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HILO -- The U.S. Army is taking responsibility for "miscommunication" it said fueled the recent public outcry over its proposal to conduct high-altitude helicopter training on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Still, comments opposing usage of multiple landing zones between the 8,000- and 12,000-foot elevations have prompted the Army to review its training plan, the U.S. Army Garrison, Hawaii said in a statement issued Friday. Its own environmental assessment contained misleading graphics and descriptions, giving the impression of more flights and a bigger impact area than are being sought, according to military officials quoted in the three-page statement. "The original...

Hawaii - NIMBY Alert ! Awakened once again by the roaring of Air Force C-17 maneuvers just down the hill at Kona International Airport, I am prompted to write. I'm want to launch a community discussion on the increased military use of our airport and the appalling sound pollution caused by aircraft maneuvers. It has been determined, by the Air Force and state that Kona International Airport is ideal for such purposes and increased military use is planned. As I see it Kona is at a critical crossroads in determining the future of our quality of life and livelihood.

The Army is proposing adding helicopter training on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Should the plan be approved? Yes. We need to give our military the best possible training, and those mountains are an ideal location for that. Maybe, but with some restrictions on how much noise the training can generate. Absolutely not! The Army needs to get off those mountains immediately.

Malu ‘Aina calls for an immediate end to the U.S. illegal wars of occupation, and major cuts in military spending and increased spending to meet human needs. Locally, we call for an end to all live-fire and activities at PTA that create dust. Comprehensive independent monitoring and clean up of DU, unexploded ordnance, and other military toxins should be done at military expenses. The entire process needs to be transparent and have the confidence of the community, which to date is sorely lacking. Political candidates and citizens alike — where are our voices on these important issues? Contact: Malu `Aina...

Anyone who has ever tried to sue a school, change a PTA, join a school board, or in any way to manipulate what a public school was doing, please share your experiences and suggestions. To start the discussion, here are a few options: YAHOO GROUPS: anybody can form a group on Yahoo. I know of a group in Jersey City where parents share notes about teachers, courses, and candidates. This is an easy way to mobilize 100 or 200 people so they’re all on the same page when they deal with the school. PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATION: Martin Gross, in his book...

Wednesday January 13th the Oregon PTA in Columbus Elementary School in McMinnville decided to circumvent the law and the authority of the Principle of their school. They printed out flyers which were then distributed to each teacher and classroom, and put into the Wednesday folders for students to take home. These flyers and their distribution by school staff are a direct violation of Oregon Election laws. All school staff are aware that it is illegal for State employees to advocate for any issue that is up for election. The flyer seen pictured here advocated for a Yes vote on 66...

Yesterday, the US News & World Report published an essay, "Michelle Obama, Teachers Are Key to a Successful Economy." It begins: Michelle Obama: Teachers Are Key to a Successful Economy By Michelle Obama Posted October 15, 2009 Michelle Obama is the first lady of the United States. That's a lot of Michelle Obamas Anyway, after personalizing Michelle and the kids, Michelle's ghost-writer inserts the boiler-plate about the challenges and lack of rewards of teaching, which has been eternally true, and spring-boards into the reason for the exercise -- placing community organizers into the public schools -- Michelle refers to them...

SNIP Here is a list of "talking points" the national office e-mailed to state and local chapters: Q: How does National PTA feel about the President giving this speech on the first day of school and about parents "opting-out" of their kids watching it? A: Anytime a president gives a speech about the importance of education; a speech that inspires kids to do well in school; a speech that speaks directly to them; we feel those are positive messages for children to hear. National PTA supports making children feel good about being in school. Finally, any time we can encourage...

HILO » Airborne uranium levels will be measured by an Army contractor at three monitoring stations at Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island over the next 12 months, Col. Howard Killian told the Public Works Committee of the Hawaii County Council yesterday. On the Net: www.imcom.pac.army.mil/du The $150,000 testing is being done because the Army discovered in 2007 that uranium "spotting rounds" were used at Pohakuloa in the 1960s. Radiation monitoring from the Girl Scout camp near Pohakuloa to Konawaena High School nearly 30 miles to the southwest has not found any radiation above background level, Killian said. In...

Police Come Across Fogged Up SUV On Elementary School Grounds In Baldwin; Residents Shocked, Horrified BALDWIN, N.Y. (CBS) ― A prominent PTA official is facing some serious allegations involving a teenage boy. Police arrested Joan Tuckruskye after allegedly finding her in the backseat of a parked car with a 13-year-old boy on Friday night. Both of them, police said, were partially unclothed. "I feel devastated for the victim," said "Steve," the suspect's neighbor. His son attends school with both the alleged victim and suspect's daughter, and is outraged over charges that Tuckruskye, vice president in charge of fundraising for the...

JERICHO, N.Y. — For school officials here, the numbers did not add up. Even as enrollment swelled to 3,200, from 2,600 a decade ago, attendance at Parent-Teacher Association meetings shriveled by half. Even as more students got accepted to Ivy League schools, turnout for the guidance department’s information nights was so anemic that counselors cajoled students to come — and bring along their parents. Then teachers and administrators noticed something else: Jericho High School’s 90-member orchestra had become 70 percent Asian-American (the student body over all is about 30 percent Asian-American), but it still played for a mostly white audience...

March 16, 2008 -- Joel Klein is a pizza-party pooper. The schools chancellor's food police have put the kibosh on a 20-year-old "Pizza Day" tradition at a Queens elementary school, opening the door for a citywide ban, infuriating parents and upsetting kids. "This borders on cruel," said Michael Teoduro, vice president of the PTA at PS 193 in Whitestone. "It's one thing that the kids really look forward to in school, and for no legitimate reason it's pulled out from under them." Pizza Day took place once a month, when kids would eat 90 to 100 pies from local shop...

NEW CITY, N.Y. -- A former prosecutor and PTA leader had sex with two boys, shared marijuana and alcohol with other teens and kept it all a secret from her police chief husband, officials said Tuesday. Beth Modica, 44, a mother of four, was indicted on 35 counts alleging statutory rape, criminal sex acts, sex abuse and endangering children. Wearing an olive-gray suit and handcuffs, she pleaded not guilty at her arraignment in Rockland County Court and was ordered held on $75,000 bail. "These are serious charges, against children in her community," said Judge Catherine Bartlett. The judge issued orders...

Dear xxxxxx, We have received information from National PTA concerning the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). President Bush has vetoed legislation that would have reauthorized and expanded this children's health program. National PTA tells us that there is a coordinated effort to influence representatives who voted against the House/Senate compromise bill to vote to override the veto. The Virginia PTA took a stand in support of providing "the greatest coverage to the greatest number of children ..." in a resolution passed at the 1998 Virginia PTA convention. The state PTA's Resolutions Committee is also bringing forward a resolution to...

The California PTA, which boasts of speaking "for every child," has endorsed the homosexual indoctrination plan assembled by the state Legislature that could be used to ban even the words "mom" and "dad." "The California State PTA supports SB 777 (Kuehl), which would revise the current list of prohibited bases of discrimination and the kinds of prohibited instruction, activities and instructional materials in the Education Code…," said a letter submitted to the state Assembly on behalf of the state PTA. As WND has reported, the plan passed the state Assembly on a 43-23 vote and it now moves forward...

How is the PTA Membership really helping our schools other than supporting their liberal agendas?

Montgomery County school officials announced yesterday that they are temporarily banning outside groups such as parent-teacher associations and the Boy Scouts from distributing fliers about activities and events in student backpacks. The decision comes less than a week after a federal appeals court ruled that the school system's policy for flier distribution was unconstitutional because it gave educators unlimited power to approve or reject materials. The case is the outgrowth of a dispute between the school system and Child Evangelism Fellowship of Maryland. The group filed suit in 2001 after the school system denied its request to distribute fliers about...

Christian Schools’ Achilles HeelIt turns out that Christian schools have their problems too. But even these drawbacks may result from too much reliance on the methods and texts of public schools. “So why do Christian schools not use Christian books?” the Mel Gabler’s Educational Research Analysts Newsletter asks. “Often, they say, because public school texts teach superior critical thinking skills.” “Yet about 75 % of public school edition answers to ‘critical thinking’ student text questions are verbatim quotes from the student text narrative.” The Gablers’ researchers are based in Longview, Texas, in a state considered make or break for textbook...

(KDKA) PENN HILLS We now know the fate of the 10 year old boy who got into big trouble for taking a squirt gun to school. The Penn Hills School District has decided to expel Jokari Becker until 2007. Jokari hasn't been to school since April 5, when he was suspended. His parents got a phone call from the superintendent Wednesday saying the fifth grader has been expelled until at least January 2007, for violating the school code of discipline and responsibilities. In part, the district's discipline code says a weapon is defined - but not limited to - a...

'Ex-gay' group booted from conference School counselors objected to materials at exhibit Posted: April 4, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com A group that believes people with same-sex attractions can abandon homosexuality was evicted from the Virginia Schools Counselors Association annual convention. PFOX, Parents and Friends of Ex-gays and Gays, said school counselors at the event in Richmond, Va., last week objected to some of its materials and insisted the group leave. Blogger Warren Throckmorton said PFOX was registered officially as an exhibitor at the conference, held at the Holiday Inn Select Thursday and Friday. But the counselors association's current president,...