Calling Iraq, Crips in pre-school

A Texas high school student has been suspended for taking a call from his father serving in Iraq. Cell phones are banned at Copperas Cove High School, but Brandon Hill and his mother, Pat, say they had asked for, and were granted, an exception so that Brandon could take calls from his father. Nevertheless, Brandon was suspended for two days after a teacher saw him using the phone while walking out of class. School officials said that if a parent needs to reach a child urgently “there are procedures in place to address those individual issues.”

Colorado police answering a public-disturbance call found a couple fighting over which street gang their 4-year-old son should join. The father, 19-year-old Joseph Manzanares, was charged with disorderly conduct after the altercation in a Commerce City video store. Police said the child’s teenage mother, who is black, has her heart set on the toddler joining the nationwide Crips organization whereas Manzanares wants his son to follow him into the largely Hispanic Westside Ballers. “They have different ideas on how the baby should be raised,” said police Sgt. Joe Sandoval.