The Week: Most Recent :

Man struck by stripper's shoe receives $650,000, and more

The Week — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 14:32:00 -0400

Man struck by stripper's shoe receives $650,000
A Florida man has been awarded $650,000 after being hit in the face by a dancer’s shoe at a strip club. Michael Ireland, a roofer, was accidentally struck by the platform-heeled shoe of a bar-dancing stripper at the Cheetah nightclub in 2008. Since then, Ireland has experienced double vision and dizziness, which his lawyer notes is “not a good thing for a roofer.”

School district gives parents a background check
A North Carolina school district is requiring a criminal background check of parents who want to eat lunch with their young...

Woman sues hospital for giving her the wrong baby to breast-feed, and more

The Week — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:14:59 -0500

Woman sues hospital for giving her wrong baby to breast-feed

An Illinois woman is suing a hospital for giving her the wrong baby to breast-feed. Jennifer Spiegel, 33, says a nurse handed her a child at 4 a.m. and told her, “Your baby wants you.” While she was breast-feeding, another nurse said, “The baby you’re feeding isn’t yours.” Spiegel says this mistake gave her “an awful, internal feeling,” which is why she’s seeking $30,000.

TSA forces disabled 4-year-old to remove his leg braces

The Transportation Security Administration has apologized...

Using stun guns on children, and more

The Week — Thu, 21 May 2009 05:06:45 -0400

Using stun guns on children
Florida prison officials are apologizing for using 50,000-volt stun guns on children on Take Your Sons and Daughters to Work Day. State corrections head Walter McNeil said that 43 children were stunned at three separate prisons, most with their parents’ permission. Nevertheless, said McNeil, “I can’t imagine what these officers were thinking to administer this device to children.”

City to name park after racist and Nobel Prize-winning benefactor
The city of Auburn, Calif., has agreed to accept the gift of a 28-acre park, in return for naming it...

Student suspended for insisting he's a white African-American, and more

The Week — Thu, 14 May 2009 03:59:16 -0400

Student suspended for insisting he's a white African-American
A medical student says he was suspended from New Jersey’s University of Medicine and Dentistry for insisting that he’s a white African-American. Paulo Serodio, 42, was born in Mozambique before moving to the U.S., and described himself in a class assignment on identity as “white, African, American.” Serodio says students and faculty berated him, saying no white person could call himself an African-American. When he persisted, he was suspended for two years. He is now suing the school.

Assault victims pursued for...

Workplace racial-sensitivity pamphlet called insensitive, and more

The Week — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:10:53 -0400

Workplace racial-sensitivity pamphlet called insensitive
A racial-sensitivity pamphlet issued by the Delaware Department of Transportation has been accused of insensitivity. The pamphlet advises employees to avoid such “workplace faux pas” as asking gay co-workers whether they’ve “thought about getting help”; offering black co-workers “chicken or watermelon” for lunch; and asking Latino co-workers, “Can you help me out with my landscaping?” A spokesman explained that the DOT thought that “you have to shock people to get their attention...

A new take on 1 Timothy 2:9, and more

The Week — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:00:51 -0400

A new take on 1 Timothy 2:9
A woman has convinced the school board in Irving, Texas, that her daughter can’t wear her shirttails tucked in, for religious reasons. Dyker Neyland’s daughter Javé, 7, had been ordered to tuck in her shirt by her school principal, but Neyland argued that she was “being persecuted for being a Christian,” explaining that the Bible—specifically 1 Timothy 2:9—requires women to “adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation.” Said Neyland: “I don’t want her behind showing.” ...

Soccer coach penalizes parents, and more

The Week — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 09:09:49 -0400

Soccer coach penalizes parents
Parents of girls on a Maryland soccer team have been banished to a distant hillside to watch games. The penalty was imposed after the parents crowded around a referee after a loss, complaining about his decisions, with one parent yelling at the ref’s daughter, “Your father should be fired!” “For the parents to be shrieking on the sidelines,’’ said league official Kathie Diapoulis, “goes against everything we’re trying to do.”

Police officer fired for refusing to be Tasered
An Indiana police officer is suing his department...

Saved worker demands compensation for lunch hour, and more

The Week — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 09:49:20 -0400

Saved worker demands compensation for lunch hour
A government worker in Binghamton, N.Y., who had to stay at his desk during the recent massacre wants compensation for missing his lunch hour. Binghamton’s Department of Social Services building was locked down during the spree that left 14 dead, and employee James Kauchis has since demanded pay for his lost lunch hour. County Executive Barbara Fiala was flabbergasted. “A lot of people lost a lot more that day than just one hour,” she said.

Child murder vs. the head scarf
An Illinois man whose wife has been charged with child murder...

The perils of breaking dog-walking rules, and more

The Week — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:12:08 -0400

The perils of breaking dog-walking rules
A Florida man may lose his home because he walked his dog without a leash. A court has ordered Robert Wirth Jr. to pay $40,000 in fines, back interest, and legal fees in his legal battle with the River Watch Homeowners Association in Tarpon Springs, which cited him for breaking its dog-walking rules seven years ago. The homeowners association has filed a lien and Wirth—who owes his own lawyer $60,000—now faces foreclosure. “We’re running out of money,” he says.

Spokane residents smuggle dishwasher detergent
Spokane residents are...

Ice cream fundraiser nixed by "wellness policy"

The Week — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:59:58 -0400

Ice cream fundraiser nixed by "wellness policy"
Officials at Peabody High School in Massachusetts have canceled the students’ monthly ice cream fundraiser, on the grounds that ice cream isn’t good for you. The charity event had been generating about $500 a month, some of which went to fund the student newspaper. But principal Edward Sapienza said he had to cancel the event because “there’s a regulation in our wellness policy that prevents an activity such as that during lunchtime.”

Principal bans all physical contact between students
A Connecticut middle school has banned...

Suspended for farting, and more

The Week — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:05:54 -0400

Suspended for farting
A Florida eighth-grader was suspended for three days for farting on the school bus. Jonathan Locke “passes gas on the bus to make the other children laugh and it is so stink [sic] that you can’t breathe,” said the bus driver on a complaint form. Jonathan’s father said trying to prevent eighth-graders from laughing about farts was probably futile, and the boy said the fart in question wasn’t even his. “It was a kid who sits in front of me.”

Gay bars in Chicago ban bachelorette parties
Gay bars in Chicago are banning straight women&rsquo...

Law enforcement in Tenaha, Texas, and more

The Week — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 08:56:15 -0400

Law enforcement in Tenaha, Texas
Police in tiny Tenaha, Texas, have pulled over 147 motorists on their way to casinos in Louisiana and threatened to charge them with serious crimes unless they surrendered their cash, jewelry, cell phones, and even their cars, according to a new class-action lawsuit. Police say the seizures—almost all from nonwhites—target drug traffickers, even though in these 147 cases, no drugs were found. “We try to enforce the law here,” said Mayor George Bowers.

Amish man's outhouse lands him in jail
A Pennsylvania Amish man was sentenced to 90 days in...

U.S. Marines recruit 79-year-old woman, and more

The Week — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:06:54 -0400

U.S. Marines recruit 79-year-old woman
A 79-year-old Florida woman has received an urgent invitation to join the U.S. Marines. Opal Walker, who is retired, says the letter arrived by “priority overnight” mail. “Dear Opal,” it began. “Do you think you have what it takes to be a Marine? Are you prepared for one of the most demanding challenges you will ever face?” Walker isn’t sure that she is, but plans to report to the local recruiting office anyway. “Here I am,” Walker plans to say. “Where do you want me?”

Iowa's DOA debate
Some senior...

The right to sell rice: white vs. basmati, and more

The Week — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:36:17 -0500

The right to sell rice: white vs. basmati
Two restaurants in a Rhode Island mall food court are in the fifth year of a legal battle over the right to sell rice. David Chu, owner of Cathay Cathay, says he pays extra rent to be the mall’s sole provider of white rice, which he calls “the backbone” of Chinese food. But Yogi Sood of Gourmet India says his lease allows him to sell basmati rice—a long-grained strain of white rice—which he calls the “must ingredient” of Indian cuisine. Legal fees so far have totaled $250,000.

Utah's strange new liquor law
The state...

Good deed leads to jaywalking ticket, and more

The Week — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 09:34:22 -0500

Good deed leads to jaywalking ticket
A Colorado man who was run over while helping two elderly women cross a road has been ticketed for jaywalking. Jim Moffett, 68, was hit by a truck when he ran to assist the two women shuffling across a busy intersection. Moffett is now in intensive care with internal injuries—and a $22 jaywalking ticket. “We understand Mr. Moffett was doing something with great intentions,” said Trooper Ryan Sullivan, “but it was still dangerous for anyone to be in the road.”

Native Spanish speakers enrolled in AP Spanish class
Lemon Grove Middle...

Disney sued for banning Tower of Terror ride, and more

The Week — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 09:09:21 -0500

Disney sued for banning Tower of Terror ride
A Florida woman is suing Walt Disney World for banning her from its Tower of Terror ride, saying riding it is a medical necessity. Denise Mooty says the “G-forces of going up and down” the 199-foot thrill ride help break up fibrous adhesions in her abdomen. Disney, she says, had decided to limit her to four rides a week, far fewer than the dozens her doctor has ordered. Mooty was then banned, Disney says, “for causing a disturbance within the presence of other guests and using foul language toward a cast member.”

Charging inmates...