US public schools still require that kids be taught handwriting, so it’s not yet a lost art, but there is some evidence that digital natives are less “ready” for writing now than students in the past. - Wired
The lawsuit was brought by some of the nation's largest book publishers and some of the authors whose books had been removed from central Florida school libraries, as well as the parents of schoolchildren who tried to access books that were removed. - Scripps
Rod Sims has departed as chair of Opera Australia after three years, a decision both he and the company said was voluntary despite an extraordinary swipe at his leadership style by a former chief executive. - Australian Financial Review
Attorneys for Shira Perlmutter, who is suing the Trump administration for what she argues is her illegal dismissal as U.S. Register of Copyrights, said in a memorandum that “the dots are not difficult to connect” between her office’s report on AI training, her firing the following day, and the administration’s new AI policy. - Publishers Weekly
The standard 800-word, single-title review has long been an anemic, disparaged creature surviving off scraps along the edges of the features pages. - Washington Post
Now, some of those philanthropists are banding together in hopes of staving off that worst-case scenario by providing an emergency $26.5 million cash injection to stabilize the stations most at risk. The group is aiming to raise additional money for the fund and hopes to reach $50 million this year. - The New York Times
As the 230-foot-long, 950-year-old embroidered cloth is returned to England for the first time since it was completed, here’s an explainer with all the basic facts — when and where it’s from, what it depicts, why it’s important — that you once learned in history class and perhaps have forgotten. - Artnet
American Public Media Group, MPR’s parent organization, warned last month that between 5% and 8% of staff would see their jobs eliminated; the arrived-at figure is 6%, or 30 employees. No newsroom positions were cut; affected departments are data journalism, IT, YourClassical, The Current, and national distribution. - The Pioneer Press (St. Paul) (Yahoo!)
“Musicians routinely wrestle with interpreting oblique, ambiguous and outright surreal markings as they try to bring a composer’s idea to life” — from Satie’s direction “light as an egg” to the poetic instructions of Anna Thorvaldsdottir to the circular staves of George Crumb and beyond. - The New York Times
“Intense rainfall Aug. 9 and 10 left the relatively new facility (in Wauwatosa) under three feet of water. … (Executive Director Chad) Bauman described the situation as close to ‘a total loss.’ Because that rainwater was mixed with sewage, many of the items immersed in that water can't be salvaged.” - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“The executive director of Boxcar Theatre in San Francisco resigned Sunday, the organization said, after anonymous internet vigilantes accused him of attempting to meet up with someone who had posed online as a 14-year-old boy.” - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
Organizers have decided to “pause” the Polari Prizes after multiple nominees and two judges withdrew in objection to the inclusion on the longlist of the novel Earth by John Boyne, who once wrote an article supporting the controversial views on transsexuality of J.K. Rowling. - BBC (MSN)
“His six decades in the business were peppered with highlights, including his touching portrayal of the transsexual Bernadette in 1994’s The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. … But it will be his portrayal of Zod in 1978’s Superman and its sequel Superman II that most people associate with Stamp.” - AP
Major changes of all kinds are undoubtedly coming in our future, but they won’t arrive with a firework display or a Hans Zimmer score. They’re much more likely to creep in over time and pile up against all the stuff that currently fills our lives. - The New York Times
