Free Republic

A Michigan elementary school is defending its decision to confiscate a third-graders batch of homemade cupcakes because the birthday treats were decorated with plastic green Army soldiers. Casey Fountain tells me that the principal of his son's elementary school called the cupcakes "insensitive" -- in light of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. "It disgusted me," he said. "It's vile they lump true American heroes with psychopathic killers." Fountain's wife made a batch of 30 chocolate cupcakes for their son Hunter's classmates at Schall Elementary School in the town of Caro. The 9-year-old helped decorate the treats...

Should energy consumers pay extra taxes to fund government-mandated and subsidized renewable energy technologies? "Absolutely yes," says John Bryson, President Obama's nominee for Commerce Secretary. He made the remark at a meeting of the Commonwealth Club of California in 2009 and went on to extol the virtues of hidden rates in California, a state encumbered with some of the nation's highest electricity and unemployment rates. Bryson, retired CEO of the electric utility Southern California Edison (SCE) and its parent company Edison International, excused the practice, saying, "That's been a part of the regulatory environment for the investor-owned utilities for as...

Teen risks penalty over beads School threatens in-school suspension if Raven Furbert dons red, white and blue necklace By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON, Staff writer First published: Saturday, April 9, 2005 SCHENECTADY -- The saga continues for a 13-year-old Mont Pleasant Middle School student who is suing school officials for the right to wear a handmade red, white and blue necklace to class. Raven Furbert was a typical student before she received a string-it-yourself bead kit for Christmas. Now, the girl who filed the civil rights violation claim in U.S. District Court in February has drawn national attention as she fights...

FORT WORTH - A wooden baseball bat, no longer than 8 inches and visible through a car window, spurred Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School officials to call sophomore Cory Henson out of class Monday in order to search his vehicle. Under the Fort Worth school district's zero-tolerance policy, Henson was immediately suspended, pending a conference with administrators today. Officials will decide whether the bat is considered a weapon that would merit punishment, including placement in an alternative school or expulsion for up to a year. "First I was stunned," said Cory's mother, Sheila Henson. "I thought, I'll go up there and...