Council bans parents from play areasParents have been banned from supervising their children in public playgrounds, because they have not undergone criminal record checks.
Only council-vetted "play rangers" are now allowed to monitor youngsters while parents must watch from outside a perimeter fence.The Watford Borough Council policy has been attacked as insulting and a disgrace by furious relatives who say they are being labeled as potential pedophiles.
It will further fuel concerns over a growing nanny state amid the deepening row over the Government's new national anti-pedophile database.
Councilors in Watford claim they are only following Government guidelines and cannot allow adults to walk around playgrounds "unchecked".
But Osfted dismissed the ban while parents branded it "a joke".
"The whole thing is just a joke and I will certainly not be adhering to the new rules which frankly are crazy."
.Student caught at school with sawed-off shotgun
A student was arrested after bringing a sawed-off shotgun to the Life Skills School on S. Orange Blossom Trail on Monday, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.
Bryan A. Chavis and another student walked into the school Monday morning, each carrying a gym bag, the second student told a deputy, according to the sheriff's office. They dropped the bags off at the reception counter, saying they needed to be locked in the school's security room.
When the security officer picked up one of the bags, its heavy weight led him to ask someone else in the front office to look inside, according to an arrest affidavit signed by Deputy Martin Jiminez.
Deputies found a silver, 20-gauge, New England firearms shotgun. The barrel was silver but rusted and had been cut off to about 13 inches, according to the affidavit. The butt of the gun also was sawed off.
.Zero tolerance strikes again!An 11-year-old Des Moines girl on suspension for bringing a handful of empty shotgun shells to school last week.
Jazmine Martin, a sixth-grader at Brody Middle School, picked up the shells as souvenirs during a family trip to a ranch in South Dakota, where the rounds were fired as part of a show. They were blanks.
"I didn't think they were going to hurt anyone," Jazmine said. "I wanted to show them to my science teacher because he's into stuff like this."
Principal Randy Gordon said
the shells were considered ammunition even though they were empty, and were therefore against school policy.A copy of the school policy shows that it specifically bans "live ammunition or bullets" but makes no reference to empty shells or casings. However, the policy says it is not limited to the items specifically listed as being banned.
.School Nurse Found Passed Out with Painkillers
Parents in Macclenny, Florida were shocked after hearing a school nurse was found passed out last week next to several prescription painkillers.
The report said three practically empty bottles of liquid prescription painkillers were found next to her purse.
Documents said she got the powerful, liquid painkillers from the Baker Community Hospital, where she worked as an Emergency Room nurse.
Documents said it had been logged out for a patient. According to the documents, Bennett told investigators the
patient refused the painkillers and she forgot she had them. Dennis Markos, CEO for Baker Community Hospital, said the painkillers are toxic and deadly if misused.
"Ms. Bennett was terminated from our facility. It was a serious breach of professional ethics," said Dennis Markos, the hospital's CEO.
Meanwhile, the school's superintendent Sherrie Raulerson said Bennett turned in her resignation letter and no longer has contact with students.
.Rapping teens cited for disorderly conduct
A rap by four teenagers at a McDonald's has gotten them a bad rap in one Utah City.
The teens were cited by American Fork police earlier this week for disorderly conduct after they rapped their order at a McDonald's drive-through.
The teens said they were imitating a popular video on YouTube. They rapped their order, which begins with,
"I need a double cheeseburger and hold the lettuce ..." once quickly before repeating it more slowly.
Spenser Dauwalder said employees at the restaurant told him and his friends they were holding up the line and needed to order or leave.
American Fork Police Sgt. Gregg Ludlow says a manager wrote down the car's license plate number and called police. The teens were later cited by officers.
Disorderly conduct citations are issued when someone does something to cause annoyance or alarm, Ludlow said.
.Man sues over lack of 'AXE' effect
An unlucky Indian man is suing Lynx after he failed to land a single girlfriend during seven years of using their products.
Vaibhav Bedi, 26, is seeking £26,000 from parent company Unilever for the "depression and psychological damage" caused by the lack of any Lynx effect.
Court officials in New Delhi have agreed to order forensic laboratory tests on dozens of his half-used Lynx body washes, shampoos, anti-perspirants and hair gels.
Lynx - marketed as Axe in India - is famous for its saucy ads showing barely clothed women throwing themselves at men.
But Bedi says in his court petition:
"The company cheated me because in its advertisements, it says women will be attracted to you if you use Axe."
"I used it for seven years but no girl came to me."
.Judge pleads guilty to tampering with vehicle
A Maryland judge has apologized for engaging in a bit of vigilante justice when he let the air out of the tire of a
courthouse employee who parked in a restricted area.
Charles County Circuit Judge Robert C. Nalley entered a guilty plea and was given a $500 fine Wednesday for tampering with a vehicle at the courthouse where he usually presides. He also said he was ashamed that he let the air out of the courthouse cleaning woman's tire and said he was "embarrassed for the community."
A visiting judge who handled the case also required Nalley to write a "heartfelt letter of apology" to Jean Washington, the woman whose tire he deflated.
Nalley has been suspended from hearing criminal cases since the Aug. 10 incident. He could face sanctions from state officials.
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A tanker driver looked on in astonishment as he watched 14 illegal immigrants emerge from his cargo covered from head to toe in maize starch.
