Flagler College, by Staff Writers

Flagler College's Town and Gown Advisory Committee released its first progress report, outlining accomplish-ments and highlights of the 2016-2017 academic year and future priorities. The committee serves as a channel for representatives from the college and community to discuss mutually relevant issues that impact the campus and city. According to the report, highlights of the committee's work this past year included the establishment of a student-only online rental blog, in which students can inform one another about available apartments and interactions with landlords; the implementation of a reporting system to handle behavior complaints made to St. Augustine Police Department or Flagler College; and the participation of the committee in the college's new president selection process. A detailed annual report on the Town and Gown Advisory Committee can be found here. 

Standard-Speaker, by Kelly Monitz

More grade school and middle school-aged children say they've tried alcohol or were willing to try alcohol, according to a report on underage drinking released by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. The biennial Report on Underage and High-Risk Drinking looks at current levels and trends of underage and college drinking and looks at prevention strategies by state and local agencies. "Perhaps most troubling is the number of children who are trying alcohol and even drinking on a somewhat regular basis," said PLCB Chairman Tim Holden. "Whether that trend is inspired by increased con-sumption among adult populations or other factors, we don't know, but these are important issues for the PLCB and public health education com-munities to explore." The report found numerous trends among underage drinkers. To see the report, click here.

Inside Higher Ed, by Ashley A. Smith

Across the country, many students still lack access to a college option that fits their needs. It's a problem that two very different states are looking to solve. Despite having 114 campuses in California, Governor Jerry Brown wants the state's community college system to explore expanding its programs through a new online-only college. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania's education de-partment has given its approval for the creation of a new alternative type of community college to serve the northwestern part of the state. "Community colleges across the country are suffering from decreasing enrollments, so they're out there trying to figure out what are the options to reach students who they haven't reached in the past and retain the ones they have," said Elisabeth Barnett, senior research scientist at the Community College Research Center at Columbia University.    

The Sentinel, by Candice Rojo Keyes

Lewiston-Auburn, by Andrew Rice

A few more arrests could go a long way toward de-terring the destructive partying at off-campus student housing, officials said Tuesday. At a joint meeting of the City Council and Planning Board, the majority agreed there needs to be more accountability among students and landlords at the lodging houses surrounding Bates College. The workshop was convened to address poten-tial long-term solutions to the continued complaints from neighbors sur-rounding the Davis and White streets. A six-month moratorium on estab-lishing lodging houses, which allow multiple students to live in a home based on heightened code requirements, is set to expire in August. City officials discussed a number of solutions proposed by the Planning Depart-ment, but many agree that a "multi-pronged" approach is needed to fully address the issue. That means amended police department policies, zoning restrictions, resident parking passes or potentially all of the above.  

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