Wisconsin
Teacher suspended for prank note
Stoughton Police charged a high school math teacher with disorderly conduct for a prank note that triggered a bomb search at his school, and he was suspended from his job for five days without pay. William Peterson paid about $100 for the disorderly conduct citation, which he didn't contest, police said.
The ticket stemmed from a March 8 incident in which Peterson sent another teacher a letter he said was part of a running joke. The note contained instructions to remove a bag from a locker and warned the teacher not to tell police. However, the teacher was alarmed and police evacuated the area. The only thing officers found in the locker was a Betty Boop lunch box.
Peterson said the joke involved the lunch box, which has been taken to Australia, Italy and Hawaii by teachers who then send postcards documenting "Betty's" adventures.
PHILADELPHIA
BB gun victim awarded $18 million
A teen-ager who suffered a severe brain injury when he was shot in the head with a pellet from an air rifle will receive a settlement of nearly $18 million, according to court documents. Lawyers for Tucker Mahoney, 17, and his parents claimed the gun was defective because it appeared to be empty but was not. They filed a lawsuit in federal court against Daisy Manufacturing, maker of the BB gun, and retailer Kmart Corp.
"They are lethal toys two words that don't go together," said Shanin Specter, who represented the Mahoneys.
Tucker unable to walk or talk but is making progress, said his mother, Rebecca.
The defendants denied the gun was defective and said through an attorney that Mahoney's injuries were caused by the "reckless conduct" of a friend. The friend was charged with assault and reckless endangerment; a judge ruled that his actions were delinquent but not criminal.
Wisconsin
Parents win lawsuit against 'false memories'
A jury ordered therapists and an insurance company to pay $5 million in damages to the family of a dead woman for making her falsely believe that she had been abused by her relatives.
The parents of Nancy Anneatra who had accused her parents and brother of physically and sexually abusing her sued for damages caused by her accusations and the jury decided Friday that she had been a victim of abuse by the therapists, not her family.
Jurors said Dr. H. Berit Midelfort of Edina, Minn., and Celia Lausted of Colfax, along with Midwest Medical Insurance Co., should pay Delores and Tom Sawyer and their daughter's estate $5.08 million.
The case centered on so-called False Memory Syndrome described as a psychological condition in which a person believes he or she remembers events that have not occurred.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.