LibBits

DRAW!

OLDSMAR -- A boy was taken from his elementary school in handcuffs after his classmates turned him in for drawing pictures of weapons.

The 11-year-old fifth grader was not charged with a crime in the Wednesday incident. His name is not being released to protect him, school officials said.

"There were some drawings that were confiscated by the teacher," Oldsmar Elementary School Principal David Schmitt said. "The children were in no danger at all. It involved no real weapons."

Still, Schmitt refused to discuss details of the boy's case.

"All I can tell you is it was a threat ... against students," he said. "Nobody in particular, but students in general.

"We just need to get it through kids' heads that there are certain things you don't say and there are certain things you don't draw," he said.

The boy was handcuffed by school police for his safety, according to Pinellas County School District spokesman Ron Stone.

"That's normal procedure in a situation like this," Stone said. "The primary concern was to make sure we get appropriate services for the child."

Making threats is not unusual for students in elementary and middle schools, said Nancy Zambito, a director of school operations for the school district.

Depending on the severity of the threat, Zambito said, the outcome for the student can be a number of things.

Those possibilities range from disciplinary action by the school - like suspension or expulsion - to being arrested, or taken to a hospital under Florida's Baker Act, which allows for the involuntary commitment of people who threaten or try to hurt themselves or others.

"It's nothing unusual and we address them all seriously because, of course, we don't know," Zambito said. "And in most cases, our prime goal is to let those students know what is appropriate to say and what is not, and how to be angry and cute and funny without alarming people."

[Thanks to Susie Hinnenkamp [email protected] for this LIBBIT! - ed.]

Source: A very long URL

Pinellas fifth grader cuffed, sent home after classmates turn him in for drawing weapons
The Associated Press
Posted May 11 2001

PROXIMITY FUSE

Secret Service Detain Man with Gun Before Bush Jog

DES MOINES (Reuters) - The Secret Service detained a man with a gun in a park where President Bush was jogging on Thursday, local police and White House officials said.

Secret Service spokesman Jim Mackin said the man was about 60 yards from Bush when he was seen by officers who approached and detained him for questioning.

He said the man had a permit for the gun, but he was detained because he was found so close to Bush. Mackin said the man appeared to be in the park for reasons completely unrelated to the president's visit.

"He was taken into custody because of the proximity of the gun. No one was hurt. He's at the police department and we are trying to verify what he was doing," Mackin said.

Des Moines police Sgt. Bruce Elrod said the man had a permit for the gun.

"He did have a gun in his waistband and he had a gun permit," Elrod said. "We don't know what he was doing there, and he is being questioned. He has been detained, not arrested."

Bush headed out for a run with a Secret Service detail during a rest in his Thursday schedule. He spent the morning in St. Paul, Minnesota where he announced his new energy policy, and was heading to Nevada, Iowa, for another event to discuss the new plan later in the day.

The president, who ran a brisk three miles in 23 minutes, gave no sign he knew of the man with the gun.

JURY OF HIS PEERS?

A man with five wives has told America's first polygamy trial in almost 50 years that he has a right to have 12 wives and 50 children if he wishes.

Tom Green, 52, is accused of bigamy and failure to provide child support for the 29 children he already has. He faces 25 years in prison if convicted on all charges. He told the judge during opening arguments: "It is my constitutional right to follow my religion as I wish. I can have 50 children and 12 wives if I want to."
[...]
Polygamy has gone largely unchecked in Utah for almost 50 years, and remains entrenched - 17 potential jurors were disqualified because of their frank approval of the practice.
[...]

It's not about sex, insists man with five wives
By Simon Davis in Los Angeles
Source: A very long URL

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