Author profile

Sean Salai

Follow author updates

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

This Sept. 9, 2016, photo shows Harkness Tower on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Conn. (Associated Press)

Conservatives target ‘bias reporting systems’ at colleges

A pair of conservative advocacy groups is offering model legislation for state lawmakers to ban "bias reporting systems" from college campuses, saying administrators have used them to punish the constitutionally protected opinions of right-leaning students.

July 25, 2022

On Wednesday, July 27, the Korean War Veterans Memorial will dedicate a new $22 million Wall of Remembrance that lists the names of 36,634 Americans killed in the 1950-53 conflict. (Photo courtesy of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation)

Wall of Remembrance salutes fallen Korean War vets on National Mall

Korean War veteran Paul Cunningham still remembers the day a lieutenant from his Air Force radar unit was shot down on a reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines.

July 25, 2022

Isaac Adjei aligns desk in his classroom at Pleasant Run Elementary School, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, in Indianapolis. A contentious Indiana bill that Republican lawmakers say would increase transparency of school curricula could undergo significant changes Wednesday, Feb. 16 in response to mounting criticism from teachers and education advocates. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

K-12 schools scramble for teachers weeks before classes start because of COVID burnout

America's public schools are struggling with a wave of departures by COVID-fatigued teachers just weeks before the first day of class.

July 23, 2022

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

Miami-Dade schools ban sex ed books for being ‘age-inappropriate’ under Fla. parental-rights law

Florida's Miami-Dade County School Board has voted to ban two previously-approved sex education textbooks amid concerns that they violate a new state law against age-inappropriate sexuality and gender lessons.

July 22, 2022

Tomato seedlings emerge from pellets Wednesday, April 15, 2020, at a home in Cross Lanes, W. Va. Customers looking to start their home gardens during the coronavirus pandemic are gobbling up seeds at garden centers and creating huge backlogs on company websites. (AP Photo/John Raby)

Analysts see more Americans growing food at home amid inflation, health concerns

More Americans are growing their vegetables at home or in local community gardens to eat healthier and save money in the post-pandemic era, according to agricultural analysts.

July 21, 2022

‘ExFlix’ and chill: 23% of people who share streaming-service passwords are ex-lovers

A new poll finds that 23% of streaming service password-sharers are using the account of an ex-lover in a trend that some have dubbed "ExFlix."

July 21, 2022

In this Oct. 5, 2020, photo, New York Police Department officers in masks stand during a service at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York to honor 46 colleagues who have died due to COVID-19 related illness. New York City will require police officers, firefighters and other municipal workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be placed on unpaid leave, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021, giving an ultimatum to public employees who’ve refused and ensuring a fight with some of the unions representing them. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) **FILE**

Unvaccinated first responders likelier to catch COVID, doubt vaccines: Study

A new medical study finds that unvaccinated first responders were more likely to develop COVID-19 and less likely to believe in the effectiveness and safety of vaccines than their vaccinated peers.

July 19, 2022

Fire trucks outside of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic Church in Bethesda early Sunday morning. A vandalism/arson attack at the congregation is believed to have caused $50,000 in damage. (CREDIT: Montgomery Country Fire & Rescue Service via Twitter)

Juvenile arrested in connection with attacks on Bethesda churches

A juvenile has been arrested in connection with the recent vandalism attacks on two of the three Bethesda churches, Montgomery County officials said Tuesday.

July 19, 2022

Kindergarten teacher Karen Drolet, left, works with a student at Raices Dual Language Academy, a public school in Central Falls, R.I., Feb. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/David Goldman) **FILE**

Educators brace for back-to-school mental health crisis: Report

Public schools are adding mental health staff and "therapeutic support classrooms" to absorb an expected flood of anxious and depressed students returning next month from two years of virtual learning, according to the tracking website Burbio.

July 18, 2022

In this Sunday, Aug. 11, 2019, file photo, a man uses a cellphone in New Orleans. Quick help for suicidal thoughts and other mental health emergencies may soon be as easy as 9-8-8. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

U.S. changes suicide prevention hotline number to 988

The U.S. has changed its 10-digit National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to 988 to make 24/7 crisis care more available amid an ongoing flood of suicides and drug overdoses among young people.

July 18, 2022

The Rev. Samuel Giese, pastor of St. Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic Church in Bethesda, Md., said Monday that vandals left no explanation for desecrating the sanctuary.

Pastors say Roe a likely factor in vandalism at three Bethesda churches

Pastors of churches that were vandalized this weekend in Bethesda said Monday they suspect anger over the Supreme Court's overturning Roe v. Wade as a motivating factor.

July 11, 2022

In this Sept. 24, 2015, photo, supporters of a measure to allow terminally ill people to end their own life march at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. A California appeals court overturned a lower court ruling that found the state's assisted suicide law was unconstitutional. A panel of the Fourth District Court of Appeals in Riverside on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, said doctors who brought the case did not show they were harmed because they could choose not to help terminally ill patients die. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) **FILE**

Christian doctors say California’s assisted suicide law violates their conscience

A group of Christian doctors has argued in federal court that California's assisted suicide law violates their conscience by requiring them to help dying patients obtain lethal drugs.

July 11, 2022

In this May 27, 2020 photo, Aaron Rainboth, a teacher at the Frederickson KinderCare daycare center in Tacoma, Wash., wears a mask as he takes part in a balance exercise with a child during an outdoor play period. In a world weary of the coronavirus, many working parents with young children are now struggling with the decision on when or how they'll be comfortable returning to their child care providers. Frederickson KinderCare, which has been open throughout the pandemic to care for children of essential workers, removed carpets and spaced out tables and chairs as part of their measures to control the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Study: Children, teens got 20% less daily exercise during pandemic

Children and teenagers spent 20% less time doing daily physical activity during the pandemic, according to a study published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics.

July 11, 2022

A Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is administered at the Banning Recreation Center Tuesday, April 13, 2021, in Wilmington, Calif. Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks introduced a bill, Friday Feb. 11, 2022, that if approved, would mandate all businesses must require their employees and independent contractors to have received a COVID-19 vaccine. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) **FILE**

Californians’ life expectancy fell faster than the national average during COVID, study shows

The life expectancy of Californians fell by three years during the pandemic, faster than the national average declined in 2020, according to a medical investigation published Thursday and federal health records.

July 8, 2022

In this March 2, 2020, photo, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel attends a meeting with President Donald Trump, members of the Coronavirus Task Force, and pharmaceutical executives in the Cabinet Room of the White House, in Washington. Banel is participating along with Dr. Anthony Fauci, soprano Renee Fleming, the CEO of Pfizer and the lead guitarist of Aerosmith among others in a unique three-day Vatican conference starting Thursday, May 6, 2021, on COVID-19, other global health threats and how science, solidarity and spirituality can address them. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) **FILE**

More CEOs join ‘Great Resignation’ as recession looms

The "Great Resignation" isn't just about COVID-19 burnout anymore. Corporate CEOs are quitting their jobs in a new exodus as political pressures and expectations of a recession build, employment watchers say.

July 8, 2022

In this file photo, prospective students tour Georgetown University's campus, on July 10, 2013, in Washington, D.C. College students from 23 countries want a better return on their investment coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, a U.S. education technology company reported Thursday. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) **FILE**

Biden DOJ intervenes in price-fixing lawsuits against 17 elite universities

The Biden Justice Department is siding with five former college students in a legal battle over a financial aid price-fixing conspiracy at 17 elite universities.

July 8, 2022

Workers Miriam Mattos, left, and Marilene Souto, hands only at right, both of Hyannis, Mass., make a bed, Tuesday, April 6, 2021, at Red Jacket Resorts, in Yarmouth, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) ** FILE **

Short-staffed hotels look to robots to cope with summer travel boom

Robots like Rosey from "The Jetsons" and C-3PO from "Star Wars" have long helped meet the domestic needs of their fictional owners. Now real robots are helping hotels shore up staffing shortages amid a boom in summer travel.

July 6, 2022

A syringe is prepared with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic at the Keystone First Wellness Center in Chester, Pa., Dec. 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

COVID would have killed 58% more Americans without vaccines: Study

A new study estimates that COVID-19 vaccinations averted 58% of U.S. deaths that could have occurred in a hypothetical scenario in which no inoculations existed.

July 6, 2022

In this Oct. 27, 2020, file photo, Artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg walks among thousands of white flags planted in remembrance of Americans who have died of COVID-19 near Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington. Firstenberg's temporary art installation, called &quot;In America, How Could This Happen,&quot; will include an estimated 240,000 flags when completed. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

COVID-19 was third-leading cause of death during pandemic, study shows

COVID-19 was the third-leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer during the pandemic, according to a new study of national death certificate records.

July 5, 2022

Electric cars are parked at a charging station in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, April 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

More Americans seek eco-friendly car rentals to save gas money

Searches for hybrid and electric rental cars more than doubled in May as Americans looked for ways to avoid high gas prices, according to booking service Kayak.

July 1, 2022