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Meep
Danvers High School in Massachusetts has banned students from saying the word "meep." Officials say students use the word, which was popularized on The Muppet Show and has no meaning, to disrupt school. Attorney Theodora Michaels says that after reading about the ban, she sent school officials an e-mail reading simply "Meep." She says they responded by reporting her to the police.
Wait Just A Few Minutes
In Dorset, England, a car crashed into Bethany Dibbs, 9, as she was riding her scooter, fracturing her skull. The first paramedics on the scene called for backup, but dispatch told them they could not send the nearest crew because they were on a mandated break. They would have to wait 20 minutes. Those paramedics then called their colleagues directly, and they abandoned their break to come help.
No More Shirts vs. Skins
Georgia's Chattooga High School got a new principal this year, and when the yearbooks arrived this fall, principal Jimmy Lenderman didn't like what he saw. There were several photos in there of boys playing basketball without any shirts on. So school officials spent two months cutting the pages with those photos out of the yearbooks before handing them to the students who had paid $50 for them. Lenderman has refused to explain why the photos got him all hot and bothered. He merely released a statement saying they didn't "reflect an appropriate image of our school or our community."
Close Enough for Police Work
Police in Butler County, Pennsylvania, killed a man after standoff in a residential neighborhood. But first, they accidentally fired tear gas into the home across the street. John Spinetti, the owner of the house, said police offered to pay for any damages not covered by his insurance.
Baloney
In Franklin County, Ohio, former deputy Joseph M. Cantwell pleaded guilty to two health code violations and was fined $500 and given five years probation. Cantwell gave a bologna sandwich to inmate Joseph Copeland after another inmate had rubbed it on his penis.
You Can't Say That Here
In Finland, a court has found Helsinki City Council member Jussi Halla-aho guilty of insulting Islam and fined him 330 euros. Halla-aho had noted on his blog that Mohammad, the founder of Islam, married an underage girl. Halla-aho said he believed that made Mohammad a pedophile and Islam a religion that sanctifies pedophilia.
All Wet
Brian Bendle was standing in shallow water when a jet ski smacked into him at England's Middlemoor Water Park. He suffered a broken back and ribs and a punctured lung. But when paramedics arrived at the scene, they refused to enter the six-inch deep water to help him out. They said health and safety rules demanded that a fire crew remove him from the water.
Return to Sender
The Internal Revenue Service reports that 107,831 refund checks, worth $123.5 million, have been returned by the U.S. Postal Service because the mailing addresses on the envelopes were wrong.
No Respect for the Dead
A Spokane County, Washington, sheriff's deputy pulled Donald Ross out of a funeral procession and gave him and his family tickets for not having their seatbelts fastened. Ross was driving to his sister's funeral. By the time they arrived at the grave, the service had already ended. The sheriff's office defends the deputy. "We are out here trying to prevent funerals, not disrupt them," said spokesman Dave Reagan.
Cracking Down on Illegals
Former Broward County, Florida, sheriff's deputy Jonathan Bleiweiss faces 58 charges of sexual battery, false imprisonment, and stalking. Bleiweiss allegedly groped illegal immigrants he pulled over for traffic violations or stopped on the street.
Going Downhill
Mountain Boy Sledworks has been making handcrafted sleds in Silverton, Colorado, for seven years. But a zoning dispute has led the city to order the company to stop production. The building inspector insists the sleds are a manufactured product, so their construction is a violation of local zoning. Mountain Boy owner Brice Hoskin says they are a craft product, which is permitted by the zoning.
Father Doesn't Know Best
In England, the Watford Borough Council has barred parents from watching their children while they play at two "adventure" playgrounds run by the council. The only adults allowed in the playgrounds will be council staff who have passed a criminal records check. All other adults, including parents, must stay outside the fence. Council members say the rule will protect children.
Bent and Broken
In England, it has been 10 months since Torron Eeles broke his arm, leaving it severely twisted. Eeles said surgery to repair the arm has been canceled four times: twice because of a lack of beds, once because doctors believed his blood pressure was too high, and once because he is a smoker. The National Health Service insists it only canceled the surgery twice: once because of his blood pressure and once because he ignored a doctor's orders to quit smoking.
In Too Deep
In Lincolnshire, England, police officers, firefighters and paramedics refused to go to the aid of a man who had been struck by a car, knocked into a ditch and was lying in 18 inches of water. They deemed climbing down a 15-foot bank to the victim was too dangerous and called for a water rescue team more than 50 miles away. An autopsy determined that Karl Malton drowned while lying face down in the water.
Justice Is Blind Drunk
San Antonio, Texas, police say they started getting numerous calls early one Sunday morning. Drivers were reporting a Bexar County constable's car moving recklessly through traffic, with the emergency lights being turned on and off. Callers said that the man driving the car appeared to be drunk and seemed to be trying to pull people over. When police caught up to the car and stopped it, the found that the driver was Lt. Arthur MacCubbin and that he had three other men in the car with him. MacCubbin was charged with DUI. The others were charged with public intoxication.
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