The James Logan Courier

By Mark Washburn
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

David Cook was crowned "American Idol" Wednesday, his smooth showmanship defeating a favored young challenger who swept the judges' praise the previous night.

"This is amazing. Thank you," Cook said, after bending to the stage floor with emotion when the results were announced.

Defeated was David Archuleta, 17, a fresh-faced balladeer groomed most of his life for the stage by his jazz musician father. Archuleta was widely praised by the judges for slam-dunk performances in the final round.

MENU:
Fajita Chicken and Veggie Pizza, Milk & Fresh Fruit

ACTIVITY:
Dance 2008 - Hip Hop, Jazz, Tap & Modern Dance! Tonight & tomorrow night in the Theater at 7:30. Tickets $6.

There is a spirit rally today during lunch! Come out to the Pavilion to support your class and participate in games and a dance competition!

By Erin Podolsky
Detroit Free Press (MCT)

DETROIT — It was the mid-1980s, and in Kansas City, Mo., teenager Aaron Dontez Yates decided to move from straight-up beatboxing to writing his own rhymes. All he needed was a name. Not the one his auntie and mama gave him when he was born, but a real name, a name with weight that would give his rhymes that extra layer of respect they deserved.

He and his buddy paged through a book of guns and ammo, but none of the words he saw seemed quite killer enough to him. "`AK47!' I'm like, no. `Uzi.' No! `12 gauge!' No," recalls Yates, now 36 and better known in the underground rap game as Tech N9ne. "We got to the end of the book, and it was like, `Man we ain't find nothing.' But there was a picture of a Tec-9 at the back. He said Tec-9 because the way you rap is like fast, like `tekatekateka' — fully automatic."

By Rick LaPlante, New Haven Schools Public Information Officer

Eastin Elementary has joined an elite group of California schools receiving the highest possible score for academic achievement, according to the latest report on standardized test scores released today by the California Department of Education.

The state today released the 2007 Academic Performance Index (API) "base reports," including 1-10 rankings comparing individual schools, both to schools across the state (“statewide rankings”) and to schools that are demographically similar (“similar-schools rankings”). Rankings are based on API scores from STAR (Standardized Test and Results) tests taken last spring.

Eastin became the first school in the New Haven Unified School District to receive a statewide ranking of 10, up from 9 for the past several years.

By Rick LaPlante, New Haven Schools Public Information Officer

The Board of Education on Tuesday night heard an update on District budget development in the wake of the revisions to the proposed state budget presented last week by Governor Schwarzenegger.

Chief Business Officer Carol Gregorich told the Board that while the revision is less devastating to public education than the proposal presented in January, it still includes a significant reduction in funding. Many observers are concerned that the situation will get worse, because the governor is relying on a huge increase in lottery proceeds or a sales-tax increase that would not take effect in time to prevent mid-year cuts in 2008-09.

From wikipedia:
Ram Mohan Roy, also written as Rammohun Roy, or Raja Ram Mohun Roy, (May 22, 1772 – September 27, 1833) was the founder of the Brahmo Samaj, one of the first Indian socio-religious reform movements. His remarkable influence was apparent in the fields of politics, public administration and education as well as religion. He is most known for his efforts to abolish the practice of sati, a Hindu funeral practice in which the widow sacrifices herself on her husband’s funeral pyre. It was he who first introduced the word "Hinduism" (or "Hindooism") into the English language in 1816.

Read about efforts to preserve Ram Mohan Roy's tomb in Bristol, England, free from the Telegraph newspaper of Calcutta, India.