Rob McDonald

Eastern Washington University President Stephen Jordan surprised colleagues and teachers Friday afternoon when he confirmed he's the sole candidate interviewing for a college president job in Colorado. Jordan interviews Tuesday at Metropolitan State College of Denver, which is twice the size of EWU. John Buechner, head of the search committee, has been trying since last September to get Jordan to apply.

A student group says it will bring controversial Colorado professor Ward Churchill to Eastern Washington University next month as planned, despite university President Stephen Jordan's cancellation of Churchill's talk. The Native American Student Association made the announcement Thursday during a noon demonstration protesting Jordan's refusal to reverse his decision to cancel Churchill's scheduled visit. About 300 people participated in the campus protest.

Federal civil-rights investigators are looking into a Spokane mother's complaint that school officials failed to adequately respond to racial slurs and other inappropriate actions directed at her daughter. Kiondra Bullock claims that her African American middle school daughter was called racial slurs by a special-education student who acted like a monkey while delivering the insults. The slurs came almost daily in the fall at Sacajawea Middle School, Bullock said.

Debate is taken very seriously at University High School. "It's a blood sport," said U-High debate coach Dave Smith.

Fifteen-year-old Bill Anderson wears a WASL pin with a red slash at Shadle Park High School daily – his statement against the Washington Assessment for Student Learning test. Anderson and his mother have been longtime WASL opponents.

A former Ferris High School teacher accused of having sexual relations with a student was charged in 1998 in a gang-related investigation involving attempted murders, cocaine and firearms, court documents show. But when Sayeed X was hired by Spokane Public Schools two years ago, district officials said they weren't told and didn't know about his felony arrest and the later dismissal of all charges.

A Texas-based education group has identified Lewis and Clark High School as one of the top 19 performing high schools in Washington. The ranking is based on 10th-grade scores on the Washington Assessment for Student Learning in reading, math and writing from 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Everyone knows Wallace Williams. In the halls of Rogers High School, one student tried to sell him candy and candles to raise money for new choir robes, and another asked for a pass to get out of her P.E. class. Even a group of social study teachers grading papers requested latte funds in jest.

Harpsichord and Bach? On Super Bowl Sunday?

A scheduled speaking appearance by a male porn star at Eastern Washington University is causing some turbulence on the normally quiet Cheney campus. Ron Jeremy, a portly fellow in his early 50s who is nicknamed the "Hedgehog," has been making films longer than anyone in the adult film industry. He will speak Feb. 16 about obscenity laws and other topics tied to the porn industry.

Special education students in the Spokane Public Schools had to find their own rides Monday when the district canceled their bus service for the day. The decision was made because 40 bus drivers called in sick, leaving Laid-law, the company that contracts with the district, shorthanded.

The lunchroom has long been a place of fear, particularly for new students in middle schools. Thursday morning at Garry Middle School, a girl tripped, scattered her tray and spilled milk on her hair while banging her knee, said Rachel Overland, a student at the table. Two of Overland's friends helped the girl while tables of children laughed hysterically.

With all the grace of Atticus Finch, high school student Steve Harris sauntered toward the witness stand. With papers in hand and a crooked tie hanging from his neck, Harris sometimes apologized before delivering a lightning bolt question in court. Even though the case facts were fictional, the drama was very real Friday in a federal courtroom in downtown Spokane. Students dueled through court precedents, procedures and legal principles in a mock trial for a lesson on the legal system.

Celine Lewis beamed a smile at her parents Friday as she sang "I Have a Dream" during a Longfellow Elementary School assembly Friday. The Martin Luther King musical production was one of many King observations planned throughout the week by area schools. The songs by the Longfellow choir put some of King's famous speeches to music. Some students also read off historical facts, like, "Dr. Martin Luther King was a man of peace in a world of raging hate."