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Sean Salai

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Sean Salai

ssalai@washingtontimes.com

Sean Salai is the general assignment/culture reporter for The Washington Times. A former National desk intern and Metro clerk at The Washington Times, he also has served as a City Hall reporter at the Boca Raton News and as a special contributor at America Media. He can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Sean Salai

Classroom, desks, chalkboard. (Photo credit: miya227 via Shutterstock) ** FILE **

Report finds college enrollments rebounding slowly from COVID

College enrollments declined more slowly this spring semester after two years of a COVID-fueled nosedive, according to new data released Wednesday.

May 24, 2023

A woman pauses as she visits a memorial at the entrance to The Covenant School, March 29, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. A group of Tennessee parents whose children attend The Covenant School, where a deadly shooting in March took the lives of three 9-year-olds and three adults, filed a motion on Wednesday, May 17, seeking to keep the shooter's writings from being released to the public. (AP Photo/Wade Payne, File)

Nashville pastor gives first sermon since losing daughter in shooting

Carrying his pain to the pulpit, the Rev. Chad Scruggs choked back emotion as he thanked his congregation for their support in his family's season of grief, as he delivered his first sermon since a mass shooting claimed the life of his 9-year-old daughter Hallie two months ago.

May 23, 2023

Jay Devineni, right, a student at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, talks with fellow medical school student Supriya Vuda in the hallway of the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City, Mo., on March 28, 2023. Devineni and Vuda testified against legislation in a Senate committee that would restrict diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in medical schools and among health care providers. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb) **FILE**

Med schools group embraces racial preferences

Racial preferences in faculty hiring and student admissions are a "strategic priority for academic medicine," the nation's largest consortium of medical schools says.

May 23, 2023

New graduates line up before the start of a community college commencement in East Rutherford, N.J., May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Fewer Black HS seniors plan on community college: Survey

Fewer Black high school seniors expect to attend community college this fall than before the pandemic as more students find higher education out of their reach, a national survey has found.

May 22, 2023

This July 24, 2018, file photo shows a portion of the 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return form. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Americans tell Gallup they’re fed up with federal income taxes

The popularity of the federal income tax has dropped to its lowest level in more than two decades of Gallup polling.

May 19, 2023

Joseph DuPuis, co-founder of Doc & Yeti Urban Farms, a licensed cannabis producer, looks out at marijuana buds in Tumwater, Wash., on March 15, 2023. Along the West Coast, which has dominated U.S. marijuana production from long before legalization, producers are struggling with what many call the failed economics of legal pot...a challenge inherent in regulating a product that remains illegal under federal law. (AP Photo/Eugene Johnson)

Failed marijuana tests after job accidents hit new high

Legal marijuana appears to have played a role in the number of workers testing positive after on-the-job accidents hitting a 25-year high, according to a new analysis.

May 18, 2023

The president, CEO and board chairman of the Capital Area Food Bank joined local elected officials and corporate sponsors in breaking ground on a 43,286-square-foot facility for the Capital Area Food Bank in Lorton, Virginia, on Monday, May 15, 2023. (Photo courtesy of the Capital Area Food Bank)

Food insecurity surging in nation’s capital, charities report

Food pantries and meal providers for the homeless in the D.C. area are expanding services to address a pandemic-era increase in families lacking consistent access to adequate nutrition.

May 18, 2023

Llano, Texas resident, Emily Decker, right, and Llano County resident Michael McDavid, left, protest outside a Llano County Commissioner's Court meeting at the Llano County Law Enforcement Center on Thursday, April 13, 2023, in Llano, Texas. Leaders in a rural Texas county held a special meeting Thursday but drew back from considering shutting their public library system rather than follow a federal judge's order to return books to the shelves on themes ranging from teen sexuality to bigotry. (Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman via AP) **FILE**

Libraries struggle with shrinking budgets, bitter book battles, influx of homeless

U.S. libraries, beset by book controversies, shrinking budgets, an influx of homeless and the ongoing loss of their readers to the Internet, are struggling to adjust to a post-pandemic reset that has many communities looking at cutbacks and closings.

May 17, 2023

Amelia, 16, sits for a portrait in a park near her home in Illinois on Friday, March 24, 2023. (AP Photo Erin Hooley)

Gallup: Clinical depression hits new highs in polling

Record high numbers of adults responding to a recent Gallup poll have received treatment for clinical depression.

May 17, 2023

People use a footbridge over University Avenue on the campus of Arizona State University on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York) **FILE**

Charges dropped against former college student who handed out Constitution on campus

Authorities have dropped all charges against an Arizona State University student who was arrested last year on trespassing charges after he set up a table to distribute copies of the Constitution without permission.

May 17, 2023

Travelers queue up at the north security checkpoint in the main terminal of Denver International Airport, Thursday, May 26, 2022, in Denver. The unofficial start of summer over the Memorial Day weekend offers a troubling glimpse of what lies ahead for travelers during the peak vacation season. U.S. airlines canceled more than 2,800 flights from Thursday through Monday, or about 2% of their schedules, according to tracking service FlightAware. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

AAA: Memorial Day air travel to exceed pre-pandemic levels

If you're traveling over the long Memorial Day weekend, expect airports to be a bit busier than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

May 16, 2023

A &quot;sold&quot; is posted outside a single family home in a residential neighborhood, in Glenside, Pa., Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates jumped again this week, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, to their highest level in almost 14 years, certain to keep even more potential buyers out of a housing market that’s cooled considerably since the Federal Reserve began jacking up its benchmark borrowing rate. .(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Consumer outlook of housing market tumbles to record low, poll indicates

Sentiments about the U.S. housing market have tumbled to a record low in a new Gallup polling.

May 16, 2023

Dog food is shown in a pet store in Westfield, Ind., on Tuesday, July 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) **FILE**

Inflation drives dog food prices to record highs, study finds

Inflation changes everything: Today, "going to the dogs" is closer in meaning to "putting on the Ritz" amid skyrocketing costs for dog food.

May 16, 2023

A woman has an ultrasound to verify her pregnancy inside the Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, La., April 15, 2022. Republican lawmakers in Louisiana rejected legislation Wednesday, May 10, 2023, that would add exceptions in cases of rape and incest to one of the strictest abortion bans in the country. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) **FILE**

Pregnant trans people could face chronic health problems: Study

Transgender people who give birth are likelier than mothers who identify with their biological sex to have chronic health problems like anxiety and depression, a new study found.

May 12, 2023

An intellectually disabled boy plays with a staffer on the adaptive playground at Jill’s House, an evangelical Christian ministry in Vienna, Virginia, on Saturday, May 6, 2023. (All Pro Reels, Olivia Evans, Special to The Washington Times)

It’s always Mother’s Day at Jill’s House, where special-needs kids’ retreat offers renewal for moms

A resort-like facility in Vienna, Virginia, this week offered a respite for mothers of special-needs kids, serving tea and cookies on white-clothed tables on an open-air patio as they shared their stories.

May 12, 2023

In this Nov. 14, 2019, photo, students walk on the campus of Utah Valley University, in Orem, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Counties report mental health problems surging, especially among youth

The U.S. is facing "an acute escalation" in mental and behavioral health incidents, especially among children, according to a national survey of county governments.

May 11, 2023

This image provided by Bond-Touch shows the Bond Heart smart necklace, which stores and plays heartbeats with the help of an app. (Bond-Touch via AP).

Report: Some Mother’s Day gifts cheaper as inflation eases

Some popular Mother's Day gifts will be cheaper online this year as inflation eases, a consumer research firm has found.

May 10, 2023

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with his "Investing in America Cabinet," in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Friday, May 5, 2023, in Washington. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen listens at right. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Gallup: Confidence in Biden, other leaders to fix economy hits historic lows

Fewer than 4 in 10 adults say they trust President Biden, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell or congressional leaders from either party to fix the economy, according to a new Gallup poll.

May 9, 2023

A display of the fentanyl and meth that was seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Nogales Port of Entry is shown during a press conference, Jan. 31, 2019, in Nogales, Ariz. (Mamta Popat/Arizona Daily Star via AP) **FILE**

Fentanyl poisoning deaths surge among toddlers, adolescents: Study

Fentanyl poisoning deaths among young people up to age 19 increased thirty-fold from 2013 to 2021, with small children and older teenagers leading the way, a new study has found.

May 8, 2023

In this March 4, 2021 file photo, a vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine rests on a table at a drive-up mass vaccination site in Puyallup, Wash., south of Seattle. Moderna reports their earnings on Thursday, May 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

Study links long COVID to cognitive deficits

People who have memory problems, trouble focusing and post-traumatic stress disorder are likelier than others to report long COVID symptoms, a new study found.

May 5, 2023