http://qui.live.mediaspanonlinen.com/rss/ Quincy Herald Whig en-us FRONT PAGEDRIVER’S ED/PE: After the Quincy School Board announced $1.8 million would be saved from the 2009-10 budget by closing Irving Alternative School and the Teen Parent Services/Adult Ed program, district officials were still faced the daunting task of cutting $2 million more. Some programs, however, aren’t as easy to cut. Two examples are driver’s education and physical education, which have both been held up in public forums as possible targets to ax in an effort to slice expenses. However, both programs have state-mandated minimums and are required to be offered. SOCIAL SECURITY: For more than two decades, Social Security collected more money in payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits — billions more each year. Not anymore. This year, for the first time since the 1980s, when Congress last overhauled Social Security, the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes — nearly $29 billion more. COMMUNITY SITE: The Rev. Jeff Westcott, an assistant pastor at Columbus Road Church,  has completed the initial setup of a clearing house Web site to help advance the Adams County Health Department-sponsored “Conversations That Matter” movement, which is designed to unify the faith and social service communities to better serve the Quincy area.  Westcott tells us what this site is designed to accomplish.THE SCOOPNIEMANN COLUMN: March is Women’s History Month, and in this column we’re profiling women throughout the entire month. This week’s story is about a mother and inventor named Ruth. You probably would not recognize her full name, but you will recognize the name of the revolutionary product which she created in 1959 when she was 43 years old.WORLD/NATION HEART VALVES: Many Americans with leaky heart valves soon might be able to get them fixed without open-heart surgery. A study shows that a tiny clip implanted through an artery was safer and nearly as effective as surgery. The device is already on sale in Europe, and its maker, Abbott Laboratories, hopes to win approval to sell it in the United States next year. HEART DISEASE-DIABETICS: Key results from a landmark federal study are in, and the results are disappointing for diabetics: Adding drugs to drive blood pressure and blood-fats lower than current targets did not prevent heart problems, and in some cases caused harmful side effects. A decade ago, the federal government launched the three-part study to see whether intensely lowering blood sugar, blood pressure, or fats in the blood would reduce heart attacks and strokes in diabetics. The first piece of the study — about blood sugar — was stopped two years ago, when researchers saw more instead of less risk with that approach. Now, the other two parts of the study are in. HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL: Still seeking votes for his proposed health care overhaul, President Barack Obama appears ready to reverse his position and allow unpopular deal-sweetening measures in the hopes of finding Democratic support for legislation whose future will be decided in coming days. CENSUS-LET THE COUNT BEGIN: More than 120 million U.S. census forms begin arriving Monday in mailboxes around the country, in the government’s once-a-decade population count that will be used to divvy up congressional seats and more than $400 billion in federal aid.BRIEFLY: Thai government rejects ultimatum by protesters to dissolve Parliament; Drug gang blamed for killings of 3 with ties to US consulate in violent Mexican border city; Inspectors can’t repeat runaway Prius’ stuck accelerator but opinions split on driver’s story; US lawmakers step up attacks on China’s currency policies ahead of Nov. elections; US demanding cancellation of contentious east Jerusalem building plan, say Israeli officials; Damage from storm may snarl commutes in Northeast as region copes with flooding, power outages. LOCAL YARD WASTE: Yard waste pickups in Quincy will resume March 22. We’ll tell what the game plan is and provide some information on how people should prepare items for pickup.ST. PATRICK EVENTS: Celtic music and an Irish storyteller will be featured during Wednesday’s festivities at the Shrine of St. Patrick in St. Patrick, Mo. The community celebrates its namesake holiday each year with traditional flair for anyone Irish or “Irish for a day.”MELANOMA WALK: A walk to raise funds to find a cure for the deadly skin cancer melanoma takes place Saturday, April 3, at South Park in Quincy.REGIONELDER ABUSE: A rural Kahoka woman has been arrested in connection with the death of her 81-year-old mother for whom she had been caring .MISSOURI BUDGET-ANALYSIS: Missouri lawmakers will have a chance to put the state’s money where their mouths are when they return this week from their annual spring break. Legislators have been talking a lot about the need to make major cuts in state spending because of a financial crunch whose squeeze is expected to get even tighter in coming years. MENTALLY ILL-LAWSUIT: Illinois must help thousands of residents move out of large mental institutions and provide them support services as part of a settlement expected to be filed Monday in a class-action lawsuit. The agreement, hailed as a landmark by advocates of the mentally ill, gives the state five years to help residents make the transition to apartments and small homes, a process to be overseen by a court-appointed monitor. The settlement needs a judge’s approval and both sides have requested a hearing to consider the specifics of the plan. Under the agreement, the state would help 256 residents move into community housing by the end of one year. By the end of two years, another 384 residents would get help moving. A draft of the agreement was obtained by The Associated Press. OCTOGENARIAN STUDENT: After a 20-year attempt to finally earn her GED, 80-year-old Ora Lee Rivers doesn’t want to stop learning. “I want to keep going,” Rivers said of the computer class she takes through Southwestern Illinois College’s Programs and Services for Older Persons. “This gives me something to do to keep me going, to keep me active.” BRIEFLY: A state audit shows that a Columbia nonprofit has unacceptable spending habits; Officials in Champaign are gearing up for the community’s yearlong 150th anniversary celebration which kicks off later this week; Fire officials estimate a morning fire at a suburban Chicago auto shop may have caused $1 million in damage; The American Civil Liberties Union says a suburban Kansas City superintendent missed the point with the remarks he made after two white students gave a black student a noose made out of string. POLICEAMERICAN-TERROR PLOT: A Colorado woman who says she is the mother of an American held and later released in Ireland over an alleged plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist said Sunday she does not know where her daughter or grandson may be. Christine Mott, of Leadville, said she learned from federal law-enforcement agencies that her 31-year-old daughter, Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, had been arrested. Irish police said Saturday that they had released an American woman and three others arrested over the alleged plot to kill Vilks, who depicted the Prophet Muhammad in a 2007 sketch with the body of a dog. Police wouldn’t confirm whether those released included Paulin-Ramirez. BASEBALL BAT ATTACK: Authorities say a 19-year-old suburban Chicago teen is being held on bond after allegedly attacking his mother’s boyfriend with a wooden baseball bat. A judge ordered Paul Rukawiczkin held on $25,000 bail on Sunday. PHOTO-MANIPULATION PORN: A Kansas City man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for using a computer to make a clothed child appear naked in photos. RIVERSIDE KILLING: A Kansas City, Kan., woman has been charged with shooting and killing a man at his apartment in the western Missouri town of Riverside. CHILD KILLED: An East Baton Rouge Parish jury has convicted a 32-year-old St. Louis man of beating his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son to death. ST. ANTHONY ACCIDENT: Police are investigating a one-car accident early today on St. Anthony Road. SPORTSQU INTO SWEET 16: Two free throws by Quincy University’s Courtney Belger with 15.6 seconds left sealed a 66-61 victory over Bellarmine in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional, giving the Hawks’ their first-ever Sweet 16 appearance.BELGER’S BIG SHOT: Courtney Belger’s 3-pointer with five minutes to play was an added boost for QU in what turned out to be a 66-61 victory over Bellarmine.BELL COLUMN: Sports Writer Jared Bell lists his top 10 non-sport sporting events, things such as the NBA Draft lottery, the Heisman Trophy presentation and Selection Sunday. http://qui.live.mediaspanonline.com/new_story/AM_Edition