Watercooler Stories

Boy, 9, punished for 2-inch Lego gun

NEW YORK, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- A New York mother said she is outraged at the treatment her 9-year-old son received from his principal for bringing a 2-inch toy gun to school.

Laura Timoney, 44, said her son, Patrick, was pulled from the lunch room of Public School 52 Tuesday and berated by Principal Evelyn Mastroianni for possessing the offending item -- a 2-inch plastic machine gun designed for the Lego figurines the fourth-grader and a friend were playing with, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.

Timoney said Patrick was forced to sign a statement and nearly suspended by Mastroianni.

"The gun was so little," Patrick said. "I don't understand why the principal got so upset. I was a little nervous. They made me sign a statement."

Timoney said she wants action taken against the principal.

"This principal is a bully and a coward, and needs to be held accountable," she said.

Stolen pig found uncooked

SEFFNER, Fla., Feb. 4 (UPI) -- A Florida teenager happily reunited with her 200-pound pig said she originally feared whoever had stolen the animal was planning to turn it into a meal.

Ema Rivera, 15, said her pig, Boo, and a calf were stolen Saturday from a Future Farmers of America facility at Armwood High School in Seffner, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported Thursday.

"I thought that she would be killed," Rivera said of Boo. "I thought that whoever took her might use her in a barbecue."

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said Boo was recovered after a tip Wednesday and Jason Simmons, 23, was arrested and charged with burglary and theft of livestock.

Plastic boat practices for Pacific trip

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- A British man said his 60-foot-long catamaran boat featuring 12,500 plastic bottles took a successful shakedown sail in San Francisco ahead of a Pacific voyage.

David de Rothschild, 31, said the Plastiki had a successful sail Wednesday on the San Francisco Bay as a shakedown voyage for his upcoming trip across the Pacific to Australia, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday. The boat features twin hulls made from the used plastic bottles and other components made from a self-reinforcing plastic material, filled with dry ice.

"I'm very excited," said Jo Royle, 30, the Briton who will be captaining the vessel. "I think it's really come together."

De Rothschild said the date of departure, which he hopes comes in early March, depends on test sails and Mother Nature.

"It depends on a window of good weather," de Rothschild said. "The hardest thing is to get clear of the coast."

Manhole, grate thefts cost Ga. $500,000

ATLANTA, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- The Georgia Department of Transportation said at least 645 grates and 20 manhole covers have been stolen from Atlanta-area streets since last spring.

GDOT spokesman Mark McKinnon said the thefts are costing the state more than $500,000 in taxpayer funds, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Thursday.

"This is just more money going out the door that shouldn't be because of theft," McKinnon said. "Other things may certainly suffer if we can't get these stopped."

McKinnon said the thieves would likely get only $8 or $9 for recycling a single manhole or grate, but investigators have been unable to find any of them at area scrap yards or recycling centers.

"People are risking jail time for $9 or $10 and an awful lot of work," he said.