| School enrollment figures emerging
BROOKSVILLE � Anticipating just how many students will show up each year is an imperfect science, but Hernando County School district officials have gotten pretty close this time around. Officials projected a total enrollment of 22,567 in kindergarten through 12th grade. On Tuesday, the district-wide student count was just 186 students fewer than that. Enrollment figures will be finalized Friday, 10 days after the first day of school. District officials meet with principals to look over the numbers and possibly reassign teachers to the schools that need them, said Jim Knight, director of student services. Administrators at a few schools, however, already are scrambling to meet the needs of more students than they expected. Central High School has roughly 125 students more than the 1,900 projected, prompting principal Dennis McGeehan to do some shifting on the fly.
Local grocery stores near Wal-Marts will face major challenge
Glenn MacDonald, a professor of economics and strategy at Washington University's Olin School of Business, lives near the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Eureka, which competes with a Schnucks 2 miles away. So when MacDonald discusses the probable impact of Wal-Mart expanding full-service grocery departments into the St. Louis area, he also speaks as a shopper.
As MacDonald describes the constantly packed parking lot at the Supercenter in Eureka compared to the less-busy lot at the nearby Schnucks, he predicts that Schnuck Markets Inc. and Shop 'n Save will be hurt the most by the retailing giant's growth, while Dierbergs Markets will continue to draw more-affluent customers.
"I think Schnucks is going to get pinched. I think they've got trouble," he said in an interview last week.
New VA Director Oversees Expansion
FAYETTEVILLE -- Kathleen Fogarty is quick to point out she doesn't want to fight Washington County for control of 9 acres on the south end of the Veterans Administration Medical Center campus."If they own it or we own it, we want the same thing ... to bring UAMS here," she said. "This fight for control, I hope we are done with it."Fogarty became the medical center's first female director in June. On a summer day that threatened triple-digit heat, she wore a blue dress that made no compromise for comfort over professionalism."Isn't it stately?" she asked while walking the tree-lined grounds of the medical center campus. The consistent red brick design lends a university air to the federal facility.Fogarty inherited a power struggle between Washington County Judge Jerry Hunton and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs over ownership of the old Washington Regional Hospital building and grounds on College Avenue.Both sides agree the land should house a satellite medical school campus of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Award-winning plan turns Rio Grande into binational meeting place
Two Californians have come up with a winning idea on how to turn the Rio Grande into a Downtown centerpiece for El Paso and Juárez. The idea is to open up the space between the Santa Fe and Stanton Street international bridges, greatly expand the Rio Grande channel there, and turn that area into a parklike environment with pedestrian bridges and entertainment pavilions, which people from both sides of the border could use. It's called the Rio Grande River Center, and it's the winner of the El Paso-Juárez Binational Arts & Cultural District Design Competition completed last month by the New Texico Creative Cities Leadership Project. The project is made up of a year-old group of El Paso community leaders looking for ways to improve the quality of life here and stimulate economic growth.
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