The James Logan Courier

By P.J. Huffstutter
Los Angeles Times (MCT)

LOS ANGELES — Last Christmas, Karen Hoxmeier bought her brother a cashmere scarf and several pricey gadgets for his digital camera.
This year, she bought the out-of-work Hollywood cameraman something more essential: groceries.

With the nation's unemployment rate still high and the economy sluggish, a growing number of people are giving food this holiday season. But it's not fruitcake, eggnog or Christmas cookies. Instead, the quiet voice of frugality is prompting consumers to wrap up baskets of kitchen staples, boxes of meat and grocery store gift cards to help loved ones stock dwindling pantries.

Hoxmeier got the idea after sneaking a peek inside her younger brother Bill's kitchen cabinets. She found them pretty bare, she said, "even for a guy."

By Lisa Mascaro and Michael Muskal
Tribune Washington Bureau (MCT)

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday signed the bill that extends the George W. Bush-era tax cuts, while Congress moved to wind up its lame-duck deliberations in a session marked by the changing nature of politics and power.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Obama again defended his compromise, worked out with Republicans. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was prominent at the ceremony, as was Vice President Joe Biden, who bargained with the Republican leader.

"This is real money that is going to make a real difference in peoples' lives," Obama said. Without the bill, the tax cuts would have expired at the end of the year.

By Rick La Plante, New Haven Schools Director of Parent & Community Relations

UNION CITY – Santa Claus made his annual tour of the New Haven Unified School District Wednesday, giving out nearly $6,000 worth of classroom grants from the New Haven Schools Foundation’s "Innovations in Education" program, for special projects that promote learning.

The Foundation, in the sixth year of its classroom grant program, received applications this year for 26 projects representing the efforts of 29 educators, from kindergarten through high school. Requests were accepted for up to $500, and the District’s Health Education and Resource Team (HEART) accepted applications for grants of up to $200 for projects promoting a healthy lifestyle.

By Rick La Plante, New Haven Schools Director of Parent & Community Relations

Facing another year of inadequate funding from the state, the Board of Education on Tuesday night approved the first interim budget for 2010-11 along with multi-year projections that include more cuts to programs and services in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

The multi-year projections include furlough days, increased class sizes, the elimination of stipends and release periods for co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, a reduction in the counseling staff and among media specialists and the elimination of transportation for middle school students.

By Jazzmine Bates, Courier Staff Writer

Come celebrate at James Logan's Black Student Union's third annual Kwanzaa tomorrow at The Spot from 5:00 p.m.—8:00pm.

Started in 2007, the celebration features the dancing, performances and celebration that Kwanzaa is known for.

The celebration will have performances by the Dance and Step teams; there will also be refreshments.

Some mistake Kwanzaa as being part of Christmas, but it has its own meaning and is celebrated over a span of seven days.

By Mike Swift
San Jose Mercury News (MCT)

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Google on Tuesday switched on a new program that will dramatically improve the accuracy of its speech recognition service, which allows people to use verbal commands to search the Internet, send an e-mail or post a Facebook update.

That's of growing importance to the Mountain View, Calif., search giant, which sees Internet searches on smart phones as a significant part of its business. While the company doesn't disclose specific numbers, one in four searches on Android devices are now done by voice, and the search volume on Android phones climbed by 50 percent in the first six months of 2010.

By Kimmai Nguyen, Courier Staff Writer

James Logan High School was recently provided with safety buckets for use as toilets in case of emergency situations.

Rhonda Neagle, Logan's vice principal of operations, arranged the purchase of the kits. As some may know, Newark Memorial High School had a lockdown a few months ago; during the debriefing, administration from schools discussed the actions taken during the lockdown. A popular recommendation was a "bathroom kit", under the premise that, sooner or later, people would need to use the bathroom during the unpredictable length of the emergency.

There have not been any recent emergencies Logan but Neagle said, "We're trying to be productive and ready for intruders and life-threatening situations."

By Ajay Bains, Courier Staff Writer

Last Friday the Logan girls softball team received their championship rings. After a long season, their hard work and accomplishment embroidered in a championship ring.

When asked about the rings, Coach Teri Johnson said, “They are a special group with a special win. They were the first group to fundraise for the rings. The rings were $300 each…we had a ring ceremony at Chevy’s where last year's seniors got their rings too. ”

By Justyna Torres, Courier Staff Writer

James Logan High School's Puente Program will host its first-ever Zumba Night.

Next Tuesday, Puente will hold a fundraiser in the Al Rodrigues Gym, which will be open to all who enjoy working out, spending time with friends and having a great time.

According to its site, Zumba is a new, popular style of workout that incorporates Latin rhythms and high powered dance moves that are fun and a great workout as well. The class will be taught by instructor Maria Charito Martinez from M&M Fitness at Futsal Republic in Hayward.

Courier Staff Report
Updated
New Haven teachers will vote Friday on whether to ratify a tentative three-year contract agreement reached between the New Haven Teachers Association bargaining team and the New Haven Unified School District.

News of the tentative agreement went out via email to union members Wednesday evening.

According to the email, the NHTA executive board and representative council "overwhelming recommend the approval of this tentative agreement."

By Arthel Cargill, Courier Staff Writer

In past years, there has been little to no diversity in the honors and Advanced Placement classes at James Logan High School, but since administrators began open enrollment this year, the future is looking brighter for students of color.

Junior May Brown said, "I'm taking honors English. It's so hard and sometimes I wish I would've taken regular, but I think it'll be worth it. The class is fun and everything, but a lot of the students are snobby. I'm, like, the only black person in my class and sometimes it's uncomfortable."

While some students like Brown took a slightly negative approach to the subject, others such as Dionnica, a freshman at Logan, had nothing but good reviews. "I like honors classes, It makes me feel so smart! I hear kids complain about how hard they are, but they're supposed to be challenging. It's what makes it fun."

Students of color may have been the main picture in this matter, but behind the scenes, teachers were working to help the students succeed, encouraging them every step of the way.

By Denis Cuff
Contra Costa Times (MCT)

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — The largest wind energy producer in the Altamont Pass area in California's Alameda and Contra Costa counties has agreed to replace 2,400 wind turbines within four years and pay $2.5 million in a legal settlement to reduce deaths of eagles, hawks and other raptors hacked by turbine blades.

The settlement between NextEra Energy Resources, the state and several environmental groups was announced Monday by state Attorney General Jerry Brown.

By Julia Scott
Contra Costa Times (MCT)

CROCKETT, Calif. — Twenty feet below the water line, in the bilge of a cargo ship unloading raw sugar at the C&H factory, scientists are testing a high-tech weapon in the fight against invasive aquatic species.

A special ballast water treatment system is purifying the water that whooshes through a pump from the Carquinez Strait into the Moku Pahu, a double-hull bulk carrier that ferries raw sugar from Hawaii to California.

By Mark Seibel
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

WASHINGTON — Note to Tatiana Gfoeller, U.S. ambassador to Kyrgyzstan: If you ever tire of the Foreign Service — or get drummed out — there may be a reporting job for you.

Gfoeller, a career diplomat who speaks six languages — seven, if you count English — is the author of a WikiLeak'd diplomatic cable about Britain's Prince Andrew that made headlines in London because she said the conversation at a brunch the prince shared with diplomats in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, two years ago "verged on the rude."

Among the prince's targets, Gfoeller reported, were the French, whose penchant for corruption, in the prince's opinion, was nearly as great as the Kyrgyz government's, and the Americans, whose ignorance of geography placed them in a category definitely inferior to his own countrymen.