Chicago
Teachers suspend strike: Thousands of Chicago children returned to school this week, after teachers voted to end a strike over a series of reforms proposed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Union delegates voted to go back to work after seven days on the picket line, having reached a settlement with school authorities on job security and teacher evaluations. The union won a concession that will tie teachers’ assessments to students’ progress in general, with less emphasis on standardized test scores. The settlement also contained an average 7 percent pay raise over three years, to compensate for lengthened school hours requested by Emanuel. Karen Lewis, the fiery president of the Chicago Teachers Union, said that while the deal did not “solve all the problems of the world,” it was good enough to suspend the strike. Emanuel called it an “honest compromise.”
Harrisburg, Pa.
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Voter ID law blocked: Less than two months before the presidential election, Pennsylvania’s highest court temporarily blocked a controversial new law requiring voters to show photo identification. The 4–2 decision by the state Supreme Court sends the case back to Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson, who upheld the law in August, instructing him to provide proof that “there will be no voter disenfranchisement arising out of the ID requirement.” State Republicans, who passed the law, have long suspected voter fraud in parts of Philadelphia, but Democrats say there is no evidence of abuse, charging that the GOP is trying to make it harder for the elderly, the disabled, minorities, the poor, and students to vote. The state has reported that some 750,000 registered voters do not have an acceptable ID as defined by the law.
Boston
Doctor in child porn charge: A pediatrician at Boston Children’s Hospital, who also served as the medical director at a prestigious boarding school, was arrested last week on charges of receiving child pornography. Authorities said they found at least 60 DVDs and more than 500 sexually explicit photographs at the home of Richard Keller, 56, a respected physician who also worked at children’s camps. Federal investigators discovered Keller’s name and addresses in the database of a foreign company that produced child pornography, along with records of $2,695 in purchases, according to prosecutors. Keller appears “to have a dedicated sexual interest in children spanning back several decades,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Yoon. Keller, who has not yet entered a plea, served as the medical director of Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., for 19 years before stepping down last year. The school’s alumni include John F. Kennedy Jr., George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush, among other notables.
New York City
Soda ban passed: Super-sized sodas and other sugary beverages will not be sold in restaurants and movie theaters in New York City next year, after the city’s Board of Health last week approved Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s controversial ban. The measure, which goes into effect in March 2013, will prohibit the sale of sugary drinks in containers larger than 16 ounces, in an effort to tackle the city’s growing obesity problem. The city’s health department estimates that half of all adult New Yorkers are now overweight or obese. The ban has been condemned by the soft drink industry, and polls show only 40 percent of New Yorkers support it. But a large loophole in the law means that only establishments that are graded by the health department are subject to the new rules, so supermarkets and convenience stores will be exempt. Bloomberg predicted other cities would soon take similar steps to fight obesity. “We believe that it will help save lives,” he said.
Bethesda, Md.
Superbug claims 7th victim: A deadly, antibiotic-resistant superbug outbreak that began last summer at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center has claimed its seventh victim, The Washington Post reported last week. A seriously ill boy from Minnesota, whose immune system was compromised by illness and medication, died from an infection on Sept. 7, hospital officials said. He was the 19th patient at the hospital to contract a deadly infection caused by the bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae, which was first detected in August 2011, when a New York woman arrived at the hospital for a lung transplant. The boy’s case marked the first new infection by this superbug at NIH since January, and it has troubled officials. “This kid probably got this infection because a patient who was a carrier was on the same unit,” said John Gallin, director of the NIH center. “There was undoubtedly some intrahospital transmission despite our best efforts.”
Wilmington, N.C.
Fatal Vision case: More than 30 years after he was convicted of brutally killing his pregnant wife and two young daughters, Jeffrey MacDonald, a Green Beret and Army doctor, is getting another chance to prove he is innocent. Witnesses testified at a hearing this week that a now-dead blond woman with a history of drug abuse said she was at MacDonald’s home the night of the attack, along with a group of men who slaughtered the family. MacDonald, 68, who is serving three life sentences, has consistently said the murders were committed by drug-crazed hippies, including a blond woman who chanted, “Acid is groovy, kill the pigs.” The court case inspired the best seller Fatal Vision. MacDonald’s defense is also expected to provide DNA and other evidence collected since his 1979 conviction.
