Imagine this: Next Jan. 1, the United States stops printing dollar bills and issues a new currency, Americos, which also is used in Mexico, Canada, Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and El Salvador. You would have to adjust. A soda from a vending machine no longer would cost a dollar, but 2.5 Americos. And instead of George Washington's face, the new currency would have an image of

Public school administrators rarely feel they have all of the money they need to operate. That is particularly true this school year, with the shortfall in the state budget. School officials have said average increases in state funding of 2.6 percent in 2006 and 2.4 percent in 2007 are inadequate and will force them to raise property taxes to pay for all of the programs they feel they need to prov