Deasy wants 30% of teacher evaluations based on test scores

L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy announced Friday that as much as 30% of a teacher's evaluation will be based on student test scores,...

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The Quirky World of Competitive Snow Carving Comes to California

Team Truckee entered the competition late, after Team Russia was unable to get visas in time. Their sculpture: "Rising Tide."The weekend at Northstar ski resort in Truckee, California, is beautiful, sunny, and in the 30s. For eight teams of snow carvers from around the world, though, it’s terrible — the melty snow is sloppy, hard to carve, and even dangerous.Teams of three from Finland, Japan,...

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Livestrong Tattoos as Reminder of Personal Connections, Not Tarnished Brand

As Jax Mariash went under the tattoo needle to have “Livestrong” emblazoned on her wrist in bold black letters, she did not think about Lance Armstrong or doping allegations, but rather the 10 people affected by cancer she wanted to commemorate in ink. It was Jan. 22, 2010, exactly a year since the disease had taken the life of her stepfather. After years of wearing yellow Livestrong wristbands, she...

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'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius weeps as he faces murder charge

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee revered in South Africa for overcoming his...

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Odds of Death by Asteroid? Lower Than Plane Crash, Higher Than Lightning

Most people in the U.S. woke up to a spectacular sight this morning: videos from Russian dashboard cameras showing a fireball in the sky crashing down to the Earth. The 15-meter meteorite impacted the atmosphere and exploded above the Chelyabinsk region of central Russia, injuring an estimated 1,200 people and causing roughly 1 billion rubles ($33 million...

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Well: Winter Fruit Desert Recipes

Whether you are looking for an extra dose of vitamins or just love the flavors of fruit, winter is a time of abundance at the fruit stand. Martha Rose Shulman writes:When I lived in Europe I got hooked on blood oranges, small oranges with dark ruby red pulp and mottled orange-red skins. Their flavor is deep and multidimensional, with nuances of berries and cherries. And like berries, cherries and...

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DealBook: The Icahn Effect on Herbalife Shares

1:43 p.m. | Updated Investors in Herbalife initially cheered the disclosure that Carl C. Icahn had taken a big stake in the company, sending the stock price higher on Friday morning.But that enthusiasm appeared to fade a bit once Mr. Icahn had an opportunity to explain his reasons for investing in the nutritional supplements company.The stock gave up some gains at midday on Friday, falling below $40...

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Oscar Pistorius remains in jail facing murder charge

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- South African athlete Oscar Pistorius, who made history last year as the first double amputee...

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Animals' Love Lives Look a Lot Like Ours

For most of the 20th century, animals weren’t allowed to have emotions. Your dog didn’t actually love you—it (and it was an “it” back then) was just a stimulus–response machine conditioned to act a specific way in a specific situation. Scientists who said otherwise—that animals actually had minds capable of thoughts and emotions—were accused of “anthropomorphizing” and ridiculed by their peers. Even...

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Actor Steve Martin is first-time dad at age 67

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actor, writer and comedian Steve Martin has become a dad for the first time at age 67 – and managed to keep it secret from the media for more than a month.Martin and his second wife, Anne Stringfield, 41, “are new parents and recently welcomed a child,” a spokeswoman for the actor said on Wednesday.The spokeswoman gave no details, including the sex of the child or the date...

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U.S. Approves First Method to Give the Blind Limited Vision

The F.D.A. Approves a Bionic Eye: The Argus II allows Barbara Campbell, who lost her sight 20 years ago, to see the world through patterns of light. Scientists hope it is the beginning of even more treatments.The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the first treatment to give limited vision to people who are blind, involving a technology called the “artificial retina.” With...

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Judge Clears Transocean Plea in Gulf Spill

HOUSTON – A federal judge in New Orleans approved on Thursday Transocean’s agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge and pay $400 million in criminal penalties for its role in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil well blowout that left 11 workers dead and resulted in a yearlong moratorium on deepwater drilling. The Switzerland-based owner and operator of the ill-fated Deepwater...

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Dorner manhunt: Investigators work to ID charred human remains

After what LAPD Chief Charlie Beck called "a bittersweet night," investigators Wednesday were in the process of identifying...

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DC Comics Under Fire for Hiring Anti-Gay Author Orson Scott Card to Write <em>Superman</em>

Ahead of the release of this summer’s Superman film Man of Steel, DC Entertainment is launching a new digital anthology of short comics starring the last son of Krypton entitled Adventures of Superman. Unfortunately, the series is being launched with a story written by Ender’s Game author and outspoken homophobe Orson Scott Card, leading to an online backlash against both the project...

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Beyonce shows marriage, miscarriage and Blue Ivy in documentary

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Beyonce is letting fans into her charmed life, introducing daughter Blue Ivy to the world and talking about motherhood, marriage and miscarriage in a new documentary.The 31-year-old pop singer and her rapper husband, Jay-Z, 43, one of music’s most influential couples, have been guarded about their private life.But in “Life is But a Dream,” airing on Saturday on cable channel...

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Well: Straining to Hear and Fend Off Dementia

At a party the other night, a fund-raiser for a literary magazine, I found myself in conversation with a well-known author whose work I greatly admire. I use the term “conversation” loosely. I couldn’t hear a word he said. But worse, the effort I was making to hear was using up so much brain power that I completely forgot the titles of his books.A senior moment? Maybe. (I’m 65.) But for me, it’s complicated...

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DealBook: Societe Generale to Restructure After 4th-Quarter Loss

5:05 a.m. | Updated PARIS – Société Générale, one of the largest French banks, posted a larger fourth-quarter loss on Wednesday than the market had expected and said it would restructure to cut costs and simplify operations.The bank reported a net loss of 476 million euros ($640 million), compared with a profit of 100 million euros in the period a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Reuters had expected...

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Ex-Bell officials defend themselves as honorable public servants

Less than three years ago, they were handcuffed and taken away in a case alleged to be so extensive that the district attorney...

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Why Software Developers Should Learn the Thriller Dance

As the CEO of Urban Airship — a Portland, Oregon company that offers tools for building mobile software applications — Scott Kveton oversees a team of 121 employees, including 75 developers and other technical types. One afternoon, Barb Stark walked into his office, and in typical fashion, she unloaded a plan to further the education of these hard-core programmers. “I need you to just say...

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How Oscar played matchmaker for a Scandinavian mutual admiration society

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Two Scandinavian directors.Nikolaj Arcel, nominated for his smart Danish costume drama “A Royal Affair,” and Espen Sandberg, the co-director with Joachim Roenning of the Norwegian epic “Kon-Tiki,” had never met before this awards season – but when both films were nominated for Oscars and Golden Globes, the two men began to find themselves at the same events in Los Angeles,...

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