Test2

A 5-pound missile the size of a loaf of French bread is being quietly tested in the Mojave Desert north of Los Angeles as the military searches for more deadly and far more precise robotic weapons for modern warfare. In the next month or so, researchers at the Naval Air Warfare Center at China Lake expect to test a 2-foot-long Spike missile that is about a "quarter of the size of the next smallest on the planet," said Steve Felix, the missile project's manager.

Apple, which sold more than 5 million iPhone 5s in the first three days the smartphone has been available, is on a record-breaking sales pace but that doesn't appear to be enough for Wall Street. Apple shares are down more than $9 to about $691 Monday morning, apparently because the weekend sales figures were less than what analysts expected. The phone launched Friday in nine countries around the world including the U.S., and sales should stay strong as it readies to launch in 22 more countries this Friday.

Dear Liz: I co-signed some private student loans for my youngest child. She graduated two years ago with about $80,000 in student debt, including federal and private loans. Like many other recent graduates, she has had a difficult time finding a job. She worked part time at a retail store until about a month ago and made around $7,000 annually. I have been helping her make reduced payments and she has gotten deferments and income-based repayment plans. But I'm planning to retire in a few months and won't be able to make the payments as I have been.

Dear Liz: I co-signed some private student loans for my youngest child. She graduated two years ago with about $80,000 in student debt, including federal and private loans. Like many other recent graduates, she has had a difficult time finding a job. She worked part time at a retail store until about a month ago and made around $7,000 annually. I have been helping her make reduced payments and she has gotten deferments and income-based repayment plans. But I'm planning to retire in a few months and won't be able to make the payments as I have been.

Apple, which sold more than 5 million iPhone 5s in the first three days the smartphone has been available, is on a record-breaking sales pace but that doesn't appear to be enough for Wall Street. Apple shares are down more than $9 to about $691 Monday morning, apparently because the weekend sales figures were less than what analysts expected. The phone launched Friday in nine countries around the world including the U.S., and sales should stay strong as it readies to launch in 22 more countries this Friday.

Hermosa Beach City Elementary No Scores Available Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes Union *--* School 2000 Tgt Grwth Sub Pct Awds API Grps Tested Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes Elem 722 5 28 Y 9 9 Y *--* Inglewood Unified *--* School 2000 Tgt Grwth Sub Pct Awds API Grps Tested Bennett/Kew Elementary NA Centinela Elementary NA Freeman Elementary 728 9 99 Y 100 Y Highland Elementary 761 4 44 Y 97 Y Hudnall Elementary NA Kelso Elementary 808 * -16 N 98 N La Tijera Elementary 572 12 20 Y 99 Y Lane Elementary NA Oak

Actor Tom Sizemore used a prosthetic device to falsify a urine test ordered as part of his probation on a drug conviction, two drug counselors testified Wednesday at a court hearing near Los Angeles International Airport. David Aronek and Isidro Ruiz said Sizemore used the device in a failed attempt to pass the May 25 test. Prosecutors said earlier that he had used the device during a previous test.

Japan's military went on increased alert today to prepare for a possible second ballistic missile test launch by North Korea, a Defense Agency spokesman said. The spokesman, Hiromitsu Kuwano, declined to specify what measures Japan was taking, or what information the government had that a test was planned. Japanese media also quoted Hiromu Nonaka, chief Cabinet secretary, as saying the government had information that the launch could be held as early as Saturday.

Tuesday was a day of vindication in the Acton-Agua Dulce Unified and Antelope Valley Union High school districts. After months of controversy and court dates, board members from the two districts said Gov. Pete Wilson's veto of the CLAS legislation proved they were not "isolated extremists" and that students throughout the state will be better off without the controversial exams.

Of the six sample questions from the INS Citizenship Examination ("How Well Would You Do?" July 18), two have incorrect answers. There are now 27 amendments to the United States Constitution, and while the House of Representatives has 435 seats, Congress, which includes the House and the Senate, has 535 (plus five non-voting delegates, one each from the District of Columbia and four American territories). I hope the people teaching the citizenship classes are doing a better job than the people writing the INS examination.

Starbucks Corp. is experimenting with a $2.50 cup of coffee to help fight the first drop in U.S. customer visits in its 37-year history. In its hometown Seattle, Starbucks is testing a 12-ounce cup of "fresh-pressed" coffee at $2.50 each. The world's largest coffee chain charges $1.55 for a regular brew. McDonald's Corp. has been stealing customers with $1.39 coffee and challenging Starbucks by adding espresso counters. Starbucks' new drink, made in a machine that brews each cup individually, may become part of Chief Executive Howard Schultz's plan to increase traffic in the coffee chain's 15,000 stores.

North Korea test-fired two short-range missiles, renewing concerns over the communist regime's nuclear weapons program. The regime in Pyongyang has test-fired short-range missiles many times, including three tests of land-to-ship missiles in 2003, during heightened tensions over its nuclear program. The White House said the tests showed the importance of six-party negotiations over the country's nuclear program.

Actor Tom Sizemore used a prosthetic device to falsify a urine test ordered as part of his probation on a drug conviction, two drug counselors testified Wednesday at a court hearing near Los Angeles International Airport. David Aronek and Isidro Ruiz said Sizemore used the device in a failed attempt to pass the May 25 test. Prosecutors said earlier that he had used the device during a previous test.

The quiet campus of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, known in some quarters as "the un-Berkeley," does not usually find itself at the epicenter of debate over free speech in academia. And yet it is at the center of two. Cal Poly has been accused of being too liberal regarding access to online pornography for professors and students, and too restrictive in controlling a conservative student's speech.

They've been prepping for this since primary school. And now, at long last, here they are. College! Freedom! The launchpad into adulthood! But hold on. This is where they'll be living? In these cinderblock nightmares? These dreary concrete bunkers with their institutional furniture and their industrial colors? Good grief, this must be prison. No, it's just the dormitory. Where a hapless 2 million a year are consigned to live across the country.

Some California lawmakers and the state's most powerful teachers union are seeking to end the annual testing of second-graders, because of the costs involved and concerns about subjecting young children to hours of exams each spring. A bill to eliminate the assessments for 465,000 second-graders, the youngest students to face state exams, has passed through the state Assembly and is being weighed in the Senate, where it enjoys strong support.

The Food and Drug Administration said today that it approved a request by the New York-based drug firm Bristol-Myers Co. to test human volunteers with a potential vaccine against AIDS. The bioengineered vaccine is the second to be approved for testing on humans by the agency. The first, made by MicroGeneSys Inc. of West Haven, Conn., was approved Aug. 18. The news drove Bristol-Myers' stock up $1 to $42 in brisk trading on the New York Stock Exchange today.

Hoping to avoid potential cargo delays and economic ripple effects associated with a potential year 2000 computer failure at the region's ports, the U.S. Coast Guard is conducting a series of exercises to test both its own preparedness and that of ocean freighters and port facilities for problems stemming from the much-anticipated calendar rollover. One exercise will involve setting the systems clock on one giant cargo vessel forward to Jan. 1, 2000, to see what happens, said Lt.

The prime minister of Israel and his Palestinian counterpart face stiff, potentially crippling opposition in the weeks to come as they take their U.S.-guided efforts to end their blood-soaked conflict into the next phase.

The federal government will conduct what amounts to a massive road test of competing dashboard warning systems that alert drivers when their tires get dangerously low on air, Bush administration officials told Congress on Thursday. The decision, announced at a congressional oversight hearing, appears to resolve a dispute between safety officials and the White House, which had threatened to delay new consumer protections.