“Parents could face fine, jail under NY anti-bullying law”

Parents of children found bullying other minors could face jail time under a new law approved in a western New York community. The law went into effect Oct. 1 in North Tonawanda, a city just north of Buffalo. Parents could be fined $250 and sentenced to 15 days in jail if twice in a 90-day period their child violates the city's curfew or any other city law, including bullying. North Tonawanda officials say the law is geared toward minors who repeatedly bully other children. "In reality, what we're looking for is to engage the parents in the process and try and work on a solution," attorney Luke Brown said. The new law is modeled after a similar push in Wisconsin. Nearly 30 percent of students from sixth- to 12th-grade say they have been bullied, according to StopBullying.gov, a bullying prevention and awareness website run by the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services and Justice. Bullying is most common in middle school. The law has received some backlash from parents who claim it goes too far.

In Other News A win or a tie would have done it. Or even one loss or tie by the underdogs in Tuesday night's other two qualifying games. Or beating Honduras a month ago, or beating Panama in March, or not losing both games to Costa Rica. A 2-1 loss Tuesday night to Trinidad and Tobago — the only team below the U.S. soccer team in the standings — and wins by Honduras and Panama over the qualifying tourney's best two teams mean the Americans will miss the 2018 World Cup in Russia. They'd played in seven World Cups in a row dating back to 1990. It's not often you'll find these 24 names in the same place. They are historians and musicians, computer scientists and social activists, writers and architects. But whatever it may read on their business cards (if they've even got business cards), they now all have a single title in common: 2017 MacArthur Fellow. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced the winners of this year's fellowship — often better known as the "genius" grant — and the list includes a characteristically wide array of disciplines. Each of the recipients has been selected for having "shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction" — and each will receive a $625,000 award from the foundation "as an investment in their potential," paid out over five years with no strings attached.