Brickbats: February 2025

A former middle school teacher in Washington state was charged with unlawful imprisonment for locking a 14-year-old student in her classroom and forcing him to pray with her for more than an hour. According to court documents, the student stayed after class to apologize for being disrespectful, but the teacher locked the door and said he could not leave until they prayed. When the student said he was not religious, she called him “Satanás,” which means Satan in Spanish.

A cheerleading coach at a public middle school in Lubbock, Texas, was placed on administrative leave after making cheerleaders crawl on hot asphalt when the temperature was over 100 degrees. Thirteen cheerleaders were treated for first- and second-degree burns on their hands; they claim the coach was punishing them for performing a cheer she found “disrespectful.”

Former Memphis, Tennessee, police officer Arica Hutchison was sentenced to six months in prison plus two years supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit theft from a program receiving federal funds. Hutchison fraudulently claimed reward money meant for civilians who provide information leading to arrests in open investigations. Hutchison admitted she entered false information into police databases listing an accomplice as a tipster and claimed $18,500.

Russian lawmakers introduced a bill that would ban “propaganda of conscious refusal to bear children.” The law would impose fines of up to $4,300 for individuals and more than $53,000 for organizations convicted of advocating voluntary childlessness. The bill overwhelmingly passed the Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, in October 2024.

When Burger King got his order wrong, Cobb County, Georgia, Sheriff Craig Owens Sr. called for backup, and three on-duty deputies arrived. He asked the deputies to get him the name of the owner or manager so he could file a complaint. The deputies found that the employees had locked themselves inside because they had previously had issues with angry customers. Owens told the media that he never identified himself as the sheriff and the deputies didn’t do anything for him they wouldn’t do for any other person involved in a business dispute.

Former principal Natasha Halfkenny and former assistant principal Coreen Miranda, of Boston Public Schools, each paid a $4,000 fine for violating conflict of interest law. A nonprofit donated tickets to the musical Hamilton for the school to give to students who could not otherwise afford to go. Instead, Halfkenny and Miranda took tickets for themselves and their sons, who were not students of Boston Public Schools.

Caroline Ashley put up Halloween decorations around her Liverpool home, including body bags hanging from a tree. The next day, a city council member came by and ordered her to remove the decorations after a neighbor allegedly complained they were too realistic and upsetting. “It’s the quickest the council has come out for anything,” Ashley told Metro.

The U.K. government now requires chicken owners, even those who keep one or two as pets, to register their birds. But it had to close an online animal registration portal it set up because so many people were trying to sign up. Officials said the registration is aimed at stopping the spread of bird flu and also includes parrots, finches, and other birds if they are ever taken outside the home. With the website down, owners were told to register their birds by email.

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