The Morningwood News

Compiled by John Ryan
Mercury News

59-YEAR-OLD DECIDES TO USE UP ELIGIBILITY AT A D-III COLLEGE

Sul Ross State, an NCAA Division III school in Alpine, Texas, is going to have some serious senior leadership this season.

Mike Flynt, a 59-year-old grandfather and AARP member, is back to play out his eligibility.

“I think it was Carl Yastrzemski who used to say, `How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?’ I’d be in my late 20s or early 30s, because that’s how I feel,” Flynt told the Associated Press. “That’s been my approach to this whole thing. I feel that good. I’m just going to find out if I can perform and make a contribution to the team.”

Bookmark to:

The Seattle Times
Associated Press

LONDON — Guitarist and songwriter Brian May has completed his doctorate in astrophysics — three decades after he put academia on hold to form the rock group Queen.

The rocker was awarded his qualification Thursday by London’s Imperial College and said submitting his thesis, “Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud,” to supervisors was as nerve-racking as any stadium gig.

“I’m feeling rather joyful,” May said Thursday. “I cannot tell you how much of a weight off the mind it is.”

Bookmark to:

NBC6.net
South Florida

MIAMI — A Miami-Dade County middle school teacher has been charged with lewd and lascivious behavior with a minor and was accused of having sex with a student.

The Miami-Dade Police Department said 40-year-old Mariella Brenilla is a teacher at Ponce De Leon Middle School.

Police say that they believe she had sex with a 14-year-old eighth-grader who attended the school four years ago.

Bookmark to:

Idaho Statesman
By Anne Wallace Allen

University prepares to mark its 75th anniversary

Before the blue turf, the Fiesta Bowl and the clamor of new construction, there was Boise Junior College — a humble place, started by a clergyman, that came into being during the Depression with just 15 faculty and 78 students.

Boise State University will pay homage to its early years this week with a wave of 75th-anniversary events, including the grand opening of a much-vaunted $14 million classroom building, tours, exhibits and a gala.

Events include Thursday’s opening of the Interactive Learning Center, a 54,000-square-foot classroom building equipped with technology and design aimed at helping students and faculty share ideas as efficiently as possible.

Bookmark to:

Austin American-Statesman
By Eric Dexheimer

Woman accused of sex with students five years ago got license back but not her job.

Joelle Ogletree was heading to a Friday night football game in Glen Rose, her picturesque hometown an hour’s drive west of Fort Worth, when she first heard the rumors that she was having sex with some students in her French class. The then-24-year-old teacher laughed them off.

But the stories, turbocharged by relentless chat on a community Internet bulletin board, were unstoppable. “It was like a wildfire,” recalls Ryan Anzaldua, a high school sophomore at the time. “If you went somewhere in Glen Rose, you could hear it talked about.”

The next Tuesday, the school placed Ogletree on leave. Students were summoned from her classes to tell their stories behind closed doors. By that Thursday morning, without ever being interviewed, Ogletree was fired.

Bookmark to:

Peoria Journal Star
By Andy Kravetz

PEORIA - A former Manual High School teacher pleaded guilty Friday to chatting online with a student last December and attempting to entice him to have sex with her.

With that admission, Jodi Church, 27, now faces at least 10 years and possibly up to life in prison when sentenced Nov. 30. It’s highly unlikely, however, that she’ll get more than the 10-year mandatory minimum as her sentencing range will likely fall below that threshold.

Bookmark to:

The Boston Globe
Associated Press

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. –Harvard wants to reschedule a football game against Brown next month because it conflicts with the start of Yom Kippur.

Harvard had scheduled the game against Brown for September 21 at 7:30 p.m. The Jewish holiday begins at sundown that day.

Harvard fans complained — and the university has asked Brown to move the game to September 22, after Yom Kippur ends.

Bookmark to:

The Columbus Dispatch
By Bill Bush

The messages of students and teachers are still visible on the chalkboards from last year, when Southwood Elementary School closed for remodeling.

“Miss Copper you are the best teacher ever in my life,” said one. “We’re going to miss you.”

“Thursday June 8, 2006. Have a nice summer,” reads another.

But when construction crews renovating the historic South Side school pulled the chalkboards off the walls, they found mysterious messages from a different era.

Bookmark to:

The Enquirer (Cincinnati)
By Jim Hannah

An 18-year-old has sued three police officers claiming she was wrongly arrested - causing her to miss prom and graduation.

Lacy Nicole Burden, who was a Simon Kenton High School senior at the time of her arrest, filed the lawsuit last week in Kenton Circuit Court.

Named as defendants are Independence police officers Mark Hampton and Matt Hicks, in addition to Kenton County police canine officer Brett Benton.

Bookmark to:

The Boston Globe
Associated Press

HAMPTON, N.H. –Recreation officials in Hampton are reviewing their policies after a 4-year-old boy was left behind on a field trip to a playground.

A parent said that he saw the boy crying when he was at the Kids Kingdom Playground late last week with his own children.

Bookmark to:

Houston Chronicle

A math teacher in the Katy Independent School District pleaded guilty today to one charge of sexual abuse of a child after being found parked in her car with an eighth-grade student engaged in sexual activity.

Emily Willis, 28, an eighth-grade teacher at T.H. McDonald Junior High, will be sentenced by state District Judge Caprice Cosper in September after a pre-sentence investigation. She faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for the second-degree felony.

Bookmark to:

WCVB TV/DT

Newsweek Lists Top Schools In 25 Different Categories

As high school seniors begin the daunting task of applying to colleges, Newsweek compiled a list of the hottest colleges in America. So what is the hottest Ivy League school in the nation? What’s the hottest school for sports fans? Find out answers to those questions and more in Newsweek’s 2008 College Guide to the Nation’s 25 Hottest Schools.

Bookmark to: