Local News:

ISTEP-Plus scores were released Wednesday by the Indiana Department of Education, stirring reactions ranging from pride to disappointment across the Madison County area. The ISTEP test is administered yearly to students in grade 3-10 in Indiana schools. The test is designed to measure whether schools are making yearly progress mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. It is also a barometer of the academic progress of individual students. While some classes did well enough to deserve a pat on the back, such as the Lapel sixth-graders, 84 percent of whom passed overall, there is lots of room for improvement. At the low end of the spectrum, only 23 percent of third-graders at Anderson Elementary passed overall. Almost 8 in 10 failed. This is unacceptable.

http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/archivesearch/local_story_346235306.html

State News:

Students at the Winamac middle and high schools, which share a building, were sent home early Thursday after a threat was found written on a mirror in a boys' restroom. Police searched the building using bomb-sniffing dogs but found nothing, said Robert J. Klitzman, superintendent of Eastern Pulaski Community Schools. He said officials think the threat, found in the middle school section of the building, was a hoax. Classes will resume as normal today, he said. There have been many threats in the past year between schools. Officials are concerned that students are doing this to get out of school.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articleAID=/20071214/LOCAL/712140428/1006/LOCAL

National News:

Americans from Oklahoma to New England are bracing for more harsh winter weather as a storm system continues to bring waves of misery. In the Midwest, where 1 million customers were blacked out at the storm's peak, about 500,000 homes and businesses remained without power early Friday in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. A blast of heavy snow forecast for Friday was likely to slow utility crews in Oklahoma. Another storm was also expected to hit the Northeast this weekend, with a mix of rain and sleet hitting the coast, and heavy snow farther inland. As the system gets to the Northeast, it's really going to intensify and deepen and this is going to cause a lot of trouble.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/weather/12/14/winter.storm.ap/index.html

World News:

An Indonesian man died of bird flu, bringing the death toll in the country worst hit by the virus to 93. Authorities were trying to ascertain how the 47-year-old man contracted the deadly strain of the disease, which has infected 115 people in Indonesia. The man began showing signs of illness on December 2 and died Thursday night at a hospital in Jakarta, after being admitted with a fever, cough and other flu-like symptoms.Indonesia has recorded regular deaths from bird flu since the virus began ravaging poultry stocks across Asia in 2003. And its 93 deaths now account for almost half of the recorded fatalities worldwide.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/13/bird.flu.ap/index.html

Business News:

Analysts say there is a reason why shoppers aren't splurging: Not enough new fashion. Must-have fashion bolsters retail sales by making people feel their current wardrobes are out of date. That was the case in 2003, when color made a comeback and suddenly the black and gray of the previous decade looked stale. It happened again in 2004, when lady-like styles such as boucle jackets and ruffled blouses replaced the utilitarian looks of prior years. Most recently, in 2006, there were skinny jeans and baby doll dresses styles that ushered in a whole new silhouette. Clothing still accounts for a majority of holiday shopping, although it has been losing ground in recent years. Some 54 percent of shoppers said they planned to purchase clothing this holiday season, according to a survey of 1,943 consumers conducted by NPD in September.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/13/news/companies/fashion_kapner.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007121403

Health News:

Scientists think they have figured out why pregnant women don't lose their balance and fall over despite ever-growing weight up front. Evolution provided slight differences from men in women's lower backs and hip joints, allowing them to adjust their center of gravity. This elegant engineering is seen only in female humans and our immediate ancestors who walked on two feet, but not in chimps and apes. Harvard anthropology researcher Katherine Whitcome found two physical differences in male and female backs that until now had gone . One lower lumbar vertebra is wedged-shaped in women and more square in men; and a key hip joint is 14 percent larger in women than men when body size is taken into account.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/12/12/pregnancy.balance.ap/index.html

Iraq News:

The FBI is investigating the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. The investigation of Stuart Bowen involves possible electronic tampering, including alleged efforts by the inspector general to go through e-mails of employees in his office. It is being handled by the FBI's Washington field office, according to law enforcement officials, who like the first officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation. According to one of the officials close to the investigation, the FBI is looking into several issues of possible fraud and abuse and has interviewed a number of former and current employees, some two or three times. A grand jury has been impaneled, and has issued subpoenas for documents.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/13/iraq.probe.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch

Election News:

Former Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee made his way to the top among Republican presidential candidates in South Carolina, while Hillary Clinton's lead over Barack Obama among Democrats. The Opinion Research Corporation poll of South Carolinians was released Friday and Huckabee was the choice of 24 percent of South Carolina Republicans in the survey conducted by telephone between Dec. 9 and 12. When the same poll was conducted in July, Huckabee was in the lower tier with just 3 percent of support from registered GOP voters. Fred Thompson was second with 17 percent, slightly down from his previous 18 percent.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/12/14/sc-poll-huckabee-bolts-to-top-of-gop-obama-cuts-into-clinton-lead/


Technology News:

Japanese researchers tested chimps against adults in tests of short-term memory, and it turned out to be that the chimps won. This challenges the belief of many people. Matsuzawa, a pioneer in studying the mental abilities of chimps, said even he was surprised. He and colleague Sana Inoue report the results in Tuesday's issue of the journal Current Biology.The chimps saw nine numbers displayed on a computer screen. When they touched the first number, the other eight turned into white squares. The test was to touch all these squares in the order of the numbers that used to be there.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/12/03/chimp.memory.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch


Sports News:

There will be no backing off from the challenge of perfection. No taking a pass on history in favor of resting starters for the playoffs. The team that can not lose is going for it all. Their desire level stands as mid-December approaches, just review Sunday's 34-13 dismantling of Pittsburgh, the team that supposedly was best positioned to end New England's 2007 magic carpet ride. Once again we discovered these Patriots are not messing around. They mean business. Not only did they want to just win on Sunday, they wanted to win mean.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/football/patriots/view.bg?articleid=1050065

Local News:

There was a slight delay in the lighting of the Christmas tree at Town Center Park, but it wasn’t enough to dampen the mood of the townspeople attending the sixth annual Winterfest on Friday. “Let there be light!” Mayor Kevin Smith said to a crowd of about 75 after the tree failed to light after a short countdown at 6:30 p.m. The people were very happy to have a small tree representing the Christmas spirit of the town. Along with Town Center Park and Anderson Center for the Arts, several other downtown locations were part of the event.

http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/local/local_story_334204924.html


World News:

Faced with melting polar ice caps and droughts that are getting worse, climate experts at a massive U.N. conference on Monday urged quick action toward a new international pact that is growing an increasingly destructive rise in world temperatures. A main goal of the two-week conference, that opened with delegates from almost 190 countries that attended, will be to draw a skeptical United States into an agreement to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gases. Conference leaders strongly encouraged delegates to move quickly to combat climate change.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/03/climate.conference.ap/index.html



National News:

Drivers in most of the Northeast moved through a terrible mix of rain, sleet and snow Monday. A storm caused at least 11 deaths so far and blanketed the region after covering roads in the Midwest. 40 mph of high winds hit many parts of western New York. Schools were delayed or canceled as the city awoke early Monday morning with a suprise of up to 6 inches of snow on the ground. The National Weather Service has sentenced a foot of snow in the mountains of New England and possibly 20 inches in northern Maine. Upstate New York's central Adirondacks and Lake George region could see 12 inches of snow.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/weather/12/03/winter.weather.ap/index.html


Election News:

Mike Huckabee, who is the former Arkansas governor, has finally made a small lead over the former front runner, Mitt Romney in Iowa. Romney has been the top runner in Iowa for months.The poll by The Des Moines Register shows Huckabee is on top with 29 percent to 24, with Rudy Giuliani at 13 percent, followed by Fred Thompson at nine percent, John McCain and Ron Paul each with seven and Tom Tancredo polling six percent. Things are also close for the Democrats. Obama holds a slight edge over Clinton and Edwards.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

Health News:

As many as one in three U.S. children have been ridiculed or threatened through computer messages, according to one estimate of the emerging problem of cyberbullying. Another new study found the problem is less common, with one in 10 kids reporting online harassment. But health experts have said even the lower estimate signals a growing and concerning public health issue. CDC officials have said that it's difficult to say how severe online harassment is as a public health issue, because a posting or e-mail that might upset some children is shrugged off by others.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/11/27/cyber.bullies.ap/index.html

Technology News:

Based on the weather reports and restaurant listings you check out online, Yahoo Inc. has a good idea where you live. Based on searches you've done, the Web portal might also know where you want to go. Elsewhere, Facebook is mining friends' buying habits and are buying companies to expand their reach and capabilities for targeting all so advertisers can try to hit you with what they believe you're most likely to buy, even as doing so means amassing more data on you.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/12/02/targeting.ads.ap/index.html

Business News:

U.S. coffee, Starbucks Corporation said it plans to build a regional support center in Rwanda for farmers in east Africa. The industry there has faced some difficulty with recent price spikes. This center will offer new opportunities to enhance the methods and produce even greater volumes of their specialty coffees. On Wednesday, Starbucks revealed plans to build a support center for Ethiopian coffee farmers, claiming an end to a long-running dispute with the east African country. The Ethiopian center was the firm's first in Africa.

http://money.cnn.com//news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200712020555DOWJONESDJONLINE000289_FORTUNE5.htm

Sports News:

A fourth man charged in the shooting death of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor appeared in court Sunday and was denied bond. Jason Mitchell, 19, appeared for a short amount of time on via videoconference in a Fort Myers courtroom. Also on Saturday Rivera, Wardlow and Hunte made their appearance on Saturday. They all have been charged with unpremeditated murder, armed burglary and home invasion with a fire arm or another deadly weapon.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/nfl/11/30/taylor.ap/index.html

Sports News:

On Tuesday Kevin Youkilis, from the Boston Red Sox, shaved off his goatee for 5,000 dollars that went to a charity. This is a tradition for the Red Sox for post-championship celebration. Many other teammates followed this tradition along with Kevin. Youkilis was shaved by a few stylists from a local salon at the Cask 'n Flagon, which is a bar across the street from Fenway Park. Youkilis said that he was planning to regrow his goatee in the the offseason, and possibly cut it off again if they would win another World Series next season.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/11/13/bc.bba.redsox.youkilis.ap/index.html

Health News:

In Bangalore, India a 2 year old girl born with four arms and four legs. Lakshmi had to have massive surgury to remove the extra limbs. The surgury took 48 hours to accomplish and the results turned out very well. Doctors did take her off a respirator later on Friday but they were still monitoring her closely during the 72 hour period following the operation. She was allowed to spend some time with her parents and seemed a bit confused by what was going on. Doctors said the surgery was a success and she would not need any further big reconstructive surgery. Lakshmi will most likely need further treatments and a possible surgery for her clubbed feet so she would be able to walk.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/11/13/india.girl/index.html?iref=newssearch


National News:

Donda West, the 58 year old mother of Kanye West died Saturday because of a cosmetic procedure in Los Angeles, California. Although, the doctors did not give exact details of what caused the death. West was a retired professor and chair of the english department at Chicago State University in 2004. She also wrote a book called "Raising Kanye: Life Lessons From the Mother of a Hip-Hop Superstar." Donda also became the manager of Kayne after retiring and was a major influence on his life. The song "Hey Mama," was a song that was written about her.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/11/11/obit.west.ap/index.html#cnnSTCText

Technology News:

In San Francisco, California, there were dozens of dead and hurt seabirds found in the San Francisco Bay. They were coated in some kind of black goo. These birds are the victims of the oil spill on Wednesday. The spill was a 58,000 gallon spill and could maybe destroy wildlife for a long time. Many people were trying to help save the birds and other creatures of the Bay before they were hurt anymore. The oil was spilled from a South Korea bound container ship when it hit a tower that was supporting the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in thick fog. The accident did not damage the span, but there was a gash in the vessel's hull.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/09/bay.spill.ap/

Business News:

Facebook is now focusing on new concepts called word of mouth marketing. They are trying to use all sorts of technology to create their page. Facebook is a place where anyone can join and interact with their peers in their area and other areas of the country and even world. They can talk about products being sold and even products that they are selling. Marketers are now convinced that facebook is the best place to advertise because people will listen to their friends instead of a 30 second commercial on television. This kind of technology is now the new way to comunicate with buyers.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/06/technology/facebook_ads.ap/index.htm

State News:

The Indiana State University President Lloyd Benjamin is promising to help students that are very upset by the discovery of a rope that was supposed to resemble a noose in a campus tree push hate crimes legislation in the General Assembly next session. Benjamin, who condemned the noose incident on October 25, at the Terre Haute campus, has encouraged students to carry out their plan to circulate a petition on hate crimes legislation.

Sports News:

Only hours before the game of the AL championship series Sunday, Byrd admitted to using human growth hormone for a medical condition. But the Cleveland Indians' right-hander claims he never injected the banned drug without a doctor's prescription. Byrd says that he has a reputation. He speaks to kids, he speak to churches. He doesn't want his fans to think by any means that he cheated. Byrd has been buying the drug the drug throughout the year and wanted them to make him bigger and stronger.

World News:

On Wednesday, Afghanistan civilians piled all of their belongings into trucks and left for two villages and was stormed by hundreds of Taliban militants outside of Afghanistan’s second-largest city. Canadian and Afghan troops had about 250 of the insurgents surrounded. The troops killed 50 militants in three days of fighting. Three policemen and one Afghan soldier died in the fighting. The Taliban and other terrorist groups are conquering the land they want because no one has stopped them. This is a trouble in Afgahan life that is going to be continuing.


Health News:

With the cold and flu season coming up there are some things that we need to do to prevent sickness from happening. Many things have been said, like to wear warm clothes, eat chicken soup. But just because those instructions have been around for decades doesn't necessarily mean they're effective. Do not Sneeze into your hands. It's hoped that sneezing into the elbow will prevent the further spread of germs, for young kids and adults alike. Keep your hands clean. Washing your hands successfully may take longer than you're used to the CDC recommends rubbing your hands for 20 seconds or you can sing "Happy Birthday" twice to get the full effect of getting your hands completely clean.

Technology News:

While in space, astronaut Scott Parazynski, fixed a solar energy panel, that had ripped, on the international space station Saturday in a difficult and dangerous emergency procedure. He installed five braces on the torn wing and clipped the wires that had ripped it in two places as it was becoming undone on Tuesday. As the crew slowly deployed the wing to its full 115-foot length, he watched closely for more problems. The wing was almost unfurled when the crew noticed the damage on Tuesday.