Free Republic

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) crashed his car near the Capitol early Thursday, and a police official said he appeared intoxicated. Kennedy said he had taken sleep medication and a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness. Kennedy, D-R.I., addressed the issue after a spate of news reports. His initial statement said: "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident."'Later, however, he issued a longer statement saying the attending physician for Congress had prescribed Phenergan on Tuesday to treat Kennedy's gastroenteritis.Kennedy said he returned to his Capitol Hill home on Wednesday evening after a final series of votes...

A high school student who vomited on his Spanish teacher has been charged with battery against a school official. Prosecutors said the vomiting was intentional, and the teacher, David Young, called the act “outrageous.” “I think a message is being sent by both the school district and the district attorney that this behavior will not be tolerated,” Young said. The student's father said his son told him he did not mean to throw up on the teacher but had been made uncontrollably ill by the stress of final exams.