By , , (Reuters) - After a two-week deluge of calls and messages from parents - and at least one death threat - the school board in Chandler, Arizona, called a special meeting this fall.The board would revisit its decision, prompted by the coronavirus, to temporarily close local campuses and offer all classes online.Parents, teachers and others poured out their thoughts in 1,100 public comments posted online before the September meeting. “If our schools do not open in person I will yank both my boys OUT and take them to another school district!!!” one parent wrote.Many teachers assailed the...…By , , (Reuters) - After a two-week deluge of calls and messages from parents - and at least one death threat - the school board in Chandler, Arizona, called a special meeting this fall.The board would revisit its decision, prompted by the coronavirus, to temporarily close local campuses and offer all classes online.Parents, teachers and others poured out their thoughts in 1,100 public comments posted online before the September meeting. “If our schools do not open in person I will yank both my boys OUT and take them to another school district!!!” one parent wrote.Many teachers assailed the...WW…

By , , WASHINGTON (Reuters) - By the time he saw a swastika scrawled in the bathroom at Barksdale Air Force base in October 2018, Deven Sherk was already disillusioned with how the Air Force handled racism complaints. The Black airman had filed a complaint alleging discrimination that June when a fellow airman, a white man, hung a noose near him on the base.“I felt that was a direct threat to my life,” said Sherk, who was a staff sergeant specializing in B-52 bomber maintenance at the time.Along with the noose, he reported seeing a whip on display at the hangar where he worked, with slogans...…By , , WASHINGTON (Reuters) - By the time he saw a swastika scrawled in the bathroom at Barksdale Air Force base in October 2018, Deven Sherk was already disillusioned with how the Air Force handled racism complaints. The Black airman had filed a complaint alleging discrimination that June when a fellow airman, a white man, hung a noose near him on the base.“I felt that was a direct threat to my life,” said Sherk, who was a staff sergeant specializing in B-52 bomber maintenance at the time.Along with the noose, he reported seeing a whip on display at the hangar where he worked, with slogans...WW…

By NEW YORK (Reuters) - A sweeping U.S. military housing reform plan, pitched as a way to protect service families from shoddy homes and unresponsive landlords, has been watered down to remove several protections tenants and Congress had sought.Slideshow Congress ordered the Department of Defense to create a tenant-rights bill for military families last year. Among the key provisions required: the ability for military families to withhold rent to protest unsafe conditions, obtain full maintenance histories of their homes upon moving in, and challenge landlords through a dispute resolution...…By NEW YORK (Reuters) - A sweeping U.S. military housing reform plan, pitched as a way to protect service families from shoddy homes and unresponsive landlords, has been watered down to remove several protections tenants and Congress had sought.Slideshow Congress ordered the Department of Defense to create a tenant-rights bill for military families last year. Among the key provisions required: the ability for military families to withhold rent to protest unsafe conditions, obtain full maintenance histories of their homes upon moving in, and challenge landlords through a dispute resolution...WW…

By NEW YORK (Reuters) - Military housing landlord Balfour Beatty Communities, the focus of a Justice Department inquiry following Reuters reports it falsified maintenance logs, said it has taken steps to prevent the practice and make its homes safer for service families.In an improvement action plan filed with the U.S. Air Force in December and approved in February, the landlord detailed a series of steps it said it has taken since coming under federal scrutiny.Balfour Beatty changed its electronic maintenance system, making it more difficult for employees to falsify logs. It hired...…By NEW YORK (Reuters) - Military housing landlord Balfour Beatty Communities, the focus of a Justice Department inquiry following Reuters reports it falsified maintenance logs, said it has taken steps to prevent the practice and make its homes safer for service families.In an improvement action plan filed with the U.S. Air Force in December and approved in February, the landlord detailed a series of steps it said it has taken since coming under federal scrutiny.Balfour Beatty changed its electronic maintenance system, making it more difficult for employees to falsify logs. It hired...WW…