School sued in dispute over anti-gay T-shirt

School sued in disputeover anti-gay T-shirt
LOS ANGELES -- A school district was accused Wednesday of violating the civil rights of a student who was suspended for wearing a T-shirt saying "Homosexuality is Shameful."
The federal lawsuit against Poway Unified School District says Tyler Chase Harper, 16, was suspended for expressing his religious beliefs during the "Day of Silence" on April 21.
During the national event, high school and college students were urged to remain silent to show support for homosexuals, bisexuals and trans-gender students.
Sharon Raffer, a spokeswoman for the district, declined to comment. "When are public school officials going to learn they are not allowed to silence constitutionally protected student speech just because they disagree with the student?" said Robert Tyler, a lawyer with the Alliance Defense Fund, which filed the suit. Harper is a Christian who believes "homosexual behavior is immoral, damaging to the practitioners and to human society in general, and is demonstrably contrary to the teachings of the Bible," the lawsuit says.
Conflicting reports
MOSCOW -- A Russian news agency reported that an explosion ripped through a cognac factory in Moscow today, injuring at least 40 people, but emergency officials later said there had only been a carbon monoxide leak that lightly poisoned two people.
The Interfax news agency had said a gas canister exploded at the plant in the southeastern part of the city. It quoted police as saying they had ruled out sabotage.
But the southeast Moscow police department later released a statement saying workers had brushed against a valve on a tank containing carbon dioxide, causing a leak. The statement said two people were hospitalized with light poisoning and others refused treatment.
Ship passengers sickened
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Nearly 350 passengers and crew aboard a Princess Cruises ship in southeast Alaska fell ill with a virus this week, cruise line officials said.
As of Wednesday, 308 passengers and 40 crew members aboard the Island Princess complained of Norwalk virus-like symptoms. Altogether, 2,018 passengers and 896 crew members were making the weeklong voyage from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Whittier.
The vessel was in Skagway Wednesday and will probably continue on schedule, said Dean Brown, CEO of Princess Tours Division, which oversees Alaska operations. He said ill passengers and crews were recovering in isolated rooms.
Lighting up the sky
SEATTLE -- Bright flashes and sharp booms were reported in the skies over the Puget Sound area early today, and aviation officials said a meteor may have been the source.
An earlier report on KIRO Radio that a meteorite might have hit near Chehalis, about 30 miles south of Olympia, turned out to be false, a University of Washington scientist who specializes in meteorites said.
Toby Smith, a lecturer in astronomy, said scientists were looking into the cause of the skybursts reported over a wide area about 2:40 a.m.
Witnesses along a 60-mile swath of the sound from near Tacoma to Whidbey Island and as far as 100 miles to the east near Ellensburg said the sky lit up brightly, and many also reported booming sounds as if from one or more explosions.
Associated Press