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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Common Sense: High Taxes Are Not a Prime Reason for Relocation, Studies Say

Pool photo by Mikhail KlimentyevGerard Depardieu with Vladimir Putin in January. Russia granted Mr. Depardieu a passport after his spat with France over taxes. Last month, Vladimir V. Putin hugged his newly minted fellow Russian citizen, the actor Gerard Depardieu, posing for cameras at the Black Sea port of Sochi. “I adore your country,” Mr. Depardieu gushed — especially its 13 percent flat tax on...

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Former Bell official says he voted for pay raise out of fear

One of the former Bell city leaders accused of plundering the town's treasury by taking oversized salaries testified Thursday...

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Where Will All the Female <em>Star Wars</em> Characters Go?

Yes, Princess Leia was a smart, resourceful woman who had action hero chops of her own. She wasn’t just a princess waiting around in a castle for men to save her — despite the infamous scene where she ended up in a metal bikini as a sexy slave to a giant space slug.But the fact remains: If you count up all the significant female characters who appear in the original Star Wars trilogy, the...

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Eric Church leads line-up for country music awards

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) – Singer-songwriter Eric Church grabbed the lead in one of the biggest events in country music on Wednesday with seven nominations for the Academy of Country Music Awards while country-pop darling Taylor Swift received five nods.Church, 35, was nominated as Male Vocalist of the Year and received his second consecutive nod for Album of the Year, this time for his widely...

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Well: Ask Well: Swimming to Ease Back Pain

Many people find that recreational swimming helps ease back pain, and there is research to back that up. But some strokes may be better than others.An advantage to exercising in a pool is that the buoyancy of the water takes stress off the joints. At the same time, swimming and other aquatic exercises can strengthen back and core muscles.That said, it does not mean that everyone with a case of back...

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Airbus Abandons Plan to Use Controversial Batteries

PARIS — Faced with a potentially prolonged investigation into what caused batteries on two Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets to catch fire or emit smoke last month, Boeing’s European rival, Airbus, said Friday that it had abandoned plans to use the same battery technology on its forthcoming wide-body jet, the A350-XWB. Airbus said that it began informing airline customers on Thursday that it would...

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Vintage piano given Valentine's Day deadline

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — The piano was delivered to its bluff-top perch under cover of fog nearly two weeks ago. It is scheduled...

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<cite>The Monitor</cite> Heads to a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Not sure if you noticed, but it’s Star Wars Week on Wired. We’ve already dealt with the old movies and what the new movies will need, but it’s time to leave the big screen and get a handle on the best of the ancillary Star Wars products out there. To that end, we’ve got a new comic book that takes place between installments of the Original Trilogy, and two analog (or...

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The New Old Age Blog: A New Commission: Time to Cheer or Yawn?

The fate of the Class Act, which would have established the nation’s first voluntary public long-term care insurance program, was sealed in 2011 when the Obama administration shut it down, essentially calling it unworkable.As long as the language remained part of the Affordable Care Act, supporters allowed themselves to hope, or perhaps fantasize, that the administration might return to the subject....

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DealBook: American and US Airways Announce Merger Deal

6:35 a.m. | Updated Ending a yearlong courtship by US Airways, American Airlines agreed to merge with the smaller carrier, paving the way for the creation of the nation’s largest airline.The boards of the companies have unanimously approved the deal, valued at $11 billion, according to a news release Thursday morning. A merger would bolster American’s domestic footprint, strengthen its presence in...

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Charred human remains found in burned cabin

Charred human remains have been found in the burned cabin where police believe fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner was holed up after trading gunfire with law enforcement, authorities said. If the body is identified to be Dorner’s, the standoff would end a weeklong manhunt for the ex-LAPD officer and Navy reserve lieutenant, who is accused of going on a revenge-fueled spree following his...

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Giveaway: Win a <em>Robot & Frank</em> DVD and Programmable Rover 'Bot

The unlikely futuristic heist flick Robot & Frank has a quirky premise: The son of a former cat burglar gets his aging father a robot companion, which the dad decides to train in the art of thieving.It’ a dry comedy with a crime-thriller twist and a bit of romance, with star power from players like Frost/Nixon’s Frank Langella (the Frank of the movie’s title), 30...

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Why Netflix has “no motivation” to release ratings for “House of Cards”

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – Netflix has ‘no motivation’ to disclose viewership numbers for its original shows regardless of their success, chief creative officer Ted Sarandos said on Tuesday. Speaking at AllThingsD’s conference in Laguna Beach, Sarandos both mocked Nielsen numbers and insisted that Netflix has no need to toot its own horn.“I honestly have no motivation to do it,” Sarandos said of releasing...

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Well: 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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Media Decoder Blog: Comcast Buys Rest of NBC in Early Sale

8:53 p.m. | Updated Comcast gave NBCUniversal a $16.7 billion vote of confidence on Tuesday, agreeing to pay that sum to acquire General Electric’s remaining 49 percent stake in the entertainment company. The deal accelerated a sales process that was expected to take several more years.Brian Roberts, chief executive of Comcast, said the acquisition, which will be completed by the end of March, underscored...

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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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