(File Photo)

(Pittsburgh, PA) It has been reported that the once well known dance studio in Penn Hills owned by Abby Lee Miller has been sold. Miller reportedly sold the studio for $300,000 and it will be used for commercial purposes.

The Society for Research in Child Development published the study on its website and looked at data from 10,000 toddlers and preschoolers in five nations.

Mai Miksic, early childhood education policy director for Children First PA, a nonprofit advocacy organization which helps shape programs used in child care centers, said the research confirms the need for center-based care, and early childhood education pays off for children’s learning and brain development.

“It is in these situations that children are able to be screened for things like developmental needs,” Miksic explained. “If they need early intervention if they need additional supports, there’s usually staff at centers who are qualified to identify those needs and get them connected to services.”

Researchers looked at the number of hours per week children were in care settings and reported they found no greater likelihood of problem behaviors such as hitting, kicking, biting, fighting, or bullying, with more time spent in care.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, the average yearly cost of infant care in Pennsylvania is close to $12,000, which equals about $987 per month, a high price tag, Miksic added, for parents who are feeling the pinch of inflation.

She also noted there is a staffing shortage in the child care sector and for providers to attract and keep staff it needs to raise wages, which could translate to even higher tuition for parents.

“The good news is there has been pandemic relief aid that has kept child care programs open,” Miksic acknowledged. “Again, some bad news that pandemic relief aid is going to expire in 2024, and then the prices for child care might skyrocket.”

Miksic emphasized outcomes did not differ based on demographics or income, and kids from low income families will not suffer more developmental issues.

FILE – A Tesla logo is seen at the company’s store in Denver’s Cherry Creek Mall on Feb. 9, 2019. Owning Tesla stock in 2022 has been anything but a smooth ride for investors. Shares in the electric vehicle maker are down nearly 70% since the start of the year, on pace to finish in the bottom five biggest decliners among S&P 500 stocks. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Owning Tesla stock this year has been anything but a smooth ride for investors. Shares in the electric vehicle maker are down nearly 70% since the start of the year, on pace to finish in the bottom five biggest decliners among S&P 500 stocks. By comparison, the benchmark index is down about 20%. While Tesla has continued to grow its profits, signs of softening demand and heightened competition have investors increasingly worried. Meanwhile, CEO Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter has stoked concerns on Wall Street that the social media company is taking too much of the billionaire’s attention, and possibly offending loyal Tesla customers.

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — In courtrooms across America, defendants get additional prison time for crimes juries found they didn’t commit. The Supreme Court is being asked to put an end to the practice. Dayonta McClinton’s case and three others like it are scheduled to be discussed when the justices next meet in private Jan. 6. A jury convicted McClinton of robbing a CVS pharmacy in Indianapolis but acquitted him of murder. A judge gave McClinton an extra 13 years in prison for the killing anyway. McClinton’s lawyers say the Supreme Court’s intervention is past due. It’s possible the pivotal vote could be Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who’s the court’s newest member and a former federal public defender.

Mary Warwick, wildlife director for the Houston Humane Society, holds a Mexican free-tailed bat as it recovers from last week’s freeze on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022 in Houston. The freezing temperatures caused the bats to go into hypothermic shock, lose their grip on their habitat and fall to the ground. Over 1500 bats were rescued from the Waugh Street Bridge and in Pearland since Friday. The public is welcome to watch them release almost 700 of bats on Wednesday at 5:30 at Waugh Street Bridge in Houston. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP)

HOUSTON (AP) — Texas wildlife officials say hundreds of bats lost their grip and plunged to the pavement underneath a bridge in Houston after going into hypothermic shock during the state’s recent cold snap. The Houston Humane Society said in a Facebook video that rescuers were able to save them by administering fluids and keeping them warm in incubators. Mary Warwick is director of the humane society’s Texas Wildlife Rehabiliation Center. She says nearly 700 of an estimated 1,500 bats rescued in the Houston area during last week’s frigid temperatures are set to be released back into the wild on Wednesday.

A currency trader watches computer monitors near the screens showing the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022. Shares were mixed in Asia on Wednesday after a post-holiday retreat on Wall Street, as markets count down to the end of a painful year for investors.(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

BANGKOK (AP) — Stocks are opening slightly higher on Wall Street Wednesday as investors count down to the end of the worst year for the S&P 500 since 2008. Tesla is rebounding from steep losses it suffered after reports Tuesday that it temporarily suspended production at a factory in Shanghai. Energy stocks were the main losers. Southwest Airlines shares dropped as the carrier’s dramatic trouble with flight cancellations continued. Health care and real estate companies are leading the S&P 500 gainers. The benchmark index is up 0.4% shortly after the open, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.3%. The technology heavy Nasdaq composite gained 0.4%. Treasury yields slipped.

Baggage waits to be claimed at the Southwest Airlines baggage claim Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022, at Salt Lake City International Airport, in Salt Lake City. Many airlines were forced to cancel flights due to the weather, but Southwest was by far the most affected. Of the 2,890 flight cancellations in the U.S. early Tuesday, 2,522 were called off by Southwest, according to the tracking website FlightAware. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines scrubbed thousands of flights again in the aftermath of the massive winter storm that wrecked Christmas travel plans across the U.S., and the federal government said it would investigate why the company lagged so far behind other carriers. A day after most U.S. airlines had recovered from the storm, Southwest called off 2,500 more flights on the East Coast by midday Tuesday. The FlightAware tracking service reported that those flights accounted for more than 80 percent of the 3,000 trips that got canceled nationwide Tuesday. The chaos seemed certain to continue. The airline also scrubbed 2,500 flights for Wednesday and nearly 1,000 for Thursday.

FILE – Migrants from Venezuela prepare for relocation to a refugee shelter in Matamoros, Mexico, Friday, Dec. 23, 2022. In a ruling Tuesday, Dec. 27, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to keep pandemic-era limits on immigration in place indefinitely, dashing hopes of immigration advocates who had been anticipating their end this week. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is keeping pandemic-era limits on people seeking asylum in place for now, dashing hopes of migrants who have been fleeing violence and inequality. The court also set a February timeline for arguments in the case. The restrictions, often referred to as Title 42, were put in place under then-President Donald Trump at the beginning of the pandemic to curb the spread of COVID-19. They have been used 2.5 million times to prevent migrants from seeking asylum in the U.S. Conservative-leaning states argued that lifting the restrictions would lead to a massive increase in migrants, and pushed the court to intervene. Immigration advocates say the U.S. has moral and international obligations to offer asylum to people fleeing persecution.

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukrainian minister of digital transformation, poses for a photo illuminated by a lamp in the shape of a Ukrainian trident, a national symbol, in his office in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. The Ukrainian government minister in charge of technology says his country has bought some 1,400 drones, mostly for reconnaissance, and is now developing air-to-air combat ones that can attack the drones Russia is using against Ukrainians. In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Mykhailo Fedorov, (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Ukrainian government minister in charge of technology says his country is developing combat drones that attack the ones Russia has used during its invasion of Ukraine. In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov described Russia’s war in Ukraine as the first major war of the internet age. He credited drones and satellite internet systems like Elon Musk’s Starlink with having transformed the conflict. Fedorov says the Ukrainian military so far has used drones mostly for reconnaissance and that strike zones are the next step. The minister also discussed the challenges Ukraine faces in maintaining internet service during the war.

FILE – A customer fills out a Mega Millions lottery ticket at a convenience store in Northbrook, Ill., on Jan. 6, 2021. The holiday shopping season, for Mega Millions lottery ticket buyers, at least, is ramping up as officials say the estimated jackpot for the drawing the night of Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022, has surpassed half a billion dollars. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A giant Mega Millions jackpot has grown larger to an estimated $640 million after another drawing without a winner. No one won the lottery game’s top prize Tuesday night, making it 21 straight drawings without anyone matching all six numbers. The next drawing will be Friday night. The huge jackpot comes less than two months after the largest lottery prize ever, a $2.04 billion Powerball prize that was won Nov. 8 in California. The reason for all the big prizes is simple. Long odds ensure there are few winners and the long streaks of lottery futility allow jackpots to grow ever larger week after week. The odds of winning a Mega Millions jackpot is one in 302.6 million.