Briefs: Parents want special test
A group of Latino parents is expressing fears that requiring their children to take the regular state math and reading exams could result in widespread failure and shattered self-esteem. The Chicago parents are protesting the state's decision to scrap the Illinois Measure of Annual Growth in English, or IMAGE, an exam given to students with limited English language skills. The state took the action after battling with federal officials for two years over whether the exam lived up to No Child Left Behind standards. The U.S. Department of Education ruled in November the IMAGE test was not an appropriate way to determine if non-English-speaking students were mastering basic math and reading skills. State Sen. Iris Martinez, a Chicago Democrat, says she has introduced a resolution urging the Illinois State Board of Education to create a new exam for students with limited English ability.
District cancels dances
The groping, grinding, insults and foul language have proved too much for the Frankfort Park District's event coordinator. Megan Zobel just can't understand why middle school students act this way at dances. She understands the drama typical of hormone-charged dances at this age. But a district-sponsored dance in January unraveled into too much touching and feeling among dance goers and abuse hurled at adult supervisors. So the district canceled the year's remaining eight dances. The cancellations created a buzz among students at Hickory Creek Middle School, where only about 90 of the school's 800 students attend any one particular dance. Seventh-grader Alex Karl says the district officials are overreacting to a few kids' behavior.
Report of arrest false
Authorities say a man arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service on a parole violation is just one of many leads investigators are pursuing in the fatal shooting of five women at a Tinley Park clothing store. But media reports indicating a suspect has been identified or arrested in connection with the case are "incorrect," Tinley Park police Cmdr. Rick Bruno said Wednesday. "We can confirm that the U.S. marshal's office picked up an individual on an unrelated warrant," Bruno said in a statement. "That person was not turned over to the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force or to the Tinley Park Police Department. However, we consider the information a lead, and treat it as we treat all the other leads that are being pursued."
Air controllers balk at shift
Air traffic controllers at Mitchell International Airport have been assigned responsibility for additional airspace, and they contend inadequate staffing will compromise passenger safety and contribute to delays during increased summer travel. The airspace have been covered by the Chicago Center in Aurora. "It's highly unlikely that we'll have enough people to staff (the Milwaukee tower) safely," said Paul Charapata, local president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. But Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said the union is needlessly trying to "put fear in the minds of the flying public" by raising safety concerns. The FAA is shifting control of the airspace surrounding airports in Oshkosh, Fond du Lac and Sheboygan beginning Thursday from the Aurora facility so Chicago can better handle the increase in traffic expected as part of an expansion at O'Hare International Airport. The change affects only that airspace up to 13,000 feet. Cory called the new airspace a low-traffic sector. She said it would result in no more than 5.4 additional landings and takeoffs an hour.