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SALT LAKE CITY — A Florida school is getting national attention after a class picture was distributed that included a brown cartoon smiley face placed over a child's head.
One parent called the picture "offensive" and "degrading"; another said the photo was merely an "oversight," the local news reported.
David Claussen, the photographer, said he did not mean to offend anyone. The parents of two of the students did not provide signed consent forms. Claussen was able to Photoshop one of the students out, but the other was on the front row. He said he suggested putting a star over the student's face, but the Sawgrass Elementary School PTA requested a smiley face, instead.
The school is having the picture retaken and will provide a replacement to parents who had ordered a print.
Message in a bottle discovered in U.K.
A message, folded into a bottle and tossed into sea by a Connecticut man a year and a half ago, has turned up in the U.K.
I said good luck to you and maybe somebody will find the bottle, and maybe hopefully, somebody will find it and send me a letter.
–Jerry Pope
Jerry Pope sent the message in October 2010, including his name and address and requesting that the finder send him a message in return.
"I said good luck to you and maybe somebody will find the bottle, and maybe hopefully, somebody will find it and send me a letter," Pope told MSNBC.
The bottle was discovered March 22 at the Isles of Scilly, 28 miles off England's southwestern coast.
Pope said he plans to send another message later this year.
Emerald hunt brings huge reward
In an American Diggers-esque find that gives Ric Savage a run for his money, amateur miners turned a vacation into a paycheck last month at the North American Emerald Mine in Hiddenite, N.C.
Libby and Kevin Barrieault were on a group trip near the end of March when they unearthed a 50.5-carat emerald. The next day, Terry Lofgren and her fiance, John Kehoe, found a handful of emerald crystals, ABC News reports.
Jamie Hill, the owner of the mine, said he lost a lot of money, but has no regrets. Hill had previously opened his mine to the public for $25 a go in an attempt to make a bit of money.
Man protests elitism by disrupting historic boat race
A man brought the 183rd annual Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge universities to a halt Saturday by jumping into the River Thames and nearly getting his head removed by the oars of both teams.
The race is no stranger to trials and tragedies, but this year was perhaps the strangest of them all. The interruption caused a 31-minute delay, and when the contest restarted, the crews clashed. An Oxford rower lost half his oar, virtually guaranteeing a Cambridge victory. To top things off, an Oxford teammate collapsed post-race and had to be rushed to the hospital.
The protester, Trenton Oldfield, was charged with a public order offense and will appear in court April 23.
For sale: Hunger Games district
After tourists have flooded the site where District 12 scenes were filmed for "The Hunger Games," the site's owner has put it up for sale for a cool $1.4 million.
North Carolina resident Wade Shepherd, 83, owns the stretch of property on which scenes at the Everdeen family home and the Mellark bakery were filmed.
Shepherd told the Associated Press he was being bombarded by tourists "day and night." He said he is not a Hunger Games fan, but bought the property to protect his interests.
The property is likely to continue to be a major tourist draw for at least the next few years, with plans in the works for films based on the final two books in the series.
