Latest News and Articles
No panic as Celtic ease home
Celtic may have allowed Anthony Stokes to slip out of the building on Saturday but there is no chance of Paul McQuilken getting away. The Dumbarton striker will be back at Celtic Park today not to sign a lucrative contract but to clock on for work. McQuilken will be able to look out from the clubs merchandise warehouse underneath the Jock Stein Stand and see the goalmouth where Artur Boruc ruined his dream of scoring against his employers and cost his father, Jamie, £400 in winnings for backing the Scottish League third division sides frontman to net the first goal in the Tennents Scottish Cup third-round tie. Perhaps £400 is loose change to the likes of Stokes, who turned his back on a move to Celtic because Gordon Strachan refused to match the five-figure salary offered by Charlton Athletic, who have since seen the striker poached by Sunderland.
No shortage of work for substitute teachers
By the time they finish high school, most students will have spent the equivalent of a full year of their public education being taught by someone like Sara Tinius.
She's one of Blue Valley's substitute teachers, a December graduate of Kansas State University who wants to practice her teaching skills while she waits for a classroom of her own.
"I get up in the morning and know that I'm going to a school, and I know that I'm helping kids and teachers every single day," she said.
But teachers like Tinius are in short supply. As a result, administrators are searching for new ways to recruit fill-in instructors and make sure learning goes on even when the classroom teacher is not there.
Geoffrey G. Smith directs the Substitute Teaching Institute at Utah State University that came up with the year-of-substitutes statistic.
Gaithersburg community calendar
By fax: 301-670-7183. By e-mail: gaithersburg@gazette.net. Meetings around town
The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission will discuss plans for installing a new security antenna for its Airpark Pumping Station, at a meeting at 8 p.m. today, at Strawberry Knoll Elementary School, 11820 Strawberry Knoll Road, Gaithersburg. Call 301-206-8100.
Thursday, Jan. 11
English Conversation Club to practice speaking English meets 10 a.m. at Quince Orchard Library, 15831 Quince Orchard Road, Gaithersburg. Call 240-777-0200.
Internet basics and beyond sessions for beginners (no sign up) or non-beginners (sign up required), will be held 1 and 2 p.m. at Gaithersburg Library, 18330 Montgomery Village Ave. Call 301-840-2515.
Beaver Tales story time and craft for ages 3 to 6 will be held 1-2:30 p.m.
Wouded officer recounts shooting
Kim Yap speaks about her husband, Officer Abe Yap, who was shot Dec. 22 downtown, during an interview at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Officer Yap, who did not wish to be photographed at this stage of his recovery, was sitting out of frame to the right.
(Steven Georges / Press-Telegram) .
Eagles have one more each before much-needed break
Joli Robinson says she needs to coach her N.C. Central women's basketball team through just one more game before a couple of injured starters return to the lineup. It's been so far, so good without center Jori Nwachukwu and shooting guard Jennifer Hukill. The Eagles (9-5, 4-3 CIAA) have won six of their last seven games heading into today's 5:30 p.m. contest against Livingstone (6-7, 3-3) at McLendon-McDougald Gym. It's the opener of a doubleheader between the men's teams, in which Henry Dickerson's Eagles (6-7, 1-5) may need a to protect their home court against the Blue Bears (3-8, 1-5) to stay on track for a chance at a winning season. After tonight, neither NCCU team will play again until their Jan. 23 trip to Virginia State. While Robinson needs for her team to heal, Dickerson said he wants to work on some things in a full week of practice.
Schools prepare for tough budget season
Three-quarters of Stoneham High School students received warning cards — issued to indicate that a student is doing unsatisfactory work — in the most recent marking period, the cumulative result of staff and program cuts at every level of education, one parent told the School Committee Thursday night. In the cafeteria of Stoneham Middle School, Colonial Park parent Linda Hillis presented a 10-minute recitation of staff and program cuts endured by the school system over the past eight years, appealing directly to the audience watching at home to support the schools as Fiscal 2008 budget talks began.
With a projected town-wide budget shortfall projected for next year, the School Department is looking for ways to avoid additional cuts and restore lost positions and programs, particularly at the middle school level.
City purchases Albert Lea Moose Lodge
The Albert Lea City Council Tuesday authorized the $335,000 purchase of the property owned by Moose Lodge 1703, 328 Main Court, for demolition. The purchase comes as part of the Main Street flood mitigation project.The project is a partnership between the city of Albert Lea and the state Department of Natural Resources. The cost is split evenly between the two entities and the property was preceded by several properties on the East Main Street corridor that have been purchased for demolition, including buildings formerly owned by Minn-State Mortgage Co., Albert Lea Car Wash and the Union Center.In times of heavy precipitation, the area is routinely flooded, costing taxpayers money. Public infrastructure, including road systems, storm sewer systems and sanitary sewer systems are damaged, as is private property on the flood plain.The last major flooding in the area was in September 2004 when parts of Albert Lea and Freeborn County were declared a federal disaster area.
Sweet talking: Paul Campbell and Fay Jones at their home
A FORMER nurse who was jailed for abducting a 15-year-old girl has set up home with the teenager and plans to marry her. Married father-of-two Paul Campbell, 47, was sentenced to 15 months in prison in February after he admitted taking Fay Jones from her home in Barnsley to a hotel in the Lake District. However, while the former Keswick man was in prison Fay turned 16 and upon his release Paul went back to Barnsley for her. Now the pair have set up home in Cumbria where they plan to marry and start a family – despite their 31-year age gap. Paul, a former Duke of Edinburgh instructor for Fay's school, was kicked out of his family home because of his relationship with Fay, and his teenage sons, aged 17 and 15, refuse to speak to him. He also lost his job as an outdoor pursuits instructor and his wife is divorcing him.
EU offenders 'cleared to work'
Four drugs offenders and a people smuggler were cleared to work with children and vulnerable adults during the criminal records debacle, it was revealed.
And The Home Office later said it was investigating reports that a man whose criminal conviction in the EU was not put on his British police record went on to kill here.
Nine individuals "probably" passed checks despite having committed "serious" offences in Europe, according to the Home Office.
But Home Secretary John Reid insisted earlier that the public should be "reassured" that none of those given a clean bill of health were violent or sexual criminals.
He was immediately attacked by Tory counterpart David Davis for complacency. "The fact that the Home Secretary thinks approving people with drugs offences to work with youngsters will reassure the public shows just how out of touch he is," he said.
