Watercooler Stories

Teacher won't appeal $22K phone call fine

ASBURY PARK, N.J., Aug. 14 (UPI) -- A New Jersey teacher's lawyer says his client will not appeal a $22,000 fine imposed for making a four-minute personal phone call while class was in session.

Lawyer Stephen Hunter said Desley Getty admitted to the violation of district rules at the Asbury Park school and agreed to the 120-day salary forfeiture, deducted from a base salary of about $70,000, WCBS-TV, New York, reported.

Getty, a performing arts teacher, was filling in for another instructor at Asbury Park High School when she made the phone call to suspended superintendent Antonio Lewis. A student in the class recorded two fellow students dancing while Getty was on the phone and posted the video to YouTube.

Potty punishment principal gets job back

EAGAN, Minn., Aug. 14 (UPI) -- A Minnesota principal fired for having a kindergartner unclog a toilet with his bare hands has had his punishment lessened by an arbitrator.

Doug Steele, who was dismissed unanimously by the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage school board in February for the December incident at Rahn Elementary School in Eagan, successfully appealed his dismissal to an arbitrator. Instead of losing his job, Steele will be suspended for 15 days without pay, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

Sue Grissom, the district's human resources director, said district officials were disappointed by the ruling but will abide by the arbitrator's decision. However, she said Steele will not be reinstated as principal of Rahn Elementary and will instead be placed in a position of equal stature with duties including coordinating grants, assessments and state accountability reporting.

Elijah and Shannon Hannah, the parents of the child who was forced to unclog the toilet with his hands, said they were also disappointed by the ruling.

"I'm just mad," Elijah Hannah said Wednesday. "I've been mad since it all happened."

TV judge awards $4,000 in 5-leg dog case

CHICAGO, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- A Chicago TV judge awarded a New York freak show owner $4,000 for the canceled sale of a five-legged puppy that later underwent surgery to have the leg removed.

Judge Jeanine Pirro, whose court show runs daily on the CW network, ordered Calvin Owensby, the original owner of the dog, to pay $4,000 to freak show owner John Strong during an episode slated to air Sept. 8, the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reported.

Owensby, of Gastonia, N.C., had originally arranged to sell the five-legged Chihuahua-terrier mix, Lilly, to Strong for $3,000 for Strong's display of unusual animals at New York's Coney Island. However, Owensby went back on the deal amid uproar from animal lovers and instead sold the puppy for $3,000 to Allyson Siegel, 45, who also ponied up $1,000 to refund Strong's deposit.

Strong said he was "thrilled" with the outcome of the TV program, but said he may still consider seeking custody of Lilly, despite the fact that Siegel has had the dog's fifth leg surgically removed.

Naked man in art project told to cover up

LONDON, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- A man taking part in a London art project promising anyone the opportunity to become a "living statue" shed his underpants -- but police asked him to cover up.

The man, who identified himself only as Simon, took part in Antony Gormley's fourth plinth art project early Wednesday by climbing atop the statue-less plinth in London's Trafalgar Square to spend the allotted time -- up to an hour, the project's rules state -- as a human statue, The Times of London reported.

Simon received hoots from the crowd when he climbed atop the plinth at 1 a.m. and began shedding his clothing. After five minutes, project organizers, prompted by police, asked him to cover up.

"Simon, you're going to have to put something on or they want you down," a witness quoted one organizer as saying. "Sorry, mate. Some pants or something. Thank you."

Police confirmed they were behind ordering the organizers to have Simon cover his private parts.

"The man was asked to put his clothes back on and immediately did so," police said. "No further action was taken."

The project is scheduled to last until 100 people have taken a turn completing Trafalgar Square's quartet of statues.