• Fired lesbian teacher fights to get job at Catholic high school back

    A gym teacher at a Catholic school in Ohio claims she was fired after 19 years on the job because her mother's obituary, published in a local newspaper, revealed that she has a lesbian partner. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.

    By Jeff Black, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A diocese in Ohio is under siege — receiving numerous threatening calls as well as heated online criticism — and a veteran teacher is out of a job because of publicly revealing a lesbian relationship in violation of the Catholic school’s morality code.

    But the firing has raised a fervent debate over tolerance both online and in the Columbus, Ohio, community where the incident took place.

    Physical education teacher Carla Hale, 57, was fired in March after her name appeared in her mother's obituary, which also noted Hale's longtime lesbian partner.

    Hale was summoned to a meeting with school administrators after she returned from her mother’s funeral.

    At the meeting, she received a copy of her mother’s obituary that she and her brother had written. In addition, administrators gave Hale an anonymous letter from a parent calling the presence of a lesbian teacher at the school disgrace.

    Hale was subsequently dismissed from Bishop Watterson Catholic High School after 19 years of service, with the school citing a morality provision in the contract between teachers and the diocese.

    In the days since, the dismissal has received widespread attention on social media. A petition calling for her reinstatement on the Change.org website had received more than 55,000 signatures as of Wednesday evening.

    The school district even asked for a police investigation after it received threatening calls, the Columbus Post Dispatch reported. The school’s Facebook page was removed as were employee email addresses from the school’s website.

    Hale also filed a grievance to seek reinstatement but that was denied this week, she said. In a news briefing on Wednesday she said she would file an appeal with the central Ohio board of Catholic educators, NBC station WCMH reported. She also said she would file a discrimination complaint with the Columbus community relations department.

    “I've committed my 19-year professional career to one thing,” she said. “ensuring that our next generation achieves its full potential. I love my job, I don't want money, I don't want fame, I simply want to return to Bishop Watterson.”

    In a statement released last week, the diocese said personnel matters are confidential, but said school employees when hired agree to a church moral code. 

     “Personnel who choose to publicly espouse relationships or principles that are contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church cannot, ultimately, remain in the employ of the Church,” the statement said.

     

  • Georgia middle-schooler commits suicide after bullying, being called 'snitch,' dad says

    The father of a Georgia boy who committed suicide says his son was the victim of cruel bullying at school. WLTZ's Sara Belsole reports.

    By Elizabeth Chuck, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A 13-year-old Georgia boy who hanged himself after reportedly being bullied at school was remembered by family and friends as a hero at his funeral this week.

    Devin Brown moved to Columbus, Ga., six months ago to live with his father, who says the bullying began shortly after Devin started at his new middle school, according to NBC affiliate WLTZ-TV in Georgia.

    "He got jumped, or somebody beat him up," Ray Brown, Devin's father, told WLTZ. "He came home one time and had some peanut butter pies he had made for school. When he walked through the door he had some pie left, and he had it all over him. Someone had jumped on him and smeared it all over him."

    Brown voiced his concerns to Rothschild Middle School, but officials told him they hadn't heard of any issues, he said.

    "They just kind of let it go," Brown said. 

    It wasn't until last Thursday night that Devin's family realized how far the bullying had gone.

    "I hear [my stepmother yelling,] 'Oh my God, Ray, Ray, help me! I can't get him down, he hung himself,'" Cara Downs, Devin's older sister, told WLTZ. "I could see the black and blue around his neck and I tried to find a pulse, but couldn't find it."

    Brown believes being called a "snitch" at school pushed Devin over the edge. He told WLTZ that the day Devin took his life, he saw another student carrying a knife and threatening a teacher. Brown said Devin told his teacher about the knife; the other student was given disciplinary action.

    "He said, 'Everyone is calling me a snitch,'" Brown said. "He said, 'There's about 15-20 people who want to jump on me.'"


    Rothschild Middle School Principal Reginald Williamson denied Brown's account of his son's school experiences.

    "We have received no information on him being bullying whatsoever," he said. "We log all information as far as bullying is concerned."

    He also said there was never any threat to a teacher. 

    "We did have a knife incident that occurred. It happened before school started. The knife was retrieved," he said. But no threat was ever issued against a teacher during the incident, he said. 

    Muscogee County School District's director of communications also confirmed the incident.

    "It was discovered upon search in the student's locker. And of course any student discipline, while I can't talk about particular student discipline, was handled according to policy," Valerie Fuller said. 

    At his funeral on Wednesday, a large wooden box with the word "hero" carved on it was set up. Devin's friends dropped notes into it, thanking him for speaking up about the threat he saw at school, reported WLTZ.

    "I made this for him because he is my hero. He did the right thing and he knew he did the right thing," Brown told the affiliate.

    On Devin's gravestone, the inscription read: "You left too soon, but forever wouldn't have been long enough. Our hero - Devin Brown."

    This story was originally published on Fri Apr 5, 2013 12:49 PM EDT

  • Two injured in shooting at Ohio temple

    By Becky Bratu, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Two people are injured and a suspect is in custody following a shooting in the parking lot of a Mormon temple in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday afternoon, NBC affiliate WCMH reported.


    The shooting took place in the parking lot of the Columbus Ohio Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at about 4:45 p.m.

    Columbus police told WCMH they have a male suspect in custody.

    He and one of the victims were transported to Riverside Methodist Hospital in critical but stable condition, according to WCMH.

    A second victim was taken to Mount Carmel Hospital West also in critical but stable condition.

  • Freight train derailment, explosion in Ohio prompts mile-wide evacuation

    Fire officials in Columbus, Ohio, battle a massive blaze after a train derailed, with residents within a mile of the accident evacuated. TODAY's Natalie Morales reports.

    By NBC4 in Columbus, Ohio

    A mile-wide area was evacuated after a freight train derailed in Columbus, Ohio, early Wednesday, causing an explosion and fire.

    Two people who were close by when the train derailed were injured. The victims drove themselves to the hospital but their conditions are unknown.

    The train crew was able to safely move the locomotives and three freight cars from the scene. There were no injuries to train personnel.

    Teams trained to deal with hazardous materials are on the scene of the blaze, near the Ohio State Fairgrounds in north Columbus.

    According to Mike McNutt with Columbus Public Health, several of the train cars contained styrene which, if ignited, can emanate a gas that affects the nervous system if inhaled.

    It would become a "nerve agent," McNutt said, adding that those cars were the biggest concern in calling for the evacuation. HAZMAT crews had moved those cars away from the fire.

    Andrew Spear / AP

    Lt. Terry Bush said the accident happened at about 2 a.m. Wednesday in a mixed-use part of the city.

    McNutt toldNBC4, "It doesn't look like the situation is escalating."

    Officials say a southbound train with two locomotives and 98 cars of mixed freight derailed between E. 11th and E. 5th avenues at about 2 a.m. ET.

    Read the full story at NBC 4 in Columbus, Ohio

    Eleven cars derailed but it is not known just how many caught fire. At least two were still burning at 7:30 a.m. Officials said they will allow the alcohol to burn for the next six to eight hours.

    Rail company Norfolk Southern is working with emergency personnel to determine what cargo is on fire.

    Residents in the area are being asked to evacuate between E. 11th to E. 5th avenues, and N. Grant Avenue to Interstate 71. Police say the evacuees have been taken to the Rhodes Building at the fairgrounds.

    The cause of the incident was under investigation.

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  • Ohio school district hires collection agency to go after unpaid lunch money

    By Sylvia Wood, msnbc.com

    An Ohio school district has hired a collection agency to prove to students and their parents that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

    The Columbus City Schools hope to recover an estimated $900,000 in unpaid lunch money from almost 6,000 students. The district loses roughly $2,622 every school day in unpaid lunches, according to a report on NBC4i.com. Most of the delinquent accounts average between $150 and $170, according to Meade and Associates, the collection agency in Westerville hired by the district to collect the money.

     “Our goal is to recover the balance in full,” Sean Meade, client relations manager, told msnbc.com. But he added, “we’re here to help,” so if “payment arrangements are needed, we’ll work with the family.”

    Columbus City Schools did not return a call from msnbc.com. Unpaid-for lunches are not unique to Columbus. Across the country, districts are struggling as the ailing economy brings more students to school without lunch money.

    “It’s one of those issues that we’re seeing more of,” Diane Pratt-Heavner of the Maryland-based School Nutrition Association told msnbc.com. The group recently surveyed 964 of its members. Fifty-three percent said they had seen increases in the number of students unable to pay for lunch.

    Schools have been trying to balance budget cuts with new federal nutrition standards that are expected to increase the cost of meal preparation.  In response, Pratt-Heavner said her group would like Congress to require the U.S. Department of Agriculture to spell out how schools should respond to requests for unpaid lunches and how to manage the debt.

    “The people working in our school cafeterias are not in this line of work for the money – they want to serve all their kids – but at the end of the day, the new nutrition standards for school meals are raising the cost of serving school meals, and school nutrition programs simply cannot afford to allow unpaid meal charges go unchecked,” Pratt-Heavner told msnbc.com.

    Until then, school districts continue to make accommodations for students who can’t pay. Some offer alternative meals of cheese or peanut butter sandwiches. Districts also try various methods of collecting debts, such as phone calls and letters to parents.

    Pratt-Heavner said more districts are turning to collection agencies.

    Meade told msnbc.com his agency will start contacting parents by early April, using phone calls and letters. Of every dollar collected, the company will earn 26 cents in commission.

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  • Ex-cop: I robbed bank to get health care in prison

    By msnbc.com staff

    A former Georgia police officer told a court that he robbed a bank last year so that he could get health care while in a federal prison.

    Edward Pascucci told U.S. District Court Judge Clay D. Land on Thursday that he was facing “severe health problems” and homelessness when he decided to rob the Citizens Trust Bank in Columbus, Ga., last August, according to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.

    “I didn’t want to be homeless,” Pascucci said, according to the paper. “I should not have manipulated the justice system, but I couldn’t think of any other way to get help.”

    The FBI said Pascucci, 54, walked out of the bank with more than $1,000, ABC station WTVM-TV of Columbus, Ga., reported. He had been jobless for more than a year when the crime occurred.   

    According to WTVM, FBI agents said Pascucci walked into the Citizens Trust Bank with a .357-caliber revolver on Aug. 3 and demanded money. The gun reportedly was not loaded.

    Investigators said a security guard stopped Pascucci after he walked out of the bank and held him until a Columbus police officer could arrest him.

    Pascucci, who served as a Columbus policeman for 15 years, got his wish -- he was sentenced to five years and three months in prison. In keeping with the terms of a plea agreement, he also was ordered to serve three years of supervised release. He was given credit for time served awaiting sentencing.

    According to the Ledger-Enquirer, Pascucci served in the Marines, Army and Army Reserve before becoming a police officer in 1989.

    The newspaper reported that Pascucci had a troubled employment history with the police department that prompted a psychologist in 2002 to recommend he no longer serve on the force. He transferred to animal control that year, according to the Ledger-Enquirer, but resigned in March 2006 in lieu of an appeal for unprofessional conduct.

    Described by the Ledger-Enquirer as being shackled and dressed in a yellow jumpsuit with the word “federal” emblazoned on it, Pascucci apologized to the employees of the Citizens Trust Bank, to his former colleagues at the Columbus Police Department and to the “community at large.”

    “I had no funds whatsoever left to live on,” he said. “I did this foolish thing hoping I’d get some kind of care.”

    On Aug. 3, he walked into the bank about 11 a.m. and presented a note to the teller that read, “This is a stick up, hand over the money,” according to court documents.

    The teller gave him $1,040, prosecutors said, and Pascucci walked out of the bank.

    Pascucci, the Ledger-Enquirer reported, told authorities he removed the bullets from his gun before entering the bank. Officials later recovered those bullets during a search of Pascucci’s car.

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