Daily Brickbats

Basketball Jones

2012-05-29T09:00:00-04:00

Officials at Woodlake Hills Middle School in San Antonio suspended Patrick Gonzalez for one day after he had part of his head shaved to resemble the face of NBA player Matt Bonner. Gonzalez says Bonner is his favorite player because the both have red hair. After local media reported the suspension, Bonner gave the boy tickets to a playoff game.

Who Watches the Watchman Fondle Himself?

2012-05-28T06:00:00-04:00

The East Chicago Board of Public Safety suspended police officer Arcides Santiago for six months without pay after he was caught on video fondling his genitals while making lewd comments to a woman. The woman had called police to report a burglary.

Hacked Off

2012-05-25T06:00:00-04:00

For their senior prank, three students at Lawrence High School in Kansas decided to partially shave the heads of some younger friends and siblings. The haircuts took place off campus, and the younger students volunteered for the haircuts. Still, school officials charged the seniors with hazing and bullying and suspended them. Even after parents explained they had given the OK for the head shaving, officials would not lift the suspensions.

Chekov's Gun

2012-05-24T06:00:00-04:00

Officials at Center High School in Texas have barred Avery Tindol from attending the prom after they caught him with a prop gun from the drama department. Tindol and some other students were cleaning out the prop room when one of them handed him the fake firearm. A teacher spotted him with the weapon, and the school also suspended him for three days.

50 Shades of Banned

2012-05-23T06:00:00-04:00

The Brevard County, Florida, public library system has pulled all of its 19 copies of 50 Shades of Grey from the shelves. Library services director Cathy Schweinsberg says the best-selling novel is pornographic.

He Had a Dream

2012-05-22T06:00:00-04:00

Colorado's Meridian Ranch Elementary School held a "wax museum" day recently and asked students to come dressed as some historic figure. Second-grader Sean King decided to come as Martin Luther King Jr., so he put on a suit and a fake mustache. And since, King is white, he decided to use makeup to darken his face. One faculty member complained the "blackface" was offensive. So the principal ordered him to remove the makeup or leave school. King's parents opted to take him home.

The Benefits of Homeownership

2012-05-21T06:00:00-04:00

Crowley, Texas, resident David Englett found when he tried to renew his driver's license that he had several outstanding warrants. The warrants were all for code violations at his former home in Arlington. Englett hasn't lived in the house since it was foreclosed two years ago, and he said that he thought it was the bank's responsibility to keep the grass mowed and yard clean. He had to pay Arlington $150 to remove the hold on his license, but officials are still demanding hundreds more in fines.

Killer Crossword

2012-05-18T06:00:00-04:00

Venezuelan intelligence officers visited the offices of Ultima Noticias newspaper to gather information on Neptali Segovia, who writes the paper's crossword puzzles. One of his recent puzzles contained, among other answers, the first name of President Hugo Chavez's brother Adan, a Spanish word for to kill and a Spanish word that can mean either machine gun fire or a gust of wind. Chavez supporters say the puzzle was a threat to Adan Chavez.

Iron Fist, Cotton Glove

2012-05-17T06:00:00-04:00

A code enforcement officer in Brynmawr, Wales, fined Valerie George £75 for littering after a strand of cotton fell from one of her gloves to the sidewalk. George says she didn't even see the strand fall and would have picked it up if asked. When contacted by media, local officials said they would drop the fine but George did break the law.

LMFAO

2012-05-16T06:00:00-04:00

Officials at Sable Elementary School in Aurora, Colorado, suspended 6-year-old D'Avonte Meadows for three days for sexual harassment. Meadows allegedly sang the line "I'm sexy, and I know it" from the song "Sexy and I Know It" to another student.

Another One Rides the Bus

2012-05-15T06:00:00-04:00

In Glynn County, Georgia, a school bus driver and an assistant have been suspended after leaving a 5-year-old special needs student strapped to a seat in an unattended bus for two hours. The student was supposed to have been taken to a pre-kindergarten program. But the bus returned to the depot without dropping the student off. The student wasn't discovered until another driver went to use the bus. School officials are refusing to release the names of the suspended employees.

Kiddy Porn

2012-05-14T06:00:00-04:00

DeKalb County, Georgia, school system officials say they have opened an investigation into claims that an assistant principal at DeKalb Elementary School for the Arts showed an 11-year-old girl a nude photo of a male classmate. The principal was allegedly trying to find out who sent the photo to another student.

Sofa King Low

2012-05-11T06:00:00-04:00

Sofa King, a British furniture store, has advertised that its prices are “Sofa King Low” for almost a decade now. But the Advertising Standards Authority has recently warned the store that phrase is “likely to cause serious or widespread offense.” The company's slogan was investigated by police in 2004, but the investigation did not result in any charges.

All Pumped Up

2012-05-10T06:00:00-04:00

Transportation Security Administration officials have apologized for forcing a woman, who wasn't named in press reports, to demonstrate that her breast pump was real before allowing her to carry it on board a plane at Hawaii's Lihue Airport. “I had to stand in front of the mirrors and the sinks and pump my breast in front of every tourist that walked into that bathroom,” the woman told a local TV station.

You Got to Know When to Fold 'Em

2012-05-09T06:00:00-04:00

Police in Cyprus raided the weekly card game of a group of elderly women and charged them with gambling. The women, including one 98-year-old, faced a fine of up to 750 euros or six months in jail. But after local and international media picked up the story, prosecutors dropped the charges.

Jesus

2012-05-08T06:00:00-04:00

"Life is wasted without Jesus." William Swinimer, a 12th grader at Forest Heights Community School in Nova Scotia, wore a T-shirt with that slogan to school recently. It wasn't the first time he'd worn it, and officials had warned him that some teachers and some other students complained it was offensive. They told him not to wear it again. When he did, the school suspended him for five days.

Wrong Number

2012-05-07T06:00:00-04:00

Police in Nottingham, England, knocked down the door to Robert Kerr's house and caused $793 in damage because the GPS on a stolen iPhone indicated that was the address the thief had taken it to. They eventually realized they had the wrong house. But police refused to pay for the damage to the house because they "reasonably believed" the person who took the phone was in the building.

Child Abuse

2012-05-04T06:00:00-04:00

Police in Scott, Pennsylvania, have charged Govindaraj Narayanasamy with two counts of child endangerment for leaving his 9-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter alone at a local park for a couple of hours. Narayanasamy allegedly went shopping and took a shower at the YMCA while his kids played at the park.

Own Goal

2012-05-03T06:00:00-04:00

Ukrainian officials have banned the movie “The Match” about a historic soccer game in 1942 between Ukrainian athletes and German soldiers occupying the country. They say the movie could spark tensions between the countries when their national teams play in the 2012 European Championships, which Ukraine is co-hosting. Officials also object to the movie’s depiction of many Kiev residents as Nazi collaborators.

Playground Hijinks

2012-05-02T06:00:00-04:00

Parents of some students at California’s Albert Einstein Middle School are upset that Sacramento sheriff’s detectives pulled their children out of class and interviewed them and took DNA samples in a murder investigation without informing those parents.

Shop Class

2012-05-01T06:00:00-04:00

Washington County, Tennessee, sheriff’s deputies have charged Manueal Ernest Dillow with 12 felony counts of brandishing a firearm on school property. Dillow, who teaches welding at the William H. Neff Center, gathered about 12 students in front of a garage door and pulled out a handgun that fired blanks, aimed it toward them and fired several times.

Big Scam

2012-04-30T06:00:00-04:00

Victoria Baca called the New Mexico state police to report an Internet scam she had fallen victim to. Officials told her they couldn't immediately send an officer, so she asked them to call before coming. Instead, an officer came by without calling while she and her family were gone. The officer jumped a fence with a “Beware of Dog” sign and shot and killed one of the family's dogs. State police officials say the officer was acting in self defense and no action will be taken against him.

The French They Are a Funny Race

2012-04-27T06:00:00-04:00

The French government has barred officials from using the word “mademoiselle” on official forms. They must now refer to all women as “madame.” Documents must also now request someone's “family name” and “name of usage” instead of “maiden name” and “spouse's name.” Feminists have complained that the banned terms were sexist.

Get Off the Bus

2012-04-26T06:00:00-04:00

In West Virginia, Point Pleasant Intermediate School Principal Cameron C. Moffett has been charged with felony child abuse after being caught on video pushing an 11-year-old special-needs student off a bus. Moffett rolled the boy down the steps of the bus then allegedly pinned him to the ground with his knee. At least three adults saw the incident but did not respond. Students were preparing to go on a field trip when some other students allegedly pushed the boy out of his seat. When the boy refused to get up out of the aisle, a teacher sent for Moffett.

Control Your Temper

2012-04-25T06:00:00-04:00

Police in Milledgeville, Georgia, handcuffed 6-year-old Salecia Johnson and hauled her off to a police station after she threw a temper tantrum at kindergarten. Johnson allegedly threw things, tore items off walls and knocked down a shelf, injuring the school's principal. She has been charged with simple assault and damage to property.

That's Inhuman

2012-04-24T06:00:00-04:00

Officials in the Greenville County, South Carolina, school system gave Hannah Adams, 13, in-school suspension for dying her hair red. Official says she violated a school policy barring “non-human hair color.” But a photo of Adams with her hair died seems to show a shade of red that's within the norm for natural redheads.

British Pickers

2012-04-23T06:00:00-04:00

A British judge has let Kathleen Woodward, 64, off with just an admonishment for having an unlicensed firearm. She a faced five years in prison after reporting that an antique pistol owned by her husband had been stolen from a safe in her home.

Ignorance of the Law

2012-04-20T06:00:00-04:00

In an effort to lobby against laws allowing citizens to openly carry firearms, an Orange County, Florida, sheriff's captain sent out photos of eight individuals he claimed were outlaw bikers who had concealed carry permits. That violated a state law against identifying those with concealed carry permits as well as a law barring the release of driver's license photos. The sheriff's department cleared the captain of any wrongdoing, saying he hadn't realized the photos were driver's license photos or that it was against the law to release information on those with weapons permits.

Kids in the Hall

2012-04-19T06:00:00-04:00

Students at Jack Robey Junior High School in Arkansas weren't returning to class after lunch fast enough for one school resource officer. So he pepper sprayed the hallway. Three students had to be taken to the hospital.

Freedom Is All Academic

2012-04-18T06:00:00-04:00

Chicago State University has banned all communication between faculty and the media without prior approval from the school's public relations office. The policy requires professors to seek approval for interviews, but also opinion pieces, newsletters, and social media communications. Those who violate the policy face disciplinary action, including being fired.