By JAKE OFFENHARTZ, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Less than three weeks after his release from an immigration jail, the Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi strode across the graduation stage at Columbia University on Monday morning, savoring a moment the Trump administration had fought to make impossible.

Draped in a keffiyeh, Mahdawi, 34, paused to listen to the swell of cheers from his fellow graduates. Then he joined a vigil just outside Columbia’s gates, raising a photograph of his classmate Mahmoud Khalil, who remains in federal custody.

“It’s very mixed emotions,” Mahdawi told The Associated Press. “The Trump administration wanted to rob me of this opportunity. They wanted me to be in a prison, in prison clothes, to not have education and to not have joy or celebration.”

Mahdawi, a 34-year-old legal resident of the U.S., was detained during an April 14 citizenship interview in Vermont, part of the widening federal crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists.

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He was released two weeks later by a judge, who likened the government’s actions to McCarthyist repression. Federal officials have not accused Mahdawi of committing a crime, but argued that he and other student activists should be deported for beliefs that may undermine U.S. foreign policy.

For Mahdawi, who earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Columbia’s School of General Studies, the graduation marked a bittersweet return to a university that he says has betrayed him and other students.

“The senior administration is selling the soul of this university to the Trump administration, participating in the destruction and the degradation of our democracy,” Mahdawi said.

He pointed to Columbia’s decision to acquiesce to the Trump administration’s demands — including placing its Middle Eastern studies department under new leadership — as well as its failure to speak out against his and Khalil’s arrest.

He said Columbia’s leadership had denied his pleas for protection prior to his arrest, then ignored his attorney’s request for a letter supporting his release from jail.

A spokesperson for Columbia University did not return an emailed inquiry.

Mahdawi was born in a refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and moved to the United States in 2014. At Columbia, he organized campus protests, led a Buddhist association and co-founded the Palestinian Student Union with Khalil.

Khalil would have received his diploma from a Columbia master’s program in international studies later this week. He remains jailed in Louisiana as he awaits a decision from a federal judge about his possible release.

As he prepares for a lengthy legal battle, Mahdawi faces his own uncertain future. He was previously admitted to a master’s degree program at Columbia, where he planned to study “peacekeeping and conflict resolution” in the fall. But he is reconsidering his options after learning this month that he would not receive financial aid.

For now, he said, he would continue to advocate for the Palestinian cause, buoyed by the support he says he has received from the larger Columbia community.

“When I went on the stage, the message was very clear and loud: They are cheering up for the idea of justice, for the idea of peace, for the idea of equality, for the idea of humanity, and nothing will stop us from continuing to do that. Not the Trump administration nor Columbia University,” he said.

The School of General Studies graduation comes two days before Columbia’s university-wide commencement, as colleges across the country are bracing for possible disruptions.

Last week, New York University announced it would withhold the diploma of a student speaker who criticized Israel’s attacks on Palestinians in his graduation speech.

Midway ISD, a school district with around 9,000 students just outside Waco, is staring down a growing budget deficit that Superintendent Chris Allen hoped would shrink with the new state funding for public schools provided under House Bill 2, the school finance package that the Texas House passed in April. That was until Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick unveiled the Senate’s substantially different counter-proposal last week. 

Senator Brandon Creighton opened the education committee’s public hearing on the proposal Thursday morning by emphasizing that the Senate’s measure would infuse nearly $8 billion of new funding into the public school system. But instead of making a significant increase to the basic allotment—the baseline amount that a district gets per student—the Senate version would instead earmark investments for teacher pay, teacher preparation and certification, special education, and school safety.  

The Senate’s plan sets aside $4.2 billion for teacher pay raises. There are more generous increases—between $5,000 and $10,000—for teachers with at least three years of experience in small rural school districts, while those teachers in districts with more than 5,000 students, the state’s major urban and suburban schools, would get raises of just half that range. The House’s $7.8-billion plan directs 40 percent of the basic allotment increase to pay for school employees, including counselors, nurses, and librarians, which the Senate nixed. The Senate’s plan also allocates $1.3 billion for additional special education spending, while the House caps this at $800 million. Under both plans, charter schools would receive a big boost, but the Senate plan would give charter schools a bigger payout with $225 million in new funding for charter school facility improvements. The House plan includes a funding increase for bilingual education, fine arts, and full-day funding for pre-K, though the Senate nixes those provisions. 

But the biggest difference between the two bills is the increase to the basic allotment. The House version would increase the basic allotment by $395, to $6,160 per student, while the Senate proposes an increase of just $55, to be funded by local taxpayers through the “golden pennies mechanism.” That has public education advocates and Democrats raising the alarm about this significantly reduced hike, which was revealed in the final stretch of the session and reportedly after weeks of secret negotiations between the Senate and House leaders.  

Soon after the details of the Senate version were revealed, House Speaker Dustin Burrows—who has repeatedly said that HB 2 is his top priority this session—lauded Patrick’s Senate proposal and urged critics of the reduced allotment increase to not focus on “just one number” in the package. 

But school district superintendents are saying that the value of this “one number” could, under the House proposal, keep the lights on in their schools and prevent further staff layoffs, cuts to school programs, or closures of schools. Not so with the Senate proposal.  

“A record amount of money with a very narrow scope will produce this continuation of deficit budgets across Texas. I promise you that,” Bobby Ott, superintendent of Temple ISD in Central Texas, said in a video statement. 

Ott said that his district would receive only $432,000 new funding from the $55 increase to the basic allotment, just enough to cover employer retirement contributions and not enough to cover raises for first and second year teachers and non-teaching staff, which the Senate plan excludes.

Allen told the Texas Observer that with the House’s proposed allotment hike, Midway ISD would get $4.5 million in new funding and its deficit would be $2.5 million next school year. Under the Senate’s allotment increase, he estimated Midway would get just $500,000 in new funding and its deficit would deepen to $5 million.

Allen said in a video statement that the Senate’s offering of just $55 more to the basic allotment is like “your house being on fire and the fire department showing up with a 12 ounce cup of water, throwing it at your house and saying, ‘See, look how much good we’ve done.’” He urged district stakeholders to contact their state legislators. 

Texas lawmakers have not increased the $6,160 basic allotment since 2019, and lawmakers and school leaders have testified that more than a $1,300 increase would be needed to keep pace with inflation. 

District leaders, faced with rising costs, flat state funding, and enrollment losses, have long warned that they will be forced to continue making drastic cuts if the basic allotment does not increase. The House’s school finance bill includes automatic increases to the basic allotment every biennium, tied to property values. While it mandates 40 percent of the basic allotment increases be used to fund pay raises, school districts would have flexibility to spend the remaining amount as they see fit. 

This includes many skyrocketing expenses that the Senate plan doesn’t account for, district leaders said. 

Allen told the Observer that Midway ISD has already cut instructional support for new teachers, increased class sizes, and increased property taxes on local residents to maintain school operations. If the basic allotment does not increase, “everything’s on the table,” Allen said. “What it will do is cause us to have to run deficit budgets for a little while. … At some point you have to get back to a balance, or you can’t keep the doors open.” 

Ott wrote on X: “If you have a child in public schools that is not in special education, if you are a first or second year teacher, or an employee that is not a teacher – HB2 CSB has ignored your existence for funding. Only experienced teachers and [special ed] students win.”

Waco ISD Superintendent Tiffany Spicer told the Waco Tribune, “It looks like a historic investment but actually is not. We’re getting short-changed.” 25 News KXXV reported the district’s transportation costs alone rose from $3.7 million to $5 million in Waco ISD over one school year. 

Northwest ISD, a 30,000-student district near Fort Worth, said in a statement that even the House proposal only provided enough to cover 30 percent of funding needed to “combat increased fixed costs and unfunded mandates from the state since 2019,” while the Senate version would cover just 4 percent. 

The district blasted the Senate for “wasted funding” for items “districts are not requesting.” According to several superintendents, that includes an increase to the state’s merit-based teacher pay system, which will affect only 25 percent of teachers, literacy screeners for preschool students instead of full-day funding for preschool students, money for third-party teacher preparation programs, and funding for charter school facility improvements. 

A March survey conducted by the Texas Association of School Boards found that 63 percent of the 190 school districts that responded said they expected to end the 2025 school year in a budget deficit, compared to 42 percent last school year. More than 80 percent reported plans to make cuts by cutting staff, programs, or shutting down schools next year. 

Earlier this week, Fort Worth ISD released a list of 18 schools it is proposing to close. In the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs, Richardson, Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Plano, and Lewisville ISDs have or are planning to close multiple schools. Lewisville ISD said in social media posts that without a basic allotment increase, class time, foreign language classes, and tutoring services would also be cut. In the San Antonio area, various school districts have closed 25 schools since 2023. Near Houston, Aldine ISD recently voted to close six more schools, adding those to the three schools they closed last year; and Spring ISD is weighing school closures amid a $13-million budget deficit.  

The Senate’s late reveal of its major overhaul of the House’s school finance package leaves little time to air out or resolve policy disputes.  The Senate has to pass its version of HB 2 by May 28. Then the House can either vote to  accept the Senate’s version or it will go to conference committee and the House and Senate will both have to approve the final version before session ends on June 2.  Governor Greg Abbott had promised to fully fund public schools along with school vouchers, and the House deployed a “two-step” strategy that tethered passage of school finance to vouchers when the chamber approved both last month. While the Senate quickly approved the House voucher bill and Abbott signed it into law in early May, the public school funding bill stalled.

Creighton has said that time was spent carefully negotiating alterations to the bill. But Democrats say this was a blatant bait-and-switch. “This was supposed to be the Texas Two-Step, but right now I’m just seeing one step: defunding our schools with a voucher scam,” State Representative James Talarico said in a statement. “Greg Abbott took new per-student funding hostage for his voucher scam. Now, after getting his way on vouchers, he’s killing the hostage anyway.” 

District leaders are still hoping that lawmakers will listen to what they say their schools need. 

At least the House school funding bill, said Midway Superintendent Allen, “Says we’re going to trust you with the money, but we’re going to put some parameters around it. That we can work with.” 

The post Texas School Districts Slam the Senate’s School Finance Plan appeared first on The Texas Observer.

Woodbury Public Safety is asking for help in finding information about a rug found in connection with a fire.

The beige and brown patterned rug was found May 9, at an abandoned house fire on Afton Road, according to a Woodbury Public Safety Facebook post.

Woodbury Public Safety is asking for help in finding information about a rug found in connection with a fire. The beige and brown patterned rug was found May 9, 2025 at an abandoned house fire on Afton Road, according to a Woodbury Public Safety Facebook post. (Courtesy of Woodbury Public Safety)

Two minors were seen biking with the rug near the 8000 block of Afton Road, according to detectives.

If you have information about where the rug was taken from or who it belongs to, Woodbury Public Safety asks that you email policetips@woodburymn.gov or leave a message at 651-714-3780.

The post stated that information provided by the public about the rug could help detectives with the ongoing investigation.

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We have arrived at the new age of the NBA.

As the league moves onto its semifinal round, gone are the likes of Steph Curry, LeBron James and the Boston Celtics. The teams and figures that have dominated center stage for the last 15-plus years have stepped aside this spring to make way for the next wave.

The NBA’s conference finals feature four relatively fresh faces in Minnesota, Oklahoma City, New York and Indiana. The Knicks are the only franchise of the four to win a title, and the last of those came more than 50 years ago.

Over in the East, the Knicks and Pacers are quickly rekindling a historically heated rivalry with their second series matchup in as many postseasons.

In the West, an entirely new trail is being blazed. In NBA terms, Minnesota and Oklahoma City are still infant franchises flush with youthful pillars.

Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid are 23, 24 and 25 years old, respectively. On the Thunder side, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are 23, 24 and 26.

In a league where stability is increasingly rare thanks to constant roster turnover driven by the wishes of players and the constraints of the salary cap, this series feels like the start of something special.

But shouldn’t it be considered more of a continuation? Minnesota, after all, was just in this round a year ago. The same is true for Indiana. The Timberwolves are, stunningly, the first team to reach back-to-back Western Conference Finals since 2019.

But few seem to remember – or, at least, care – about that. History doesn’t pay much mind to the losers at this point of the postseason.

As Minnesota learned a year ago, reaching the conference finals does little to write your narrative. What you do during them does.

For the Timberwolves, this is about proving they’re legitimate championship contenders rather than a final hurdle en route to the title bout. The “Bridesmaid” narrative can consume you quicker than you’d think.

For the Thunder, this is about giving legitimacy to everything they’ve accomplished over the past two regular seasons, and proving they are the big, bad machine the stats suggest they are but other opponents may not always perceive them to be.

For Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle, this is about proving they can, indeed, be key cogs on title teams, rather than guys who can help you win a round or two.

For Mike Conley, this is about not having every conversation about his legacy ending with the sentiment that “it’s too bad he never won a title.”

For Anthony Edwards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, it’s an opportunity to discard the “Who’s next” conversation and solidify “Who’s now.”

Edwards has never been an all-star starter or First-team All-NBA or sniffed an MVP conversation. By outplaying the presumptive winner of the League’s highest individual honor in this year’s regular season, Edwards would cement himself as a member of the NBA’s group of top five players.

Meanwhile, Gilgeous-Alexander has dominated the association for two years running, and yet it’s always Edwards who’s discussed as the next “face of the league” or the second coming of Michael Jordan. Charisma and quotes are cool and all, but results ultimately rule the world. If the Thunder win the title, it will require some real mental gymnastics to believe the NBA belongs to anyone other than SGA.

The more immediate issue is who is set to take ownership of the West?

These two teams are deep, defensive-oriented, talented and tough. They are the ones who have grabbed the torches from the stars and dynasties of old and are carrying the NBA’s fire forward.

The way they’re constructed, it would surprise no one if Minnesota and Oklahoma City met numerous times in similar situations down the road.

But this current impasse between the two sides will determine the present hierarchy, the narratives, the champion. Stakes rarely exceed such heights.

Welcome to the Western Conference Finals.

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