Bailey Zimmerman just had a pretty unforgettable moment with a fan that involves baby names and a little humor—stick around for the details. Continue reading…Country Music News – Taste of Country
Author: alaskaadmin
Bailey Zimmerman just had a pretty unforgettable moment with a fan that involves baby names and a little humor—stick around for the details. Continue reading…The Boot – Country Music News, Music Videos and Songs
Is Keith Urban’s yacht rock album upon us? Continue reading…Country Music News – Taste of Country
Is Keith Urban’s yacht rock album upon us? Continue reading…The Boot – Country Music News, Music Videos and Songs
Rep. Maxine Dibert, D-Fairbanks, speaks Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, on the floor of the Alaska House of Representatives. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
The Alaska House of Representatives advanced a bill Wednesday that aims to address a lack of oversight for minors treated at psychiatric facilities in Alaska. The bill would mandate an annual report on conditions and treatment at such facilities from the state’s Health Department, as well as unannounced biannual inspections.
Rep. Maxine Dibert, D-Fairbanks and the bill’s sponsor, said the measure is a necessary step to increase accountability around the treatment of minors in psychiatric hospitals in the state, amid constituent concerns.
“These are not sweeping mandates, they are basic expectations of transparency, of communication and accountability of our youth here in Alaska,” she said on Wednesday.
The bill passed the House of Representatives with 37 yes votes. Three legislators were absent. It has been transmitted to the Senate for consideration.
The bill would also guarantee patients confidential telephone or video communication with a parent or guardian for two hours per week and require the Department of Health to notify a patient’s parent or legal guardian when seclusion or restraint is used within 72 hours.
The annual report would include information about the total uses of seclusion or restraint, findings of facility inspections and data on the number of minors who received residential care at psychiatric hospitals.
Dibert cited a 2004 investigation by the Disability Law Center of Alaska that found 261 episodes of seclusion and restraint over three months in psychiatric institutions, which the organization called “quite high.”
The United States Department of Justice issued a report in December 2022 that found that Alaskan youth are institutionalized in psychiatric hospitals and psychiatric residential treatment facilities at higher rates and for longer periods than minors in other states as a result of a lack of available and accessible community-based mental health services, violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Rep. Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage and Chair of the House Health and Social Services Committee, voiced her support for the bill and drew attention to a finding by the DOJ that identified gaps in community-based services in Alaska.
Community-based services include home-based family treatment for early intervention services, intensive case management and crisis services, according to the DOJ.
“We have to face the reality that many of these kids are in these institutionalized settings because we have underinvested in our home and community based services in this broader continuum of care,” Mina said.
“The dearth of community-based services in Alaska is so pronounced and widespread that institutional placement has become, for many behavioral health service providers in the state, the default option to which they refer children with long-term behavioral health need,” DOJ investigators wrote in 2022.
According to the DOJ, more than 800 Alaskan children received behavioral health services in a psychiatric institution in 2020. Approximately a third of the patients were Alaska Native and parents reported to the DOJ concerns about separating their children from their culture while in residential treatment. In addition to four psychiatric residential treatment facilities in Alaska, the state sends children to 17 out of state psychiatric residential treatment facilities.
Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, told legislators that the bill provides oversight and accountability that legislators are expected to institute.
The bill received support from the Alaska Federation of Natives, Lives in the Balance, a nonprofit that advocates for the fair treatment of children, Dot Lake Village, Citizens Commission on Human Rights, an organization that aims to eradicate abuse in mental health settings, and Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association.
The Department of Health estimated in a fiscal note that it would cost approximately $222,800 annually for a full-time nurse consultant to perform inspections, conduct interviews with patients and conduct investigations and for two nurse consultants to attend trauma informed care and cultural awareness training.
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Cheating scandals are usually pretty straightforward:
Two people get accused, the truth comes out, and everyone proceeds from there.
But in the case of Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini, it almost seems like they can’t decide if they cheated or not.
In case you missed it, Vrabel and Russini were spotted hugging and holding hands while they were both staying at a luxury resort in Arizona last month. That might be a problem, as they’re both married to other people.
In the aftermath, Russini resigned from her post at The Athletic, but in her resignation letter, she continued to deny any wrongdoing.
Now, Vrabel is moving in a similarly confusing direction.
While he has yet to admit that his relationship with Russini was inappropriate, Vrabel revealed this week that he will be checking into counseling and will miss the third day of this weekend’s NFL Draft as a result.
“As I said the other day, I promised my family, this organization, and this team that I was going to give them the best version of me that I can possibly give them. In order to do so, I have committed to seeking counseling, starting this weekend,” Vrabel told ESPN.
“This is something that I have given a lot of thought to and is something I would advise a player to do if I was counseling them.”
Vrabel initially dismissed the cheating allegations as “laughable.” When asked about those comments in a recent press conference, he was quick to sidestep the question.
“I appreciate the question. I’m going to focus on our football team,” he said.
“I think I’ve addressed what I felt like was important. So, we’ll be focusing on our football team and the importance of teaching these guys, bringing a new team together, 13 new players,” Vrabel continued, adding:
”I’ve had some difficult conversations with people that I care about. My family, the organization, the coaches, the players. Those have been positive and productive.”
So Vrabel is having “hard conversations,” and he’s missing important team events in order to check into counseling, but he still won’t admit to any wrongdoing?
This might not be the high character path that he thinks it is. As a two-time NFL Coach of the Year winner, Vrabel probably knows that, unlike Russini’s, his job is safe.
But that doesn’t mean his bosses are thrilled with his handling of this situation.
Mike Vrabel to Seek Therapy, Miss Part of NFL Draft Following Dianna Russini Cheating … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
The Hollywood Gossip
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Brace yourself, because this whole interview is pretty gross.
Russell Brand is accused of raping multiple women, and is facing a slew of charges related to these alleged assaults.
Following a lengthy investigation, he is facing new rape charges.
Brand claims that he is innocent. He is also admitting to having sex with a 16-year-old when he was 30.
‘And I did sleep with a 16-year-old when I was 30’
On Wednesday, April 22, Brand appeared as a guest on The Megyn Kelly Show.
He spoke at length about many topics, appearing to claim at times that he had only delved into chemical escapes and sexual conquests — which he claims were all consensual — because some people in society do not believe in his god, but also because he was immature.
(That’s genuinely our best take at some of his statements. To try to refine them further would risk sanewashing.)
But he also described an encounter with a girl about half his age. He was 30. She was 16.
He does now admit that it was “exploitative.”
“The plain fact of it is, in Europe and in the United Kingdom, where I’m from, the age of consent is 16,” Brand said in his preemptive defense.
“And I did sleep with a 16-year-old when I was 30,” he confessed.
Brand is likely speaking to a friendly audience, as Megyn Kelly has split hairs about whether Epstein and his associates were truly pedophiles for their sex crimes against children.
(In society, we use “pedophile” to include hebephiles and ephebophiles, and view quibbling over this as a red flag — just as we view it as suspicious when someone seems overly familiar with the age of consent in too many places.)
“But when I was 30, I was a very different person,” Brand insisted. “I was a lot younger, and I was an immature 30 year old.”
‘I think it involves exploitation’
Brand went on to discuss what he called “consensual sex” and multiple times “when there is a strong power differential.”
He admittedly that, when he was a 30-year-old celebrity, he did in fact have a power differential with a 16-year-old girl.
“When you’re a famous man that has the ability to attract women that I had at that time, I think involves exploitation,” he commented. “I think it is exploitative.”
Brand continued: “I recognized that my sexual conduct in the past was selfish, and I did not apply enough consideration — barely any, I suppose, really — to how that sex was affecting other people.”
Brand also characterized his trials as a “blessing” or a thing for which to feel gratitude.
Or, more specifically, he discussed how trials — a general term for obstacles or difficult times — can be a blessing, and then acted as if his legal battles over alleged rapes and sexual assaults fit the same criteria.
There are those who believe that Brand’s public and somewhat abrupt hard-right shift several years ago was a preemptive response to knowing that lawsuits and criminal investigations were coming, as conservative audiences tend to be more receptive to accused sexual predators.
However, it is entirely possible — and perhaps more likely — that his conservative pivot is an earnest reflection of who he really is.
Brand is facing a slew of legal battles (and many wonder if more will come). Being his attorney as he begins yapping on podcasts about sleeping with high school students at 30 is probably no one’s dream job, no matter how well it pays.
Russell Brand Admits to Sleeping with 16-Year-Old Girl When He Was 30, Maintains All Sex … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
The Hollywood Gossip
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Wilson’s headlining Stagecoach set is going to be fire…literally. Continue reading…Country Music News – Taste of Country