‘Novelty grenade’ in bag disrupts airport
HOUSTON — A Boy Scout who packed a toy grenade in his carry-on bag caused the shutdown of a security checkpoint at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport on Thursday morning, just a day after the international terminal of the city’s other major airport was evacuated because of a bomb scare.
Houston Airport System spokesman Bill Begley said people were allowed to approach the checkpoint again after authorities determined that the suspicious item spotted by a Transportation Security Administration agent was a “novelty grenade.” It’s not clear why the 17-year-old had the item in his bag.
Houston police said the state won’t charge the teen but that he could face a federal fine.
Hobby Airport is a hub for Southwest Airlines, and Begley said more than 15 Southwest flights were delayed because of the incident Thursday.
The explosives scare occurred only a day after police detained “an impatient passenger” who made comments about explosives in a bag at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Texas district adds post-shooting guards
SANTA FE, Texas — The Texas school district where eight students and two teachers were fatally shot last month has implemented security measures increasing the number of police officers and guards on campuses.
The Santa Fe Independent School District said the increased security presence began Wednesday at the district’s four schools southeast of Houston.
A district spokesman Thursday didn’t specify just how many additional police officers and security guards are planned or what the cost may be. The U.S. Education Department last week announced that the district will receive a $1 million federal grant, and Gov. Greg Abbott has said the state will have access to nearly $70 million in federal and state grants for school security measures he wants implemented.
Officials also want to hire more counselors to identify Santa Fe students exhibiting signs of mental health disorders.
Ex-school chief accused of abusing teen
NEWARK, N.J. — The former head of New York’s prestigious Dalton School has been accused in a lawsuit of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl who lived with him and his wife while attending the school in the 1980s.
The suit filed Thursday in federal court in Newark, N.J., accused Gardner Dunnan of molesting the girl in the fall of 1986. The woman, identified in the lawsuit by her initials, claimed that the abuse occurred at Dunnan’s homes in New York and New Jersey.
Dunnan “repeatedly touched J.S. without her consent, fondling her breasts, sticking his tongue in her mouth, disrobing and groping her, laying on top of her, and thrusting his genitals against her,” the lawsuit alleged.
The suit contends the Dalton School “knew or should have known that Dunnan engaged in acts of inappropriate, abusive, and/or harmful behavior toward individuals over whom he had power or control.”
Dunnan didn’t immediately respond.
Through a spokesman, the school said it became aware of the lawsuit Thursday. “We take these issues very seriously and support any victim of sexual abuse,” the school said in a statement.
N.J. bans nuptials for people under 18
New Jersey lawmakers Thursday approved a bill banning anyone under 18 from marrying, as an age-raising trend among U.S. states draws objections from some religious leaders.
The measure’s bipartisan sponsors said they want to stop children from being forced to wed by their parents. They had the support of activist Fraidy Reiss, an Orthodox Jewish woman who entered an arranged marriage at 19 and later founded Unchained at Last, a Westfield-based nonprofit group that helps women and girls leave forced unions.
Orthodox leaders said the ban would interfere with their customs. New Jersey’s fastest-growing municipality, Lakewood, is home to the world’s largest Orthodox Jewish school outside Israel, attracting scholars who maintain a tradition of marrying young and having large families.