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H-Town Rock
Good morning, Houston. If you've played the lottery, we're sure there have been times when you felt like you couldn't win — and you know what? Turns out you were right. In scratch-off games, the Texas Lottery may continue selling tickets even when almost all the prize money has been claimed, meaning tickets carry virtually no chance of winning. Case in point: the Deal or No Deal game, in which 99 percent of prize money has already been given out. Why? "Our mission is to generate revenue for the state of Texas," lottery spokesman Robert Heith said. And there's always the chance you could win that remaining 1 percent, we suppose ...
>> TAKS, take 2?: Thirty-nine Stafford HIgh School seniors could have to retake the TAKS test because they might have seen a test booklet that was stolen, copied and distributed recently, school officials say. It's a serious thing: TAKS is pretty important: The state looks at scores to determine whether students are ready to graduate and how much funding schools get. And for the kids, it's apparently a high-pressure situation: "[Students] feel that if they don’t pass the TAKS they can’t get anywhere in life," Stafford student Raiesh Sekhar said.
>> Brr: Houston nurse Carol Young decided to start running marathons in her early 50s. She's 60 now, and today she's taking part in her most challenging race yet: the Antarctica Marathon, which is held on King George Island off the coast of Anarctica. The temperature won't be as low as you'd think — the forecast is for the mid-30s — but still, Young said, "Running in Houston on Buffalo Bayou isn't quite the same as running down here."
>> This week's weather: Things are going to start off well this week: lots of sun today and tomorrow, with a high of 76 today and a high of 74 Tuesday. Look for a low near 50 tonight and temperatures around 60 Tuesday night as clouds move into the area; on Wednesday and Thursday, we'll have a slight chance of showers and highs in the mid-to-upper 80s. Things will clear off again Thursday night, leading into what looks like an absolutely beautiful weekend: sunny with highs around 70. Ah, spring.
Now, more news:
- The board of TXU has approved a $32 billion buyout offer from a group of private equity firms
- Two north Houston kids were shocked Sunday afternoon while playing with an electrical transformer
- A fire broke out at Humble High School this morning; officials say it was set by someone who broke into the school gym
- A group of families is suing Gov. Rick Perry over his order that all pre-teen Texas girls get vaccinated to HPV
- David John Sprong Jr., the escaped sex offender who officials thought might be in the Houston area, was captured last week near Baton Rouge
- On Harris County toll roads, officials are trying to encourage drivers to get EZ Tags
- An 18-wheeler rolled off Almeda Genoa Road early Sunday morning, spilling about 100 gallons of fuel
- In Harris County, there are about 30 fatal hit-and-run accidents every year, and a lot of them are never solved
- Police are investigating the death of a man whose body was found early this morning in a West End trash can
- The new urban battleground near Houston: Brenham, where gang activity is increasing
- The rodeo barbecue cookoff broke its attendance record this year with almost 191,000 people showing up to chow down
- Speaking of barbecue, what's that smell coming from the barbecue pit? No, it's not brisket — it's chicken
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Re: TAKS (from the article)
The booklet was stolen off the desk of a substitute teacher days before.
There are so many things wrong with this sentence I don't even know where to start. Booklets have to be under strict lock and key until the day of the test. It should NEVER be sitting casually out on a teacher's desk DAYS before and everyone who handles them has to be certified and sign an oath (so no substitutes should be involved). Something is really wrong there.