Fire! Fire! Fire!

So the two kids who started the Seton Hall dorm fire are going to prison. But they get to go the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in Yardville, a special prison for people 19-29. I didn't know NJ had prisons segregated by age, let alone 3 of them. But I think that's probably a good thing.

In addition to a full day of work, inmates are expected to participate in programs such as problem solving and anger management.

LePore and Ryan pleaded guilty on the eve of their murder trial in November, each to a single arson charge, admitting they ignited a banner about 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 19, 2000, in a freshman dormitory in South Orange. They called it "a prank that got out of hand."

Now unless the problem solving class involves how to use a fire extinguisher, I don't know how good it'll be for them. But I suppose for the majority of the kids/young adults at Yardville, those are probably very useful classes.

Also, I wonder, given the number of life without parole sentences that are sure to increase as the death penalty is phased out, to say nothing of the lifetime civil commitments some people are calling for for convicted sex offenders, will there eventually be prisons just for old people?

OK is Friggin' OK!

A beef in the heartland has caused one protesting student to be taken to juvenile facility yesterday. Maybe she can be on the next season of MTV's Juvies.

One Hilldale High School student was taken to a juvenile facility Wednesday after refusing to stop screaming obscenities during a demonstration against the suspension of the school’s principal, police said.

I think there's a general presumption that protesting high school student reside in coastal cities or other "Blue State" communities, where such behavior is generally viewed in a more favorable light. Well, either things are really changing quickly in Oklahoma after their recent economic boom, or this is a really good principal caught in a bizarre feud with the local Superintendent.

On Monday, up to 300 students also walked out of class to protest the suspension and possible firing of Dewayne Pemberton. He was suspended with pay last week.

Superintendent D.B. Merrill has declined to give reasons for the suspension, calling it a personnel matter.

Muskogee police officer Brad Holt said the student demonstration this morning was peaceful.

No one seems to be talking publicly about the origins of this feud, but according to the Muskugee Phoenix, it appears to stem from a spat with the assistant principal/athletic director over a coach not having a CDL for bus duty.

One student has been arrested, another suspended and as of yesterday, the protests continue, although now they seem to be limited to before and after school, not during class. There may be some issues with America spreading democracy around the world, but at least the spirit is alive and well in America's Heartland.

Props to all the kids for keeping it peaceful, even if some may have scratched up some administrators' cars. I can think of no better lesson in community engagement for these students than to be a part of this protest.

This is getting to be Re-Goddamn-Diculous!

Here's hoping someone up in Albany has some friggin' sense! If not, I'm going to be racking up the tickets...

Ban Proposed On Cell Phones, iPods In Crosswalk

Ban Would Apply To Cell Phones, MP3 players, Blackberrys

NEW YORK -- A state senator from Brooklyn said on Tuesday he plans to introduce legislation that would ban people from using an MP3 player, cell phone, Blackberry or any other electronic device while crossing the street in either New York City or Buffalo.

NewsChannel 4 reported that Sen. Carl Kruger is proposing the ban in response to two recent pedestrian deaths in his district, including a 23-year-old man who was struck and killed last month while listening to his iPod on Avenue T and East 71st Street In Bergen Beach.

"While people are tuning into their iPods and cell phones, they're tuning out the world around them," Kruger said. The proposed law would make talking on cell phones while crossing the street a comparable offense to jaywalking.

Some pedestrians said they were not worried about their safety while using their electronic devices while walking.

"I look for the light," said Venus Montes of Williamsburg.

"I'm still looking," said Lance Gordon of Far Rockaway. "It's not like I'm not paying attention."

Others said the proposed ban would not work.

"I don't think anyone's going to be up for this," said Patricia Lewis of Staten Island. "I don't think anyone wants this."

Other pedestrians said they thought the proposal was a good idea.

"It's too dangerous," said Nicole Lake of Jersey City. "Drivers don't pay attention and pedestrians don't pay attention."

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Arrghhh...Nicole Lake of Jersey City, you must be one of those types of people who annoy the hell out of my friend on the PATH trains. Can we have some individual responsibility in 21st century America, please?

So while I'm complaining, let me give props to the other 3 people quoted in this piece, all New Yorkers, who show enough common sense not to get run over when they're listening to their ipods! Good grief!

Kids Aren't Always So Bright

Lest I be accused of looking at the non-adult population through rose-colored lenses, let me be the first to admit that sometimes, individual kids can be really, really dumb! I'm sure this doesn't come as a surprise to many of us, hell, most of us were dumb(er) kids once, but we survived into adulthood -- and so will most kids.

I heard somewhere that most parents' biggest fear isn't that their kids will do the same stupid things they did when they were their kids' age, but that their kids won't be as lucky as they were and get away with it. I think that's fair, albeit somewhat misguided, as most people escape their childhood with relatively few scrapes, legal or otherwise.

While surfing youth-related news stories (Google News Alerts is dope, btw!) I came across this little gem about a 15 year old girl who got arrested 'cause she wouldn't stop yelling at the cops who were apparently at the school to investigate another incident. Now maybe the full story isn't being reported here, but if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's keep your fucking mouth shut when the cops are around, especially if they're not interested in you!

I mean, this girl was warned numerous times to just go away but she wouldn't stop!

Money quote:

Officer Tracey informed the juvenile that if she couldn’t calm down, she would be arrested.

The juvenile continued to yell profanities, police said. After multiple attempts to calm the juvenile down, officers Tracey and Hardy, who had to leave the other incident to assist, tried to put the juvenile in handcuffs. She allegedly pulled away and spit at Officer Tracey. She was arrested and brought back to the police station where she continued to yell and threatened to spit in the officer’s face.

Now maybe the guy the cops were looking at initially was this girl's baby daddy, or maybe just her boyfriend, but damn, now you're under arrest. I hope the emotional satisfaction she got from spitting at the cops was worth the trouble of getting arrested. My hunch is, it wasn't.