State Glance
State amends education standards, adds cursive requirement
PHOENIX — Arizona will require public schools to teach cursive handwriting as one of a number of new education standards approved by the state Board of Education.
The move amends the state’s current standards, which are based on federal guidelines known as the Common Core. Com- mon Core has become a politicized topic and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas campaigned on a promise to replace it.
“We now have new standards that have been worked on by Arizona teachers, parents and been vetted by anti-Common Core experts,” said Douglas.
In addition to requiring students to have mastered cursive by the fifth grade, the revisions also require lessons about time and money in early grades. They also add a “foundational writing skills strand” for kindergarten through third grade that will have the students learn how to spell the most frequently used words.
Woman wanted in California killing found in Arizona
SEDONA — The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office says a deputy arrested a homicide suspect from California last week.
The sheriff’s office says deputies were dispatched to a business in the Village of Oak Creek near Sedona regarding a man and woman reportedly trying to score drugs and alcohol in the parking lot.
Deputies encountered a woman who gave the wrong spelling of her name and was later determined to be 23-year-old Tabitha Taravella, a suspect in a killing in Yreka, California.
Police arrested her on Dec. 14 after asking her to remove a bandanna covering a notable tattoo of a boom box.
Taravella was arrested but she denied any involvement in the homicide.
Local reports indicate Taravella was involved in the Dec. 10 killing of 33-year-old Paul Mullins.
ADOT: Widening project near Tucson will decrease traffic
MARANA — The state has announced a major road project that aims to alleviate traffic along In- terstate 10 in Marana just north of Tucson.
The Arizona Department of Transportation says it’s creating a modern Ina Road interchange with I-10 at a cost of $148 million.
Ina Road will close at I-10 on Feb. 15 and will remain that way for over two years.
Funding for the project comes from the Regional Transportation Authority of the Pima Association of Governments and from the town of Marana, which is providing $25 million.