"Attleboro school leaders say they received threats over denial of lunches" by Brian MacQuarrie | Globe Staff, April 12, 2013
As Attleboro officials investigate why dozens of middle-school pupils were denied lunch last week, the school superintendent is pleading for an end to a barrage of threats against her, the school principal, and their families.
PFFFFFT!
I don't believe her! This is about TAKING THE HEAT OFF because the adminIstration LIED about WHAT HAPPENED!!
And ALREADY I have LOST MY APPETITE!
“This has to stop,” Superintendent Pia Durkin said Wednesday at an emotional meeting with parents, according to the Attleboro Sun Chronicle.
An angry outpouring of e-mails, phone calls, and letters have included threats of physical harm, Durkin said. She did not elaborate or describe the reasons behind the threats, according to the Sun Chronicle.
HUH?!!!??? Is that because THERE ARE NONE, you lying sacks of s****!!!!!!!????
Neither Durkin nor Andrew Boles, the Coelho Middle School principal, responded to requests for comment Thursday.
A firestorm of criticism has engulfed the Attleboro schools since April 2, when as many as 40 Coelho pupils were denied lunch or had their meals thrown in the trash because they could not pay at the cashier or because their prepaid accounts were overdrawn.
Many embarrassed students, some of whom owed less than $1, broke down into tears, Coelho pupils and parents said.
I feel bad for the kids, I really do.
School Committee member Frances Zito said Thursday that threats have no place in the debate. “I was kind of shocked that anyone would be calling or threatening the superintendent or the principal, because I don’t think they had any control over this,” Zito said.
Yeah, the only have a place when it's authority's threats. These people are incredible.
Officials from the schools and its food-service provider, Whitsons Culinary Group, quickly apologized last week for what they called an unapproved and isolated incident. They said no student should have been denied food.
Remember when food $ervice wasn't contracted out?
Of course, then you had expensive ladie's lunch unions with all their bankrupting benefits.
But some parents question whether school staff approved the cafeteria workers’ action or failed to stop what was occuring. Kevin Lamoureux, father of two Coelho pupils, said his children told him an assistant principal announced that students would not be able to eat if they could not pay.
What, what, what?
“We received a letter that said one thing — we weren’t aware of the situation — and then the kids said the assistant principal was making an announcement,” Lamoureux said. “To me, it sounds like they’re changing the story. They tried to cover their own tails, but obviously the truth is going to come out.”
It ALWAYS DOES, and for the record I BELIEVE THE KIDS!
At the Wednesday meeting, according to the Sun Chronicle, Durkin asked parents not to prejudge or implicate any school officials while the investigation proceeds.
“Let me do my job,” Durkin said. “I will inform the School Committee and the public as far as I legally can” when the inquiry is finished.
Translation: COVER UP in PROGRESS!
Whitsons, which employs the cafeteria workers and is conducting a separate investigation, has fired two workers and suspended two others pending completion of its inquiry. Employees who were disciplined range from management to a “food-service worker,” said Holly Von Seggern, a Whitsons spokeswoman.
Turns out they were nothing but red meat sacrificed by school administrators.
When did school administrators become such a**holes?
Von Seggern did not respond directly when asked whether a worker would be disciplined for following an order from a school official.
In the future, Whitsons said, every student whose account is overdrawn will be given a full meal. Boles said last week that notices of overdrawn accounts had been sent home with students every Wednesday, but some parents said they had not received regular updates.
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Also see: Man, 46, struck and killed by commuter rail train in Attleboro
Is that blood on the ground (frown)?
"New CEO is named at H.J. Heinz" by Candice Choi | Associated Press, April 12, 2013
NEW YORK — The new owners of Heinz are tapping Burger King chief Bernardo Hees as the company’s next top executive, a move that installs one of their own at the helm of the ketchup maker.
It also signals other big changes could be in store for the 144-year-old company, which had been run by chief executive William Johnson for the past 15 years.
The Pittsburgh company, which also makes baked beans, vinegar, and Classico pasta sauce, had said in February that it was being acquired and taken private by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital, a private investment firm run by Brazilian billionaires.
The firms noted at the time that Berkshire would act as a financing partner while 3G would run the company. The appointment is further evidence that Heinz will be an active investment by 3G, in contrast to Buffett’s traditionally more passive approach.
Hees, a 43-year-old Brazilian who is also a partner at 3G, became chief executive of Burger King after the firm bought the struggling hamburger chain in 2010.
Related: Globe Happy Meal
They always leave me mad or sad.
He has since slashed costs, revamped the chain’s menu, and launched a major marketing campaign.
That means cut jobs.
The moves set the groundwork for Burger King’s return to the stock market last spring in a deal that allowed 3G to more than recoup its investment while remaining the majority owner.
Yeah, private equity is great. That's why the economy is in such great shape.
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Related: Buffett Bloodied By Heinz
Interesting that those insider trading charges seem to be going nowhere.
Also see:
"Warren Buffett is once again the world’s third-richest person [with] a net worth [of] $54.6 billion. Berkshire Hathaway reported net income of $4.55 billion in the fourth quarter."
Oh, yeah, WAY TOO BIG to jail.
"Implant can ease chronic heartburn" by Marilynn Marchione | AP Chief Medical Writer, April 12, 2013
NEW YORK — A tiny magnetic bracelet implanted at the base of the throat is greatly improving life for some people with chronic heartburn who need more help than medicine can provide.
It’s a novel way to treat severe acid reflux, which plagues millions of Americans and can raise their risk for more serious problems.
Yeah, and I seem to remember seeing something about the healing power of metal rings about five years ago on blogs -- but it was pooh-poohed by the experts, officials, authorities, and ma$$ media.
It happens when a weak muscle doesn’t close after swallowing as it should. That lets stomach juices splash back into the throat. Drugs such as Nexium and Prilosec reduce acid. But they don’t fix the underlying problem, called gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Rodd Foster had it so bad he used to sleep sitting up to keep his dinner down. Tricia Carr worried she would develop complications such as the one that killed her mother.
Both Californians got help from the new device, approved a year ago by the federal Food and Drug Administration and also sold in Europe.
The treatment was ‘‘life-changing,’’ said Foster, a 61-year-old plumbing contractor from Canyon Country, Calif. ‘‘It’s been 30 years since I’ve been able to eat normally and now I can eat anything anytime.’’
The Linx device, made by Medical Inc., is a ring of titanium beads with magnets.
That's what attracted me to the item.
Doctors place it around the weak muscle at the base of the esophagus using a scope and ‘‘keyhole’’ incisions in the stomach. The ring reinforces the weak muscle to keep it closed, yet is flexible and expands to let food pass when someone swallows.
The ring comes in multiple sizes; it is about a half-inch in diameter and expands to about 1.5 inches. Patients say they don’t feel it.
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Maybe I need one of those to keep down my Globe.
