Latest news with #Whitacre
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Yahoo
Two educators charged with manslaughter in Western Mass. 12-year-old's 2024 drowning death
Two people have been charged in the death of a 12-year-old Pittsfield Public Schools student who drowned during a field trip last summer, the Berkshire County District Attorney's Office announced Wednesday. EarlGiver Essien, who primarily went by 'Giver,' died on July 17, 2024, during an outing at Beartown State Forest in Great Barrington that was part of a summer learning program at her middle school, the district attorney's office said. The Herberg Middle School student would've turned 13 later that month, according to her obituary. Berkshire County District Attorney Timothy Shugrue is set to share information about the suspects and allegations in the case Thursday morning during a press conference. But according to The Berkshire Eagle, the two people charged in the case are Linda Whitacre and Meghan Braley — both of whom helped run the school summer program Giver was attending when she died. On Wednesday, a Berkshire County grand jury indicted Whitacre, 68, and Braley, 30, on one count each of manslaughter, reckless endangerment of a child and permitting injury to a child, according to court records. Neither woman had a lawyer listed with Berkshire County Superior Court as of Wednesday evening, and their arraignments had not been scheduled. Both Whitacre and Braley helped run the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program — the program Giver was attending when she drowned — at Pittsfield Public Schools last summer. The federally funded program aims to increase learning time for students after school and over the summer. Whitacre was the district coordinator for the learning program, the Eagle reported. She is currently listed as its interim grant coordinator on Pittsfield Public Schools' website. Braley was the program's site supervisor, according to her LinkedIn profile. She was also a seventh-grade English teacher at Herberg Middle School for three years before Giver's death, but left this position before the beginning of the 2024-25 school year. Pittsfield Superintendent Joseph Curtis didn't return a request for comment on the indictments Wednesday evening. After Giver's death, witnesses connected to the case alleged that the program's leaders did not do swim tests with the students to assess their skill level — even though state law required them to do so, the Eagle reported. Christian's Law mandates that all municipal and recreational programs and licensed camps determine the swimming ability of all underage campers before they are allowed to swim. It also requires that summer programs and camps provide life jackets and other flotation devices to all children who swim poorly or not at all. The Massachusetts Legislature passed the law in 2012 — five years after a 4-year-old Sturbridge boy drowned while swimming without a life jacket during a town summer camp program. The law, which was named after the boy, was adopted in the hope of preventing future children who struggle with swimming from drowning. Witnesses say there was a lifeguard on duty while the students swam during the field trip last summer, the Eagle reported. No adults realized that Giver was missing until after the students got out of the water to change and a head count was conducted. It is not clear how long Giver was underwater before she was brought to shore, the Eagle reported. CPR was performed in an unsuccessful attempt to revive her. Harvard researcher accused of trying to smuggle frog embryos into the U.S. indicted FBI continues to track down plutonium allegedly sold by Hadley man Medford man accused of manufacturing pills for 'high-level drug trafficking scheme' Brockton man ID'd after fatal shooting outside Dedham BJ's Mass. teen's death in N.H. shooting ruled a homicide; investigation ongoing Read the original article on MassLive.
Sydney Morning Herald
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Composer, conductor, Buddhist and model: Inside the restless mind of Eric Whitacre
Grammy-winning composer Eric Whitacre took a deep breath and pitched his germ of a musical idea to the head of London's BBC Proms. 'It would be Vangelis meets Thomas Tallis,″ he says. To his surprise, his proposed marriage of electronica and 16th-century vocal music got the thumbs up. Eternity in an Hour debuted at the Royal Albert Hall last year and is poised to make its Australian premiere with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Whitacre is a musical rarity: a popular, highly regarded composer, conductor and performer who straddles the divide between classical and contemporary music. He has an aura of rock star glamour as crosses his Sydney hotel foyer in black jeans and sweater. With collar-length hair and chiselled good looks – he could be Sting's much younger brother – he looks more the techno band member he once was than a conductor at home on podiums around the globe. It's the third time he has worked with the Philharmonia's young adult ensemble VOX, who co-commissioned the piece with the Proms and Flemish Radio Choir. Whitacre will perform a range of electronics while conducting the work also scored for choir, piano and cello. Its title is based on a stanza from William Blake's poem Auguries of Innocence: To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour. Whitacre first read the poem in his early 20s and admires its eloquent meditation on impermanence and the interconnectedness of all things.
The Age
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Composer, conductor, Buddhist and model: Inside the restless mind of Eric Whitacre
Grammy-winning composer Eric Whitacre took a deep breath and pitched his germ of a musical idea to the head of London's BBC Proms. 'It would be Vangelis meets Thomas Tallis,″ he says. To his surprise, his proposed marriage of electronica and 16th-century vocal music got the thumbs up. Eternity in an Hour debuted at the Royal Albert Hall last year and is poised to make its Australian premiere with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Whitacre is a musical rarity: a popular, highly regarded composer, conductor and performer who straddles the divide between classical and contemporary music. He has an aura of rock star glamour as crosses his Sydney hotel foyer in black jeans and sweater. With collar-length hair and chiselled good looks – he could be Sting's much younger brother – he looks more the techno band member he once was than a conductor at home on podiums around the globe. It's the third time he has worked with the Philharmonia's young adult ensemble VOX, who co-commissioned the piece with the Proms and Flemish Radio Choir. Whitacre will perform a range of electronics while conducting the work also scored for choir, piano and cello. Its title is based on a stanza from William Blake's poem Auguries of Innocence: To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour. Whitacre first read the poem in his early 20s and admires its eloquent meditation on impermanence and the interconnectedness of all things.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Local agency supports developmental disability programs
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — The month of March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, and Thursday, the Mahoning County Commissioners heard from one of the many clients who receive services from the local Board of Developmental Disabilities. The agency cares for about 2,000 individuals each year and roughly 600 of them are children. Directors say the state recently increased what are called the 'waiver rates' for Medicaid to cover the 'DD's' different services. 'Those Medicaid services – which could be residential day programs, employment assistance, transportation, home modifications to hope people live in their homes – equates to roughly $100 million worth of services in this county for individuals served,' said board member Bill Whitacre. Whitacre thanked the commissioners for their ongoing support for the DD programs in the Valley. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
