Friday: Friday: Saturday: Saturday: Saturday: Wednesday:- Wednesday: 10-14-18-37 20 2-14-26-30-36 Afternoon: 7-6-3 Afternoon: 9-6-8-8 N/A 6-15-25-37-40-52 13-23-25-35-43 . Evening: 4-2-4 Evening: 4-2-2-0 X4 PB15 X5 AROUND FLORIDA Some schools dropping driver's ed to cut costs 3y CHRISTINE ARMARIO Associated Press MIAMI - Beginning driver Ashley Crawford grips the worn gray steer- ing wheel and warily begins maneuvering the 1999.Ford Escort through a set:of bright orange traf- fic cones outside Killian Senior High School. She considers herself luck': Because of budget cuts,'many schools around the country are leaving driver's ed by the side of the road. They are cutting back on behind-the-wheel instruction or eliminating it altogether, leaving it to parents to either teach their teenagers themselves or send them to commer- cial driving schools. "If my parents would .have taught me, it would have been different," said Ashley, a 16-year-old sophomore. "When I drive, they try to tell me what to do, and I get nervous." Some educators and oth- ers worry that such cut- backs could prove tragic. "As soon as people start taking driver's educa- tionr away from the kids, we're going to pay for it within lost lives, collisions, and:ultimately that costs everybody," said John Boleni, past president of the -Florida Professional Driving School Association. Sbme worry also that marly parents can't afford the $350 to $700 that private lessons can cost or don't Shave-the skills to teach their kidi themselves. Even for In this Nov. 23 photo, driver's ed students drive a course at Miami Killian Senior High School in Miami. Because of budget cuts, many schools around the country are leaving driver's ed by the side of the road. They are cutting back on behind-the- wheel instruction or eliminating it altogether, leaving it to parents to either teach their teenagers themselves or send them to' commercial driving schools. those who can do it, the combination of parents, teenagers and learning how to drive can be volatile, In more than half. the states, minors who want a license must take driver's education from a certified instructor, said Allen Robinson, CEO of, the American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association. However, that doesn't necessarily mean schools are required to offer a class. (Generally, after age 18, would-be driv- ers do not have to undergo any formal instruction.) High schools started rolling back driver's ed after their effectiveness was called into question in the 1980s. The more recent cutbacks have been driven by school funding short- ages, and the trend might be accelerating because of , the downturn in the econo- my, said J. Peter Kissinger, president and CEO of the AAA Foundation"for Traffic Safety. Robinson said the nation's schools have all but eliminated driver's ed as an elective course offered dur- ing the school day. Here in Miami-Dade County, the nation's fourth-largest school sys- tem got rid of driver's ed during the day at all but Killian and another school. Students can still enroll in a free after-school course at one of the district's adult education centers. But that is not an option for the many thousands of students who play sports or are involved in other. extracurricular activities, or cannot get a ride. About 10 high schools in Georgia eliminated or reduced driver's educa- tion this school year. A dozen more did the same in Kansas last year. In Volusia County, schools eliminated daytime driv- er's ed three years ago,' replacing it with summer, after-school and Saturday classes. Enrollment plum- meted two-thirds, saving, about $400,000 a year. "This is not because they don't believe in driver's ed," said Bob Dallas, director of the Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety. "They do, but they're facing the same financial pressure .that everybody in govern- ment is facing." In rural Pennsylvania, the Titusville district got rid of the behind-the-wheel portion of its program last spring, saving about $20,000. In Blountville, Tenn., the driver's educa- tion program was cut in half about five years ago because of budget woes. Administrators considered eliminating the $130,000-a- year program last spring, but did not. "It could save lives. It's very simple," said Jack � Barnes, director of schools in Sullivan County, Tenn. "We don't want any of our students injured or killed because of mistakes they made that possibly a pro- gram like this could help." Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens; in 2007, an average of 1116- to 19-year-olds died every day. But Russ Rader, a spokes- man for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said studies show there is no difference in crash risk between 16- and 17-year- olds who take driver's ed and those who don't. "In some cases, driver's education has a negative effect because in some states you can get a license sooner if you take driver's ed," he said. One last day NEW YORK The final glimpse of Charles Gibson found him at his "ABC World News" anchor desk, sur- rounded by dozens of applauding co-workers. He applaud- ed back. Signing off from the network's flagship newscast Friday, Gibson brought to a close 34 years at ABC. He palled the job he's leaving "a labor of love." "It's hard to walk away from what I honestly think is the best job in the world," he said in brief farewell remarks. "But my parents taught me you; should understay, not overstay, your welcome. "And there is so much to do. In the :years I have left, I don't want to miss any of it." The 66-year-old Gibson, who has anchored "World News" since 2006, announced his intention to retire sev- eral months ago. "I hope you've had a good day," he said in one last refrain of his sig- nature signoff, his voice quavering. "I've had so many good days here." On .tape, luminaries paid him tribute and wished him well. They included President Barack Obama as well as former presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter. Singers Sting and Julie Andrews sang his praises, and comic actors Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin sang a few bars of "Happy Trails to You." Even fellow TV journalists Brian Williams and Katie Couric, his eve- ning-news rivals on NBC and CBS, plus Kermit, the Muppet 'hews frog," weighed in warmly. On Monday, Diane Sawyer, the ABC colleague Gibson cited as "my pal," will take over anchor duties at "World News" in what is unfolding as a low-key transition. That seems in keeping with Gibson's reassuring, nori-flashy style. Considered one way, Gibson's career in TV news seems to have been a model of stability: 34 years logged with one network, where he did*:his job well and rose to the top of at work for ABC's Gibson In this photo provided by ABC, anchor Charles Gibson is is surrounded by friends and colleagues at ABC News headquarters in New York, on Friday, during .his final broadcast of 'World News with Charles Gibson.' Gibson is retiring after 35 years with ABC News. his profession. On the other hand, he bows out as more than an admired network news star. Gibson has long proven himself a utility player, game to handle a range of positions and scramble to the rescue when needed. It was in 1975 that Gibson joined ABC News, where he was named White House correspondent a year later. After numerous other assign- ments, he began a lengthy stretch as co-anchor of "Good Morning America" in 1987, then left in .1998 to serve as a co-anchor of the "Primetime Thursday" newsmaga- zine for six years. This might seem like a steady- as-he-goes career climb. But in 1999, less than a year after exiting "GMA" for prime-time prominence, Gibson was summoned back for supplementary service in the morn- ing-show trenches. He and Sawyer (a morning-TV veteran from her days at CBS) were good soldiers and resumed setting their alarm clocks for the middle of the night. Their mandate: to stanch the rat- ings hemorrhage at "GMA" during Gibson's brief time away. The chem- istry between them worked, and what was conceived as stopgap triage con- tinued for more than seven years. Then Gibson announced his departure for a second time. Demonstrating his versatility that final week on "GMA," he reported on terrorists and politicians. He also furnished his audience with another kind of news flash: You can potty train your toddler in just 24 hours (or so claimed his on-camera inter- viewee, who had written a book on the subject). But Gibson was already involved in another mission for ABC News. A year earlier, in 2005, "World News" anchor Peter Jennings had died from lung cancer. Then, early in 2006, Jennings' co-successors were both forced to give up their roles at the anchor desk: Bob Woodruff was gravely injured on assignment in Iraq, and Elizabeth Vargas became pregnant. Again, the network turned to Gibson. * Associated Press Celebrity Birthdays * Rock musician Peter Criss is 64. * Psychic/illusionist Uri Geller is 63. * Producer Dick Wolf ("Law & Order") is 63. .* Rock musician Alan Parsons is 61. * Actress Jenny Agutter. is57. * Actor Michael Badalucco is 55. * Actress Nicole deBoer is 39. * Movie director Todd Phillips is 39. * Singer David Cook ("American Idol") is 27. Lake City HOW TO REACH US Main number ... (386) 752-1293 Fax number .............752-9400 Circulation ..............755-5445 Online... www.lakecityreporter.com The Lake City Reporter, an affiliate of Community Newspapers Inc., is pub- lished Tuesday through Sunday at 180 E. 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PEOPLE IN THE NEWS Daily Scripture "And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the' rising sun will come to us from heaven" - Luke 1:76-78 Page Editor: Troy Roberts, 754-0427 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2009 LAKE CITY REPORTER SUNDAY REPORT