NEW CASTLE, Pa. - A four-foot alligator rescued in an abandoned school on fire in western Pennsylvania may have also started the blaze. North Beaver Township officials are not identifying the owner of the former elementary school that burned Thursday afternoon near New Castle, about 40 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
But they said the man was living with a menagerie of animals in the building, including the alligator, about 70 rabbits and unspecified "aquatic animals." The Pennsylvania Game Commission was involved in caring for the animal.
Fire Chief Paul Henry said the building's owner believes the alligator started the fire by knocking over a portable heater. Firefighters removed the animal, but only after taping its mouth shut
Showing posts with label School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label School. Show all posts
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Abusive Essay
OREGON, Wis. - A father allegedly shot his 9-year-old son in the buttocks with a BB gun, a revelation that came to light after the boy wrote a school essay about the incident. The boy had written an essay about the "painful afternoon my Dad shot me with a BB gun." The elementary-school teacher turned the essay over to authorities.
Prosecutors charged the 36-year-old father on Friday with one felony count of child abuse. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 6 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The criminal complaint said the father told an investigator he shot the boy after the child didn't move fast enough from blocking the TV. He said he aimed at his son's rear pocket because he thought it would be more padded.
"I knew right away it was a stupid thing I did," the father said. "I told my kids the only way I'm going to touch them is to kiss them, hug them, tickle them. I was very, I was not under the influence of anything. It was a very stupid decision."
He was released Friday on a signature bond and ordered not to threaten or engage in any acts of violence against his son. He was also ordered not to engage in physical discipline of any child.
Prosecutors charged the 36-year-old father on Friday with one felony count of child abuse. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 6 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The criminal complaint said the father told an investigator he shot the boy after the child didn't move fast enough from blocking the TV. He said he aimed at his son's rear pocket because he thought it would be more padded.
"I knew right away it was a stupid thing I did," the father said. "I told my kids the only way I'm going to touch them is to kiss them, hug them, tickle them. I was very, I was not under the influence of anything. It was a very stupid decision."
He was released Friday on a signature bond and ordered not to threaten or engage in any acts of violence against his son. He was also ordered not to engage in physical discipline of any child.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Punishment Fits The Crime
EAGAN, Minn. - An elementary school principal could be disciplined for allegedly forcing a 6-year-old boy to unclog a toilet with his bare hands. The principal of Rahn Elementary has been on paid leave since mid-December while the school district investigated a complaint from the boy's parents. The school board proposed disciplinary action on Thursday. The nature of the discipline wasn't made public.
The boy's parents claim their son told them the principal made him clean out a toilet bowl that the boy had accidentally clogged on Dec. 12. The boy told his parents he wiped himself with paper towels, instead of toilet paper, causing the clog.
The principal declined to respond to the claims Thursday. He also didn't say what disciplinary action was proposed and whether he'd appeal.
The boy's parents claim their son told them the principal made him clean out a toilet bowl that the boy had accidentally clogged on Dec. 12. The boy told his parents he wiped himself with paper towels, instead of toilet paper, causing the clog.
The principal declined to respond to the claims Thursday. He also didn't say what disciplinary action was proposed and whether he'd appeal.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Dude Looks Like A Lady
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - Dressing as a girl to take a high school Regents exam in place of another student landed a 17-year-old upstate New York boy in some serious detention. Deandre Ellis, 17, of Schenectady was arrested on a felony charge after the incident Tuesday. City school officials said a monitor verifying that each student was taking the proper exam suspected something was amiss when the name on the test and the person taking it didn't match.
District spokeswoman Karen Corona said a closer look revealed the test-taker was a boy masquerading as a girl.
Police said Ellis, who was released to probation authorities, was charged with burglary for entering the school to commit a crime. His public defender didn't immediately return a phone call or e-mail seeking comment.
District spokeswoman Karen Corona said a closer look revealed the test-taker was a boy masquerading as a girl.
Police said Ellis, who was released to probation authorities, was charged with burglary for entering the school to commit a crime. His public defender didn't immediately return a phone call or e-mail seeking comment.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Thanks For Da Invite
MADISON, Wis. - The invitations have been sent through Facebook. The rules are set. Police and medical responders are ready to go.
When a whistle blows Saturday afternoon, University of Wisconsin-Madison students will begin pelting each other with snowballs in a fight they hope will go down in history.
More than 3,700 students at Michigan Technological University in 2006 laid claim to the largest snowball fight, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
Organizer Mike Basak, a UW-Madison freshman, said Saturday's snow showdown would likely beat that record, though he's decided not to bother with the hassle of submitting it to Guinness.
More than 4,000 people are members of the event's Facebook group, and word continues to spread as rival dormitories get ready to rumble in the center of campus.
"Once the whistle blows, let the chaos ensue!" Basak said.
The ground rules are simple: No throwing at cars. No throwing at buildings. And don't hit innocent passers-by.
Some suspect poor timing means the Michigan record might not fall.
Temperatures in Madison were forecast to remain in single digits Saturday. Wisconsin's men's basketball team plays at Illinois at the time of the fight. And although snow is everywhere on campus, it's the powdery kind that's hard to pack.
Still, school officials are prepared for the event.
UW-Madison spokesman John Lucas said in a statement that officials would monitor the event, which he noted wasn't university-sanctioned.
"We want students to be able to enjoy winter and have fun, but safety is also an important priority," he wrote.
The Dean of Students' office recruited a student group of volunteer emergency medical technicians to be on the scene. One of its organizers, Katie Egan, said members would be ready to treat injuries such as bleeding and hypothermia and call 911 if needed.
Police Sgt. Jason Whitney said officers were getting in touch with the organizers and would be ready Saturday. Patrolling snowball fights was something new for his force, he said.
As for judging a winner, Basak said, that was not the point. "It's just a bunch of chaos until it all kind of dies down," he said.
When a whistle blows Saturday afternoon, University of Wisconsin-Madison students will begin pelting each other with snowballs in a fight they hope will go down in history.
More than 3,700 students at Michigan Technological University in 2006 laid claim to the largest snowball fight, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
Organizer Mike Basak, a UW-Madison freshman, said Saturday's snow showdown would likely beat that record, though he's decided not to bother with the hassle of submitting it to Guinness.
More than 4,000 people are members of the event's Facebook group, and word continues to spread as rival dormitories get ready to rumble in the center of campus.
"Once the whistle blows, let the chaos ensue!" Basak said.
The ground rules are simple: No throwing at cars. No throwing at buildings. And don't hit innocent passers-by.
Some suspect poor timing means the Michigan record might not fall.
Temperatures in Madison were forecast to remain in single digits Saturday. Wisconsin's men's basketball team plays at Illinois at the time of the fight. And although snow is everywhere on campus, it's the powdery kind that's hard to pack.
Still, school officials are prepared for the event.
UW-Madison spokesman John Lucas said in a statement that officials would monitor the event, which he noted wasn't university-sanctioned.
"We want students to be able to enjoy winter and have fun, but safety is also an important priority," he wrote.
The Dean of Students' office recruited a student group of volunteer emergency medical technicians to be on the scene. One of its organizers, Katie Egan, said members would be ready to treat injuries such as bleeding and hypothermia and call 911 if needed.
Police Sgt. Jason Whitney said officers were getting in touch with the organizers and would be ready Saturday. Patrolling snowball fights was something new for his force, he said.
As for judging a winner, Basak said, that was not the point. "It's just a bunch of chaos until it all kind of dies down," he said.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Mighty,Mighty Handbag
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Don't knock those trendy, oversized purses - they could save your life, as one college student found out. Police say the contents in an oversized purse saved Elizabeth Pittenger, a 22-year-old Middle Tennessee State University student, by stopping a bullet during an attempted robbery.
Pittenger was walking to her car on campus Thursday evening when a man confronted her and demanded her purse, cell phone and laptop, university Police Chief Buddy Peaster said. She fought the man off, but he fired a gunshot before fleeing.
The bullet was found inside the purse, along with a calculator, umbrella and small case that had been punctured. Pittenger was not injured.
Police nearby heard the gunshot and arrested Orlando Edmiston, 20. Officers found a .38 caliber handgun beneath a parked van.
Edmiston was charged with attempted murder, attempted armed robbery and possession of a weapon on school property. He was being held at the Rutherford County jail on $32,500 bond.
No one answered Monday at offices for Edmiston's court-appointed attorneys.
Pittenger was walking to her car on campus Thursday evening when a man confronted her and demanded her purse, cell phone and laptop, university Police Chief Buddy Peaster said. She fought the man off, but he fired a gunshot before fleeing.
The bullet was found inside the purse, along with a calculator, umbrella and small case that had been punctured. Pittenger was not injured.
Police nearby heard the gunshot and arrested Orlando Edmiston, 20. Officers found a .38 caliber handgun beneath a parked van.
Edmiston was charged with attempted murder, attempted armed robbery and possession of a weapon on school property. He was being held at the Rutherford County jail on $32,500 bond.
No one answered Monday at offices for Edmiston's court-appointed attorneys.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Overdue With Grace
TULSA, Okla. - A library book checked out from a Tulsa high school in 1947 has been returned - with a $250 check to cover overdue fees. Holland Hall School librarian Betty Niver says the book "New Word Analysis: Or School Etymology of English Derivative Words" was mailed to the school by Martha McCabe Jarrett.
Jarrett, of Venice, Fla., was Martha McCabe, a sophomore, when she signed out the book 61 years ago at what was then Holland Hall School for Girls. She recently found it while cleaning out her other home in Rome, Ohio.
"It was just there, with the things I enjoy and my kids don't," she said Friday.
In a note sent with the book, she included the check to pay any fines. But she wasn't sure how she wound up with the book. "I don't know if it was something the library was getting rid of, or my Latin teacher had given me, or if I just kept it," she said.
"I sent it back just because I value the education I got at that school," she said.
School officials said they were not sure what they will do with the $250 because there is no specific overdue book fund. It might be put toward student scholarships.
Jarrett, of Venice, Fla., was Martha McCabe, a sophomore, when she signed out the book 61 years ago at what was then Holland Hall School for Girls. She recently found it while cleaning out her other home in Rome, Ohio.
"It was just there, with the things I enjoy and my kids don't," she said Friday.
In a note sent with the book, she included the check to pay any fines. But she wasn't sure how she wound up with the book. "I don't know if it was something the library was getting rid of, or my Latin teacher had given me, or if I just kept it," she said.
"I sent it back just because I value the education I got at that school," she said.
School officials said they were not sure what they will do with the $250 because there is no specific overdue book fund. It might be put toward student scholarships.
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