All Other News
A new climate bomb ticking?
By MATT WEISER
Research on ocean sediments near Santa Barbara suggests that climate change could be accelerated by methane gas stored in oil deposits on the seafloor.
The work by Tessa Hill, an assistant professor of geology at the University of California-Davis, documents a new source of methane gas that has not yet been factored into previous analyses of historic climate change.
The findings are potentially troubling because methane is at least 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, so it has the potential to make the planet hotter faster if released to the atmosphere.
Hill is the lead author of the research, published online Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed journal.
She cautioned, however, that more study is needed before her findings can be applied globally.
Too many gaggles
Who can blame the Canada geese for abandoning the tiresome migration and setting up permanent residence somewhere in California?
"Parks, golf courses, and ball fields offer geese a free buffet of grass and open sight lines, and easy access to pond water offer(s) them safety," wrote Maggie Brasted of the Humane Society of the United States.
Access is knowledge
More than 170,000 inmates are locked up in California's prison system _ 450 inmates for every 100,000 Californians. That's the highest per capita inmate population of any state.
California taxpayers spent $7.3 billion last fiscal year to operate the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
No California state historical recognition for zinfandel
By GREG LUCAS
Zinfandel will not be designated "California's historic wine" after legislation to do so was vetoed this week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said it was "inappropriate" to single out one variety for recognition.
Another lead, another debacle
By C.W. NEVIUS
Our certainty that John Mark Karr murdered JonBenet Ramsey has evaporated like a wisp of smoke. So where are we?
The easy answer would be to say we are back where we started, but that's not really true.
No Child Left Behind yields progress, set backs
By JOE SMYDO
No Child Left Behind, rolled out in 2002, has changed the face of the American education system. States have restructured curriculums, increased training requirements for teachers and implemented standardized tests, all to boost reading and math performance as required by the law.
Making educational data meaningful and usable
By ELEANOR CHUTE
Across America, educators, parents and students are swimming in an overload of data, much of which seems unrelated and difficult to use.
Over the past decade, education based on academic standards has become the norm.
