Collier County's public school district is reminding parents and guardians that reduced-price breakfasts and lunches are available at each public school.

AINA makes a school subject out of gardening

He could not make a connection between the carrot in his hand and the orange cubes in a frozen mix of peas and carrots.

"That's kind of scary, that kids these days have never tasted or seen" a fresh carrot and think food comes from the supermarket, says Betty Gearen, co-director of a new program called AINA in the Schools.

The Kokua Hawaii Foundation originated the AINA program, whose name means "land" in Hawaiian, and also is the acronym for its mission: Actively Integrate Nutrition and Agriculture in Schools. The program is now in effect at Waialae Charter and Sunset and Aikahi Elementary schools for the second year.

The AINA program has turned the garden into a classroom for 200 or so kids at Waialae. "They just love us -- they give us hugs" when they see Gearen and her helpers coming for bimonthly lessons, she said.

RBA expected to lift rates

So the decision was taken, that why let the general public and financial markets wait almost another day to hear the result. They may as well announce it as soon as the board meeting's over.

Without Fear of Contradiction - - -

Suppose I tell you that the government will design a product and make you buy it. If you say no thanks, that's too bad. The government will decide what you need and what you will buy.

If you say you can't afford it, we'll send in government investigators to check, and if they conclude indeed you can't afford it, we'll tax your neighbors and make them subsidize you so you can pay for it.

We'll set up a government bureaucracy to monitor and make sure you're cooperating. If they discover you haven't made the purchase, they'll go to your employer and have your wages garnisheed.

Let's assume further that total spending for this government-designed and -mandated product accounts for about a fifth of the nation's total economy.

The former Soviet Union? Communist China?

No, this is the new Hillarycare.

Biogen Idec And Cardiokine Initiate Phase III Clinical Trial For ...

Biogen Idec (Nasdaq: BIIB) and Cardiokine, Inc. announced the initiation of a Phase III multi-center, randomized, placebo controlled, double-blind study of lixivaptan for congestive heart failure patients who suffer from hyponatremia, which is an electrolyte disturbance marked by low sodium levels in the blood. The trial will compare treatment with lixivaptan to placebo in approximately 650 patients in the U.S. and Europe.

Lixivaptan is an oral vasopressin V2 receptor antagonist that works by causing a decrease in renal water reabsorption (an increase in urine volume) and a decrease in urine osmolality. In prior clinical studies, lixivaptan-treated patients showed improvement in serum sodium concentrations, decreases in body weight, and increases in urine volume. The safety profile supports continued development.

DHS faces scrutiny over care

Children's Rights, however, contends the failure of DHS to protect children in its care has been well-documented for more than 10 years and the agency has neglected to fix the problems. In two of the last five years, Oklahoma had the worst rate in the nation of children being abused while in foster care, the lawsuit states. "This includes physical abuse, sexual abuse or extreme neglect inflicted on foster children by foster parents or staff at shelters or other facilities," the lawsuit said. Oklahoma also has a bad record of splitting up siblings in foster homes and psychologically damaging children by bouncing them around from one foster home or shelter to another, the lawsuit states. "Recent state data shows that 34 percent of foster children in Oklahoma had experienced four or more placements and 17 percent — approximately 1,700 children — had experienced six or more placements while in DHS custody," the lawsuit said.

The Vegetarian Who Won't Eat Vegetables?

Our resident natural nutritionist Vardit Kohn offers some cunning tips.

Raisingkids member's problem
My daughter is nearly 14 and has been a 'vegetarian' for about three years. The problem is that she does not eat vegetables! I try to give them to her but she makes excuses like she is full or not hungry and I can tell that she doesn't like them. Her diet is made up of quorn, fish, cheese, pasta and junk food (crisps and chocolate). She also refuses rice. She will not eat breakfast and seems to have no interest in food, forgetting to eat. I don't understand what is going wrong! She didn't have any problems with food as a small child. She doesn't appear underweight but claims that 'food is boring'. She doesn't show the symptoms of anorexia or bulimia but is simply
disinterested in eating.