Friday, November 30, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
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Thursday, November 22, 2007
Friday, November 16, 2007
New Beljorde Calendar
As I'm sure you have noticed, I added a calendar to the blog to keep track of important dates. I need your help though in deciding where the calendar should go--at the top where it is more noticeable but has to, by design, be smaller, or at the bottom where it is less noticeable but can be larger. Check it out and let me know which you prefer.
Also, if you have a Google account, let me know that too--I can ad you to the list and you can update the calendar yourself.
Finally, I'm asking everyone to send me their families' birthdates, anniversaries and anything else they want posted on the Beljorde Gente Bella calendar.
Hope everyone is well--Cheers.
BBlebowski
Also, if you have a Google account, let me know that too--I can ad you to the list and you can update the calendar yourself.
Finally, I'm asking everyone to send me their families' birthdates, anniversaries and anything else they want posted on the Beljorde Gente Bella calendar.
Hope everyone is well--Cheers.
BBlebowski
Thursday, November 15, 2007
MinnPost: A thoughtful Approach to News
In case you haven't heard, there's a great "second read" news site in town. They update their articles everyday at 11:00 am with in depth, fill-in the blanks news stories written by, among others, recently laid-off Star Tribune Columnists and reporters.
Check it out here
P.S. You can download it and print it in color or black and white or read it online.
Check it out here
P.S. You can download it and print it in color or black and white or read it online.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
The Levy Outcome
Question 1, renewing the levy voters initially approved in 2002, passed with 29,772 "yes" votes to 18,417 "no" votes, approximately 62 percent to 38 percent. Question 2 passed with 27,179 "yes" votes to 20,987 "no" votes.
"Personally, I am just ecstatic that Questions 1 and 2 passed so we can continue to operate the portfolio of programs we have for students for the next five years," said Board Chair Michael Sullivan. "I don't believe it would have been possible without the kind of effort we had from so many - the parent committee, the teachers and all the staff who helped us communicate the issues to the public."
If Questions 1 and 2 had
failed, the district faced $42 million in cuts for the next school year. It would have meant closing up to nine schools and cutting more than 500 teachers and over 200 additional staff.
Voters narrowly rejected Question 3, which would have reinstated free transportation for students living less than two miles from school, reduced fees for high school activities, reopened swimming pools, and provided technology support. The vote on this question was 23,831 "yes" to 24,193 "no". Defeat of this question means students will continue to pay the highest fees in the metro area to participate in activities, pools will remain closed and students living between one and two miles from school will continue to pay fees to ride the bus or find other ways to get to school.
A bond proposal to provide greater student access to technology also failed with 23,288 "yes" votes to 24,664 "no votes." As a result, many students will continue to work with obsolete technology and have fewer opportunities to complete state requirements that incorporate technology.
"The loss of Questions 3 and 4 was very disappointing. Similar questions failed by a very close margin in 2002 and again this year," said Sullivan. "The technology issue is a tough one, because despite the fact that it is integrated so completely into our society, there are still some who see it is a luxury rather than a necessity. We will need to find a way to fund it."
Jennifer Jorde, MS. CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Teacher
Evergreen World Studies Elementary
506-2538
"Personally, I am just ecstatic that Questions 1 and 2 passed so we can continue to operate the portfolio of programs we have for students for the next five years," said Board Chair Michael Sullivan. "I don't believe it would have been possible without the kind of effort we had from so many - the parent committee, the teachers and all the staff who helped us communicate the issues to the public."
If Questions 1 and 2 had
failed, the district faced $42 million in cuts for the next school year. It would have meant closing up to nine schools and cutting more than 500 teachers and over 200 additional staff.
Voters narrowly rejected Question 3, which would have reinstated free transportation for students living less than two miles from school, reduced fees for high school activities, reopened swimming pools, and provided technology support. The vote on this question was 23,831 "yes" to 24,193 "no". Defeat of this question means students will continue to pay the highest fees in the metro area to participate in activities, pools will remain closed and students living between one and two miles from school will continue to pay fees to ride the bus or find other ways to get to school.
A bond proposal to provide greater student access to technology also failed with 23,288 "yes" votes to 24,664 "no votes." As a result, many students will continue to work with obsolete technology and have fewer opportunities to complete state requirements that incorporate technology.
"The loss of Questions 3 and 4 was very disappointing. Similar questions failed by a very close margin in 2002 and again this year," said Sullivan. "The technology issue is a tough one, because despite the fact that it is integrated so completely into our society, there are still some who see it is a luxury rather than a necessity. We will need to find a way to fund it."
Jennifer Jorde, MS. CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Teacher
Evergreen World Studies Elementary
506-2538
Monday, November 05, 2007
Check out Jenny's friend's website
Jenny's friend Beth Taborda took a sabbatical to teach in China. Check out her website.
BBlebowski
Click here for Beth Taborda's website
BBlebowski
Click here for Beth Taborda's website
Friday, November 02, 2007
Whac-A-Mole
Congratulations to our friends Tamara and Sean.
1st Place Winners! In the Anoka Gray Ghost 5k Halloween Run
Click image to see larger.
Submitted by: Sara
1st Place Winners! In the Anoka Gray Ghost 5k Halloween Run
Click image to see larger.
Submitted by: Sara
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Man wins case against funeral protesters
Father of slain Marine awarded nearly $11 million in compensatory, punitive damages
By Matthew Dolan and Julie Bykowicz | Sun Reporters
11:01 PM EDT, October 31, 2007
A Baltimore federal jury awarded nearly $11 million Wednesday to the father of a Marine killed in Iraq, deciding that the family's privacy had been invaded by a Kansas church whose members waved anti-gay signs at the funeral.
It was the first-ever verdict against Westboro Baptist Church, a fundamentalist Christian group based in Topeka that has protested military funerals across the country with placards bearing shock-value messages such as "Thank God for dead soldiers."
They contend that the deaths are punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality and of gays in the military.
Relatives of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder wept and hugged at the jury's announcement, which came a day after closing arguments in the civil trial in federal district court.
"Now I know it's going to be harder for them to do it to anyone else," said Albert Snyder, who mourned at his son's funeral in March 2006 while seven Westboro members waved signs nearby.
The compensatory damage award alone, $2.9 million, was nearly triple the net worth of Westboro and the three members on trial, their attorney said.
Fred W. Phelps Sr., Westboro's founder, vowed to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, in Richmond, Va.
"It's going to be reversed in five minutes," he said. This case, he added, "will elevate me to something important," as it draws more publicity to his cause.
The jury found the defendants liable for violating the Snyder family's expectation of privacy at the funeral and for intentionally inflicting emotional distress.
Snyder's lawsuit spurred a constitutional debate over how far the First Amendment should extend to protect the most extreme forms of expression.
Some legal experts said the judgment could be a setback for those who believe in broad free-speech protections.
"I think when speech is a matter of public concern it still has to be protected, even when by social standards it is extraordinarily rude and outrageous," said UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh.
University of Maryland law professor Mark Graber said the size of award, which included $8 million in punitive damages, could have a chilling effect on speech.
"This was in a public space," Graber said "While the actions are reprehensible, the First Amendment protects a lot that's reprehensible." After the verdict, Phelps and his two daughters named in Snyder's lawsuit said they believed that it was really their religious beliefs that were on trial.
"The goofy jury threw a fit at God," Phelps said.
For years Westboro members have crisscrossed the country, turning somber funerals of soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan into attention-grabbing platforms to criticize homosexuals as immoral and damned. The church's 75-member congregation is composed mainly of Phelps' relatives.
The group also blames disasters, including Hurricane Katrina, the Sept. 11 attacks and AIDS, on what it views as permissive morals in violation of biblical dictates.
Alarmed by Westboro protests, at least 22 states have proposed or enacted laws to limit the rights of protesters at funerals. Only months after Matthew Snyder's death, Maryland passed a law prohibiting targeted picketing within 300 feet of a funeral, burial, memorial service or funeral procession.
The courtroom fight came down to whether Westboro had a legal right to demonstrate at Snyder's funeral or whether the protesters crossed the line because their message impugned the grieving family's reputation and unlawfully invaded the Snyders' privacy.
The Marine's father, a 52-year-old who lives in York, Pa., sued the church and three of its members, founder Phelps and two of his daughters, Rebecca Phelps-Davis and Shirley Phelps-Roper.
Click here for full story
By Matthew Dolan and Julie Bykowicz | Sun Reporters
11:01 PM EDT, October 31, 2007
A Baltimore federal jury awarded nearly $11 million Wednesday to the father of a Marine killed in Iraq, deciding that the family's privacy had been invaded by a Kansas church whose members waved anti-gay signs at the funeral.
It was the first-ever verdict against Westboro Baptist Church, a fundamentalist Christian group based in Topeka that has protested military funerals across the country with placards bearing shock-value messages such as "Thank God for dead soldiers."
They contend that the deaths are punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality and of gays in the military.
Relatives of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder wept and hugged at the jury's announcement, which came a day after closing arguments in the civil trial in federal district court.
"Now I know it's going to be harder for them to do it to anyone else," said Albert Snyder, who mourned at his son's funeral in March 2006 while seven Westboro members waved signs nearby.
The compensatory damage award alone, $2.9 million, was nearly triple the net worth of Westboro and the three members on trial, their attorney said.
Fred W. Phelps Sr., Westboro's founder, vowed to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, in Richmond, Va.
"It's going to be reversed in five minutes," he said. This case, he added, "will elevate me to something important," as it draws more publicity to his cause.
The jury found the defendants liable for violating the Snyder family's expectation of privacy at the funeral and for intentionally inflicting emotional distress.
Snyder's lawsuit spurred a constitutional debate over how far the First Amendment should extend to protect the most extreme forms of expression.
Some legal experts said the judgment could be a setback for those who believe in broad free-speech protections.
"I think when speech is a matter of public concern it still has to be protected, even when by social standards it is extraordinarily rude and outrageous," said UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh.
University of Maryland law professor Mark Graber said the size of award, which included $8 million in punitive damages, could have a chilling effect on speech.
"This was in a public space," Graber said "While the actions are reprehensible, the First Amendment protects a lot that's reprehensible." After the verdict, Phelps and his two daughters named in Snyder's lawsuit said they believed that it was really their religious beliefs that were on trial.
"The goofy jury threw a fit at God," Phelps said.
For years Westboro members have crisscrossed the country, turning somber funerals of soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan into attention-grabbing platforms to criticize homosexuals as immoral and damned. The church's 75-member congregation is composed mainly of Phelps' relatives.
The group also blames disasters, including Hurricane Katrina, the Sept. 11 attacks and AIDS, on what it views as permissive morals in violation of biblical dictates.
Alarmed by Westboro protests, at least 22 states have proposed or enacted laws to limit the rights of protesters at funerals. Only months after Matthew Snyder's death, Maryland passed a law prohibiting targeted picketing within 300 feet of a funeral, burial, memorial service or funeral procession.
The courtroom fight came down to whether Westboro had a legal right to demonstrate at Snyder's funeral or whether the protesters crossed the line because their message impugned the grieving family's reputation and unlawfully invaded the Snyders' privacy.
The Marine's father, a 52-year-old who lives in York, Pa., sued the church and three of its members, founder Phelps and two of his daughters, Rebecca Phelps-Davis and Shirley Phelps-Roper.
Click here for full story
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