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U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile.

The House Ethics Committee, led by Mobile Republican Rep. Jo Bonner, faced serious ethical questions of its own last week, with Bonner at the center of some of the controversy.

Politico reported that the committees former staff director last year accused two committee attorneys of improperly sharing investigative information with Republicans on the panel, including Bonner.

The alleged secret communication concerned the high-profile investigations of Democratic Reps. Charles Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of California.

A Bonner spokesman declined to comment on the report. However, the committee, which is tasked with investigating potential wrongdoing by members of Congress, on Wednesday announced it was hiring outside counsel, in part to investigate the committees own actions.

Bonner and Zoe Lofgren of California, the committees ranking Democrat, said in a joint statement that Washington attorney Billy Martin will also “advise and assist” the committee in completing its ongoing investigation of Waters.

“Serious allegations have been made about the committees own conduct in this matter by Representative Waters and others. The committee has not taken these allegations lightly,” the statement said. “The entire committee has therefore directed that a thorough review of all of these serious allegations will be the very first task of the outside counsels engagement.”

Waters, meanwhile, has threatened to sue the committee if it charges her with wrongdoing.

Nodine Gone but image lives on

Former Mobile County Commissioner Stephen Nodine is long gone from elective office, serving prison time under a federal gun charge and facing the possibility of a retrial on a murder allegation.

But his image lives on in state government. The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs includes a picture of a groundbreaking from Mobile County on its website. The image, one of four on a slide show at the agencys home page, features former Gov. Bob Riley and more than a dozen other dignitaries including Nodine on the extreme right-hand side of the picture.

The slide show is at adeca.alabama.gov.

Nodine, meanwhile, recently was transferred to the Federal Correctional Institutional in Miami, where he is expected to complete his sentence on a charge of being an unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm.

He has a projected release date of April 30.

A Baldwin County jury failed to reach a verdict on an unrelated murder charge in connection with the shooting death of his longtime mistress, Angel Downs. Baldwin County District Attorney Hallie Dixon has not yet decided if she will try him again.

School board on retreat, not on vacation

The Mobile County school board didnt wile away its two days at the Marriott Grand Hotel Resort, Spa and Golf Club lounging by the pool and relaxing in the spa.

Instead, the board spent most of Wednesday and half of Thursday in a conference room looking for funds to build a new elementary school, talking about a possible use for the historic Barton Academy, learning about the states new tenure law and evaluating the superintendent.

Board members even talked about whether the schools should impose rules on what students should wear during graduation ceremonies, and whether anything could be done to eliminate disparities with high school athletics.

Though the discussion grew heated a couple of times, board members remained cordial and even joked around with each other.

The board did take periodic breaks to walk outside and look at Mobile Bay. They said they enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere.

“I was very pleased. I felt very comfortable,” said board President Ken Megginson. “I liked the tone that was expressed by each of the board members. I was pleased with the interaction of the board members and the topics we covered. I feel like we accomplished a lot.”

Homework

The board even gave itself a little bit of homework a self-evaluation.

Since Roy Nichols took over as superintendent in 2007, he has requested that the board spend time each year evaluating its own performance.

Board members commented that they feel they get along with each other better than other boards in the past. Megginson said, though, that theres always room for improvement. For example, he said, that might be starting more meetings on time and forgoing drinking soft drinks or eating candy at the board table during meetings.

The newest board member, Bill Foster, a former principal, admitted he likes to get things done quickly, and said hes been surprised how slowly things take at the board level when members have to consider nearly 100 schools. “Ive been extremely impressed as a former principal with the way the four of you conduct business with a level of concern for our employees and children,” Foster said. “Even though we may have different opinions, our ultimate goal is still the same.”

“I think the board has improved drastically, particularly during the last two and a half years,” said board member Levon Manzie, alluding to the time when he and Reginald Crenshaw joined the board. “The board seems more knowledgeable, more concerned about employees and students. I hope we can continue to do that, and not let egos and ambitions get in the way.”

Board members received copies of questions to answer about the board. They said they would work on answers before the boards work session today.

Stout headed out

Also during the retreat, Judy Stout said she wont seek re-election to the Mobile County school board.

“Anytime we need someone to serve on a controversial committee, I volunteer,” she said as the board formed two committees to consider some elementary school rezoning. Stout was appointed to the board in 2004 to represent a district that stretches from the area around the Davidson High School in Mobile, to Theodore and Fowl River and won election to that seat in 2006. Her term expires in 2012.

“I think eight years of public service is enough,” Stout said later. “I have no aspiration to run for anything else. Im trying to find out what my niche is going to be in the community, so that I can continue making a difference without having to be a politician to do it.”

Stout said she enjoys getting out in the schools and working with educators. But, she said, she doesnt particularly like the politics.

“Im not diplomatic enough to be a politician,” she said.

Chickasaw councilman chosen for state League of Municipalities Convention

Chickasaw City Councilman Adam Bourne was elected by the delegates to the Alabama League of Municipalities Convention held on June 27 to serve as vice chair of the leagues Committee on Finance, Administration and Intergovernmental Relations.

“I look forward to serving on this policymaking committee for the league,” said Bourne. “In this role, I hope to continue to promote sound fiscal policy and an aggressive legislative agenda for Alabamas towns and cities.”

The Alabama League of Municipalities is a nonpartisan membership association of more than 440 cities and towns in Alabama. Six standing committees are charged with the review and development of League policies and goals, which encompass a broad spectrum of issues affecting municipal government.

The chair and vice chair of each of these standing committees are elected annually at the leagues convention.

Political Announcements

• The South Baldwin Republican Women will host Alabama first lady Dianne Bentley as the featured speaker at their regular monthly meeting Tuesday in Foley.

The meeting will be held at 11:30 a.m. at the Gift Horse Restaurant. A buffet luncheon will be available for $10.

The public is invited and no reservations are needed. For more information call Linda Noffsinger at 948-6172.

• The Common Sense Campaign, a south Alabama group that identifies with the Tea Party, will hold a rally in downtown Mobile on Thursday to press for cuts in federal spending.

The group will meet at 4:30 on the steps of the RSA Tower, where Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, has an office.

Similar events are being held in Andalusia, DeKalb County, Dothan, Huntsville and Muscle Shoals, the group said.

History can be learned from many different perspectives, some of which might not be immediately available in a textbook. Primary Source, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making alternative ways of learning available to K-12 students, supplements traditional techniques with additional resources for teachers. Elizabeth “Lizzy” Buhl ’12 is helping to accomplish this goal with an internship at Primary Source in Watertown, Mass. Her internship is supported by the Couper Fund through the Career Center.

Founded in 1989, Primary Source is committed to creating a greater global understanding among K-12 students throughout New England.  By providing a variety of resources and programs to schoolteachers, Primary Source enables educators to enhance their students’ learning beyond traditional lesson plans and textbooks. Among the resources provided are a 7,000 piece library and online lesson plans, as well as graduate courses, workshops and study groups for New England area teachers. Buhl says that ultimately, “Primary Source promotes alternative ways for students to explore and understand history.”

At Primary Source, Buhl is learning how to create curriculum for the classroom, and later on she will meet with teachers and professors who are experts in the field of education. She is completing research on a diverse range of historical figures and events for online curriculum. Among the topics she has recently researched are Union General Fitz John Porter, rations during WWII, and the industrialization of South Korea.

Buhl is working at two summer institutes at Primary Source, each of which provides educators with a rich introduction to a particular course topic. The first Institute Buhl is working with is War and Society: From the American Revolution to the War in Vietnam and the second is Crossroads of Culture: Interactions in Asia from 600-1500 CE. She is compiling research for these programs as well as helping with their organization to ensure that they run smoothly. Buhl is also helping inventory the Primary Source library.

Buhl, an American studies and women’s studies double-major, is interested in pursuing a career in education and her experiences with Primary Source will allow her to explore alternative educational techniques while discovering more about American and global history. She explains that her American studies coursework at Hamilton has drawn from history, literature and art and she hopes to impart this sort of experience to the K-12 classroom. She looks forward to her work with Primary Source, and in particular she is anticipating a field trip to the Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire as part of the War and Society Institute.

At Hamilton, Buhl is a member of the swim team. She understands the value of an interdisciplinary, multifaceted approach to learning history. While many students may have to wait until college to experience this learning environment, Buhl is helping teachers all over New England enhance K-12 students learning to include a multicultural perspective.

Former Jefferson High Principal Cynthia Harris visited a math class in 2008. Jefferson High, with the second-highest African American enrollment in Oregon, didn’t offer calculus during 2009-10, according to new federal civil rights data. Among the 50 Oregon high schools with at least 25 African American students in 2009-2010, only seven had any African American students enrolled in calculus and none had more than five black students take the course.

That is according to a U.S. Department of Education civil rights survey, released last week, that found poor and minority students have less access to rigorous courses and experienced teachers than other students.

According to the feds, Portland’s Grant High, whose 375 African American students gave it the largest African American enrollment of any Oregon high school, didn’t have a single black student in calculus that year. Grant did have a handful of African American students take physics, and it had 85 students take calculus — all of them white, Asian or Latino.

According to the federal figures, somewhere between 7 and 35 African American students took calculus in an Oregon public high school during the 2009-10 school year out of the state’s more than 4,000 African American high school students. (When fewer than five students of any race take a particular course, civil rights officials round the number up to five to protect student confidentiality.)

Native American students also were a rarity in calculus in Oregon high schools, the survey found. But that was largely because, with the relatively small Native American population so widely dispersed, no high schools surveyed in Oregon enrolled more than 20 Native American students that year.

Latino students were better represented in advanced math. According to the federal data, about 35 Oregon schools had at least one Latino student take calculus that year, with Woodburn High enrolling about 30 Latino students in the course.

Four of the seven high schools that had at least one African American student take calculus were in Portland — Benson, Madison, Roosevelt and Wilson, the education department reported. The three others were Centennial High, Churchill High in Eugene and Willamette High in the Bethel school district.

Portland Public Schools recently adopted a racial equity policy under which it acknowledges that African American students have experienced inferior educational outcomes. District leaders say they will work hard to try to change that.–

Champions Camp at New Rochelle High School has become the final big event before the start of every new season. Some of the areas top teams meet for a week of workouts before a two-week break. Then its football, football, football all the way through to Thanksgiving weekend.

That will be the case this year as well. New Ro is set to host its annual camp beginning on Monday. It will run through Friday, with teams working from 4:30-8 every night. The list of teams includes: New Ro, Iona Prep, Harrison, Eastchester, Tuckahoe, and Woodlands.

There have been a few changes to the participants this year. Briarcliff and Roosevelt will not attend the camp. They have been replaced by Iona Prep and Woodlands. (Iona Prep participated last year, but only in a couple 7-on-7s.) Also, Ardsley may attend the camp as well, which has done in the past.

Full disclosure: I will not be at Champions Camp this year. Im headed out on vacation on Friday and will be gone for two weeks. Hopefully, one of my colleagues will fill in and keep the blog running with updates. I will let everyone know in the coming days.

Also, if any other coach, player or parent has information for other August camps/workouts, please e-mail them to me at jthomson@lohud.com.