Thursday, January 08, 2004

 

News Across the County ...”

From Birmingham, Ala.: Wrestlers' suit spurs review of records

A Bessemer Cutoff circuit judge has ordered a review of Hoover High School's disciplinary records over the past five years in light of a lawsuit by three Hoover High wrestlers kicked off their team and sent to alternative school.

At issue is whether the Hoover school system issued appropriate punishment for three wrestlers accused of going to a Hoover High football game in November after drinking alcoholic beverages.

The principal kicked the students off the wrestling team, sent them to an alternative school for 90 days and banned the two seniors from the graduation ceremony this spring. The three wrestlers and their fathers sued the Hoover school board on Friday, claiming the punishment was "severely harsh and unjust," given the boys had no history of problems.

From the Detroit Free Press: Woman sentenced to at least 15 years in prison for killing boyfriend

A woman was sentenced to at least 15 years in prison for killing her 32-year-old boyfriend at their home in June and then burying his body in the back yard. Linda Marquardt pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of James Lee Wilkerson.

Marquardt, a 32-year-old mother of three, said she killed Wilkerson because he abused her. "He would tell me I was his world," Marquardt said. "I loved James and I do grieve and I wish with my whole heart that we had gotten professional help."

However, assistant prosecutor Joyce Draganchuk said prosecutors found evidence that Wilkerson did not abuse Marquardt. "She actually gave a very good description of domestic violence," Draganchuk said. "But it was a fiction in her case."

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Arm from a cadaver too 'gross' for some

Dr. Michael Horowitz was headlining a fifth-grade science lesson on the human body. His prop was a human cadaver arm, which he opened to show its nerves and other parts.

At least one child vomited; five children left the classroom feeling ill. Another child fainted almost immediately. The experience angered some Fairview parents, kept school board member Shirley Wiley's phone ringing yesterday and had school officials scrambling with damage control much of the day.

posted by Anne 1/08/2004 11:59:00 AM