An effort by a substitute teacher to quiet her chatty students has cost her her job. The officials at Amanda-Clearcreek school district in Fairfield County permanently suspended Ruth Ann Stoneburner after she admitted to using clothespins on the mouths of four students to silence them. In a letter sent to parents this week, Amanda-Clearcreek Primary School principal Mike Johnsen said that each of the four boys had confirmed having a spring-type clothespin placed over their upper or lower lips for talking too much in class.

A Toronto school principal faces a serious board of education review after admitting to throwing feces at a young boy who was not in her care. Maria Pantalone, 49, pleaded guilty to assault against a child Monday out of "total frustration" but was given an absolute discharge to keep her from having a criminal record stemming from the incident last June - but she now faces peer sentencing for her actions.

While British sailors were being held by Iran and the world pondered if London would send in Special Forces to recover them, the Irish Army launched a rescue of their own. The Army helped six government ministers escape a faulty elevator in the Irish Parliament building which held them hostage for about 30 minutes.

The parents of kids who brought home the "sex" edition Winnacunnet High School's newspaper - Winnachronicle said they were highly offended by a photograph of two women kissing under the headline, "Why men love women who love women. " Many of them are also protesting against the contents of the newspaper which included a quiz question about anal sex and interview with an unnamed custodian who said he had found a vibrator in the girls' shower.

A 40-year-old man who went to his old high school to get a copy of his transcript was told he couldn't have it unless he paid a physical education fee of $5 and $7. 95 for an algebra book he lost while a student there. Jeff Rolson, who graduated from Superior High School in 1977, needed to get a copy of his transcript for a plumbing apprenticeship when he stopped by the school last week, but the school secretary told him he needed to pay off that $12. 95 first. AP quotes Rolson as saying, "I told her, 'Do you realize this was 30 years ago?'"