Indiana Gazette from Indiana, Pennsylvania • 3

State Saturday, August 19, 2006 Page 3 Students get mixed scores in math, reading FKMMM KT. Mike Fitzpatrick. left, and Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy held a live debate Friday at WBCB 1490 AM radio station in Levittown. KMT The four-year improvements ranged from 2 percentage points for llth grade math scores to 14 percentage points for fifth-grade math scores. Zahorchak credited (hose improving test scores to increased state education spending under Rendell.

who is seeking re-election this year. Some of the new spending has funded a grant program that allows schools to choose from a menu of programs intended to raise math and reading scores, such as early-child hood education programs, tutoring and teacher training. The 2005-06 results show that 61 percent of fifth-grade students performed at or above grade level in reading, a decline of roughly 4 percentage points from 2004-05. Sixty-seven percent of fifth-graders were considered "advanced" or proficient" in math, 2 percentage points lower than the previous year. Congressional candidates in swing district hold debate If MARTHA ftAFFABl AP Education Wntei HARRISBURG State test scores released Friday show mixed results for the 2005-06 school year, with fifth-grade math and reading scores and eighth grade math scores declining from the previous year, but ith other areas improving.

Education Secretary Cerald Zahorchak said any one-year declines on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment math and reading tests were nut steep enough to cause any concern. Instead, Zahorchak emphasized that the 2006 scores for grades five, eight and 1 1 represent across-the-board gains from 2002 the year President Bush signed the No Child 1-eft Behind Law requiring public schools to administer periodic math and reading tests, and also the year before Gov. Ed Rend ell took office. fAlpha Pcujtuxi Hosted btf IMAGE BEAKERS Wednesday Mornings Beginning Sept. 13 10 Weekly Sessions MWWIAsS0Ciall Press their self-interest." Murphy and Fitzpatrick debated for about an hour at the studios of WBCB AM in levittown, taking four questions from callers on Israel.

Murphy's background as a prosecutor, oil-drilling in Alaska and a proposed veterans cemetery in Bucks County. Fitzpatrick, 43, cited his lifelong local tics, including many years as a Bucks County Commissioner, and said that fighting terrorism and iltegal immigration were among trie current issues he considered most important. 11c also said he was an independent voice in Congress who brings local values to Washington, and called his challenger, a Philadelphia native, a newcomer who recently moved to the area so he could to run for office. "What voters are looking for is somebody who will be an independent voice for them in the nation's capital at a very difficult time," he said. "When the president is right.

I support his polities," he added. "When the president is wrong, I don't support them." "WHAT THE voters are looking for is somebody ho will be an independent voice for them in the nation capital at a very difficult time. When the president is right. I support his policies. When the president is wrong.

I don 'I support them. Mike Fitzpatrick, freshman representative and sound tough." "Now we're beginning the peace process and now we have a congressman sitting a few feet away from me talking about now going to Iran when we should be finding diplomatic efforts instead of trying to spread more war in that region." Murphy said. Firp.itrick responded that diplomacy and peace should be the priority but reiterated that Israel should have the right to a pre emptive strike against Iran if it believes such action "to be in BRIEFS Frea ftaatto vki Mnfcat Coroner says suspect had heart attack ERIE (API A 478-pound man who died in FBI custody likely had a heart attack while agents were waiting to question him in a drug investigation, a coroner said. Toxicology tests on autopsy samples from Demetrius A. Smith.

30. of F.rie. will take about three weeks to process, bul ErieCounry Coroner LyeD Cook said he does not expect the tests to change his preliminary finding that Smith died Thursday of heart failure. FBI agents took Smith into custody when they arrested a housemate on a drug-trafficking charge. Police: Teens hit for walking slowly MANIIIilM (AP) Two teenagers assaulted two other teens because they apparently believed the victims had been walking too slowly, an attack captured by a nearby building's security camera police said.

One victim was struck in the head several times with a collapsible baton, and the other was punched in the mouth. Manheim borough police said. One of them suffered a concussion and required four stitches. The attack occurred about 9:20 p.m. Wednesday in front of a county communications building.

The victims were crossing a street to use a pay phone just as the assailants' vchkie pulled up. The car's occupants, Richard Tyler Burgoyne and Roberto I. Ouminguez III. apparently believed the two were purposely annoying them, said police officer Phillip H. CIroff.

Burgoyne and Dominguez, both 18-year-old F.lizabeth-town residents, were charged with aggravated and simple assault and disorderly conduct. District court officials said they did not know whether the (wo had hired lawyers. Escaped con had dead man's license HUNTINGDON (AP) An escaped convict who was apprehended last week had the driver's license of a man whose body was found along a rural roadway this week, police in Huntingdon County said Friday. The remains of Carl W. Ryder, 43, of Ambcrson, were found Wednesday, six days after the escaped convict.

Scott N. North, was captured by police. An autopsy on Thursday confirmed Ryder's identity. North. 26.

of Fannettsburg, was pulled over Aug. 10 after leaving a Shirleysburg bar. Trooper Warren Rhyner. who had been on the lookout for the vehicle, said he smelled alcohol. North handed over Ryder's license, and the trooper noticed that North did not look like the man in the photo.

"The defendant related that he had undergone plastic surgery since the picture was taken and needed to get a new picture taken," Rhyner wrote in North's arrest A Childcare is provided only uith pre Register on line wwwgronechurdLMt and chek or call 724-349-5556 Come wr fhMHSA By JQAM L0VMUO Associated Press Writer LEVITTOWN Iraq War veteran Patrick Murphy on Friday criticized his opponent in the 8th District Congressional race for saying he would support a preemptive Israeli strike against Iran. Murphy, a Democrat, and freshman Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, a Republican, faced off -on a live radio call-in show, their first debate leading up to the November election. The district in suburban Philadelphia is considered one of the most competitive in the state, in part because it went for the Democratic presidential candidates in 2000 and 2004. "Israel should have the right of pre-emptive strike to defend itself, its sovereignty and its people," Fitzpatrick said in response to a caller's question.

Murphy said he believed that Israel has the right to self-defense but that pre-emptive action against Iran is "not something we should be encouraging." He also called his opponent someone who "hasn't worn a uniform but wants to talk tough Barbara's surgeon to help bear ERIE (AP) The surgeon who has worked to save the life of Kentucky Derby winner Barbara will now try to help a polar bear with a broken leg, Erie Zoo officials said Friday. Or. Dean Richardson will operate on Alcor, the 7511-pound polar bear with two badly broken bones just above his right paw, sometime next week at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton where Barbara is being treated, officials said. Zoo officials do not know how Alcor broke his leg. but they suspect he did it Aug.

1 1 while playing with his brother Mizar, another 7-year-old bear. The bear's right front radius is shattered while the weight-bearing bone in the leg, the ulna, is snapped in two, officials said. Because the breaks arc so close to the paw, veterinarians who examined the bear on Thursday were pessimistic that they could be secured with rods or pins long enough to allow the leg to heal. Mattress Network Provider: Highmark BCBS UPMC Dr. Thomas M.

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