I’ve got two stories in today’s newspaper. First, on the front page, is this fun one on the creative ways schools try to improve their state ratings.

None actually claimed a dog ate their homework.

But the Texas schools that appealed their subpar state ratings this year offered up a remarkable variety of explanations and excuses — some sensible, others more notable for their creativity.

Schools blamed their performance on everything from an errant fire alarm to a student going into labor — and, in one case, parent sabotage.

“There are certainly some appeals that we think have very little merit,” said Criss Cloudt, the associate commissioner for accountability at the Texas Education Agency. “But we look at each one closely.”

The second was this obituary for one of my coworkers, Diane Hamilton.

Ms. Hamilton and Mr. Whittemore lived together for a decade. They decided to marry two weeks ago, after she had received discouraging news from doctors: The cancer had spread to her spine and she only had a few months left.

They had planned to wed yesterday morning at the Ellis County Courthouse. “We got the license, but we didn’t have time for the ceremony,” Mr. Whittemore said.

I’m also obliquely mentioned in this piece on online backup mechanisms for your computer. One sentence of the story, written by my friend Crayton, was inspired by this dorkalicious post.

…some savvy consumers have learned how to use Amazon.com Inc.’s online storage service aimed at businesses.

28 December 2006

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