, who died after hitting his head Dec. 25, 2015, outside Captain Crooks bar. Prosecutors failed to convince a jury that a shove from Strommen caused Torres' death.\nStrommen didn't deny pushing Torres, but he said he never saw Torres fall, suggesting the victim slipped on the ice.\nTorres died a week later at Altru Hospital in Grand Forks due to head injuries.\nLast month, jurors acquitted Strommen of the most serious charges: first-degree manslaughter, a felony; and fifth-degree assault, a misdemeanor. The jury did find Strommen guilty of misdemeanor disorderly conduct.\nYon sentenced Strommen to 90 days in jail, the maximum sentence for the charge under Minnesota law. But Strommen will get credit for time served, meaning he does not have to spend anymore time in jail. He was ordered to pay $1,085 in court fees and fines.\nTorres' fiancee, Rita Saenz, faced Strommen in court, telling him \"you destroyed my family.\" She insisted Strommen killed the man she loved, though she was not present during the altercation.\n\"He doesn't feel bad, I see nothing but evilness in his eyes,\" Saenz told Forum News Service. \"I wanted him to look at me, look at my kids so that he could see what I have to see with my kids every day.\"\nStrommen remained silent throughout Tuesday's hearing, only shaking his head when Yon asked if he had anything to say before his sentencing. Strommen did not look at Saenz during the hearing. He also declined to give comment to reporters from WDAZ.\nSaenz told WDAZ she felt the justice system failed her, adding her family will never see closure.\n\"I tried everything I could do,\" she said. \"I tried to do it, and I feel like I failed my husband because I was going to get justice, and I wasn't able to do that.\"\nWDAZ and the Grand Forks Herald are owned by the Forum Communications Co." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "The Knights received goals from 10 different players in cruising to a 16-1 win over Grafton-Park River in the East Region tournament quarterfinals at Purpur Arena.\nNo. 1 Central improved to 22-0 and will play No. 4 Devils Lake in the semifinals Friday at 6 p.m. at Purpur.\n\"We moved the puck well and shared the load,\" Central coach Grant Paranica said. \"Throughout the lineup, everybody played quite well.\"\nCentral senior Grant Johnson, the state's leading scorer, led the way with a six-point night. He had three goals and three assists, despite playing limited minutes late in the game with the score out of hand.\nBoe Bjorge, Cam Olstad, Lucas Kanta and Zachary Murphy all had two goals for the Knights, while Judd Caulfield, Hunter Moreland, Cole Hanson, Parker Stroh (first varsity goal) and Mitch Idalski all scored once.\nCentral defenders Brock Reller and Tate Steffan each had three assists.\n\"We played really well, passing the puck and not being selfish,\" Reller said. \"We can't get complacent now. We have to play our game, pass the puck and move our feet.\"\nCentral outscored the Spoilers 35-2 in three meetings this season.\nFourteen different Knights figured into the scoring. Central scored more goals in a game than it has in at least 10 years.\n\"From our third and fourth line, we logged quite a bit of minutes,\" Paranica said. \"They seemed to manage and actually create opportunities no matter who we played them against.\"\nCentral led 7-1 after one period, with Grafton-Park River's lone goal coming from Wyatt Wardner, who made it 2-1 at 4 minutes, 39 seconds of the first period.\nThe Knights led 12-1 after two periods and saw running time throughout the third period.\nThe Spoilers, who dropped to 4-18 this season, will play No. 5 Fargo South/Shanley at noon on Friday in a tournament loser-out game at Purpur." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Let freedom ring, in the nooks and crannies of the administrative state: One day a year—Lemonade Day—children in Austin, Texas, can sell the stuff without spending $460 on various fees, licenses and permits.\nTwelve-year olds in a Tampa middle school, learning about \"how much privilege\" they have, were asked if they were \"Cisgendered,\" \"Transgendered\" or \"Genderqueer.\" Two years after Emma was the most common name given to baby American girls, the trend was toward supposedly gender-neutral baby names (e.g., Lincoln, Max, Arlo) lest the child feel enslaved to stereotypes. A New Jersey mother says a police officer interrogated her 9-year-old son after he was suspected of a racial slur when he talked about brownies, the baked good.\nThe Equal Employment Opportunity Commission pondered whether a worker committed racial harassment by wearing a cap emblazoned with the Gadsden flag (depicting a coiled rattlesnake, with the words \"Don't Tread on Me\"). A University of Iowa professor complained that the Hawkeyes' mascot Herky, a fierce bird, is \"conveying an invitation to aggressivity and even violence\" that is discordant with the \"all accepting, nondiscriminatory messages we are trying to convey.\"\nAs President's Day approached, San Diego advised city workers to use \"bias-free language\" by avoiding the phrase \"Founding Fathers.\" A National Park Service employee giving guided tours to Independence Hall in Philadelphia told tourists that the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were produced by \"class elites who were just out to protect their privileged status.\" The employee praised herself for her \"bravery.\"\nThe NBA, which plays preseason games in China, home of forced abortions and organ harvests, moved its 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte because of North Carolina's law stipulating that transgender individuals should use bathrooms appropriate to their physiology.\nThe New York Times reported the downside of humanity's mastery of fire: \"Figuring out how to make fire was no doubt an evolutionary boon to our ancestors. But it may have led to our smoking habit.\" Facing a budget shortfall in 2010, New York's Legislature raised the cigarette tax $1.60 to $4.35 per pack, expecting, illogically, that it would discourage smoking and raise $290 million annually. By 2016, cigarette revenues had fallen 25 percent, and smuggled cigarettes held 58 percent of the New York market.\nBy 2016, six years after the president's wife agitated for federal guidelines limiting sodium, sugar, fats and calories in school lunches, 1.4 million students had exited the National School Lunch Program, and students had a robust black market in salt and sugar. A tweet with the hashtag #ThanksMichelleObama said, \"The first lady can have a personal chef, but I can't have two packets of ketchup?\"\nAfter Connecticut imposed its fifth tax increase since 2011, General Electric moved its headquarters from there to Boston. CKE Restaurants includes the Carl's Jr. chain, which was founded in California and ignited the fast-food industry. CKE announced that it was moving its headquarters from California (highest income tax rate: 13 percent) to Tennessee (highest income tax rate: zero).\nCongress considered bills to prevent the IRS from hiring or retaining people delinquent in their tax payments. Unions in New York and California lobbied for exemption from the $15 minimum wage they lobbied for. It was splendidly appropriate that when Cuba buried the architect of its ramshackle socialism, the vehicle carrying Castro's ashes broke down and had to be pushed by soldiers.\n\"Thou swell, thou witty, thou sweet, thou grand\" were not lyrics that many Americans sang about either presidential candidate, but one of them had to win, so as you steel yourself for 2017, remember H.L. Mencken's timeless wisdom: A martini is \"the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet.\"\nWill writes for the Washington Post. Readers can reach him at [email protected]." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Tribal lawyers filed for a summary judgement on the permits issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers following an executive order by President Donald Trump that expedited the 1,172-mile crude oil pipeline's approval.\nThe Tribe said it is seeking the judgement in hopes of getting a decision before the pipeline can go into operation.\nThe corps issued the final easement allowing the pipeline to be constructed under the Missouri River, half a mile upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, on Feb. 8, reversing an earlier decision to withhold the easement while the agency completed an environmental impact statement.\n\"In this arbitrary and capricious reversal of course, the Trump Administration is circumventing the law: wholly disregarding the treaty rights of the Standing Rock Sioux and ignoring the legally required environmental review. It isn't the 1800s anymore — the U.S. government must keep its promises to the Standing Rock Sioux and reject rather than embrace dangerous projects that undercut treaties,\" Jan Hasselman, the Earthjustice attorney who is representing the Tribe in its challenges against the pipeline, said in a statement.\nThe action comes on the heels of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who denied a request for a temporary restraining order to halt pipeline construction while the legal battle plays out." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a branch of the Interior Department, in September proposed bringing the bee under federal safeguards.\nThe rule formalizing the listing of the vanishing pollinator, once widely found in the upper Midwest and Northeastern United States, was published in the Federal Register on Jan. 11 and was to take effect last Friday.\nThe Natural Resources Defense Council said the listing has been delayed until March 21 as part of a broader freeze ordered by Trump's White House on rules issued by the prior administration aimed at protecting public health and the environment.\nThe group argued in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that U.S. wildlife managers had violated the law by abruptly suspending the bumble bee listing without public notice or comment. They said the rule technically became final when it was published in the Federal Register.\nThe lawsuit seeks to have a judge declare that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acted unlawfully and to order the agency to rescind the rule delaying the bumble bee's listing.\n\"The science is clear—this species is headed toward extinction, and soon. There is no legitimate reason to delay federal protections,\" Natural Resources Defense Council senior attorney Rebecca Riley said in a statement.\nThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could not immediately be reached for comment.\nBumble bees pollinate wildflowers and about a third of U.S. crops, from blueberries to tomatoes, according to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.\nThe bee's population and range have declined by more than 90 percent since the late 1990s due to disease, pesticides, climate change and habitat loss, according to wildlife officials.\nThe insect is one of 47 varieties of native bumble bees in the United States and Canada, more than a quarter of which face the risk of extinction, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.\nIn September, seven varieties of yellow-faced bees in Hawaii became the first such insects to be added to the U.S. list of endangered species because of losses due to habitat destruction, wildfires and the invasion of nonnative plants and insects." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "She had overdosed. Someone had brought her to the clinic in the middle of the night on Feb. 2, authorities said, but when the clinic was closed, whoever brought her abandoned the car and left. They didn't call 911.\nThis month, the Grand Forks Police Department put out a reminder that those using and possessing drugs who are present at the time of an overdose will not be prosecuted if they call and cooperate with first responders.\nIn North Dakota and Minnesota, Good Samaritan laws are on the books that give immunity to those who call in drug overdoses if the caller remains on scene until first responders arrive and cooperate with medical services and law enforcement. The person must be in need of emergency medical services. Up to three people can be granted immunity.\nThe law also applies to people overdosing from alcohol consumption.\n\"We want people to be focused on saving a life,\" said Lt. Jeremy Moe with the special resource bureau.\nIn 2016, Grand Forks Police responded to 28 calls for overdoses. Three of them were fatal.\nState Sen. Howard Anderson Jr., R-Turtle Lake, was a sponsor of the Good Samaritan laws that passed in North Dakota in 2015. The former director of the North Dakota Board of Pharmacy, Anderson said he wanted to sponsor the law to give people a better chance to survive. Information provided by companions can be key to successful care.\n\"It's hard to find out what they took or what the situation is, so by the time doctors get a chance to figure out what it is, it's too late,\" Anderson said.\nIn the process of passing the law, legislators heard testimony from a man whose companions had abandoned him in a dumpster, thinking he'd overdosed, Anderson said.\nBut too few people know about the law, Anderson said. He also believes law enforcement have been overzealous in pressing charges against people, despite the law.\n\"They're using the Good Samaritan laws as an excuse to charge people because, obviously, if I gave you drugs, then I'm guilty of providing them for you. It's like a sale even if I gave it to you free,\" he said. \"So we need a little better education with police. If you're trying to save somebody's life for crying out loud, back off a little bit. Catch the crook the next time.\"\nAnderson said users speak to one another, and if law enforcement is too aggressive, it might deter people from calling for help.\nGrand Forks Police said they were not aware of any specific incidents in town where immunity had been granted based on the Good Samaritan laws.\nForum News Service contributed to this article." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "It described the Reina nightclub, where many foreigners as well as Turks were killed, as a gathering point for Christians celebrating their \"apostate holiday\". The attack, it said, was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria.\n\"The apostate Turkish government should know that the blood of Muslims shed with airplanes and artillery fire will, with God's permission, ignite a fire in their own land,\" the Islamic State declaration said.\nThere was no immediate comment from Turkish officials.\nThe jihadist group has been blamed for at least half a dozen attacks on civilian targets in Turkey over the past 18 months; but, other than assassinations, this is the first time it has directly claimed any of them. It made the statement on one of its Telegram channels, a method used after attacks elsewhere.\nNATO member Turkey is part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State and launched an incursion into neighboring Syria in August to drive the radical Sunni militants from its borders, sending in tanks and special forces backed by fighter jets.\nNationals of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Morocco, Libya, Israel, India, Canada, a Turkish-Belgian dual citizen and a Franco-Tunisian woman were among those killed at the nightclub on the shores of the Bosphorus waterway. Twenty-five of the dead were foreigners, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.\nAll of those killed died from gunshot wounds, some of them shot at a very close distance or even point-blank range, according to a forensics report quoted by Milliyet newspaper.\nPolice distributed a hazy black-and-white photo of the alleged gunman taken from security footage. State broadcaster TRT Haber said eight people had been detained in Istanbul.\nThe authorities believe the attacker may be from a Central Asian nation and suspect he had links to Islamic State, the Hurriyet newspaper said. It said he may be from the same cell responsible for a gun-and-bomb attack on Istanbul's main airport in June, in which 45 people were killed and hundreds wounded.\nThe attack at Reina, popular with Turkish celebrities and wealthy visitors, shook Turkey as it tries to recover from a failed July coup and a series of deadly bombings, some blamed on Islamic State, others claimed by Kurdish militants.\nAround 600 people were thought to be inside when the gunman shot dead a policeman and civilian at the door, forcing his way in then opening fire with an automatic assault rifle. Witnesses said he shouted \"Allahu Akbar\" (God is Greatest).\nSome at the exclusive club jumped into the Bosphorus after the attacker opened fire at random just over an hour into the new year. Witnesses described how he shot the wounded as they lay on the ground.\nKalashnikov in suitcast\nThe attacker was believed to have taken a taxi from the southern Zeytinburnu district of Istanbul and, because of the busy traffic, got out and walked the last four minutes to the entrance of the nightclub, newspaper Haberturk said.\nHe pulled his Kalashnikov rifle from a suitcase at the side of the road, opened fire on those at the door, then threw two hand grenades after entering, Haberturk said, without citing its sources. It said six empty magazines were found at the scene and that he was estimated to have fired at least 180 bullets.\nSecurity services had been on alert across Europe for new year celebrations following an attack on a Christmas market in Berlin that killed 12 people. Only days ago, an online message from a pro-Islamic State group called for attacks by \"lone wolves\" on \"celebrations, gatherings and clubs\".\nIn a statement hours after the shooting, President Tayyip Erdogan said such attacks aimed to create chaos and destabilize the country.\nFour months into its operation in Syria, the Turkish army and the rebels it backs are besieging the Islamic State-held town of al-Bab. Erdogan has said he wants them to continue to Raqqa, the jihadists' Syrian stronghold.\nTurkey has also been cracking down on Islamic State networks at home. In counter-terrorism operations between Dec 26-Jan 2, Turkish police detained 147 people over links to the group and formally arrested 25 of them, the interior ministry said.\nThe New Year's Day attack came five months after a failed military coup, in which more than 240 people were killed, many of them in Istanbul, as rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and fighter jets in a bid to seize power.\nMore than 100,000 people, including soldiers and police officers, have been sacked or suspended in a subsequent crackdown ordered by Erdogan, raising concern both about civic rights and the effectiveness of Turkey's security apparatus." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "The SMHS left the space over the course of last summer to move into a brand-new facility just a few blocks away. Since then, the administrative and advising offices of the UND College of Arts and Sciences have been moving their operations into the building.\nThe plan to renovate the old SMHS would help clear the way for the consolidation of additional departments in the basement, first and second floors of the old SMHS. Some of the functions that would move over now are housed in buildings slated to be taken offline by the university.\nAs proposed to the SBHE, the renovations would be funded by $1.3 million in extraordinary repair funding and $2 million in appropriated funds.\nAn SBHE summary of the university's proposal states UND indicated there is a \"high probability\" that digital classrooms will be built while the renovations are taking place. The summary states the board would not consider approval of additional classroom space until prior approval of the university's strategic plan, along with the portion of a master plan which identifies facility needs for programming.\nThe request from UND was heard Tuesday by the board's budget and finance committee.\nNorth Dakota University System communications director Billie Jo Lorius said the committee has asked UND for additional information. Lorius said the committee took no specific action on the proposal beyond passing it along to be heard by the board at its next full meeting.\nOther news\n• UND's Pride of the North marching band has met its fundraising goal of $88,000, set in November. The funds were donated by 232 alumni, friends and loved ones and will be used to purchase new uniforms for the fall of 2017.\n• The University of Minnesota-Crookston will host the founder and CEO of Extreme Sandbox, Randy Stenger, at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Peterson Classroom of Heritage Hall. A question and answer session and refreshments will follow the presentation.\n• The UND Music Department will host a senior trombone recital for Sean Sprague at 1 p.m. Sunday in the Hughes Fine Arts Center. The recital is free, and all are welcome.\n• The UND Music Department will host a recital for the UND Guitar Studio at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Hughes Fine Arts Center. The event is free and open to the public." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "The Roughriders were leading only 32-29 with 13:04 remaining after Aaron Knutson scored from close range for Central. But Red River broke the game open when the Riders followed with a decisive 21-2 run.\n\"It was getting a little frustrating,'' Red River junior Jordan Polynice said of the Riders' early scoring problems. \"We had open shots. They just weren't falling.\n\"But we went to the press and started running. That's when we're at our best, in a fast-paced game.''\nPolynice had 10 of his game-high 22 points in the run, in which the Riders poured in the 21 points in a 4:35 span to build a 53-31 advantage.\nPierson Painter had a 3-point basket in the big spurt; otherwise, it was Red River scoring by attacking the basket. And they picked up eight points off turnovers.\n\"We haven't had many first halves like that,'' said Red River coach Kirby Krefting, whose team led 24-22 at halftime. \"Can you come out any flatter than we did? We were settling for jump shots and giving Central too many good looks.\n\"Our defense got us going. We got some easy baskets and started attacking the basket.''\nIn the second half, Cody Robertson and Tyler Enerson each had three steals and Polynice blocked a pair of shots to highlight the defense.\nRobertson added 11 points for the 12-7 Roughriders, while Painter was a spark off the bench with eight points.\nCentral got a short-lived spark when Jacob Ohnstad hit a long trey at the buzzer to end the first half, pulling the Knights within 24-22. But the Knights couldn't match the pace Red River set in the second half.\n\"Red River is a good offensive team,'' Central coach Dan Carlson said. \"We expected them to make a run at some point. And we couldn't score in that run to slow them down. That's what hurt. We've had a hard time scoring this year.''\nKnutson had 12 points and Ohnstad 10 to lead the 0-19 Knights. Ohnstad finished with nine rebounds, one shy of a double double." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "In a letter sent on Dec. 28 but released by the Vatican only on Monday, Jan. 2, Francis said: \"I would like us to renew our complete commitment to ensuring that these atrocities will no longer take place in our midst.\"\nSince his election in 2013, Francis has taken some steps to root out sexual abuse in the Church and to put in place practices to protect children. But victims' groups say he has not done enough, particularly to hold to account bishops who tolerated sexual abuse or covered it up.\n\"(The Church) recognises the sins of some of her members: the sufferings, the experiences and the pain of minors who were abused sexually by priests. It is a sin that shames us,\" Francis wrote in the letter.\n\"I would like us to renew our complete commitment to ensuring that these atrocities will no longer take place in our midst. Let us find the courage needed to take all necessary measures and to protect in every way the lives of our children, so that such crimes may never be repeated. In this area, let us adhere, clearly and faithfully, to 'zero tolerance',\" he said.\nThe comments, included in a letter about the plight of vulnerable children in general, were some of his most comprehensive on abuse.\nAnne Barrett-Doyle, founder of the U.S.-based research and monitoring group BishopAccountablity.org, said in an email that the pope's words were little more than rhetoric.\n\"This pope keeps proclaiming zero tolerance but doesn't enact it. He knows full well that Church law contains no zero tolerance provision. Zero tolerance is mere rhetoric. The sad fact is that the Church still has not changed its system to make zero tolerance a binding reality,\" she said.\nShe said that while it existed in the United States, it is \"still optional in the global Catholic Church\".\nFrancis, who has met victims of sexual abuse several times, both in the Vatican and on some of his foreign trips, said: \"We join in the pain of the victims and weep for this sin - the sin of what happened, the sin of failing to help, the sin of covering up and denial, the sin of the abuse of power.\"\nIn 2015, Francis ordered the trial and defrocking of a Polish archbishop accused of paying for sex with minors in the Dominican Republic.\nThe year before, he set up a Vatican commission, including some victims, to advise local Churches on how to prevent abuse. But some members have complained about the slow pace of change in the Vatican.\nFrancis also approved the establishment of a Vatican tribunal to judge bishops accused of covering up sexual abuse or failing to prevent it, but the proposal has so far stalled.\nChurch sexual abuse broke into the open in 2002, when it was discovered that U.S. bishops moved abusers from parish to parish instead of defrocking them. Similar scandals were later discovered around the world and tens of millions of dollars have been paid in compensation." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Perdue, a Democrat-turned-Republican who founded a grain and fertilizer business, served on Trump's agricultural advisory committee during his presidential campaign.\nThe official gave no other details about Trump's choice for agriculture secretary, one of the few remaining posts Trump has to fill as he assumes the White House on Jan. 20.\nThe appointment must be approved by the Republican-led U.S. Senate.\nPerdue, 70, led the southern U.S. state for two terms as governor from 2003 to 2011 after previously representing a rural swath of central Georgia about 100 miles south of Atlanta in the state Senate.\nElected in 2002, he became the state's first Republican since 1871, according to the National Governors Association.\nAfter finishing his second term as governor, Perdue founded Perdue Partners, a global trading firm that consults and provides services for companies looking to export products.\nTrump had been meeting with a number of other possible candidates for U.S. agriculture secretary, including Elsa Murano, undersecretary of agriculture for food safety under President George W. Bush, and Chuck Conner, head of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives.\nHe has also met with Abel Maldonado, former lieutenant governor of California and co-owner of Runway Vineyards; Tim Huelskamp, Republican U.S. representative from Kansas; and Sid Miller, Texas agriculture commissioner." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Common sense suggests that when you've got a big goal, like committing to a new workout routine, eating better, losing weight, or perhaps writing a book or starting a business, you should tell as many people as possible.\nAfter all, if lots of friends know about your goal, you'll be motivated to work harder because you don't want to disappoint yourself or your community.\nPlus, your friends will check in with you, and push you, and hold you accountable so that you don't quit on yourself. Right?\nWell... maybe not.\nIn his 3-minute TED Talk, Derek Sivers shares a surprising idea: Telling people about your goal makes it less likely to happen.\nWhy is this?\nAs Derek explains, some researchers think it has something to do with the power of \"social acknowledgment.\"\nFor example, let's say you announce to your best friend: \"I'm going to train for 5K race! This year, I'm really doing it!\"\nYour friend responds by saying: \"Congratulations! What a great goal. You can do it. I'm so proud of you.\"\nAs you listen to your friend's encouragement, praise and acknowledgment, you feel really great! You feel accepted, appreciated and full of warm, fuzzy feelings.\nBut there's a catch: once your body is flooded with those types of warm feelings, you're actually less motivated to \"do the hard work\" that's necessary to reach your goal.\nIn a sense, your brain has been \"tricked\" into thinking you're already \"done.\" That's why telling people about your goals can be counter-productive. It gives you a \"premature sense of completeness.\" Or so the theory goes.\nMy personal opinion: It really depends on your personality and on the type of goal you're trying to achieve.\nIf your goal is to get a new job, for example, then it's important to tell lots of people, because the people in your professional network can point you towards possible job opportunities, write letters of recommendation and open all kinds of doors for you. You'll get farther and faster if you involve your community.\nBut in other instances, zipping your lips might be a good idea.\nIf you've been telling your friends, \"I'm going to write a book!\" for 10 years in a row, but you're making zero progress, then maybe you could try changing your approach. Zip your lips and start writing in secret. Maybe you'll find more success if you take the no-talking, action-only approach.\nMy personal goal was to crank out several more articles and get them polished and queued up for publication so that I don't have to worry about writing over the winter holiday break.\nBut instead, I got sidelined by a winter virus.\nSo, maybe I shouldn't have said that." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Gardenhire, 59, will travel back to Minnesota shortly before mid-April surgery, but the cancer was caught early and the prognosis is good for a full recovery.\nGardenhire told the Arizona Republic that he expects to return roughly six weeks after surgery but added on a conference call with reporters that he still must undergo additional tests to make sure the cancer hasn’t spread.\n“I don’t think anybody can say 100 percent of anything when you’re dealing with cancer,” Gardenhire said. “In talking with the doctors, they’re been pretty optimistic. I feel pretty confident, and they do too, that we’re going to go in there and take this thing out.”\nThe second-winningest manager in Twins history, Gardenhire spent last season as a special assistant under former Twins general manager Terry Ryan, himself treated for cancer in 2014. Gardenhire managed the Twins to six division titles in his 13-year run from 2002-14.\nEven after getting fired after the 2014 season, Gardenhire continued to undergo annual physicals with Twins internist Dr. Vijay Eyunni. It was during a recent exam that Eyunni noticed Gardenhire’s elevated PSA levels and ordered more tests, which came back positive for prostate cancer.\n“Not only is Dr. Vijay my doctor, he’s a very good friend,” Gardenhire said. “He wouldn’t let me go without getting a physical. If I didn’t show up when the rest of the guys do in January every year, he calls us and says, ‘Get in here.’ I tip my hat to him because he’s done that for a lot of people, not just me.”\nToby Gardenhire, the manager’s son, was recently hired to a full-time coaching role with the Gulf Coast League Twins after serving in a part-time capacity last season. The younger Gardenhire spent the past five seasons as head baseball coach at Wisconsin-Stout.\n“That’s bad news,” Twins closer Glen Perkins said of Ron Gardenhire’s cancer diagnosis. “I’ve known him for a long time. I guess you just pray for him and hope that they catch it early and they’ll be able to get him fixed up. He’s got a good sense of humor. He’s got a great attitude about everything. Hopefully, he’ll continue that.”\nPerkins lost a grandfather to bone cancer that started out as prostate cancer. He was close with former Gophers pitching coach Todd Oakes, who died last spring after a long battle with leukemia, and was part of a contingent of Twins employees that recently visited former Twins bullpen coach Rick Stelmaszek, who is 68 and battling pancreatitis.\n“It’s not fun watching people go through cancer,” Perkins said. “I’ve had too much experience with that lately. Cancer sucks.”\nGardenhire said many friends have reached out to him since his diagnosis was revealed, including Diamondbacks team owner Ken Kendrick and team president Derrick Hall, both of whom overcame prostate cancer.\n“There’s a lot of people reaching out to me that have been through it, including some good close friends of mine there in the Twin Cities,” Gardenhire said. “Like a lot of people in this country and all over, I’m joining a fight personally against this thing — cancer. We’re going to attack it. (Wife) Carol and I and my kids, we understand it and we’re going to go through it and we’re going to keep our heads high and push on.”\nThe St. Paul Pioneer Press is a media partner with Forum News Service" ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "A key bottom line: The position is important, even vital. Why is Kennedy himself among North Dakota's highest paid public servants? Simple: Because Kennedy's salary is leverage. It's an investment by North Dakota in Kennedy's talent and connections, traits that Kennedy is expected to use to raise tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars for the university.\nFundraising is a huge part of a modern university president's job. So is running the complicated institution in a way that grows its reputation and strength.\nIf Kennedy succeeds at those goals, then North Dakota's investment will have more than paid off. And if the event coordinator helps Kennedy succeed, then the state will have spent its money wisely there, too.\nFurthermore, critics hurt their case when they dismiss the coordinator as a \"bartender.\" A glance at the job description sets the record straight. The description lists more than 50 duties, of which \"serve as bartender during events\" is only one.\nOther duties include \"initiate, plan and coordinate all official entertaining events hosted by the president and first lady,\" \"coordinate all catering arrangements,\" \"extend invitations and coordinate RSVP follow-up,\" \"on-site management of the event,\" \"track expenses,\" \"oversee payment\" and dozens of others.\nAs a thoughtful letter in Monday's Herald concluded, \"to reduce the impressive multi-tasking that the event coordinator must do to just one of the more trivial duties in the job description is a disservice to her (the retiring incumbent's) valuable work and presence at UND.\"\nThat said, Kennedy must realize that with every UND staffer and student anxious about where the ax will fall, his own hiring decisions will be second guessed. People are watching, and a key to getting \"buy in\" from them will be showing that the administration is sharing—not just feeling—their pain.\nThat's where Kennedy should direct his attention, because that's why this hire touched a nerve.\nIt's the timing—meaning the timing of this particular hire, and what it seems to be saying about Kennedy's approach to UND's fiscal squeeze.\nUND philosophy professor Jack Russell Weinstein was blunt about that perception. \"They're cutting the law school, they're cutting the radio station and they're cutting courses, and the president is hiring a party planner,\" Weinstein told Herald Staff Writer Andrew Hazzard.\nA few years ago, Altru Health System faced its own cutbacks. Here's how the headline in the next day's Herald read: \"Altru tightens its belt; senior leadership taking pay cut until end of 2013.\"\nAltru's approach generated comments, too; but those comments were a lot more forgiving of Altru's leaders. That's because the stakeholders knew the leaders were sharing in the sacrifice, not just doing it out. There's a lesson in that perception for Kennedy at UND.\n-- Tom Dennis for the Herald" ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Amber Gajeski, the center's activities assistant, said the goal of the evening was to help seniors meet new people. She said she often hears members express that they do not have companions with whom to share activities.\n\"That's kind of one of the main reasons why I (thought), we have to try this event,\" she said. \"Even if they don't find love, which we're not really expecting.\"\nFive men and five women attended. They sat in pairs and talked for eight minutes at a time, then mingled as a group afterward. The attendees said they came into the evening expecting a lighthearted evening without pressure.\n\"I'm at an age now where it's about fun, meeting new people,\" said Bobbie, a member of the center who declined to give her last name. \"It's not like I think I'm going to find a husband or anything. It's just about having fun now.\"\nAttendees noted on a sheet of paper if they were interested in getting to know anyone they met further. Gajeski had placed conversation prompts on each table in case any of the pairs needed help breaking the ice, but the cards seemed to go untouched as everyone chatted easily up until the time came to switch pairs.\nJim Laturnus said he found he had a lot in common with all of the women he visited.\n\"I had nothing to lose, really,\" he said of his choice to come to the event. \"I was just looking for companionship. I do know some of these other people here before. They're all fun. Every single one of them had something in common.\"\n\"We really had a good time, learned a little bit about each other,\" Roxie Lord said. \"I'm really glad I came.\" She added she approaches everything with the same positive attitude. \"A sense of humor is the best thing to have to keep going through life,\" she said.\nGajeski said in the future, the Senior Center may organize a similar event for women only so they can meet new friends. \"There's a lot of people that just moved here. It would be nice for them to get introduced to other people.\"" ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "• >0 (µg/dL): Even at birth, all people have some lead in their blood. However, the CDC says no level of exposure has been deemed safe for children.\n• 1.0 - 1.3 (µg/dL): Average blood lead level among U.S. children ages 1-5.\n• 3.5 (µg/dL): The CDC is considering using this level as a new \"reference value\" to identify children under age six with elevated blood lead levels. The threshold is lowered periodically to reflect new data from a national health and nutritional survey.\n• 5 (µg/dL): The CDC's current reference level for an elevated childhood blood level that warrants public health action, close monitoring or case management. Some 500,000 U.S. children are at or above this level, which some states define as lead poisoning.\n• 10 (µg/dL): Children who reach this threshold require closer attention and action to limit further lead exposure. Many states conduct inspections of the poisoned child's living environment to identify exposure sources. Research shows that a blood lead level of 10 (µg/dL) can lower IQ by 4 to 6 points on average.\n• 45 (µg/dL): Poisoning that may require hospitalization and chelation drug treatment, which helps the body to excrete lead. The drugs aren't considered effective for children with lower blood lead levels.\n• >70 (µg/dL): Left unchecked, acute lead poisoning can cause seizures, coma and death.\nSources: CDC, state health agencies, poisoning prevention programs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency" ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Connor Bartz, 18, said the brothers began working on this year’s sculpture Nov. 18. A dry early winter meant they had to gather snow from neighbors’ yards and a church parking lot. Rain on Christmas Day washed away some of the fish’s scales, but doesn’t seem to have caused any structural damage. The sculpture took about 350 hours to complete and is completely snow.\nThe sculpture is at 2777 16th St. NW in New Brighton and is illuminated until 11 p.m.\nAs in years past, the brothers are accepting free-will donations for clean water initiatives. This year’s collection goes toward funding clean water operations in the African country of Malawi via One Day’s Wages. More information can be found on the Bartz snow sculptures on their Facebook page.\nThe Pioneer Press is a Forum News Service media partner." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "The Cavaliers withstood a big night by Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins, who scored 41 points to lead the way for Minnesota. It matched Wiggins' second-highest point total of the season.\nWiggins had help from Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Gorgui Dieng added 12 points, but no other Timberwolves player reached double figures in scoring.\nA step-back 3-pointer by James and a fast break layup by former Timberwolves player Derrick Williams pushed Cleveland's lead to 114-106 with 1:39 to play. That essentially sealed the win for the Cavaliers, who went on to close out their 38th victory of the season.\nIt's Cleveland's second win over Minnesota in a two-week span. The Cavaliers beat the Timberwolves 125-97 on Feb. 1.\nCleveland took its biggest lead of 14 points midway through the third quarter when Irving hit a deep 3-pointer. Wiggins single-handedly brought the Timberwolves back.\nWiggins scored 19 points in the third quarter, including a late 3-pointer and a buzzer-beating jumper to tie it at 93 heading into the fourth. Wiggins had 37 points through three quarters on 14-of-22 shooting but cooled off in the final quarter.\nCleveland's offense had to make up for the loss of forward Kevin Love, who earlier Tuesday had surgery on his left knee that will sideline him for six weeks. Love was averaging 20.0 points and 11.1 rebounds per game.\nIn Love's absence, three Cleveland starters topped the 20-point mark. Irving and James had their typical outputs on offense, while Channing Frye chipped in 21 points—including four 3-pointers. Tristan Thompson added 14 points and 11 rebounds.\nMinnesota struggles to guard the 3-pointer this year, while Cleveland entered Tuesday's game as one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the league. While the Cavaliers shot only 33.3 percent from long range, they converted 13 3-pointers.\nNOTES: Timberwolves G Zach LaVine had successful surgery Tuesday to repair his torn ACL in his left knee. LaVine suffered the injury Feb. 3 in Minnesota's game against Detroit. LaVine was averaging a career-high 18.9 points. ... Minnesota plays Wednesday at Denver before a nine-day break for the NBA All-Star Game. The Timberwolves return to action Feb. 24 against Dallas. ... Cleveland hosts Indianapolis on Wednesday before the Cavaliers enter the All-Star Break. The Cavs' first game after the break is Feb. 23 against the Knicks." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Lourd broke her silence on the news on Monday, Jan. 2, sharing an old photo of herself, Fisher, and Reynolds on Instagram. With it, she wrote, \"Receiving all of your prayers and kind words over the past week has given me strength during a time I thought strength could not exist. There are no words to express how much I will miss my Abadaba and my own and only Momby. Your love and support means the world to me.\"\nFisher's death was confirmed last Tuesday morning by way of the family's spokesperson, saying: \"It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning. She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly.\"\nA photo posted by Billie Lourd (@praisethelourd) on Jan 2, 2017 at 10:09am PST\nOther than that statement, Lourd remained silent on social media and had not commented on the heartbreaking deaths of her mother, Fisher, and grandmother, Reynolds, up until now.\nFisher died Tuesday morning after suffering a what was described as a massive heart attack on Friday while in flight to Los Angeles from London, where she was filming the series \"Catastrophe\" on which she had a recurring role. She was rushed from LAX airport to the UCLA Medical Center Friday afternoon when the plane landed. Just one day later, Reynolds, 84, was rushed to Cedar-Sinai in L.A. for a reported stroke. She died just hours after she was transported to the hospital. Her son, Todd Fisher, told Variety, \"She wanted to be with Carrie.\"\nLourd—who is the daughter of Fisher and CAA veteran Bryan Lourd, who was with the \"Star Wars\" actress from 1991 to 1994—stars on Fox's \"Scream Queens.\" In the series, her character wears fuzzy earmuffs, which she told Variety were a tribute to her mother's iconic Princess Leia buns.\nIn the past days since Fisher's death, Lourd's \"Scream Queens\" co-stars have shown their support with various social media messages, including those from Lea Michele, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana Grande, Taylor Lautner and John Stamos.\nLourd, her mother and grandmother were last seen together at a public event in 2015 at the SAG Awards where Reynolds was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Eighty-year-old Orvin Sund went missing about 11 a.m. Tuesday\nSund, who has dementia, was last seen about 4 p.m. on the outskirts of town.\nPeople have been looking throughout the day.\nPolice tonight are asking everyone to check their property." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "After a brief cold snap moved into the region last week, temperatures have been about 20 degrees above normal, according to the National Weather Service. Highs statewide have lingered in the high 30s this week and are expected to climb into the low and mid-40s by the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.\n\"We have gotten into the 44 to 51 range for this week of February,\" NWS meteorologist Peter Speicher said of past weather readings. \"We've been as warm as 51 back in 2000. It's not totally uncommon, but it's still well above seasonal norms.\"\nAn extended outlook from NWS favors above-normal temperatures next week for most of the country except for the West Coast and Alaska.\nRecords possible\nSome cities have a shot of setting record highs next week, and for Grand Forks, Sunday's record high could be the easiest to break. The city's high temperature record for Feb. 19, set last year, was 44 at the Grand Forks International Airport, and Speicher said Sunday's forecast calls for a high of 45 degrees.\n\"That would be the easiest to break,\" Speicher said.\nNo high records have been set in February so far this year.\nAbove-freezing temperatures could be good news for southern and western parts of North Dakota. The warm weather should speed up snowmelt, helping to remove excess moisture from river basins along watersheds.\nFields in the southern part of the Red River Valley have little snow compared with the Red River of the North starting near Hillsboro.\nPaths could open up as the snow melts, taking the excess water to rivers, streams and lakes. Areas should be on the lookout for rising water levels, but the melt taking off that excess water from snowpack slowly could help alleviate flooding in the spring, according to the NWS. Less snow could mean less moisture that could flow over the plains.\n\"Anything helps,\" Speicher said. \"It definitely helps that we are going back below freezing at night because that slows the flow rate down.\"\nDevils Lake Basin\nIn the Devils Lake Basin, they could see above-freezing temperatures Wednesday and into the weekend, with some days going above 40 degrees.\nA slow melt can't hurt the Devils Lake Basin, said Jeff Frith, manager of the Devils lake Basin Joint Water Resource Board. The region surrounding the 150,000-acre lake likely will see major flooding due to heavy snow and saturated soil from a wet summer and fall. NWS meteorologists predict a 2-foot to 4-foot rise with record runoff and possibly elevations.\nThere still is a lot of winter left and potential for more snow, though Devils Lake has been lucky since snowfall has been relatively low for moisture accumulation in January and into mid-February, he said.\n\"A long, slow melt would be just what the doctor ordered, but I think we have way too much winter left to start getting really excited about spring,\" Frith said.\nNWS meteorologists were assessing snowpack and other factors that will play a role in predicting flood outlooks. The agency's second spring flood outlook is due Thursday, though Frith doesn't expect much to change since the last one was released almost three weeks ago.\nThe Midwest likely will see more precipitation than normal in February, and that trend should continue into April, according to NWS. There is no precipitation forecast for this week, though there is a 50 percent chance of next week being wetter than normal.\nOverall, February for almost all of the U.S. should be warmer than normal. Colder-than-normal temperatures could return by the end of February and into early March, NWS meteorologists predict." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Brandon Kent Sundeen, of Devils Lake, faces terrorizing, driving under the influence and assault charges after reports he was waving a gun early Tuesday morning at Thirsty's Bar in downtown Devils Lake.\nPeter Owlboy Jr. told the Forum News Service that Sundeen was outside the bar and appeared drunk and ready to fight. Sundeen also pointed a gun at Owlboy's chest, the victim said, adding he feared for his life.\nSundeen eventually left after calming down, Owlboy said.\nDevils Lake Police said they later pulled Sundeen over and booked him at the Lake Region Law Enforcement Center.\nCharges had not been filed against Sundeen as of Tuesday evening." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "The same jury found Roof guilty last month of 33 counts of federal hate crimes resulting in death, obstruction of religion and firearms violations.\nThe jury will be seated again to determine whether to put Roof to death but first the judge must decide whether Roof can serve as his own attorney or whether he will be represented by court-appointed lawyers.\nU.S. District Judge Richard Gergel, whose decision was expected on Monday, said he was keeping the proceedings closed in order to avoid sequestering the jury.\nGergel said he was concerned jurors would inadvertently hear potentially prejudicial information from the hearing if reporters were allowed to cover it, ruling that protecting Roof's right to a fair trial outweighed the media's right to view the hearing.\nThe judge rejected arguments from press attorney Jay Bender and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Richardson, who wanted an open hearing. Gergel also banned relatives of the victims from attending.\nThe judge previously found Roof competent to stand trial after a hearing held in November ahead of the guilt phase but on Monday was due to hear new testimony from forensic psychiatrist James Ballenger, who examined Roof for five hours over the weekend, Gergel said.\nRoof's standby lawyers filed a motion arguing that Roof was not competent to stand trial or represent himself after he revealed at a hearing last week that he would present no evidence or witnesses during the sentencing phase.\nHis announcement raised \"in especially stark fashion the question of whether the defendant is actually unable to defend himself,\" the lawyers said in a court filing.\nA team led by prominent capital defense lawyer David Bruck represented Roof during the guilt phase of the trial.\nRoof has opted to represent himself for the sentencing phase, due to begin on Tuesday, and has sought to keep jurors from hearing evidence about his competency and mental health." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "The balanced Roughriders used a big second-half start to pull away from host Grand Forks Central for a 67-56 girls basketball win.\nRed River led only 23-20 at halftime. But they opened the second half with a stretch in which, on their first 13 possessions, they scored on 11 of them while turning the ball over twice.\n\"I don't know if a stretch like that happens very often for anybody,'' Red River coach Kent Ripplinger said. \"Sometimes we rush things and don't take care of the ball. We took care of the ball and found open players in that run.''\nLexi Robson and Kendra Bohm each had six points to set the pace as the 16-3 Riders stretched their three-point halftime lead to 45-27 with 10:52 remaining. Central was behind by double figures for most of the remainder of the game until putting together a 7-0 run to pull within 64-56 with 46 seconds left.\nRobson had 38 points when Red River beat Central 71-59 in the teams' first game. She had a game-high 18 points this time, but Red River had more balance. Bohm added 12 points and Danica Kemnitz and reserve Maggie Steffen each added 10.\n\"That (balance) is something we wanted to get done,'' Ripplinger said. \"We needed more offense from our post players and Kendra and Danica came through. We got four players in double figures. Typically, it's more like two or three.''\nRed River had a 13-0 run in the first half, but Central still was within three points at intermission.\n\"If you don't give up runs like that, you don't get yourself in trouble,'' Central coach D.J. Burris said. \"And (allowing big runs) has been a bit of a problem for us.''\nLauren Dub's 16 points led the 9-10 Knights. Amber Anderson added a season-high 11 points to go with eight rebounds." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "House Bill 1366, which relates to the way oil tax revenue is distributed to cities, counties and schools in the Bakken, failed with a 37-54 vote.\nHouse Majority Leader Al Carlson, R-Fargo, urged lawmakers to vote no to the bill, emphasizing that it would be better to address funding for oil-impacted areas after the March revenue forecast is released.\n\"A no vote doesn't mean you're against the west,\" Carlson said.\nRep. Gary Sukut, R-Williston, the primary sponsor of the bill, said communities in the Bakken rely on oil tax revenue to pay for expanded law enforcement facilities, new water plants and other infrastructure they added to meet unprecedented growth spurred by oil development.\nOfficials from so-called Bakken hub cities of Dickinson, Williston and Minot, as well as smaller communities in the Oil Patch, testified during a hearing on the bill that the funding is essential so they can continue making debt payments.\nInitially the bill had a $33.5 million fiscal impact to keep the communities receiving the same amount of funding they received last biennium. The bill was amended to have a $7.65 million fiscal impact.\nIn addition, the bill includes funding for airports in Williston and Dickinson and other oil impact grant funding that was approved during the last session but has not yet been delivered due to budget shortfalls.\nSeveral legislators from western North Dakota spoke in favor of the bill.\n\"Many people feel that things are dead or dying in western North Dakota, but it couldn't be further from the truth,\" said Rep. Denton Zubke, R-Watford City.\nCarlson and other legislators said they'll discuss funding for western North Dakota again in a different budget after they have an updated picture of the revenue forecast.\n\"It does not need to be decided today. It needs to be decided in the second half,\" Carlson said." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "An order written by presiding Ramsey County District Judge William Leary addresses everything from what people may wear to what time they may arrive and leave the court proceedings in the case pending against Jeronimo Yanez.\nAnyone who arrives at the courtroom after a hearing starts, for example, will be ordered to leave, the order says.\nAnd no one will be allowed to walk out of a hearing until the judge calls for a recess.\nAnother rule restricts wearing any clothes or buttons or carrying signs that in any way \"refer to or call attention to (the case), the defendant, parties or witnesses,\" the order says.\nSpectators who can't find a seat in the courtroom will be asked to leave, and no congregating will be allowed in the hallway outside it.\nFurther, \"blocking of or loitering in walkways, doorways, staircases, or near elevator access ... in any part of the (St. Paul City Hall and Ramsey County Courthouse),\" during proceedings will be prohibited.\nEnhanced regulations also will be enforced on cellphone use and other recording devices.\nThe unusually strict set of rules was issued in the name of providing a \"fair and open process that recognizes the responsibility of the state, the rights of the Defendant and the public interest,\" the order states.\nLeary did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for further explanation, nor did Ramsey County Chief Judge John Guthmann.\nYanez was charged in November with one count of second-degree manslaughter and two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm for firing several bullets into Castile's car during a routine traffic stop this past July, killing the 32-year-old black man.\nYanez has said through his attorneys that he shot out of fear for his life after Castile reached for the gun he was carrying in his pocket, despite Yanez's commands what he was not to move.\nProsecutors say that Yanez recklessly shot Castile, a licensed gun owner, after Castile handed over his insurance card and \"calmly and in a nonthreatening manner\" told the four-year police officer he was carrying a firearm, according to the criminal complaint filed against Yanez.\nWhen first announcing the decision to file charges in the case, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said it was the state's belief that Castile \"never removed nor tried to remove his handgun,\" at any point during the incident.\nThe shooting drew national attention and stirred protests around the Twin Cities and the country about accusations of police brutality against people of color.\nWith that in mind, the case should be heavily attended by members of the media and public.\nA hearing is scheduled Wednesday for a defense motion filed in December that seeks to have the case against Yanez dismissed on the grounds that Castile was high on marijuana when he was pulled over and therefore culpably negligent in the shooting.\nProsecutors have refuted that assertion in legal filings, saying they had enough evidence to charge Yanez and that the suggestion that Castile somehow caused his own death through negligence is for a jury to decide.\nWednesday's hearing is expected to start at 9 a.m." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Whether it's the infamous \"Veterans For Standing Rock\" with their missing $1.1 million, or another organization in the litany of Standing Rock-based pages on the website, rough estimates for the amount raised on these pages have been reported to be around $11 million. Just as a point of reference, the state of North Dakota already has spent more than $30 million managing the crisis these donations were meant to fund.\nAll of this begs the question of whether GoFundMe shoulders any of the blame for providing a platform to fundraise for illegal protest activities—activities that include repeated violent attacks against our North Dakota law enforcement officers, using everything from Molotov cocktails and other improvised explosive devices to actual guns.\nDo the site's owners care that they are actively enabling professional protesters to come into our community and disrupt the lives and livelihoods of both the residents of Morton County and members of the Standing Rock tribe alike?\nWhen you take a deeper look at GoFundMe, it becomes clear that the answer is no.\nGoFundMe is a business. And their business is fundraising for \"causes\" like these protesters. In 2015, Forbes magazine published an article outlining how GoFundMe earns \"profits off of controversy.\" As the company outlines in its \"Common Questions\" page, GoFundMe takes a 5 percent fee from every contribution made over the site, along with an additional 3 percent processing fee.\nMeaning the company has made roughly $880,000 off of these DAPL protests without having to do a thing beyond maintaining the website.\nPretty good haul for just shy of six months.\nWhile the website has no official ideological loyalty, all you have to do is look at members of the company's senior leadership to get an idea of where they fall on the political spectrum.\nThe company's chairman and CEO, Rob Solomon, gave the maximum amount in contributions allowed by law to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. President and Chief Product Officer David Hahn is a former staffer for ultra-liberal California Senator Diane Feinstein.\nAnd GoFundMe's vice president for communications and policy is none other than Dan Pfeiffer, former senior advisor, White House communications director and long-time confidant of President Obama.\nShockingly, there are no former Republican political staff members serving as executives for GoFundMe.\nSo the truth is, despite the violent and illegal behavior these GoFundMe pages are supporting, the company probably doesn't care. They are probably indifferent to the close to 600 people who have been arrested during these protests, or the public posting of threats against police officers, community leaders and their families.\nThey're making a hefty profit while supporting the liberal causes they personally believe in, while never having to leave sunny California.\nIt's all win-win for them, even if it's all lose-lose for North Dakota and its residents.\nHennen is the host of What's On Your Mind radio show, heard throughout North Dakota on AM 1100 TheFlag and AM 550 KFYR." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Laboratory tests confirmed the presence of H5N8 avian influenza among backyard birds and at a poultry farm in two rural districts near the western town of Niort, the Deux-Sevres prefecture said in a statement.\nThe H5N8 strain of the disease is highly contagious among birds and has spread in a number of European countries since late last year. It is not known to be contagious for humans.\nFrance has already confirmed more than 80 cases of H5N8 bird flu among domestic poultry, but these have been in southwestern areas far from the latest outbreaks.\nThe country, which is has the largest poultry flock in the European Union, was already affected by a severe bird flu episode a year ago in the southwest that led the authorities to suspend duck and goose breeding in the region known for production of foie gras liver pate.\nDifferent strains of bird flu have also spread in Asia in recent weeks, leading to the slaughtering of millions of birds in South Korea and Japan and several human infections in China." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Sen. Terry Wanzek, R-Jamestown, tried to attach an amendment to the North Dakota Department of Transportation budget bill requiring the agency to keep all of the state's shops in operation through mid-2019. The amendment would also provide for a legislative study of the shops' proposed closure \"and the impact of services in the areas affected,\" as well as the possibility of cooperating with local political subdivisions.\nThe amendment ultimately failed and the budget passed the Senate Appropriations Committee Tuesday morning. Wanzek said he intends to try to amend the bill on the Senate floor.\nWanzek said he wasn't enthusiastic about micromanaging the DOT, but \"the outcry that I've heard from members in my district that have these shops in their area, it is overwhelming.\"\n\"I just feel that this is something, that in representing the people of my district, that I have to bring forward,\" he added.\nThe amended DOT budget includes a $66.4 million reduction in operating expenses from the $295.8 million included in the base budget, a 22 percent decrease. It also decreases the full-time equivalent positions in the department by 31.5, from 1,080.5 to 1,049.\nJamie Olson, a DOT spokeswoman, said the proposed consolidation of eight maintenance \"sections\" into neighboring facilities would save about $2.1 million in the coming two-year budget cycle. She said the buildings are aging and today's snowplows can cover more miles.\n\"They're able to do more than they were before,\" Olson said. \"Those rural roads that some of these sections lie on, there's still going to be service. They're just going to be serviced out of the next shop over.\"\nThe shops slated for closure are in Starkweather, Finley, Fessenden, Gackle, Litchville, New England, Courtenay and Mayville, Olson said. There are 67 section shops across the state, Olson said, along with with additional shops at the eight main district locations.\nSen. Gary Lee, R-Casselton, said the DOT was asked to \"look at their budgets critically just like everyone else was.\" Olson said the department saw a 13 percent decline in 2015 in highway tax distribution revenues, a main source of funding for operations, because of a slower economy and lower fuel tax collections.\n\"We ask them to seek out efficiencies, and then we tell them we don't want them,\" Lee said in arguing against Wanzek's amendment.\nBut Sen. John Grabinger, D-Jamestown, there has been a \"grassroots effort\" with petitions attempting to persuade lawmakers and department officials.\n\"They're going out to every farm and everything, getting these signatures,\" he said. \"It is important to these people.\"" ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Grand Forks Police Sgt. Travis Benson said the driver of the SUV, a gray Toyota RAV4, was heading south on North 55th Street and lost control of her vehicle on slippery roads as she approached the T-intersection with DeMers Avenue, sliding into the trailer of a passing semi truck.\nThe driver of the vehicle was transported for medical attention with unknown injuries, Benson said, and there were no passengers in the car. He said he was not aware of any damage to the trailer." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "A previous evacuation order has been reduced to an evacuation warning, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea told a news conference, after water management officials drained enough water from the Oroville Dam.\nThe warning means that people can return but should be prepared to evacuate again if necessary, Honea said.\nBoth the primary and backup drainage channels of the dam, known as spillways, were damaged after a buildup of water that resulted from an extraordinarily wet winter in Northern California that followed years of severe drought.\nMore rain was forecast for as early as Wednesday and through Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.\nSwift action by officials led by the state Department of Water Resources relieved pressure on the spillways, Honea said." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "After a brief cold snap moved into the region last week, temperatures have been about 20 degrees above normal, according to the National Weather Service. Grand Forks' high went from 2 degrees last Wednesday to 22 on Thursday and 38 on Friday, a 36-degree jump in two days. Highs have lingered in the high 30s this week and are expected to climb into the low and mid-40s by the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.\n\"We have gotten into the 44 to 51 range for this week of February,\" NWS meteorologist Pete Speicher said of past weather readings. \"We've been as warm as 51 back in 2000. It's not totally uncommon, but it's still well above seasonal norms.\"\nAn extended outlook from NWS favors above-normal temperatures next week for most of the country except for the West Coast and Alaska. Northwest Minnesota and northeast North Dakota have a 70 to 90 percent chance of seeing unseasonably warm weather.\nRecords possible\nSome cities have a shot of setting record highs. The lowest record high for next week was set Feb. 19, 2016, at the Grand Forks International Airport with 44 degrees.\n\"That would be the easiest to break,\" Speicher said, adding the forecast for Sunday is 45 degrees.\nNo high records have been set in February so far this year.\nAbove-freezing temperatures could be good news for southern and western parts of North Dakota. The warm weather should speed up snowmelt, helping to remove excess moisture from river basins along watersheds.\nFields in the southern part of the Red River Valley have little snow compared with the Red River of the North starting near Hillsboro.\nPaths could open up as the snow melts, taking the excess water to rivers, streams and lakes. Areas should be on the lookout for rising water levels, but but the melt taking off that excess water from snowpack slowly could help alleviate flooding in the spring, according to the NWS. Less snow could mean less moisture that could flow over the plains.\n\"Anything helps,\" Speicher said. \"It definitely helps that we are going back below freezing at night because that slows the flow rate down.\"\nDevils Lake Basin\nTo the west, Devils Lake could see above-freezing temperatures today and into the weekend, with some days going above 40 degrees.\nA slow melt can't hurt the Devils Lake Basin, said Jeff Frith, manager of the Devils lake Basin Joint Water Resource Board. The region surrounding the 150,000-acre lake likely will see major flooding due to heavy snow and saturated soil from a wet summer and fall. NWS meteorologists predict a 2- to 4-foot rise with record runoff and possibly elevations.\nThere still is a lot of winter left and potential for more snow, though Devils Lake has been lucky since snowfall has been relatively low for moisture accumulation in January and into mid-February, he said.\n\"A long, slow melt would be just what the doctor ordered, but I think we have way too much winter left to start getting really excited about spring,\" Frith said.\nNWS meteorologists were assessing snowpack and other factors that will play a role in predicting flood outlooks. The agency's second spring flood outlook is due Thursday, though Frith doesn't expect much to change since the last one was released almost three weeks ago.\nThe Midwest likely will see more precipitation than normal in February, and that trend should continue into April, according to NWS. There is no precipitation forecast for this week, though there is a 50 percent chance of next week being wetter than normal.\nOverall, February for almost all of the U.S. should be warmer than normal. Colder-than-normal temperatures could return by the end of February and into early March, NWS meteorologists predict." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "North Dakotans don't take to reorganization.\nRather than going all the way back to statehood, let's just start with 1942, when the Public Administration Service of Chicago did a comprehensive analysis and reorganization plan for North Dakota state government. Some of the recommendations still are gathering dust today, indicating the low priority we place on reorganization.\nRather than implementing the report, state officials of the day thought it would be best to wait until after World War II was over. The connection between reorganization and the war was never explained, but by the time the War was over, dust had buried the recommendations.\nIn 1966, voters rejected proposals to revamp the judicial, executive and legislative branches of government. So the reinventors thought of a different route—a constitutional convention to dramatize the need for reform.\nThe convention met. The proposed constitution would have made possible reducing the number of elected state officials down to the nationwide average of six per state. Opposed by every state official and others, the document went down to defeat,\nIn 1984 and 2000, the voters refused to abolish the office of state treasurer, made obsolete in 1919 with the creation of the Bank of North Dakota.\nIn November 1980, the voters defeated another general proposal to revise the legislative and executive branches of government. In 1989, a similar measure was swamped at the polls.\nMeanwhile, disorganization was spreading in the underbrush. In 2009, Legislative Librarian Marilyn Johnson counted 142 boards, councils and commissions. (If your interest group doesn't have a board, council and/or commission, you simply haven't asked for one.)\nWe have more local governments per capita, the largest Legislature per capita outside of New Hampshire and the most elected state officials outside of South Carolina. So there is room for a lot of reinventing, but the governor should be forewarned that the holder of every public office will fight him to the death.\nThat's one reason we pretty much have the same government we started with in 1889.\nWhat this tells us is that North Dakotans like access, even when it means throwing efficiency under the bus.\nPeople want a role—a big role—in government. Having many points at which citizens can be a part of government implements the cultural idea that everybody is important and should \"have a say.\"\nIf we haven't dissuaded the governor from reinventing, he would be well advised to choose only those entities that have no constituencies, because constituencies rise up with a wrath when abolition or consolidation of their entity is proposed. For example, if he told the barbers he was going to mess with their licensing board, he would have to go out-of-state for a haircut.\nWhile the office holders, agencies and their constituencies will be arrayed against him, the governor will be spending lot of political capital on something about which the citizenry does not care a hoot, meaning that the governor will have no citizen uprising on behalf of reinventing. He'll be out there alone.\nReinventing North Dakota state and local governments would require the effort of a mountain to produce a molehill. As a recovering government reinventor, I wish the governor well but will just sit this one out.\nOn the other hand, it has been said that those who say it can't be done are sometimes interrupted by somebody doing it.\nOmdahl is a retired professor of political science at UND and a former lieutenant governor of North Dakota." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "American authorities have not yet determined exactly how Kim Jong Nam was killed, according to two sources, who did not provide specific evidence to support the U.S. government's view.\nA South Korean government source also had said that Kim Jong Nam had been murdered in Malaysia. He did not provide further details.\nSouth Korea's foreign ministry said it could not confirm the reports, and the country's intelligence agency could not immediately be reached for comment.\nIn Washington, there was no immediate response to a request for comment from the Trump administration, which faces a stiff challenge from a defiant North Korea over its nuclear arms program and the test of a ballistic missile last weekend.\nKim Jong Nam was known to spend a significant amount of his time outside North Korea and had spoken out publicly against his family's dynastic control of the isolated state.\nIf confirmed as an assassination, it would the latest in a string of killings over the decades at home and abroad meant to silence those perceived by North Korea's leaders as threats to their authority, one of the U.S. sources said on condition of anonymity.\nIn a statement, Malaysian police said the dead man, 46, held a passport under the name Kim Chol.\nKim Jong Nam has been caught in the past using forged travel documents.\nMalaysian police official Fadzil Ahmat said the cause of Kim's death was not yet known, and that a post mortem would be carried out.\n\"So far there are no suspects, but we have started investigations and are looking at a few possibilities to get leads,\" Fadzil told Reuters.\nAccording to Fadzil, Kim had been planning to travel to Macau on Monday when he fell ill at the low-cost terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport.\n\"The deceased ... felt like someone grabbed or held his face from behind,\" Fadzil said. \"He felt dizzy, so he asked for help at the ... counter of KLIA.\"\nKim was taken to an airport clinic where he still felt unwell, and it was decided to take him to hospital. He died in the ambulance on the way to Putrajaya Hospital, Fadzil added.\nThe U.S. government sources said it was possible that Kim Jong Nam had been poisoned. They said it could not be ruled out that assassins used some kind of \"poison pen\" device.\nSouth Korea's TV Chosun, a cable-TV network, reported that Kim had been poisoned with a needle by two women believed to be North Korean operatives who fled in a taxi and were at large, citing multiple South Korean government sources.\nReuters could not independently confirm those details.\nMalaysia is one of a dwindling number of countries that has close relations with North Korea, which is under tightening global sanctions over its nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches, the latest of which took place on Sunday.\nMalaysians and North Koreans can visit each other's country without visas.\nA phone call to the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur late on Tuesday went straight to an answering machine.\nKim Jong Nam and Kim Jong Un are both sons of former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who died in late 2011, but they had different mothers.\nKim Jong Nam, the elder of the two, did not attend his father's funeral. His mother was an actress named Song Hye Rim, and Kim Jong Nam said his father kept his parents' relationship secret.\nThe portly and easygoing Kim Jong Nam was believed to be close to his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, who was North Korea's second most powerful man before being executed on Kim Jong Un's orders in 2013.\nIn an embarrassing 2001 incident, Kim Jong Nam was caught at an airport in Japan traveling on a forged Dominican Republic passport, saying he had wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland. He was known to travel to Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.\nKoh Yu-hwan, a professor at Dongguk University in Seoul, said Kim Jong Nam had occasionally been the subject of speculation that he could replace his younger half-brother, the country's third-generation leader.\n\"Loyalists may have wanted to get rid of him,\" he said." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "She had overdosed. Someone had brought her to the clinic in the middle of the night, authorities said, but when the clinic was closed, whoever brought her abandoned the car and left. They didn't call 911.\nThis month, the Grand Forks Police Department put out a reminder that those using and possessing drugs who are present at the time of an overdose will not be prosecuted if they call and cooperate with first responders.\nIn North Dakota and Minnesota, Good Samaritan laws are on the books that give immunity to those who call in drug overdoses if the caller remains on scene until first responders arrive and cooperate with medical services and law enforcement. The person must be in need of emergency medical services. Up to three people can be granted immunity.\nThe law also applies to people overdosing from alcohol consumption.\n\"We want people to be focused on saving a life,\" said Lt. Jeremy Moe with the special resource bureau.\nIn 2016, Grand Forks Police responded to 28 calls for overdoses. Three of them were fatal.\nState Sen. Howard Anderson Jr., R-Turtle Lake, was a sponsor of the Good Samaritan laws that passed in North Dakota in 2015. The former director of the North Dakota Board of Pharmacy, Anderson said he wanted to sponsor the law to give people a better chance to survive. Information provided by companions can be key to successful care.\n\"It's hard to find out what they took or what the situation is, so by the time doctors get a chance to figure out what it is, it's too late,\" Anderson said.\nIn the process of passing the law, legislators heard testimony from a man whose companions had abandoned him in a dumpster, thinking he'd overdosed, Anderson said.\nBut too few people know about the law, Anderson said. He also believes law enforcement have been overzealous in pressing charges against people, despite the law.\n\"They're using the Good Samaritan laws as an excuse to charge people because, obviously, if I gave you drugs, then I'm guilty of providing them for you. It's like a sale even if I gave it to you free,\" he said. \"So we need a little better education with police. If you're trying to save somebody's life for crying out loud, back off a little bit. Catch the crook the next time.\"\nAnderson said users speak to one another, and if law enforcement is too aggressive, it might deter people from calling for help.\nGrand Forks Police said they were not aware of any specific incidents in town where immunity had been granted based on the Good Samaritan laws.\nForum News Service contributed to this article." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "The letter, dated Monday and addressed to a White House ethics official, asked President Donald Trump's administration to investigate the incident and gave it two weeks to provide its findings and detail any disciplinary steps taken.\nConway, Trump's presidential campaign manager and now a senior counselor, said on Fox News last week that Americans should \"go buy Ivanka's stuff.\" She spoke after retailer Nordstrom announced it was dropping the branded line of Ivanka Trump, the president's older daughter.\nFederal ethics rules prohibit executive branch employees from using their positions to endorse products.\n\"There is strong reason to believe that Ms. Conway has violated the Standards of Conduct and that disciplinary action is warranted,\" Office of Government Ethics Director Walter Shaub wrote in the letter.\nStefan Passantino, the White House ethics official named in the letter, declined to comment. A White House spokesman did not reply to a request for comment.\nThe ethics office has little enforcement power. It can formally recommend disciplinary action if the White House does not act, Shaub said in a separate letter to two U.S. lawmakers who sought a review of Conway's remarks.\nFollowing video from Feb. 10\nThat recommendation would not be binding, and the process would take until late April or early May, Shaub said. If the ethics office does formally recommend discipline, it would be up to the White House to decide any steps against Conway.\nNorman Eisen, who was ethics chief under President Barack Obama, said Congress also could call hearings or subpoena documents if the White House did not act.\nTrump himself earlier attacked Nordstrom for dropping his daughter's brand. The ethics rules that bar endorsements do not apply to the president, though critics said his comments were inappropriate.\nNordstrom said it made the decision because sales had steadily declined, especially in the last half of 2016, to where carrying the line \"didn't make good business sense.\"\nIn his letter to the White House, Shaub wrote that his office's regulatory guidelines include an example violation in which a hypothetical presidential appointee promotes a product in a television commercial. He said Conway's remarks closely mirrored that example of what not to do.\nWhite House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Thursday that Conway had been \"counseled,\" but Shaub wrote that the Office of Government Ethics had not been informed of any corrective steps." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "What I haven't heard from either side, and which I find dismaying, is the acknowledgement and praise of the stellar work of the remarkable women who serve in the Office of the President at UND.\nThe event coordinator is one of these women. President Mark Kennedy chose not to name her in his letter, and I will respect her privacy and do the same.\nBut she deserves to be acknowledged and respected for her dedication to UND. There are few on campus who have given as much to this institution with little to no public recognition. If you have ever attended an official UND event that involved the administration or visiting dignitaries, you have seen her.\nEvents on campus run smoothly not by luck, but by the hard work she puts in before, during and after each event. The staff and faculty understand her worth very well.\nA brief note about these \"events\": They are not simply fundraisers, welcome receptions or retirement receptions. They include visits by acclaimed authors, artists, scientists, and teachers; meetings of the state board; athletic events; alumni events; legislative forums; conferences; media interviews; and the list goes on.\nTo reduce the impressive multi-tasking that the event coordinator must do to just one of the more trivial duties in the job description is a disservice to her valuable work and presence at UND.\nUND's official motto is Lux et Lex — Light and Law. The event coordinator is the embodiment of Lux, allowing students, staff and faculty to be more and achieve more by lighting the path for us. She deserves our praise, respect and profound thanks.\nMichelle Bowles\nGrand Forks\nThe writer is the institutional review board coordinator in the Division of Research and Economic Development at UND. The views she expresses are her own and are not meant to be a reflection of the views of the division or university." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Since 2012, the CDC, which sets public health standards for exposure to lead, has used a blood lead threshold of 5 micrograms per deciliter for children under age 6. While no level of lead exposure is safe for children, those who test at or above that level warrant a public health response, the agency says.\nBased on new data from a national health survey, the CDC may lower its reference level to 3.5 micrograms per deciliter in the coming months, according to six people briefed by the agency. The measure will come up for discussion at a CDC meeting January 17 in Atlanta.\nBut the step, which has been under consideration for months, could prove controversial. One concern: Lowering the threshold could drain sparse resources from the public health response to children who need the most help—those with far higher lead levels.\nThe CDC did not respond to a request for comment.\nExposure to lead—typically in peeling old paint, tainted water or contaminated soil—can cause cognitive impairment and other irreversible health impacts.\nThe CDC adjusts its threshold periodically as nationwide average levels drop. The threshold value is meant to identify children whose blood lead levels put them among the 2.5 percent of those with the heaviest exposure.\n\"Lead has no biological function in the body, and so the less there is of it in the body the better,\" Bernard M Y Cheung, a University of Hong Kong professor who studies lead data, told Reuters. \"The revision in the blood lead reference level is to push local governments to tighten the regulations on lead in the environment.\"\nThe federal agency is talking with state health officials, laboratory operators, medical device makers and public housing authorities about how and when to implement a new threshold.\nSince lead was banned in paint and phased out of gasoline nearly 40 years ago, average childhood blood lead levels have fallen more than 90 percent. The average is now around 1 microgram per deciliter.\nYet progress has been uneven, and lead poisoning remains an urgent problem in many U.S. communities.\nA Reuters investigation published this month found nearly 3,000 areas with recently recorded lead poisoning rates of at least 10 percent, or double those in Flint, Michigan, during that city's water crisis. More than 1,100 of these communities had a rate of elevated blood tests at least four times higher than in Flint.\nIn the worst-affected urban areas, up to 50 percent of children tested in recent years had elevated lead levels.\nThe CDC has estimated that as many as 500,000 U.S. children have lead levels at or above the current threshold. The agency encourages \"case management\" for these children, which is often carried out by state or local health departments and can involve educating families about lead safety, ordering more blood tests, home inspections or remediation.\nAny change in the threshold level carries financial implications. The CDC budget for assisting states with lead safety programs this year was just $17 million, and many state or local health departments are understaffed to treat children who test high.\nAnother concern: Many lead testing devices or labs currently have trouble identifying blood lead levels in the 3 micrograms per deciliter range. Test results can have margins of error.\n\"You could get false positives and false negatives,\" said Rad Cunningham, an epidemiologist with the Washington State Department of Health. \"It's just not very sensitive in that range.\"\nThe CDC doesn't hold regulatory power, leaving states to make their own decisions on how to proceed. Many have yet to adapt their lead poisoning prevention programs to the last reference change, implemented four years ago, when the level dropped from 10 to 5 micrograms per deciliter. Other states, including Virginia and Maine, made changes this year.\nThe U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is close to adopting a rule requiring an environmental inspection—and lead cleanup if hazards are found—in any public housing units where a young child tests at or above the CDC threshold.\nIf the CDC urges public health action under a new threshold, HUD said it will follow through. \"The only thing that will affect our policy is the CDC recommendation for environmental intervention,\" said Dr. Warren Friedman, with HUD's Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes.\nTo set the reference value, the CDC relies upon data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey. The latest data suggests that a small child with a blood lead level of 3.5 micrograms per deciliter has higher exposure than 97.5 percent of others in the age group, 1 to 5 years.\nBut in lead-poisoning hotspots, a far greater portion of children have higher lead levels. Wisconsin data, for instance, shows that around 10 percent of children tested in Milwaukee's most poisoned census tracts had levels double the current CDC standard.\nSome worry a lower threshold could produce the opposite effect sought, by diverting money and attention away from children with the worst exposure.\n\"A lower reference level may actually do harm by masking reality—that significant levels of lead exposure are still a problem throughout the country,\" said Amy Winslow, chief executive of Magellan Diagnostics, whose blood lead testing machines are used in thousands of U.S. clinics." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Under Minnesota law, permits expire every five years, at which point applicants must undergo training and pay a fee to renew their permit.\nThe new bill, introduced by Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, would establish a one-time permitting system by eliminating expiration dates from carrying permits issued after Aug. 1.\n\"It's similar to our firearm safety certificate,\" Cornish said. \"You're given that when you're 11 years old, and you can handle a firearm for the rest of your life and you never have to take another class. Why do we require (renewal) for handguns?\"\nThe bill is among gun-related legislation to garner opposition this year from anti-gun violence group Protect Minnesota.\nThe group took to the State Capitol Tuesday, Feb. 14 for its Broken Hearts Day event to urge lawmakers to reject bills like lifetime permits, which members called \"extreme.\" The group distributed 1,500 handmade cards to lawmakers, each one representing an incident of gun violence in the last year.\nThe Rev. Nancy Nord Bence, Protect Minnesota executive director, said the Cornish bill would hinder law enforcement's ability to remove licenses from people who can no longer safely carry a gun.\nThe state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension reported cancelling, revoking or suspending permits from nearly 400 Minnesotans who had previously been approved to carry firearms.\nThe bill, she said, also raises concern over Minnesota's aging population, who will become increasingly susceptible to dementia.\nThe Alzheimer's Association estimates more than 90,000 Minnesotans over the age of 65 live with Alzheimer's, and the number is expected to grow to 120,000 by 2020.\n\"Do we really believe that that person who was safe to carry a gun when they were 21, or 31 or 41 still be totally completely together when they're 91?\" she asked. \"We have a serious issue with our aging population that is well-armed.\"\nCornish dismissed concerns from Protect Minnesota, whom he called \"gun-haters.\"\nA former police officer who chairs the House Public Safety and Security Committee, Cornish said the initial training and background check would sufficiently vet applicants the first time.\nThe lifetime permits holders, he said, could lose their permit if convicted of crimes that would bar them from carrying a handgun.\nCornish's bill also aims to lower the cost of legally carrying a firearm by reducing the maximum permit fee counties can charge from $100 to $50.\nApplicants currently pay permit fees to counties in addition to the cost for permit to carry classes, which range from about $90 to $150.\nAlthough Protect Minnesota estimates the permit fees generate nearly $1 million for the state, Cornish said the process has become unduly expensive for applicants.\n\"There's a number of counties who've gotten more money in their pocket from that than they need,\" he said. \"It's not that expensive to do background checks and issue these cards any more.\"\nFrom the other side of the aisle, two bills to be reintroduced by Sen. Ron Latz, D-St. Louis Park, and Rep. Dave Pinto, D-St. Paul, next week have gained support from Protect Minnesota.\nOne bill would require background checks for any gun purchases made by private sellers in Minnesota. Only licensed retailers now are required to conduct background checks.\nThe second Latz-Pinto bill would establish \"red flag laws\" allowing families and law enforcement officers to petition courts to have guns temporarily confiscated from people at risk of hurting themselves or other people.\nThe third bill to receive support from Protect Minnesota would allocate state funding into gun violence prevention programs. Sen. Jeff Hayden, D-Minneapolis, will introduce the bill in memory of his sister, who was killed in the crossfire of an Atlanta shooting last summer.\nOther Gun bills\n• Permitless carry bills proposed in both the House and Senate would allow any citizen to carry \"any firearm or self-defense device\" without a permit. A carry permit would would be optional, but not required to carry a handgun. Under this bill, any public official who \"interferes with the right to carry a pistol\" would be subject to misdemeanor charges.\n• A second set of permitless carry bills proposed in the House and Senate would establish a system in which a permit to carry a handgun would be optional, but not required. Permits would not be required to carry a gun in a \"public space,\" which the bill has expanded to include \"property owned, leased, or controlled by a governmental unit and private property that is regularly and frequently open to or made available for use by the public in sufficient numbers.\"\nLocations not exempt from the \"public space\" definition include a person's home, place of business or land as well as gun shows or gun shops.\n• A proposed \"stand your ground\" bill would eliminate the obligation to retreat from danger in cases of self-defense by deadly force. For self-defense regarding a person's home, the bill expands the definition of \"dwelling\" to include \"an overnight stopping accommodation of any kind or place of abode.\" This could include porches, boats and cars. The original House bill also gained a companion Senate bill." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "For many, this is their first experience in the United States. They are introduced to the time-honored tradition of songs and s'mores around the campfire.\nIn turn, they share their family stories and cultural traditions with campers who have never traveled to Egypt, Germany or Argentina.\nFriendships that cross continents are forged at camp. The international camp staff return to their home countries with an increased understanding of typical American life; and there's nothing more typical than sleepaway camp for the average American family in summer.\nThe American Camp Association confirms that more than 11 million Americans enroll in a residential or day camp each year.\nThis is citizen diplomacy at its best, made possible by the U.S. State Department's J-1 Exchange Visitor program that has a category specially designed for camp counselors.\nSince 1979, Concordia Language Villages has taken advantage of this opportunity to bring counselors from around the world to share their love of language and culture with young people eager to explore something new and different.\nAbout 900 staff join the 15 Language Villages each summer. Of that number, about 135 are international staff from 30 countries on six continents.\nWe cannot afford to have these international exchange opportunities limited to a defined number of countries or for those of a certain religious or socioeconomic background. The recently imposed travel ban by the Trump administration has fostered an unreasonable sense of fear and anxiety for those applying for international camp jobs, no matter where they live in the world.\nOur country is strengthened through more dialogue with the world, than less. Our ambassadors around the globe state that exchange programs are the most cost-effective investment in strengthening our national security.\nExchange participants consistently report that they completed their programs with a better impression of the United States. A Department of State program evaluation shows that 94 percent of high school exchange students from Muslim-majority countries said that their stay in the United States gave them a more favorable view of the American people and culture.\nTo understand America, it's best to experience it. And where better to start than at summer camp?\nSchulze is the executive director of Concordia Language Villages, the language- and cultural-immersion camps sponsored by Concordia College in Moorhead. She is board chair emeritus of the Alliance for International Exchange, a Washington-based organization that promotes educational and cultural exchange." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "BRASILIA - Around 60 people were killed in a bloody prison riot in the Amazon jungle city of Manaus sparked by a war between rival drug gangs, officials said on Monday, Jan. 2, in the worst violence in over two decades in Brazil's overcrowded penitentiary system.\nThe head of security for Amazonas state, Sergio Fontes, told a news conference that the death toll could rise as authorities get a clearer idea of the scale of the rebellion sparked by a fight between rival drug gangs.\nFontes told reporters that several of the dead had their decapitated bodies thrown over the prison wall - and that most of those killed came from one gang.\n\"This was another chapter in the silent and ruthless war of drug trafficking,\" he said.\nPedro Florencio, the Amazonas state prison secretary, said that the massacre was a \"revenge killing\" that formed part of an ongoing feud between criminal gangs in Brazil.\nThe riot began late Sunday and was brought under control by around 7 a.m. on Monday, Fontes said. Authorities were still counting the prisoners to determine how many had escaped, he added, with reports that up to 300 fled.\nJust as the riot began in one unit of the Anisio Jobim prison complex, dozens of prisoners in the second unit started a mass escape in what authorities said was a coordinated effort to distract guards.\nOvercrowding is extremely common in Brazil's prisons, which suffer endemic violence and what rights groups call medieval conditions with cells so crowded prisoners have no space to lie down and food is scarce.\nThe Anisio Jobim prison complex currently houses 2,230 inmates despite having a capacity of only 590.\nWatchdog groups sharply criticize Brazil for its prisons where deadly riots routinely break out.\n\"These massacres occur almost daily in Brazil,\" said Father Valdir Silveira, director of Pastoral Carceraria, a Catholic center that monitors prison conditions in Brazil. \"Our prisons were built to annihilate, torture and kill.\"\nThe violence was the latest clash between inmates aligned with the Sao Paulo-based First Capital Command drug gang, Brazil's most powerful, and a local Manaus criminal group known as the North Family.\nThe Manaus-based gang is widely believed to be attacking PCC inmates at the behest of the Rio de Janeiro-based Red Command drug gang, Brazil's second largest.\nSecurity analysts have said that a truce that held for years between the PCC and CV was broken last year, resulting in months of deadly prison battles between the gangs and sparking fears that chaos will spread to other prisons.\nIn the latest riot, a group of inmates exchanged gunfire with police and held 12 prison guards hostage late on Sunday in the largest prison in Manaus, an industrial city on the banks of the Amazon River, Globo TV reported.\nFontes said that 74 prisoners were taken hostage during the riot, with some executed and some released.\nA video posted on the website of the Manaus-based newspaper Em Tempo showed dozens of bloodied and mutilated bodies piled atop each other on the prison floor as other inmates milled about.\nBrazil's prison system is precariously overcrowded and conditions in many institutions are horrific. That has sparked a rash of deadly riots in recent years.\nSunday's riot was the deadliest in years. A 1992 rebellion at the Carandiru prison in Sao Paulo state saw 111 inmates killed, nearly all of them by police as they retook the jail.\nMaria Canineu, director of Human Rights Watch for Brazil, said the most recent violence was the result of \"no government in 20 years giving much attention to the penitentiary system.\"\nCanineu said that for years it's been very difficult for states to receiving any funding help from the federal government for prisons.\nPresident Michel Temer announced last week that the federal government would furnish states with $366 million, mostly to improve infrastructure and security in existing prisons and to build new ones." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "\"Last year we lost both houses of the Legislature and suffered a devastating defeat,\" reads the letter from the Coalition to Draft Rick Nolan for Governor. \"We need a candidate for governor who appeals to the broadest number of Minnesotans, based on proven DFL policies and principles.\"\nThe group warns: \"If we lose the governorship in 2018, we will become Wisconsin,\" a reference to the Republican control of the Badger State's Legislature and governor's seat.\nNolan's spokeswoman in January said Nolan is considering a run and didn't have a timeline for making a decision.\nThe coalition that sent the letter includes current and former state legislators such as Joe Begich, Ron Dicklich, Rob Ecklund, Jason Metsa and David Tomassoni. The group also includes Iron Range businesspeople and mining interests and is chaired by 8th District DFL Chair Justin Perpich.\n\"At a time when the DFL Party is reeling from significant losses in the 2016 elections, Congressman Nolan is the perfect candidate to stop the party's hemorrhaging of working class voters,\" the group said in an email Tuesday.\nNolan would join a growing field of DFL contenders for governor: State Auditor Rebecca Otto, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and state Rep. Erin Murphy of St. Paul all have thrown their hats in the ring. Minnesota Republican Party Chairman Keith Downey, Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt and Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson are also vying for the nomination from their party.\nIncumbent DFL Gov. Mark Dayton has said he will not seek re-election in 2018." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "West Fargo's Courtney Walsh and Talexi Gasal notched two goals each in the win, keeping KnightRider goalies Quinn Kuntz and Teresa Mattson busy with 29 and 20 stops, respectively.\n\"We got outworked most of the game,\" said KnightRider coach Alex Hedlund. \"We just need to find a way to put 51 minutes together and create more chances.\"\nGrand Forks will open the state tournament against West Fargo next week.\nSacred Heart 66, Hatton-Northwood 64\nNORTHWOOD, N.D.—The Sacred Heart boys basketball team edged out a victory against Hatton-Northwood on Tuesday night.\nDespite being down 36-28 at halftime, the Eagles rallied behind Jordan Tomkinson, who had 37 points and 11 rebounds. Jack Gerber also had a stout performance for Sacred Heart, notching a double double with 12 points.\n\"I'm proud of how they fought,\" said Sacred Heart coach Destry Sterkel.\nPark Rapids 59, EGF Senior High 58\nPARK RAPIDS, Minn.—The Park Rapids boys basketball team beat East Grand Forks Senior High in a close home victory Tuesday night.\nPark Rapids senior center Hunter Jewison posted 22 points, while Senior High's Sam Votava, Christian Dugan and Julian Benson each scored 11 points at the end of Tuesday's loss.\n\"They came out with a lot of energy and took it to us,\" said Senior High coach Josh Perkerwicz.\nIn the end, Park Rapids made a free throw to push ahead of the Green Wave.\nSenior High next faces Fosston in a home match Thursday night.\nThief River Falls 3,\nEGF Senior High 2\nTHIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn.—Aaron Myers scored two goals, including the game-winner late in the second period, to lead Thief River Falls to a boys hockey win over East Grand Forks Senior High on Tuesday.\nMyers scored the winner at 15:42 of the second.\nEast Grand Forks outshot Thief River Falls 32-14. Nick Corneliuson posted 31 saves in net for the Prowlers.\nCoby Stauss led the Green Wave with a goal and an assist.\nSacred Heart 66, Grafton 56\nBolstered by a strong first half, the Sacred Heart girls basketball team defeated Grafton on Tuesday night in East Grand Forks.\n\"We were up pretty handily at the half, but they came back in the second with strong defense,\" said Sacred Heart coach Joann Remer.\nAnya Edwards paced the Eagles with 28 points to victory.\nFollowing Tuesday's win, Sacred Heart's record now stands at 17-6. Sacred Heart will go on the road Friday to play Climax-Fisher." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Kingbird was one of about 100 participants who gathered in the parking lot of the John Glas Fieldhouse on Tuesday for Bemidji's first-ever Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women's Walk. Marchers, including men and children, as well as Native American women, united in solidarity with similar events taking place nationwide, hoping to call attention to the disproportionate amount of violence against Native women.\n\"We felt that it was very important for us to organize an event for today with the other actions that are happening all over Canada and all over the rest of the United States,\" said organizer Audrianna Goodwin. \"This is a very touching issue for almost all of us in the room ... and we just want to do our part in raising awareness to this issue.\"\nParticipants held signs and some wore red shawls during the march from the field house to BSU's Hobson Memorial Union; the group was greeted by honking cars as it traveled along Bemidji Avenue North. Native women and those who had lost family members led the march and allies brought up the rear.\nThe event was planned by the Indigenous Environmental Network's women's leadership group Ogimaakwewiwin. Group member Simone Senogles said that while Ogimaakwewiwin only became aware of similar marches last week, they decided to do their best to pull together the Tuesday event.\n\"Even though the time was really, really short we knew that it was something we wanted to do, we wanted to at least try,\" Senogles told participants. \"We're really, really humbled and honored by all of you coming out on this cold day and joining us.\"\nAfter the march, attendees gathered in the Beaux Arts Ballroom in Hobson. A Planned Parenthood table offered condoms and literature about HIV/AIDS prevention, while Northwoods Battered Women's Shelter and Red Lake shelter Equay Wiigamig also offered information about services. The organizers spoke about violence against Native women both nationwide and locally before jingle dress dancers performed.\n\"We want to acknowledge that this is a real issue to people,\" said organizer Anna Goldtooth. \"It affects us everywhere, and in our community we've experienced a lot of violence happening in the past few years against Native women.\"\nEach speaker said that much of the violence against indigenous women stems from colonization, even violence within Native communities.\n\"This violence that's perpetuated against our women isn't who we are. It never was part of our ways to hurt our women,\" Goodwin said. \"I just can't stress enough that this isn't who we are.\"" ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "In the nightcap, Red River had 40 second-half points to pull away to a 64-41 boys victory. Jordan Polynice scored 10 of his game-high 22 points in a 21-2 second-half spurt that broke the game open for the Riders. Cody Robertson added 11 points. Aaron Knutson scored 12 points and Jacob Ohnstad 10 to lead Central." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Joi (left) and Arvid Thompson dance Tuesday afternoon during a Valentine's Day event at Parkwood Senior Living in Grand Forks. Parkwood puts on various events such as the Valentine's Day Dance and Social, which is always a big hit. The Cathy Erickson Band played old tunes from the '60s and '70s. Some couples got up and danced while others just enjoyed old-fashioned conversation. (Joshua Komer / Grand Forks Herald)\n1 / 2" ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "My intent here isn’t to throw dirt on Burgum. He’s had a fantastically successful career in the private sector, and his rise to the highest office in state government last year was remarkable. But in terms of governing he hasn’t, you know, done anything.\nYet. Regardless, the Forum‘s premature honors aren’t his fault.\nYou can read the rest of this story by clicking here." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Best of One Foot Tsunami Read a random selection from OFT's very best posts: I Put a Spell on You Check out the full Best Of archive.\nTune in to Just The Tip Hear Paul and his good friend Amy Jane Gruber on their mildly-popular Just The Tip comedy podcast." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Best of One Foot Tsunami Read a random selection from OFT's very best posts: My Most Expensive Tweet Ever Check out the full Best Of archive.\nTune in to Just The Tip Hear Paul and his good friend Amy Jane Gruber on their mildly-popular Just The Tip comedy podcast." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Before making revisions to Animal Care Services' strategic plan, the City is gathering public input on how to handle San Antonio's stray pet and animal population.\nThere are also suggested changes to the Chapter 5 animal ordinance, which include a ban on tethering animals overnight and the number of animals an individual can legally own. Another topic up for discussion is mandatory spaying and neutering.\nCitizens can share feedback through a series of public meetings, which began in February and will continue through mid-May. Proposals for ordinance changes will be submitted to City Council later this year.\nThe next public meeting is scheduled tonight at Miller’s Pond Community Center from 6:30 to 8 p.m. For more dates and an online version of the survey, click here.\nGuests:\nOfficer Shannon Sims, assistant director of the City of San Antonio's Animal Care Services department\nLisa Norwood, public relations and outreach manager at the City of San Antonio's Animal Care Services department\n*Audio for this segment will be available by 3:30 p.m. on April 18" ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "A rally to save the Confederate monument in Travis Park was met by counterprotesters in support of removing the memorial last Saturday.\nThe mostly peaceful events in San Antonio coincided with violent demonstrations the same day in Charlottesville, Virginia stemming from a similar debate about the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee.\nPart of downtown's Travis Park since its dedication in 1899, the 40-foot-tall memorial to Confederate soldiers withstood resistance during initial construction as well as calls for removal in 2015.\nThe recent rally and local interest is spurred by the submission of a council consideration request by District 1 representative Roberto Treviño and District 2 representative William \"Cruz\" Shaw to relocate the monument.\n\"Going forward, community involvement will be critical to developing a thoughtful and appropriate relocation plan,\" Treviño said in a statement. \"Please continue to bring forth your opinions and ideas. We are listening.”\nWhat is the history behind Confederate monuments in San Antonio? Can a compromise be found for the statue in Travis Park?\nHow do disputes over similar issues nationwide affect the future of identity in the United States?\nGuests:\nThis is a community conversation and we want to hear from you. Leave a voicemail with your questions and comments in advance by calling 210-615-8982. During the live show (12 - 1 p.m.), call 210-614-8980, email [email protected] or tweet at @TPRSource.\n*Audio for this segment will be available by 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 15" ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "TPR broke the story that Hulu and its 500 jobs would come to San Antonio pending incentives that city, county and state officials have promised.\nWhile the state of Texas has already offered nearly $1.3 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund, Bexar County and the City of San Antonio have to vote on aspects of their deals this week.\nThe city is offering up more than $278,000 in a six-year tax rebate on property located on Horizon Hill Boulevard near the medical center. The city funds come with requirements that Hulu create 500 jobs over three years, 70 percent of which within in a year must make 15.68 per hour and include medical benefits. Hulu is also expected to make an investment of 13 million dollars into the property. Mayor Ivy Taylor says it is a good deal for the city for more than just those 500 jobs.\n\"I think it certainly can lead to much more because Hulu is a growing company, but also just the cache that comes with a company like that being here could lead similar companies to give San Antonio fair consideration,\" says Taylor.\nBexar County is offering $403,000 in a 10-year, 90 percent rebate. This deal would include the same 500 job requirement. It also expects a 15 million dollar investment in the company's Viewer Experience Operations headquarters. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff agrees that Hulu is great for building the local tech industry.\n\"So, we're really beginning to grow this industry. Now Hulu gives us another avenue to be able to sell other companies to come here. And that's important because they look at whose here,\" he says.\nThe county votes Tuesday to authorize city staff to begin negotiations, with the above as its opening offer. City council votes on their final deal on Thursday." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Updated at 2:30 p.m. ET\nAlmost 48 hours after violence engulfed Charlottesville, Va., President Trump called out white nationalist groups by name. Trump's remarks on Monday followed criticism that his initial statement about the clash of protesters did not condemn racist groups specifically.\n\"Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans,\" the president said from the White House.\nTrump began his remarks talking about his economic accomplishments and plans for trade negotiations before turning his attention to the events over the weekend in Virginia. After the Charlottesville City Council had voted earlier this year to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from one of its parks, white nationalist groups — including white supremacists, the alt-right, the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis — descended on the city for a \"Unite the Right\" rally.\nOn Friday night, they marched on the normally sleepy college town, home to the University of Virginia, carrying torches. On Saturday conditions turned deadly as hundreds of the white nationalists, some carrying Confederate flags and shields and others in militia-like gear, clashed with counterprotesters in the city streets.\nAt one point a silver Dodge Challenger, allegedly driven by 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. of Ohio, rammed into a street filled with counterprotesters. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed, and at least 19 others were injured. Fields was charged with one count of second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and one count of hit and run.\nPresident Trump expressed sympathy to Heyer's family as well as to the families of Virginia State Troopers Lt. H. Jay Cullen and Berke M.M. Bates, who died when their helicopter that was patrolling Saturday's event crashed.\n\"These three fallen Americans embody the goodness and decency of our nation,\" Trump said. \"In times such as these, America has always shown its true character, responding to hate with love, division with unity, and violence with an unwavering resolve for justice.\"\nTrump spoke after meeting with newly installed FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the White House. He said that the Department of Justice had opened a civil rights investigation into the car attack.\n\"To anyone who acted criminally at this weekend's racist violence, you will be held fully accountable. Justice will be delivered,\" the president said.\nSessions told ABC News on Monday morning that the car crash that had killed Heyer \"does meet the definition of domestic terrorism.\"\n\"You can be sure we will charge and advance the investigation towards the most serious charges that can be brought, because this is unequivocally an unacceptable, evil attack,\" he said.\nThe president's condemnations may be too little, too late for those who criticized Trump's initial remarks — and Trump may have missed a critical moment to be the nation's healer in chief. On Saturday, Trump claimed that the clashes were a result of \"hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.\" Top Republicans, among others, quickly criticized him for not calling out by name the white supremacists, alt-right, KKK and neo-Nazi groups that began the protests.\n\"Mr. President — we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism,\" Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., who heads up the GOP Senate campaign committee, tweeted on Saturday.\nThe White House put out an unsigned statement on Sunday morning, saying that, \"The President said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry and hatred and of course that includes white Supremacists, KKK, neo-nazi and all extremist groups. He called for national unity and bringing all Americans together.\"\nVice President Pence had gone further than the president in his own comments, telling reporters Sunday night while traveling in Colombia, \"We have no tolerance for hate and violence from white supremacists, neo-Nazis or the KKK. These dangerous fringe groups have no place in American public life and in the American debate, and we condemn them in the strongest possible terms.\"\nTrump has been blamed for being slow to criticize white supremacist groups in the past — even as he regularly attacks other targets on Twitter. During the 2016 campaign, Trump came under fire for not immediately disavowing the endorsement of David Duke, a former KKK grand wizard.\nDuke, who attended the march in Virginia, said on Saturday that participants' aim was \"to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That's what we believed in. That's why we voted for Donald Trump, because he said he's going to take our country back.\"\nDuke later responded to one of the president's tweets condemning the violence by saying, \"I would recommend you take a good look in the mirror & remember it was White Americans who put you in the presidency, not radical leftists.\"" ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Here in San Antonio, the Confederate monument in downtown’s Travis Park was at the center of separate protests this weekend. Confederate supporters gathered in Travis Park to voice opposition to the monument's potential relocation while those who want it removed held a demonstration of their own. The words exchanged between the two sides were heated, but the protests were without violence.\nConfederate, U.S. and Texas flags decorated one corner of Travis Park as about 250 people – some armed with long rifles and other fire arms – sang the song of Dixie.\nStory continues below photo\nPaul Gramling is a commander with the Sons of Confederate Veterans. He came to protest from Shreveport, Louisiana. He says confederate monuments across the country are war memorials and symbols of heritage.\n“They were put in spots where they are to remember and memorialize the dead soldiers - our dead men - who didn’t’ come off the battlefield, who never made it home. That’s what these monuments are for,” Gramling said.\nThe protest was organized by a group called This is Texas Freedom Force in response to a request by San Antonio City Council members Roberto Trevino and Cruz Shaw to re-locate the monument; possibly to a museum.\nThe tall obelisk like monument features an unnamed soldier at the top. It was erected in the late 1890s by the daughters of the confederacy.\nShort video of both sides from today's protests over the Travis Park Confederate Monument @TPRNews pic.twitter.com/z290er7uW9 — Joey Palacios (@Joeycules) August 12, 2017\nAcross the park nearly another 250 people held a rally of their own in support of removing it, chanting “Take it down, take it down.” Jonathan David Jones is a community activist and often participates in Black Lives Matter events.\n“This monument should have been gone a long a time ago. It needs to go now. We don’t care what they do with it. They can put it in one of their homes if they want to, but it doesn’t belong in public space,” Jones said.\nJones feels the confederacy stood for white supremacy. “They say it’s for heritage, they say it’s for history, but we know what it’s really about,” he added.\nStory continues below photo\nSan Antonio Police had the two sides separated with barricades. Police Chief William McManus says it was to prevent physical confrontations. “My issue is keeping the peace during these types of demonstrations and having had about 28 years of experience with this in DC the most effective way to keep these folks separate is putting up fencing,” McManus said.\nSAPD estimates at least 500 people were present in the park. The fencing kept the sides mostly apart. That didn’t stop them from taunting each other with wars of words. Travis Park seemed to mirror the mood of the country in recent months.\nThere were no violent confrontations. At least one person was arrested from the counter protestors’ side. Police charged 20-year-old Michael Murphy with assault.\nThe PA systems on both ends dueled with each other. On the confederate supporters side, Jeffrey Addicott, a professor at St. Mary’s University said the group did not stand for racism.\n“We’ve got black individuals out here, we’ve got white, we’ve got grey, we’ve got yellow, we’ve got a diversity of people. This is not about racism. And if any of you are racist in here please see me afterwards, I’d love to beat the living daylights out of you,” Addicott said.\nOn the removal side, Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Calvert said this country tore itself apart over the institution of slavery. “We stand together united, black, white, brown, gay, straight, of every color, Native American to say this is our country, we’re united we’re together, we love each other, we don’t want to hurt each other, we want everybody to prosper,” Calvert said. “This is our America and we’re not going back.”\nMoving the monument is not a done deal. It will take action from the full San Antonio City Council. Councilman Shaw and Trevino are asking for the monument to be placed in an area where it can be integrated into historical context. It’s unknown when the proposal will be heard by a council committee." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Seven veteran Bexar County Sheriff’s Deputies have been placed on administrative leave for ten days following a hazing ritual involving one of the deputies. During the incident, county issued handcuffs, county issued shackles, and a county issued taser were used. All of the deputies are members of SERT, the Special Emergency Response Team at the Jail.\nThey were all given letters on Monday notifying them of the leave that is due to them as part of their collective bargaining agreement, according to Sheriff Javier Salazar.\n“After such time, they’re not welcome back at the Sheriff’s Office until the conclusion of this investigation,” said Salazar. “They’ll need to burn their time, but after their ten days administrative leave they are effectively not here anymore. They’re turning in their uniform, they’re turning in their credentials and they are not part of our workforce until the conclusion of this investigation one way or the other.”\nThe incident was recorded on video at a private residence last Friday night. Salazar said what’s most disturbing is that the 4-year-old daughter of one of the deputies was also involved." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "From Texas Standard:\nAs the legislative session heads into its final six weeks, lawmakers have a lot left to do. They face the task of reconciling budgets passed by the House and Senate into a single document. They must act on the governor’s emergency agenda items. And they’ll need to decide the fate of the more than 6,000 bills filed during the session.\nTexas Tribune Executive Editor Ross Ramsey says conflicts between House and Senate Republicans that have been brewing all session will continue to play out as the two bodies work to produce a final budget for the state.\n“We’re at the greatest difference right now,” Ramsey says. “This is a pretty normal state of affairs. They rattle their swords a bunch, and then five members from each body go into a room and go line by line through the budget and reconcile their differences. So they’re making a lot of noises right now. They have plenty of time to fix it. They do have some really significant differences to close though.“\nAmong the most high-profile fights this session has been the so-called ‘bathroom bill’ which would require people to use the bathroom associated with the gender on their birth certificate in selected public places. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is the bill’s staunchest advocate, and House Speaker Joe Straus is against it. The fight, Ramsey says, is partly about how conservative voters and business backers of the party differ no the bill.\n“The Republicans in the Legislature are in a little bit of a box,” Ramsey says. “It looks like their voters are mostly for the bathroom bill. But if you poll businesses that have been supporters of conservatives, they’re against this bill. They think it’s discriminatory.”\nBut Republicans disagree about more than the bathroom bill, and that conflict is reflected in the makeup of each legislative chamber, Ramsey says.\n“A long time ago we had a two-party state and both parties were Democrats,” he says. “And now we’ve got a two-party state where both parties are Republicans. The House is sort of the traditional, mainstream Republican party...The Senate is dominated more by movement conservatives, social conservatives and populists. And the two leaders of those bodies, Joe Straus in the House and Dan Patrick in the Senate, kind of embody those different Republican parties.”\nRamsey says there’s also a difference in the way the chambers move through their work.\n“The Senate tends to work more quickly, in a more populist way,” he says. “The House tends to be the place where things slow down, and get a slow consideration and maybe pass and maybe die. “\nOf course, there is another party represented in the Legislature. Ramsey says Democrats have had limited success in advocating for their priorities.\n“The Democrats have a bigger voice in the House,” Ramsey says. “They have bigger numbers. They’re more likely to vote against things and rattle around and make people come to them to make deals.”\nA few measures have attracted bipartisan support, Ramsey says, and two are priorities for the governor as well. One of these is anti-sanctuary city legislation, which Ramsey thinks will be approved by both houses. Fixes to the state’s child protective services system are also on the governor's emergency agenda, and Ramsey expects the chambers to pass legislation.\n“It looks like the members of both houses from both parties agree that child protective services in Texas is messed up, and needs some help, and needs some money,” he says. “And I think they’ve done both of those things. They’ve got some legislation moving. They’re throwing a bunch of money at it.”\nWritten by Shelly Brisbin." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Before making revisions Animal Care Services' strategic plan, the City is gathering public input on how to handle San Antonio's stray pet and animal population.\nThere are also suggested changes to the Chapter 5 animal ordinance, which include a ban on tethering animals overnight and a limit to how many animals an individual can legally own. Citizens can share feedback through a series of public meetings, which began in February and will continue until mid-May. Proposals for ordinance changes will be submitted to City Council later this year.\nThe next public meeting is scheduled tonight at Miller’s Pond Community Center from 6:30 to 8 p.m. For more dates and an online version of the survey, click here.\nGuests:\nOfficer Shannon Sims, assistant director of the City of San Antonio's Animal Care Services department\nLisa Norwood, public relations and outreach manager at the City of San Antonio's Animal Care Services department\n*Audio for this segment will be available by 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 18" ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Agencies, New Delhi\nState Bank of India, the top public sector lender, along with other PSU lenders — Punjab National Bank and Union Bank — today cut their benchmark lending rates by up to 90 basis points, which is expected to boost credit demand and growth.\nThe rate slash comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi called upon banks to lend more to the poor and middle class. The SBI cut down its one-year marginal cost of funds lending rate (MCLR) by 0.9 percent from 8.90 percent to 8 percent for one-year tenure, while the PNB has cut its MCLR by 0.7 percent to 8.45 percent from 9.15 percent.\nThe Union Bank of India reduced its rate by 0.65-0.9 percent to 8.65 percent. With the banks possessing huge liquidity by way of massive deposits following the demonetisation, the Government had been urging banks to pass to cut lending rate to benefit the borrowers.\nWelcoming the Banks’ decision, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said in a tweet, “Welcome reduction of interest rates by SBI. Loan disbursement expected to pick up. Positive for economy.’’ “Trend of Interest rate reduction follows demonetisation. Banks have substantial quantum of low cost Funds now,’’ Mr Das in another tweet." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Agencies, Lucknow\nTermed as a novice in politics Akhilesh Yadav today was donned as the new president of Samajwadi Party replacing his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. Akhilesh Yadav, became youngest CM on March 15, 2012 at the age of 38 when he led the Samajwadi Party to power in the state after winning with majority seats.\nHe played an important role in his party’s campaign for the 2012 UP assembly elections. In his 16 year political career, Akhilesh has become the youth icon of the state and his governance has given a new era of development in UP during the past five years. Mr Yadav was born on 1 July, 1973 in Saifai village in Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh. His father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, is a four time chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.\nMulayam Singh Yadav founded the Samajwadi Party in 1992 of which he was also a member. Today Akhilesh was declared as the national president of SP in a parallel national convention against his father. Mr Yadav completed his schooling at Dholpur Military School in Rajasthan.\nThereafter, he completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree course in Civil Environmental Engineering from Mysore University. He also studied in the University of Sydney, from where he holds a degree in Environmental Engineering. Mr Yadav married Dimple Yadav on November 24, 1999 and the couple have two daughters, Aditi and Tina, and a son, Arjun.\nAkhilesh has keen interest in sports such as football and cricket. His favourite pastimes include reading, listening to music and watching films. Mr Yadav was elected as a member of the Lok Sabha for the first time from Kannauj in 2000. From year 2000 to 2001, he served as a member of the Committee on Ethics.\nFrom year 2002 to 2004, he was a member of the Committee on Environment and Forests and also of the Committee on Science and Technologies. In 2004, he was re-elected as a member of the 14th Lok Sabha for a second term. From 2004 to 2009, he was members of Committee on Urban Development, Committee on Estimates, Committee on Provision of Computers to various departments.\nIn 2009, he became member of the 15th Lok Sabha; he got re-elected for a third consecutive term. From 2009 to 2012, he served as member of the Committee on Environment & Forests, Committee on Science & Technology and the JPC on the 2G spectrum scam. On 10 March 2012, Akhilesh Yadav was appointed the leader of the Samajwadi Legislative Party in Uttar Pradesh.\nOn 15 March 2012, at the age of 38 years, he became the youngest Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. On 2 May 2012, he resigned as member of the 15th Lok Sabha to become Member of Legislative Council in Uttar Pradesh. Though Akhilesh has been elected as the national president but it has to be seen whether his father Mulayam accepts it or not." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Agencies, Balasore\nIndia today test fired the most advanced long range missile system “Agni-4” from a Road Mobile System from the Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast.\nThe missile, having a target range of 4000 kms and considered as one of its kind with many new technologies having capability to carry Strategic Warheads for the Forces, was test fired at 11:50 hours from the launch complex 4 of the Abdul Kalam island inside the Bay of Bengal.\nDefence sources said the Missile System is equipped with modern and compact Avionics with Redundancy to provide high level of reliability.\nThe indigenous Ring Laser Gyros based high accuracy INS (RINS) and Micro Navigation System (MINGS) complementing each other in redundant mode have been successfully flown in guidance mode.\nAll the Radars and electro-optical systems along the Coast of Odisha have tracked and monitored all the parameters of the vehicle." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Agencies, New Delhi\nThe oil companies including Indian Oil Corporation Limited have decided to effect the following price changes w.e.f. midnight of 1st / 2nd January 2017. Selling price of Petrol has been increased by Rs 1.29/litre (excluding State levies).\nSelling Price of Diesel has been increased by Rs. 0.97/litre (excluding State levies). The current level of international product prices of Petrol and Diesel and INR-USD exchange rate warrant increase in selling price of Petrol and Diesel, the impact of which is being passed on to the consumers with this price revision.\nThe movement of prices in the international oil market and INR-USD exchange rate shall continue to be monitored closely and developing trends of the market will be reflected in future price changes." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Agencies, Bhopal\nCongress MP and ex-Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia will sit on a ‘satyagraha’ in the Madhya Pradesh capital tomorrow in the support of farmers’ demand. Mr Scindia’s ‘satyagraha’ comes in the wake of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s fast for restoration of peace in t he state. “Necessary arrangements for the ‘satyagraha’ have been completed at the Dussehra Ground here.\nBesides Mr Scindia, Leader of the Opposition Ajay Singh and the Congress’ state chief Arun Yadav would take part in the ‘satyagraha’. People from across the state would place their views during the ‘satyagraha’,” the Congress’ state spokesperson JP Dhaopiya said.\nAsked whether the party intended to bring the deceased peasants’ kin at the ‘satyagraha’ venue, he said Mr Scindia has gone to meet them in Mandsaur. Therefore, there is no plan to call them here. Mr Scindia was on his way to meet the deceased ryots’ family members. However, the district administration has not provided him requisite permission. “Madhya Pradesh’s farmers were agitating over their demands from June 1. On June 6, six peasants were killed in police firing in Mandsaur. Leader of the Opposition Ajay Singh and I rushed from Dindori to Mandsaur but were not allowed to meet the peasants. Likewise, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi tried to reach Mandsaur but was prevented,” Mr Yadav told media here." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Data for police shootings is usually the subset that only includes fatalities. Vice News made requests nationwide to get data on people who were shot but not killed by police. To accompany their story, Vice News made the data and code available for download:\nUltimately, we obtained some data from 47 departments — with 4,099 incidents in all. Departments in New York’s Suffolk and Nassau Counties didn’t provide us with any data. Maryland’s Montgomery County Police Department gave us only partial incident-level information and no total number of police shootings, so we excluded them from the analysis. We put all this information together to analyze trends across the departments and to compare them with one another — the first time this has ever been done for both fatal and nonfatal shootings.\nGet the data and look for yourself." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Apr 24, 2018\nSisi Wei for ProPublica and Nick Fortugno of Playmatics made a game to provide a feeling of what it’s like for someone who needs escape from their home.\nBased on the real case files of five asylum seekers from five countries and interviews with the medical and legal professionals who evaluate and represent them, The Waiting Game is an experimental news game that lets you walk in the shoes of an asylum seeker, from the moment they choose to come to the United States to the final decision in the cases before an immigration judge.\nTake your time with this one, and use your headphones.\nIn the game format, I felt more engrossed in the individual stories than I think if it were a linear profile story." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "I’ve never seen this Game of Thrones show, but I suspect this will be relevant to many. The Upshot made an interactive that asks readers to place characters on a two-axis chart. The x-axis spans evil to good, and the y-axis spans ugly to beautiful. The result is the above, plus contour plots for each character’s place in the space.\nLike I said, I don’t anything about the show, but I like the contour plots that have a split decision about beauty. For example, most people agree that Hodor is ugly, but there’s a small group who place him at max beauty. Similarly, Joffrey Baratheon and Ramsay Bolton are clearly evil, but they have wide distributions on the ugly to beautiful scale.\nDecide for yourself." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Every now and then there’s a visual exploration of the Choose Your Own Adventure series. It seems that each gets a bit more complex, so I appreciate the simplicity of these official maps from Chooseco, which shows the structure of each book. Atlas Obscura provides the details.\nOn the official maps, however, the endings aren’t coded in any way that reveals their nature. Instead, they operate according to a simple key: each arrow represents a page, each circle a choice, and each square an ending. Dotted lines show where branches link to one another.\nThe one above is for Journey Under the Sea. I need to dig up my CYOA collection." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Using anonymized cell phone data from Here Technologies, Sahil Chinoy for The Washington Post mapped how far you can drive out of major cities during various times of the day. I used to do the kind of math — as I muttered in rage driving out of Los Angeles during rush hour, which by the way is four hours long." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "These are my picks for the best of 2015. As usual, they could easily appear in a different order on a different day, and there are projects not on the list that were also excellent." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Apr 24, 2018\nSisi Wei for ProPublica and Nick Fortugno of Playmatics made a game to provide a feeling of what it’s like for someone who needs escape from their home.\nBased on the real case files of five asylum seekers from five countries and interviews with the medical and legal professionals who evaluate and represent them, The Waiting Game is an experimental news game that lets you walk in the shoes of an asylum seeker, from the moment they choose to come to the United States to the final decision in the cases before an immigration judge.\nTake your time with this one, and use your headphones.\nIn the game format, I felt more engrossed in the individual stories than I think if it were a linear profile story." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "The mass shooting in Las Vegas on October 1 was the worst in modern history. Unfortunately, while of varying magnitude, mass shootings are somewhat regular in the United States.\nBased on data collected by the Gun Violence Archive, there was another shooting in Lawrence, Kansas on the same day. As of writing this, three more mass shootings took place since Las Vegas.\nThe chart below shows the number of days we’ve gone this year without a mass shooting. As a nation, our longest streak ends at only five days.\nThis of course depends on your definition of mass shooting. There’s no set definition for the term, but the Gun Violence Archive defines it as a an incident where four or more people are shot or killed in the same location, not including the shooter.\nAs other sources, you might also look to the Stanford Mass Shootings of America data project and the Mother Jones dataset." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "This is what happens when there is a lull during the basketball playoff season. Chris Herring, for FiveThirtyEight, goes into full detail of the relatively high number of times Kevin Durant’s shoe falls off during games:\nAll told, an extensive video analysis of Durant’s games from the past three regular seasons and postseasons reveals that the four-time scoring champ has come out of his shoe at least 31 times since the beginning of the 2015-16 campaign. That number, compiled against 20 different NBA teams, equates to losing a sneaker roughly every eight games or so — a mind-bogglingly high figure considering that Durant has had his own signature Nike shoe, designed to fit the unique contours of his feet, dating back to 2008.\n“His shoe comes off more than anyone I’ve ever seen,” says teammate Draymond Green.\nThe question, of course, is why." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "This is what happens when there is a lull during the basketball playoff season. Chris Herring, for FiveThirtyEight, goes into full detail of the relatively high number of times Kevin Durant’s shoe falls off during games:\nAll told, an extensive video analysis of Durant’s games from the past three regular seasons and postseasons reveals that the four-time scoring champ has come out of his shoe at least 31 times since the beginning of the 2015-16 campaign. That number, compiled against 20 different NBA teams, equates to losing a sneaker roughly every eight games or so — a mind-bogglingly high figure considering that Durant has had his own signature Nike shoe, designed to fit the unique contours of his feet, dating back to 2008.\n“His shoe comes off more than anyone I’ve ever seen,” says teammate Draymond Green.\nThe question, of course, is why." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Research by Raj Chetty, Nathaniel Hendren, Maggie Jones, and Sonya Porter from the Equality of Opportunity Project suggests that black boys who grow up in rich families are still much more likely to fall into lower income levels than white boys who grow up in equally rich families. The shift from low income to higher levels also appears to be a greater challenge, which makes closing the gap that much harder.\nEmily Badger, Claire Cain Miller, Adam Pearce, and Kevin Quealy for The Upshot cover the data extensively with a series of charts, driven visually with a particle-based Sankey diagram (above). The individual points provide a vehicle to show variation over aggregates.\nTake your time with this one.\nYou can grab the aggregated data from the Equality of Opportunity Project. Here’s the research paper in full (pdf) if you’re interested. And if you’re interested in the Sankey implementation." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "Warren McClendon has heard and seen enough to go cut his list to five schools from a list of 23 scholarship offers.Alabama offered him first when he was just a freshman. Since the Crimson Tide offe..." ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }

{ "text": [ "You can’t really tell from this picture, but it has been a very mild winter so far in Calgary. I’m not sure what the temperature was when I shot this photo, but it was sweater weather for sure. I did kind of a weird edit on this shot, I was going for a grainy film look. I’m not sure if the edit worked out exactly how I was planning, but I kinda like the picture. Anyhow, I think the warm weather is going to be sticking around for a little while longer, so I’ll be getting out there as much as I can before it get’s cold again!\nCamera: Nikon D3S & 70-200mm f/2.8 VR\nThanks for stopping by, Rob\n51.048615 -114.070846\nAdvertisements" ], "answer_start": [ 0 ] }