Alva Review-Courier -

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) For decades, textbooks were seen as the foundation for instruction in American schools. These discipline-specific...

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — After many months of planning and development, the Fort Gordon Cyber District in east Georgia is finally official. The Alliance for Fort Gordon this week announced the launch of a partnership among military, business and civic l...

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Supporters and critics have sounded off at a Nebraska Board of Education meeting on a proposal to teach climate change in Nebraska's public schools. The Omaha World-Herald reports that nearly 70 people attended the meeting F...

KEY LARGO, Fla. (AP) — Wanted: An iguana wrangler to go on patrol in the Florida Keys. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission staff posted an opening for a biologist to take the lead on dealing with Keys iguanas. The Keynoter reports, t...

ALBUQUERUQE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico law enforcement officer admits he looked at pictures of naked women on the internet while on duty, but says he was doing so as part of his job. The Albuquerque Journal reports (http://bit.ly/2vCCqS5 ) that f...

DURANGO, Colo. (AP) — A bear broke into a sport utility vehicle in southwestern Colorado, trashed its interior and caused it to roll out of a driveway and smash into a mailbox. Neighbors heard the crash early Friday and called law enforcement o...

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas prisons face high staff turnover and potential inmate unrest at a time when state officials expect the population behind bars to continue growing steadily well into the future, potentially making current problems worse. C...

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A spelling mistake on a water tower in Wichita that drew national attention and a lot of laughs has been corrected. The water tower on Wichita State University campus carried the name Wichita Staty Universite" for a few hours o...

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas Department of Corrections employee is no longer working for the agency after he mistakenly sent an email to a newspaper that advised downplaying the need for a special legislative session because of political c...

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A new comedy and music radio program is beginning this weekend in Kansas. Kansas Radio Theatre will air on more than 10 radio stations across the state, from Goodland to Salina to Wichita, The Wichita Eagle reported . The h...

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — When Randy Gamel and his husband were looking for a retirement home, a six-bedroom fixer upper in the tiny western Oklahoma town of Hitchcock caught their eye. They bought it in 2014, and Gamel moved to the quiet community f...

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A former Oklahoma death row inmate freed after a court found prosecutorial misconduct has settled his lawsuit against a former prosecutor and the state of Oklahoma for an undisclosed amount. The Oklahoman reported Saturday Y...

LUTHER, Okla. (AP) — Authorities say a 4-month-old girl died after her grandmother forgot the baby was in her car and left her there for hours while she was working. Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office spokesman Mark Opgrande says investigators were c...

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma authorities have issued an Amber Alert after a man and woman fled with a baby girl after a judge terminated their parental rights. The Department of Public Safety issued the alert early Saturday in the disappearance o...

FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) — Thomas Nuttall may not be a name as famous as other early 1800s explorers like Meriwether Lewis or William Clark, but for those who study the natural world, he is an iconic figure. Fort Smith served as Nuttall's base of o...

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — An East Central High School teacher is volunteering his time over the summer to give his 11th- and 12th-graders a head start in advanced math courses that enable them to earn college credit in high school. David Lanning has worked...

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — It is a 100-degree day and Mozelle Richardson, 103 of Oklahoma City, sits on her couch with windows open and enjoys a tennis match on the television. "Never be afraid to do things," Mozelle said. She is currently learning G...

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — In a state that produces more rice than any other and is near the top in poultry production, Marvin Smith of North Little Rock has the Arkansas fig market cornered. Smith has been in the fig business for 25 of his 75 y...

CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. (AP) — Local restaurateurs and farmers are working together to provide customers with food from farms they drive past on a regular basis. As consumer tastes shift, evidence of the changes are apparent at many local eateries, i...

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The Latest on a tornado that struck Tulsa, Oklahoma. (all times local): 5:20 p.m. St. Francis Hospital spokeswoman Lauren Landwerlin says about 30 people have been treated at the hospital's trauma center and three were admitted i...

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The latest on Venezuela's political crisis (all times local): 6:15 p.m. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says a "truth commission" created by the new, all-powerful constitutional assembly will ensure that those r...

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in suburban Minneapolis, like other U.S. mosques, occasionally receives threatening calls and emails. But leaders say they're more frightened after a weekend attack in which an explosive s...

CHICAGO (AP) — After a cross-country manhunt, a Northwestern University professor and University of Oxford employee are in custody for the brutal stabbing death of a 26-year-old hair stylist in Chicago. The case has involved peculiar twists, i...

JONESTOWN, Miss. (AP) — Otibehia Allen is a single mother who lives in a rented mobile home in the same isolated, poor community where she grew up among the cotton and soybean fields of the Mississippi Delta. During a summer that feels like a s...

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A global pressure campaign on North Korea propelled by sharp new U.N. sanctions received a welcome boost Sunday from China, the North's economic lifeline, as Beijing called on its neighbor to halt its missile and nuclear t...