Article:

Santa Monica College on Sunday announced the death of 26-year-old student Marcela Franco, making her the fifth victim to die from Friday's shooting rampage.

 "I am saddened to report that Marcela Franco passed away this morning at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center," Santa Monica College President Chui L. Tsang said in a statement posted on the school's website. "Her family was with her by her side. Marcela had registered to attend classes this summer at SMC and was with her father Carlos when Friday’s tragedy struck."

 "Our deepest sympathies go to the Franco family. At the appropriate time, the college will convene a campus-wide memorial. We will provide details going forward."

 Franco's 68-year-old father, Carlos, a groundskeeper at the college, was also killed in Friday's shootings. They were driving to the school when a gunman opened fire on them during a rampage that left three others dead.

 The gunman, John Zawahri, 23, was later killed by police during a confrontation in the college's library.

 The Santa Monica College Foundation has started the Carlos Franco Family Memorial Fund.

 “Carlos was truly a family man,” Tsang wrote in a letter to the campus community. “He was a dedicated husband and father and an integral part of the Santa Monica College family. His dedicated work to the campus grounds was enjoyed by students and visitors for two decades. He will be sorely missed.”

 Carlos Franco was driving Marcela to campus to buy books for her summer classes at the college when Zawahri fired at their Ford Explorer.

 The elder Franco died at the scene.

 Police said the 10-minute rampage began just before noon Friday, at a house on Yorkshire Avenue that was set on fire. Authorities later found the bodies of the gunman’s father, Samir Zawahri, 55, and brother, Chris, 25, inside.

 By the time police caught up with John Zawahri at the college library, killing him in a shootout, the gunman had slain an unidentified woman outside the building and wounded several others along the way. Law enforcement sources described Zawahri as an emotionally troubled person who armed himself with high-powered weapons and may have had up to 1,300 rounds of ammunition.

 In his letter to the college community Saturday, Tsang remembered Carlos Franco as a dedicated 22-year employee and quoted his supervisor, Tom Corpus, who described him as “a very, very hard worker.”

 “He loved his job,” Corpus said. “He tried to make people happy and make sure he did the best job he could. He was all about his job. He was just a great asset to the college. Everything Carlos did was for the college and for his family.”

 At the time of the shooting, Carlos and Marcela were on their way to meet his oldest daughter, Leticia, for a doctor’s appointment, Tsang wrote.

 Franco is survived by his wife, Ramona, who works at Saint John’s Hospital Child Study Center, Tsang said, noting that a son died two summers ago in a traffic accident.

 Donations to the Franco family memorial fund can be made online or by mail to the Santa Monica College Foundation, 1900 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405

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 kim.christensen@latimes.com ||||| Story highlights Marcela Franco, 26, has died, a relative and a college president say

 The shooting suspect is identified by police as John Zawahri

 His father, Samir, and brother Chris were two of the five people killed

 The gunman also killed a driver on a college campus and a woman near the library

 A 26-year-old woman who had registered to take summer classes at Santa Monica College died Sunday from wounds she suffered in a shooting spree Friday that left four others, including her father, dead.

 Marcela Franco was with her father, Carlos Navarro Franco, 68, in an SUV on campus when they were shot. She was going to buy textbooks at the time.

 Carlos Navarro Franco died; Marcela Franco was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

 Relative Alfred Creollo told CNN Sunday that Marcela Franco had died. College President Chui L.Tsang also confirmed the death.

 "Her family was with her by her side," Tsang said in a message to the school community. "Our deepest sympathies go to the Franco family. At the appropriate time, the College will convene a campus-wide memorial."

 The school has created a fund honoring the Franco family.

 The suspect in the shootings has been identified by Santa Monica police as John Zawahri.

 John Zawahri in a 2006 yearbook photo from Santa Monica High School.

 Authorities say he killed his father, Samir "Sam" Zawahri, and brother, Chris Zawahri, in a Santa Monica house before carjacking a woman and firing at a public bus on Friday.

 Scant details are trickling in about Zawahri, who was killed by police at Santa Monica College on Friday -- the day before his 24th birthday.

 The superintendent of the Santa Monica-Malibu school district said Zawahri attended a high school for students behind in academic credits in 2006.

 "We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragedy that ... once again, shatters our nation's confidence," Superintendent Sandra Lyon said.

 Police had contact with the Zawahri in 2006, but because he was a juvenile, authorities couldn't release further information, Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said.

 A law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Saturday that the gunman had suffered from mental health issues. A few years ago, he was hospitalized for treatment after allegedly talking about harming someone, according to the official.

 It's not clear whether the state government or his family committed him for treatment or whether he committed himself. It's also unclear under what circumstances he was released.

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 Authorities have found no link to domestic or international terrorism, the official added.

 The gunman and a family member had been enrolled in Santa Monica College as recently as 2010.

 Authorities believe the house was set on fire before Sam and Chris Zawahri were shot.

 The 13-minute shooting spree that followed spanned several parts of Santa Monica.

 One of the five people killed was shot outside the library of the school, college Police Chief Albert Vasquez said. That woman's name has not been released.

 The assailant dressed in black and carried an assault-style rifle. Seabrooks estimated the gunman had about 1,300 rounds of ammunition during the rampage. Because he was wearing a ballistic vest and was heavily armed, "I would say it's premeditated," she said.

 His apparently random gunfire became the nation's latest disturbing killing spree, ending with his death in the college library and leaving this tourist beachfront city reeling with shock.

 Investigators are still trying to determine the motive in the shootings that also left four people wounded.

 Neighbors' stories

 Jerry Cunningham stepped onto her porch when she heard the shots. She saw the gunman firing at a neighboring house that was on fire.

 She then saw the gunman force a woman to stop her car at gunpoint.

 Another car approached. The gunman waved it by, Cunningham said. That driver, also a woman, hesitated for just a moment, and the gunman "fired three shots directly into her and the car," Cunningham said.

 The motorist was wounded in the shoulder, she said. Authorities said that driver was hospitalized and is in stable condition.

 The gunman then got into the first car and forced the woman to drive off with him, police said.

 During their ride, 911 calls poured in, keeping police on the gunman's path, Santa Monica police Sgt. Richard Lewis said.

 As the car headed toward the campus of the community college, where 30,000 students are registered, he opened fire on a passing bus, slightly wounding three people, Lewis said.

 He was carrying an "AR-15 style rifle," pistols and more clips for the rifle, Lewis said.

 As the car pulled onto the campus, the man fired into Franco's red SUV, killing him and critically wounding his daughter, police said. Franco's vehicle crashed after the shooting.

 The gunman then abandoned the hijacked vehicle -- leaving the driver unhurt -- and ran, shooting at police, Lewis said.

 Inside a classroom

 Jasmine Franco, 22, was in a classroom at Santa Monica College -- next to the library -- waiting for her English class to start at noon on Thursday. Little did she know that the gunman began his rampage at a house close to where she lives with her mother, Carmen.

 Jasmine Franco's friend had left the room to fill his water bottle, and she was sitting alone when she first became aware something was wrong.

 "You could hear rumbling, a lot of rumbling," she said, describing the sounds of gunfire mixed with the stampede of people running. "It sounded like an earthquake or something,"

 But her 11 classmates and the teacher appeared oblivious and continued their banter until her friend burst back in. "His whole face was red and his veins were coming out of his neck.

 "I'm entirely serious," Franco recalled him saying. "There's a shooter on campus."

 He told the class he had heard a gun unload. "He said it just sprayed and unloaded tons of rounds," Franco said.

 Not knowing what to do, "We just sat there."

 The teacher left the classroom to see what he could learn and, moments later, ran back inside. "He says, 'They just unloaded a magazine.'"

 With the exception of the gunman's father and brother, all of the other shooting victims were apparently chosen at random. |||||
What is a summary?

– The death toll in Friday's Santa Monica shooting spree has risen to five victims, with 26-year-old Marcela Franco passing away in the hospital today, CNN reports. Franco was taken to the hospital in critical condition after she and her father, Carlos Navarro Franco, 68, were shot on the campus of Santa Monica College. Her father, who the Los Angeles Times reports worked for the college as a groundskeeper, died at the scene. The two were reportedly on their way to buy books for Marcela's summer classes when the gunman, IDed as John Zawahri, shot at their Ford Explorer. "Her family was with her by her side," said the college president in a message to the school community. "Our deepest sympathies go to the Franco family. At the appropriate time, the College will convene a campus-wide memorial." Click for early thoughts on Zawahri's motive.


Write a summary based on this article:

President Obama commanded House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday to work out a budget deal or else return to the White House every day until they do.

 In a surprise appearance in front of reporters in the briefing room, Obama said he and his team are “prepared to meet for as long as possible to get this result.”

 Obama announced that Boehner and Reid would meet at 4 p.m. Tuesday to talk about the budget. And he played hardball: "The speaker apparently didn't want our team involved in that discussion. That's fine. If they can sort it out, then we've got more than enough to do. If they can't sort it out then, I want them back here tomorrow. But it would be inexcusable for us to not be able to take care of last year's business."

 He told lawmakers to “act like grownups.”

 UPDATE: Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Boehner, denied that Boehner told Obama he didn't want the White House team at the meeting. He said in a statement: "The Speaker never said he didn’t want the White House there, just that he wanted to meet with Senator Reid. Speaker Boehner and Senator Reid have been having regular discussions on this topic for weeks. This is just one of those occasions."

 UPDATE 2: Michael Steel, another Boehner spokesman, later said in a statement: "The Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader sat down privately and had a productive discussion. They agreed to continue working on a budget solution." ||||| A visibly frustrated President Barack Obama emerged from a failed meeting on a budget deal Tuesday and said he would demand daily sessions with House Speaker John Boehner until an agreement was hammered out to prevent a U.S. government shutdown at week's end.

 House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio walks past media after a closed conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (Associated Press)

 House Speaker John Boehner Ohio smiles from the back of an elevator after attending a closed conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (Associated Press)

 House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio follows a staff member as he walks past media after a closed conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (Associated Press)

 Obama spoke not long after Boehner's office issued a statement that insisted the two sides remained far apart and that Republicans had never, as the White House contends, agreed on $33 billion in cuts to the federal spending allotment for the remaining six months of the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30.

 Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Boehner and Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid met in the White House Tuesday as the clock ticked toward a midnight Friday expiration of the government's spending authority.

 "We are closer than we have ever been to an agreement. There is no reason why we should not get an agreement," Obama said in a surprise appearance in the White House reporters briefing room.

 The president said Boehner and Reid were meeting later Tuesday, but if that session produced no agreement he would summon both men back to the White House Wednesday and daily thereafter, if necessary.

 "Myself, Joe Biden, my team we are prepared to meet for as long as possible to get this resolved," Obama said.

 Obama had barely finished speaking when Boehner strode before microphones to insist that the White House and Senate Democrats bow to demands for deeper cuts. Boehner is under extreme pressure from newly elected House members, many with allegiance to the ultraconservative tea party, to slash spending, the size of government and lower taxes.

 Short of a long-term deal, Boehner has proposed an agreement that would keep the government running for one more week and cut another $12 billion in spending. Boehner has already orchestrated action by Congress to pass a pair of stopgap bills, so far cutting $10 billion from an estimated $1.2 trillion budget to fund the day-to-day operations of government through the fiscal accounting period.

 Obama said he would only accept another short-term funding extension, of two or three days, to get a longer-term deal through Congress. But he ruled out a longer extension to allow negotiations to continue.

 "That is not a way to run a government. I cannot have our agencies making plans based on two week budgets," Obama said. "What we are not going to do is once again put off something that should have been done months ago."

 Boehner said Republicans "will not be put in a box" of accepting options they refuse to endorse.

 Democrats accuse Republicans of pushing for harmful spending cuts and attaching a social policy agenda to the must-pass spending bill. Boehner counters that the White House is pressing gimmicky budget cuts.

 As a government shutdown appeared increasingly inevitable, the White House has begun advising government agencies on the proper steps in preparation for a shutdown of the government. Republicans on Monday disclosed plans to instruct lawmakers "on how the House would operate in the event Senate Democrats shut down the government."

 And in a memo to agency officials, the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, Jeffrey Zients, urged agency heads to refine and update contingency plans in the event negotiators don't strike a deal by Friday's deadline.

 Boehner's one-week plan could reassure tea party-backed lawmakers who are among the most vocal in seeking to reduce the size and scope of the government. It could also put pressure on Democrats and the White House to offer greater spending cuts.

 But there's no visible movement on an impasse over Republican policy riders attacking Obama's health care and financial reform laws, cutting taxpayer funds to Planned Parenthood and reversing a host of Obama's environmental policies.

 On a separate long-term track, Republicans controlling the House have fashioned plans to slash the budget deficit by more than $5 trillion over the upcoming decade, combining unprecedented spending cuts with a fundamental restructuring of taxpayer-financed health care for the elderly and the poor.

 House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan unveiled the Republican budget blueprint Tuesday morning just as Boehner headed to the White House.

 Ryan's program includes a controversial proposal to convert the traditional Medicare health care program for the aged into a system by which private insurers would operate plans approved by the federal government.

 Current Medicare beneficiaries or workers age 55 and older would stay in the existing system.

 At the same time, Republicans propose to sharply cut projected spending on the Medicaid state-federal health program for the poor and disabled and transform it into a block grant program that gives governors far less money than under current estimates, but considerably more flexibility. |||||

– President Obama sounded like an impatient parent today as the threat of a government shutdown grew larger. Admonishing lawmakers to "act like grownups," the president said John Boehner and Harry Reid would meet again later this afternoon, reports Politico. If nothing comes of it, Obama said he'll order them back at it again tomorrow. "We are closer than we have ever been to an agreement," said Obama. "There is no reason why we should not get an agreement." Boehner spoke immediately afterward, notes AP, and said Republicans would continue to "fight for the largest cuts possible." It's possible another stopgap spending measure can keep government open if no deal is in place by Friday, but the president said he will accept one only if it's good for just two or three days.


News article:

Justin Bieber First Class POTTY MOUTH Angers Passengers

 Justin Bieber -- First Class Potty Mouth Angers Passengers

 EXCLUSIVE

 fielded an unusual request from a passenger on an international flight -- and it went something like this: shut your expletive-filled pie hole! Please.It all happened during the Biebs' return from a Down Under promotional tour. Sources on the 12-hour Air New Zealand flight last weekend ... tell us JB was surrounded by his entourage in first class when things started getting out of hand.We're told 18-year-old Justin and his posse were blurting out cuss words -- including some 4-letter selections -- and getting so loud ... a female passenger finally stepped to Bieber.We're told the woman ... a mother of 2 ... walked over and asked Justin to "stop yelling curse words and using that kind of language on a plane. It's not appropriate."A source close to Justin tells us he was completely embarrassed, quickly apologized to the woman -- and then busted out an a cappella version of "Boyfriend."The last part didn't happen ... but would've been awesome. ||||| Kristen Bell & Dax Shepard: Justin Bieber Is Not the Best Neighbor

 A quick look at Twitter will point you to millions of people who would love to live near Justin Bieber Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard are not in that group.While promoting their new movie Hit & Run during an appearance on The View Thursday, the couple talked about living near the teen pop star, who they said is renting the house behind theirs.Parenthood star Shepard said he originally had "Bieber fever" after seeing the singer's documentary, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, directed by his friend Jon. M. Chu. And then Biebs moved in next door."The music and the parties and the paparazzi, I mean, it's like living in Lebanon now," the actor said."In his defense, I will say we don't know the exact house the music is coming from," Bell diplomatically said. "We just know since he moved in, the music has been blaring." |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Justin Bieber may be an international pop star, but he’s also a teenage boy—and lately, he’s been proving it. On a recent international flight, Biebs and his entourage reportedly started cussing, loudly, in first class. A mom of two (who should probably now be your hero) approached the group and, a source tells TMZ, asked Justin to “stop yelling curse words and using that kind of language on a plane. It’s not appropriate.” An embarrassed Bieber apologized, a friend says. But apparently he’s just as loud at home: On The View yesterday, celebrity couple Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard revealed that Justin recently moved into a house behind them, People reports. "The music and the parties and the paparazzi, I mean, it's like living in Lebanon now," Shepard said. Bell added, "In his defense, I will say we don't know the exact house the music is coming from. We just know since he moved in, the music has been blaring."


Write an article based on this summary:

– One lucky museum will be getting a treasure trove in the form of hundreds of items belonging to civil rights icon Rosa Parks. A foundation run by Howard Buffett, son of Warren, has purchased the items—including a postcard from Martin Luther King Jr. and a hat Parks may have worn when she made history for refusing to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama—and intends to donate them to a soon-to-be-chosen museum or institution. "I thought about doing what Rosa Parks would want," Buffett tells the AP. "I'm only trying to do one thing: preserve what's there for the public's benefit." The collection of more than 1,000 items also includes clothing, lamps, and Parks' Presidential Medal of Freedom. All have been gathering dust in a New York warehouse as family and friends battled over Parks' will. "I doubt that she would want to have her stuff sitting in a box with people fighting over them," says Buffett. He didn't disclose what he paid, but an attorney for Parks' heirs says the price was $4.5 million. In less-happy news, copper thieves this week ransacked the Alabama apartment where Parks lived, the AP reports separately.

DETROIT (AP) — Hundreds of items that belonged to civil rights icon Rosa Parks and have been sitting unseen for years in a New York warehouse were sold to a foundation run by the son of billionaire investment guru Warren Buffett, the younger Buffett said Thursday.

 FILE - In this March 14, 2014, file photo, Rosa Parks' Presidential Medal of Freedom, left, and her Congressional Gold Medal are displayed at Guernsey's auction house, in New York. Hundreds of items that... (Associated Press)

 Howard G. Buffett told The Associated Press that his foundation plans to give the items, which include Parks' Presidential Medal of Freedom, to an institute or museum he hasn't yet selected. Buffett said the items belong to the American people.

 "I'm only trying to do one thing: preserve what's there for the public's benefit," he said. "I thought about doing what Rosa Parks would want. I doubt that she would want to have her stuff sitting in a box with people fighting over them."

 A yearslong legal fight between Parks' heirs and her friends led to the memorabilia being removed from her Detroit home and offered up to the highest bidder.

 Parks, who died in 2005 at age 92, was one of the most beloved women in U.S. history. She became an enduring symbol of the civil rights movement when she refused to cede her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus to a white man. That triggered a yearlong bus boycott that helped to dismantle officially sanctioned segregation and helped lift the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to national prominence.

 Because of the fight over Parks' will, historians, students of the movement and the general public have had no access to items such as her photographs with presidents, her Congressional Gold Medal, a pillbox hat that she may have worn on the Montgomery bus, a signed postcard from King, decades of documents from civil rights meetings and her ruminations about life in the South as a black woman.

 The impetus for the sale came earlier this year when Buffett saw a televised news report about how Guernsey's Auctioneers has kept Parks' valuables in a New York warehouse since 2006.

 "I could not imagine having her artifacts sitting in a box in a warehouse somewhere," Buffett said. "It's just not right."

 So he directed the Howard G. Buffett Foundation to make an offer, which was accepted. A purchase agreement was signed over the summer, and the transaction was officially closed last week.

 Buffett would not disclose the amount he paid for the items, but Steven Cohen, a lawyer for the seller, the Detroit-based Rosa & Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, said it was "consistent with the intrinsic value of the artifacts and their historical significance."

 In addition to medals and letters, the lot includes lamps and articles of clothing. Guernsey's years ago put together a complete inventory, which is 70 pages long and includes more than 1,000 items. Many are in New York, but some remain in Parks' home city of Detroit.

 Guernsey's President Arlan Ettinger, who had valued the collection at $10 million, would not say what it was sold for, but said the judge overseeing the Parks estate was satisfied with the deal.

 "This material, which needed to be out there to be both educational and inspirational to people today and their children's children, was sitting in our warehouse. That was wrong," Ettinger said.

 Buffett, a philanthropist who focuses much of his giving on helping fellow farmers in developing countries, acknowledged he probably was not the most likely candidate to buy Parks' memorabilia.

 "My wife said, 'You don't do that sort of stuff.' I said, 'I know, but it's important,'" Buffett said.

 ___

 Holland reported from Washington, D.C.

 ___

 Associated Press writers Ed White and David N. Goodman contributed to this story. ||||| DETROIT (AP) — A lawyer says the purchase price for hundreds of items that belonged to civil rights icon Rosa Parks is $4.5 million.

 The sale was made to a foundation run by Howard G. Buffett, the son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett.

 Howard Buffett confirmed the purchase Thursday but declined to disclose the price. Lawrence Pepper, a lawyer for Parks' heirs, told The Associated Press it was $4.5 million, with 12.5 percent going to an auction house.

 Pepper says 20 percent of the balance goes to Parks' relatives. The rest will go to the Rosa & Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development in Detroit.

 Parks became a pioneer in the civil rights movement by refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955. |||||


Article:

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- After months of efforts to craft a bipartisan bill, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd plans to introduce a revised version of sweeping bank reform legislation on Monday, most likely without Republican support.

 Dodd had hoped to release a bipartisan bill, after working furiously with Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., to reach a solution. However, Dodd said that time was running out to pass a bill in 2010.

 "There isn't a lot of time left to complete bank reform this year," Dodd said to reporters at a news conference. "The real problem I'm facing is that clock."

 At a separate news conference, a visibly disappointed Corker said that he and Dodd, along with other members of the committee, were extremely close to completing a bipartisan bill, coming to agreements on dozens of controversial areas such as how much power to award a new regulator for consumer protection of mortgage and credit card products.

 Corker said the lawmakers had been "on the five-yard line" when it came to completing the reform, but that Dodd told him he was under pressure by the White House to wrap up efforts to complete bank reform quickly in the committee so that Congress can take steps it needs to pass health care legislation, also languishing on Capitol Hill.

 "There is no question that White House politics and health care have kept us from getting to the goal line," Corker said to reporters. "The fact of the matter is, he is a victim of health care policy. We're still almost there but it looks like we're not going to get there."

 Dodd plans to have the 22 senators on the committee vote on the bill during the week of March 22, after which it could be quickly considered on the Senate floor some time in the Spring.

 Not enough time?

 In his news conference, Corker also criticized Dodd's plan to have the banking committee begin and complete its review of the bank bill in one week.

 "This is a very important bill and I cannot imagine a committee member, Republican or Democrat, passing a bill with this kind of substance in it in a week," Corker said. "I think that would be a travesty. If senators can pass a bill of this substance in a week, which has so much in it, then the states that elect them might as well send robots to Washington."

 In response, Dodd said that he needs to set time-posts, otherwise nothing would get done. He acknowledged, however that his timeline of having members of the committee vote on the bill in a week, could slip. "It is more important to get this right than getting it done but I emphasize again, I don't have a lot of time left in this Congress."

 However, Corker said Dodd, Republicans and Democrats had agreed to a number of areas, including a new structure for a consumer protection division, new heightened liability for credit raters and additional oversight for payday lenders and other lenders.

 Dodd and other Democrats have sought to create a powerful consumer financial protection agency that could write rules for mortgages and credit cards. However, Republicans have sought to have a bank regulator have veto power over any rules the new consumer advocate would write.

 Corker said Dodd and he had come to an agreement to allow a group of five agencies, the Treasury, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Fed, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, have veto power over consumer rules the division would write if a majority of the agencies agreed it was a problematic rule.

 Both sides also agreed to let bank regulators enforce the rules put in place by the consumer unit.

 "We have come to a very good balance," Corker said.

 However, Dodd declined to comment about whether it was that structure he would ultimately agree to. Dodd also denied reports assertions that he might try to split the bill into two pieces and first move forward on portions he could find broad consensus on.

 "To do this in pieces would be impossible in the Senate," Dodd said.

 Disagreements still abound

 Republicans and Democrats on the committee disagree on a number of other areas.

 Case in point: Dodd and other Democrats have installed a series of shareholder empowering provisions in the bank reform bill that Corker and others are opposed to.

 "That's a line in the sand," Corker said.

 The bill is expected to include provisions that would make it easier for investors to nominate a minority slate of directors onto corporate boards using corporate proxy cards, which are papers filed to investors. Another provision gives investors a non-binding vote on pay packages given to executives, while they are heading the corporations, and the golden parachutes they receive when they leave firms.

 Republicans are trying to remove all of these measures, arguing they empower labor unions and environmentalist investor groups in behind-the-scenes conversations at the expense of shareholder value.

 "Proxy access was going to be an issue," Corker said. "We agreed to look at some governance issues however this shareholder provision concerns us greatly because it involves giving activist investor groups too much power."

 Corker also said Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Judd Gregg, R-N.H., had been still working on crafting bipartisan derivatives legislation before Dodd decided to bring the bill to a vote. The two sides were working on how much of an exemption to give end users of derivatives, such as manufacturers, from transparency and trading requirements. The bill requires that most derivatives transactions go through transparent clearinghouses, which are intermediaries between buyers and sellers. ||||| WASHINGTON—The White House's yearlong effort to rewrite financial regulations risked running aground in the Senate after Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd broke off bipartisan negotiations and announced plans to push ahead without Republican support.

 The gamble is a bid to speed progress, but it raises the chance that Congress won't be able to push through a substantive regulatory overhaul.

 The White House and some Senate Democrats now plan to challenge the GOP to a partisan fistfight, daring Republican senators to break ranks and not use the blocking power of a filibuster to kill a measure that would curb Wall Street and ... |||||
What is a summary?

– Chris Dodd is preparing to introduce a sweeping bank reform bill on Monday in the Senate without any Republican support. The move comes after months of negotiations with the GOP's Bob Corker, who said the two were on the "5-yard-line" before Dodd got pressure from the White House to push a bill out of committee before a health care vote. Says Dodd: "There isn't a lot of time left to complete bank reform this year. The real problem I'm facing is that clock." Corker said "there's no question that White House politics and health care have kept us from getting to the goal line," reports MarketWatch. Assuming Dodd and Corker don't patch up remaining differences quickly about the legislation, which is to include tougher consumer protections, Democrats could face a filibuster on the Senate floor, reports the Wall Street Journal.


– Washington, DC, appears poised to become the first municipality in the nation to let 16-year-olds vote in national elections, including presidential races. A measure to lower the voting age from 18 to 16 cleared a committee last week and now heads to the full council, reports WTOP. To pass, it needs the support of a majority of the 13-member city council, and WJLA reports that eight members already have voiced their approval. While a handful of US cities allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in local elections, none grants the right in national elections. DC has an estimated 10,000 teens of that age, most of them minorities, per WJLA. “At the age of 16, your legal relationship with the government changes,” says council member Charles Allen, who introduced the measure. He points out that many 16-year-olds get jobs and begin paying taxes, and they also start driving. "Ironically, they pay fees to get a license plate that reads ‘End Taxation Without Representation.’ I think it’s time to change that.” Allen says he was inspired in part by the youth political movement that surfaced after school shootings. If passed by the council and signed by the mayor, the measure must undergo a 30-day congressional review period. (One leader of the youth political movement has big plans for himself by the age of 25.)

Expand this summary.

If the bill passes in a final council vote, D.C. would become the first municipality in the country to allow minors to vote in all elections, including presidential races.

 WASHINGTON — A bill that would lower the voting age for District residents from 18 to 16 cleared a committee hurdle Thursday and will advance to the full D.C. Council for a final vote.

 If it passes, the nation’s capital would become the first municipality in the country to allow minors to vote in all elections, including presidential races.

 Three Maryland jurisdictions — Takoma Park, Greenbelt and Hyattsville — previously lowered their voting age to 16 but only for local elections.

 “Many 16-year-olds shoulder adult responsibilities and burdens,” said Council member Charles Allen, who introduced the bill in April. “They do have skin in the game in their communities. They pay taxes, they have jobs and they drive on our city streets.”

 The legislation passed through the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety on a vote of 3-0.

 “This bill will enfranchise the District’s young people and bring their voices into the political process,” said Allen.

 Allen unsuccessfully introduced the measure in 2015 and revived it this year, inspired by high school student protests against gun violence following the Feb. 14 shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

 A public hearing in June drew dozens of young people to the Wilson Building to testify in favor of the measure.

 About 70 people testified in support of the bill and nobody testified against it, according to Allen.

 Supporters claim young people vote at higher rates than adults when they are given the chance, and that teens who are allowed to vote are more likely to develop a lifelong habit of voting.

 Opponents argue that young people are not educated enough on the issues and are likely to simply vote however their parents vote.

 “Those arguments have been completely eviscerated,” Allen said.

 More than 10,000 16- and 17-year-old residents would be added to the voting rolls if the measure is passed by the full council and signed into law by Mayor Muriel Bowser.

 The full council is expected to take up the bill later this month.

 Like WTOP on Facebook and follow @WTOP on Twitter to engage in conversation about this article and others.

 © 2018 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area. ||||| The D.C. Council Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety passed a bill to lower the voting age to 16 in D.C. with a unanimous 3-0 vote Thursday.

 With Committee approval, the bill will now be placed on the agenda of the Nov. 13 City Council Legislative Meeting, where it will be voted on by the full council.

 Vote16DC, a coalition of youth, adult allies, and organizations that support granting voting rights to 16- and 17-year-olds in the District, has spent months leading up to this committee vote mobilizing community support and educating Councilmembers on the merits of lowering DC’s voting age to 16.

 “I’m really glad to see that the committee voted for this bill,” said Chloe Ifill, a Vote16DC Youth Leader and 16-year-old Ward 7 resident who attends Woodrow Wilson High School. “We’ve worked hard to get the word out by talking to other youth and meeting with Councilmembers, and it’s great to see that our voice is being heard and valued.”

 The Youth Vote Amendment Act of 2018 was introduced in April by Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, and a total of eight members of D.C. Council have announced support for the measure.

 To become law, a majority of the full Council must vote in favor of the bill in two separate votes, per requirements under D.C.’s Home Rule.

 “It’s exciting that we can be part of history by getting D.C. youth the right to vote,” said Helisa Cruz, a 16-year-old student at BASIS D.C. Public Charter School who lives in Ward 5 and is active in Vote16DC. “I am hopeful that when they vote on this bill, D.C. Councilmembers will make the right decision.”

 The DC Office of Planning estimates that there are approximately 10,400 16- and 17-year-olds in the District, with nearly 80 percent identified as youth of color.

 "DC is poised to become the first major American city to grant voting-rights to 16- and 17-year-olds,” said Vote16DC Campaign Manager Dave Chandrasekaran, a Ward 1 resident. "At a time when political discourse in this country is so divisive, it's really inspiriting to witness how passionate D.C. youth are about having a voice and positively influencing our community."

 The six co-introducers joining Councilmember Allen were Councilmembers David Grasso (At-large), Anita Bonds (At-large), Robert White (At-large), Brianne Nadeau (Ward 1), Vincent Gray (Ward 7), and Trayon White (Ward 8). Councilmember Elissa Silverman (At-large) announced support for the bill in October.

 “At the age of 16, your legal relationship with the government changes,” Allen said. “Young people work and pay income taxes. Some are raising a family or helping their family make ends meet. They can drive a car. Ironically, they pay fees to get a license plate that reads ‘End Taxation Without Representation.’ I think it’s time to change that.”

 If approved by the D.C. Council and signed by the mayor, the bill would have to undergo the requisite 30-day congressional review period before becoming an official act. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds are already able to pre-register to vote under current D.C. law.

 If the Youth Vote Amendment Act of 2018 is enacted, D.C. would become the fifth US city to have a voting age of 16, and the only jurisdiction in the country where this age group could vote in federal elections, including for president. |||||


News article:

Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| Do Schools Challenge Our Students?

 What Student Surveys Tell Us About the State of Education in the United States

 SOURCE: AP/ Stephan Savoia

 Download this report (pdf)

 Download the introduction and summary (pdf)

 Read this report in your browser (Scribd)

 Download selected student survey results for states (pdf)

 Download complete survey data used in report (.xls)

 Interactive Map: How Much Are Students Learning? by Ulrich Boser and Lindsay Rosenthal

 You might think that the nation’s teenagers are drowning in schoolwork. Images of sullen students buried in textbooks often grace the covers of popular parenting magazines, while well-heeled suburban teenagers often complain they have to work the hours of a corporate lawyer in order to finish their school projects and homework assignments. But when we recently examined a federal survey of students in elementary and high schools around the country, we found the opposite: Many students are not being challenged in school.

 Consider, for instance, that 37 percent of fourth-graders say that their math work is too easy. More than a third of high-school seniors report that they hardly ever write about what they read in class. In a competitive global economy where the mastery of science is increasingly crucial, 72 percent of eighth-grade science students say they aren’t being taught engineering and technology, according to our analysis of a federal database.

 These findings come at a key time. Researchers increasingly believe that student surveys can provide important insights into a teacher’s effectiveness. When the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation released findings from their Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) Project in 2011, they found that student feedback was a far better predictor of a teacher’s performance than more traditional indicators of success such as whether a teacher had a master’s degree or not. The mounting evidence on the importance of student surveys has also been shaping policy at the state and local level, and a variety of groups dedicated to the improvement of teaching—such as the New Teacher Project, a nonprofit that works to advance policies and practices to ensure effective teaching in every classroom—have been incorporating student surveys into their teacher evaluation and certification process.

 Given the significance of this growing body of research on student surveys, we examined one of the richest sources of national student survey data and conducted an analysis of the background surveys of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Known as the Nation’s Report Card, these assessments are administered every two years by the National Center for Education Statistics. We looked specifically at the student questionnaire, which collects student-reported information on demographics and classroom experiences.

 In reviewing the data, we examined a number of issues that track current debates over education policy and research. Given the recent debates over academic standards, for instance, we looked closely at issues of rigor and student expectations. Do students think that they are being challenged enough? Do teachers engage students in deep learning opportunities? We were also interested in issues of access since students provide an important, classroom-eye view of the resources that are available to them. Are all students being given access to the types of learning opportunities that they need to be prepared for college and the modern workplace? Are those resources distributed fairly among different types of students and schools?

 Among our findings:

 Many schools are not challenging students and large percentages of students report that their school work is “too easy.” If students are going to succeed in the competitive global economy, they need to be exposed to a rigorous curriculum. But many students believe their class work is too easy. Twenty-nine percent of eighth-grade math students nationwide, for instance, report that their math work is often or always too easy. In some states like Virginia, nearly a third of middle-school students reported their work was often or always too easy.

 This finding was consistent across grades and subject matter. We found that 51 percent of eighth-grade civics students and 57 percent of eighth-grade history students report that their work is often or always too easy. Elementary school students also revealed that they aren’t being challenged by their math work—37 percent of fourth-grade students reported that their math work is often or always too easy. Among high school students, 21 percent of 12th-graders said their math work was often or always too easy, while 56 percent and 55 percent respectively found their civics and history work often or always too easy.

 Many students are not engaged in rigorous learning activities. Almost a third of eighth-grade students report reading fewer than five pages a day either in school or for homework. That’s below what many experts recommend for students in middle school. Eighth-grade students across the country also report that they rarely write lengthy answers to reading questions on tests: approximately one-third of students write long answers on reading tests twice per year or less.

 The issues are similar at the high school-level. Thirty-nine percent of 12th-grade students, for example, say that they hardly ever or only once or twice a month write about what they read in class. Nearly one-third said they write long answers on reading tests two times a year or less. Moreover, almost one-third of 12th-grade reading students say they rarely identify main themes of a passage when reading, and almost 20 percent said they never or hardly ever summarize a passage.

 Note, however, that these data do not measure the quality of the work that students are performing in class—and the quality of the work can make a big difference in how much students learn. Students might be reading just a few, very rigorous pages every day, for instance. But given overall low reading scores—and the degree to which more reading promotes more learning—we believe these results should be cause for alarm.

 Students don’t have access to key science and technology learning opportunities. For today’s students, being prepared for college and the modern workforce means having access to high-quality curriculum materials in critical subject areas like math and science. But our analysis found that most teenagers say their schools don’t provide important learning opportunities in science and technology. For instance, 72 percent of eighth-grade science students say they are not taught about engineering and technology.

 For today’s students, being prepared for college and the modern workforce means having access to high-quality curriculum materials in critical subject areas like math and science. But our analysis found that most teenagers say their schools don’t provide important learning opportunities in science and technology. For instance, 72 percent of eighth-grade science students say they are not taught about engineering and technology. Too many students don’t understand their teacher’s questions and report that they are not learning during class. Nationwide, less than two-thirds of middle school math students report that they feel like they are always or almost always learning in math class. Similarly, just under 50 percent of 12th-grade math students said they feel like they are always or almost always learning in their math class.

 Students also often report difficulty understanding their teacher’s questions. Twenty-five percent of middle school math students report that they sometimes or hardly ever understand what their teacher asks. Thirty-six percent of12th-graders report they sometimes or hardly ever clearly understand what their math teacher asks.

 Students from disadvantaged background are less likely to have access to more rigorous learning opportunities. All students, regardless of their family background, should have access to a high-quality education. But our analysis of student feedback found that students from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to have the same access to robust learning opportunities. Consider, for instance, that 74 percent of higher- income fourth-grade students report that they often or always understand what their science teacher is saying, compared with just 56 percent of lower-income fourth-grade students. Among middle school students, 80 percent of higher-income middle-school students report often or always understanding what teachers ask in math class. In contrast, just 70 percent of low-income students report often or always understanding their math teacher. Meanwhile, 66 percent of higher-income 12th-graders reported they often or always understand what their math teacher is saying, compared with 60 percent of low-income students.

 There are also racial gaps in some areas. For instance, in the fourth-grade 73 percent of white students and 72 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander students said that they clearly understand what their science teacher talks about. In contrast, only 56 percent of black; 54 percent of Hispanic; and 58 percent of Native American and Alaska Native students say they do. In middle school, 83 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander students and 79 percent of white eighth-grade students report that they clearly understand what their math teacher is saying. But only 67 percent of black students; 70 percent of Hispanic students; 69 percent of Native American and Alaska Native students report understanding their teacher.

 To be clear, there were not opportunity gaps in every area that we looked at. We examined disaggregated data for all of the relevant background questions and we reported the results only for questions in which there were significant gaps.

 Our analysis leads us to the following recommendations:

 Policymakers must continue to push for higher, more challenging standards. To ensure that all students are ready for the global economy, we need to expect more of our students and schools they attend. The Common Core standards are one way to help states and districts make progress on this issue, but far more needs to be done.

 To ensure that all students are ready for the global economy, we need to expect more of our students and schools they attend. The Common Core standards are one way to help states and districts make progress on this issue, but far more needs to be done. Students need more rigorous learning opportunities, and our nation needs to figure out ways to provide all students with the education that they deserve. Too many students report not being engaged in class. They don’t understand what their teachers are teaching them and they feel like they are not learning. Our nation can—and should—do more.

 Too many students report not being engaged in class. They don’t understand what their teachers are teaching them and they feel like they are not learning. Our nation can—and should—do more. Researchers and educators should continue to develop student surveys. We hope this report launches additional research into the use of student surveys. Researchers such as Ronald Ferguson, senior lecturer in education and public policy and director of the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University, have made significant advances which we describe below. But we need to know much more about these tools, and what they reveal about the student experience.

 Over the past few years, many states have engaged in promising reforms that address the issues we raise in this report. But our findings suggest we need to do far more to improve the learning experience for all students. We hope that the interactive state-by-state maps available on our website—together with the findings and recommendations in the following pages—will inspire engagement with students’ perspectives in the search to find new and better ways to provide students with the knowledge and skills that they need to succeed.

 Ulrich Boser is a Senior Fellow and Lindsay Rosenthal is the Special Assistant for Domestic Policy at the Center for American Progress.

 Download this report (pdf)

 Download the introduction and summary (pdf)

 Read this report in your browser (Scribd)

 Download selected student survey results for states (pdf)

 Download complete survey data used in report (.xls)

 Interactive Map: How Much Are Students Learning? by Ulrich Boser and Lindsay Rosenthal |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– If your kid's favorite pastime seems to be whining to you about the rigors of school, it might be time to call his bluff. A study of questionnaires completed as part of America's largest regular student assessment finds that a huge segment of our nation's kids say school is far too simple. Some stats backing up the "too easy" refrain, per the Center for American Progress: 37% of 4th-graders find their math work too easy 29% of 8th-graders find that subject too easy as well, as do 51% of civics students and 57% of history students And the trend doesn't stop at middle school. In terms of civics and history, 56% and 55% of 12th-graders said the same thing, respectively; 21% said ditto about math And some of the intel gathered on the amount of work kids do seems to back this up: Nearly a third of 8th-graders say they read less than five pages a day ... in school or as homework. A third also say they write lengthy answers on reading tests two times a year—or less. USA Today notes that a fellow at the center says that the results chip away at the "school-as-pressure-cooker" portrait of our kids presented in movies like Race to Nowhere. Click for one take on why we have too many teachers.


Article:
PLACENTIA – A 31-year-old teacher died after she apparently hanged herself and was found by several students Monday morning inside an El Dorado High School classroom.

 Jillian Jacobson, a photography teacher from Anaheim, was found by several students after another teacher opened her locked classroom around 8:40 a.m., police said.

 Students initially tried to go inside but found the door was locked, “and that’s not normal for that hour of the day,” Placentia police Lt. Eric Point said.

 Authorities said the students went to an adjacent classroom and found another teacher, who unlocked the door, and then found Jacobson hanging from the ceiling inside.

 The teacher removed Jacobson and set her body on the floor, which is where she was when emergency officials arrived.

 “When police and fire arrived, the teacher was in cardiac arrest,” Point said. “After several minutes, she was declared deceased at the scene.”

 Jacobson possibly died before paramedics arrived, but every effort was made to try to revive her, Point said.

 Investigators suspect Jacobson hanged herself in the classroom. A suicide note was not found, Point said.

 Students and teachers in tears

 Some students left the campus starting around 10 a.m., and the entire student body – about 1,900 students – was released an hour later.

 Leo Amaya, 16, of Placentia said he was in Jacobson’s class his freshman year.

 Now a junior, Amaya remembered her as an upbeat teacher who loved to have her photography class outdoors.

 He, like many others, was stunned by her death.

 “If you take into account how everyone reacted by crying and being upset, you’ll see how everyone was completely surprised that it was her,” he said. “She gave no signs of being depressed or sad.”

 Holly, a sophomore who did not disclose her last name, said she planned to take Jacobson’s class next year.

 “I was in the class next door when I saw her students run out of the room with pale faces,” she said. “Then teachers were running, then firefighters.”

 Students initially were asked to stay in their respective classrooms and eventually were gathered in the gym and told by teachers that “she took her life, but didn’t say how,” Holly said.

 Freshman students Tessa Hoover and Maddie Bell were in the classroom next door to Jacobson’s when a couple of students stormed into their digital media arts class and ran straight to their teacher.

 “We didn’t know what was happening. Our teacher ran out of our class, then into the room next door,” Hoover said. “Then she started screaming.”

 “Right away we knew something really horrible had happened,” she added.

 Their teacher returned and locked the door, but didn’t explain what happened, they said. A few minutes later all the students in the digital media arts class were ushered into the gym, where they learned about the apparent suicide.

 “It was completely shocking,” Hoover said.

 Several students on campus said Jacobson’s father committed suicide and that she constantly advised her students against taking their own life.

 Grief counselors were made available for students and teachers, and school was expected to resume with a normal schedule Tuesday, according to Candy Plahy, the assistant superintendent of educational services at Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District.

 “Often, having students return to their normal daily routines is the best way to help them cope,” she said. “Going back to school will help restore normalcy.”

 Plahy said the “handful” of students who found Jacobson were immediately taken to crisis counselors. It’s unclear whether any of those students will return to classes Tuesday.

 History of death at El Dorado High

 This is not the first time death has plagued the El Dorado High School campus. Just last year, a student died after being struck by a van, and another teacher died on campus in 2009.

 Logan Wells was 16 years old when he was struck and killed by an SUV while riding his skateboard just before 5 a.m. March 23, 2014, near Bastanchury Road and Secretariat Way. He died several hours later at a hospital.

 Katie Wells, Logan’s mother, tweeted shortly before 1:30 p.m. Monday: “I'm so sad today. Mrs. J was amazing to our family after Logan passed and one of his fav teachers RIP.”

 Coach Terry Conley died Nov. 29, 2009, of a heart attack at age 60 while exercising in the El Dorado High School weight room. He coached football, basketball, baseball, wrestling and soccer at the school for nearly four decades before his death.

 “My thoughts and prayers are with the El Dorado High School community today,” Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang said in a statement Monday. “I stand ready to support the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District in any way I can to address the needs of their students.”

 Colleagues remember

 Patricia Gibbs, an instructional aide at El Dorado, said she knew Jacobson as a popular, friendly teacher.

 “She was always in a great mood, very happy,” she said.

 Gibbs said Jacobson not only taught students how to take pictures, but also about the history of photography, including how to work with old-fashioned film cameras.

 Jacobson enjoyed covering her classroom walls with her students’ photos. She also posted on her walls notes from students thanking her for teaching them photography, Gibbs said.

 “She was loved by everyone,” Gibbs said.

  ||||| Please enable Javascript to watch this video

 A 31-year-old female teacher was declared dead after students found her hanging inside a high school classroom in Placentia, authorities said Monday.

 Jillian Rose Jacobson, 31, of Anaheim, died at El Dorado High School, at 1651 Valencia Ave. (map) in the Orange County city of Placentia.

 Police and firefighters were called the campus at 8:40 a.m., and when they arrived, the female adult teacher was found in full cardiac arrest, Placentia Police Department Lt. Eric Point said.

 CPR was performed but was unsuccessful and the teacher was declared dead at the scene. There was no indication of foul play, according to police.

 Students found the woman hanging inside the classroom, and school staff brought her down to the ground, Point said.

 Jacobson was a photography teacher who had been at the school about 10 years, Point said. Her husband had been notified of her death, he said.

 The door was locked when students arrived for their first-period class, and after another teacher came to let them in, the teens discovered their teacher, the lieutenant said.

 An initial investigation indicated the teacher had hanged herself, according to Point. No note was left and detectives were not sure why she had committed suicide.

 Jacobson was a popular teacher who had close friends among the faculty, Point said.

 Some students on campus were distraught.

 “We lost a very important faculty member,” one student told KTLA. “She was the greatest teacher that was here. She was an amazing teacher. It was a terrible thing that happened today.”

 The student said Jacobson had always said suicide was not an answer. Others students said they believed the teacher had been battling personal issues.

 "She was also happy and full of life during class," said student Maya Shepherd.

 An autopsy was expected to take place later in the week, according to a press release on the Orange County coroner's website. She was found in Room 902, the coroner's post stated.

 The post originally stated she died at 12:45 a.m., but it was later changed to 7 a.m. The original figure may have been a "placeholder time," Supervising Deputy Coroner Allison O’Neal said. Investigators estimate that Jacobson died about 7 a.m. based on an initial investigation, O'Neal said Monday afternoon.

 There was an “emergency medical situation” involving a teacher at the school, Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District Assistant Superintendent Kevin Lee said earlier Monday. Students were safe and officials were working to release students early, Lee said.

 Counselors were at the school and met with the students who found Jacobson, police said. Classes were expected to resume Tuesday.

 A candlelight vigil was planned for 7 p.m. Monday at the school, according to a Facebook event post.

 Jacobson's death marked the second time in a year that the news spotlight focused on the Placentia campus amid a tragedy. Last March, students and staff grieved for a 16-old-student named Logan Wells, who was fatally struck by an SUV while riding his skateboard.

 KTLA's Jennifer Thang and Mark Mester contributed to this article.

 Students leaving El Dorado High School early after teacher reportedly found hanging in classroom. @KTLA http://t.co/ruuujZU3xm—

 mark mester (@mester_mark) March 02, 2015

 Send up prayers for El Dorado high school, and for their beloved teacher 💛 — ashley gahagan (@agahagan7) March 2, 2015

 More videos: ||||| Paul Bonello, who arrived to pick up his daughter, said the campus had had its share of sorrow in the last year. A 16-year-old junior was killed last March when he was hit by a vehicle while skateboarding. |||||Summary:

– The door was locked around 8:40am yesterday when a few students arrived at Jillian Jacobson's photography classroom at El Dorado High School in Placentia, Calif. "That's not normal for that hour of the day," a police lieutenant explains to the Orange County Register. The students found another teacher to open the door and were met with a horrific scene: Jacobson, 31, hanged from the ceiling. A student in the other teacher's class says they could hear "screaming, crying," and their teacher yelling, "Oh my God, oh my God!" after the door was opened. That teacher and Jacobson's students lowered Jacobson to the floor, and paramedics tried to revive her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene, the Los Angeles Times reports. Jacobson was a popular teacher—and her own father had committed suicide, according to several students who say it was not uncommon for Jacobson to speak out against such an action, advising students that "suicide was not the answer," as KTLA puts it. No suicide note was found, but the preliminary investigation indicates she did take her own life, the lieutenant says. "She gave no signs of being depressed or sad," says one of her former students. Another student at the school, one of many who mourned Jacobson on Twitter, said she remembered the teacher often "really brightened up everyone's day." But others say she was struggling with "personal issues." The students who found Jacobson were taken to crisis counselors immediately, and grief counselors were made available at the school.


HENDERSON, Colo. (AP) — A woman who was taking photographs over the weekend of a steam locomotive was struck and killed after getting too close to the tracks in north suburban Denver.

 The 15-car Union Pacific train was returning to Denver on Saturday evening from a daylong trip to Cheyenne Frontier Days in Wyoming when the woman was hit at a crossing in Henderson at about 7:45 p.m.

 The victim was among several people taking photos of the train as it traveled back to Denver. Her name has not been released.

 About 700 passengers were on the train whose annual trip to Cheyenne for the parade and rodeo is sponsored by The Denver Post Community Foundation. No other injuries were reported.

 The passengers were bused back to Denver. ||||| DENVER -- Investigators say the pedestrian that was struck and killed by one of Union Pacific's historic steam trains was taking pictures of the locomotive and apparently ventured too close to the tracks.

 The 21-car train, being pulled by Locomotive 844, was returning Saturday evening from a day-long trip to Cheyenne Frontier Days.

 The train, called the 'Denver Post Special,' because the trip was sponsored by the Post, was southbound, and had just arrived at the 124th Avenue crossing near Henderson, at 7:45 pm, when the accident happened.

 UP Steam tweeted about the incident shortly afterward.

 UP No. 844 was involved in a pedestrian fatality. Busses are en route to pick up guests on board the train. UP Police will be on scene for several hours assisting local authorities with the investigation. — UP Steam (@UP_Steam) July 22, 2018

 Company Issues a Response

 "We are working with local authorities to see what happened leading up to the crash," said Union Pacific spokeswoman Kristen South.

 The Adams County Sheriff's Office and Commerce City Police were at the scene shortly after the accident, but the Sheriff's Office said, "Union Pacific is leading the investigation."

 Passengers were bused back to Denver.

 The train remained at the scene for several hours.

 History of Union Pacific's historic steam train

 Steam Engine 844 is perhaps the country's most famous steam locomotive.

 It was originally built for passenger service, operating between Omaha and Los Angeles, and Omaha and Portland.

 When diesels took over, it was relegated to freight service in Nebraska.

 Unlike other steam locomotives, it never made it to the scrap heap, instead it was saved and is now used as an "ambassador of goodwill" by Union Pacific.

 Steam aficionados travel alongside the train, or line the right-of-way to take pictures, or videotape the excursions.

 The victim was among several photographers that were snapping photos of the train on it's return trip.

 To learn more about UP's steam program, click on this link. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– A woman who was taking photographs over the weekend of a steam locomotive was struck and killed after getting too close to the tracks in north suburban Denver. The Union Pacific locomotive—the AP says it was a 15-car train; the Denver Channel says it had 21 cars—was returning to Denver on Saturday evening from a daylong trip to Cheyenne Frontier Days in Wyoming when the woman was hit at a crossing in Henderson about 7:45pm. The victim was among several people taking photos of the train as it traveled back to Denver; her name hasn't been released. "We are working with local authorities to see what happened leading up to the crash," a Union Pacific spokeswoman says. About 700 passengers were on the train, whose annual trip to Cheyenne for the parade and rodeo is sponsored by the Denver Post Community Foundation. No other injuries were reported. The passengers on the UP 844 train, said to be the nation's most famous steam locomotive, were bused back to Denver.


Article:
Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| St. Paul's Top 3 Dive Bars"Best burger in town. Really, it's that amazing. Not a huge place, so don't bring your whole extended family with you."

 WCCO Viewers' Choice For Best Egg Roll In MinnesotaIn this week’s Best of Minnesota, the tastiest egg rolls can be found at a popular neighborhood restaurant in northeast Minneapolis called Que Viet.

 DeRusha Eats: The Sunshine Factory Burns Bright In PlymouthThe Sunshine Factory opened in New Hope in 1976, and everything about it screamed the '70s.

 Minneapolis Moonshine: 5 Of The City's Top DistilleriesWe crunched the numbers to find the top distilleries in Minneapolis, to help you find the best spots to meet your needs.

 Artsy Deals Worth Seeking Out In St. Paul This WeekLooking to up your appreciation of the arts? We've rounded up three artsy deals around St. Paul this week.

 Mike's Mix: Crooked Water Spirits & The 'BB' BoulevardierThis cocktail is a riff on the classic Boulevardier cocktail; which, itself, is a bourbon-base version of a Negroni. |||||Summary:

– A dispute over the freshness of Wendy’s fries leaves a 25-year-old Minnesota woman facing criminal charges. According to CBS Minnesota, Wendy's employees claim that Eiram Chanel Amir Dixson became argumentative during a drive-thru transaction just after noon Thursday after the woman asked specifically for fresh French fries. Reports don't specify the condition of the fries, or whether she even received them, but do make clear that an argument followed. Employees allege Dixson reached through the drive-thru window and, after an employee threw a soft drink at her, proceeded to spray them with Mace. The restaurant manager was hit directly in the face while two more employees were also in the line of the spray, per the police report. All three employees provided similar accounts of the incident, according to ABC News 5. Dixson is being charged with felony use of tear gas to immobilize. If found guilty, she’ll face a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison and/or a $3,000 to $10,000 fine. Wendy’s drive-thrus see their share of action: last year, a worker was allegedly bit over a wrong order in Virginia, while a Florida man reportedly threw an alligator through a drive-thru window as a prank.


News article:

(CNN) Chunks of hail the size of golf balls rained havoc on a Colorado zoo on Monday, shattering windows, damaging cars and sending animals and humans running for cover.

 The massive hailstorm damaged buildings and animals habitats at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. The zoo will be closed Tuesday while it assesses the damage, marketing director Jenny Koch said.

 Five injured people were taken to a hospital and nine more were treated on the scene and released, said Brian Vaughan, public information officer and fire captain for Colorado Springs Fire Department.

 A 13-year-old caped vulture named Motswari was killed in the storm along with a 4-year-old Muscovy duck known as Daisy, Koch said. A third animal -- a vulture -- was initially reported dead, but later turned out to be severely injured.

 Animals and humans scrambled for cover from the sudden barrage, visitor Jesse Barkalow said. He shot video on his phone of bears running around rocks in an enclosure as the pellets of frozen rain pummeled them.

 Read More ||||| COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- A powerful storm that pummeled a busy Colorado zoo with large hail on Monday injured 14 people and killed at least two animals, authorities said. About 3,400 people were at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs at the time, and the zoo estimates that as many as 400 vehicles in the parking lot were damaged.

 "It was hail the size I've never seen before," Jenny Koch, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's marketing director, told The Denver Post. "Basically chunks of ice ... It's frightening."

 The zoo's website says a vulture and a duck were killed by the hail. The Denver Post reports a second vulture also died.

 CBS Denver reported that medical personnel set up a triage for visitors at the entrance to the zoo. Five people were taken to the hospital with traumatic injuries after the short but intense storm passed over, according to the Colorado Springs Fire Department. Another nine people were treated at the scene.

 The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo evacuated people from the zoo and they were transported by bus to Cheyenne Mountain High School.

 Video posted on Facebook showed large hail pelting the zoo while bears looked for cover.

 NEW VIDEO: Bears ran for cover during today's insane hail storm at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It's unclear if the bears were hurt, but a turkey vulture and a duck reportedly died. https://cbsloc.al/2vIgcMm 📹: Bill Watson Posted by CBS Denver on Monday, August 6, 2018

 The storm knocked out power to nearly 2,000 customers in the area, and heavy rain and debris forced the closure of U.S. Highway 24 west of Manitou Springs, The Colorado Springs Gazette reported.

 Softball-sized hail was reported in the area, but it was smaller at the zoo, which will be closed Tuesday so employees can take care of injured animals and repair broken windows and skylights.

 The Broadmoor Hotel and resort also was pounded by hail, and staff members were assessing the damage.

 "It was a significant storm," said Barry Brown, the hotel's vice president of sales and marketing.

 Forecasters warned that runoff from the rain could cause flooding of small creeks, roads, underpasses and low-lying areas as more storms develop along the Front Range on Monday night. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Hail the size of golf balls and softballs pummeled a Colorado zoo on Monday, leaving 14 people injured and two animals dead, including one of roughly 20 endangered vultures known to be in the US. The 13-year-old female Cape vulture, dubbed Motswari, arrived at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs from South Africa as part of a breeding program. "It's a massive loss," a conservationist tells the Washington Post, noting Motswari was in her breeding prime and the species has declined by up to 94% in three generations. A Muscovy duck was also killed, while five people were sent to the hospital, per CNN. The zoo tells CBS News that up to 400 vehicles were damaged.


Article:
Watching her boys play hockey, working nights at Tim Hortons and enjoying movies and walks in the park — it all sounds like a typical mom.

 But 40-year-old Andrea Giesbrecht stands accused of concealing the bodies of six infants after their remains were found in a U-Haul storage locker earlier this week.

 New details about Giesbrecht, also known as Andrea Naworynski, emerged from documents and a court hearing last month, in which she pleaded guilty to fraud over $5,000.

 Court heard that Giesbrecht has struggled with a gambling addiction for at least 14 years.

 Giesbrecht, 40, is charged with concealing the bodies of six infants in a U-Haul storage locker. (CBC) Giesbrecht was convicted of "borrowing" $7,850 from a 73-year-old woman, then writing bad cheques and not repaying her.

 "I feel distraught and severely taken advantage of," the woman wrote in a victim impact statement.

 A friend of Giesbrecht took a different view, in a letter to court that she wrote before the sentencing.

 "In the five years I have known Andrea I have come to love her as a friend and person," wrote the friend. "She is a loving, considerate person and I have seen her drop everything to be there."

 The two met through their boys' mutual hockey team. Giesbrecht has two teenage sons who are involved in hockey and soccer.

 Started gambling in her teens

 Giesbrecht, an only child, was born in York, Ont., but lived for most of her life in Winnipeg's Garden City and Maples neighbourhoods.

 In the pre-sentence report, Giesbrecht was described as having a happy childhood, full of trips to the beach, Ukrainian dance, swimming lessons and church activities.

 She met her husband at the age of 16. That's also about the time she began gambling, something that she watched her parents do while she was growing up.

 Giesbrecht's gambling began with VLTs, and then card games.

 According to the report, Giesbrecht first believed she had a gambling problem 14 years ago, when she could not pay rent.

 During the worst of it, she said she could bet $500 at a time, many times over the course of a single evening, and would do this several times a week.

 She would borrow thousands of dollars from her parents to feed the habit — money she never repaid, and money they never asked her for, according to documents.

 Giesbrecht's parents have since died.

 Caused tension with husband

 Giesbrecht said this addiction caused tension with her husband and described gambling as the "number one problem" between them.

 As for her husband, Giesbrecht said he could easily become agitated. A probation officer once had to ask him to leave a meeting after he "chastised" his wife and "refused to calm down."

 The same officer described Giesbrecht as polite and respectful, but noted that she could be "highly excitable, easily distracted and unorganized."

 The pre-sentence report concluded that she posed a low risk of re-offending for fraud.

 Giesbrecht graduated from Red River College with a business administration diploma. In the past 10 years, she has worked for local organizations DASCH and St. Amant (which support people with disabilities), as well as a cleaning company. This spring, she began working at Tim Hortons. She also volunteers at Siloam Mission.

 Giesbrecht is now charged with six counts of concealing bodies of infants after the remains were found in a U-Haul storage locker in Winnipeg's West Alexander neighbourhood on Monday.

 U-Haul employees made the grim discovery when they went in to clear out the locker because rental payments had not been made.

 Winnipeg police initially said they believed there were three or four bodies found in various states of decomposition, but they later raised the total to six.

 Giesbrecht's next court date on the charges is Nov. 12. ||||| Photos View photos zoom

 WINNIPEG—Police have charged a woman who was renting a storage locker where the remains of six babies were found Monday, but they say it could be months before they know who the infants were, how they died and how long they had been inside.

 Andrea Giesbrecht, 40, was arrested outside her home in north Winnipeg. Const. Eric Hofley said she faces six charges of concealing a body and one charge of breaching probation.

 Court records show that Giesbrecht, who has also used the name Andrea Naworynski, is a gambling addict with a low-paying job at a fast-food restaurant and recently admitted to defrauding a senior of several thousand dollars.

 Hofley said it will take an extensive forensic investigation to determine if Giesbrecht is related to the dead infants.

 More news at thestar.com:

 The state of the remains discovered Monday was such that police were initially unable to determine how many babies were in the locker. Their ages are still unknown, but they are believed to have been newborns, he said.

 “The forensics that are going to be involved in this investigation, they’re numerous,” Hofley said Wednesday. “It will be a long time before we’re able to answer these questions — if at all.”

 There are no homicide charges right now and police aren’t interviewing any other suspects, he said.

 “Nothing is ruled out until all the information has been gathered and processed,” Hofley said. “But, at this point, this is what is known and these are the charges that are appropriate at this time.”

 Greg Brodsky, Giesbrecht’s lawyer, said he had seen a preliminary outline of the charges and met with his client.

 “She’s in bewilderment,” he said. “But I can’t talk to you about what she said to me because that would be a breach of solicitor-client privilege.”

 Giesbrecht was initially arrested on murder charges, but those weren’t the charges that were filed with the court, Brodsky said. That indicates the autopsy and forensic investigation isn’t complete yet, he said.

 “The forensic examination is really important,” Brodsky said. “There has to be an autopsy conducted and more investigation done in order to determine where this case is going.”

 The breach of probation charge relates to two charges of fraud over $5,000 that were laid against Giesbrecht in 2012. She was given a suspended sentence and two years of probation at a court hearing three weeks ago after pleading guilty to borrowing money from a 73-year-old neighbour and repaying her with bounced cheques.

 Her lawyer at that hearing, Alan Libman, told the court that Giesbrecht’s parents were longtime gamblers who had “gambled away all their savings” before they died and left taxes unpaid on the house that Giesbrecht now lives in.

 Gambling “was part of the family milieu,” Libman is heard to say in a recording of the proceedings.

 Records indicate Giesbrecht was also unable to pay taxes and utilities, and borrowed money on more than one occasion from her neighbour. Eventually, she wrote two cheques to repay the woman. But the bank account the cheques were written on had been closed for two years.

 Giesbrecht wanted to repay the woman, but was caught up in addiction, Libman told the hearing.

 “The focus on this was to always pay it back. ‘I was going to get the winnings. I was going to make the slot machine come through for me,’ ” Libman said in reference to Giesbrecht’s thinking.

 “All these things she talked about — her house being in arrears, not being able to pay bills — that all occurred because she gambled away all her money.”

 Giesbrecht spoke briefly at her sentencing hearing and apologized to her neighbour for “bringing her into this chaos.”

 Provincial court Judge Janice leMaistre ordered Giesbrecht to perform 100 hours of community service and to repay her victim $200 a month during her two-year probation. She was also ordered to stay out of casinos and video lottery terminal lounges.

 Giesbrecht will be applying for bail on the new charges and a date for that hearing is expected to be set Thursday, Brodsky said.

 Workers were taking inventory at a delinquent U-Haul storage locker on Monday when they found the remains of what police believed were three or four infants. The U-Haul employees immediately called police.

 Even with an arrest, there are few answers to explain what may have happened.

 Hofley wouldn’t say how long the remains were in the locker or how police believe they came to be there. |||||Summary:

– Police in Winnipeg have charged a 40-year-old woman with six counts of concealing a body after they found the remains of six infants in a storage locker she rented. But the Toronto Star reports that it could be months before forensic tests determine how the babies died and whether Andrea Giesbrecht was their mother. Employees of the U-Haul facility opened the locker when Giesbrecht stopped making payments, and a court appearance late last month might shed light on why she fell behind. Giesbrecht pleaded guilty to defrauding an older neighbor of about $8,000 as evidence of a long-term gambling addiction came to light, reports the Winnipeg Sun. "I feel distraught and severely taken advantage of," her 73-year-old neighbor wrote in a victim-impact statement obtained by the CBC. But a friend of Giesbrecht came to her defense: "In the five years I have known Andrea, I have come to love her as a friend and person," she wrote. "She is a loving, considerate person and I have seen her drop everything to be there." Giesbrecht, who also has used the name Andrea Naworynski, is married and has two teenage sons. Court documents suggest she got hooked on gambling as a teenager and had repeatedly borrowed money from her now-dead parents that was never repaid.