August 7 Morning Newscast

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August 07, 2012 Morning Edition News

The president of an education agency that awards school districts accreditation says he has “serious concerns” with the Birmingham Board of Education. The Birmingham News reports that Mark Elgart, president and chief executive officer of AdvancEd, an umbrella of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation agency, said he expects the Birmingham school board to respond in writing to a letter he sent July 31, outlining what steps the board is taking to fix it’s governance problems. Those problems in-fighting among the board, as well as its superintendent and state officials, who are in Birmingham conducting a state takeover of the district. Elgart says if the Birmingham school board does not respond to his concerns by Oct. 1, he will launch a formal investigation into the district’s governance. Elgart is also suspending a request by Birmingham for district-wide accreditation. Birmingham is in the early stages of a two-year process to earn district-wide accreditation instead of having to go through the arduous task of getting each individual school accredited. Many districts are moving toward district-wide accreditation because it is less disruptive and gives districts an overall look at how they are doing system-wide.


Testimony continues today in a preliminary hearing between Allan Pizzato and the Alabama Education Television Commission. Pizzato, the former executive director of Alabama Public Television, filed the lawsuit against the Commission and its seven members, claiming they violated the state’s open meetings law when they fired him at a June 12th meeting. During testimony yesterday, Charles Grantham, the Chief Operations Officer for APT, testified that following a special meeting by the Commission last Wednesday, he felt his job was threatened in a conversation with Commission member J. Holland. The next day Grantham resigned from his position, effective August 31st. Testimony is expected to conclude this morning.


MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The traditionally Democratic Alabama AFL-CIO has endorsed Republican Roy Moore for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. State AFL-CIO President Al Henley says it’s the first time the union organization has backed Moore, who was the only Republican endorsed for state office when the organization met in Montgomery to pick its favorites. Henley said the AFL-CIO doesn’t share Moore’s view on separation of church and state, but he had a record as a circuit judge in Gadsden and as a Supreme Court justice from 2001-2003 of treating the average person fairly in court. Moore is attempting a political comeback after losing two races for governor following his removal as chief justice in 2003.

 

Israeli strike kills Lebanese soldier as Hezbollah fires rockets at Israel

An Israeli strike on a Lebanese army center on Sunday killed one soldier and wounded 18 others, the Lebanese military said.

Jimmy O. Yang opens up about one of his deepest fears

Actor Jimmy O. Yang is learning how to take compliments. On Wild Card this week, he opens up about love languages and fears.

A photographer’s devastating documentation of El Salvador’s civil war in the 1980s

In Legacy of Lies, El Salvador 1981-1984, photojournalist Robert Nickelsberg documents how U.S. foreign policy fueled a violent 13-year civil war in El Salvador.

With talks teetering, climate negotiators struck a controversial $300 billion deal

Representatives of developing countries and climate activists were furious over the outcome, saying $300 billion annually from industrialized countries is far short of what vulnerable nations need to better protect themselves from climate change.

Alcohol poisoning deaths in Laos renew concerns about methanol. Here’s what to know

The U.S., Australia and U.K. have issued warnings for travelers in Vang Vieng after several tourists died in a suspected methanol poisoning outbreak.

Trump taps Brooke Rollins of America First Policy Institute for agriculture secretary

President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Brooke Rollins, head of the America First Policy Institute, to oversee the Department of Agriculture. She has a long history in conservative politics.

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