Free Republic

There are no gang “wannabes” in Garfield County, only gang “gonnabes,” said two sheriff’s deputies assigned to a recently formed anti-gang task force. Deputies J. Miller and J. McCune, who don’t use their real first names due to the potentially dangerous nature of their work, are members of the Threat Assessment Group, or TAG, in the sheriff’s department. The group was formed after jail staff noticed an increase in gang members from California and elsewhere among the inmate population. “Then we found some of them were hanging out by some of the schools, just off school property, trying to recruit...

Officials in a Northern California school district might not think Tiggers are such wonderful things after agreeing to pay $95,000 in lawyers' fees to five families who sued the school over its dress code. The parents went to court after a student was disciplined for wearing socks with the "Winnie the Pooh" cartoon character Tigger on the first day of school last year. The district's superintendent said Thursday that the settlement money is for the plaintiffs' lawyers; the district is also on the hook to pay the lawyers it hired. The settlement also says Redwood Middle School may no longer...

Two Staples employees and a shopping center customer are beaten by underage gang members, all over their red clothing. Two Petaluma store employees and a shopping center customer were beaten by reputed gang members, apparently for wearing red clothing, police said Tuesday. The attacks happened near the Staples office supply store on South McDowell Boulevard, where two workers and another person were assaulted. Two 17-year-olds, a boy and a girl, were later arrested. It was the second attack in Petaluma over colors in two months. In April, a 12-year-old boy was hit on the head with a skateboard after he...