Dallas school accused of staging fights

By DANNY ROBBINS, Associated Press Writer

Thursday, March 19, 2009

(03-19) 23:42 PDT DALLAS (AP) --

The Dallas school system was rocked by allegations Thursday that staff members at an inner-city high school made students settle their differences by fighting bare-knuckle brawls inside a steel cage.

The principal and other employees at South Oak Cliff High knew about the cage fights and allowed the practice to continue, according to a 2008 report by school system investigators.

"More than anything, I'm in shock and disbelief — shocked that this could ever occur and shocked that it would be condoned by a professional administrator," said Jerome Garza, a member of the Dallas school board.

The report, first obtained by The Dallas Morning News, describes two instances of fighting in an equipment cage in a boys' locker room between 2003 and 2005. It was not clear from the report whether there were other fights.

Superintendent Michael Hinojosa told the newspaper that there were "some things that happened inside of a cage" and called the fights "unacceptable."

No criminal charges were ever filed, and there was no mention in the report of whether anyone required medical attention or whether any employees were disciplined. A district spokesman would not comment.

The allegations came to light during a grade-fixing investigation that eventually cost the high school its 2005 and 2006 state basketball titles. School officials were suspected of altering students' grades so that they could remain eligible to play for South Oak Cliff, a perennial basketball powerhouse in one of the poorer sections of the city.

The newspaper reported Thursday that Angela Williamson, a parent, said she was ignored when she attempted to bring the matter to the attention of district administrators after her son, Cortland, told her that students stood around clapping and screaming while watching a fight he participated in. He and another student fought for five to ten minutes in the cage in 2004. She said the students acted as if they were in an arena.

Williamson said she took her son out of the school and moved to another district shortly after he came home with a swollen hand.

"I said enough is enough, and we just left," she said. "This was the norm. My son said this is what they do — let them fight in 'the cage.'"

She said she met with a football coach who had encouraged the fights.

"He told me this is how they settled disputes in his day," she said.

In an interview with the Morning News, Donald Moten, who retired as principal last year, denied any fights were held.

"That's barbaric. You can't do that at a high school. You can't do that anywhere," Moten said. "Ain't nothing to comment on. It never did happen. I never put a stop to anything because it never happened."

In the report, a teacher was quoted as saying Moten told security personnel to put two fighting students "in the cage and let `em duke it out."

The report said a hall monitor, Gary King, told investigators he witnessed the head of campus security and an assistant basketball coach place two students in the cage to fight.

Another hall monitor, Reno Savala, told investigators he came upon two students fighting in the cage "bare-fisted with no head or eye protection." Savala said the assistant coach was watching the fight and broke it up when Savala told him to.

"It was gladiator-style entertainment for the staff," Frank Hammond, a fired counselor who has filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against the district, told the newspaper. "They were taking these boys downstairs to fight. And it was sanctioned by the principal and security."

Hammond did not actually witness any of the fights, according to the report.

Garza, the school board member, said the board should look into whether criminal charges should be filed.

Dallas police said they have no record of any investigation by the department. The district attorney's office would not comment.

The allegations come about 10 days after law enforcement authorities reported that careworkers at a Corpus Christi institution forced mentally disabled residents to fight each other and recorded the brawls for their entertainment.

___

Associated Press writer Jeff Carlton contributed to this report.

Naked Burglar Found Stuck in Restaurant Oven Vent - Video

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Last Updated: 1:33PM GMT 21 Mar 2009

Man to become first in world to give birth to twins.

A "man" is set to become the first in the world to give birth to twins after becoming pregnant following the start of the sex change process.

Ruben Noe Coronado (left) is the first Spanish transsexual to become pregnant and may become the world's first transsexual father of twins Photo: DIARI DE GIRONA

Telegraph- UK-Ruben Noe Coronado, 25, from Spain, postponed the process of becoming a man so that he could keep his female reproductive organs and give birth

'He' fell pregnant after undergoing fertility treatment when doctors told his girlfriend, the mother of two children from a previous relationship, she couldn't have any more children.

Mr Coronado, born a woman called Estefania or Stephanie and still considered female under Spanish law, is due to give birth at the end of September.

He is the first Spanish transsexual to fall pregnant and it is thought he will become the world's first transsexual father of twins if everything goes to plan.

He will bring the twins up with his partner Esperanza Ruiz, 43. They plan to marry before they become parents.

Once he becomes a parent he will resume his sex-change surgery and become a father rather than mother.

He plans to give birth at a hospital in Barcelona after moving to the area from Malaga two months ago with his girlfriend because of family problems.

Mr Coronado, an epileptic who was adopted as a child, said: "It's like being born with three hands.

"You take advantage of them while you have them and you get rid of one of them when they get in the way."

He said he would not sell his story "now or in the future", but admitted he was "thinking of selling the picture everyone's going to want of me looking pregnant.

"If I don't do it, someone else will and they'll make a fortune," he added.

He claimed he had gone public "so people start to see a transsexual pregnancy as normal.

Last June Thomas Beatie, a bearded American, made headlines round the world after giving birth to a daughter, Susan Juliette.

The 35-year-old, born as female Tracy Lagondino, is expecting a second child with his wife Nancy this summer

Suspects threw more than $17,000 from car

Published: March 20, 2009 at 2:17 PM

SAN DIEGO, March 20 (UPI) -- Authorities in San Diego said drug suspects threw more than $17,000 out of a vehicle during a police chase on a highway in the evening commute hours.

Eileen Zeidler, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said the chase began at about 5 p.m. Thursday when two men who were under surveillance as part of "a significant drug investigation" drove off in a pickup truck and were pursued by San Diego police and DEA agents, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Friday.

The passenger in the vehicle began throwing money out the window of the vehicle, causing passersby to rush to recover the money. Agents and officers recovered more than $17,000 thrown from the vehicle and a 16-year-old boy later gave police $570 that he had picked up.

Zeidler didn't say how much money the suspects were carrying before they began throwing the cash. She said the suspects were arrested but didn't give any further information on the arrests or the investigation, the Union-Tribune said.

Surgeon keeps working through heart attack

Published: March 20, 2009 at 7:48 PM

NAPLES, Italy, March 20 (UPI) -- A neurosurgeon in Italy said he continued performing a brain cancer operation despite suffering a heart attack during the procedure.

Dr. Claudio Vitale, 59, of Naples, said he suffered an angina spasm about halfway through the procedure but he insisted on continuing to remove the brain tumor of his patient, ANSA reported Friday. Vitale's heart episode was confirmed by a blood test.

"I couldn't leave him at such a delicate moment," said Vitale, who underwent his own operation to clear an artery after he was finished with the surgery. "I'm not a hero, I only did my duty."

Vitale was scheduled to be discharged from the hospital Friday and said he hoped to resume work at Cardarelli Hospital as soon as possible.

"I'll have a week off and then I hope they'll let me get back to work," he said.

The surgeon said he was told the cancer patient was recovering.

Last Updated: March 20, 2009

Car that becomes a plane within 30 seconds.

Airport parking will become a thing of the past if the Transition flying car ever catches on.

Telegraph-UK-It can fly for 450 miles at more than 115 mph, can drive at motorway speed on the ground and launches from from road to air in less than 30 seconds.

It runs on unleaded petrol from any normal filling station.

  The first Transition took to the air a Plattsburgh in New York State.

 The "roadable aircraft" is categorised as a light sport plane and owners will need a sport pilot licence to fly it.

A £7,000 deposit will get you on the list for one of the first production versions being made by Terrafugia of Boston in Woburn, Massachusetts. The full estimated price is around £140,000.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid4464161001/bctid17003744001

• Click here for a guided video tour of inside the Terrafugia Transition

Published: Thursday, March 19, 2009

Arlington church theft blamed on devil

A woman who allegedly defrauded an Arlington church of more than $73,000 said Satan was involved.

Jackson Holtz
Herald Writer

ARLINGTON -- She said the devil made her do it.

An Arlington, Washington, woman, 62, told detectives evil was at work when she allegedly forged more than $73,000 worth of checks to herself from the church where she was an administrative assistant.

The woman "guessed that Satan had a big part in the theft," Snohomish County deputy prosecuting attorney Kathy Jo Blake wrote in charging papers filed Wednesday in Snohomish County Superior Court.

The woman worked for the Arlington Free Methodist Church from early 2000 until Feb. 2008 when she was fired, the court papers said.

On June 6, the woman left a teary message for an Arlington police detective admitting she had stolen money from her former employer. During an investigation, police learned that from Jan. 2005 until the end of Feb. 2008, the woman wrote 80 checks worth $73,575.18, the papers said. She allegedly forged the pastor's signature.

The finance chairman of the church had noticed irregularities with the checks and alerted the pastor. Church elders had been reviewing the matter when police contacted the pastor.

The woman told detectives she used the money to cover household expenses. She said she couldn't stand the thought of losing her home, the documents said.

Detectives said the woman seemed relieved the theft was disclosed and she appeared remorseful. She told police she was ready to face the consequences for her actions, the documents said.

The woman tried to enroll in a court program to pay restitution and avoid charges. But the amount she owed far exceeded what she would be capable of paying back in the short amount of time allowed, Blake wrote.

On Wednesday, the woman was charged with first-degree theft, a felony.

Wis. jewelry robbers fleeced as they flee

Principal in Providence bit, punched by mom, police say

01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By Linda Borg

Providence Journal

Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE — The principal of Roger Williams Middle School says he was punched and bitten by a parent in his office Friday afternoon after he told her that her son was being suspended from school.

Aleyda Uceta, 30, of 164 Gallatin St., was charged with assault on school officials, assault on police officers and resisting arrest.

The principal, Rudolph Moseley Jr., said he told Uceta that her 11-year-old son would be suspended for three days, according to a police report. Moseley told the police that she became angry and began yelling at him.

School Department spokeswoman Christina O’Reilly confirmed Monday that Moseley was allegedly assaulted by a parent but declined to provide details.

Moseley repeatedly asked Uceta to lower her voice but she refused, the police said, and Uceta then punched the principal in the face. When Moseley pushed the mother away, her son struck him, according to the police report. Next, Uceta allegedly grabbed Moseley’s left arm and began biting him.

A teacher intervened and began speaking to Uceta in Spanish but Uceta punched her in the face, according to the police.

When officers arrived, they attempted to escort Uceta out of the school but she continued to try to punch Moseley, the police said.

By then, a large crowd of Uceta’s family had gathered, making it difficult for the officers to take her into custody. During the struggle, Uceta bit a patrolman’s arm and struck a patrolman in the face, according to the police. She also kicked another police officer and ripped the pocket out of his jacket.

After Uceta was placed in custody she said, “I’m going to take your gun and shoot all of you,” according to the police report.

While handcuffed and seated on the floor of the school’s main office, Uceta attemped to kick the window panes out of a door, the police said.

Moseley was taken to a hospital for treatment, according to the police. One officer was bitten and another suffered a back injury, the police said.

Yesterday, Moseley said he was fine and that he had no idea what prompted the attack. The 11-year-old boy was suspended from school, he said, because he refused to go to a room where misbehaving students are assigned to cool down. The incident happened around 1 p.m.

“The school is OK,” the principal said. “We’re focusing on teaching and learning.”

Roger Williams is the school where an assistant principal, Robert Perkins, was suspended last week after he stepped on a Dominican flag on Dominican Independence Day. The students had reportedly been running up and down the hallways with the flag. The incident caused an uproar in the Dominican community, which felt that their flag had been dishonored

Courtroom Showdown: UTC Chair, Estranged Wife In Court Today For Divorce Battle

By MARYELLEN FILLO The Hartford Courant

March 18, 2009

100% wooden bicycle by a Shandong farmer

Believe it or not, it is made of 100% wood, there is no any other material at all

and it works!

This is from a shandong farmer, so amazing!

 wooden bicycle farmer