Free Republic

Student suspended over 'popper' By Paul Sloth RACINE - Five-year-old Quinn Lucier didn't know what he was getting himself into when he took the "popper" out of his older brother's drawer. It seemed innocent enough bringing what he figured was a toy to Jerstand-Agerholm Elementary School on Monday. When he pulled the strings on the popper - a pull-apart novelty firework - the ensuing loud pop startled his teacher and earned Lucier a trip to the principal's office and a four-day suspension. Quinn's parents were fuming Wednesday about their son's punishment, which they don't believe fits the crime. The school...

When Matthew Cooper moved to Rock Hill from Ohio two years ago, he didn't plan to fall in love. But Cooper, 25, met a woman at a picnic and did just that. Now he and his fiancee, Brooke Lowery, 21, are about to marry - and the June 18 wedding could cost him his job as a firefighter for the city of Rock Hill. His future father-in-law, Herbie Lowery, also is a Rock Hill firefighter, and city policy says relatives can't work together in the same city department. Under the policy, Cooper will be terminated 30 days after he marries....