Father says his severely disabled 18-year-old son’s high grades are a sham
Eighteen-year-old Jared DeWeese is severely disabled. He cannot walk, talk, read or write. Nevertheless, WSB-TV reports, he is receiving straight A’s in several courses, including algebra, biology and world history at a school in Gwinnett County, Georgia.
Now, Jared’s father, Wes DeWeese, is publicly questioning exactly how such a feat is possible, given his son’s limited aptitude and cognitive skills.
“My wife and I were pretty
astounded,” Wes DeWeese told WSB-TV. “Glad he’s getting 90s and 100s.
But he can’t do any of these. He has the mental capacity of a
six-month-old.”
As the Daily Mail reports, DeWeese suspects that the grading policy at his son’s school is a sham meant to improve the overall statistics of Gwinnett County schools.
“There’s no way Jared can do
algebra,” he told the station. “My goal isn’t for him to do algebra. My
goal is to have him walk. I would love to hear him say ‘mom’ or ‘dad.’
But I know that’s probably never going to happen.”
A spokesperson for Gwinnett County Schools, Sloan Roach, said that the district is merely following the Georgia Department of Education’s
policies and regulations. Those regulations require schools to provide
students with disabilities — no matter how severe — access to the same
academic courses other students take.
“We take those courses you see other students taking and we adapt those courses,” Roach told WSB-TV.
Roach added that students with disabilities, such as Jared, are graded based on “participation” with the curriculum.
DeWeese said his Jared has received grades ranging between 90 and 100, according to WSB.
For privacy reasons, Roach was unable to offer any comment on Jared’s grades.
Original Post Found at: http://news.yahoo.com/father-says-severely-disabled-18-old-son-high-090429693.html
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Principal Killed After Lunging at Shooter; Police say evidence Found at Gunman’s Home May Point to Motive
Conn. State police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance at Saturday morning's news conference. (Jason Sickles/Yahoo News)The principal, Dawn Hochsprung, 47, and school psychologist Mary Sherlach, 56, died along with 4 other adults and 20 children in the second deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. The alleged shooter, 20-year old Adam Lanza, was found dead at the scene, and his mother, Nancy Lanza, was discovered dead at their home.
Newtown school superintendent Janet Robinson told reporters that the two educators and other staff members had put themselves in harms way to protect children once it became clear the school was under siege.
"The teachers were really, really focused on saving their students," Robinson said.
Police on Saturday said evidence recovered at gunman Lanza's home may provide a motive for the massacre.
State police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance declined to provide specifics about the evidence but said, "we're hopeful it will paint a complete picture."
Authorities say Lanza killed his mother at their home Friday morning before driving to Sandy Hook.
Armed with two semi-automatic pistols, Lanza rapidly sprayed bullets in hallways and classrooms. Lanza killed himself before police officers could reach him.
Lt. Vance said all the bodies were removed from the school overnight. A medical examiner is expected to release the names of the victims later today.
Police have assigned a trooper to support each victim's family in the days ahead. Vance asked reporters to respect the families' grief and privacy.
"This is an extremely heartbreaking thing for them to endure," Lt. Vance said.
Police were expected to release the names of the victims Saturday afternoon. Some names were already being disclosed by family members, including teachers Lauren Rousseau, 30, and Vicki Soto, 27.
It will likely take investigators two more days to process the school crime scene where it is believed Lanza fired as many as 100 rounds from his guns.
"It's going to be a slow, painstaking process," Lt. Vance said.
Original Post Found Here: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/evidence-found-shooter-home-may-point-motive-police-155657663.html
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Oklahoma Teen Arrested in School Shooting Plot
BARTLESVILLE, Okla. — Hours before a gunman opened fire at a Connecticut elementary school,
police in Oklahoma arrested a teenager for allegedly plotting to attack
his high school and trying to recruit classmates to help him.
Police in Bartlesville, a community about 40 miles north of Tulsa, arrested 18-year-old Sammie Eaglebear Chavez
shortly before 5 a.m. Friday on charges of conspiring to cause serious
bodily harm or death. He remained in Washington County Jail on Saturday
on $1 million bond, and he is due in court Jan. 11.
Court documents didn't list an
attorney for Chavez, and calls to a number listed in court documents as
his reached a recorded message saying the line wasn't available.
Layne Jones, an assistant
principal at the school, alerted police to the alleged plot on Thursday,
according to a probable cause statement. A student told authorities
that Chavez had tried to "recruit other students to assist him with
carrying out a plan to lure students into the school auditorium where he
planned to begin shooting them after chaining the doors shut," police
said.
"Sammie tried to recruit other students to assist him with carrying
out a plan to lure students into the school auditorium where he planned
to begin shooting them after chaining the doors shut," Bartlesville
Police Lt. Kevin Ickleberry wrote in the affidavit.Chavez told the students he planned to place bombs at the doors that he'd detonate when police arrived, and he threatened to kill students who didn't want to join him, police wrote.
Investigators said Chavez told a teacher earlier this month that he had bought a .45-caliber gun and had been learning to shoot it. Also, the affidavit said Chavez had been trying to obtain a diagram of school facilities and had used a school computer to seek information on a .22-caliber rifle that could be mounted on a machine gun platform.
Students said they saw Chavez
researching the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, in which 12
Colorado students and a teacher were murdered by two students who also
died.
The district alerted parents and
faculty by email around noon on Friday that it had investigated a
"potential incident" Thursday and forwarded the information to the
police department, which dealt with it appropriately. News was still
trickling out about the attack in Newtown, Conn., in which a gunman
forced his way into an elementary school and killed 20 children, all
ages 6 or 7, and six adults before killing himself.
Superintendent Gary Quinn, in a
news release, credited administrators' quick action in following up on
what he said had been unsubstantiated rumor and presenting their
findings to the authorities.
"We appreciate the excellent
relationship we have with our local law enforcement and their swift
response to the information we provided them. We will always put the
safety of the students of the Bartlesville Public School District first
and foremost."
Original Post Found Here:
http://news.yahoo.com/okla-teen-arrested-school-shooting-plot-184243533.html
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27 Killed in Connecticut Shooting, Including 18 Children
Children waited outside Sandy Hook Elementary School after a shooting on Friday in Newtown, Conn.
The gunman, who was believed to be in his 20s, walked into a classroom
where his mother was a teacher. He shot and killed her and then shot 18
students in the classroom. He also shot seven other adults, and then
killed himself inside the school. Various news outlets identified the
shooter as Ryan Lanza. The shooting ranks among the worst in recent
United States history.
A 9-year-old student said he was in the gym when the shooting erupted.
“We were in the gym, and I heard really loud bangs,'’ said the boy, as
he stood shivering and weeping outside the school with his father’s arms
draped around him. “We thought that someone was knocking something
over. And we heard yelling, and we heard gunshots. We heard lots of
gunshots. We heard someone say, ‘Put your hands up.’ I heard, ‘Don’t
shoot.’ We had to go into the closet in the gym. Then someone came and
told us to run down the hallway. There were police at every door. There
were lots of people crying and screaming.'’
Another student at the school told an NBC affiliate in Connecticut: “I
was in the gym and I heard like seven loud booms, and the gym teachers
told us to go in the corner and we huddled. We all heard these booming
noises, and we started crying. So the gym teachers told us to go into
the office where no one could find us. Then a police officer told us to
run outside.”
State police said the Newtown police called them shortly after 9:30
a.m., according to Lt. J. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police.
“On- and off-duty troopers responded to the school, and with Newtown
police immediately upon arrival entered the school and began an active
shooter search,” Lieutenant Vance said.
Meredith Artley, the managing editor of CNN.com, said that someone who
works at the school told her the shooting happened in the hallway. “She
described it as a ‘Pop, pop, pop,'” Ms. Artley said.
“She said three people went out into the hall and only one person came
back, the vice principal, she said, who was shot in the leg or the foot,
who came crawling back. She cowered under the table and called 911. She
never saw the shooting. There must have been a hundred rounds.”
President Obama was briefed on the shooting at 10:30 a.m., the White House said.
Danbury Hospital said it was treating three patients from the shooting scene, according to its Facebook page. The hospital, which is not far from the elementary school, said it was on lockdown.
At the hospital, stunned-looking personnel in white coats looked shaken
as they gathered in small groups talking about the shooting. In a corner
near the gift shop, one woman comforted a weeping colleague.
In the coffee shop, a few customers finished their sandwiches at the
lunch counter and the cashier wiped tears from her eyes as she rang up
customers.
In a mostly empty fifth-floor waiting room, three women watched local
coverage of the tragedy, shaking their heads at each new horrifying
detail.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy arrived at the scene of the shooting on Friday afternoon.
The school, located among wooded hills and suburban tracts in Fairfield
County, 12 miles east of Danbury, serves kindergarten through fourth
grade. The school has about 700 students.
“It’s just a little country school,'’ said Robert Place, 65, as he stood
near the scene. “The look is very ‘50s or ‘60s. One floor. It’s always
had a good reputation. People come to Newtown for the schools.'’
The school’s principal, Dawn Hochsprung, was reportedly one of those
shot. But at the home of her daughter Cristina Hassinger, in Oakville,
Conn., the family was still awaiting any news of her fate.
“We’re looking for any hope,” said Ryan Hassinger, the son-in-law of the
principal. “If she’s in the hospital, any chance is better.”
He said that his wife, Cristina, 28, and “her sister are there now,”
with Connecticut state troopers, and that he and other relatives were
awaiting word on any news.
“I looked on Twitter and it says that she is passed,” said Mr. Hassinger. But, he added, the family was “just waiting.”
A photograph published by a local newspaper, The Newtown Bee, showed a line of children being escorted out of the school with some of the children crying.
In front of a senior center next door to the school, a 20-year-old woman
was with her 4-year-old sister, who was in the school at the time of
the shooting. The older woman came to pick up her younger sister along
with their mother. The girl had her arms and legs wrapped around her
older sister.
When a reporter asked the woman what the little girl knew of what had
happened, the woman said, “Absolutely nothing, and we don’t plan to tell
her anything.”
3lau and Sound Remedy in Concert
3lau and Sound Remedy are playing at The Fonda Theater in Los Angeles today, December 14, at 9:00 PM. Tickets are $20 with a small processing fee! Check it out! Buy tickets at http://www.fondatheatre.com/events/
Jack White Explains Those Lady Gaga Comments
After questioning Lady Gaga's authenticity in an interview with Esquire UK, Jack White has found himself in the midst of what he calls a "tabloidesque drama."
The solo musician held a conversation with the publication that ranged from the state of modern celebrity to Twitter to the Mother Monster.“I don’t think she lives it because it’s all artifice,” he said of Gaga. “It’s all image with no meaning behind it. You can’t sink your teeth into it. It’s a sound bite. It’s very of this age, because that’s what people want.”
The quote was viewed as White making a critique on Gaga's music, but, as he says in a statement issued Wednesday, he was not.
"I never said anything about her music, or questioned the authenticity of her songs in any way," White says. "I was in a conversation about the drawbacks of image for the sake of image, and that it is popular nowadays to not question an image in front of you, but only to label it as 'cool' or 'weird' quickly and dispose of it. I don't like my comments about Lady Gaga's presentation being changed into some sort of negative critique of her music."
Someone with a bigger legal team might be able to "hold [journalists] accountable for what they say," but White's going to stick to Twitter and the Internet, he said.
"I also think that kind of tabloid drama encourages artists to not express their opinions in the press, and instead give polite soundbites that don't stimulate thought about creativity and the consumption of art in its many guises," White said. "Peace to Lady Gaga and I fully congratulate and compliment her on her championing of gay rights issues and the momentum it's given to help create change."
Original Post Found Here: http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/05/jack-white-explains-those-lady-gaga-comments/?hpt=en_bn5
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