WASHINGTON — Hundreds of thousands of high school dropouts hoping to earn an equivalency diploma will have to pass a more challenging GED test that is being designed to improve the prospects of low-skilled workers in a high-tech economy.
GED test to get
more difficult
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of thousands of high school dropouts hoping to earn an equivalency diploma will have to pass a more challenging GED test that is being designed to improve the prospects of low-skilled workers in a high-tech economy.
The largest overhaul in the exam’s 70-year history follows growing criticism that it has fallen far short of its promise to offer a second chance for the 39 million adult Americans without a high school diploma. Very few of those who pass the GED test pursue higher education, and most struggle to earn a living wage.
The new exam, scheduled to be introduced in January, will emphasize skills that are more relevant to today’s employers and colleges, including critical thinking and basic computer literacy as the test goes digital and the pencil-and-paper version is abandoned. It also will be aligned to national academic standards approved by 45 states and the District of Columbia, matching it more closely to the education students are now expected to receive in public schools.
Antares rocket launch rescheduled for today
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Scientists will attempt for a third time today to launch the powerful rocket, Antares, from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility on the eastern shore of Virginia.
A second liftoff attempt was scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday, but that launch was scrubbed because of strong upper-level winds, according to Barron Beneski, spokesman for rocket-maker Orbital Sciences Corp.
Beneski said the rocket can launch in winds up to 20 knots, but the concern is safety. If something were to happen, he said, where would the debris and toxins go?
Beneski said because the rocket had not yet been fueled, the launch team could delay a day. Had the rocket been fueled, he said, it would not be possible to try again 24 hours later, which was the case with an earlier attempt to launch earlier in the week.
Minutes from countdown, the first attempt on Wednesday was scrubbed after an umbilical cord between the rocket and the launch pad prematurely detached.
Today’s two-hour launch window will open at 5 p.m.
The launch is Orbital’s first attempt to test the rocket, with a simulated Cygnus cargo spacecraft attached. It’s also the first test of a new launch pad, support facilities and infrastructure at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, or MARS, built at a cost of $145 million.
Puerto Rico debates legalizing marijuana use
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Dozens of people marched Saturday through Puerto Rico’s capital amid growing support for a recent bill filed by a former police chief that aims to legalize marijuana for personal use, unleashing an unprecedented debate in this conservative U.S. territory.
The crowd marched to the seaside Capitol building, where Sen. Miguel Pereira filed a bill this week stating it should be legal for those 21 and older to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana. The former federal prosecutor and corrections secretary said possession cases are costing the government money, noting that 80 percent of inmates are serving time for nonviolent crimes.
His comments have polarized the island, with some legislators demanding his resignation.
“It’s outrageous that someone who was elected by the people tries to use his position to cause addiction, sicken and destroy Puerto Rican society,” Sen. Itzamar Pena said.
Critics say the proposal would further fuel violence on an island of 3.7 million people that reported a record 1,117 killings in 2011, with police saying that 70 percent of killings are drug-related. Others expressed concern that police, teachers and doctors would smoke while working.
“This measure has to be studied extremely carefully,” Sen. Jose Perez Rosa said. “It’s not like alcohol, where acceptable levels (of use) exist.”
Currently, those charged with marijuana possession can face up to three years in jail and a $5,000 fine.
5 snowboarders killed in Colorado avalanche
GEORGETOWN, Colo. — Five snowboarders were killed Saturday afternoon after apparently triggering a backcountry avalanche on Colorado’s Loveland Pass, authorities said.
Search and rescue crews recovered the bodies several hours after the slide, which was 600 yards wide and 8 feet deep, said Clear Creek County Sheriff Don Krueger.
A sixth snowboarder caught in the avalanche was rescued. That person’s condition wasn’t immediately known.
Searchers from Clear Creek County, Summit County, an Alpine search and rescue team and Loveland ski resort located the bodies, Krueger said.
Pakistani judge
orders Musharraf
held for two weeks
ISLAMABAD — Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf on Saturday was ordered held for two weeks until the next hearing in a case related to his 2007 decision to sack and detain several judges.
After the judge’s order, Islamabad’s administration declared that Musharraf’s lavish country residence could serve as a jail, meaning the ex-president could be held there under house arrest.
The development is the latest act in the drama surrounding Musharraf’s return to Pakistan, which climaxed with his arrest Friday after a speedy escape from another court hearing.
The former general, who seized power in a coup and ruled Pakistan for nearly a decade, has seen his fortunes plummet since he returned in March after four years in self-imposed exile.
By wire sources