KYW WEATHER

KYW WEATS-EX-R, WXYZ-TV is pleased to announce that veteran meteorologist Chris Edwards joins the cast of The Weather Channel 7.

Edwards began his career as a weather presenter for the U.S. Air Force. It was one of the first meteorologists with the Weather Channel in Atlanta before moving to settle the WISN TV in Milwaukee, and KYW-TV in Philadelphia.

Edwards was the chief meteorologist for WJBK-TV in Detroit before leaving in 2004 to spend more time with his family and start his own business meteorological science education to students.

“We are extremely pleased to add such a talented and experienced Meteorologist Weather Channel 7 staff,” said news director Tim Dye. “Chris brings over 30 years of experience in forecasting, a large portion of the region of southeastern Michigan. His first hand knowledge will be a tremendous asset to our viewers. ”

“WXYZ-TV infused so much energy in the community and it is exciting to be part of this effort,” said Edwards. “As the weather team, it is our duty to build and maintain the confidence of the community we serve and being part of a weather team who are committed to this effort is very exciting. ”

Edwards received the American Meteorological Society Seal of Approval in 1986. He has been honored with numerous awards, including recognition of the Michigan chapter of the National Association of Arts and Sciences for best WeatherCast television in 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.

“We are delighted to have Chris on our team,” said Chief Meteorologist Dave Rexroth. “We think Chris with staff, we forecast the most experienced team on the market.”

Edwards begins by WXYZ on January 22.

WXYZ-TV is part of Scripps Media Inc., which operates 10 television stations (six ABC affiliates, three NBC affiliates and one independent). The parent company, The EW Scripps Company (NYSE: SSP) is a diverse, the 131-year media enterprise with interests in television stations, newspapers, local news and information websites, and comics / syndication features. For a complete list of Scripps media companies and their associated Web sites, http://www.scripps.com/ visit.

School District Of Philadelphia

School District Of Philadelphia, Despite the controversy about a budget deficit that threatens “the School District Superintendent Arlene Philadelphie”Ackerman – citing progress in its first cohort of 13 schools in operation – is moving forward with plans to dramatically reviewing a second group, even more low-performing schools.

His announcement of this new phase coincided with the publication of financial data by the District showing a much higher price for the first round of schools than previously reported.

Tuesday afternoon, district officials revealed their plans to name 18 new schools in the Renaissance, including seven new district Term Promise Academy, three “Innovation” Promise academies where the replenishment of the staff is not mandatory, and two schools to be run as charters by Universal as part of an unprecedented new partnership area. Six other schools will be paired with and handed over to outside managers.

“Last year, people do not think it would work. I thought it would be, “said Ackerman.” When you go to one of the [existing] schools of the Renaissance, you think the culture has changed. ”

During the Renaissance charter revised in September last fall; preliminary data indicate that the registration and the average daily attendance are up, so that serious incidents are down. In addition, while the first batch of academies promise has not been without problems, the results of predictive tests point to higher reading scores at all six, and math scores rising in four of the six schools.

Assistant superintendent of schools Penny Nixon said the district is particularly proud of its results at both high schools Promise academies, Vaux and City University.

“The early returns show that attendance is up dramatically, and we see a drop of 50 percent dropout rates for schools,” said Nixon.

A few hours after the explanation of its four models and to appoint the 18 pilot schools, the district provided new details on the cost of Promise Academy charter and Renaissance.

Ackerman said publicly that each academy costs about one million Promise and use. But on Tuesday, district employees set the amount invested a year at the initiative of six schools to almost 9.7 million. Much of this cost is attributable to increased employee compensation, including a longer time.

With six schools serving a combined 2,700 students, the cost amounts to about 3,600 and additional funding per pupil in academies Promise. It’s more than four times the amount of additional funding per student provided to the district administration organizations of Education in 2002 and largest incursion turbulent Philadelphia turnaround school.

In addition, seven charters Renaissance this year have cost the district and 10.4 million, bringing the total price tag of the first year of the initiative to all 13 schools at $ 20 million.

Scheduled for next year 18-school cohort Renaissance, including 10 high schools, is much larger and potentially more costly. The 10 proposals Promise Academy – including West Philadelphia and South Philadelphia high schools – serves a total of nearly 6,000 students.

Although the District is facing the loss of quarter billion dollars in stimulus money the federal government next year and the 2011-12 budget deficit is even bigger than that, district officials have been resolved in their belief that the Renaissance initiative will continue to be funded.

“We can not create a system of large schools, unless we turn around our underperforming schools,” said Assistant Superintendent Diane Castelbuono. “We are determined to find a way to make this initiative happen, and c that is what we budget for next year. These 18 schools will be reversed. ”

Public School parent Helen Gym, however, said she would like to see much more transparency in the process of the Renaissance District.

“I do not think anyone questions the kind of investments we want to see in communities with learning difficulties,” said Gym, who worked closely with students from South Asia to Philadelphia high school last year.

“What we want is to ensure is that they are sustainable. Given that there are severe budgetary decisions to make, some of which may involve the closure of schools, the district needs to be honest about what the financial situation is -. And it is a conversation that must occur in public ”

The district has also provided more details about its plans for the schools under its new partnership with companies in the South Philadelphia community development based on universal Organization. As part of a collaborative effort to bring the Point Breeze and Grays Ferry section of South Philadelphia in a neighborhood Promise modeled on the children’s area of Harlem, the District of price management will Universal Audenried High School and Edwin Vare Middle School.

“We know that you can not really revitalize these communities unless you change the school,” said Castelbuono. “This offers a unique opportunity for us to partner with a company that has a strong presence in the community and to really take advantage of our skills together to really transform the entire geographical area there. ”

As part of their promise Neighbourhood Partnership, the District is handing over the management of these two schools directly to Universal, skipping the process of community review and parent who has already been used at the initiative of the Renaissance.

“Companies Universal has made a huge public process when they called the Promised Neighborhood Partnership grant with the federal government,” said Castelbuono. “They are a huge presence in this community, they have been there for decades.”

This will be the second chance with Universal Vare, this time as a charter. The school last fall returned to the control of the district, after eight years under a management contract with Universal as an outgrowth of the takeover of the State 2002. Vare was one of 16 low-performing schools when the District terminated the contracts with outside managers in 2010, citing insufficient progress.

Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Jerry Jordan has slammed both the increased dependence on the charter conversion in the second round of the Renaissance schools and the lack of “participation of parents, teachers, students and communities of these schools serve “.

“Instead of improving community involvement in schools, families, educators and communities have been marginalized,” Jordan, said in a statement in response to the plane of the Renaissance.

While Universal is not asked to win over parents and Audenried Vare, six other draft charter schools of the Renaissance, the school advisory councils will again be given the opportunity to interview management organizations Prospective and then make a recommendation to Superintendent Ackerman.

The district announced the approved organizations on Tuesday night. Included in the list were the three current providers of the Renaissance – ASPIRA of Pennsylvania, Inc., Master charter schools, and Universal – and four others, headquartered in New York for-profit company Mosaica Partners recovery.

“We are delighted to be selected as a supplier,” said CEO Scott Gordon Masters “We are very proud of the progress this year schools in the Renaissance were -. All three are on the verge of becoming the school success “. Counting the three schools of the Renaissance Masters currently operates seven charters in Philadelphia.

The public process of correspondence between the charters of the Renaissance and the potential recovery teams should be completed by mid-March, with Superintendent Ackerman submit its final recommendations to the School Reform Commission later this spring.

The plans of eligible schools to external service providers are subject to approval by the CBC.

The recovery process in the 18 schools is likely to move hundreds of teachers. District officials said they could not guarantee that the lecturers would be able to obtain positions in the district next year, given the projected budget deficit. But they said no new teachers will be recruited teachers until seniority are placed.

Source: http://www.thenotebook.org/blog/113251/announcing-18-more-renaissance-schools-district-faces-questions-about-cost-community-inp

Whud Storm Center

Whud Storm Center, (NOAA) – NOAA now uses improved weather and marine forecast models for the Great Lakes that will extend to 36 hours forecast 60 hours in the future to better serve the commercial and recreational mariners, the shipping industry, stakeholders of Emergency managers of water resources and the private weather industry.

The Great Lakes Operational Forecast System Service NOAA’s National Ocean, which predicts currents, water levels and water temperature, is now running on the NOAA National Weather Service powerful reliable supercomputers. Super computers running around the clock, providing a computing system to generate more reliable models forecast Great Lakes and eventually produces more timely forecasts. Initial estimates and forecasts are GLOF online http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ofs/glofs.html.

The National Weather Service provides clients with forecasts of wind and waves, in addition to the weather forecast for the five Great Lakes. Bring forecasts from the National Ocean Service within the computer system itself provides an opportunity for customers to have access to Great Lakes predictions from a single source.

“We are increasing the capacity of environmental modeling within NOAA by leveraging existing resources and partnerships,” said Dr. Louis Uccellini, director of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, a division of National Weather Service. “This initiative will allow clients to NOAA, more reliable information and timely.”

This initiative is a first step to link the efforts of the NOAA Environmental Modeling with the state of the art technology and paves the way for a more transparent way to provide environmental forecasts at the base of diverse customers NOAA the future. In addition, this effort will help the ability of NOAA to manage marine ecosystems of the nation and supports the Integrated Ocean Observing System – a partnership between federal, regional, and private sector working to increase understanding of oceans, coasts and Great Lakes so that policymakers can take steps to improve security, strengthen the economy and protect the environment.

“This initiative will lead to major advances in environmental modeling within NOAA, said David Kennedy, Acting Assistant Administrator of the National NOAA Ocean. “Imagine a system that may one day help us provide more accurate forecasts and timely to maritime commerce safer and more effective and also lead to improvements in ecological forecasting, such as predicting harmful algal blooms. “

Kyw School Closings

Kyw School Closings, (AP) – Hundreds of passengers were stranded at airports along the East Coast snowstorm threatens travelers wanted to go home after the holidays. The main airports and railways were closed for a second day around the region.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesman Steve Coleman, hundreds of passengers at John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airports are provided blankets and cots.

The airport should reopen on Monday afternoon about the end of time.

A blizzard warning was in effect Monday morning in Delaware at the extreme northern Maine.

Officials are urging all those who shall not have to stay away from roads in the region, where high winds pushed the snow into deep drifts through the streets, railways and runways.

This update NEWS. Check back soon for more information. AP story earlier is below.

NEW YORK (AP) – A powerful East Coast blizzard threatened would-be travelers by air, rail and road Monday, leaving thousands without means of returning home from vacation and closure of major airports and tracks for a second day.

Officials urged anyone who did not lead to stay away from roads in the region, where high winds pushed the snow into deep drifts through the streets, railways and runways. Nearly a foot and a half of snow was expected in the fall when the storm brought later in the day.

In Monmouth County, New Jersey, state horsemen carried water and food for diabetics stranded on two buses carrying passengers by about 50 people in the Garden State Parkway, where stranded cars that crowd the slopes of snow impasse plows and ambulances, state spokesman for the police Steve Jones told NBC’s “Today” show. A bus has been released by 7 o’clock and the other soon to be, “he said. Passengers reported no major medical problem.

In New York, hundreds of passenger cars Monday drowsy Long Island Rail Road train to the frozen platform. Other lay people as refugees at the entrance of the rail link to Kennedy Airport and was powerless to ticketing, waiting in vain for good news flashing on the screens of schedule. The hours passed without a single train leaving with passengers.

The buses were eliminated, and the cabins were a little more than a myth and those who tried to walk from the station were attacked with a hard, icy wind that made flakes sting like needles.

“They tried, but they can not do much with the snow. It’s just not stopping,” said Sharray Jones, 20, headed home to Long Island after visiting friends.

In Philadelphia, the cab driver Senoussaoui Farid, 33, described the sailing conditions slippery as “a video game.” Senoussaoui had worked all night during the storm and said passengers were universally grateful when he stopped to pick them up.

“The first word you hear is,” Thank you very much, “said Senoussaoui.

In New England, many commuters seemed to be answering the call to stay off the roads. In addition to Boston, the roads in the city were almost deserted on Monday morning that many workers were given a day off and others were on vacation during the holiday week.

Blizzard conditions wreaked havoc on as travelers from North Carolina to Maine.

Airlines scrambled to rebook passengers on canceled thousands of flights – more than 1,400 on the three major New York area airports alone – but said not to expect normal service to resume until Tuesday. Amtrak canceled train service from New York to Maine after having done so previously for several trains in Virginia.

The Long Island Rail Road, the nation’s largest commuter rail system, also suspended service. The bus routes canceled along the East Coast, and drivers face dangerous travel conditions – sometimes with visibility near zero.

New York John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports remain closed on Monday, as was the northern New Jersey Newark Liberty International Airport. A spokesman for Boston Logan International Airport could take days to return to normal.

Wind gusts up to 80 mph knocked out power to thousands. Utilities reported about 30,000 customers were in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, mostly on Cape Cod and south of Boston.

In Wells, Maine, police said a 59 year old man died hours after his pickup crashed into a tree in whiteout conditions on Sunday night.

Peter Iarossi, a train driver for MBCR, which operates commuter trains of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, has seen its normal stretch drive of 15 minutes to an hour due to blizzard conditions.

He woke up even earlier and was sitting in his car idling in the yard an hour before his 6:45 train was leaving to start his run in Boston.

“You’re there to get people to Boston,” said Iarossi. “You do not have an option people are counting on you -. Especially in bad weather”

Emergency room nurse Tiffany Lema, Newport, Rhode Island Hospital, said his trip normally 45 minutes of Cranston, just south of Providence, was a terrible two hours, the more painful when the truck her husband could not pass over the bridge from Newport. They turned around and parked near an office without E-ZPass electronic payment, where his father-in-law took it and it leads the rest of the journey.

“I was not going to jump at any moment, so we just turned around. It was a little scary, “said Lema, who planned to spend the night in hospital with other nurses.” You could see the car in front of you, but not over the hill, not on deck. ”

A blizzard warning, which is issued when snow is accompanied by sustained winds or gusts over 35 mph for three hours, was in force Monday morning of Delaware at the extreme northern Maine. The storm was expected to bring its heaviest snowfall in the hours before dawn Monday, sometimes dumping 2 to 4 inches an hour. A total of 12 to 16 inches was expected in almost all of Rhode Island, Connecticut and eastern Massachusetts, but forecasters said winds of 50 mph could create snowdrifts much deeper.

The state of emergency was declared in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Maine and Massachusetts, where Gov. Deval Patrick urged people not to be on the roads to stay home to ensure their safety and that of work teams. State Workers nonessential were told to stay home Monday.

In Boston, Mayor Thomas Menino declared a snow emergency that bans parking on main streets, and the New England Aquarium bubble wrapped its four 5-foot-tall ice sculptures penguin to protect against wind and snow.

More than 2,400 sanitation workers worked in shifts 12 hours to clear city of New York of 6000 miles of streets.

The monster storm is the result of a low-pressure system off the coast of North Carolina and strengthened as it moved northward, the National Weather Service said. Because of it, some parts of the South have had their first white Christmas since records were kept.

Johnson reported from Haverhill, Mass., contributed to this report was Associated Press writers David Sharp in Portland, Maine, Leon Drouin-Keith, New York, Kathy Matheson in Philadelphia, and Bruce Shipkowski in Trenton, New Jersey

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.