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School Reform: Teachers, Public At Odds On What To Do To Improve Schools

CHICAGO, Aug. 14 (UPI) — With states scrambling to get out of No Child Left Behind benchmarks, anemic tax collections decimating education budgets and test scores indicating U.S. students are losing ground to students in other countries, how are Americans reacting to these developments and are they pushing for effective reforms or out to punish […]

Under The U.S. Supreme Court: Cracking The Housing Bust Conspiracy

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (UPI) — Conspiracy theorists ran into a brick wall earlier this month in efforts to connect the collapse of the mortgage industry to politicians — a controversial quest because most agree the housing bust was one of the first indicators, and one of the first causes, of the lagging U.S. economy. Judicial […]

4 Die, 40 Hurt In Fair Stage Collapse

INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 14 (UPI) — Storm winds slammed the Indiana State Fair grandstand Saturday night, killing at least four people and injuring 40 when the stage collapsed, authorities said. The death toll from the collapse at the fairgrounds in Indianapolis, which occurred as a crowd of about 12,000 waited for a performance by the country […]

Mississippi Mother, 4 Children Die In Fire

JACKSON, Miss., Aug. 14 (UPI) — An apartment fire in Jackson, Miss., Saturday killed a mother and her four children despite neighbors’ and firefighters’ efforts to save them, authorities said. The victims were Dominique Henderson, 28, and her children, ages 7, 5, 3 and 2, Jackson’s WAPT-TV reported. Jackson Fire Chief Greg Travis said the […]

Tropical Storm Franklin Lasts Just 1 Day

MIAMI, Aug. 14 (UPI) — Tropical storm Franklin came and went in just one day, U.S. forecasters said Saturday. Franklin became the sixth named storm of the 2011 Atlantic Ocean hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its 5 a.m. advisory. By 11 a.m. it had winds of up 45 mph but […]

Palestinians To Go To U.N. Sept. 20

JERUSALEM, Aug. 13 (UPI) — Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni blamed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Saturday for Palestine’s decision to seek U.N. approval for statehood status. Palestinian officials said they would apply for the United Nations’ recognition of Palestine as an independent state on Sept. 20, due to stalled peace talks with Israel, Ynetnews reported. […]

Head-on Collision Kills 3 In Canada

SURREY, British Columbia, Aug. 13 (UPI) — A head-on collision on a British Columbia highway Saturday left three men dead, police said. Police said a man speeding against traffic Highway 10 in Surrey killed himself and two other men about 1:45 a.m., the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported. A woman survived the crash and was listed […]

Mother, 2 Children Die In Canada Home Fire

ALEXANDRIA, Ontario, Aug. 13 (UPI) — Police say that a Canadian mother and two of her young children were killed in a fire in their Ontario home. Sarah Cholette, 22, her 3-year-old daughter Chloe and her 9-month-old son Jacob died in the fire in Alexandria, Ontario, Friday, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported. The father of […]

3 Dead In Indiana Fair Stage Collapse

INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 13 (UPI) — High winds toppled the main concert stage at the Indiana State Fair Saturday night, killing at least three people and injuring 24 others, authorities said. The thunderstorm winds hit as the crowd of about 12,000 waited for the country band Sugarland to perform. Indiana State Police Capt. Brad Weaver confirmed […]

Two More Arrests In Birmingham Hit And Run

BIRMINGHAM, England, Aug. 13 (UPI) — Police in Birmingham, England, said two more men were under arrest in the deaths of three men struck by a car during riots this week. The two suspects are Joshua Donald, 26, from Ladywood — an inner city area of Birmingham — and a 17-year-old whose name was withheld, […]