Charla Bear

Several new startups are connecting people who need a car with strangers who want to make a few extra bucks renting theirs out. Wheelz is one such peer-to-peer car-sharing company. The Silicon Valley startup is gaining traction on college campuses in the Bay Area.

Working with the national Get Schooled Foundation, Seattle officials are encouraging kids to sign up to receive celebrity wake-up calls — from Tyra Banks to rapper Wiz Khalifa. They say the recordings — plus a variety of prizes and mentorship programs — can give truant kids the extra push they need to make it to class.

The U.S. government operated 100 boarding schools for American Indians on and off reservations. One expert says the schools were part of a strategy to conquer Indians. Students who attended them were required to talk and dress as mainstream Americans.