Around the nation
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — The folks at the GoldenPalace online casino turned over $28,000 for a headline-grabbing grilled cheese sandwich half, with a bite missing.
Diana Duyser, the jewelry-designing seller, is convinced she cooked up an image of the Virgin Mary over breakfast 10 years ago. After more than 1.6 million hits on the eBay.com auction site, the aged cheese and white bread creation is hitting the road, first for Las Vegas. The world tour is next.
Steve Baker, chief executive officer of Cyber World Group, GoldenPalace’s Quebec-based parent, said he expected “minimum value, and we’d all get a laugh and a hoot about it.” But his company’s cheesy way of grabbing 15 minutes of fame turned him into one of the converted.
“It’s taken on more of a life of its own than we ever imagined,” said Baker, whose Web casino is best known for tattoos on the backs of boxers. “It represented something that we believed to be a piece of Americana pop culture.”
Flu season is off to slow start
ATLANTA (AP) — The flu season in the United States is off to a slow start with only Delaware and New York reporting significant outbreaks.
The “widespread” flu activity in Delaware is a little misleading. The state meets the designation because confirmed cases of the flu had been found in every county of that state. But the state has only three counties — and six cases in all.
“From the data that we see, things haven’t really taken off — it’s continued flu activity at low levels in a lot of places,” said Lynnette Brammer, a flu epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “It looks like New York, the mid-Atlantic area is where things are starting to pick up, but it’s early. At this point, you can’t tell how the season’s going to progress.”
Nursing home outbreaks in New York prompted the CDC to classify that state as having “regional” flu activity. Most other states listed “sporadic” flu cases.
Although the flu season can begin as early as October and last through April, most flu seasons do not peak until January.
Health authorities have said the slow start has been a relief, because it has given them extra time to warn people to prepare for the flu in a year that has been marked by a severe flu-shot shortage.
Teacher reprimanded for showing ‘Fahrenheit’
KNOXVILLE (AP) — A Knox County high school teacher was reprimanded for showing parts of Michael Moore’s controversial R-rated movie “Fahrenheit 9/11” to her English class in October.
Suzanne Miller, who could have been fired under school guidelines, instead was ordered to “undergo a period of additional training before returning to the classroom in January,” a school statement said.
The Central High teacher also will be reassigned to another school.
“We looked very closely at this before we made any decision,” said Superintendent Charles Lindsey. “We have a very clear procedure with respect to using audio visual material in the classroom, and Ms. Miller knowingly violated this procedure.”
The movie, the highest-grossing independent film in history, criticized President Bush’s response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It was rated R for language and violent and disturbing images.
Miller planned to give students an assignment about persuasion after watching the movie, said Central High Principal Jon Miller, who is not related to the teacher. She also planned “to show another side” to counter Moore’s movie.
Police employee jailed for stealing drugs and money
MEMPHIS (AP) — A former Memphis police property room supervisor apologized in federal court for stealing more than $1 million cash and 150 kilograms of cocaine seized as evidence.
Kenneth Dansberry was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison for using the property room for what prosecutors called a “drug distribution hub.”
“I gave in. I just gave in,” said Dansberry, 42.
Dansberry pleaded guilty in January to stealing cocaine and marijuana over three years to sell to Atlanta drug dealer and former property room employee Patrick Maxwell. He could have faced more than 30 years in prison but got a reduced sentence because his cooperation helped authorities indict Maxwell and 15 other city employees and drug dealers.
A state audit found that over $2 million worth of cocaine, 560 pounds of marijuana, 66 guns and a large amount of cash was missing from the department property and evidence room between 2000 and 2003.
Dansberry, a 21-year department employee, had stolen so much cash that it began to grow mold in his home because he couldn’t spend it fast enough. He bought a home in a Memphis suburb and luxury cars with the stolen money.