WASHINGTON (AP)— President Joe Biden's administration has approved the emergency sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106 million as it intensifies its military operations in the southern Gaza Strip, the State Department said Saturday.

The department said it had notified Congress of the sale late Friday after Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined that “an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale” of the munitions in the U.S. national security interest.

The emergency determination means that the purchase will bypass the congressional review requirement for foreign military sales. Such determinations are rare, but not unprecedented, when administrations see an urgent need for weapons to be delivered without waiting for congressional approval.

“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability,” the department said in a statement. “Israel will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense.”

The sale is worth $106.5 million and includes 13,981 120 mm High Explosive Anti-Tank Multi-Purpose with Tracer tank cartridges as well as U.S. support, engineering and logistics.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian death toll in Gaza from the Israel-Hamas war has surpassed 17,700, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory.

Israel’s ground offensive in southern Gaza Strip intensified on Saturday with further airstrikes and artillery fire, a day after the United States&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-un-resolution-ceasefire-humanitarian-6d3bfd31d6c25168e828274d96b85cf8">blocked a U.N. resolution</a>&nbsp;calling for a cease-fire.

Israel says 97 of its soldiers have died in the ground offensive after Hamas&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-attack-military-war-a8f63b07641212f0de61861844e5e71e">raided southern Israel</a>&nbsp;on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hostages-gaza-b6ffc286ca7d4b48caaada43e9c6e411">about 240 hostages.</a>

Amid concerns about a wider conflict, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen threatened to prevent any ship heading to Israeli ports from passing through the Red Sea and Arabian Sea until food and medicine can enter Gaza freely. With only a trickle of humanitarian aid reaching a small portion of Gaza, residents have reported severe food shortages.

Despite growing international pressure, President Joe Biden’s administration remains opposed to an open-ended cease-fire, arguing it would enable Hamas to continue posing a threat to Israel. The administration approved the emergency sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106 million, the State Department said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/10/1697623831480.png" alt="File-President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -White House photo" />
 <figcaption>File-President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -White House photo</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP)— President Joe Biden's administration has approved the emergency sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106 million as it intensifies its military operations in the southern Gaza Strip, the State Department said Saturday.The department said it had notified Congress of the sale late Friday after Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined that “an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale” of the munitions in the U.S. national security interest.The emergency determination means that the purchase will bypass the congressional review requirement for foreign military sales. Such determinations are rare, but not unprecedented, when administrations see an urgent need for weapons to be delivered without waiting for congressional approval.“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability,” the department said in a statement. “Israel will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense.”The sale is worth $106.5 million and includes 13,981 120 mm High Explosive Anti-Tank Multi-Purpose with Tracer tank cartridges as well as U.S. support, engineering and logistics.Meanwhile, the Palestinian death toll in Gaza from the Israel-Hamas war has surpassed 17,700, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory.Israel’s ground offensive in southern Gaza Strip intensified on Saturday with further airstrikes and artillery fire, a day after the United States&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-un-resolution-ceasefire-humanitarian-6d3bfd31d6c25168e828274d96b85cf8">blocked a U.N. resolution</a>&nbsp;calling for a cease-fire.Israel says 97 of its soldiers have died in the ground offensive after Hamas&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-attack-military-war-a8f63b07641212f0de61861844e5e71e">raided southern Israel</a>&nbsp;on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hostages-gaza-b6ffc286ca7d4b48caaada43e9c6e411">about 240 hostages.</a>Amid concerns about a wider conflict, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen threatened to prevent any ship heading to Israeli ports from passing through the Red Sea and Arabian Sea until food and medicine can enter Gaza freely. With only a trickle of humanitarian aid reaching a small portion of Gaza, residents have reported severe food shortages.Despite growing international pressure, President Joe Biden’s administration remains opposed to an open-ended cease-fire, arguing it would enable Hamas to continue posing a threat to Israel. The administration approved the emergency sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106 million, the State Department said.

Biden approves emergency tank ammunition sale to Israel 

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The University of Pennsylvania’s president has resigned&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/harvard-mit-penn-campus-antisemitism-20b8513293ee2dbaee053a6fd3f8ce7a">amid pressure from donors and criticism</a>&nbsp;over testimony at a congressional hearing where she was unable to say under repeated questioning that calls on campus for the genocide of Jews would violate the school’s conduct policy.

The chairman of the Ivy League school's board of trustees, Scott Bok, also resigned, the university said Saturday evening, just hours after Bok announced Liz Magill's departure as president in just her second year.

The university said Magill will remain a tenured faculty member at the university’s Carey Law School. She has agreed to keep serving as Penn’s leader until the university names an interim president.

Calls for Magill's firing exploded after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/antisemitism-islamophobia-education-universities-hamas-israel-3ae6f640de936f7228a63331efbb85ad">Tuesday’s testimony</a>&nbsp;in a U.S. House committee on antisemitism on college campuses, where she appeared with the presidents of Harvard University and MIT.

Universities across the U.S. have been accused of failing to protect Jewish students amid rising&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-antisemitism-europe-massacre-war-protests-1d26266dfd9b2b8dd4c795f420abab47">fears of antisemitism worldwide</a>&nbsp;and fallout from Israel’s intensifying&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war">war in Gaza</a>, which faces heightened criticism for the mounting&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/unrwa-lazzarini-gaza-israel-hamas-war-95ce3c409bd8566ed26d60aa75223546">Palestinian death toll</a>.

The three presidents were called before the committee to answer those accusations. But their lawyerly answers drew renewed blowback from opponents, focused particularly on a line of questioning from Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who repeatedly asked whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate Penn’s code of conduct.

“If the speech turns into conduct it can be harassment, yes,” Magill said. Pressed further, Magill told Stefanik, “It is a context-dependent decision, congresswoman.”

Criticism of Magill rained down from the White House, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, members of Congress and donors. One donor, Ross Stevens, threatened to withdraw a $100 million gift because of the university’s “stance on antisemitism on campus” unless Magill was replaced.

A day later, Magill addressed the criticism, saying in a video that she would consider a call for the genocide of Jewish people to be harassment or intimidation and that Penn’s policies need to be “clarified and evaluated.”

In a statement Saturday, Stefanik said Magill's “forced resignation” is the “bare minimum of what is required" and said Harvard and MIT should follow suit.

“This is only the very beginning of addressing the pervasive rot of antisemitism that has destroyed the most ‘prestigious’ higher education institutions in America,” Stefanik said.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, said Magill’s resignation allows Penn to “chart a new course in addressing antisemitism on campus.”

Even before Tuesday's hearing, Magill had been under fire from some donors and alumni this fall. Some also had called for the resignation of Bok, who had defended Magill amid criticism over the university’s handling of various perceived acts of antisemitism.

That included allowing a Palestinian literary arts festival to be held on its campus in September featuring speakers whose past statements about Israel had drawn accusations of antisemitism.

A former U.S. Supreme Court law clerk, Magill, 57, is the daughter of a retired federal judge and was dean of Stanford University’s law school and a top administrator at the University of Virginia before Penn hired her as its ninth president last year.

Bok is chairman and CEO of investment bank Greenhill &amp; Co.

Earlier Saturday, New York's governor called on the state's colleges and universities to swiftly address cases of antisemitism and what she described as any “calls for genocide” on campus.

<a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2023-12/SchoolsV2.pdf">In a letter</a>&nbsp;to college and university presidents, Gov. Kathy Hochul said her administration would enforce violations of the state's Human Rights Law and refer any violations of federal civil rights law to U.S. officials.

Hochul said she has spoken to chancellors of the State University of New York and City University of New York public college systems who she said confirmed “that calling for genocide of any group” or tolerating antisemitism violates codes of conduct on their campuses “and would lead to swift disciplinary action.”

The governor's letter doesn't address any specific incidents. Her office didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

A popular chant at pro-Palestinian rallies at Penn and other universities has been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-israel-hamas-ucla-penn-genocide-057006125279">falsely misrepresented</a>&nbsp;in recent months as claiming to call for “Jewish genocide.”

Experts and advocates say the chant, “Israel, we charge you with genocide,” is a typical refrain heard at pro-Palestinian rallies. Jewish and Palestinian supporters both acknowledge protesters aren’t saying “We want Jewish genocide.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/12/1702170245592.png" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The University of Pennsylvania’s president has resigned&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/harvard-mit-penn-campus-antisemitism-20b8513293ee2dbaee053a6fd3f8ce7a">amid pressure from donors and criticism</a>&nbsp;over testimony at a congressional hearing where she was unable to say under repeated questioning that calls on campus for the genocide of Jews would violate the school’s conduct policy.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill resigned Saturday after facing backlash from her congressional testimony earlier this week on antisemitism on college campuses. Here&#39;s the exchange. <a href="https://t.co/EVrAMy33qh">pic.twitter.com/EVrAMy33qh</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1733607598803292487?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The chairman of the Ivy League school's board of trustees, Scott Bok, also resigned, the university said Saturday evening, just hours after Bok announced Liz Magill's departure as president in just her second year.The university said Magill will remain a tenured faculty member at the university’s Carey Law School. She has agreed to keep serving as Penn’s leader until the university names an interim president.Calls for Magill's firing exploded after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/antisemitism-islamophobia-education-universities-hamas-israel-3ae6f640de936f7228a63331efbb85ad">Tuesday’s testimony</a>&nbsp;in a U.S. House committee on antisemitism on college campuses, where she appeared with the presidents of Harvard University and MIT.Universities across the U.S. have been accused of failing to protect Jewish students amid rising&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-antisemitism-europe-massacre-war-protests-1d26266dfd9b2b8dd4c795f420abab47">fears of antisemitism worldwide</a>&nbsp;and fallout from Israel’s intensifying&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war">war in Gaza</a>, which faces heightened criticism for the mounting&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/unrwa-lazzarini-gaza-israel-hamas-war-95ce3c409bd8566ed26d60aa75223546">Palestinian death toll</a>.The three presidents were called before the committee to answer those accusations. But their lawyerly answers drew renewed blowback from opponents, focused particularly on a line of questioning from Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who repeatedly asked whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate Penn’s code of conduct.“If the speech turns into conduct it can be harassment, yes,” Magill said. Pressed further, Magill told Stefanik, “It is a context-dependent decision, congresswoman.”Criticism of Magill rained down from the White House, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, members of Congress and donors. One donor, Ross Stevens, threatened to withdraw a $100 million gift because of the university’s “stance on antisemitism on campus” unless Magill was replaced.A day later, Magill addressed the criticism, saying in a video that she would consider a call for the genocide of Jewish people to be harassment or intimidation and that Penn’s policies need to be “clarified and evaluated.”In a statement Saturday, Stefanik said Magill's “forced resignation” is the “bare minimum of what is required" and said Harvard and MIT should follow suit.“This is only the very beginning of addressing the pervasive rot of antisemitism that has destroyed the most ‘prestigious’ higher education institutions in America,” Stefanik said.U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, said Magill’s resignation allows Penn to “chart a new course in addressing antisemitism on campus.”Even before Tuesday's hearing, Magill had been under fire from some donors and alumni this fall. Some also had called for the resignation of Bok, who had defended Magill amid criticism over the university’s handling of various perceived acts of antisemitism.That included allowing a Palestinian literary arts festival to be held on its campus in September featuring speakers whose past statements about Israel had drawn accusations of antisemitism.A former U.S. Supreme Court law clerk, Magill, 57, is the daughter of a retired federal judge and was dean of Stanford University’s law school and a top administrator at the University of Virginia before Penn hired her as its ninth president last year.Bok is chairman and CEO of investment bank Greenhill &amp; Co.Earlier Saturday, New York's governor called on the state's colleges and universities to swiftly address cases of antisemitism and what she described as any “calls for genocide” on campus.<a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2023-12/SchoolsV2.pdf">In a letter</a>&nbsp;to college and university presidents, Gov. Kathy Hochul said her administration would enforce violations of the state's Human Rights Law and refer any violations of federal civil rights law to U.S. officials.Hochul said she has spoken to chancellors of the State University of New York and City University of New York public college systems who she said confirmed “that calling for genocide of any group” or tolerating antisemitism violates codes of conduct on their campuses “and would lead to swift disciplinary action.”The governor's letter doesn't address any specific incidents. Her office didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.A popular chant at pro-Palestinian rallies at Penn and other universities has been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-israel-hamas-ucla-penn-genocide-057006125279">falsely misrepresented</a>&nbsp;in recent months as claiming to call for “Jewish genocide.”Experts and advocates say the chant, “Israel, we charge you with genocide,” is a typical refrain heard at pro-Palestinian rallies. Jewish and Palestinian supporters both acknowledge protesters aren’t saying “We want Jewish genocide.”___

🎥University president resigns amid antisemitism testimony firestorm

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/ed-poindexter-who-spent-a-half-century-in-prison-for-a-crime-many-say-he-didnt-commit-died-thursday/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Ed Poindexter, labeled a political prisoner by many civil rights advocates, died Thursday in prison after a lengthy battle with diabetes and more than a half century behind bars.

Poindexter, 79, and David Rice, who died in prison in 2016, were convicted of murder in the 1970 booby-trap bombing that killed Omaha Police Officer Larry Minard.

The pair were members of a Black Panther-like group and their conviction, amid a period of heightened racial tensions in North Omaha, was one of the most controversial in Nebraska history.

Many claimed Poindexter and Rice, who adopted the name Mondo we Langa, had been framed for the bombing because of their political activism.

It was later revealed that the pair were targets of a controversial FBI program, COINTELPRO, to discredit and undermine such activists. Amnesty International had called for a new trial for them, labeling Poindexter and Rice “prisoners of conscience.”

Many claimed that the star witness against the pair, Duane Peak, who planted the suitcase bomb, had lied on the stand to avoid prison.

“Due to the nature of politics, there was never a legitimate chance for him to be free,” said State Sen. Terrell McKinney of Poindexter on Friday.

Kietryn Zychal, a journalist who has&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.noiseomaha.com/resources/2021/5/6/fifty-years-behind-bars-was-it-justice-or-one-monstrous-fraud">written extensively on the case</a>, said the case against Poindexter was “a ridiculous story,” but that the truth might never be revealed.

“I think that this is a mystery that will never be solved, unless someone who knows something comes forward and tells the truth,” Zychal said.

While the Minard family consistently maintained that the pair were rightly convicted, a “Freedom for Ed” movement was active for several years after legal appeals failed.

Last year, the Midwest Innocence Project agreed to take up his case, but was unable to visit with Poindexter, who was recovering from the amputation of a leg due to diabetes.

A year ago, family members called for his release from prison on medical grounds, arguing that the wheelchair-bound inmate was no longer a threat, according to the Omaha World-Herald. But the plea, directed at then Gov.-elect Jim Pillen, was unsuccessful.

Some friends and family members of Poindexter, a Vietnam veteran, were allowed to visit the inmate, who was placed in hospice care earlier this week.

Zychal said that prison officials were very accommodating to visitors of Poindexter, who was very active in counseling other inmates, especially young inmates.

He worked in a prison audio-visual department, and produced motivational rap songs under the name, “Jammer from the Slammer.” Poindexter was also active in Toastmasters and a prison group, the Harambee Association, that combats alcoholism and encourages a healthy mindset in prison.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/12/1702065713744.jpeg" alt="A recent effort to have the conviction of Ed Poindexter overturned included this “Freedom for Ed” billboard erected in North Omaha. (courtesy Kietryn Zychal)" />
 <figcaption>A recent effort to have the conviction of Ed Poindexter overturned included this “Freedom for Ed” billboard erected in North Omaha. (courtesy Kietryn Zychal)</figcaption>
 </figure>Paul Hammel<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/ed-poindexter-who-spent-a-half-century-in-prison-for-a-crime-many-say-he-didnt-commit-died-thursday/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Ed Poindexter, labeled a political prisoner by many civil rights advocates, died Thursday in prison after a lengthy battle with diabetes and more than a half century behind bars.Poindexter, 79, and David Rice, who died in prison in 2016, were convicted of murder in the 1970 booby-trap bombing that killed Omaha Police Officer Larry Minard.The pair were members of a Black Panther-like group and their conviction, amid a period of heightened racial tensions in North Omaha, was one of the most controversial in Nebraska history.Many claimed Poindexter and Rice, who adopted the name Mondo we Langa, had been framed for the bombing because of their political activism.It was later revealed that the pair were targets of a controversial FBI program, COINTELPRO, to discredit and undermine such activists. Amnesty International had called for a new trial for them, labeling Poindexter and Rice “prisoners of conscience.”Many claimed that the star witness against the pair, Duane Peak, who planted the suitcase bomb, had lied on the stand to avoid prison.“Due to the nature of politics, there was never a legitimate chance for him to be free,” said State Sen. Terrell McKinney of Poindexter on Friday.Kietryn Zychal, a journalist who has&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.noiseomaha.com/resources/2021/5/6/fifty-years-behind-bars-was-it-justice-or-one-monstrous-fraud">written extensively on the case</a>, said the case against Poindexter was “a ridiculous story,” but that the truth might never be revealed.“I think that this is a mystery that will never be solved, unless someone who knows something comes forward and tells the truth,” Zychal said.While the Minard family consistently maintained that the pair were rightly convicted, a “Freedom for Ed” movement was active for several years after legal appeals failed.Last year, the Midwest Innocence Project agreed to take up his case, but was unable to visit with Poindexter, who was recovering from the amputation of a leg due to diabetes.A year ago, family members called for his release from prison on medical grounds, arguing that the wheelchair-bound inmate was no longer a threat, according to the Omaha World-Herald. But the plea, directed at then Gov.-elect Jim Pillen, was unsuccessful.Some friends and family members of Poindexter, a Vietnam veteran, were allowed to visit the inmate, who was placed in hospice care earlier this week.Zychal said that prison officials were very accommodating to visitors of Poindexter, who was very active in counseling other inmates, especially young inmates.He worked in a prison audio-visual department, and produced motivational rap songs under the name, “Jammer from the Slammer.” Poindexter was also active in Toastmasters and a prison group, the Harambee Association, that combats alcoholism and encourages a healthy mindset in prison.

Ed Poindexter, who spent a half-century in prison for a crime many say he didn’t commit, died Thursday

WASHINGTON (AP) —Regulators on Friday approved two gene therapies for sickle cell disease that doctors hope can cure the painful, inherited blood disorder that afflicts mostly Black people in the U.S.

The Food and Drug Administration said the one-time treatments can be used for patients 12 and older with severe forms of the disease. One, made by Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics, is the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sickle-cell-gene-therapy-crispr-8ded5e3a35b30bd257ac756f8a223c51">first approved therapy</a>&nbsp;based on CRISPR, the gene editing tool that won&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nobel-prizes-united-states-technology-science-europe-14ba023fa7a90b34df2d7a6d0314c796">its inventors</a>&nbsp;the Nobel Prize in 2020. The other is made by Bluebird Bio and works differently.

“Sickle cell disease is a rare, debilitating and life-threatening blood disorder with significant unmet need," the FDA's Dr. Nicole Verdun said in a statement announcing the approvals. “We are excited to advance the field especially for individuals whose lives have been severely disrupted by the disease."

The two gene therapies are the first approved in the U.S. for sickle cell. The FDA has previously OK'd 15 gene therapies for other conditions. Some have list prices in the millions of dollars, and the sickle cell therapies will too.

In the U.S., an estimated 100,000 people have sickle cell and about a fifth of them have the severe form. Sickle cell is most common among Black people and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/data.html">1 in 365</a>&nbsp;Black babies are born with the disease nationally. Scientists believe being a carrier of the sickle cell trait helps protect against severe malaria, so the disease occurs more often in mosquito-prone regions such as Africa or in people whose ancestors lived in those places.

The disease affects hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A genetic mutation causes the cells to become sickle or crescent-shaped, which can block blood flow, causing excruciating pain, organ damage, stroke and other problems.

Current treatments include medications and blood transfusions. The only permanent solution is a bone marrow transplant, which must come from a closely matched donor and brings a risk of rejection.

No donor is required for the gene therapies, which permanently change DNA in the patient’s blood cells. The goal of the Vertex therapy, called Casgevy, is to help the body go back to producing a fetal form of hemoglobin that’s present at birth — it’s the adult form that’s defective in people with sickle cell disease. CRISPR is used to knock out a gene in stem cells collected from the patient.

Bluebird’s treatment, called Lyfgenia, aims to add copies of a modified gene, which helps red blood cells produce “anti-sickling” hemoglobin that prevents or reverses misshapen cells.

When patients get the treatments, stem cells are removed from their blood and sent to a lab. Before getting the altered cells back, they must undergo chemotherapy. The process requires at least two hospitalizations, one lasting four to six weeks.

Still, many patients say they’d consider gene therapy given the seriousness of the disease.

Jalen Matthews of Louisville, Kentucky, was diagnosed with sickle cell at birth and had her first pain episode at age 9. Three years later, the disease led to a spinal cord stroke that left her with some paralysis in her left arm and leg.

“I had to learn how to walk again, feed myself, clothe myself, basically learn how to do everything all over again,” said Matthews, now 26.

Today, she keeps her sickle cell at bay with transfusions every two months or so, with five units of her blood replaced with healthy cells. She said gene therapy could be a better option and she plans to ask her doctor about it.

“This one-time kind of cure is very much needed,” said Matthews.

The FDA’s approval is the first for Bluebird’s treatment; Vertex has been previously authorized in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sickle-cell-gene-therapy-treatment-uk-first-9bcf7c7d8b8909fb06e137fee17c767c">Britain</a>&nbsp;and Bahrain.

Studies testing the therapies suggest they work well. Of 31 people treated in the pivotal Vertex study with sufficient follow-up, 29 were free of pain crises for at least a year. In the Bluebird study, 28 of 32 patients had no severe pain or organ damage between six and 18 months after the therapy.

But doctors point out there are possible side effects and the long-term outcomes are unknown. For both, the necessary chemotherapy comes with risks such as infertility, hair loss and vulnerability to serious infection.

With the Bluebird therapy, blood cancer has occurred, so the FDA said the label will include a “black box warning” about that risk. With the Vertex therapy, some scientists worry that CRISPR brings the possibility of “off-target effects,” which are unexpected changes to a person’s genome.

“It’s important to be cautious and to be optimistic about this therapy, but also know that there’s still not a ton of experience with it,” said Dr. Benjamin Watkins, director of the pediatric stem cell and cell therapy program at Children’s Hospital New Orleans.

Doctors said they don’t expect every medical center to offer the gene therapies because they require so much equipment and coordination between medical specialists. They also don’t expect lots of people to seek them right away. Watkins said some may want to wait until more people get the treatments.

Experts also warned that cost could be a hurdle. The list price for Bluebird Bio is $3.1 million and for Vertex, $2.2 million. What patients might pay will depend on insurance coverage and other factors. To help cover the cost, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cms.gov/blog/cms-launches-action-plan-sickle-cell-disease-month">announced</a>&nbsp;a plan that aims to establish partnerships with state Medicaid agencies and drug companies.

But eventually, gene therapy “could be transformative and really change the landscape of sickle cell disease,” said Dr. Monica Bhatia, who treats children with the disease at NewYork-Presbyterian.

Matthews, who volunteers with The Sickle Cell Association of Kentuckiana, said she’s hopeful the treatments will have a big impact.

WASHINGTON (AP) —Regulators on Friday approved two gene therapies for sickle cell disease that doctors hope can cure the painful, inherited blood disorder that afflicts mostly Black people in the U.S.The Food and Drug Administration said the one-time treatments can be used for patients 12 and older with severe forms of the disease. One, made by Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics, is the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sickle-cell-gene-therapy-crispr-8ded5e3a35b30bd257ac756f8a223c51">first approved therapy</a>&nbsp;based on CRISPR, the gene editing tool that won&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nobel-prizes-united-states-technology-science-europe-14ba023fa7a90b34df2d7a6d0314c796">its inventors</a>&nbsp;the Nobel Prize in 2020. The other is made by Bluebird Bio and works differently.“Sickle cell disease is a rare, debilitating and life-threatening blood disorder with significant unmet need," the FDA's Dr. Nicole Verdun said in a statement announcing the approvals. “We are excited to advance the field especially for individuals whose lives have been severely disrupted by the disease."The two gene therapies are the first approved in the U.S. for sickle cell. The FDA has previously OK'd 15 gene therapies for other conditions. Some have list prices in the millions of dollars, and the sickle cell therapies will too.In the U.S., an estimated 100,000 people have sickle cell and about a fifth of them have the severe form. Sickle cell is most common among Black people and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/data.html">1 in 365</a>&nbsp;Black babies are born with the disease nationally. Scientists believe being a carrier of the sickle cell trait helps protect against severe malaria, so the disease occurs more often in mosquito-prone regions such as Africa or in people whose ancestors lived in those places.The disease affects hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A genetic mutation causes the cells to become sickle or crescent-shaped, which can block blood flow, causing excruciating pain, organ damage, stroke and other problems.Current treatments include medications and blood transfusions. The only permanent solution is a bone marrow transplant, which must come from a closely matched donor and brings a risk of rejection.No donor is required for the gene therapies, which permanently change DNA in the patient’s blood cells. The goal of the Vertex therapy, called Casgevy, is to help the body go back to producing a fetal form of hemoglobin that’s present at birth — it’s the adult form that’s defective in people with sickle cell disease. CRISPR is used to knock out a gene in stem cells collected from the patient.Bluebird’s treatment, called Lyfgenia, aims to add copies of a modified gene, which helps red blood cells produce “anti-sickling” hemoglobin that prevents or reverses misshapen cells.When patients get the treatments, stem cells are removed from their blood and sent to a lab. Before getting the altered cells back, they must undergo chemotherapy. The process requires at least two hospitalizations, one lasting four to six weeks.Still, many patients say they’d consider gene therapy given the seriousness of the disease.Jalen Matthews of Louisville, Kentucky, was diagnosed with sickle cell at birth and had her first pain episode at age 9. Three years later, the disease led to a spinal cord stroke that left her with some paralysis in her left arm and leg.“I had to learn how to walk again, feed myself, clothe myself, basically learn how to do everything all over again,” said Matthews, now 26.Today, she keeps her sickle cell at bay with transfusions every two months or so, with five units of her blood replaced with healthy cells. She said gene therapy could be a better option and she plans to ask her doctor about it.“This one-time kind of cure is very much needed,” said Matthews.The FDA’s approval is the first for Bluebird’s treatment; Vertex has been previously authorized in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sickle-cell-gene-therapy-treatment-uk-first-9bcf7c7d8b8909fb06e137fee17c767c">Britain</a>&nbsp;and Bahrain.Studies testing the therapies suggest they work well. Of 31 people treated in the pivotal Vertex study with sufficient follow-up, 29 were free of pain crises for at least a year. In the Bluebird study, 28 of 32 patients had no severe pain or organ damage between six and 18 months after the therapy.But doctors point out there are possible side effects and the long-term outcomes are unknown. For both, the necessary chemotherapy comes with risks such as infertility, hair loss and vulnerability to serious infection.With the Bluebird therapy, blood cancer has occurred, so the FDA said the label will include a “black box warning” about that risk. With the Vertex therapy, some scientists worry that CRISPR brings the possibility of “off-target effects,” which are unexpected changes to a person’s genome.“It’s important to be cautious and to be optimistic about this therapy, but also know that there’s still not a ton of experience with it,” said Dr. Benjamin Watkins, director of the pediatric stem cell and cell therapy program at Children’s Hospital New Orleans.Doctors said they don’t expect every medical center to offer the gene therapies because they require so much equipment and coordination between medical specialists. They also don’t expect lots of people to seek them right away. Watkins said some may want to wait until more people get the treatments.Experts also warned that cost could be a hurdle. The list price for Bluebird Bio is $3.1 million and for Vertex, $2.2 million. What patients might pay will depend on insurance coverage and other factors. To help cover the cost, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cms.gov/blog/cms-launches-action-plan-sickle-cell-disease-month">announced</a>&nbsp;a plan that aims to establish partnerships with state Medicaid agencies and drug companies.But eventually, gene therapy “could be transformative and really change the landscape of sickle cell disease,” said Dr. Monica Bhatia, who treats children with the disease at NewYork-Presbyterian.Matthews, who volunteers with The Sickle Cell Association of Kentuckiana, said she’s hopeful the treatments will have a big impact.

FDA approves first gene-editing treatment for illness

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Supreme Court on Friday night put on hold a judge's ruling that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-abortion-roe-568c09dc8794c341095189362ece9004">approved an abortion for a pregnant woman</a>&nbsp;whose fetus has a fatal diagnosis, throwing into limbo an unprecedented challenge to one of the most restrictive bans in the U.S.

The order by the all-Republican court came more than 30 hours after Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two from the Dallas area, received a temporary restraining order from a lower court judge that prevents Texas from enforcing the state's ban in her case.

In a one-page order, the court said it was temporarily staying Thursday's ruling “without regard to the merits." The case is still pending.

“While we still hope that the Court ultimately rejects the state’s request and does so quickly, in this case we fear that justice delayed will be justice denied,” said Molly Duane, an attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Cox.

Cox's attorneys have said they will not share her abortion plans, citing concerns for her safety. In a filing with the Texas Supreme Court on Friday, her attorneys indicated she was still pregnant.

Cox was 20 weeks pregnant this week when she filed what is believed to be the first lawsuit of its kind since the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-dobbs-anniversary-state-laws-51c2a83899f133556e715342abfcface">that overturned Roe v. Wade</a>. The order issued Thursday only applied to Cox and no other pregnant Texas women.

Cox learned she was pregnant for a third time in August and was told weeks later that her baby was at a high risk for a condition known as trisomy 18, which has a very high likelihood of miscarriage or stillbirth and low survival rates, according to her lawsuit.

Furthermore, doctors have told Cox that if the baby’s heartbeat were to stop, inducing labor would carry a risk of a uterine rupture because of her two prior cesareans sections, and that another C-section at full term would would endanger her ability to carry another child.

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued that Cox does not meet the criteria for a medical exception to the state's abortion ban, and he urged the state's highest court to act swiftly.

“Future criminal and civil proceedings cannot restore the life that is lost if Plaintiffs or their agents proceed to perform and procure an abortion in violation of Texas law,” Paxton's office told the court.

He also warned three hospitals in Houston that they could face legal consequences if they allowed Cox's physician to provide the abortion, despite the ruling from state District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, who Paxton called an “activist” judge.

On Friday, a pregnant Kentucky woman&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/ndmark%20U.S.%20Supreme%20Court%20decision%20last%20year%20that%20a%20woman%20has%20asked%20a%20court%20to%20approve%20an%20abortion.">also filed a lawsuit</a>&nbsp;demanding the right to an abortion. The plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe, is about eight weeks pregnant and she wants to have an abortion in Kentucky but cannot legally do so because of the state’s ban, the suit said.

Unlike Cox's lawsuit, the Kentucky challenge seeks class-action status to include other Kentuckians who are or will become pregnant and want to have an abortion.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/12/1702131734401.png" alt="Kate Cox.Courtesy The Center for Reproductive Rights" />
 <figcaption>Kate Cox.Courtesy The Center for Reproductive Rights</figcaption>
 </figure>AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Supreme Court on Friday night put on hold a judge's ruling that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-abortion-roe-568c09dc8794c341095189362ece9004">approved an abortion for a pregnant woman</a>&nbsp;whose fetus has a fatal diagnosis, throwing into limbo an unprecedented challenge to one of the most restrictive bans in the U.S.The order by the all-Republican court came more than 30 hours after Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two from the Dallas area, received a temporary restraining order from a lower court judge that prevents Texas from enforcing the state's ban in her case.In a one-page order, the court said it was temporarily staying Thursday's ruling “without regard to the merits." The case is still pending.“While we still hope that the Court ultimately rejects the state’s request and does so quickly, in this case we fear that justice delayed will be justice denied,” said Molly Duane, an attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Cox.Cox's attorneys have said they will not share her abortion plans, citing concerns for her safety. In a filing with the Texas Supreme Court on Friday, her attorneys indicated she was still pregnant.Cox was 20 weeks pregnant this week when she filed what is believed to be the first lawsuit of its kind since the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-dobbs-anniversary-state-laws-51c2a83899f133556e715342abfcface">that overturned Roe v. Wade</a>. The order issued Thursday only applied to Cox and no other pregnant Texas women.Cox learned she was pregnant for a third time in August and was told weeks later that her baby was at a high risk for a condition known as trisomy 18, which has a very high likelihood of miscarriage or stillbirth and low survival rates, according to her lawsuit.Furthermore, doctors have told Cox that if the baby’s heartbeat were to stop, inducing labor would carry a risk of a uterine rupture because of her two prior cesareans sections, and that another C-section at full term would would endanger her ability to carry another child.Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued that Cox does not meet the criteria for a medical exception to the state's abortion ban, and he urged the state's highest court to act swiftly.“Future criminal and civil proceedings cannot restore the life that is lost if Plaintiffs or their agents proceed to perform and procure an abortion in violation of Texas law,” Paxton's office told the court.He also warned three hospitals in Houston that they could face legal consequences if they allowed Cox's physician to provide the abortion, despite the ruling from state District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, who Paxton called an “activist” judge.On Friday, a pregnant Kentucky woman&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/ndmark%20U.S.%20Supreme%20Court%20decision%20last%20year%20that%20a%20woman%20has%20asked%20a%20court%20to%20approve%20an%20abortion.">also filed a lawsuit</a>&nbsp;demanding the right to an abortion. The plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe, is about eight weeks pregnant and she wants to have an abortion in Kentucky but cannot legally do so because of the state’s ban, the suit said.Unlike Cox's lawsuit, the Kentucky challenge seeks class-action status to include other Kentuckians who are or will become pregnant and want to have an abortion.

Court puts hold on Judge's ruling in unprecedented abortion case

JERUSALEM (AP)— The Israeli military says two soldiers have been seriously wounded in a failed attempt to free Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

The military said Friday that it killed numerous militants in the overnight operation, but was unable to rescue any hostages.

Earlier Friday, Hamas said its fighters had stopped a rescue attempt and clashed with Israeli special forces. It claimed an Israeli soldier who was being held hostage was killed by Israeli air fire meant to protect the withdrawing forces. Israel’s military had no comment on the claim.

Hamas is believed to be holding some 137 hostages who were captured in the Oct. 7 cross-border attack that triggered the war.

Meanwhile, the United States&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-un-resolution-ceasefire-humanitarian-6d3bfd31d6c25168e828274d96b85cf8">vetoed a United Nations resolution</a>&nbsp;demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.

Friday's vote came after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the first time&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-un-secretarygeneral-humanitarian-ceasefire-69be52737db67c061280823ec3019f0d">invoked Article 99</a>&nbsp;of the U.N. Charter, which enables a U.N. chief to raise threats he sees to international peace and security. He warned of an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-12-06-2023-156afcb1626f1cb4e9e26e5430c7185c">“humanitarian catastrophe”</a>&nbsp;in Gaza.

U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said halting military action would allow Hamas to continue to rule Gaza and “only plant the seeds for the next war.”

Around 1,200 people have died on the Israeli side, mainly civilians killed during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war. The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-gaza-health-ministry-health-death-toll-59470820308b31f1faf73c703400b033">Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza</a>&nbsp;said the death toll in the territory has surpassed 17,400, with more than 46,000 wounded. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths, but said 70% of the dead were women and children.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/10/1696679013332.png" alt="File -Palestinians wave their national flag and celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis southern Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. . (AP Photo/Yousef Masoud)" />
 <figcaption>File -Palestinians wave their national flag and celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis southern Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. . (AP Photo/Yousef Masoud)</figcaption>
 </figure>JERUSALEM (AP)— The Israeli military says two soldiers have been seriously wounded in a failed attempt to free Israeli hostages held in Gaza.The military said Friday that it killed numerous militants in the overnight operation, but was unable to rescue any hostages.Earlier Friday, Hamas said its fighters had stopped a rescue attempt and clashed with Israeli special forces. It claimed an Israeli soldier who was being held hostage was killed by Israeli air fire meant to protect the withdrawing forces. Israel’s military had no comment on the claim.Hamas is believed to be holding some 137 hostages who were captured in the Oct. 7 cross-border attack that triggered the war.Meanwhile, the United States&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-un-resolution-ceasefire-humanitarian-6d3bfd31d6c25168e828274d96b85cf8">vetoed a United Nations resolution</a>&nbsp;demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.Friday's vote came after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the first time&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-un-secretarygeneral-humanitarian-ceasefire-69be52737db67c061280823ec3019f0d">invoked Article 99</a>&nbsp;of the U.N. Charter, which enables a U.N. chief to raise threats he sees to international peace and security. He warned of an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-12-06-2023-156afcb1626f1cb4e9e26e5430c7185c">“humanitarian catastrophe”</a>&nbsp;in Gaza.U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said halting military action would allow Hamas to continue to rule Gaza and “only plant the seeds for the next war.”Around 1,200 people have died on the Israeli side, mainly civilians killed during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war. The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-gaza-health-ministry-health-death-toll-59470820308b31f1faf73c703400b033">Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza</a>&nbsp;said the death toll in the territory has surpassed 17,400, with more than 46,000 wounded. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths, but said 70% of the dead were women and children.

Israel: Attempt to rescue hostages in Gaza turns deadly     

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A judge sentenced a Michigan teenager to life in prison Friday for killing four students and terrorizing others at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/oxford-high-school-shooting">Oxford High School</a>, after listening to hours of gripping anguish from parents and wounded survivors.

Judge Kwame Rowe rejected pleas from defense lawyers for a shorter sentence and ensured that Ethan Crumbley, 17, will not get an opportunity for parole.

“My actions were what I chose to do. I could not stop myself. ... I am a really bad person. I’ve done terrible things,” Crumbley, who was 15 when he attacked his school in 2021, said before the sentence was announced.

He said he was sorry and pledged to change while behind bars.

Life sentences for teenagers are rare in Michigan since the U.S. Supreme Court and the state’s highest court said the violent acts of minors must be viewed differently than the crimes of adults. But the Oakland County prosecutor said a no-parole term fits Crumbley's case.

Rowe’s decision followed deeply emotional remarks by families of the deceased and survivors who spoke about how the tragedy has affected them.

“Your statements,” Rowe said, “do not fall on deaf ears.”

Crumbley pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including first-degree murder and terrorism.

“We are miserable. We miss Tate,” said Buck Myre, the father of Tate Myre. “Our family has a permanent hole in it that can never be fixed — ever.”

Nicole Beausoleil recalled seeing the body of her daughter, Madisyn Baldwin, at the medical examiner's office, her hand with blue-painted fingernails sticking out from a covering.

“I looked though the glass. My scream should have shattered it,” Beausoleil said.

Jill Soave, the mother of Justin Shilling, told the shooter that he executed a boy who could have helped him navigate awkward teenage years.

“If you were that lonely, that miserable and lost, and you really needed a friend, Justin would have been your friend — if only you had asked,” Soave said.

Crumbley looked down as Soave and others spoke. He also will have an opportunity to address the judge and possibly explain why he believes he should be spared a life sentence.

Kylie Ossege explained how she had urged Hana St. Juliana a “thousand times” to keep breathing while they waited for help on a blood-soaked carpet. Her classmate died.

Ossege, now a college student, was shot and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michigan-oxford-high-school-shooting-ossege-crumbley-450cc3cdd74058649740aa4cc3a7de8c">continues to struggle with daily pain</a>&nbsp;from spinal injuries.

“Being able to swing a leg over my horse is my therapy. It is pure joy,” she said of Blaze. “I have not been able to do it for two years.”

Defense attorney Paulette Michel Loftin has argued Crumbley deserves an opportunity for parole after his “sick brain” is fixed through counseling and rehabilitation.

But St. Juliana's father scoffed at that possibility.

"There can be no rehabilitation,” Steve St. Juliana told the judge. “There is absolutely nothing the defendant can do to earn my forgiveness. His age plays no part.”

In a journal, the shooter wrote about his desire to watch students suffer and the likelihood that he would spend his life in prison. He made a video on the eve of the shooting, declaring what he would do the next day.

More than 20 people gave victim-impact statements by early Friday afternoon. Some wore shirts honoring the fallen students. The judge briefly allowed a framed photo of Myre to be placed near him.

Speakers recalled the day and its aftermath in details large and small. One woman said she's still anxious simply pulling into Meijer, a big-box store where families reunited immediately after the shooting.

Linda Watson said her son, Aiden, who was shot in the leg, still doesn't go to school for a full day. She recalled the family staying in a hotel because a nail gun being used in her neighborhood sounded like a real gun to him.

“Aiden will be dealing with this for the rest of his life. ... This shooter — this monster — should have to feel everything hard and painful for the rest of his life," Watson said.

Like their son, Jennifer and James Crumbley are locked up in the county jail. They are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/oxford-school-shooting-michigan-ethan-crumbley-654c839914eb3a36ae43a7bc8dd9bacd">awaiting trial on involuntary manslaughter charges</a>, accused of making a gun accessible at home and neglecting the shooter's mental health.

Crumbley and his parents met with school staff on the day of the shooting after a teacher noticed violent drawings. But no one checked his backpack for a gun and he was allowed to stay.

The shooting happened in Oxford Township, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) north of Detroit. Besides&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-football-michigan-77eb45f22f5d9dab802e4378608ca307">the four students</a>&nbsp;who were killed, six more students and a teacher also were wounded.

The Oxford school district hired an outside group to conduct an independent investigation.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/investigation-crumbley-oxford-high-shooting-school-899e59fdce25d92d7307dd0b1ddcea18">A report released</a>&nbsp;in October said “missteps at each level” — school board, administrators, staff — contributed to the tragedy.

Crumbley's behavior in class, including looking at a shooting video and gun ammunition on his phone, should have identified him as a “potential threat of violence,” the report said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/12/1638551635768.png" alt="Ethan Crumbley as shown in the original booking photo in 2021-photo Oakland County Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Ethan Crumbley as shown in the original booking photo in 2021-photo Oakland County Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A judge sentenced a Michigan teenager to life in prison Friday for killing four students and terrorizing others at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/oxford-high-school-shooting">Oxford High School</a>, after listening to hours of gripping anguish from parents and wounded survivors.Judge Kwame Rowe rejected pleas from defense lawyers for a shorter sentence and ensured that Ethan Crumbley, 17, will not get an opportunity for parole.“My actions were what I chose to do. I could not stop myself. ... I am a really bad person. I’ve done terrible things,” Crumbley, who was 15 when he attacked his school in 2021, said before the sentence was announced.He said he was sorry and pledged to change while behind bars.Life sentences for teenagers are rare in Michigan since the U.S. Supreme Court and the state’s highest court said the violent acts of minors must be viewed differently than the crimes of adults. But the Oakland County prosecutor said a no-parole term fits Crumbley's case.Rowe’s decision followed deeply emotional remarks by families of the deceased and survivors who spoke about how the tragedy has affected them.“Your statements,” Rowe said, “do not fall on deaf ears.”Crumbley pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including first-degree murder and terrorism.“We are miserable. We miss Tate,” said Buck Myre, the father of Tate Myre. “Our family has a permanent hole in it that can never be fixed — ever.”Nicole Beausoleil recalled seeing the body of her daughter, Madisyn Baldwin, at the medical examiner's office, her hand with blue-painted fingernails sticking out from a covering.“I looked though the glass. My scream should have shattered it,” Beausoleil said.Jill Soave, the mother of Justin Shilling, told the shooter that he executed a boy who could have helped him navigate awkward teenage years.“If you were that lonely, that miserable and lost, and you really needed a friend, Justin would have been your friend — if only you had asked,” Soave said.Crumbley looked down as Soave and others spoke. He also will have an opportunity to address the judge and possibly explain why he believes he should be spared a life sentence.Kylie Ossege explained how she had urged Hana St. Juliana a “thousand times” to keep breathing while they waited for help on a blood-soaked carpet. Her classmate died.Ossege, now a college student, was shot and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michigan-oxford-high-school-shooting-ossege-crumbley-450cc3cdd74058649740aa4cc3a7de8c">continues to struggle with daily pain</a>&nbsp;from spinal injuries.“Being able to swing a leg over my horse is my therapy. It is pure joy,” she said of Blaze. “I have not been able to do it for two years.”Defense attorney Paulette Michel Loftin has argued Crumbley deserves an opportunity for parole after his “sick brain” is fixed through counseling and rehabilitation.But St. Juliana's father scoffed at that possibility."There can be no rehabilitation,” Steve St. Juliana told the judge. “There is absolutely nothing the defendant can do to earn my forgiveness. His age plays no part.”In a journal, the shooter wrote about his desire to watch students suffer and the likelihood that he would spend his life in prison. He made a video on the eve of the shooting, declaring what he would do the next day.More than 20 people gave victim-impact statements by early Friday afternoon. Some wore shirts honoring the fallen students. The judge briefly allowed a framed photo of Myre to be placed near him.Speakers recalled the day and its aftermath in details large and small. One woman said she's still anxious simply pulling into Meijer, a big-box store where families reunited immediately after the shooting.Linda Watson said her son, Aiden, who was shot in the leg, still doesn't go to school for a full day. She recalled the family staying in a hotel because a nail gun being used in her neighborhood sounded like a real gun to him.“Aiden will be dealing with this for the rest of his life. ... This shooter — this monster — should have to feel everything hard and painful for the rest of his life," Watson said.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/12/1638621694054.png" alt="Jennifeer Crumbley Oakland Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Jennifeer Crumbley Oakland Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>Like their son, Jennifer and James Crumbley are locked up in the county jail. They are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/oxford-school-shooting-michigan-ethan-crumbley-654c839914eb3a36ae43a7bc8dd9bacd">awaiting trial on involuntary manslaughter charges</a>, accused of making a gun accessible at home and neglecting the shooter's mental health.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/12/1638621716369.png" alt="James Crumbley-photo Oakland Co. Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>James Crumbley-photo Oakland Co. Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>Crumbley and his parents met with school staff on the day of the shooting after a teacher noticed violent drawings. But no one checked his backpack for a gun and he was allowed to stay.The shooting happened in Oxford Township, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) north of Detroit. Besides&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-football-michigan-77eb45f22f5d9dab802e4378608ca307">the four students</a>&nbsp;who were killed, six more students and a teacher also were wounded.The Oxford school district hired an outside group to conduct an independent investigation.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/investigation-crumbley-oxford-high-shooting-school-899e59fdce25d92d7307dd0b1ddcea18">A report released</a>&nbsp;in October said “missteps at each level” — school board, administrators, staff — contributed to the tragedy.Crumbley's behavior in class, including looking at a shooting video and gun ammunition on his phone, should have identified him as a “potential threat of violence,” the report said.

Teen sentenced for Michigan high school attack that left 4 dead

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska is planning a $450 million renovation of the Cornhuskers’ football stadium in Lincoln and at the same time looking to cut millions of dollars from the university system, leading critics to question whether officials care more about athletics than academics.

Faculty at Nebraska and nationally acknowledge the importance of athletics at a Big Ten university but said the divergent funding plans send a message that teaching and research take a back seat to Nebraska's football program.

“If an institution is putting zillions into athletics at the same time they are proposing cuts to academic programs and faculty, they have their priorities all wrong,” said Irene Mulvey, president of the college faculty advocacy group American Association of University Professors.

Mulvey, a mathematics professor at Fairfield University in Connecticut, said it's incumbent on university and state leaders to promote a university's core academic mission to donors to ensure those programs and staff are adequately funded.

The high-priced&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/college-football-sports-basketball-nebraska-b98e095217b8cc755ef0e7769e2b2290">Memorial Stadium renovation</a>&nbsp;was given preliminary approval this fall, even as the four-campus University of Nebraska system faces a $58 million budget shortfall that threatens to cut staff and academic programs. That includes deep cuts at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, where students and staff have protested the school's announced elimination of its geography and theater programs, as well as cuts to other humanities offerings and its cybersecurity program.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln — the system's flagship campus and home of the Nebraska Cornhuskers — and the University of Nebraska-Omaha also are anticipating academic program cuts to deal with shortfalls blamed on inflation, stunted revenue growth and declining enrollment. UNL has also proposed cutting its Office of Diversity and Inclusion budget by more than 70%.

The cuts mirror those seen at universities across the country that have also been targeted by Republican lawmakers&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ron-desantis-new-college-florida-woke-d281e84b0d8ce2bdd66652074a090cd8">in a battle taking aim</a>&nbsp;at schools'&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/diversity-equity-inclusion-legislation-7bd8d4d52aaaa9902dde59a257874686">college diversity initiatives</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-colleges-and-universities-florida-state-government-texas-education-4f0fe0c5c18ed227fabae3744e8ff51d">tenured professors</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mississippi-college-majors-funding-cuts-aad5a0d5c7ab013d6c5489fd41e4dc54">humanities programs</a>&nbsp;and even how colleges can&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ron-desantis-florida-discrimination-business-racial-injustice-a6f340a48989e67669418e85f2986ebf">teach and discuss race</a>.

The struggle facing college academia comes as a string of high-profile, high-dollar issues highlight just how much money is pouring into college athletics. That includes&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/contract-buyouts-jimbo-fisher-7fdd9fed9e4457bc961dbbc580b14d41">multimillion-dollar payouts</a>&nbsp;to fired college football coaches, billion-dollar athletic conference&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/college-football-nfl-entertainment-sports-basketball-4b4daca65e3359ef8ca94f893e4c46e9">media contracts</a>&nbsp;that send millions a year to member schools and yet-to-be-decided&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-college-3d98cd455c2ed1c636ce46d8dd322100">court cases</a>&nbsp;that could see some of that money going to pay college athletes.

The optics of seeking a nearly half-billion dollar stadium renovation while cutting academic programs “are awful,” said UNK political science professor William Avilés. Equally as bad are the ballooning salaries of university administrators, such as the $1 million annual pay to the outgoing NU President — a nearly 40% increase over his predecessor — as academic programs are being cut.

On the UNK campus, “there's a mixture of anger, frustration, resignation,” Avilés said. “It's just another example of misplaced priorities.”

Nebraska's stadium proposal has also drawn notice because it supports a football program that seems to have been living off its long-past glory days. Nebraska was once a national powerhouse in college football, claiming five national championship titles since the early 1970s. But the Cornhuskers’ last championship win came in 1997, and the program has steadily declined since, cycling through six head coaches and going the last seven years without a bowl game appearance.

Despite the decadeslong slump, Nebraska football remains exceptionally popular in a state with no other Division 1 college football program and no professional sports teams. Nebraska Athletic Director Trev Alberts said in a September announcement that catering to that fan base played a large role in the stadium renovation, which will include more restrooms, more concourse connectivity to make it a true “bowl,” widened walkways and adding chairbacks for stadium seating. But it will also cut the stadium's capacity by about 15,000 seats from its current capacity of 90,000 — reversing work in the previous decade that spent millions to increase seating capacity from around 75,000.

The reduction is necessary to increase comfort and amenities and keep the stadium a draw for fans, he said.

“There's been a lot of changes in college athletics,” Alberts said. “What started out for me as a very simple modernization plan based on amenities relative to fans' expectation has very quickly changed into a business strategy for the next 25 to 50 years.”

Nebraska’s athletic department is among a handful in the country that is self-sufficient, operating without taxpayer or tuition dollars. But when asked at a recent news conference whether he could pledge public money would not be used for the stadium renovation, Gov. Jim Pillen — himself a former Nebraska football player — refrained from making that commitment.

Asked this week by The Associated Press whether he's considering state funding of the project, Pillen's office said he is not including any funding for Memorial Stadium in his proposed budget.

Alberts and other university officials say the project will not use taxpayer money, instead relying on private fundraising and the athletic department's surplus funds.

“In other words, we could stop the stadium project today, but that would not do anything to mitigate the $58 million shortfall,” said Melissa Lee, spokeswoman for the University of Nebraska. “The dollars that will fund the stadium renovation cannot otherwise be used to pay university salaries or keep the lights on or fund an academic program.”

Some in academia want to see private fundraising for academic programs and staff, much the way athletics raises money for athletic programs.

UNL sociology professor Christina Falci, who is president of the American Association of University Professors' UNL chapter, said higher education fundraising outside of athletics is concentrated mostly in boosting research centers, student services and endowed chairs, not in aiding humanities and the professors who teach them.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska is planning a $450 million renovation of the Cornhuskers’ football stadium in Lincoln and at the same time looking to cut millions of dollars from the university system, leading critics to question whether officials care more about athletics than academics.Faculty at Nebraska and nationally acknowledge the importance of athletics at a Big Ten university but said the divergent funding plans send a message that teaching and research take a back seat to Nebraska's football program.“If an institution is putting zillions into athletics at the same time they are proposing cuts to academic programs and faculty, they have their priorities all wrong,” said Irene Mulvey, president of the college faculty advocacy group American Association of University Professors.Mulvey, a mathematics professor at Fairfield University in Connecticut, said it's incumbent on university and state leaders to promote a university's core academic mission to donors to ensure those programs and staff are adequately funded.The high-priced&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/college-football-sports-basketball-nebraska-b98e095217b8cc755ef0e7769e2b2290">Memorial Stadium renovation</a>&nbsp;was given preliminary approval this fall, even as the four-campus University of Nebraska system faces a $58 million budget shortfall that threatens to cut staff and academic programs. That includes deep cuts at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, where students and staff have protested the school's announced elimination of its geography and theater programs, as well as cuts to other humanities offerings and its cybersecurity program.The University of Nebraska-Lincoln — the system's flagship campus and home of the Nebraska Cornhuskers — and the University of Nebraska-Omaha also are anticipating academic program cuts to deal with shortfalls blamed on inflation, stunted revenue growth and declining enrollment. UNL has also proposed cutting its Office of Diversity and Inclusion budget by more than 70%.The cuts mirror those seen at universities across the country that have also been targeted by Republican lawmakers&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ron-desantis-new-college-florida-woke-d281e84b0d8ce2bdd66652074a090cd8">in a battle taking aim</a>&nbsp;at schools'&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/diversity-equity-inclusion-legislation-7bd8d4d52aaaa9902dde59a257874686">college diversity initiatives</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-colleges-and-universities-florida-state-government-texas-education-4f0fe0c5c18ed227fabae3744e8ff51d">tenured professors</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mississippi-college-majors-funding-cuts-aad5a0d5c7ab013d6c5489fd41e4dc54">humanities programs</a>&nbsp;and even how colleges can&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ron-desantis-florida-discrimination-business-racial-injustice-a6f340a48989e67669418e85f2986ebf">teach and discuss race</a>.The struggle facing college academia comes as a string of high-profile, high-dollar issues highlight just how much money is pouring into college athletics. That includes&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/contract-buyouts-jimbo-fisher-7fdd9fed9e4457bc961dbbc580b14d41">multimillion-dollar payouts</a>&nbsp;to fired college football coaches, billion-dollar athletic conference&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/college-football-nfl-entertainment-sports-basketball-4b4daca65e3359ef8ca94f893e4c46e9">media contracts</a>&nbsp;that send millions a year to member schools and yet-to-be-decided&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-college-3d98cd455c2ed1c636ce46d8dd322100">court cases</a>&nbsp;that could see some of that money going to pay college athletes.The optics of seeking a nearly half-billion dollar stadium renovation while cutting academic programs “are awful,” said UNK political science professor William Avilés. Equally as bad are the ballooning salaries of university administrators, such as the $1 million annual pay to the outgoing NU President — a nearly 40% increase over his predecessor — as academic programs are being cut.On the UNK campus, “there's a mixture of anger, frustration, resignation,” Avilés said. “It's just another example of misplaced priorities.”Nebraska's stadium proposal has also drawn notice because it supports a football program that seems to have been living off its long-past glory days. Nebraska was once a national powerhouse in college football, claiming five national championship titles since the early 1970s. But the Cornhuskers’ last championship win came in 1997, and the program has steadily declined since, cycling through six head coaches and going the last seven years without a bowl game appearance.Despite the decadeslong slump, Nebraska football remains exceptionally popular in a state with no other Division 1 college football program and no professional sports teams. Nebraska Athletic Director Trev Alberts said in a September announcement that catering to that fan base played a large role in the stadium renovation, which will include more restrooms, more concourse connectivity to make it a true “bowl,” widened walkways and adding chairbacks for stadium seating. But it will also cut the stadium's capacity by about 15,000 seats from its current capacity of 90,000 — reversing work in the previous decade that spent millions to increase seating capacity from around 75,000.The reduction is necessary to increase comfort and amenities and keep the stadium a draw for fans, he said.“There's been a lot of changes in college athletics,” Alberts said. “What started out for me as a very simple modernization plan based on amenities relative to fans' expectation has very quickly changed into a business strategy for the next 25 to 50 years.”Nebraska’s athletic department is among a handful in the country that is self-sufficient, operating without taxpayer or tuition dollars. But when asked at a recent news conference whether he could pledge public money would not be used for the stadium renovation, Gov. Jim Pillen — himself a former Nebraska football player — refrained from making that commitment.Asked this week by The Associated Press whether he's considering state funding of the project, Pillen's office said he is not including any funding for Memorial Stadium in his proposed budget.Alberts and other university officials say the project will not use taxpayer money, instead relying on private fundraising and the athletic department's surplus funds.“In other words, we could stop the stadium project today, but that would not do anything to mitigate the $58 million shortfall,” said Melissa Lee, spokeswoman for the University of Nebraska. “The dollars that will fund the stadium renovation cannot otherwise be used to pay university salaries or keep the lights on or fund an academic program.”Some in academia want to see private fundraising for academic programs and staff, much the way athletics raises money for athletic programs.UNL sociology professor Christina Falci, who is president of the American Association of University Professors' UNL chapter, said higher education fundraising outside of athletics is concentrated mostly in boosting research centers, student services and endowed chairs, not in aiding humanities and the professors who teach them.

Critics pan planned $450M Nebraska football stadium renovation as academic programs face cuts

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ryan O'Neal, the heartthrob actor who went from a TV soap opera to an Oscar-nominated role in "Love Story" and delivered a wry performance opposite his charismatic 9-year-old daughter Tatum in "Paper Moon," died Friday, his son said.

“My dad passed away peacefully today, with his loving team by his side supporting him and loving him as he would us,” Patrick O'Neal, a Los Angeles sportscaster, posted on Instagram.

Attempts to reach O'Neal representatives were not immediately successful.

He did not give a cause. Ryan O'Neal was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012, a decade after he was first diagnosed with chronic leukemia. He was 82.

O'Neal was among the biggest movie stars in the world in the 1970s, who worked with many of the era's most celebrated directors including Peter Bogdanovich on “Paper Moon” and Stanley Kubrick on "Barry Lyndon. He often used his boyish, blond good looks to play men who hid shadowy or sinister backgrounds behind their clean-cut images.

<a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/0ae46f1c-5331-49eb-8366-7538e9ce5854">Portions of "Paper Moon" in and around Hays, Wilson and St. Jospeh Mo.</a>&nbsp;The movie recently celebrated 50 years since its release.

<a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/67bee6b6-2d7a-42ac-b543-dad1b4c610e3">RELATED STORY: 'Paper Moon' extras recall filming during 50th anniversary festival in Wilson</a>

O’Neal maintained a steady television acting career into his 70s in the 2010s, appearing for stints on “Bones” and “Desperate Housewives,” but his longtime relationship with Farrah Fawcett and his tumultuous family life kept him in news.

Twice divorced, O'Neal was romantically involved with Fawcett for nearly 30 years, and they had a son, Redmond, born in 1985. The couple split in 1997, but reunited a few years later. He remained by Fawcett’s side as she battled cancer, which killed her in 2009 at age 62.

With his first wife, Joanna Moore, O'Neal fathered actors Griffin O'Neal and Tatum O'Neal, his co-star in the 1973 movie "Paper Moon," for which she won an Oscar for best supporting actress. He had son Patrick with his second wife, Leigh Taylor-Young.

Ryan O'Neal had his own best-actor Oscar nomination for the 1970 tear-jerker drama "Love Story," co-starring Ali MacGraw, about a young couple who fall in love, marry and discover she is dying of cancer. The movie includes the memorable, but often satirized line: "Love means never having to say you're sorry."

The actor had at times strained relationships with three of his children, including estrangement from his daughter, squabbles with son Griffin and a drug-related arrest sparked by a probation check of his son Redmond. The personal drama often over-shadowed his later career, although his attempts to reconcile with Tatum O’Neal were turned into a short-lived reality series.

O’Neal played bit parts and performed some stunt work before claiming a lead role on the prime-time soap opera "Peyton Place" (1964-69), which also made a star of Mia Farrow.

From there O'Neal jumped to the big screen with 1969's "The Big Bounce," which co-stared his then-wife, Leigh Taylor-Young. But it was "Love Story" that made him a movie star.

The romantic melodrama became one of Paramount Pictures' biggest hits and collected seven Oscar nominations, including one for best picture. It won for best music.

O'Neal then starred for Bogdanovich as a bumbling professor opposite Barbra Streisand in the 1972 screwball comedy "What's Up, Doc?" The filmmaker cast him the next year in the Depression-era con artist comedy "Paper Moon."

O'Neal played an unscrupulous Bible salesman preying on widows he located through obituary notices. His real-life daughter, Tatum, played a trash-talking, cigarette-smoking orphan who needs his help — and eventually helps redeem him.

Although critics praised both actors, the little girl's brash performance overshadowed her father's and made her the youngest person in history to win a regular Academy Award. She was 10 when the award was presented in 1974. (Younger performers such as Shirley Temple have won special Oscars.)

The elder O'Neal's next major film was Kubrick's 18th century epic "Barry Lyndon," in which he played a poor Irish rogue who traveled Europe trying to pass himself off as an aristocrat.

Filming the three-hour movie was tedious work, however, and Kubrick's notorious perfectionism created a rift between him and the actor that never healed.

O'Neal then reteamed with Tatum in Bogdanovich's early Hollywood comedy "Nickelodeon" (1976). But the film was a flop and they never worked together again. An attempt to capitalize on his "Love Story" character, Oliver Barrett, with the sequel "Oliver's Story" (1978) resulted in another flop.

Father and daughter drifted apart as Tatum O’Neal grew older, with the elder actor learning about his daughter’s marriage to tennis great John McEnroe by a belated telegram, Ryan O’Neal wrote in a 2012 book about his relationship with Fawcett.

“A door inside me locked the morning the telegram came, and I am still blindly searching for the key to open it,” O’Neal wrote in “Both of Us.”

O'Neal's career cooled further in the 1980s with the emerald heist drama "Green Ice" (1981) and the 1984 comedy "Irreconcilable Differences," in which he played a busy father in an unhappy marriage whose daughter, played by 9-year-old Drew Barrymore, tries to divorce her parents.

The decade was also a low-point in O'Neal's personal life. His son Griffin faced numerous brushes with the law, including a 1986 boating accident that killed Gian-Carlo Coppola, 23, son of movie director Francis Ford Coppola in Maryland. Griffin O’Neal was convicted of negligently and recklessly operating a boat, received a community service sentence and later served a brief stint in jail as a result.

With his Hollywood status diminishing, Ryan O'Neal began appearing in TV movies and eventually returned to series television opposite then-lover Fawcett with the 1991 sitcom "Good Sports," but the show ran only one season.

Both acknowledged the work put a strain on their relationship.

"We get into fights," O'Neal said in 1991. "She's tough. She expects to be treated well. On a set that can get lost when you're trying to create a moment and you're fighting the clock."

O'Neal began accepting more supporting roles with the 1989 film "Chances Are." He began a second career as a character actor, playing a husband who hires a hitman to kill his wife in "Faithful" (1996) and a mysterious tycoon in the blackmail comedy "Zero Effect" (1998).

By then his relationship with Fawcett had ended, although they remained close and eventually rekindled their romance in the 2000s. The volatile O’Neal family dynamics that had taxed their relationship before, however, remained.

In 2007 the elder O'Neal was arrested in 2007 for alleged assault and firing a weapon in an altercation with Griffin, but charges were never pursued. Their son Redmond was repeatedly arrested, jailed and spent several years in court-mandated rehab.

A probation check on Redmond O’Neal in September 2008 at his father’s Malibu home led to the actor’s arrest for methamphetamine possession. Ryan O’Neal pleaded guilty to the charge and entered a drug diversion program, but he publicly denied the drugs were his. He said he confiscated them from his son and was trying to protect him.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/12/1702073318758.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ryan O'Neal, the heartthrob actor who went from a TV soap opera to an Oscar-nominated role in "Love Story" and delivered a wry performance opposite his charismatic 9-year-old daughter Tatum in "Paper Moon," died Friday, his son said.“My dad passed away peacefully today, with his loving team by his side supporting him and loving him as he would us,” Patrick O'Neal, a Los Angeles sportscaster, posted on Instagram.Attempts to reach O'Neal representatives were not immediately successful.He did not give a cause. Ryan O'Neal was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012, a decade after he was first diagnosed with chronic leukemia. He was 82.O'Neal was among the biggest movie stars in the world in the 1970s, who worked with many of the era's most celebrated directors including Peter Bogdanovich on “Paper Moon” and Stanley Kubrick on "Barry Lyndon. He often used his boyish, blond good looks to play men who hid shadowy or sinister backgrounds behind their clean-cut images.<a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/0ae46f1c-5331-49eb-8366-7538e9ce5854">Portions of "Paper Moon" in and around Hays, Wilson and St. Jospeh Mo.</a>&nbsp;The movie recently celebrated 50 years since its release.<a href="https://hayspost.com/posts/67bee6b6-2d7a-42ac-b543-dad1b4c610e3">RELATED STORY: 'Paper Moon' extras recall filming during 50th anniversary festival in Wilson</a>O’Neal maintained a steady television acting career into his 70s in the 2010s, appearing for stints on “Bones” and “Desperate Housewives,” but his longtime relationship with Farrah Fawcett and his tumultuous family life kept him in news.Twice divorced, O'Neal was romantically involved with Fawcett for nearly 30 years, and they had a son, Redmond, born in 1985. The couple split in 1997, but reunited a few years later. He remained by Fawcett’s side as she battled cancer, which killed her in 2009 at age 62.With his first wife, Joanna Moore, O'Neal fathered actors Griffin O'Neal and Tatum O'Neal, his co-star in the 1973 movie "Paper Moon," for which she won an Oscar for best supporting actress. He had son Patrick with his second wife, Leigh Taylor-Young.Ryan O'Neal had his own best-actor Oscar nomination for the 1970 tear-jerker drama "Love Story," co-starring Ali MacGraw, about a young couple who fall in love, marry and discover she is dying of cancer. The movie includes the memorable, but often satirized line: "Love means never having to say you're sorry."The actor had at times strained relationships with three of his children, including estrangement from his daughter, squabbles with son Griffin and a drug-related arrest sparked by a probation check of his son Redmond. The personal drama often over-shadowed his later career, although his attempts to reconcile with Tatum O’Neal were turned into a short-lived reality series.O’Neal played bit parts and performed some stunt work before claiming a lead role on the prime-time soap opera "Peyton Place" (1964-69), which also made a star of Mia Farrow.From there O'Neal jumped to the big screen with 1969's "The Big Bounce," which co-stared his then-wife, Leigh Taylor-Young. But it was "Love Story" that made him a movie star.The romantic melodrama became one of Paramount Pictures' biggest hits and collected seven Oscar nominations, including one for best picture. It won for best music.O'Neal then starred for Bogdanovich as a bumbling professor opposite Barbra Streisand in the 1972 screwball comedy "What's Up, Doc?" The filmmaker cast him the next year in the Depression-era con artist comedy "Paper Moon."O'Neal played an unscrupulous Bible salesman preying on widows he located through obituary notices. His real-life daughter, Tatum, played a trash-talking, cigarette-smoking orphan who needs his help — and eventually helps redeem him.Although critics praised both actors, the little girl's brash performance overshadowed her father's and made her the youngest person in history to win a regular Academy Award. She was 10 when the award was presented in 1974. (Younger performers such as Shirley Temple have won special Oscars.)The elder O'Neal's next major film was Kubrick's 18th century epic "Barry Lyndon," in which he played a poor Irish rogue who traveled Europe trying to pass himself off as an aristocrat.Filming the three-hour movie was tedious work, however, and Kubrick's notorious perfectionism created a rift between him and the actor that never healed.O'Neal then reteamed with Tatum in Bogdanovich's early Hollywood comedy "Nickelodeon" (1976). But the film was a flop and they never worked together again. An attempt to capitalize on his "Love Story" character, Oliver Barrett, with the sequel "Oliver's Story" (1978) resulted in another flop.Father and daughter drifted apart as Tatum O’Neal grew older, with the elder actor learning about his daughter’s marriage to tennis great John McEnroe by a belated telegram, Ryan O’Neal wrote in a 2012 book about his relationship with Fawcett.“A door inside me locked the morning the telegram came, and I am still blindly searching for the key to open it,” O’Neal wrote in “Both of Us.”O'Neal's career cooled further in the 1980s with the emerald heist drama "Green Ice" (1981) and the 1984 comedy "Irreconcilable Differences," in which he played a busy father in an unhappy marriage whose daughter, played by 9-year-old Drew Barrymore, tries to divorce her parents.The decade was also a low-point in O'Neal's personal life. His son Griffin faced numerous brushes with the law, including a 1986 boating accident that killed Gian-Carlo Coppola, 23, son of movie director Francis Ford Coppola in Maryland. Griffin O’Neal was convicted of negligently and recklessly operating a boat, received a community service sentence and later served a brief stint in jail as a result.With his Hollywood status diminishing, Ryan O'Neal began appearing in TV movies and eventually returned to series television opposite then-lover Fawcett with the 1991 sitcom "Good Sports," but the show ran only one season.Both acknowledged the work put a strain on their relationship."We get into fights," O'Neal said in 1991. "She's tough. She expects to be treated well. On a set that can get lost when you're trying to create a moment and you're fighting the clock."O'Neal began accepting more supporting roles with the 1989 film "Chances Are." He began a second career as a character actor, playing a husband who hires a hitman to kill his wife in "Faithful" (1996) and a mysterious tycoon in the blackmail comedy "Zero Effect" (1998).By then his relationship with Fawcett had ended, although they remained close and eventually rekindled their romance in the 2000s. The volatile O’Neal family dynamics that had taxed their relationship before, however, remained.In 2007 the elder O'Neal was arrested in 2007 for alleged assault and firing a weapon in an altercation with Griffin, but charges were never pursued. Their son Redmond was repeatedly arrested, jailed and spent several years in court-mandated rehab.A probation check on Redmond O’Neal in September 2008 at his father’s Malibu home led to the actor’s arrest for methamphetamine possession. Ryan O’Neal pleaded guilty to the charge and entered a drug diversion program, but he publicly denied the drugs were his. He said he confiscated them from his son and was trying to protect him.

Ryan O’Neal, star of ‘Paper Moon' and ‘Love Story’ has died

DECEMBER 8, 2023 (LINCOLN, NEB.)&nbsp;&nbsp;— Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol have arrested a Lincoln man after a pursuit that began near Beatrice and ended in Lincoln.

At approximately 10:55 p.m. Thursday, a trooper observed a motorcycle speeding on southbound Highway 77, south of Pickrell. The trooper attempted a traffic stop, but the rider refused to yield and continued southbound. As the motorcycle reached Beatrice on Highway 77, it turned and accelerated northbound. The rider continued northbound, with speeds varying from 40 miles per hour to over 120 miles per hour, and at times traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of Highway 77.

As the motorcycle reached Lincoln, the NSP AirWing took over the pursuit from the air. The NSP helicopter followed the rider as it drove through the Haymarket, then over a pedestrian bridge, and continued driving on streets and trails for some time. NSP Pilots continued to direct units on the ground to the location of the motorcycle as it drove through Lincoln.

Shortly after midnight, the motorcycle came to a stop near Antelope Park on the Billy Wolff Trail and the rider was taken into custody without further incident. Troopers discovered that the motorcycle was stolen.

The rider, Tyler Yates, 28, of Lincoln, was arrested for theft by receiving stolen property $5,000+, flight to avoid arrest, willful reckless driving, defacing a vehicle identification number, possession of a controlled substance, driving under suspension, and several traffic violations. Yates also had an outstanding warrant. He was lodged in Lancaster County Jail.

The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office and Lincoln Police Department assisted during this incident.

Cody ThomasDECEMBER 8, 2023 (LINCOLN, NEB.)&nbsp;&nbsp;— Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol have arrested a Lincoln man after a pursuit that began near Beatrice and ended in Lincoln.At approximately 10:55 p.m. Thursday, a trooper observed a motorcycle speeding on southbound Highway 77, south of Pickrell. The trooper attempted a traffic stop, but the rider refused to yield and continued southbound. As the motorcycle reached Beatrice on Highway 77, it turned and accelerated northbound. The rider continued northbound, with speeds varying from 40 miles per hour to over 120 miles per hour, and at times traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of Highway 77.As the motorcycle reached Lincoln, the NSP AirWing took over the pursuit from the air. The NSP helicopter followed the rider as it drove through the Haymarket, then over a pedestrian bridge, and continued driving on streets and trails for some time. NSP Pilots continued to direct units on the ground to the location of the motorcycle as it drove through Lincoln.Shortly after midnight, the motorcycle came to a stop near Antelope Park on the Billy Wolff Trail and the rider was taken into custody without further incident. Troopers discovered that the motorcycle was stolen.The rider, Tyler Yates, 28, of Lincoln, was arrested for theft by receiving stolen property $5,000+, flight to avoid arrest, willful reckless driving, defacing a vehicle identification number, possession of a controlled substance, driving under suspension, and several traffic violations. Yates also had an outstanding warrant. He was lodged in Lancaster County Jail.The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office and Lincoln Police Department assisted during this incident.