Virginia School Boards Association Quits National Association, Cites ‘Persistent Pattern of Dysfunction’ – Epoch Times

Janet Turney-Giles and Gina Patterson, president and executive director of the VSBA, said in a memo to all school board members that the decision to end the membership, effective June 30, 2022, was “made in response to a persistent pattern of dysfunction within the NSBA organization and among those charged with its governance.” “The VSBA board of directors no longer has faith in NSBA’s ability to effectively represent the interests of our state association and its members,” …The board said in an executive summary that it has directed the executive director to work with other state associations to create a new national organization “to meet the federal advocacy and other needs of its member school boards in a manner that values community ownership through local school board governance and engagement of students, families, and other community stakeholders.”

Germany Debates Mandatory Vaccines for Everyone After Austria Announcement – Epoch Times

Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced last week that COVID-19 vaccines would be mandatory starting Feb. 1, 2022, because the government has “not succeeded in convincing enough people to get vaccinated.” The move appeared to prompt Bavarian premier Markus Soder to say that German officials should impose a similar vaccine requirement. …But Heiko Maas, Germany’s foreign minister and top member of the Social Democrats, said Friday that Austria-style vaccine mandates “won’t happen.” …Last week, officials initially placed millions of people who aren’t fully vaccinated on lockdown, a measure that has now increased to the whole population regardless of vaccination status. Schallenberg said the lockdown and vaccination requirement is needed to avoid a “fifth wave,” referring to an increase of cases in the past week.

California Nordstrom Ransacked by 80 Looters in Ski Masks With Crowbars: Witnesses By Jack Phillips – Epoch Times

Describing the looters as a “mob of people,” Barrette told CBS San Francisco that “police were flying in. It was like a scene out of a movie. It was insane.”
Walnut Creek Lt. Ryan Hibbs told KPIX 5, confirming the incident, that dozens of police cars responded to the chaos. Hibbs, citing reports of smashed shelves, noted that the looters were seen getting into vehicles grabbing bags and boxes of items. In the incident, one employee at the store was hit with pepper spray, while two others were punched and kicked by the looters, Walnut Creek police told NBC News.