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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Group of 20 Pledges to Let Markets Set Currency Values

MOSCOW — In a concerted move to quiet fears of a so-called currency war, finance officials from the world’s largest industrial and emerging economies expressed their commitment on Saturday to “market-determined exchange rate systems and exchange rate flexibility.” In a statement issued at the conclusion of a conference here of the Group of 20, the finance ministers from the Group of 20...

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AMC Aims to Repeat <em>Walking Dead</em> Success With New <em>Terror</em> Series

And the first cable network looking to capitalize on the massive mainstream success of The Walking Dead TV show is … Walking Dead network AMC. After proving that modern horror can draw audiences to rival — and, in some cases, beat — the big broadcast networks with the adaptation of Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard’s long-running zombie comic, the network is developing...

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Work starts on Seaside Heights, NJ, boardwalk

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. (AP) — The sounds shaking the ground in Seaside Heights aren’t from nightclubs.The town featured in the MTV reality show “Jersey Shore” has started rebuilding the boardwalk that was destroyed by Superstorm Sandy.Heavy equipment began drilling holes in the sand and pounding pilings into the ground Friday. It’s the first phase of a project that could ultimately cost $ 6 million...

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Fat Dad: Baking for Love

Fat DadDawn Lerman writes about growing up with a fat dad.My grandmother Beauty always told me that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, and by the look of pure delight on my dad’s face when he ate a piece of warm, homemade chocolate cake, or bit into a just-baked crispy cookie, I grew to believe this was true. I had no doubt that when the time came, and I liked a boy, that a batch of...

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Supreme Court to Hear Monsanto Seed Patent Case

With his mere 300 acres of soybeans, corn and wheat, Vernon Hugh Bowman said, “I’m not even big enough to be called a farmer.” Yet the 75-year-old farmer from southwestern Indiana will face off Tuesday against the world’s largest seed company, Monsanto, in a Supreme Court case that could deal a huge blow to the future of genetically modified crops, and also affect other fields from medical...

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Oscar Pistorius arrested in slaying of model Reeva Steenkamp

Paralympian Oscar Pistorius charged with murder ...

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SmartBall Keeps an Eye <em>Inside</em> the Ball

The old sports cliche “keep your eye on the ball” is getting a modern twist by an Australian sports tech company that’s putting an eye inside the ball.Catapult Sports is rolling out the first major trial of ball-tracking technology this spring during the Australian Football League’s pre-season NAB Cup. SmartBall uses a tiny sensor inside the ball and fist-sized GPS trackers worn by players...

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Bosnian Roma family plays itself in stark film

BERLIN (Reuters) – When Bosnian director Danis Tanovic learned about a Roma family refused emergency medical care because they could not pay for it, he not only decided to turn their story into a film but managed to convince the couple to play themselves.The result is “An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker”, a simple, powerful tale of one man’s struggle to provide for his partner and two daughters...

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Well: Afraid to Speak Up to Medical Power

The slender, weather-beaten, elderly Polish immigrant had been diagnosed with lung cancer nearly a year earlier and was receiving chemotherapy as part of a clinical trial. I was a surgical consultant, called in to help control the fluid that kept accumulating in his lungs.During one visit, he motioned for me to come closer. His voice was hoarse from a tumor that spread, and the constant hissing from...

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DealBook: Anheuser-Busch InBev Revises Grupo Modelo Deal

11:38 a.m. | Updated LONDON – Anheuser-Busch InBev moved on Thursday to rescue its $20.1 billion proposed takeover of Grupo Modelo of Mexico, the maker of Corona beer, by making concessions aimed at persuading American antitrust authorities to let the deal proceed.Under the revised terms, Anheuser-Busch InBev offered to sell the rights to Corona and other Grupo Modelo brands in the United States to...

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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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Bowlus Travel Trailer Is So Retro-Cool It Hurts

Think there’s nothing better than a vintage Airstream, those old-school Twinkie-shaped campers that define Americana? Think again. The Bowlus Road Chief is even cooler, and it’s coming back.The original Road Chief dates to the 1930s and was created by Hawley Bowlus, the aviation designer who brought us the Spirit of St. Louis. They’re also crazy expensive because...

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Phys Ed: Getting the Right Dose of Exercise

Phys EdGretchen Reynolds on the science of fitness.A common concern about exercise is that if you don’t do it almost every day, you won’t achieve much health benefit. But a commendable new study suggests otherwise, showing that a fairly leisurely approach to scheduling workouts may actually be more beneficial than working out almost daily.For the new study, published this month in Exercise & Science...

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Deal Professor: Unusual Moves in Confronting Apple's Huge Pile of Cash

The fight over Apple’s $140 billion cash pile is proving the adage that money can make people do strange things.And it is not just Apple that is doing things it would not have done before. The hedge fund manager David Einhorn, famous for shorting stocks like Lehman Brothers, has gone long on Apple, betting heavily that Apple’s stock is undervalued — and blaming that eye-popping mountain of money.While...

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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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Haters Don't Hate Amazon (Facebook On the Other Hand ...)

Check the comments section on any tech blog: People love to hate Apple. They love to hate Microsoft. And Facebook. Each of these companies has spawned a parallel online hater community.But Amazon? Not so much.The Amazon haters are no doubt out there. But I contend that the intensity of that hatred just isn’t as high. Backing me up on that is a new survey from Harris Interactive (HPOL) that...

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CNN slots Jake Tapper Show, cuts length of Wolf Blitzer’s “Situation Room”

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – CNN slotted new anchor Jake Tapper‘s upcoming show for 4 p.m. on weekdays, cutting Wolf Blitzer‘s “The Situation Room” back one hour, a CNN spokeswoman told TheWrap.Tapper, lured away from ABC News in December, was CNN boss Jeff Zucker‘s first major hire since taking charge of the network. Now, with his own show coming in March, Blitzer’s program will but cut from three...

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DealBook: Ryanair Indicates Regulators Will Reject Aer Lingus Deal

Ryanair, the discount European airline, is preparing for a fight with regulators over its deal to buy Aer Lingus.On Tuesday, Ryanair said the European Commission “intends to prohibit” its offer for Aer Lingus, despite the airline’s attempts to appease antitrust concerns. Ryanair added that it planned to appeal the decision.“It appears clear from this morning’s meeting, that no matter what remedies...

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Grammys 2013: Fun., Mumford, Gotye lead a newer generation

Grammy Awards voters gave their top honor to British roots music band Mumford & Sons for their album "Babel" on Sunday at...

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