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0 Comments | Citizen Gloucestershire, The, Jul 29, 2010

A WOMAN from Gloucester accused of hitting a man over the head with an iron bar is to stand trial.

Michelle Williams of Oxford Street, Kingsholm pleaded not guilty to assaulting Martin Drew, occasioning him actual bodily harm, when the 36-year-old appeared before city magistrates on Tuesday. Sharon Green, prosecuting, said the alleged incident took place at Martin Drew’s home in Southgate Street on June 19.

She said she is alleged to have struck Mr Drew twice over the head. Mr Drew was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital where he received treatment for cuts.

Magistrates declined jurisdiction and adjourned the case until September 21 for committal papers to be prepared for trial at Gloucester Crown Court. Williams was granted conditional bail.

0 Comments | Derby Evening Telegraph, Jul 14, 2010

POLICE have issued descriptions of three men wanted in connection with a robbery in Derby.

A man walking home in the early hours on Sunday was approached by another man at the junction of Back Sitwell

Two other men joined him and they threatened the victim before stealing his watch, mobile phone and cash from his wallet.

Police are investigating the incident, which happened at about 2am, and have appealed for witnesses.

One of the robbers was black and wore a white top. The other men were both white.

One wore a red shirt with a pattern and the other a blue jacket with stripes and a badge on it.

Anyone with information is asked to call Derbyshire police on 0345 123 3333 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jan 1, 2010 by Sue McMillin

During her first four years in the United States, Sofia Ramos was isolated from much of the community because she didn’t speak English. A Mexican native, she had married a Colorado Springs man, and after starting a family, she mostly stayed home with the children.

When their oldest son started preschool in 1995, though, things changed dramatically for Ramos after she saw a flier about English- language classes for parents. The parents could ride a bus to class, and child care would be provided for the children.

Her husband and mother-in-law said it couldn’t be true.

But it was.

Soon, Ramos was learning English. Three years later she took her citizenship test. A year after that, she learned to drive and later got her General Educational Development (GED) diploma.

Ramos credits Colorado Springs School District 11 Adult and Family Education courses for opening those doors to her, and for giving her the tools to help her three sons become successful in the school system that once was so foreign to her. Her oldest will graduate from Palmer High School in May. Another is a freshman in the International Baccalaureate Programme at Palmer, and the youngest is in the gifted-and-talented program at Hunt Elementary.

And the program that helped Ramos integrate into American society has employed her for 11 years, first as a child care worker and then as a staff assistant in the front office.

She is one of thousands of adults who have learned to speak English, gotten their GED diplomas or attended family literacy programs over the 40 years D-11 has offered the programs.

The classes are funded primarily through grants, contract services, GED fees and state per-pupil revenue for GED students younger than 21, and director Melissa Burkhardt-Shields said it’s a bargain for D-11 because it helps so many families.

In the 2008-09 school year, the program served more than 1,200 adults and 300 children, and the district kicked in about $11,000. The district’s cost in 2007-08 was $20,000, up from $5,000 in 2006- 07. Burkhardt-Shields said yearly fluctuations in the number of students younger than 21 accounts for the swing in costs.

This school year, the program offices and many of the classes moved from Hunt to Jefferson Elementary School, which was closed in May. Despite concerns that the move would hurt the program, enrollment is up in the GED programs and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, Burkhardt-Shields said.

A study showed that the largest percentage of adult students have come from the 80909 and 80910 ZIP codes, although they come from throughout the region, she said. Jefferson is within the 80909 ZIP.

Adult education classes are offered in the morning and on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Previously, the evening classes were staggered over four nights, but Jefferson has enough classrooms to offer all courses on two nights.

“I feel like it unifies us and it makes the school vibrant,” Burkhardt-Shields said.

On a Tuesday evening in November, the place was packed. Adults of various ages were learning to read and write, or working on high school course work in preparation for the GED test
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