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School toilet incident may lead to firing

EAGAN , Minn., Feb. 17 (UPI) -- A lawyer for a Minnesota school principal who had a kindergarten student clean out a toilet with his bare hands says the educator may lose his job.

Roger Aronson, an attorney for Rahn Elementary School Principal Doug Steele, said the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage school board has told his client he could face dismissal following a closed hearing with an arbitrator, the Star Tribune reported Tuesday.

Aronson said Steele requested the hearing Friday after the school board voted this month to proceed with unspecified discipline against the principal, the Minneapolis newspaper said.

Elijah and Shannon Hannah filed a complaint against Steele Dec. 12, claiming the principal forced their 6-year-old son to clear out a toilet with his bare hands after he had wiped himself with paper towels and accidentally clogged the commode.

Aronson said the toilet had contained only water and paper towels and the student was instructed to remove the paper towels and place in a waste basket held by Steele.

"I can tell you that 6-year-olds have trouble remembering what they had for lunch yesterday, that they're highly suggestible," Aronson said. "We may never know what the real story was."

Lawyer criticizes gorilla birthday bash

BOSTON, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- A lawyer for a victim hurt by a gorilla that escaped from Boston's Franklin Park Zoo six years ago objects to the zoo's birthday celebration for the primate.

The zoo celebrated the 16th birthday of Little Joe, a gorilla that injured two people when it escaped in 2003, Monday as part of its "Go Ape Week" festivities, WCVB-TV in Boston reported Tuesday.

Donald Gibson, who represented one of the gorilla's victims during a 2007 civil case against the zoo, accused officials of using the primate's infamy from the attacks as an advertising ploy.

"It's very frustrating to see this particular gorilla -- Little Joe -- used as a marketing tool given what happened," Gibson said.

However, zoo officials said celebrating the birthday of Little Joe, whose finger paint creations were displayed at the zoo during summer 2007, had nothing to do with the 2003 incident.

"I don't think it's really even a controversy, to be honest with you," said John Linehan, president and chief executive officer of the zoo. "I think that we've moved on."

Vt. store's sex products spark outrage

ROCKINGHAM, Vt., Feb. 17 (UPI) -- A popular Vermont chain store has sparked controversy among customers for stocking adult sex products on its shelves.

The Vermont Country Store, a statewide chain that has been serving the region for more than 60 years, recently added vibrators, sex creams and "instructional" sex videos to its stock, causing anger among some customers who see the products as inappropriate, WPTZ-TV, Plattsburgh, N.Y., reported Tuesday.

A company representative said store officials have received a couple hundred letters from customers angered by the "intimate solutions" line of products.

"It's just dirty," customer Celia Jordan said Monday while leaving a Vermont Country Store in Rockingham. "That's not what the Vermont Country Store is all about. That's not why people come here."

The company representative said the products were introduced to cater to the needs of customers and the products are displayed discreetly on the shelves and on the store's Web site.

10 women, 89-96, prepare for bat mitzvah

BEACHWOOD, Ohio, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Ten Jewish women ranging in age from 89 to 96 said they are preparing for their long-overdue bnei mitzvah at a Beachwood, Ohio, synagogue.

The women, residents of an independent living facility on the campus of Menorah Park Center for Senior Living, said when they were 12-years-olds, the traditional age for a bat mitzvah, the only coming-of-age ritual in their Jewish communities was the bar mitzvah for boys, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported Tuesday.

"All through history, boys and men got the better deal," said one of the women, Evelyn Bonder, 90. "But today that has changed."

Bonder and the others are scheduled to celebrate their bnei mitzvah March 22 at the Menorah Park Synagogue. They said they have been practicing for the ceremony every Monday since September.

"It's the oldest bat mitzvah group, I would venture to say, in the entire country," said Rabbi Howard Kutner, who is preparing the women for the ritual. "This is very special, very unique. The message here is it's never too late. At any age you can accept a challenge and you can do it."