Alleged gay-bashing at Marin high school a hoax, police said

By: Associated Press Wire Reports | Sunday, May 8, 2005 9:09 PM PDT ∞

MILL VALLEY ---- A 17-year-old top wrestler at an area high school here faked a series of gay-bashing incidents that prompted a police investigation, authorities said.

The rash of gay-bashing incidents at Tamalpais High School was the work of a student gay leader who claimed she was the victim of hate crimes, according to Mill Valley Police Capt. James Wickham.

The 17-year-old girl who leads the school's Gay-Straight Alliance admitted to authorities she was the perpetrator of the incidents, which included vandalizing her own car with derogatory graffiti, police said.

Other incidents involved teachers who received threatening telephone messages.

"It has been determined that all the incidents have been committed by a single individual," Wickham said.

The student was not identified by police.

The girl has been suspended and could face expulsion, said Bob Ferguson, district school superintendent.

"She confessed to everything," Ferguson said. "She did admit to police that it was basically for attention."

The student was not arrested, but police said the case would be referred to the Marin County District Attorney's Office for review.

In a series of incidents dating back to November, the student claimed she was the target of hateful language, with anti-gay epithets scrawled on her car and on her school locker. She told police she was pelted with eggs outside her home by an unknown assailant.

Fort Wayne lawmakers succeed in renaming I-469 for Reagan

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) ---- Interstate 469 around Fort Wayne soon will be renamed the Ronald Reagan Expressway.

Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, and Rep. Phyllis Pond, R-New Haven, successfully pushed a resolution through the recently completed legislative session to rename the highway.

The Indiana Department of Transportation soon will make signs to be placed on the expressway, and the agency likely will have a dedication ceremony in the near future, spokesman Gary Abell said.

The Ronald Reagan Legacy Project for honoring America's 40th president welcomed the accolade.

"Indiana is taking another step toward promoting the significant accomplishments of the greatest president in the 20th century," said Grover Norquist, chairman of the project. "Without memorials to promote our memories of American heroes, our children will not be able to understand the sacrifices and significance of someone like Ronald Reagan."

The resolution called Reagan a "man of the people who worked throughout his life to preserve freedom and advance public good."

Princess Letizia of Spain is pregnant, palace says

MADRID, Spain (AP) ---- Princess Letizia of Spain is pregnant and expecting to give birth in November to a baby that could become the second in line to the Spanish throne, the palace said on Sunday.

Letizia, who married Crown Prince Felipe in a lavish ceremony on May 22, 2004, at Madrid's Almudena cathedral, will deliver the baby in Madrid, a palace spokesman said.

The baby will be second in line of succession to the throne after 37-year-old Felipe, who is King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia's only son and third child. However if it is a girl, she would come after any sons that Felipe and Letizia might have in the future.

The Spanish constitution states that the eldest male is automatically heir to the throne even if he has an older sister.

Ever since the royal wedding, the Spanish gossip press have been watching for signs that the 33-year-old princess was pregnant.

The announcement comes two weeks before Felipe and Letizia celebrate their first wedding anniversary.

King Juan Carlos, who was in Barcelona to watch Sunday's Formula One Spanish Grand Prix, said his seventh grandchild will be treated like the rest of the family.

"It'll be another grandchild who has to be treated the same way as the others," he said. "It's great news."

Letizia and Felipe surprised Spain on Nov. 1, 2003, by announcing their engagement. Few knew that the heir to the Spanish throne had been dating a woman who was one of the country's best-known television personalities, a divorcee without royal or aristocratic links.

The tall, dashing prince met Letizia, a former TV anchorwoman, at a dinner party in late 2002 and they started dating secretly the following spring.

The Spanish royal family enjoys wide respect, with King Juan Carlos revered for his role in ushering in democracy after the death of Gen. Francisco Franco in 1975 and putting down an attempted coup in 1981.

Felipe's sister, Princess Cristina, the second daughter of Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, is also pregnant and expected to have her fourth child at the beginning of the summer.

State report: Boy asked for inhaler before he stopped breathing at state-run camp in Georgia

CLEVELAND, Ga. (AP) ---- A 13-year-old boy who died after being restrained at a state-run camp for troubled youngsters had told counselors he needed his asthma inhaler about an hour before he stopped breathing, records show.

Travis Parker was restrained at the Appalachian Wilderness Camp for roughly 90 minutes on April 20 by counselors who said he was acting belligerently, and during the first 10 or 15 minutes he asked for his inhaler, said a report obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

However, counselors did not give him the inhaler because a certified emergency medical technician saw no indications such as wheezing that he was having an asthma attack and because the boy had a history of asking for his inhaler when he was being restrained, said the report from the state Department of Human Resources, which runs the camp.

It said Parker went limp and some of the children who witnessed the incident told investigators that counselors commented "He is playing the dead fish game, he's faking," the newspaper reported Saturday.

He died the next day at a hospital. Autopsy results are pending, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the death.

The boy's family expected he "would receive nurturing and support" at the camp, said a family statement. "Instead, sadly it appears the young Travis Parker received brutality and death."

Dena Smith, spokeswoman for the Department of Human Resources, said it was the first camper death at two state camps for children in the juvenile justice system or in mental health programs. She said staff members were put on administrative leave during the investigation.

Dr. Amy Hirsh, of the Peachtree Allergy and Asthma Clinic in Atlanta, would not comment on the incident, but said a child should never be denied an emergency inhaler.

"Untrained medical professionals should not make a judgment call on whether a patient needs his or her rescue inhaler or not. If a child asks for a rescue inhaler, they should be given it immediately without questioning," she said.

Retrial scheduled for men accused of killing transgender teen

BERKELEY ---- There's no debate that pretty Gwen Araujo ended up dead after the men she was partying with discovered that the 17-year-old was biologically male. But will a jury agree that it was murder?

Last year, a jury deadlocked on the question after the defense argued for manslaughter, a crime committed in a heat of passion sparked by sexual deception. The defense infuriated Araujo's family and transgender activists who called it a case of blaming the victim.

On Monday, prosecutors will try again as jury selection begins in a second attempt to convince a jury that what happened to Araujo was a cold, calculated killing.

"This is a murder case," said prosecutor Chris Lamiero.

On trial are Michael Magidson, Jose Merel and Jason Cazares. They are charged with killing Araujo, who was born Edward, but came to believe her true identity was as a woman. After she died, her mother had Araujo's name legally changed as a mark of respect.

According to a fourth man, Jaron Nabors, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in a plea bargain and agreed to testify, Araujo was beaten and strangled after her biological identity was revealed during a confrontation at Merel's house in Newark, a San Francisco suburb.

The four men had met Araujo, whom they knew as "Lida," months earlier and hung out together, becoming fast friends.

According to trial testimony, both Merel and Magidson had sex with Araujo -- encounters that prompted suspicions she was not biologically female.

The showdown, prosecutors say, came during the early hours of Oct. 4, 2002. Nabors testified that the three men attacked Araujo after a young woman ended the gender debate by grabbing Araujo's genitals. Nabors said he saw Merel hit Araujo with a can and a skillet and Magidson punched, choked and kicked her.

Araujo begged, "No, please don't. I have a family," Nabors said.

The attack dragged on for more than an hour, and Nabors said he left the house before the actual killing. He testified that he saw Magidson start to pull a rope toward Araujo's neck after she had been tied up. Nabors said Magidson later talked about twisting the rope.

The next day, all four men drove the body about 150 miles east to the Sierra foothills, where it lay for nearly two weeks until Nabors led police to the shallow grave.

At the first trial, defense attorneys hammered away at Nabors' credibility, pointing out that he told different stories to police.

Cazares, the only defendant to testify, sought acquittal, saying he too was outside when the killing took place and only helped bury the body.

Magidson's attorney, Michael Thorman, acknowledged Magidson played a role in the attack and said he was sorry for it. But he argued that it was "classic manslaughter," suggesting that the sudden discovery of Araujo's biological identity was a violation "so deep, it's almost primal."

Merel's attorney said jurors only had Nabors' word for it that Merel was involved in the assault, and even if they believed Nabors, Merel was not guilty of anything more than manslaughter.

The jurors deliberated for about nine days before announcing they were hopelessly divided.

First-degree murder is punishable by 25 years to life, second-degree by 15-to-life and manslaughter by up to 11 years. Also, the case was charged as a hate crime, a potential extra four years.

The second trial has many of the hallmarks of the first, with the same judge and the same lawyers, except for Merel who has a new attorney. Magidson and Merel are being held without bail pending the retrial. Cazares is out on $1 million bail.

"Everybody's asking questions, talking about it," said Christopher Daley, director of the San Francisco-based Transgender Law Center, who expects the defense "to come out swinging a lot harder."

The lawyers wouldn't reveal any changes in their strategies, but Thorman said picking a jury may be harder this time because he thinks more people have heard about the case. For now, lawyers are estimating it will take about four weeks to seat a jury and another two months to finish the trial.

Odds and Ends

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ---- It's higher education of the horizontal variety.

About 25 sex workers went to a college of sorts, sitting through lectures on effective marketing, stress reduction and, um, sex-toy skills.

"We are still illegal," instructor Kimberlee Cline said before her 20-minute demonstration. "If we want to be treated as business professionals, we need to act ethically within the industry."

Other cities, including Tucson, Ariz., Portland, Ore., Montreal and Taipei, Taiwan, have similar events, said organizer Carol Leigh.

Presented in conjunction with the San Francisco Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival, the class Wednesday at an erotic art gallery was billed as a way for working girls and guys to polish their skills in a supportive atmosphere.

It was the first time the biennial festival, begun in 1999 to showcase films about and by sex workers, included a session devoted to how to maintain a satisfying career.

"My own personal experience has been negative and positive, as with any job," said Kymberly Cutter, 36, a mother of two from Tucson who returned to prostitution two years ago to boost her income and regards it as part of a journey in "personal self-discovery." Her children, ages 7 and 9, know what she does for a living, she said.

Participants who stuck it out for the whole day received diplomas certifying them as G.S.W -- graduates in sex work.

CHICO, Calif. (AP) ---- Wild parties that have brought notoriety to this college town could soon carry a heavy penalty for party throwers.

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to bill hosts for the costs of sending police more than once in a 12-hour period to quell a loud bash.

Mayor Scott Gruendl said the city spent about $250,000 on overtime responding to parties over three weekends last fall.

Administrators at California State University, Chico, along with student leaders and members of the Greek system endorsed the penalties.

Most of the public speakers at the meeting supported the law. Resident Barbara Reed said it would be nice to be able to open her windows when the weather is pleasant.

"You feel like a prisoner in your own home," she said. "You have to wear earplugs."

While City Councilor Ann Schwab said the law was not aimed specifically at students, one speaker said he thought it discriminated against them.

"I feel like we already have laws in place," said Jason Talbot. "If it's money, I've got my mom's ATM card right here, I could help you guys out."

CHOTEAU, Mont. (AP) ---- Two grizzly bear cubs wandered into a backyard in this Rocky Mountain Front community -- prompting a bear lockdown at a nearby elementary school.

Chuck Gameon, principal of the Choteau Elementary School, said the bears didn't cause too much of a stir because many of the students are from ranches and, "They see lots of bears." But it did force the school to cancel recess Thursday.

In recent years, the school has had two or three bear-related lockdowns, he said.

A state bear specialist and deputies used rubber bullets to scare the bears. Sheriff George Anderson and Mike Madel of the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks followed the bears into a creek bottom on foot and chased them west.

Madel said the yearling cubs probably were searching for birdseed. Two yearling bears got into birdfeeders northwest of town earlier this week, he said.

CINCINNATI (AP) ---- Police say modern technology foiled an old-fashioned bank robbery.

A teller placed an electronic Global Positioning System device in a bag of stolen money, allowing police to track down a suspect in just 42 minutes Thursday.

"Around here (GPS) is still relatively rare," Hamilton County sheriff's office spokesman Steve Barnett said. "But with the advancement in technology and the continued success of catching bank robbers, soon I would hope that other financial institutions would jump on board."

Authorities said that after William Ingram, 46, left a U.S. Bank in suburban Colerain Township, the GPS device tracked him to a car dealership in Hartwell, where he was returning a Honda that he had borrowed for a test drive but actually used as a getaway car.

When Ingram was confronted, money began spilling from his pockets, officials said.

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