When Autumn Traster took her first shot at the five-part Ohio Graduation Test, she was a sophomore and graduation seemed a long way off.
”I don’t think I passed any my sophomore year,” she said. ”I think I just didn’t care. I just was taking it as a joke.”
The 18-year-old Kenmore High School senior isn’t laughing now. She couldn’t walk the stage with her classmates this spring because she still hadn’t passed the social studies test.
This week she’s among about 300 juniors and seniors registered to take a two-week cram session at Kenmore.
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The Oklahoma City Thunder had a nice run in the recently concluded NBA playoffs, but it was nothing compared to their run from Seattle. The story of the escape of the former SuperSonics from Seattle is the central case study in a new paper on the retention of major league franchises by Paul Anderson and William S. M
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The 13th season for CSU Summer Arts at California State University, Fresno begins with an eclectic group of performances reflecting the diversity of the program’s mix of master classes and community performances, headlined by two performances by the Alexander String Quartet.
CSU Summer Arts is in its 26th year and will complete its longest stretch at any CSU campus with student culminating performances July 22. Next year the program will move to California State University, Monterey Bay.
The Alexander String Quartet is based in San Francisco and no stranger to CSU Summer Arts. The members are violinists Zakarias Grafilo and Frederick Lifsits, violist Paul Yarbrough and cellist Sandy Wilson. The ensemble has played all over the world.
Two concerts are scheduled with CSU Summer Arts during the opening week: 7 p.m. Sunday, June 26 and a classical and jazz performance at 8 p.m. Friday, July 1, both in the Concert Hall at the Fresno State Music Building.
Other performances, all of which are open to the public:
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On the second day of USA Baseballs Tournament of Stars, the game to see was PONY vs. NABF as PONY rolled out three good arms. Righthander Lucas Giolito got the start and did not disappoint.
A physical monster at 6-foot-6, 225 pounds, Giolito attends Harvard-Westlake High in Los Angeles. As a sophomore he was teammates with Austin Wilson, now an outfielder at Stanford. Giolito burst onto the scene before his junior season at the Area Code Games in August of 2010. He was the hardest thrower at the event, touching 96, though he didnt think it was his best outing.
“At Area Codes, I wouldnt say I pitched well,” he said. “I threw hard. I guess thats what got a lot of attention. Ive grown a lot since then. Now Ive become a lot more of a pitcher as opposed to a thrower, mixing up pitches. I got strikeouts with different pitches today—changeup, fastball, curve. As of right now, I have a lot of confidence and Im feeling pretty good.”
Giolito showed his complete repertoire today, throwing his fastball 92-95 mph while mixing in a mid-80s changeup and 80-81 curveball. Hi
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