Great Falls Tribune
AI partners could upend human relationships
When the movie “Her” debuted in 2013, its plot felt like science fiction. The protagonist, Theodore, is a jaded man with no vigor for life. He comes alive after talking daily with his artificial intelligence chatbot, Samantha, with whom he eventually...
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Trump, Netanyahu clash on Lebanon
President Donald Trump lit into Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an expletive-laden call on June 1, multiple news outlets reported, after Iran threatened to pull out of peace talks with the United States over strikes on Hezbollah in...
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Iran suspends talks over Lebanon attacks
Iran halted indirect talks with the United States over Israel’s intensifying attacks on Lebanon, according to Iranian media reports, signaling a possible breakdown in diplomatic efforts to end the 3-month-old war. The Iranian semi-official Tasnim news...
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Ads for GLP-1 drugs flooding the internet
If you watched the Super Bowl in 2026, you likely saw Serena Williams share her weight-loss journey on GLP-1 medications in a commercial. Like millions of others around the country, if you’ve ever considered taking one of these drugs, you probably went...
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Commencement tradition could fade away
PISCATAWAY, NJ – From the robed procession to the conferring of degrees to the keynote speech meant to inspire students to reflect on their lives and contributions to society, graduation ceremonies are a grand and cherished tradition. But...
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Potential Iran deal puts Trump in a bind
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump finds himself in a bind as he seeks to end the war against Iran: He is under pressure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and get U.S. gasoline prices down but at the same time faces a potential backlash from Iran hawks...
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Negotiators reach deal
Negotiators for the United States and Iran have reached a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and extend the 60-day ceasefire while discussions continue over Tehran’s nuclear program, according to an American official. President Donald Trump has yet...
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Cannabis legalization spurs innovation
Innovation in health care saves lives. But not all health innovations have enough evidence to actually benefit patients. Barriers to innovation are often higher in illicit or restricted markets, including cannabis, stem cells and cryptocurrencies....
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NJ officials seeking ICE facility’s closure
A junior U.S. senator and a congressman from New Jersey described inadequate medical care, poor food and “inhumane treatment” at Delaney Hall, the federal immigration detention center in Newark, after speaking to detainees on Day 2 of a hunger...
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THE LIMITS OF LOCKDOWNS
There have been 63 school shootings – meaning any time there is gunfire on a school campus – so far in 2026. h They happen so often that preparing for one has become normal. Students as young as 4 years old routinely practice for the possibility of a...
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Shooting suspect killed near White House
A gunman opened fire outside the White House during the evening of May 23 before the Secret Service fatally shot the suspect, the agency said. A bystander also was struck by gunfire, according to the Secret Service. No officers were injured. President...
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‘THE QUICKER THE BETTER’
ARAPAHO, OK – When Bill Sawatzky’s heifer started experiencing difficulty during labor and couldn’t deliver her calf on his farm near Custer City, Oklahoma, he quickly loaded her into a trailer and made the 15-mile journey to Highland Veterinary Clinic...
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Pakistani official seeks breakthrough with Iran
WASHINGTON – Iran’s foreign minister met Pakistan’s interior minister on May 22 to discuss proposals to end the U.S.-Israeli war, Iranian media reported, with Tehran and Washington still at odds over Iran’s uranium stockpile and controls on the Strait...
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Pakistan aims to get peace talks on track
DUBAI – Pakistan stepped up diplomacy on May 21 to hasten peace talks between the United States and Iran even as Tehran appeared to harden its stance over the nuclear issue amid new threats of strikes from President Donald Trump if he didn’t get the...
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AI ventures into literature
At some point in the next several months, I am hoping to receive a modest check as a member of the class covered in the class-action settlement Bartz v. Anthropic. In 2025, the artificial intelligence company Anthropic, best known for creating the...
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Trump postpones planned Iran strikes
President Donald Trump said he delayed strikes on Iran planned for May 19 following progress on a possible deal to end the war, though Tehran’s latest proposal appears little changed from an earlier deal that the president rejected as “garbage.” “It’s...
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Trump warns Iran: ‘Clock is ticking’
President Donald Trump warned Iran that the “clock is ticking” following a drone strike on a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates, raising fears of renewed conflict as talks between Washington and Tehran stall. Emirati officials said a...
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RISING COSTS
Americans’ concerns about being able to afford electricity and home heating fuel have been elevated since the beginning of the Iran war. But recently released nationwide data shows that even before the war began, these concerns were widespread,...
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Seniors struggle with housing, caregiving
Hurricane Milton had blown off the carport roof, damaged the lanai and broken several windows of his home in Sarasota, Florida. But that October 2024, L. Paul Laramee was reeling from an even greater shock. h After months of troubling behavior –...
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China’s Xi warns against mishandling of Taiwan
BEIJING – China’s Xi Jinping told President Donald Trump at the start of a two-day summit on May 14 that trade talks were making progress, but cautioned that disagreement over Taiwan could send relations down a dangerous path and even lead to...
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Centurylong effort aims to keep nations White
Whiteness appears to be an official immigration credential in the eyes of the United States government. The Trump administration in late 2025 slashed the annual cap on refugee admissions to 7,500 for budget year 2026, down from the 125,000 cap set in...
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Redistricting wars in uncharted waters
The redistricting wars are raging. What happens next? History provides little guidance, because never before has there been a cross-country campaign to redraw congressional districts at mid-decade and on the fly. But the repercussions, both immediate...
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Stalemate in Iran raises oil prices
DUBAI – President Donald Trump’s swift rejection of Iran’s response to a U.S. peace proposal has fueled concerns that the 10-week-old conflict will drag on and continue to paralyze shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, pushing oil prices higher, on...
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AI-integrated cameras raise alarms
For decades, cars dictated urban planning in the United States. h Few could have predicted that they would one day also double as nodes for surveillance. h In thousands of towns and cities across the United States, automatic license plate readers have...
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Why many feel bad about the economy
As the impacts from the Iran war spilled over into everyday life, more Americans have said they are worse off today than at most any point in the last 25 years. h More than half – 55% – say their financial situation is deteriorating, according to a new...
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Trade court rules against tariff in defeat for Trump
A federal court dealt another blow to President Donald Trump’s trade agenda May 7, ruling against a 10% global tariff the president imposed earlier this year to replace tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court. A panel of judges for the Court of...
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Memo hints at possible deal between Iran, U.S.
President Donald Trump said Iran could either agree to a framework for peace talks or bombing would resume, after he had paused the military operation to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said on social media the war that began Feb. 28, with a...
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Hegseth says ships sailed through strait
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on May 5 said two U.S. commercial ships and two Navy destroyers sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, embarrassing Iranians who claimed the key waterway was closed and demonstrating it is safe to pass while a blockade of...
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U.S. sinks boats in Strait of Hormuz
The U.S. military sunk six Iranian boats on May 4, a military official said, as the United Arab Emirates reported missile fire and drone attacks from Iran, testing a weekslong ceasefire amid Washington’s attempt to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Adm....
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Microplastics could be overestimated
It seems like every day a new study finds tiny plastic particles called microplastics where they should not be: in our bodies and our food, water and air. h Yet finding and identifying microplastics is extremely challenging, especially given their...
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‘THERAPEUTIC BENEFIT’
The Food and Drug Administration has announced the winners of national priority vouchers to study the therapeutic effects of psychedelic drugs, shortly after President Donald Trump signed an executive order paving the way for more research. In an...
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TrumpIRA site offers retirement savings
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on April 30 that will broaden access to retirement savings for workers whose employers don’t offer 401(k)type plans. The order creates a new website, TrumpIRA.gov, that workers can use to enroll in a...
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Royal visit unlikely to mend differences
WASHINGTON – King Charles III jokingly apologized for the British burning the White House during the War of 1812 but slyly noted that, were it not for his countrymen, the Americans might be speaking French. President Donald Trump marveled at the...
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Prediction markets see explosive rise
Though prediction markets have been legal in the United States for less than 18 months, they can’t stop making news and making money. On prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket, users can stake real money on just about anything, from the...
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MAGA-esque politics popular in the U.K.
LONDON− King Charles III isn’t an elected politician. But his trip to the United States has political implications. And with extreme movements on the rise in the United Kingdom, echoing divisions among Americans, the monarch’s state visit to mark the...
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Motive sought in shooting at DC event
WASHINGTON – The man accused of opening fire outside the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was expected in court on April 27, as the White House planned to review security protocols and investigators piece together what led to the attack...
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Food aid doesn’t make people loafers
Millie Morales believes in hard work. “I feel that as an American citizen, we all have a great opportunity to be able to improve our life,” the 58-year-old woman explained in an interview I conducted with her in 2025. “Are you willing to put in the...
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Immigration judge set off on migrant trail
Five months after he was fired as a U.S. immigration judge, Jeremiah Johnson found himself rumbling into the highlands of Guatemala on a crowded bus, a bouquet of flowers in hand. His unusual, if poetic, mission: to visit relatives of an indigenous...
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U.S. delegation to meet with Iranian officials
The United States is sending a delegation to Pakistan to meet with Iranian officials, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said April 24, resuming direct talks as both countries accuse each other of violating a ceasefire by seizing and blocking...
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Tensions escalate in Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump’s ceasefire with Iran remained in place April 23 as tensions in the Strait of Hormuz continued and negotiations between Lebanon and Israel were expected to resume in Washington. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S....
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World’s great fish migrations collapsing
Hidden beneath the surface of the world’s rivers, some of Earth’s great animal movements unfold – migrations that rival, in sheer biomass, the famous mass movements of zebra and wildebeest across the Serengeti. h For centuries, fish migrations were as...
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Strict water use rules sweep nation
With drought stretching from coast to coast, water restrictions are already in effect in many states even before the thirsty summer season begins. More than 61% of the nation is now in a drought, the highest percentage in nearly four years, according...
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Iran war raises prices for farming fertilizer
Americans worried about grocery prices may soon feel the consequences of an unexpected problem on U.S. farms caused by the war in Iran – rising fertilizer prices are creating a potential ripple effect that could reach grocery stores. The American Farm...
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Latino vote shifting away from Trump, GOP
In the 2024 election, President Donald Trump dramatically improved his performance among nearly all groups of voters from four years earlier. Trump’s growth among Hispanic voters was especially notable, increasing by more than 10 points from 2020 to...
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Democrats hoping gas prices influence elections
As rising gas prices force Americans to change their spending habits, Democrats are revving their 2026 midterm messaging on the potentially potent issue. The last time the average retail price to fill up went over $4 a gallon was August 2022....
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Iran reopens Strait of Hormuz
Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz “completely open” to all commercial vessels, the country’s foreign minister said, meeting a central demand of the United States as the two countries teased another round of peace talks and the clock wound down on a...
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Israel, Lebanon reach 10-day ceasefire
Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire, President Donald Trump announced on April 16, a move that could temporarily ease a conflict that’s threatened the two-week truce between the United States and Iran. Trump said Lebanese President...
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Snow drought presents climate stress test
Across much of the Western United States, winter 2026 was the year the snow never came. Many ski resorts got by with snowmaking but shut down their winter operations early. Fire officials and water supply managers are worried about summer. Where I...
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Politics looms over potential retirement
WASHINGTON – When Donald Trump was asked about the prospect of conservative Justices Samuel Alito or Clarence Thomas retiring, the Republican president voiced his support for the U.S. Supreme Court’s two oldest members to remain on the bench. “I hope...
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Blockade of strait leads to threats
Oil prices surged on April 13, hours before the United States military began blocking maritime traffic at Iranian ports – a move that came after peace talks between the warring nations broke down over the weekend. Maritime access restrictions on...
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Why third partie perform best in Northeast U.S.
A majority of Americans say they are “frustrated” or “angry” – or both – with Republicans and Democrats, according to the Pew Research Center. But that rarely translates into support for independent or third-party candidates. One exception has been in...
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Complete coverage in Sports Extra
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Artemis II crew awestruck by trip
The four astronauts on the Artemis II mission that took them around the moon spent years preparing for the historic flight, practicing operating the Orion spacecraft, learning how to observe the moon’s geography and even training in photography. The...
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U.S.-Iran ceasefire on tenuous ground
President Donald Trump’s ceasefire with Iran was on tenuous ground on April 9 after Israel launched its deadliest day of strikes on Lebanon yet and Tehran vowed not to desert its allies. A day after announcing the Iran war ceasefire, Trump took to...
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The high cost of U.S. health care
In announcing its “Great Healthcare Plan” in January, the Trump administration became the latest in a long history of efforts by the U.S. government to rein in the soaring cost of health care. As a physician and professor studying the intersection of...
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Hurricane forecast map gets makeover
After a two-year experimental run, an updated track forecast cone graphic moves into a starring role with the National Hurricane Center this summer. The new graphic, to debut when the first tropical storm forms, is one of several changes the hurricane...
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Iran rejects new ceasefire proposal
Iran on April 6 rejected the latest ceasefire proposal to end the war, the country’s state-run media reported, as mediators scramble to reach an agreement ahead of President Donald Trump’s deadline to strike Iran’s power plants if the Strait of Hormuz...
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Public defender shortage ripples across legal system
The Oregon Supreme Court on Feb. 5 issued a ruling that will have a wide impact. More than 1,400 criminal cases had to be dismissed, the justices ruled, due to lack of adequate counsel available for defendants. Like other states, Oregon must provide...
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Americans facing impact of Iran war
It’s been over a month since the United States and Israel jointly began the Iran war, and Brenna Boyde believes President Donald Trump’s repeated promises to end it have fallen flat. h Boyde is one of a trio of Americans, of different political...
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New college grads find challenging job market
In 2025, new college graduates wanted remote, high-paying jobs that aligned with their values. In 2026, they just want a job. With 89% worrying artificial intelligence could replace entry-level roles – up from 64% last year – 67% of graduates now say...
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SNAP-Ed saved money, helped Americans eat healthier
If the government had found a way to save $10 for every dollar it spent helping low-income people get healthier, wouldn’t it make sense for it to keep doing that? Well, that’s exactly what the U.S. government did when it piloted the SNAPEd program in...
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Complete coverage in Sports Extra
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Pete Hegseth: Expect ‘decisive’ turn in war
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on March 31 said the upcoming days in the war with Iran will be “decisive,” as President Donald Trump demanded allies reopen the Strait of Hormuz themselves and average gas prices rose above $4 a gallon. Hegseth, speaking...
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Iran being threatened with targeted strikes
President Donald Trump on March 30 said the United States was engaged in “serious discussions” with Iranian officials on a deal to end the war – but threatened to launch strikes on the country’s power, oil and water facilities if negotiations...
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Privatizing space brings COMPLICATIONS
Private companies are no longer peripheral participants in U.S. space activities. They provide key services, including launching and deploying satellites, transporting cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station, and even sending landers to...
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Cuba talks are in the hands of Marco Rubio
For Marco Rubio, disdain of the Cuban government was practically a birthright. h Raised among Cuban exiles in Florida, his political ascent from local politician to U.S. senator was propelled by an unwavering hard-line toward Fidel Castro and his...
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Trump delays strikes on Iran power plants
The Pentagon is weighing sending an additional 10,000 troops to the Middle East as the war with Iran rages, multiple news outlets reported. It remained unclear when a decision will be made on whether to send the additional combat soldiers, according...
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Trump again delays strikes on Iran’s power plants
President Donald Trump said in a social media post on March 26 that he was postponing strikes on Iran’s power plants for a second time while talks continue with Tehran to end the war. “As per Iranian Government request, please let this statement serve...
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‘Trump slump’ hit U.S. tourism in 2025
With an upcoming FIFA World Cup being staged across the nation, 2026 was supposed to be a bumper year for tourism to the United States, driven in part by hordes of arriving soccer fans. And yet, the U.S. tourism industry is worried. While the rest of...
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U.S. to send more troops to Mideast
The United States plans to deploy thousands of troops from the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East, multiple news outlets reported, expanding the U.S. military buildup in the region as President Donald Trump says his administration...
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Trump postpones strikes on Iran
President Donald Trump on March 23 said the United States has engaged in “very strong talks” with Iran and reached “major points of agreement” that could end the war – claims Iranian officials quickly denied. Trump said U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and...
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Movement fights mental health crisis
AT TOP: Poor mental health among teens and young adults has become a growing crisis. Jayla Cole never experienced the carefree teenage years. She could not get a driver’s license because of epilepsy and frequent seizures. She didn’t want to take...
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War in Iran gives boost to Netanyahu
DUBAI – If the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran ended tomorrow, one verdict is already clear: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would walk away stronger, while President Donald Trump would be left to manage the shock to global markets and to Gulf allies who...
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Troops deployed to Middle East region
Despite President Donald Trump’s promises of the war with Iran ending soon and broad domestic disapproval of further involvement, the United States is sending more troops to the region, a defense official said. The 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit,...
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Oil sites hit amid Iran war escalations
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth wants billions more from Congress to fund the war with Iran as gas prices hit $3.90 a gallon nationwide and global oil prices surged amid the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The national average price per gallon...
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AI school flips learning on its head
Matt Shenker recently witnessed a group of fourth and fifth graders at Alpha School Scottsdale doing what he said boys that age do: calling each other fat and making jokes at each other’s expense. At most schools, a teacher or staff member would step...
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