Teacher accused of verbal abuse Teacher accused of verbal abuse ADVERTISING CHERRY HILL, N.J. (AP) — A southern New Jersey teacher who oversees a classroom where a father says his autistic son was verbally abused by adults has been placed
Teacher accused of verbal abuse
CHERRY HILL, N.J. (AP) — A southern New Jersey teacher who oversees a classroom where a father says his autistic son was verbally abused by adults has been placed on paid leave, according to district officials.
The father, Stuart Chaifetz, posted clips on YouTube days ago of secretly recorded audio that caught one adult calling his autistic 10-year-old son “a bastard.” A lawyer for the teacher, Kelly Altenburg, has denied that she was in the classroom when the abusive remarks were made and said an investigation by the district also found that Altenburg was not present. Officials say one school aide resigned, another was put on leave and a substitute aide was not invited back amid the allegations.
Cherry Hill Superintendent Maureen Reusche said she put Altenburg on leave to minimize the “disruption to our schools.”
Speaking at a news conference Friday, lawyer Matthew Wieliczko said Altenburg is a dedicated special education teacher of 23 years who did not know about the comments until she was contacted by district officials about the covert recording and after Chaifetz posted his first recording. Altenburg does not condone the comments, they said.
In cases around the country, suspicious parents have been taking advantage of convenient, inexpensive technology to tell them what children, because of their disabilities, are not able to express on their own. The practice can help expose abuses, but some experts say it could violate the rights of other children.
Chaifetz has said he sent his son Akian into school wearing a recording device stashed in his pocket. The father said the tape revealed teachers at the school chiding and mocking Akian in a class that contains only children with autism who have trouble communicating.
SUV plunges into zoo, seven killed
NEW YORK (AP) — Authorities say an out-of-control SUV plunged off a highway into a ravine on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo in New York City, killing seven people aboard, including three children.
Police identified the dead adults as 85-year-old Jacob Nunez and 81-year-old Ana Julia Martinez, both from the Dominican Republic, and their daughters, 45-year-old Maria Gonzalez, and 39-year-old Maria Nunez, both from the Bronx. Police say Gonzalez was driving.
The children were identified as 10-year-old Jocelyn Gonzalez, the daughter of the driver, and 7-year-old Niely Rosario and 3-year-old Marly Rosario, both daughters of Nunez.
Police say the Honda Pilot bounced off the median, crossed three lanes, flew off the Bronx River Parkway, fell more than 50 feet and landed upside-down.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Dolphin stays in Calif. wetlands
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A wayward dolphin is spending a third straight day in a narrow wetlands channel along the Southern California coast, under the watchful eyes of wildlife experts.
Peter Wallerstein of Marine Animal Rescue said Sunday that the 6-foot-long, black-and-white common dolphin looks healthy, but appears slightly disoriented.
The dolphin was spotted in a channel of the Bolsa Chica wetlands Friday, circling in shallow waters as crowds grew along the banks and TV helicopters flew overhead.
Wildlife experts on paddleboards managed to coax the animal toward the open sea Saturday, but it was spooked by a pair of fellow dolphins and swam back to the wetlands.
Wallerstein says rescuers might try to herd the dolphin back to the ocean today, but they hope it will find its own way out.
More building tornado shelters
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — When deadly twisters chewed through the South and Midwest in 2011, thousands of people in the killers’ paths had nowhere to hide. Now many of those families are taking an unusual extra step to be ready next time: adding tornado shelters to their homes.
A year after the storms, sales of small residential shelters known as safe rooms are surging across much of the nation, especially in hard-hit communities such as Montgomery and Tuscaloosa in Alabama and in Joplin, Mo., where twisters laid waste to entire neighborhoods.
Manufacturers can barely keep up with demand, and some states are offering grants and other financial incentives to help pay for the added protection and peace of mind.
Tom Cook didn’t need convincing. When a 2008 tornado barreled toward his home in rural southwest Missouri, Cook, his wife and their teenage daughter sought refuge in a bathroom. It wasn’t enough. His wife was killed.
Cook moved to nearby Joplin to rebuild, never imaging he would confront another monster twister. But he had a safe room installed in the garage just in case.
On May 22, Cook and his daughter huddled inside the small steel enclosure while an EF-5 tornado roared outside. They emerged unharmed, although the new house was gone.
“It was blown away completely — again,” he said. “The only thing standing was that storm room.”
‘Avengers’ has $178.4M debut
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The superhero saga “The Avengers” lived up to its blockbuster buzz with $178.4 million in overseas ticket sales days before it opens in U.S. theaters.
Domestic audiences generally passed on a bunch of new flicks as fans seem to be in anticipation mode for Disney’s “The Avengers,” which debuts Friday in the United States after launching in 39 other countries a week earlier.
The huge overseas launch will help fan the frenzy already in place for “The Avengers,” the superhero mash-up of Marvel Comics idols whose cast includes Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson.
