In Mesa, Arizona, a teen's harmless doodle (say the parents) of "what looked like a gun" (says the AP, via Yahoo! News) got the kid suspended from school for three days (reduced from five due to, one hopes, accute - but not sufficient - embarrassment on the part of school officials, who cited Columbine).
Chandler district spokesman Terry Locke said the crude sketch was "absolutely considered a threat," and that threatening words or pictures are punishable.
Meanwhile from Minnesota comes something new to be frightened of - pigeon poop. Yeah, no kidding. It's being blamed for contributing to the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge by electrochemically promoting rust.
"Every time you get a little bit of moisture there, you wind up having a little bit of electrochemistry occurring and you wind up with corrosion," said [chemist Neil] Langerman. "Over a long term, it might in fact cause structural weaknesses."
Of course, let it be said, [chemist Neil] Langerman isn't actually saying it was the pigeons' fault, you understand. "Let's let the highway transportation and safety people do their job," he advises, cryptically. He's just helping us (and, it might be noted, the AP) crank up the fear.
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