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At least 112 Virginia children were given wrong doses of COVID-19 vaccines after a local pharmacy tried to make up for not having the new shots for kids, according to local officials. Ted Pharmacy in Aldie “incorrectly administered” partial doses of adult vaccines to the kids — likely either not fully protecting them or even giving them too much, the Loudoun County Health Department said. “Because they did not have the children’s formulation they used the adult formulation but only gave a third of the amount to the children,” the health department’s director, David Goodfriend, told the Washington Post. “Our...

Two Georgia high school softball teams have been bumped from their state playoffs after a massive brawl broke out during a Wednesday game. South Atlanta High School and Washington High School were banned by Atlanta Public Schools before first round regional games took place on Tuesday. The violent squabble took place last Wednesday at South Atlanta High. Video obtained by WSB-TV shows several punches being thrown as chaos ensues at the school.

BEIJING — A 13-year-old American plans to visit North Korea this week and perhaps meet leader Kim Jong Il to pitch his idea for a "children's peace forest" in the demilitarized zone. Jonathan Lee, who was born in South Korea and lives in Mississippi, is scheduled to fly to Pyongyang on Thursday from Beijing with his parents, the family told The Associated Press. They said North Korean officials in Beijing gave them visas Wednesday night. Jonathan said he expects to meet with North Korean officials and will propose the children's peace forest, "one in which fruit and chestnut trees would...

CARRABELLE, Fla. — A Florida corrections officer was fired after zapping children with 50,000 volts of electricity during a "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day" tour. Department of Corrections Secretary Walt McNeil has ordered an investigation of the April 24 incident at the Franklin Correctional Institution. Sgt. Walter Schmidt says the parents gave him permission to shock the children with a handheld stun device.

> He said the teacher told Edgewood High School administrators that the students, all cheerleaders, asked her to take them to the bar in February. The teacher told school officials in an e-mail that she got permission from the parents of the 17- and 18-year-olds to bring them to the club. >

WASHINGTON, - Two American parents have started a two-year prison sentence for serving 350 dollars worth of beer and other alcohol at their son's 16th birthday party, authorities said Tuesday. The drinking age in the United States is 21, but Elisa Kelly, 42, and George Robinson, 52, decided to buy alcohol for their son Ryan's party, which was attended by about 30 people 12 and 18 years old, on August 16, 2002. Concerned that the teenagers would drink without supervision, the parents said they had bought alcohol with the understanding that the teens would spend the night at their place...

A German boy, now 14, is believed to be the youngest patient in the world pursuing gender reassignment after convincing doctors two years ago he wanted to live as a female. Doctors say the boy, born "Tim," has considered himself female since he was two. According to his parents, Tim tried on his older sisters clothes and played with her Barbie dolls, announcing, "I'm a girl." The boy was distraught after every haircut, they said, and at four, he took a pair of scissors and threatened to "cut off my thing!" After that incident, Tim was called "Kim" by his...

Attorneys in Kansas say 27-year-old Aron Pritchard, was punishing his girlfriend's children when he stuffed them in a clothes dryer and turned it on. The three-year-old boy, and his two-year-old sister, were allegedly jammed into the dryer after the boy urinated in his pants. The girl was uninjured, but the boy suffered second degree burns that went untreated for more than a week. Ardy Wuthnow, Children's grandfather, said, "It's heartbreaking. I've seen him now, since all this has taken place and there's permanent scars." The children's mother left their father when he returned from military service in Iraq. The biological...

Once upon a time Julia Wilson dreamed of becoming the next Christina Aguilera, a pop star famous for glamour but not politics. Instead, she's become the next Cindy Sheehan, receiving global attention for displaying her anger at President Bush. The story of the Sacramento teenager questioned last week by federal agents about her anti-Bush Web page has spread around the world, with newspapers in Egypt, China, Australia and Europe publishing articles about her and national television stations clamoring for interviews.

MONROE, N.C. — A 9-month-old boy was in critical condition after eating cocaine left within his reach by the child's father and two friends, authorities said. Monroe police said the boy had been left alone in a room at his father's home in northwest Monroe on Saturday. The father and two friends returned to the room and found the child had swallowed some of the cocaine. Police have not said how much. The three men took the baby to a local hospital, but doctors there sent the child via helicopter to the main Charlotte branch of Carolinas Medical Center. He...

Zoo meerkats test negative for rabies Five of the popular animals euthanized after girl, 9, is bittenBY MEGGEN LINDSAY Pioneer Press Public condolences poured into the Minnesota Zoo on Friday, as zoo visitors and staff mourned the deaths of an entire meerkat family. Kids raced to the outdoor exhibit in Apple Valley and plastered their hands against the glass, only to find nothing inside. A small boy in a stroller wailed as his mother told him the creatures were away on vacation. "This is a hard day. This was frustrating, sad and totally avoidable," said Tony Fisher, zoo collections manager....

A six-month-old Medford baby was bitten by a rat up to 200 times after it escaped from its cage in the boy's room. Police say the parents, 21-year-old Robert Horsfall and 19-year-old Maegan McCleary, found the rodent near a creek. Police say they took the infant to the emergency room at Rogue Valley Medical Center in Medford. Detectives say the parents apparently believed the rat was a domestic breed. They brought it home and kept it in a cage in the room where they slept with the baby. The next morning they found that the rat had escaped and bitten...

There's a new fad of students -- mostly girls -- wearing pajama bottoms to school, and so far administrators are not making a fuss about it. "Some days you don't want to get dressed up for school. Like when it's raining and cold. You just want to be cozy," said Ben Lomond High School junior Elvia Escalante, 16. School administrators in Ogden, Weber and Davis school districts say the pajamas have been modest and there hasn't been a problem. "There are worse things a kid could wear to school," said Ross Lunceford, principal of Hillcrest Elementary School in Ogden. "There's...

The ordeal is finally over, but for the past year, a North Carolina family has been torn apart after state officials claimed family photos of a father kissing his baby's belly button were some kind of child abuse. It began when Teresa Hamaty took impromptu party snapshots of her husband, Charbel, playfully embracing their naked, newborn son, Kristoff. After dropping the film off at an Eckerd store in North Raleigh, authorities were notified. "You see the back of the baby, and like if someone is kissing the baby's belly button," Teresa told WRAL-TV. But police saw the worst and arrested...

A teacher in Vanuatu says he twice warned the family of the New Zealand girl killed by a shark not to get into the water. Lapen Tilison told the Weekend Herald from Atchin Island that he always warned visiting yachties to stay out of the water where 7-year-old Alysha Webster of Coromandel Peninsula was fatally bitten. Mr Tilison had paddled out in a canoe to Alysha's parents' yacht just after it pulled into the attractive white, sandy bay where he lived, shortly before lunchtime on Wednesday. "They had just dropped the anchor and jumped in for a swim," he said....

6-Month-Old Baby Dies In Hot Truck MAYPEARL, Texas -- A 6-month-old baby girl has died in North Texas after her parents left her in the family's hot pickup truck outside their church, police said. The incident happened Thursday outside the Ranch House Cowboy Church on the outskirts of the tiny town of Maypearl, about 36 miles southwest of Dallas. Maypearl Police Chief Nathan Bickerstaff says Mika Michele Terry was left in the truck for about four hours before she was discovered unconscious. The child's father told Bickerstaff he was supposed to have dropped Mika off at a day-care center but...

In an effort to teach educators a lesson about the importance of summer vacation, a Whitnall High School student and his father have filed a lawsuit against the boy's math teacher that seeks to bar teachers from requiring homework over the summer. In the lawsuit, 17-year-old Peer Larson and his father, Bruce Larson of Hales Corners, argue that school officials have no legal authority to make students do homework over the summer because the state-required 180-day school year is over. "It is poor public policy," Bruce Larson argues in the lawsuit. "These students are still children, yet they are subjected...

Jackson Hosts Kids' Party LOS OLIVOS, California (AP) -- Christmas came early for some 200 children who got to play at Michael Jackson's amusement park and meet Santa Claus. "I hope you have a wonderful day. Merry Christmas. I love you," the pop singer called out to the children Friday from the driveway of his estate. Jackson, who faces trial next year on child molestation charges, appeared happy during the few minutes he spoke to the arriving throng. One of the youngsters shouted, "We love you." "I love you more," Jackson replied before putting an umbrella over his head and...

I'll get mine first, then we'll get hers.': Luly Martinez, left, has plans for breast augmentation. But daughter Alexa, 17, will have to wait. CHARLES TRAINOR JR./HERALD STAFF Melissa Gonzalez knew her family intended to give her enough money to buy a new car when she turned 18. But she had her heart set on something else: Bigger breasts. After convincing her mother she was serious, Gonzalez spent about $5,000 augmenting her breasts in April, one month shy of her 18th birthday. She grew from what she calls a ''flat-as-a-wall'' double-A bra to a small C-cup. She spent the...

The father of a Wichita girl who died in July is now charged in her death. Prosecutors charged William Dillman after his daughter died, after being left inside a hot SUV for more than eight hours. Dillman did not appear in court in person. He is charged with one count of endangering a child, which is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and/or a fine. Deputy Chief District Attorney Kim Parker says, "Abuse of a child requires intentional action toward a child. Endangering a child can be based upon situations that are unreasonable." Intent is the...