WASHINGTON - Schools could improve students' sluggish math scores by hammering home the basics, such as addition and multiplication, and increasing the focus on fractions and some geometry, a presidential panel recommended Thursday.
WASHINGTON - Schools could improve students' sluggish math scores by hammering home the basics, such as addition and multiplication, and increasing the focus on fractions and some geometry, a presidential panel recommended Thursday.
There are the people on the front lines who have to make snap judgments. Sometimes, they overreact, and it's up to someone else to put on the brakes. When the police are too zealous, it's up to the prosecutor's office to be the voice of reason and restraint. Here's a case where it worked the way it was supposed to:
If you're keeping score, mark this one for McCain:
Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, changed his campaign schedule Wednesday to return to Washington for Senate votes Thursday morning.
The Arizona senator will be on Capitol Hill for several votes, including a measure that would ban earmarks for a year.
The Mob continues to strong-arm the competition:
If you ever find yourself in a friendly game of poker that involves betting at any type of bar or other establishment in Indiana, it might be time to fold. That's because the Indiana Gaming Commission is taking a tough stance against illegal gambling. And one bar owner in Scott County, Indiana has already been busted. WAVE 3 Investigator Lindsay English has the details.
Don't let your kids or your cats read over your shoulder on this one:
MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — A man surrendered Thursday to face allegations he forced his 7-year-old daughter to kill the family cat by holding a knife in her hand and making her stab the feline.
Danield J. Collins, 39, was taken to the Delaware County Jail, where he was being held on one count each of animal cruelty and battery and two counts of neglect of a dependent.
The end of the world as we know it must be near:
For the first time ever the Dayton Police Department conducted a beer sales sting and didn't sting anybody. On Friday afternoon Investigator Darrell Bell drove a 20-year-old male around to all 15 stores in Dayton where beer can be purchased for off-premises consumption.
Eliot Spitzer was caught using the services of a prostitution ring. Eliot Spitzer, as attorney general of New York, busted a prostitution ring. This has gotten him denounced from all sides for what apparently is the greatest sin today:
There will be those who argue — cynically — that Mr. Spitzer's personal hypocrisy has discredited his calls for good government.
When he was on the editorial page, my News-Sentinel colleague Bob Caylor was an early recognizer of a peculiar mental illness resulting in animal hoarding, and he wrote a couple of insightful editorials about it. He might have been able to explain the issue to those so bewildered by this story, which is one of the worst cases I've ever read about:
WASHINGTON - Coming soon to a cash register near you: a new $5 bill sporting some touches of color for the first time.
For the "never say it can't get any stranger" department:
WICHITA, Kan. - Authorities are considering charges in the bizarre case of a woman who sat on her boyfriend's toilet for two years — so long that her body was stuck to the seat by the time the boyfriend finally called police.
So, to get your kid through college, you could start saving money now, perhaps get a second job. Your kid might also have to get a loan that will take years to pay back, and hope and pray for a scholarship. Or, you could just tell your kid to get arrested:
Conservatives have felt betrayed by Persident Bush over a lot of issues, but this is the one that will be felt the most:
Nearly 80 years ago, a couple of sociologists wrote a book about Muncie called "Middletown," detailing one Midwestern city's struggle with change -- moving from 19th-century agriculture to 20th-century industrialization. Now, that 20th-century-style industry is disappearing, and The Associated Press visits Muncie to see how residents are coping with the transition to the 21st-century global economy. Predictably, change is just as unsettling as always:
In honor of Jared Fogel's visit to Fort Wayne yesterday, I stopped at Subway on the way home and got a sandwich for dinner -- a double meat steak & cheese, with mayo and all the trimmings. I can already feel the pounds melting away.
Good riddance to bad rubbish:
Eliot Spitzer, the governor of New York state embroiled in a scandal of his use of prostitutes over many years, was poised to hand in his resignation as the political, media and public pressure for him to stand down became irresistible.
There are people in a lot of professions we'd probably like to do this for (and before you ask, I'd want a lot more than $10,000):
A Washington-based anti-union group hopes to "jump-start a conversation" about the difficulty schools face in getting rid of bad teachers - with a stunt that sounds as if it was designed for reality TV.
I feel for this guy:
ELLETTSVILLE, Ind. -- Town Marshal Gary Darland dropped 24 pounds training for the rigorous physical tests he needed to pass to keep his job.
But after less than a year on the job, Darland resigned Monday about five weeks before he would have faced a 300-meter sprint, a 1.5-mile run and other physical challenges.
Yikes! It's bad enough to read about gas prices:
Many gas stations hit $3.45 or more Tuesday afternoon. Independent gas station owners say while the prices go up, their profits go down.
Even gas station employees are stunned by this latest hike. "About 9:15 Tuesday morning I raised the price to $3.49, and it was just a shell shock to everybody," said Independent Marathon Manager Rachel Parker.
We expect Republicans and Democrats to reach agreement on something as big and controversial as property tax reform, and they can't even get together on something as small and universally desired as vote centers:
A bill that would allow counties to use vote centers instead of neighborhood polling places appears to be dead for the year.
[. . .]
So you're a lazy, good-for-nothing couch potato, tired of people always telling you to get up and do something productive. Well, now you can be useful:
SAN DIEGO - A community activist thinks a few couch potatoes, strategically placed on sidewalk benches in an upscale shopping district, will keep transients on their feet and on the move.
