NO LEARNING HOME SCHOOL
Texas case sees religious liberty, home-school rules collide
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) β The case of a Christian home-schooling family accused of not teaching its children anything because it was waiting “to be raptured” has reached the Texas Supreme Court.
Nine Republican justices heard arguments Monday on whether home-school students are required to learn anything. The McIntyre family says the El Paso school district’s attempt to verify learning violated its 14th Amendment rights.
Texas mandates that home-school children be taught basics like spelling and math. But, like many states, it doesn’t require testing or showing student progress.
The school district says it doesn’t want to interfere with home-school rights, but was investigating complaints from relatives that the McIntyre children weren’t being educated because they were awaiting the second coming of Jesus Christ.
The family says it followed a curriculum that’s used in many Christian schools.
234-w-30-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with attorney Anthony Safi, representing El Paso public schools, and attorney Charles Baruch, representing a home-schooling family)–The case of a Christian home-schooling family accused of not teaching its children anything because it was waiting “to be raptured” has reached the Texas Supreme Court. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (2 Nov 2015)
< 238-a-06-(Anthony Safi, attorney for the El Paso Independent School District, at Texas Supreme Court hearing)-“be being educated”-Anthony Safi, attorney for the El Paso Independent School District, says the McIntyre children’s grandparents raised concerns with the school truancy officer. (2 Nov 2015) < 235-a-07-(Charles Baruch, attorney for home-schooling family, at Texas Supreme Court hearing)-“governing home schools”-Charles Baruch, the attorney for a home-schooling family, says Texas home schooling families are not required to show student progress. (2 Nov 2015) < 237-a-08-(Anthony Safi, attorney for the El Paso Independent School District, at Texas Supreme Court hearing)-“children’s own grandparents”-Anthony Safi, attorney for the El Paso Independent School District, says school officials had reason to inquire whether the McIntyre children were being educated at all. (2 Nov 2015) < 236-a-03-(Charles Baruch, attorney for home-schooling family, at Texas Supreme Court hearing)-“can’t insure education”-Charles Baruch, the attorney for a home-schooling family, says school district officials’ questions about curriculum were too intrusive. (2 Nov 2015) < 066-v-35-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–A case being heard today by the Texas Supreme Court could have broad implications for families that home-school their children. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. Updated: 11/02/2015-04:57:53 AM ET (2 Nov 2015) < GAY RIGHTS-HOUSTON Clergy on both sides of Houston nondiscrimination vote HOUSTON (AP) β An ordinance on today’s ballot in Houston that would ban discrimination against gay and transgender residents is opposed by many local ministers, but supported by others. Clergy lending their support to the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance include the Rev. Jenni Martin Fairbanks. At a news conference with other local clergy, she said their faith demands that they “take inclusion, justice and love seriously.” But the Rev. Hernan Castano and leaders of some of Houston’s largest Baptist churches worry that the ordinance will allow sexual predators to use women’s restrooms. Castano said, “We are saying ‘No’ to protect our women and our children.” Supporters of the ordinance call those fears unfounded. 252-w-29-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with the Reverend Jenni Martin Fairbanks and the Reverend Hernan Castano)–An ordinance on Tuesday’s ballot in Houston that would ban discrimination against gay and transgender residents is opposed by many local ministers, but supported by others. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (2 Nov 2015) < 256-a-07-(The Reverend Hernan Castano, a director of the Houston Area Pastor Council, at news conference)-“in women’s bathroom”-The Reverend Hernan Castano, a director of the Houston Area Pastor Council, says the nondiscrimination ordinance could expose women and children to sexual predators. (2 Nov 2015) < 254-a-11-(The Reverend Jenni Martin Fairbanks, a member of Just Love Church, at news conference)-“Equal Rights Ordinance”-The Reverend Jenni Martin Fairbanks, a member of Just Love Church, says she and other local clergy are urging voters to approve the nondiscrimination ordinance. COURTESY: KPRC ((Mandatory on-air credit)) (2 Nov 2015) < 255-a-04-(The Reverend Hernan Castano, a director of the Houston Area Pastor Council, at news conference)-“and our children”-The Reverend Hernan Castano, a director of the Houston Area Pastor Council, says he stands with clergy opposing the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. (2 Nov 2015) < 253-a-11-(The Reverend Jenni Martin Fairbanks, a member of Just Love Church, at news conference)-“and love seriously”-The Reverend Jenni Martin Fairbanks, a member of Just Love Church, says she and other local clergy support the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. COURTESY: KPRC ((Mandatory on-air credit)) (2 Nov 2015) < MARRIAGE CELEBRATION 100+ Catholic couples celebrate decades of marriage at event LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) β More than 100 Catholic couples have celebrated their decades-long marriages at an event in Lexington, Kentucky. The Courier-Journal reports that the annual celebration of marriage led by Louisville Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz was held Sunday at the Cathedral of the Assumption. The event honored 136 couples celebrating wedding anniversaries ranging from 30 to 73 years. In his homily, Kurtz said the total number of years combined of the couples present was 6,646. Thirty-nine of the couples honored at the event have been married for over 60 years, including 5 couples who have been married for 65 years, one couple that has been married for 68 years and 1 couple that has been married for 73 years. FACEBOOK KILLER Man on trial; photo of wife’s dead body posted on Facebook MIAMI (AP) β There’s no dispute that Derek Medina fatally shot his wife and posted a photo of her body on Facebook, but his lawyers say he acted in self-defense because he feared her. Defense attorney Saam Zangeneh said Monday that he will seek to introduce at Medina’s trial evidence that 27-year-old Jennifer Alfonso abused drugs, battered her husband and was involved in Satan worship. Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday. Prosecutors say such testimony about the victim must be limited. Other evidence shows Medina was an accomplished boxer and had little to fear from his wife. Medina faces life in prison if convicted of murder in the 2013 killing at the couple’s South Miami home. After the shooting, authorities say Medina uploaded a photo of Alfonso’s body on Facebook. 216-a-14-(Saam Zangeneh (sam ZANG’-eh-neh), defense attorney for Derek Medina (meh-DEE’-nuh), in court)-“all these things”-Defense Attorney Saam Zangeneh says his client felt threatened by his wife’s strange beliefs. (2 Nov 2015) < 215-w-34-(Tony Winton, AP correspondent, with Saam Zangeneh (sam ZANG’-eh-neh), defense attorney, in court)–Allegations of Satan worship and drug use are part of a Florida man’s claims of self-defense after posting a photo of his dead wife’s bloody body to Facebook. AP correspondent Tony Winton reports from the court in Miami where the trial began today. (2 Nov 2015) < MOSQUE SPRAY PAINTED Police arrest 2 men in vandalism of Boston-area mosque BURLINGTON, Mass. (AP) β Police have arrested two 18-year-old men who allegedly vandalized a mosque in the Boston suburb of Burlington. Cameron Cappella and Derrik Demone, both of Burlington, are each charged with malicious destruction of property over $250 and tagging property. Police were called to the Islamic Center of Burlington Sunday after the vandalism was discovered. “U.S.A.” was written multiple times with red spray paint on the outside of the building. Several eggs had been thrown at the building. Cappella and Demone were arrested Monday after police received several leads from the community. It was not immediately clear whether the men had retained lawyers. The Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Sunday that the graffiti reflects a growing sentiment that Muslims are not “real” Americans. TRIBES-OIL DRILLING Agriculture secretary: Cancel leases on sacred land HELENA, Mont. (AP) β Federal officials say U.S. Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack has recommended the cancellation of long-suspended oil and gas drilling leases near Glacier National Park. The 18 leases are on land considered sacred to the Blackfoot Indian tribes of the United States and Canada. A drilling suspension has been in place since the 1980s. The owner of one of the leases had challenged that prohibition in federal court, hoping to extract natural gas from the area. But in a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, who has the final say, Vilsack wrote that lifting the drilling ban would have “adverse effects” on the site in the Badger-Two Medicine area in northwestern Montana. The Badger-Two Medicine area is the site of the creation story of the four Blackfoot tribes and the Sun Dance that is central to their religion. VATICAN-SCANDAL Vatican arrests 2 people in latest probe of leaked documents VATICAN CITY (AP) β The Vatican says a Spanish priest and an Italian laywoman who served on a financial reform commission set up by Pope Francis have been arrested in the probe into yet another leak of confidential information and documents. A statement from the Holy See’s press office said that Vatican prosecutors on Monday upheld the arrests of the two, who had been interrogated over the weekend. The woman was allowed to go free on her own recognizance, but the priest was being held in a Vatican jail. The arrests were the latest confirmation that scandal and intrigue still swirl through the largely closed world of the Vatican’s administrative bureaucracy. Current and past papal efforts to clean house at the Vatican have sparked resentment and found resistance in the Holy See’s entrenched bureaucracy, a perfect combination of factors to foster leaks. 199-c-13-(Frances D’Emilio (deh-MIHL’-ee-oh), AP correspondent)-“relations and communications”-AP correspondent Frances D’Emilio reports the Vatican has arrested two people in the latest probe of leaked documents. (2 Nov 2015) < 201-c-09-(Frances D’Emilio (deh-MIHL’-ee-oh), AP correspondent)-“to have cooperated”-AP correspondent Frances D’Emilio reports the monsignor is being held in a jail cell in Vatican City. ((needs this lead)) (2 Nov 2015) < 200-c-10-(Frances D’Emilio (deh-MIHL’-ee-oh), AP correspondent)-“information and documents”-AP correspondent Frances D’Emilio reports the Vatican hasn’t been specific about what the monsignor and the allegedly did. (2 Nov 2015) < VATICAN-SCANDAL-BOOK Vatican leaks scandal grows: Book exposes resistance, waste The Vatican’s new leaks scandal has intensified with a book detailing the mismanagement and internal resistance that is thwarting Pope Francis’ reform efforts. The book, “Merchants in the Temple,” by Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, exposes millions of euros in lost rental revenue, misdirected donations, greedy monsignors and a professional-style break-in at the Vatican. The book is due out Thursday but an advance copy was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. Its publication, and that of a second book, comes after the Vatican announced the arrests of two people in an investigation into leaked documents. The arrests mark a new chapter in the “Vatileaks” scandal, which began in 2012 with an earlier Nuzzi expose, peaked with the conviction of Pope Benedict XVI’s butler and ended with Benedict’s resignation a year later. Sound: 3:06 a.m. CUTS 199, 200, 201 ISRAEL-CAT FIGHT Israel minister proposes street cats leave the country JERUSALEM (AP) β A Cabinet minister has drawn outrage and mockery after suggesting transferring the thousands of stray cats that walk the streets of Israel to another country. The Yediot daily published what it said was a letter by Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel proposing the idea. It said he cited Jewish law against animal cruelty as reason not to neuter cats and a biblical commandment to populate the earth. Ariel is from the religious Jewish Home party and usually known for fiery rhetoric against Palestinian statehood. Opposition legislator Tzipi Livni posted a picture on her Facebook page of her playing with a black and white cat. “No way will I get a foreign passport for little one,” she wrote. Israeli animal rights activists condemned the minister. Thousands of stray cats roam Israel’s streets. CHINA-XINJIANG China to prosecute former Xinjiang party newspaper editor BEIJING (AP) β China plans to prosecute the former editor of the official Communist Party newspaper in the restive northwestern region of Xinjiang (shihn-jahng), saying he was corrupt and out of step with government policy on religion and other issues. The party’s official watchdog body said in a note on its website that Zhao Xinwei was guilty of serious violations of discipline, which usually means corruption. Unusually, however, it also accused Zhao of failing to toe the party line on the fight against separatism, terrorism, religion, extremism and other sensitive issues. No details were given and it wasn’t clear whether Zhao was accused of being too harsh or not harsh enough. Xinjiang has been under heavy security since 2009 riots that pitted members of the region’s native Muslim Uighur (WEE-gur) population against migrants from other parts of China.
