Top 2012 searches include Whitney, PSY, Sandy






LOS ANGELES (AP) — The world’s attention wavered between the tragic and the silly in 2012, and along the way, Web surfers searched in huge numbers to find out about a royal princess, the latest iPad, and a record-breaking skydiver.


Whitney Houston was the “top trending” search of the year, according to Google Inc.’s year-end “zeitgeist” report. Google‘s 12th annual roundup is “an in-depth look at the spirit of the times as seen through the billions of searches on Google over the past year,” the company said in a blog post Wednesday.






People around the globe searched en masse for news about Houston‘s accidental drowning in a bathtub just before she was to perform at a pre-Grammy Awards party in February.


Google defines topics as “trending” when they garner a high amount of traffic over a sustained period of time.


Korean rapper PSY’s “Gangnam Style” music video trotted into second spot, a testament to his self-deprecating giddy-up dance move. The video is approaching a billion views on YouTube.


Superstorm Sandy, the damaging storm that knocked out power and flooded parts of the East Coast in the midst of a U.S. presidential campaign, was third.


The next biggest trending searches globally were a pair of threes: the iPad 3 tablet from Apple Inc. and Diablo 3, a popular video game.


Rounding out the Top 10 were Kate Middleton, who made news with scandalous photos and a royal pregnancy; the 2012 Olympics in London; Amanda Todd, a Canadian teen who was found dead of an apparent suicide in October after being bullied online; Michael Clarke Duncan, the “Green Mile” actor who died of a heart attack in September at age 54; and “BBB12,” the 12th edition of “Big Brother Brasil,” a reality show featuring scantily clad men and women living together.


Some trending people, according to Google, were:


Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian skydiver who became the first to break the sound barrier without a vehicle with a 24-mile plummet from Earth’s stratosphere;


— Jeremy Lin, the undrafted NBA star who exploded off the New York Knicks bench and sparked a wave of “Linsanity”;


Morgan Freeman, the actor whose untimely death turned out not to be true.


The Internet also continued its rise as a popular tool for spreading addictive ideas and phrases known as “memes.” Remember LOL? If you don’t know what it means by now, someone may “Laugh Out Loud” at you.


This year, Facebook said its top memes included “TBH (To Be Honest),” ”YOLO (You Only Live Once),” ”SMH (Shake My Head).” Thanks to an endlessly fascinating U.S. presidential campaign, “Big Bird” made the list after Republican candidate Mitt Romney said he might consider cutting some funds for public broadcasting.


Yahoo said its own top-searched memes for the year included “Kony 2012,” a reference to the short film and campaign against Ugandan militia leader Joseph Kony; “stingray photobomb” for an unusual vacation snapshot that went viral; and “binders full of women,” another nod to Romney for his awkward description of his search for women cabinet members as Massachusetts’ governor.


And people were happy to pass on popular Twitter posts by retweeting them. According to Twitter, the year’s most popular retweets were President Barack Obama‘s “Four more years,” and Justin Bieber’s farewell to six-year-old fan Avalanna Routh, who died of a rare form of brain cancer: “RIP Avalanna. i love you”.


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TV’s “Storage Wars” is rigged, fired cast member charges






LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The popular TV showStorage Wars” – in which treasure hunters bid to buy unseen items in abandoned units – is rigged, with producers sometimes planting valuable items among the junk, a former contestant said in a lawsuit on Tuesday.


David Hester, one of the reality TV show‘s longest-serving cast members, said producers buried a BMW Mini under trash in one unit featured in the A&E cable series, and a pile of newspapers announcing the death of Elvis Presley in another.






“A&E regularly plants valuable items or memorabilia,” Hester charged in his lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday against the cable channel and the show’s producers.


When he complained, Hester was fired from the show. He is claiming fraud, wrongful dismissal, breach of contract and unfair business practices, and asking for at least $ 750,000 in damages.


A&E declined to comment on the lawsuit on Tuesday, saying it did not comment on pending litigation.


“Storage Wars,” which made its debut in 2010, is the highest-rated non-fiction program on U.S. cable television, and draws about 5 million viewers per episode. It is also broadcast in Canada, Australia, Britain and other countries.


The show follows a group of modern treasure-hunters who compete at public auctions of abandoned storage lockers in the hope of finding valuable items which they can re-sell for a profit.


Hester said that “nearly every aspect of the show is faked.” He said producers regularly place in the lockers “valuable or unusual effects to add dramatic effect” and sometimes stage entire units, according to the lawsuit.


Hester, who lives in Orange County, California, has been featured on the show since 2010. He was fired in October 2012 shortly after a meeting in which he complained about rigging in a meeting with producers, the lawsuit says.


A&E Television Networks is a joint venture of the Hearst Corporation and Disney-ABC Television – a unit of Walt Disney Co.


(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Eric Walsh)


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Medicines Co to spend $300 million to boost hospital products line






(Reuters) – Medicines Company, a maker of drugs used in hospitals, will spend about $ 300 million in two deals to bulk up its surgical care products portfolio.


The company will pay $ 105 million upfront for a two-year license to market Bristol-Myers Squibb Company‘s device to control bleeding during surgery.






Medicines Co also said it agreed to pay $ 185 million to acquire privately held Incline Therapeutics, which is developing a device to manage post-operative pain.


“Both assets fit well with Medicines Co’s current hospital franchise. It follows the company’s historical ability to bring in interesting assets that may need further work, but can be picked up at a reasonable price because they could need more development,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Adnan Butt said.


The deal with Bristol gives Medicines Co the option to acquire the device, Recothrom, for a price based on average net sales during the two-year collaboration term.


Bristol recorded net revenue of $ 65 million from the Recothrom sales in the United States and Canada in 2011. It will be the manufacturer and sole supplier of Recothrom during the deal term.


Medicines Co would also pay an upfront option fee of $ 10 million to Bristol and tiered royalties on annual net revenue of the device during the term.


The deal is expected to add to Medicines Co’s earnings per share in 2013, and add minimally to Bristol’s earnings per share in 2013 and 2014, both companies said in a joint statement.


Redwood City, California-based Incline is developing a patient-controlled analgesia system called IONSYS for short-term management of acute post-operative pain in hospitals. The device was launched in Europe, but recalled later on stability issues.


“We expect that if we obtain IONSYS approval, we could launch IONSYS in early 2014 in the United States and soon thereafter in Europe,” Medicines Co’s Chief Financial Officer Glenn Sblendorio said.


San Diego, California-based Cadence Pharmaceuticals Inc had an exclusive option to buy Incline, which it ended on Wednesday.


Cadence said it will receive about $ 13 million for the termination of its agreement with Incline.


Medicines Co will also pay about $ 1.5 million to buy out Cadence’s holdings in Incline and potentially a pro rata share of future milestone payments, Cadence said.


Medicines Co’s shares closed at $ 21.85 on Tuesday on the Nasdaq.


(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon)


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The Home Foreclosure Wave That Wasn’t






When banks pulled back on foreclosures two years ago following a government investigation into faulty paperwork by lenders, Wall Street analysts, academics, and researchers thought the lull would be followed by a storm. They believed that once banks resolved the claims of delinquent homeowners piling up in courts and worked through their backlog of foreclosures, tens of thousands of houses would hit the market, driving down prices for years to come.


It never happened—even after the five biggest U.S. mortgage servicers reached a $ 25 billion settlement with federal and state regulators in February. Instead, the number of residential properties for sale in the U.S. shrank to the lowest level in a decade, while prices have appreciated at the fastest pace since 2005. An index of pending home resales compiled by the National Association of Realtors climbed 5.2 percent in October, the most recent month for which data are available. The median price of an existing home sold in October jumped 11 percent from a year earlier, to $ 178,600, the steepest annual increase since November 2005, according to the group. “Many of us, myself included, feared a wave of foreclosures when the settlement came,” says Susan Wachter, professor of real estate and finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. “I was wrong.”






One reason she and her fellow real estate watchers got it wrong was that in the wake of the settlement, banks were compelled to cut more deals with strapped homeowners. Since March, the five largest U.S. mortgage servicers provided loan relief to 309,385 borrowers, according to a Nov. 19 report by Joseph Smith, who heads the independent office established to monitor compliance with the settlement. Almost 22,000 borrowers had principal forgiveness totaling $ 2.55 billion. And 113,000 borrowers won bank approval for short sales, yielding another $ 13.1 billion in principal writedowns.


Federal government loan-modification programs are also gaining traction as the economy improves and fewer reworked loans re-default. Record low interest rates have triggered a spike in mortgage refinancings, which has helped homeowners stay current on their loans by lowering monthly payments. At the same time, institutional investors including Blackstone Group (BX) and Colony Capital have been purchasing thousands of foreclosed homes in bulk before they even hit the market and then renting the properties out instead of reselling them. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York had estimated that as many as 1.8 million properties would be taken back by banks in 2012. Yet through October, there have been only about 559,000 home seizures, according to RealtyTrac.


“In hindsight, by delaying and prolonging the foreclosure process, that gave the market time to stabilize and get back on its feet,” says Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac, which warned a year ago that huge numbers of foreclosed homes were going to hit the market. “Maybe bureaucracy is actually helping, in this case, to diffuse the impact of the foreclosures. Talk about unintended consequences.”


In Stockton, Calif., one of the U.S. cities hit hardest by the housing crisis, the number of homes for sale fell 42 percent in October from a year earlier, thanks in part to a 21 percent decline in foreclosure filings over the same period. Listings routinely attract multiple offers, and prices are on the rise. “We don’t have enough homes now to meet the needs of the market,” says Paul Jacobson, a Stockton native and real estate broker for 22 years, as he cruises the city’s northern fringe, where suburbia meets farmland. “People see a foreclosed home for sale in this area and they’re going to jump on it.”


Stockton resident William Hoeurn last month secured a $ 337,906 principal reduction on his mortgage from Bank of America (BAC), shrinking monthly payments on his three-bedroom house to $ 884 from $ 2,362. The 66-year-old teaching assistant fell behind on his loan payments after his wife lost her job and two of his grown children, who helped pay the mortgage, moved out. “Before, I was having bad dreams that I am losing my house,” says Hoeurn, a refugee from Cambodia. “Now, I feel very happy.”


It still may be a little early to pronounce the housing slump over. Almost a quarter of all U.S. homeowners with a mortgage owe more than their homes are worth, making them candidates for future defaults. Robert Shiller, an economics professor at Yale University and co-creator of the S&P Case-Shiller home price indexes, believes the inventory of potential foreclosures remains a threat across the U.S., especially if the economy slows. “It’s funny how people have so much confidence in the recovery. History shows that these markets are hard to predict.”


The bottom line: The number of properties for sale has shrunk to the lowest level in a decade, easing concerns about a new wave of foreclosures.


With Jody Shenn


Businessweek.com — Top News


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Australian prank call radio to donate profits to nurse’s family






CANBERRA (Reuters) – The Australian radio station behind a prank call to a British hospital will donate its advertising revenue until the end of the year to a fund for the family of the nurse who apparently took her own life after the stunt, the company said on Tuesday.


Southern Cross Austereo, parent company of Sydney radio station 2Day FM, said it would donate all advertising revenue, with a minimum contribution of A$ 500,000 ($ 525,000), to a memorial fund for the nurse, Jacintha Saldanha, who answered the telephone at the hospital treating Prince William’s pregnant wife, Kate.






The company has suspended the Sydney-based announcers, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, scrapped their “Hot 30″ programme and suspended advertising on the station in the wake of the Saldanha’s death. Southern Cross said it would resume advertising on its station from Thursday.


“It is a terrible tragedy and our thoughts continue to be with the family,” Southern Cross Chief Executive Officer Rhys Holleran said in a statement.


“We hope that by contributing to a memorial fund we can help to provide the Saldanha family with the support they need at this very difficult time.”


(Reporting by James Grubel; Editing by Robert Birsel)


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World Chefs: Keller shares memories, spotlight in latest book






NEW YORK (Reuters) – Thomas Keller, one of America‘s most respected chefs, shares the food memories of his childhood and his time in France in his new book “Bouchon Bakery,” which is also the name of his chain of pastry shops in the United States.


Keller is the only American chef who owns two three-Michelin-star restaurants – Per Se in New York City and The French Laundry in the Napa Valley wine region in California.






Earlier this year, Britain’s Restaurant Magazine named Per Se, which opened in 2004, the world’s sixth best restaurant. Keller also earned the magazine’s lifetime achievement award.


Like his four other books, his latest effort is a collaboration. He co-wrote it with his top pastry chefs Sebastien Rouxel and Matthew McDonald along with food writers Susie Heller, Michael Ruhlman and Amy Vogler.


The 57-year-old spoke to Reuters about the book, his pastry chefs and his place in the culinary world.


Q: Why did you collaborate with the leaders of your pastry team with this book?


A: “If you look at my other cookbooks, it’s always been a point with me to share these opportunities with those who share their skills and expertise with the general public. That was the reason why I did the book. Sebastien is one of the best pastry chefs in America. His techniques are unparalleled. I’m not trying to pretend that I’m a pastry chef by writing a book about baking and pastries. Nor am I trying to be a bread baker. I have Matthew McDonald, who is one of the best bakers in America. To be able to highlight his skills in the bread section was very important as well.”


Q: How did your time in France change your view about pastry and bread-making?


A: “When you are in France, especially in Paris, there were three or four boulangeries of different significance just on the block where I lived because they had pastry chefs with different levels of skills. You went to different ones for different things. To have a fresh baked baguette everyday was extraordinary. Anyone who lived in Paris for any length of time would say eating a fresh baguette is pretty special. Bread plays a real important part in the experience of the diners. To make sure we have the opportunity to significantly impact the experience by controlling the production and style of the bread was very important to me.”


Q: Do you have a favorite dessert?


A: “It depends on the day … There are so many things I love. I think anything that’s done really, really well. For me, that’s really something I really appreciate. I think one of the things that really resonate with the individual is that idea that eating, and eating through that experience, they have a memory. We are always trying to do something that’s good. Why put something on the menu that’s not very good?”


Q: The book emphasizes weighing ingredients over measuring with cups and spoons. Could that be difficult for home cooks?


A: “One of the things about pastry … it’s such an exact process. The most exact thing you practice is with weighing. There is an exactness to the execution, which gives you every opportunity to be successful.”


Q: French Laundry and Per Se are among two of the best restaurants in the country. Bouchon Bakery is a success. What more would you like to accomplish in the culinary world?


A: “I have accomplished today everything I wanted to accomplish, more than I ever dreamed was possible. Right now, I’m just focused on the restaurants we have and the book I just wrote. Let me enjoy this moment before you ask me what I’ll be doing tomorrow.”


Pecan Sandies for my mom (Makes 1-1/2 dozen cookies)


1 ¾ cups + 1 ½ teaspoons all-purpose flour (250 grams)


¾ cup coarsely chopped pecans (80 grams)


4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature (170 grams)


¾ cup + 1 ¾ teaspoons powdered sugar (90 grams)


Additional powdered sugar for dusting (optional)


1. Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F (convection) or 350°F (standard). Line two sheet pans with Silpats or parchment paper.


2. Toss the flour and pecans together in a medium bowl.


3. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on medium-low speed until smooth. Add the 90 grams/¾ cup plus 1¾ teaspoons powdered sugar and mix for about 2 minutes, until fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, until just combined. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to incorporate any dry ingredients that have settled there.


4. Divide the dough into 30-gram/1½-tablespoon portions, roll into balls, and arrange on the sheet pans, leaving about 1½ inches between them. Press the cookies into 2-inch disks.


5. Bake until pale golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes if using a convection oven, 22 to 25 minutes if using a standard oven, reversing the positions of the pans halfway through. (Sandies baked in a convection oven will not spread as much as those baked in a standard oven and will have a more even color.)


6. Set the pans on a cooling rack and cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to the rack to cool completely. If desired, dust with powdered sugar.


Note: The cookies can be stored in a covered container for up to 3 days.


(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Patricia Reaney and James Dalgleish)


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Mandela responding to lung infection treatment






JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Former South African President Nelson Mandela, who is 94 and has been in hospital since Saturday for tests, has suffered a recurrence of a lung infection but is responding to treatment, the government said on Tuesday.


The revered anti-apartheid leader and Nobel Peace laureate is spending his fourth day in hospital in the capital, Pretoria.






Known affectionately by his clan name “Madiba”, Mandela remains a hero to many of South Africa‘s 52 million people and two brief stretches in hospital in the past two years made front page news.


“Doctors have concluded the tests and these have revealed a recurrence of a previous lung infection, for which Madiba is receiving appropriate treatment and he is responding to the treatment,” the government said in a statement.


Mandela was admitted to the Pretoria military hospital on Saturday after being flown from his home village of Qunu in a remote part of the Eastern Cape province.


Until now, authorities had given few details about the reason for his latest visit to hospital.


In an interview broadcast on South Africa’s eNCA television channel, Mandela’s Mozambican-born wife Graca said the former president’s “sparkle” was fading.


When he was admitted to hospital on Saturday, officials stressed there was no cause for concern although domestic media reports suggested senior members of the government and people close to him had been caught unawares.


ROBBEN ISLAND


On the streets, ordinary South Africans crossed their fingers for his recovery. Leading cartoonist Zapiro depicted Mandela asleep in his hospital bed with hundreds of “Get Well” cards flying through the window like a flock of birds.


“He’s old and I hope he gets better soon. He means a lot to the world,” 25-year-old legal researcher Liezel Jacobs said.


Mandela, South Africa’s first black president and a global symbol of resistance to racism and injustice, spent 27 years in apartheid prisons, including 18 years on the windswept Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town.


He was released in 1990 and went on to be elected president in the historic all-race elections in 1994 that ended decades of white-minority rule in Africa’s most important economy.


He used his unparalleled prestige to push for reconciliation between whites and blacks, setting up a commission to probe crimes committed by both sides in the anti-apartheid struggle.


Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC) has continued to govern since his retirement from politics in 1999, but has been criticised for perceived corruption and slowness in addressing apartheid-era inequalities in housing, education and healthcare.


On Tuesday, the influential South African Council of Churches launched a blistering attack on the ANC, accusing its leaders of moral decay and of abandoning Mandela’s goal of a non-racial democracy built from the ashes of apartheid.


Mandela spent time in a Johannesburg hospital in 2011 with a respiratory condition, and again in February this year because of abdominal pains. He was released the following day after a keyhole examination showed there was nothing serious.


He has since spent most of his time in Qunu.


His fragile health prevents him from making any public appearances, although he has continued to receive high-profile domestic and international visitors, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton in July.


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Delta buys into Virgin Atlantic







Delta Air Lines has agreed a deal to buy Singapore Airlines’ 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic for $ 360m (£224m).






Virgin Group and Sir Richard Branson will retain a 51% shareholding, and the Virgin brand will remain in place, the new partners said in a joint statement.


The deal is subject to regulatory approval in the US and Europe.


It follows a spat between Sir Richard and Willie Walsh, boss of BA-owner International Airlines Group over the future of Virgin Atlantic.


Earlier, Mr Walsh offered to wager a “knee in the groin” in a bet with Sir Richard over whether the Virgin brand would still be around in five years.


He was responding to a £1m bet offered by Sir Richard on Monday.


‘Exciting day’


Virgin and Delta said the deal would allow allow them to “overcome slot constraints” and offer more flights from Heathrow.


The carriers will operate 31 peak-day round trips between the UK and North America.


“Our new partnership with Virgin Atlantic will strengthen both airlines and provide a more effective competitor between North America and the UK, particularly on the New York-London route,” said Delta boss Richard Anderson.


Sir Richard said it was an “exciting day” in Virgin’s history.


“It signals the start of a new era of expansion, financial growth and many opportunities for our customers and our business.”


Singapore Airlines is selling its stake, which it has owned since 1999, because of increased competition in its local market.


Low-cost airlines in particular have mushroomed, threatening more traditional carriers like Singapore Airlines.


Singapore Airlines has itself launched a low-cost carrier, called Scoot, and has been putting money into its regional service, SilkAir.


BBC News – Business


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McAfee wants to return to US, ‘normal life’






BACALAR, Mexico (AP) — Software company founder John McAfee said Sunday he wants to return to the United States and “settle down to whatever normal life” he can.


In a live-stream Internet broadcast from the Guatemalan detention center where he is fighting a government order that he be returned to Belize, the 67-year-old said “I simply would like to live comfortably day by day, fish, swim, enjoy my declining years.”






Police in neighboring Belize want to question McAfee in the fatal shooting of a U.S. expatriate who lived near his home on a Belizean island in November.


The creator of the McAfee antivirus program again denied involvement in the killing during the Sunday Internet video hook-up, during which he answered what he said were reporters’ questions.


His comments were sometimes contradictory. McAfee is an acknowledged practical joker who has dabbled in yoga, ultra-light aircraft and the production of herbal medications.


The British-born McAfee first said that returning to the United States “is my only hope now.” But he later added, “I would be happy to go to England, I have dual citizenship.”


He was emphatic that “I cannot ever return to Belize …. there is no hope for my life if I am ever returned to Belize.”


“If I am returned,” he said, “bad things will clearly happen to me.”


He descibed the health problems that had him briefly hospitalized earlier this week after Guatemalan authorities detained him for entering the country illegally. He apparently snuck in across a rural, unguarded spot along the border.


“I did not eat for two days, I drank very little liquids, and for the first time in many years I’ve been smoking almost non-stop,” he said. “I stood up, passed out hit my head on the wall, came to,” though he now said he was feeling better.


McAfee praised the role his 20-year-old Belizean girlfriend, Samantha Vanegas, played in his escape from Belize, where he claims he is being persecuted by corrupt politicians. Authorities in Belize deny that they are persecuting him and have questioned his mental state.


“Sam saved the day many times” during their escape, he said, and suggested he would take her with him to the United States if he is allowed to go there.


He confirmed that journalists from Vice magazine who accompanied him on his escape after weeks of hiding in Belize had unwittingly posted photos with embedded data that revealed his exact location.


“It was an error anyone could make,” he said, noting they were under a lot of pressure at the time.


McAfee has led an eccentric life since he sold his stake in the anti-virus software company named after him in the early 1990s and moved to Belize about three years ago to lower his taxes.


He told The New York Times in 2009 that he had lost all but $ 4 million of his $ 100 million fortune in the U.S. financial crisis. However, a story on the Gizmodo website quoted him as describing that claim as “not very accurate at all.”


McAfee’s Guatemalan attorney, Telesforo Guerra, says that he has filed three separate legal appeals in the hope that his client can stay in Guatemala, where his political asylum request was rejected.


Guerra said he filed an appeal for a judge to make sure McAfee’s physical integrity is protected, an appeal against the asylum denial and a petition with immigration officials to allow his client to stay in this Central American country indefinitely.


The appeals could take several days to resolve, Guerra said. He added that he could still use several other legal resources but wouldn’t give any other details.


Fredy Viana, a spokesman for the Immigration Department, said that before the agency looks into the request to allow McAfee to stay in Guatemala, a judge must first deal with the appeal asking that authorities make sure McAfee’s physical integrity is protected.


“We won’t look into (allowing him to stay) until the other appeal is resolved,” Viana said. “The law gives me 30 days to resolve the issue.”


McAfee went on the run last month after Belizean officials tried to question him about the killing of Gregory Viant Faull, who was shot to death in early November.


McAfee acknowledges that his dogs were bothersome and that Faull had complained about them, but denies killing Faull. Faull’s home was a couple of houses down from McAfee’s compound in Ambergris Caye, off Belize’s Caribbean coast.


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Hug It Out: Public Charter and District Schools Given $25 Million to Get Along






If you need a loan, ask Bill and Melinda Gates. Or better yet, ask one of the seven cities that are splitting a new $ 25 million grant courtesy of the couple’s philanthropic foundation.


The funds are going to promote cross collaboration between charter and district schools, which have previously operated in a strict and contentious independence from one another.






The foundation announced the award this week, and the cities benefiting are Boston, Denver, Hartford (CT), New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia and Spring Branch (TX).


How did they get so lucky? They’re among a group of 16 communities that signed the Gates-sponsored “District-Charter Collaboration Compacts” pledging for an open-source collaboration between public charter and district public schools.


Communication between these two models is unusual to say the least; they’ve had a long and illustrious history of battling each other over tax dollars, students and even building space.


But when charter schools first opened 20 years ago, their original purpose was to create an experimental educational space which would then share its best methods with public district schools. Instead, the two grew into rivals and critics of each are vehemently opposed to the other.


Among the complaints, charter schools are seen as selfishly siphoning off the most motivated students from the district while upholding a rich-poor educational divide and failing to live up to the promise of a better education. Others say its district schools that are the issue for their unionized teacher complacency and a consistent inability to keep a large margin of students from falling through the cracks.


In truth, neither system is a slam-dunk, and both are experiencing closures nationwide due to underperformance.


The goal of the District-Charter Collaboration Compacts is to restore the original relationship of the two camps, effectively establishing a regular protocol of sharing their best practices, innovations and resources.


Don Shalvey, the deputy director at teh Gates Foundation told The New York Times, “It took Microsoft and Apple 10 years to learn to talk. So it’s not surprising that it took a little bit longer for charters and other public schools. It’s pretty clear there is more common ground than battleground.”


But what will this grand collaboration yield? If all goes according to plan, students from both camps will benefit from new teacher effectiveness practices, college-ready tools and supports, and innovative instructional delivery systems.


According to the Gates Foundation, only one-third of students meet the criteria of college ready by the time they graduate. And most of the kids who don’t are often minority students from lower income areas. By creating collaborative aims with charter and district, kids from all over can have access to a wider swath of teaching frameworks and curriculums. 


Related Stories on TakePart:


• Public Dollars for Private Schools? Voices from the Voucher Debate


• School Vouchers: The Debate Heats Up Across the U.S.


• Howard Fuller: One of the Most Powerful Educators in America



A Bay Area native, Andri Antoniades previously worked as a fashion industry journalist and medical writer.  In addition to reporting the weekend news on TakePart, she volunteers as a webeditor for locally-based nonprofits and works as a freelance feature writer for TimeOutLA.com. Email Andri | @andritweets | TakePart.com


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