Society's ChildS


Handcuffs

Abusive Arkansas law jails tenants who don't pay their rent

Jail wall
© Shutterstock
Under a state law in Arkansas, renters can be imprisoned for failing to pay their rent. According to a report by Human Rights Watch, titled "Pay the Rent or Face Arrest: Abusive Impacts of Arkansas's Criminal Evictions Law," hundreds of tenants each year are taken to court, fined and jailed under the state's "failure to vacate" law.

"The failure-to-vacate law was used to bring charges against more than 1,200 Arkansas tenants in 2012 alone," read the report. "This figure greatly understates the total number of people impacted by the law. The vast majority of tenants scramble to move out when faced with a 10-day notice to vacate rather than face trial - and with good reason."

The report continued, "Making matters considerably worse, the law strongly discourages accused tenants from pleading not guilty. Those who do are required to deposit the total amount of rent they allegedly owe with the court, which they forfeit if they are found guilty. Tenants who are unable to deposit the rent amount but plead not guilty anyway face substantially harsher fines and up to 90 days in jail. Tenants who plead guilty face none of this."

Pistol

California student planned school shooting: Deputies

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© NBCSanDiego
The 12-year-old student was detained after officials seized numerous rifles and handguns from his home

A Poway student sent a threatening email over the weekend to a Twin Peaks Middle School administrator stating he planned to shoot a teacher and her 23 students at the school on Monday morning.

Detectives from the San Diego County Sheriff's Department investigated the alleged threat and found numerous rifles and handguns in the 12-year-old student's home.

According to officials, the email threat made reference to 3,000 rounds of ammunition as well as numerous firearms in the planned shooting at the Poway middle school located at 14640 Tierra Bonita Rd.

NBC 7 spoke exclusively with the teacher referenced in the email. She wishes to remain anonymous to protect her safety.

"I kept asking myself, 'Why me?' Literally wracking my brain trying to figure out who it is," she said.

Health

India train station stampede kills at least 10

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© APAllahabad, India, where Hindu devotees bathe at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers during the Kumbh Mela
Many feared dead and dozens injured after footbridge collapses in northern Indian city hosting Hindu Kumbh Mela festival

At least 10 people are feared dead and dozens injured in a stampede at a train station in the northern Indian city of Allahabad, where millions of Hindus had gathered for a religious festival.

The New Delhi Television channel reported that the stampede broke out after a footbridge at the station collapsed on Sunday with at least 10 people feared dead. The CNN-IBN news channel said at least 20 had been killed. There was no immediate confirmation from any local officials.

Ambulance

California helicopter crash: 3 people killed

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© KABC PhotoThree people were killed in a helicopter crash in Acton on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013.
Three people were killed in a helicopter crash in Acton on Sunday, L.A. County Fire tells Eyewitness News.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says the helicopter was part of some sort of film production shoot.

Health

Five dead, 3 injured in cruise ship accident in Canary Islands

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© NASA/GSFCThe Canary Islands, as seen from space
Five people have been killed and three other injured after a lifeboat fell into the sea from a cruise ship while it was docked in the port of Santa Cruz in the Canary Islands, Spanish authorities say.

Three Indonesians, a Filipino and a Ghanaian were killed, the BBC reports.

The injured were all men, two aged 30, and another, a Greek national, was 32-years-old, a government statement said, citing the islands' Emergency and Security Coordination Center.

Heart - Black

Bereaved son billed for ambulance that failed to save his father

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A Washington D.C. man is complaining after being sent a bill for nearly $800 for ambulance services that failed to save his father's life.

"I feel angry. Upset," Durand Ford Jr. told WRC-TV on Friday. "I'm disturbed that we even received this bill."

The bill for $780.85 stems from Ford's call to DC Fire & EMS (DCFEMS) on New Year's Eve when his father, 71-year-old Durand Ford Sr., began having problems breathing.

Wolf

Neighbours tell of 'hysterical screams' after fox bites off baby's finger

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© Photo: SWNS
Neighbours of a baby boy attacked by a fox in South London say they are afraid to leave the backdoor open after hearing the 'hysterical screams' of the mother who found her mauled child.

The one-month-old baby is recovering in hospital after his finger was torn off by a fox in Bromley, South East London on Wednesday.

An ambulance was called and the baby, who also suffered puncture wounds to his face, was taken to hospital.

Surgeons were able to reattach the severed finger in an operation at St Thomas's Hospital in London.

The baby is said to be making a 'good recovery'.

The mother has been re-housed to another council house and neighbours have spoken of their fear it could happen again.

Phoenix

1 killed, 1 injured in explosion at Houston-area gas plant

La Porte - Authorities say one person has been killed and another seriously injured after a gas plant explosion in southeast Texas.
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The Houston Chronicle reports that one employee was flown to a hospital after the incident Saturday morning in La Porte, 25 miles southeast of Houston. Another worker was missing.

The newspaper says crews found a body after searching for about 12 hours, but couldn't confirm the victim's identity Saturday night.

The explosion happened at the Air Liquide plant. The company's website describes itself as "the world leader in gases for industry, health and the environment."

A spokeswoman says the facility houses a mix of industrial gases such as nitrogen and hydrogen that are used in the processing of food, beverages and electronics.

Authorities say air monitoring shows no dangerous substances.

Source: The Associated Press

Pistol

New Orleans police: 4 wounded in Bourbon street shooting

Four people were shot on the French Quarter's iconic Bourbon Street, sending people running as revelers partied Saturday night amid the countdown to Mardi Gras, police and bystanders said. But the party was back in full force hours later as crowds returned afterward.

Two males and two females were wounded just before 9:30 p.m. time, New Orleans police spokesman Frank B. Robertson said. He reported that one male was in critical condition and had undergone surgery, while the other three were in stable condition. He did not release their ages.

Robertson said detectives were working to identify a suspect and determine a motive. A police statement said the shooting occurred on the French Quarter street, but did not provide the exact location where the shots were fired. He said he had no additional information immediately.

"They're just piecing together what happened," he added. Subsequent messages left with police seeking more information were not immediately returned.

The streets were crawling with bar-hopping throngs taking in the last weekend before Fat Tuesday, the enormous party that engulfs New Orleans each year with parades, gaudy floats and merrymakers tossing trinkets and beads to the crowds.

Bourbon Street street is home to strip clubs, watering holes and second-floor balconies lined by people who throw beads to revelers below each Mardi Gras season. The street often gets so crowded that officers have to control the crowds on horseback.

Eye 1

Teacher suspended after pouring pencil shavings in student's mouth

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© CBS 11 News
Arlington, Texas - Marquis Jay pulls out a pencil sharpener and shows the amount of shavings inside, "She poured the pencil shavings in my mouth."

The 8th grader at Boles Jr. High School in Arlington says it was a teacher who poured the pencil shavings in his mouth in January.

"I was sitting in class with my head tilted back and opening my mouth," says Jay. "Teacher came over and poured the pencil shavings in my mouth."

The 13-year-old says he immediately spit it out and was taken to the nurse's office where he washed out his mouth.

His mother Deidre Brown was called and she is still furious.

"I wanted to cry because it was like how could she do that," says Brown. "What kind of message is it sending to the kids? She is supposed to be the teacher - the adult."

Marquis says the teacher responsible wasn't assigned to his class and she had stopped by to help his teacher.