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In the News!Regional An article in Tuesday's Daily Press analyzed the effects an increased Hispanic population will have on the peninsula's school systems. Newport News and Hampton have some of the largest Hispanic populations in the Hampton Roads area, according to the 2006 U.S. census. In January, Newport News schools added six new high school courses to their two existing English as a Second Language programs. For the first time, the number of Hispanic students at Hampton's Langley Elementary is now greater than the number of Vietnamese students at the school. "States need to focus more attention on helping all students achieve at high levels, graduate from high school and continue their learning in college and career preparation-even as the population grows more diverse and many students come from traditionally undereducated families," Southern Regional Education Board President Dave Spence said. National Puerto Rican Governor Anibal Acevedo has been charged with 19 counts of corruption and will be sentenced with 20 years in prison if convicted, the Associated Press reported. He pleads not guilty and sees the federal indictment as an attack against Puerto Rico. Prosecutors claim Acevedo violated campaign finance laws by illegally raising money to pay off campaign debts with a dozen associates. He is also accused of defrauding the Internal Revenue Service and giving false testimony to the FBI. Hundreds of supporters rallied in San Juan when Acevedo surrendered to federal authorities on Friday. A judge granted conditional parole to three Spanish speaking men facing time in prison for criminal conspiracy to commit robbery in a unique ruling in Pennsylvania last week, the Associated Press reported. The men, who needed translators at their trial and have already served four months in jail, can remain on parole if they learn to read and write English, earn their GEDs and get full-time jobs. The judge said the men must return in a year with their parole officers to take an English test. If they fail, they will go to jail for 24 months. International A decree in Cuba will allow ordinary Cubans to have cell phones, a small box in Granma, the newspaper of Cuba's Communist Party revealed, promising more details would follow. The measure from President Raul Castro followed a resolution allowing other goods including computers and DVD players to go on sale in state-run stores, according to the Associated Press. Previously, only top government officials, foreigners and Cubans working for foreign companies could legally have a cell phone plan. Because cell phone minutes on the island are billed in convertible pesos, which amount to 24 times the amount of the regular pesos Cubans are paid in, the phones will likely cost too much for most people on the island. A dispute over party leadership in Mexico's main opposition party has still not been resolved, The Los Angeles Times reported. Supporters of the Democratic Revolution Party's two main candidates have both accused the other camp of fraud, and bickering made it impossible to continue the vote count. The two candidates, Former Sen. Jesus Ortega and ex-Mexico City Mayor Alejandro Encinas, would likely take the party in sharply different directions. Ortega is a party moderate and Encinas calls for a radical break from President Felipe Calderon's government. The party election occurred a year before Mexico's national mid-term elections.
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