BCR's Daily Fishwrap Report for November 23, 2009

It's so good to be home in Durham, after a whirlwind 16+ days of traveling helping a parent through an out-of-state relocation. As I noted over on Twitter yesterday, even the ugly Southwest Airlines portion of Terminal 1 at RDU looks nice when it means you're coming home. In local news:

NC Mutual Faces Va. Regulator Heat: Virginia regulators have proposed NC Mutual from doing new business in their state, based on their analysis that the firm's surplus has dropped to hazardous low conditions. The company has asked for a hearing on the matter. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Rolling Hills Charrettes Wrap: Fri. night saw a wrap-up of the crash-course planning effort for the Rolling Hills/Southside redevelopment, looking at again-City-owned and Self-Help controlled properties in the area. Apartments and townhouses would meet with residential/commercial flexible-use structures and a street pattern reverted to be more similar to that in the old Hayti, sez the N&O's Jim Wise in the summary meeting's only coverage. Not surprisingly, locals had some concerns over displacement and who'd gain from the economic opportunity. (N&O)

Reading Street Buys a Snickers, Not Going Anywhere for a While: DPS school board member Kristen Kainz thanked a teacher for raising her concern over the Reading Street program -- teachers have been reticent to speak up publicly on the program -- but school board chair Minnie Forte-Brown made clear, speaking it seems for the board, that the literacy problems in the district were real and that the program would be given a chance to turn things around. The Herald-Sun piece is definitely worth a full read. (Herald-Sun)

Skate Park Popular -- Helmets/Pads Not So Much: The Herald-Sun looks at the recently-opened downtown skateboard park, which is drawing rave reviews from skaters visiting from all over the US and decent-sized crowds. A number are refusing to wear helmets and protective pads, though, with Parks & Rec set to crackdown after a first month of issuing warnings; a number of skaters have complained they don't want to wear protective gear despite the City requirement. (Herald-Sun #1, #2)

Tamiflu H1N1 Resistance at Duke: How fortunate -- not only was the Triangle the only part of the US to deal with SARS (in Orange Co. a few years back), it's also one of only two sites in the world reporting Tamiflu resistance in a small cluster of H1N1 patients. Now that's being on the cutting edge. Er, yay! (Herald-Sun)

Morehead Hills Apartments Scrutinized: The senior-citizens subsidized apartments complex Morehead Hills near downtown gets a look by The Durham News in this weekend's issue, after a number of residents complained to the paper (and regulators) over maintenance, mold and pests in units. The management company disputes the claims; a state director of HUD said this month the property didn't meet standards, though the City's spring inspection described what it found as "minor and common in aging apartment buildings." (N&O #1, #2)

Phantom's Here: Phantom of the Opera kicks off its month-long run at the DPAC on Thanksgiving Day, running through Dec. 20. The Herald-Sun looks at the setup and prep for the major national touring production of the longtime Broadway hit. (Herald-Sun)

NCCU Lags in Research Funding But Making Strides: NC Central has only gotten $400k in stim-bux, compared to hundreds of times that take at UNC and Duke, but its research wins are up, from $9m in FY08 to $21m in recently-ended FY09. (Herald-Sun)

Trinity Green Composting: Also, a nice feature in this weekend's TDN on Trinity Green, a new pick-up/drop-off service for composting. Leave your scraps in a bucket, get 'em combined with others at a compost pile, get some compost back every few weeks. (The Durham News)

Duke's Reductions, in Context: Not new news per se, but just seen by BCR, Duke's alumni magazine has a nice look at the university's financial strains -- from how the school is affected differently than its peers (far less dependent on endowment pay-out), to the theory behind job cuts and cost reductions, to impact on capital spending, it's a good read, and probably the most comprehensive look at the issue in local media to date. (Duke Magazine)

Tornquist Featured: If you enjoy the food over at Watts Grocery, you'll like the N&O's feature on owner and executive chef Amy Tornquist in the N&O this Sunday.

Comments

[Todd P]

Sounds like the School Board has gone 'All in' with Reading Street, a Vegas-style gamble with our kids education. Any improvement of any kind is going to get attributed to Reading Street, regardless of whether it is verifiable or not.

As one of the "few, and I do mean a few", per Ms. Forte-Brown, DPS parents unhappy with this one-size-fits-all program, it is kind of insulting to see that the board's response is to marginalize the opposition.

The school board elections should be interesting next year, as that is apparently the only way to change the direction of DPS. Candidate filing begins on Monday, February 8, 2010 and ends on Friday, February 26, 2010. The Primary is May 4th.

[brains are important]

I'm dreading the day I read of serious head trauma at the skate park. The place is a fantastic venue for everyone, especially our city's youth. I just wish folks would understand how absurd it is to skate without a helmet. I fear that I'll have to mourn, yet again, the death of child caused solely by a fear of being, what?, slightly uncomfortable or unfashionable. Seriously?

[TH]

"That courage that you just demonstrated, Ms. Foote," she said, "will have a ripple effect. It's not lost. It's not lost on us." .... This was Kainz response to the teacher who spoke at the school board meeting. Is that a thank you? I think Emily Post would say it is not.

On another note, with the literacy changes this year most DPS elementary schools, ours included, have cut science. My 1st grader gets a tiny taste of science.... only because her incredible teacher tries work it in where she can. I imagine other less qualified or less creative teachers in the district are not working science into their 1st grade classes. But more disturbing my 4th grader now only gets 1/2 a year of science and 1/2 year of social studies. There is not time for both so they are flip flopped in the schedule. Given that just today President Obama spoke about the importance of science education for our students and our country's future, I hope the DPS Central Admin reconsiders their "improve literacy test scores at any cost" approach.

[blinkng]

I'll be honest, you're lucky to get 1/2 a year of social studies. My kids aren't even getting that. Science is tested, social studies is not, and what matters is test scores, particularly in low performing schools. I'm told to work social studies in when I can.

I applaud Ms. Foote, but I, and most other DPS teachers I know, aren't brave enough to be as open about our opinions. The fact that there has been no forum for dissent among staff concerns me, as well as the fact that the program rolled out with the phrase "one band, one sound". I have difficulty accepting the validity of any "research based" program that is one size fits all. That said, I like the Reading Street program. I used the same curriculum last year without the constricting "literacy framework". It is easy to use, the basal contains great literature, and it covers vital content. Folks who are upset forget that this curriculum is the current adoption. Like any textbook, it's got components that are more or less useful. But last year I felt the freedom to be creative with how I used it to meet my student's needs. We know that if you expect great things of your kids, you get quality results. If you treat your teachers like trained monkeys, you're probably not going to get the best results.