| Parents to get info on sub-standard daycare
QUEENSLAND parents will have access to details about daycare centres that fail to meet strict standards under new state government laws. Premier Anna Bligh today said the Government would give parents more information about compliance notices handed out to childcare centres as part of a review of its Child Care Act. Ms Bligh said the review would also consider a better way to discern between minor and serious breaches. "Parents need to know the quality of the service that the childcare centre is offering to their child," she said today. "Unfortunately, the way the legislation is currently drafted, everything counts as a breach, from the most minor transgression which really doesn't go to a high-quality issue through to very serious breaches of the act that compromise the quality of care.
DNA clue jails UK man 30 years on
A MAN has been jailed for life for murdering a British schoolgirl more than 30 years ago after detectives used ground-breaking DNA techniques to identify him. Ronald Castree, 54, was convicted for stabbing to death 11-year-old Lesley Molseed, who vanished after going to shops near her home in Rochdale in Lancashire in October 1975. Her body was then dumped on moorland."We are relieved that after so long our quest for justice for Lesley is now over," Lesley's mother, April Garrett, said. "It has been a long and harrowing ordeal, and our gratitude to the friends, family and strangers throughout the world who have given us their support is immense." In 1976, Stefan Kiszko, who was mentally ill, was jailed for the murder, but was freed in 1992 after forensic evidence showed he was not the killer.
Unity, fraternity, loyalty
Let me share an anecdote with you. In outback Australia, I visited a small (and, when I say small, I mean small) town. From a metropolitan person's point of view it looked as if there could be no possible benefit in living in this remote, isolated, and sparsely populated community. Far from the coast and innocent of the seaside scenery urban Australians take for granted, deprived of shopping and entertainment venues, ostensibly devoid of interesting outlooks (both the scenic and imaginative varieties), and far, far away from any other population center, the place seemed to be a hotbed of social malaise. But, very quickly, it became clear to me the people living in this town were incredibly happy. And they were incredibly happy not because of the town itself, but because of the community that composed it.
Jet backs into another at SFO - no injuries
Nationwide, there were 330 reports of near-collisions and other dangerous incidents between October 2006 and September 2007. The totals at San Francisco and San Jose airports each amounted to between 1 and 2 incursions for every 100,000 flights in 2007. Since 1997, SkyWest has been partners with United Airlines and is the "primary United Express carrier along the West Coast, providing more than 1,200 daily departures and serving United hubs at Los Angeles, Portland, Ore., San Francisco, Chicago O'Hare and Denver," according to the SkyWest Web site. E-mail Tanya Schevitz at tschevitz@sfchronicle.com. .
Sex scandal rocks A.G.
Attorney General Paul Morrison faces a sexual harassment claim tied to an extramarital affair he had with a subordinate in the Johnson County district attorney's office that continued after he became the state's top prosecutor this year. Linda Carter, longtime director of administration in the district attorney's office, revealed extensive details of the relationship with Morrison before quitting her job Nov. 30 in Olathe. Prior to the resignation, Carter's civil rights claim was filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. .
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