Free Republic

The family of a Tennessee high school male student is suing a school district and the contractor that employed a female janitor accused of raping the teen. The lawsuit names Roane County Schools and Compass One Services of Tennessee — the contractor that employed 29-year-old Jessica Gaylon — and is seeking $4.5 million in damages for negligence in allowing the alleged rape on school grounds, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported. According to the lawsuit cited by the Sentinel, the janitor allegedly sent "flirtatious and sexual messages" to the teen who told her that her actions were “unsolicited, unwanted and unwelcome."...

Something rotten in air -- but what? February 28, 2005 BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Staff Reporter The City of Big Odors lived up to its name Sunday as Chicagoans woke up, opened their doors and smelled something rotten. An invisible cloud of ... well, who-knows-what wafted across the city starting about 2 a.m. Sunday. Was it from the fire at BP Amoco's Whiting, Ind., plant Saturday afternoon? BP officials say that was not the cause of the smell. Winds of 10 to 15 mph out of the southeast gradually blew the stench through Chicago, up to northwest suburbs such as...

Depending on your politics, a clogged sewer line in Downtown Albuquerque Tuesday night was a blessing or a curse. With thousands of people set to attend a John Kerry rally on Civic Plaza, city sanitation crews were working to suppress the odor caused by a blocked sewer line just a few blocks away at Lomas and Seventh streets. The 27-inch line has been clogged for nearly two weeks, but has begun to emit stronger odors with warmer weather in recent days, said Jim Fink, an engineer with the Albuquerque public works department. At least one New Mexico television station reported...

Critics: Diaper bill reeks of politics Perata's plan would benefit company that donated to his campaign, taxpayer advocates say By Steve GeissingerSACRAMENTO BUREAU SACRAMENTO -- A coalition of taxpayer groups said Tuesday that an East Bay senator's much-touted diaper-tax bill stinks politically because it would benefit a single disposable diaper recycling firm that has contributed to the lawmaker's campaign coffers. Though Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, is delaying and recasting the measure to shift the proposed tax from consumers to diaper makers, the coalition said it believes buyers would still ultimately pay the cost of creating an unproven recycling program. "This...