| Brent Batten: One man, two votes in school debate
Withers, back on the job Monday, said Calabrese's vote is final. Superintendent Dennis Thompson has been given direction by the board to devise a seven-period schedule to replace the block schedule and it will be up to Thompson whether he wants to bring the board back into the discussion. Under state law, “(Thompson) has a lot of authority at this point in terms of the schedule. The question of the schedule is really the superintendent's bailiwick," Withers said. Abbott, like Calabrese, doesn't support the block schedule in the long term. But she says the school system did a poor job of communicating and wants more time to inform the public about the benefits of a change. She says alternatives, including ones that fall outside the traditional seven-period schedule, should be presented during a public information campaign over the next several months with a decision ideally made before the end of the year.
Burpee admits abduction/assault, police report
Todd David Burpee told Palo Alto police detectives that he beat, threatened to kill and sexually assaulted a young woman last week because he was angry after a fight with his fiancee. "It could have been anyone. It could have been a guy. I was just mad," he told Palo Alto police detectives Sal Madrigal and April Wagner after his arrest Thursday night in San Jose, according to a thick police report filed Tuesday morning with the Santa Clara County Superior Court in Palo Alto. Police also say that Burpee wrote a letter of apology for the attack when they were interviewing him. Burpee's chilling account of the attack on the 17-year-old Gunn High School student included details of how he stood by the door of the complex shortly after 3 p.m. Oct.
Bodies ... The Exhibition
So I come home from Disney World to find all this snow and ice here. Something tells me I shoulda stayed an extra day or two. However, since I'm back in the blogging saddle, and this is DVD release day, and since so many of us are snowed/iced in, it's a good time to see what's new, or new-ish, on DVD shelves. New Today Becoming Jane: From the Shakespeare in Love school of literary reimagining comes this drama that tells us the young Jane Austen's life was very much like Pride and Prejudice - too much like it for the movie's own good. The similarity to the classic novel makes the film too pat. Still, it held my attention most of the way, thanks in no small part to a very fine performance by the terminally undervalued Anne Hathaway. GRADE: B Gone Baby Gone: This powerful tale of a child abduction gone awry, by Mystic River author Dennis Lehane has much the same feel as the Clint Eastwood film of that novel, so it's all the more remarkable that Ben Affleck, directing his first feature, still manages to put his own stamp on the movie, making it feel very authentic and lived-in.
Another Professor Denied Entry
Also, how do you square the fact that various parts of the PA have been found unconstitutional and unenforceable? Does this mean that there is now less tarnishing? As an academic, I am sure that you have specific answers and actually read the Patriot Act. Larry, at 2:00 pm EDT on September 25, 2007 .
In Africa, Bush wants AIDS plan renewed
But Bush seemed surprised that Obama's name would come up during this victory-lap journey that is celebrating some of his only foreign policies that make him popular."It seemed like there was a lot of excitement for me, wait a minute. Maybe you missed it," he joked during a news conference, speculating that a question about Obama was put to Kikwete instead of him because it was well known that "I wouldn't answer."Kikwete appeared to get the hint, declining at Bush's side even to discuss the prospect of a man with African roots becoming president of the United States."I don't think I can venture into that territory, either," Kikwete said. "The U.S. is going to get a new president, whoever that one is. For us, the most important thing is, let him be as good friend of Africa as President Bush has been." Bush's term ends next January.The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, has raised the number of Africans on anti-retroviral treatments from 50,000 to 1.2 million.Democrats want to strip requirements that one-third of the money go to abstinence-until-marriage programs and that some groups sign anti-prostitution pledges.Some Democrats also say that Bush's request for $30 billion over the next five years, twice his original commitment of $15 billion, is too little, and would merely continue the program at the current year's ramped-up levels.
Earnings Preview: Home Depot
Meanwhile, Home Depot has recently revealed a number of planned job cuts. At the beginning of December, Home Depot said it will cut 950 jobs and close several call centers that handle orders for home installation, planning to shift the work from those centers to stores and improve customer service. And then in January, Home Depot revealed plans to cut 500 jobs at headquarters. By comparison, Lowe's Cos., the nation's second biggest home improvement retailer, posted a 33 percent lower fourth-quarter profit on Monday and forecast weak same-store sales in the current quarter and for the year. BY THE NUMBERS: Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect 43 cents in earnings per share and sales of $18.02 billion. ANALYST TAKE: Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst David Schick said it's likely that Home Depot's fourth quarter, which includes the all-important holiday season, wasn't a strong one.
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