Nov 17, 6:28 PM (ET) CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A museum director in this military town removed an art exhibit featuring several deep-fried American flags.
Art student William Gentry said his piece, "The Fat Is in the Fire," was a commentary on obesity in America. "I deep-fried the flag because I'm concerned about America and about America's health," Gentry said Customs House Museum executive director Ned Crouch took down the artwork Wednesday less than 18 hours after it went up in this community next to Fort Campbell. "It's about what the community values," Crouch said. "I'm representing 99 percent of our membership - educators, doctors, lawyers, military families."
He also said the timing of the piece could cause "incendiary reactions." "Never in the history of the country has the flag been more hated or more loved," Crouch said. The exhibit featured three U.S. flags imprinted with phrases such as "Poor people are obese because they eat poorly" and more than 40 smaller flags fried in peanut oil, egg batter, flour and black pepper.
Clarksville resident and Navy veteran Bill Larson said the museum shouldn't restrict the free speech of an artist based on public response. "The museum is obligated to the citizens of the community to present art, and it totally failed in that regard," Larson said. Gentry, who had to publicly display his work for a senior project at Austin Peay State University, said he hoped people would get past the flag imagery and address the health issue. "I hope they are upset, but I hope they don't miss the point," he said.
Unusual Pet
Nov 17, 10:18 PM (ET) MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - A 5-foot-long boa constrictor caught slithering around a middle school had some help getting to class. His owner, a student at Wooddale Middle School, smuggled the reptile in his backpack on Thursday. The student, who was not identified by school officials, was disciplined.
Boa constrictors, which squeeze their prey to kill, are not poisonous and the snake was not considered dangerous to students. School officials called police after finding the snake, which was taken to Memphis Animal Services to be reclaimed by the student's parents.
Stupid human tricks
Nov 16, 10:13 PM (ET) SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - An American man caught 116 tossed grapes in his mouth in three minutes in what he hopes will become a new Guinness World Record, his publicity team said Thursday
Steve "the Grape Guy" Spalding, 44, of Dallas, Texas also set a personal record for endurance grape catching, using his mouth to catch 1,203 grapes thrown from a distance of 15 feet over half an hour, according to publicist Deanna Brown. No Guinness World Records officials were present at Spalding's grape-gobbling attempt, carried out Thursday in Australia overlooking Sydney's iconic Opera House.
But Brown said observers had filmed Spalding's attempt and would be submitting forms to Guinness officials in the hopes of creating a new record for speed grape-catching - the most grapes caught in the mouth over three minutes. No current speed grape catching record exists, she said. Guinness World Records has no offices in Australia, and the organization could not immediately be reached for comment.
Stupid decision
Nov 17, 9:09 PM (ET) KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - An Anderson County teenager has filed a lawsuit over her temporary dismissal from a weightlifting class by a principal who feared male students might try to rape her. Anderson County High School has asked a federal magistrate to dismiss the $1 million sex discrimination suit by student Ambrea Phillips and her father.
"There's no dispute she was removed," school attorney Arthur F. Knight said at a hearing Thursday. He contended Phillips was reinstated within days and suffered "no academic detriment whatsoever." Phillips' attorney, Roger L. Ridenour, said stress from the incident caused the student to become physically ill. He said the handling of the situation by then-principal Bob McCracken is part of a pattern of mishandled sex issues at the high school.
Phillips was an honor student and a track team member when she signed up for the class, where she eventually earned an A. She has since graduated and is in college. McCracken said in a deposition that he was afraid Phillips might be sexually assaulted in the class. "Having a female with 35 or so male students in an isolated area from the school, it sets a very liable situation in my opinion," McCracken said in the deposition.
Three days after kicking Phillips out of the class, McCracken changed his mind and reinstated her. U.S. Magistrate Judge Clifford Shirley asked Knight if the principal was wrong in removing Phillips from the class. "She is up there with a bunch of football players, a 24- to 25-year-old coach, the only girl - there is a safety issue there. It was a hard call for the principal to make," Knight answered. When the judge again asked Knight if McCracken made the right decision, the attorney said he hadn't found another court case that would have given McCracken good guidance on what to do. The judge said he would rule later on whether the lawsuit can continue.
