The Associated Press: Report finds wide disparities in gifted education

The Associated Press: Report finds wide disparities in gifted education:

"ATLANTA — When Liz Fitzgerald realized her son and daughter were forced to read books in math class while the other children caught up, she had them moved into gifted classes at their suburban Atlanta elementary school.

Just 100 miles down the road in Taliaferro County, that wouldn't have been an option. All the gifted classes were canceled because of budget cuts.

'If they didn't have it, they would get bored and distracted easily,' said Fitzgerald, whose children are 14 and 12. 'It just wouldn't be challenging.'"

More states add jobs, but many temps - Inside Bay Area

More states add jobs, but many temps - Inside Bay Area:

"WASHINGTON — In a sharp improvement, more than half of U.S. states added jobs in October, though economists said many of the gains likely occurred in temporary employment.
That's customarily a positive sign. Employers usually hire temporary workers before they add full-time jobs. But in this case, the temporary hiring may be inflated by the auto sector, which has boosted production to replace depleted inventories. As a result, the increase might not be sustainable.

Some of last month's job gains also were in sectors such as education, health care and government, which have fared relatively well during the recession. By contrast, there's little evidence that companies in hard-hit industries are hiring full-time staff."
Overall, 28 states added jobs in October. That's up from only seven in September and eight in August. It's also the largest number to record increases since 33 states did so in February 2008, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank.

"It's a positive signal ... that states are mixed rather than uniformly bad," said Jim Diffley, a regional economist at IHS Global Insight. Previous reports have all been "doom and gloom," he said.

The unemployment rates rose in 29 states in October from the previous month, the Labor Department said Friday. Thirteen states saw their jobless rates drop.

Michigan still had the nation's highest unemployment rate in October: 15.1 percent. It was followed by

Kerr Hall at UC Santa Cruz remains occupied by protesters - Santa Cruz Sentinel

Kerr Hall at UC Santa Cruz remains occupied by protesters - Santa Cruz Sentinel:

"SANTA CRUZ -- Hundreds of students, staff and faculty crowded Clark Kerr Hall, home of the UC Santa Cruz administration, for a third day of protests Friday to rally against fee hikes and budget cuts made by the UC Board of Regents this week.

The campus has closed Kerr Hall due to safety concerns and students also are occupying Kresge Town Hall. Several hundred students and faculty rallied for an hour outside Kerr Hall beginning at noon Friday. Protesters hung a large banner that read 'Raise hell not costs.' Below the banner several speakers addressed the crowd.

'We believe that public higher education is for the public good,' said anthropology professor Shelly Errington, president of the Santa Cruz Faculty Association. 'Like a strong infrastructure and safe food and water, public education makes the quality of life worth living.'"

Author to bring backyard farming know-how to Sacramento - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Author to bring backyard farming know-how to Sacramento - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News Sacramento Bee:

"Novella Carpenter grabs a cup of coffee, heads out to her backyard, where a Discount Market stands just beyond a chain-link fence, and watches four chickens scratch at the ground, chase bugs and lie in the sun.

It's an oddly bucolic scene for urban West Oakland, where Carpenter lives.

'It's very soothing,' she said. 'If you think about it, a chicken's life is very cool.'"

With chickens, three goats, six rabbits and a beehive, 36-year-old Carpenter has created a country oasis in a backyard that measures 1,000 square feet. That includes the wooden steps rising to the top floor of her Victorian duplex, and a side walkway leading to the front of her house.

The author of "Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer" (Penguin Press, $25.95, 276 pages) speaks in Sacramento today as part of an educational series on farmers and growers, sponsored by the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op.

Report: Kevin Johnson Offered Money to Accuser | News10.net | Sacramento, California | News

Report: Kevin Johnson Offered Money to Accuser News10.net Sacramento, California News:

"SACRAMENTO, CA (AP) -- One of three girls who accused Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson of inappropriately touching her while she attended his St. Hope's Academy Hood Corps program was allegedly offered $1,000 a month to keep quiet, according to a Congressional report made public Friday.

The report was released by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. The girl was not named in the 62-page report.

Johnson was in Boston and could not be reached for comment. His spokesman Steve Maviglio denied the girl's claim."

"These are all allegations," Maviglio told News10. "They've been looked at by the Sacramento Police Department, by the U.S. Attorney, by the FBI, by Americorps, and nobody has found any merit in them because there is no merit."

"We've all known about these interviews and these allegations for months and months, more than a year actually. But there's nothing new other than they're coming to light to the public for the first time," Maviglio added.

Read report

Issa and Grassley claim federal prosecutors rushed into a settlement with St. Hope. They say the settlement whitewashed a 2008 government investigation into whether the nonprofit misused federal money.

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