Bill Wolcott uses one auto accident in which the driver may have been under the influence of marijuana as "proof" that marijuana use is not a victimless crime. ("Marijuana use seen as a minor character flaw": 3/16) Does he think we should reinstate Prohibition because a small percentage of alcohol consumers foolishly drink and drive? In fact, Prohibition actually increased the rate of needless death and crime associated with alcohol by pushing the entire liquor market into the criminal underground. [continues 131 words]
PENDLETON -- Is a one-game suspension enough for an athlete who violates the interscholastic athletic policy? Starpoint Board of Education member Diane Braun suggested the possibility of a zero-tolerance policy during Monday night's meeting. Armed with the athletics policy from Williamsville's school district, Braun asked the board to consider toughening the policy. "What are we saying to kids?" Braun asked. "That it's okay to drink one time?" Every year, Starpoint athletes and their parents must sign a permission form to let the students compete. Besides outlining injury procedures, the document described two three-tiered policies: One for alcohol and cigarette smoking and the other for illegal drug use. [continues 402 words]
A substitute teacher accused of using cocaine while on the job in the Lewiston-Porter School District won't be subject to enhanced penalties for using it in a drug-free zone, the Niagara County district attorney said. Joan M. Donatelli, 59, of the Town of Lewiston, was charged at 4:50 p.m. Tuesday with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. She is accused of using cocaine while substituting for a fourth-glade classroom in the Lewiston-Porter Intermediate Education Center on Feb. 1, according to Lewiston Police Department Sgt. Frank Previte. [continues 516 words]
LEWISTON -- A Lewiston-Porter substitute teacher was arrested Tuesday after allegedly using cocaine while on school property last week. Joan M. Donatelli, 59, of the Town of Lewiston, was charged at 4:50 p.m. Tuesday with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Donatelli was teaching a fourth-grade class at the Lewiston-Porter Intermediate Education Center on Feb. 1. During the day, at least two students saw what they thought was Donatelli using drugs, said Sgt. Frank Previte of the Lewiston Police Department. [continues 349 words]
